By Zephyria 
Song Hyun-soo unrolled the mat and started with stretching.
After various exercises and slow burpees, he moved on to close-grip push-ups. Five sets of 20 reps. By the last set, his whole body was already drenched in sweat.
“Twen…ty-one, twen…ty-two!”
Nyaang.
As he endured the pain that felt like every muscle in his body was tearing, he heard Monroe’s cry from the open doorway.
The little guy was probably waiting in his room, expecting Song Hyun-soo to give him a snack. When he didn’t show up after waiting, he must have come to protest.
Strolling over, he sat in front of Song Hyun-soo’s face and cried loudly.
“Not… yet. Just, a, little… more.”
Because the exercise was performed with the width between his hands narrower than his shoulders, it was twice as hard as a normal push-up. Sweat trickled from his temples along his jawline, gathering at the tip of his chin before dripping onto the mat. It was even more of a pain in the ass because he had to push away Monroe, who kept trying to lick it.
“Twen…ty-three, twenty-four…”
He squeezed every ounce of strength to bend his elbows and support his body weight. Then, Monroe jumped onto Song Hyun-soo’s back.
“Haha, are you adding weight? What a… thoughtful cat.”
Reluctantly, he finished the remaining eight push-ups with the little guy on his back. After that, he still had to do crunches, leg raises, and planks. After finishing his cool-down stretches, Song Hyun-soo couldn’t get up for a while and lay face down on the mattress, catching his breath.
Yaaang, nyaang.
“When I didn’t give you a snack, you were angry. Now you’re worried about me? Huh?”
He patted Monroe’s butt, who was licking his face, kissed him, and then finally mustered the strength to get up.
Immediately after exercising, he never had the strength to lift a finger, but after 5 minutes, 10 minutes… miraculously, his energy revived.
After showering while practicing breathing and vocalization, he was hit with a strong hunger. Without even drying his hair, he threw on a T-shirt over his training pants and headed to the kitchen.
Song Hyun-soo’s hand, which was about to open the refrigerator door, stopped. There was a note attached at eye level.
Don’t forget to take your vitamins
I already gave Monroe a snack once
Don’t give him more even if he pretends he didn’t eat
See you at work, drive safe
A simple note like this made him smile for no reason. Yoon Joo-ho could have just sent a message, but he often left handwritten notes like this.
Sometimes on the bathroom mirror, sometimes on the refrigerator like this, and sometimes on the front door. When he was getting dressed, putting on his shoes, and reaching out to open the door, if he discovered his note, a smile would burst onto his expressionless face like fireworks.
Does the senior do this too?
If you find my traces when we’re not together, will you smile without being able to resist… will you?
Like someone admiring a wonderful painting. Song Hyun-soo tilted his head and stared at Yoon Joo-ho’s handwriting, which was as pretty as his face, for a long time.
The moment he received a business card with his handwritten phone number was still vivid.
Maybe he had already fallen for the neat and pretty handwriting, which was different from his temper.
Nyaaaa. Nyaang.
Monroe’s cry interrupted his moment of reverie.
Song Hyun-soo looked down at the little guy, who was circling around him and crying loudly.
“You already ate your snack. Joo-ho Dad told me everything, you rascal.”
Even while preparing his meal, taking out a homemade lunch box from the refrigerator, the little guy followed Song Hyun-soo around, protesting vehemently. When he continued to ignore him, he changed tactics and started pretending to be pitiful.
Iyaang, iyang?
The sharp cry changed to a plaintive one this time.
Song Hyun-soo, who was emptying his lunch box while watching a drama on his tablet, burst out laughing.
“You’re acting too, aren’t you? As expected of a cat whose dads are actors, huh?”
He bent down and affectionately tapped the little guy’s wet nose under the table.
“No. Snacks are twice a day. I’ll give you another one later tonight. Okay?”
Whether he understood or gave up, the little guy smacked his lips with his small tongue and strolled out of the kitchen.
The individually made lunch boxes, tailored to the nutritional status and needs of the two men, tasted much better than the commercially available lunch boxes that Yoon Joo-ho used to eat. Checking the recycling trolley in the auxiliary kitchen, it seemed that Yoon Joo-ho had also emptied his lunch box and gone to work. Good boy, Monroe Dad.
