By Zephyria 
“That’s right. I’d say he’s almost like a benefactor to me?”
“It must be nice to see him after so long.”
“It’s been almost a year.”
Jung Ji-in was waiting for him on this trip to Paris.
With only two nights and three days of free time, and needing to use his time as efficiently as possible, he had promised Jung Ji-in that they would meet at a cafe and spend about two hours together.
If he had traveled alone, he would have stayed at Jung Ji-in and his partner’s house and spent more time with them, but Yoon Joo-ho was with him this time. He couldn’t leave his companion alone for too long.
Anyway, we’re… traveling as a couple, too.
Our first trip, at that.
“You must have a lot to catch up on, it must be nice. I’m jealous.”
Looking at Hyun-seo’s expression, it seemed like he was genuinely envious, not just saying it as a formality.
Is he that jealous of going to Paris?
Or is he jealous that I have a brother that I’m that close to?
Come to think of it, he doesn’t seem like the type to have many friends.
Hyun-seo, who had thrown out a vague remark, drank his cocktail with a slightly troubled expression.
“What about you, Hyun-seo?”
“Me?”
“Aren’t you acting anymore?”
“Ah…”
“After
“That’s true.”
“But it seems like you’ve mostly been composing lately.”
He, who had changed his stage name from Yoon Hye-an to Hyun-seo, was originally from an idol group like Choi Hong-seo. His team didn’t do anything special, but he, who was said to be in charge of visuals in the team, was able to gain considerable popularity.
He even started acting, but his popularity didn’t last long as he was constantly embroiled in controversies over his acting skills, gaffes due to repeated mistakes, and controversies over his personality.
After attempting to take his own life and falling into a coma for several months, he miraculously woke up, not remembering anything from his past.
His body was an adult, but he was like a newborn child.
He had no memory of being Yoon Hye-an at all.
In the beginning, many people didn’t seem to believe him when he said he didn’t remember. They thought it wouldn’t be long before his old nature came out and it would be revealed that he was lying. Jung-ho and Chae-young, he remembered, had said that while watching videos.
But people gradually began to believe in Yoon Hye-an’s change.
In the end, the answer was consistency.
As his personality changed, so did his expression, his eyes, and even the impression his face gave off.
And that change kept reminding Song Hyun-soo of Choi Hong-seo.
Recently, Hyun-seo had been quietly active, mainly focusing on composing. It was a completely different path from the old Yoon Hye-an, who liked to be in the spotlight and live a glamorous life.
“From now on, I think I’ll only be doing movies, even if I do act.”
“Really? Your fans would love to see you on TV. Your fans will be a little sad that they can’t see you often, but your own happiness is important.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
The way he moved only his lips and smiled silently was especially reminiscent of Choi Hong-seo. Song Hyun-soo, who had been quietly watching that smile, suddenly confessed.
“I like the songs that Hyun-seo composes, too.”
“My… songs?”
“I especially like ‘Come Back To Me, Baby,’ so I listen to it often.”
“That song, the lyrics are so cheesy, right?”
“I thought the person who wrote these lyrics must have really been in love?”
Hyun-seo, who was embarrassed by the compliment, quickly checked his phone when he received a notification that a message had arrived. His face was full of smiles as he typed a reply. He probably wasn’t even aware of it himself.
Every time he visited ‘Jessica,’ he almost always received a call from someone and left the store. Hyun-seo definitely had a lover. A very overprotective lover at that.
Click.
A message arrived on Song Hyun-soo’s phone, which had been quiet for a while.
《I’m in the alley of the workshop cafe.》
Pfft. Song Hyun-soo couldn’t help but burst out laughing. The alley of the workshop cafe. It was a place where Yoon Joo-ho often parked his car and waited at night because it was deserted.
Wait, what? If he’s here now… he must have already left the house earlier? And he’s acting like he doesn’t know…
He shouldn’t be calling Hyun-seo’s lover, who he doesn’t even know, overprotective. Maybe our Monroe Dad at home is also being incredibly overprotective while pretending not to be.
“There aren’t many days left when I can see Hyun-soo here.”
Hyun-seo, who turned his phone over and put it back down, added with a regretful expression.
“I’ll be more active as an actor in the future, so you can’t be sad, right?”
“What do you mean I can only see you here? We can meet outside.”
“Outside?”
“Hyun-seo, you don’t use SNS, do you? Can I have your phone number?”
Hyun-seo looked down at the phone that Song Hyun-soo held out with a surprised expression.
“Hyun-soo… don’t you hate me?”
“Why would I hate you?”
He asked back like that, but he seemed to know roughly why Hyun-seo was asking that.
Don’t you hate me because it seems like I’m copying your friend, imitating him? That’s probably what he means.
But instead of explaining at length that it wasn’t the case, Song Hyun-soo chose to remain silent. As if he didn’t know the reason for asking that at all.
If he was copying and imitating, his heart would have felt it first. Song Hyun-soo didn’t think of himself as an easygoing person. Because life in Seoul wasn’t easy, he was careful about trusting someone and giving them a generous evaluation.
Hyun-seo, who was looking at Song Hyun-soo with the expression of a frightened child, smiled softly and shook his head as if relieved.
“No, it’s nothing.”
And he entered his contact information into the phone that Song Hyun-soo handed over.
Song Hyun-soo, who called the eleven-digit number that was entered to confirm that the signal was going through, put his phone in his apron pocket and said.
“Save my number.”
“I will.”
“And I’ll pay for the cocktails today.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s late, but it’s also to celebrate your award.”
“Oh… then I feel so sorry.”
“In this case, you shouldn’t be sorry, but say thank you and that you enjoyed it.”
Hyun-seo smiled without showing his teeth. Even the shape of that smile reminded him of Choi Hong-seo. He also saw the image of Choi Hong-seo, who had difficulty receiving help or being indebted to someone.
Is it because they have similar faces?
No, it wasn’t just that reason.
In the days when he was Yoon Hye-an, he clearly had features similar to Choi Hong-seo, but his image was completely different. So there were divided opinions among people about whether they looked alike or not.
But the current Hyun-seo looked surprisingly like Choi Hong-seo.
The habit of using facial muscles, the unique angle of pulling up the lips when smiling, the way he handled his gaze, the way he spoke… To Song Hyun-soo, who knew Choi Hong-seo’s usual appearance well, those things looked surprisingly similar. So similar that he was sometimes startled.
It had been about two months since the filming of
Song Hyun-soo still hadn’t been able to find Choi Hong-seo’s charnel house.
He thought he would be able to muster the courage to find him once he had finished filming safely. But that wasn’t the case. It seemed that he still wasn’t ready to face that incident that was almost two years ago.
Maybe that’s why he thinks of him more strongly when he sees Hyun-seo.
Hyun-seo picked up his coat and got up from the stool.
“Thank you, Hyun-soo. I enjoyed it. Have a good trip to Paris.”
“I’ll be sure to ride the Bateaux Mouches.”
“And meet your close brother…”
“Now that we know each other’s contact information, I’ll send you messages sometimes. So don’t stalk me.”
Hyun-seo smiled with a face that resembled Choi Hong-seo and left ‘Jessica.’ As was usually the case after he left, Song Hyun-soo had to rub the back of his neck with a feeling of both joy and emptiness.
Click.
Another vibration rang in his apron pocket. Song Hyun-soo couldn’t help but burst out laughing when he carelessly took out his phone and looked at it.
《Slow to reply? Already in a slump?》
I’m laughing because of you, Crown Prince.
You too, senior?
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