By Zephyria “Joo-ho, just a moment.”
Someone approached from behind and gently tapped Yoon Joo-ho’s shoulder. It was his manager. He had likely been waiting for the conversation with the director to end. The manager asked for permission and led Yoon Joo-ho away. The two walked towards an empty table in a corner of the restaurant, exchanging serious-looking words. Watching their retreating figures, Song Hyun-soo recalled Yoon Joo-ho’s phone conversation from the conference room.
Lawyer, law firm.
And the widely known estrangement between Yoon Joo-ho and his parents.
He couldn’t help but connect these things.
“Dramas and movies are definitely a bit different, aren’t they?”
At Han Joo-young’s taunting voice, Song Hyun-soo turned to look at her.
“You said you wouldn’t be a burden to the project. But even a senior with 30 years of debut got scolded just like us, didn’t they?”
In that instant, Song Hyun-soo clenched his fist tightly under the table. He had thought he was adept at maintaining a consistent subordinate’s life, always smiling outwardly no matter what he thought inside. But he felt his composure slipping.
Hey, whatever else, don’t you dare belittle Yoon Joo-ho’s acting.
Office, action, melodrama, mystery, fantasy, historical, even sitcoms. No matter how much he focused on dramas, there wasn’t a genre Yoon Joo-ho hadn’t tried, and his acting skills had never been called into question. What kind of butter-smeared dog bone, crawling from who knows where…
But these were actors he would have to face for at least several months, working on the same project. Moreover, they were seniors or older than him. He was still in a subordinate position to lash out at them. Song Hyun-soo relaxed his grip on his fist and downed two glasses of soju in quick succession.
“But what does it mean to tell me not to stand out by using a different accent? Hyo-jin, do you know what that means? Should I ask my acting teacher?”
Taking advantage of the gap in Han Joo-young and Shin Hyo-jin’s conversation, he slipped away. He struggled to find his padding among the mountain of outerwear hanging on a coat rack in a corner of the restaurant. It was hard to find his plain black padding among so many identical ones. As he turned to leave, he glanced over and saw Yoon Joo-ho and his manager still talking intensely.
He stopped the ‘Honey’s Place’ owner, who was placing more soju on the table for the
“Auntie, where can I smoke?”
“Go out and turn right. There’s an ashtray in the corner of the parking lot.”
“Got it.”
“Make sure to put your butts in the ashtray! Don’t spit on the ground!”
“Got it.”
Listening with one ear to the auntie’s grumbling about how messily people used the smoking area and how hard it was to clean, Song Hyun-soo pushed open the sliding door and left the establishment.
“Haa… refreshing.”
The cold air that cleared his head rushed towards his face. It felt invigorating rather than just cold.
Following the auntie’s directions, he turned right along the restaurant building, revealing a rather spacious parking lot. It was less of a parking lot and more of an undeveloped site where a building had been demolished to construct something new.
Yoon Joo-ho’s massive SUV, like a humpback whale, was parked there.
“That car’s amazing.”
With its linear, masculine design and imposing weight, it gave the impression that it could withstand almost any collision.
“Right. He’s someone of considerable worth, so he needs a sturdy car.”
Admiring how a hunk of metal could exude such dignity, Song Hyun-soo paused as he took out a cigarette. He had spotted something beneath that charismatic hunk of metal.
Meeeow. Meow.
Peeking out from under the car was a kitten. A kitten whose black fur, running from its forehead, covered its left eye. Judging by its head size, it was quite young.
Song Hyun-soo held the cigarette in his hand and crouched down. He tilted his head to peer under the car.
“What are you doing there, kid?”
Meow.
“Huh? There’s more than one?”
Beneath Yoon Joo-ho’s SUV, four kittens and what appeared to be their mother cat were gathered. The cries of the very young kittens sounded like chirping chicks or yelping puppies.
Looking around, he saw a pet house placed at the far end under the restaurant’s eaves. Though not as new and pristine as the car, it was enough for the family of five to escape the biting winter wind. Food and water bowls were also visible in front of it.
“Is that your home?”
Meeeow, meow.
“You have a home, so why are you here? It’s cold. Go home.”