He cleared the lunch box, wiped the table, brewed coffee, put it in a tumbler, and placed it on the island table. And before leaving the kitchen, he took the note off the refrigerator. There was a box where he kept Yoon Joo-ho’s notes separately.
He brushed his teeth, got dressed, packed his tumbler in his bag, and hugged and kissed Monroe, who followed him to the front door. After saying goodbye, he left the house and found that a package had arrived.
“Oh, it’s here!”
Song Hyun-soo brought the box into the hallway. Monroe’s eyes were already sparkling.
“Do you know what this is? It’s your snack. I’m going to make it with Joo-ho Dad.”
He stroked the little guy’s head as he touched and scratched the box with his fingertips.
“No. You can’t play with the box now. I’ll give it to you when I get back. Okay?”
He kissed the little guy, who couldn’t give up on the box, one more time and left the house. As he drove out of the underground parking lot in his car, he was blinded by the autumn sunlight.
He listened to his favorite song by Choi Hong-seo on the way to Look Planning.
While waiting at a traffic light, he briefly sent a message to his lover.
《Still in a meeting?
I think I’ll arrive at the company in about 10 minutes
See you after the lesson
Oh, and the Monroe meal kit arrived haha》
The light turned green, and Song Hyun-soo’s car, which had been stopped at the waiting line, started moving again.
It was the start of an ordinary day that he had obtained in a very special way.
■
Was it the thirtieth or thirty-first?
Song Hyun-soo, who had stacked the completed signatures on top of the pile of papers on the right, started drawing signatures again on a new piece of paper.
“Your signature is cool.”
At the words of the acting instructor who was watching from across the table, Song Hyun-soo smiled shyly.
“Really? I put a lot of thought into making it.”
“It looks hard to copy, and it’s unique?”
He pointed to the paper with his fingertip as he looked down at Song Hyun-soo’s pen, which was moving quite skillfully and smoothly.
“What’s this? Cat ears?”
“Haha, that’s right.”
The new signature, which Yoon Joo-ho and he had created together after much deliberation, also included cat ears symbolizing Monroe. The cat ear mark was Yoon Joo-ho’s idea. Song Hyun-soo himself wanted a cool signature rather than a cute one, so he was against it at first. But when he saw the cat ears on top of the s letter, he liked it.
“This person’s name is… Yoon-kyung, you said?”
“Yeah.”
“What should I write in the message?”
“Um, let’s see… Ah, she’s preparing to change jobs right now.”
Song Hyun-soo’s pen moved busily again. He carefully wrote a message wishing her the best in getting a job where she wanted.
“Was this the last one?”
“Yeah, that’s the end. It’s really over.”
As Song Hyun-soo finished gathering the thirty-odd signatures, each with a different message, the instructor continued with a sorry expression.
“Thank you for your hard work. Your arm must be sore? I’m so sorry.”
Even while shaking his wrist, Song Hyun-soo grinned.
“I’m a rookie. I’m just excited when people ask me to sign autographs or take pictures.”
“Yeah, the day will come when you’ll get tired of those requests. Enjoy it now.”
Twice a week, Song Hyun-soo takes acting lessons in the Look Planning practice room.
Previously, the lessons were held externally, but after the verdict, he was able to properly use the company’s practice room. This was from the time when the work of re-establishing Yoon Joo-ho as the owner of Look Planning legally and on paper began in earnest.
Sometimes, the instructor would ask for a signature after the lesson, saying that someone around him had asked him to. Until now, it had only been three or four sheets at most, but today was the first time there were more than thirty.
The trailer for
The number of followers on social media also increased, and the number of customers who deliberately visited on the days he worked at Jessica also increased. One day, the convenience store clerk, who he always went to buy cigarettes, hesitantly spoke to him and asked to take a picture with him. On the way to a cafe after eating with Chae-young, he was caught by a few students. Like the girls who had raved about Yoon Joo-ho’s advertisement poster on the convenience store window one day, they recognized Song Hyun-soo, screamed, and ran over to him, delighted.
The world around Song Hyun-soo was changing little by little, but definitely.