By Zephyria 
His tone was menacing, as if he would immediately deal with whoever Song Hyun-soo named. Song Hyun-soo felt something akin to emotion at his reaction, as if Yoon Joo-ho was taking the anger for him. It was an unfamiliar feeling. He felt shy and awkward, averting his eyes.
Stroking the cat in his arms, Song Hyun-soo shook his head.
“I was the one giving hell. I made 30 NGs.”
“You got yelled at for making 30 NGs? Is that it?”
“I told you it’s not! Why don’t you believe me?”
Yoon Joo-ho, still holding Song Hyun-soo’s shoulders tightly, looked suspicious. Yet, as if resigned, he released his grip. He couldn’t find any trace of tears on Song Hyun-soo’s face now.
Turning away and lighting his cigarette, Yoon Joo-ho grumbled.
“You told me to stay out because you were nervous. Was there a need for me to stay out?”
“If you had been there, I would have made 50.”
“……”
“Maybe it ended at 30 thanks to you?”
“You’re talking.”
Bringing the cigarette to his lips, Yoon Joo-ho glanced back over his shoulder and let out a hollow laugh.
“I was upset about making NGs, but is that something to cry over? If I cried over every little thing like that, I would have cried my life away by now.”
Right, little guy?
While petting the cat in his arms, Song Hyun-soo glanced at Yoon Joo-ho’s retreating back. Like last time, he maintained a distance where the smoke wouldn’t easily reach. It was probably for the cat’s sake.
Smiling silently to himself, Song Hyun-soo touched the cat’s nose.
“Didn’t you say two of them were adopted?”
Yoon Joo-ho asked, turning back after taking a few puffs.
“Yes.”
“Then why is only one left?”
He said he wasn’t interested. But he remembered everything I told him about two getting adopted.
“The sibling became independent, and the mother left, entrusting the territory to this one.”
“You’re not crying because of that, are you?”
Yoon Joo-ho looked incredulous.
“I’ve told you multiple times I’m not crying! Can you please believe me!”
“Even if you weren’t crying, your face looked like you were about to cry.”
Saying that, Yoon Joo-ho turned his head back towards the vacant lot. From a distance of about six or seven steps, Song Hyun-soo watched the smoke rising from the corner of his lips dissipate into the falling snow.
Although he had completely misjudged the reason for being pushed to the brink of tears, just hearing Yoon Joo-ho say that made something tightly coiled within him begin to unravel.
Does anyone else know this side of Yoon Joo-ho?
For example, did he show this side to the person he rejected?
Perhaps he was even more attentive and devoted. Incomparably more so than he is to me. I couldn’t imagine Yoon Joo-ho having a normal relationship, constantly contacting someone, making time to meet them no matter how busy he was, but now, that imagination was becoming possible.
Perhaps he made such efforts for that person.
But it didn’t matter. Even if I’m curious, even if it makes me gloomy to think about it, it’s only for a moment.
Song Hyun-soo took the cat he was holding out from his jumper and carefully slid his hand under its armpits, lifting it.
“Senior, you said you didn’t want to sleep alone. How about sleeping with this little guy?”
“Even if I don’t sleep for a month, I’m not going to sleep hugging a cat.”
“Are you scared of cats? Is that why you’re doing this?”
“Do you think I’ll take him because you’re provoking me like this?”
“No? It’s not working?”
“I know very well how little you think of me.”
Yoon Joo-ho scoffed, shaking his head as he flicked the ash from his cigarette.
But looking at the way Yoon Joo-ho’s eyes were fixed on the cat, he knew. He knew what kind of expression, what kind of gaze Yoon Joo-ho had when looking at something he truly wasn’t interested in.
The cat, which showed curiosity but didn’t easily approach, was no different from Yoon Joo-ho. In that moment, Song Hyun-soo realized.
“It’s just timid and keeps to itself, but there’s one more that likes human hands.”
Ah, so Senior is the one my aunt was talking about…
“Its mother and siblings have all left too.”
“Life is meant to be lived alone. I live alone too.”
“In a penthouse with a Han River view in Cheongdam-dong.”
“Living there doesn’t make life easy.”
“It was sitting on the wall earlier in the snow, waiting for its mother and siblings.”
“If that doesn’t work out, you take him.”
“It would be better for the cat to go to your penthouse than my drafty rooftop room. It’ll become a rich cat. Wow, lucky.”