One of them tilted its head at Song Hyun-soo, then hopped out from under the car. It then lay down right in front of Song Hyun-soo’s sneakers and began playing with the laces.
“Hey, these are new sneakers, kid. I bought them for the script reading.”
But cats don’t care about human circumstances. The kitten gnawed, tugged, and clawed at the laces of the sneakers he had splurged on after a long time. To make matters worse, its siblings began to show interest. Watching their sibling’s new toy with interest from under the car, they seemed to judge Song Hyun-soo as not dangerous and began to pounce on his sneakers one by one.
“You little brats. Do you really want to get scolded? I’m not the type to find this cute, you know?”
Meeeow, meeeow.
Regardless. The kittens pounced on Song Hyun-soo’s sneakers as if competing. Only one of them, with a black spot the size of a fingernail next to its nose, was still lying down under the car, next to its mother.
“Go play with your mom over there. I’m going to smoke. Go on.”
He nudged it gently with his foot, but as if it were a game, the kittens became even more excited. One that was pushed out of the shoelace fight tried to climb up Song Hyun-soo’s calf. It was the one with the brown and white striped tail.
Song Hyun-soo let out a sigh of resignation and put the cigarette back into the pack. It seemed unlikely he’d be able to smoke. Picking up the kitten climbing his calf, he spoke to the mother cat opposite him.
“You saw that, right? I didn’t touch you first. Your kittens came and rubbed against me. Don’t say anything later, okay?”
The mother cat, twitching her nostrils a couple of times, slowly walked towards her house. Then, she nonchalantly began to eat.
“Hey, what’s this? You want me to babysit while you eat?”
The mother cat ignored him.
“Well, raising quadruplets, you probably can’t eat in peace.”
Song Hyun-soo settled down right under the eaves. Stroking the striped tail on his lap, he called out to the one left alone under the car.
“Hey, booger, why are you there alone? Come here.”
Though watching him with curious eyes, the kitten couldn’t muster the courage. It repeatedly crouched, took a few steps forward, then suddenly startled as if there was nothing there, and retreated backward. Then, it scampered over to its mother.
“Where are you going, kid? Come play while Mom eats.”
Even after going to its mother’s side, the kitten kept looking this way. Such a kid. Song Hyun-soo began gently massaging the area near the striped tail’s forehead. The other two were still engrossed in the shoelace battle.
“Hey, Stripey, what do you think? The director told me to create my own Sani, but it’s too difficult for a screw-up like me.”
The kitten closed its eyes tightly, seemingly pleased, and Song Hyun-soo chuckled at its cuteness.
“Someone like me has only ever been a puppet.”
It was then that someone’s voice suddenly cut through the air.
“Do you have a lighter?”
Spinning around, Song Hyun-soo saw Yoon Joo-ho rounding the corner of the building, taking out a cigarette pack from his coat pocket.
“…Yes?”
With a cigarette between his fingers, Yoon Joo-ho mimed lighting a lighter with his other hand.
“A lighter. I seem to have misplaced it somewhere.”
Setting down the striped tail kitten, Song Hyun-soo hesitantly stood up. He took out his cigarette pack from his jumper pocket and offered the lighter inside.
“Here.”
He offered it politely with both hands, lest he be criticized again, but Yoon Joo-ho just stared at him without taking it. The picture-perfect face tilted its head and gazed intently at Song Hyun-soo. Seeing such a handsome man stare like that made Song Hyun-soo’s face flush, even though they were both men.
Yoon Joo-ho, with a cigarette now in his mouth, said,
“Aren’t you going to light it for me? Should I do it myself?”
It was common for the lighter owner to light a cigarette for someone borrowing one. However, it was usually done between friends or among jovial older men. It wasn’t something to be done between Yoon Joo-ho and Song Hyun-soo at this moment. As he rolled his eyes, wondering what to do, Yoon Joo-ho chuckled.
“Why are you taking everything so seriously? I’m just joking.”
Then, he snatched the lighter.
Shielding the tip of the cigarette with his left hand to block the wind, he lit it. The orange flame reflected brightly on Yoon Joo-ho’s face. His sharp cheekbone hollowed as he inhaled, and the tip of the cigarette caught fire. Forgetting his annoyance at the trivial prank, Song Hyun-soo stood mesmerized, watching the sight.