“Rooftop room?”
Yoon Joo-ho narrowed his eyes and looked back at him. This was his chance.
“Yes, a rooftop room. And pets aren’t allowed in that building right now. I’d be kicked out with the cat without getting my deposit back, in the middle of winter!”
Yoon Joo-ho flicked his finger to extinguish the ember and tossed the butt into an ashtray. He always used to throw them on the ground. Even if they looked wild, they could be trained to some extent. If you teach them one thing, they’ll grudgingly do it. How commendable.
Using the cat’s cute face as leverage, Song Hyun-soo approached Yoon Joo-ho, who had just put out his cigarette. He would have stopped if Yoon Joo-ho had seemed genuinely averse, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“Hold him for a moment.”
“No.”
“Ah, just hold him once!”
Reluctantly, Yoon Joo-ho took the cat, placing it on his right arm while wrapping his left arm around it to prevent it from falling. He even stroked its small head and back. Despite his protests, his touch was quite gentle. So much so that Song Hyun-soo felt a pang of envy.
The cat, seemingly enjoying itself, settled into Yoon Joo-ho’s embrace, narrowing its eyes and relishing the touch.
As he monopolized a scene that would make any ‘Yoon Gyeol-ho’ faint, Song Hyun-soo’s curiosity was purely genuine.
“Why don’t you like it? Is it because the house will get dirty?”
Yoon Joo-ho replied nonchalantly, scratching the cat’s forehead with his fingertip.
“Because it will die before I do.”
“……”
Then, he placed the cat on the floor.
As if the affectionate gaze and petting from moments ago were a lie, his hand, which set the cat down, showed no hesitation.
The cat, suddenly placed on the cold floor after being held in a warm embrace, seemed bewildered and spun around in place. Watching it, Song Hyun-soo thought that perhaps Yoon Joo-ho was right. Maybe he had gotten too attached without being able to take responsibility.
He didn’t want to feel that dull ache.
Song Hyun-soo’s life wasn’t so idyllic that he could afford to care for every single emotion. That’s why he had always acted tough.
“Did you have a pet before?”
“……”
Yoon Joo-ho didn’t answer. Then, with his hands shoved into his coat pockets, he looked down at the cat at his feet and said,
“Don’t you want to go to the second round?”
“…Now?”
“I’ll be in the car, so just quietly grab your things and get out.”
“Are we going… just the two of us?”
Yoon Joo-ho looked up, meeting Song Hyun-soo’s eyes.
“Yes.”
“Alright. I’ll just grab my bag.”
Song Hyun-soo, holding the cat under its belly, put it back inside the house for now.
Song Hyun-soo walked towards the restaurant, and Yoon Joo-ho towards his car. After a short distance, he looked back. The cat was standing in front of the house, watching them.
“That one’s not going inside again.”
“If it gets cold, it’ll go in on its own.”
Yoon Joo-ho said without looking back.
Song Hyun-soo, who was about to ask if he wasn’t worried, decided against it.
He felt like he was finally starting to understand the human Yoon Joo-ho, not the one from the media.
That his looking away wasn’t because he wasn’t worried.
That his cold words weren’t because he didn’t care.
It was merely a very thin shield this man wore to protect himself.
■■■
Manager Cha dropped them off at a building on the outskirts of the bustling area, at the entrance of a residential neighborhood. Next to the seven-story building, which primarily housed offices, there was a separate small entrance leading directly to the basement.
The glass door, lacking any signage or even a neon light, was securely locked. No light seeped from beyond the door.
After ringing the bell and waiting a moment, the door lock disengaged. The two pushed open the seemingly ordinary glass door, found in any building, and entered.
Descending the dark, narrow stairs, guided by the flashlight on Yoon Joo-ho’s phone, Song Hyun-soo looked around.
“Is there really a bar here? It looks like a warehouse for storing inventory. You’re not planning to sell me off, are you?”
“It’s not time yet, so don’t worry.”
“……”
“It’ll only fetch a good price after you become a top star.”
Honestly, the way he talks…
Glaring at the back of Yoon Joo-ho’s head, they reached the bottom of the stairs, where indeed, yellow cardboard boxes were piled up everywhere.
They rang the bell on a plain steel door, plastered with stickers for Chinese restaurants and loan sharks. This time, a person came out and opened the door directly.
Inside the door was another world.