By Zephyria ■■■
“Hyung, hyung! How was it yesterday?”
As soon as Jung-ho arrived at work, he ran straight into the kitchen without even putting down his bag. Song Hyun-soo, who was slicing kimchi, greeted him indifferently.
“What?”
“The script reading! Tell me everything from beginning to end!”
Jung-ho, grabbing his waist and leaning in close, exhaled hot breath. His long hair tickled Song Hyun-soo’s cheek. Song Hyun-soo pushed him away with his elbow.
“Gross. Get away from me.”
“How was Shin Hyo-jin in person? She looks a bit plain on screen, but she’s a celebrity, so she must be incredibly pretty in person, right? Han Joo-young, they say he’s a huge gold spoon and an only son, living in his own little world, is that true? What about Yoon Joo-ho? Does Yoon Joo-ho really drink $400 water? And you said he’s picky about status, right? Did he completely ignore you because you’re a rookie? If he did, I’ll post about it online for you… Ugh, ugh.”
Song Hyun-soo covered Jung-ho’s mouth as he bombarded him with questions.
“Blah blah blah. Are you asking me to answer or not? And my head is ringing, so please shut up.”
“Who do you mean by ‘you guys’? There’s no one else here but me.”
Who else? It’s you and Han Joo-young.
Putting down the knife he was using to slice kimchi and picking up a spatula, Song Hyun-soo answered inwardly.
Sniff, sniff. Jung-ho, who had moved away for a moment, stuck close again and sniffed around Song Hyun-soo’s shoulder.
“You have dark circles, your lips are chapped, and you reek of alcohol… You drank a lot at the company dinner yesterday, hyung!”
“Yeah, so keep your voice down.”
“Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen you hungover, hyung! For someone who can drink like you, to be this way… Ah! Yoon Joo-ho forced you to drink, didn’t he? Right, hyung?”
Song Hyun-soo began scooping the pre-cooked rice onto the kimchi spread at the bottom of the pot.
“Why are you so determined to paint Yoon Joo-ho as a bad guy? Do you owe him money you can’t get back?”
“It’s not that, it’s just that he seems like the kind of person who would do that.”
“Sorry to disappoint, but I drank it with my own hands.”
Song Hyun-soo glanced at Jung-ho, his hands not stopping from scooping rice.
“But, they say Han Joo-young is a gold spoon?”
Jung-ho nodded several times.
“Both his maternal and paternal families are in business. But Han Joo-young’s parents don’t seem interested in management. They’re both professors in America.”
“You should have told me sooner.”
So, he was indeed a gold spoon. The idea of shared suffering was clearly a futile dream.
Jung-ho’s eyes lit up from over Song Hyun-soo’s shoulder.
“Why? Did Han Joo-young look down on you? Did he make you feel small?”
“You’re speaking as if Han Joo-young looked down on me and I felt small?”
“No way! Anyone who looks down on hyung, I’ll immediately post on the internet… Ugh!”
Song Hyun-soo shoved the spatula into Jung-ho’s mouth as he flailed his ten fingers. Then, searching the shelf for sesame oil, he said.
“Han Joo-young isn’t even famous yet. You really know all the gossip in the entertainment industry, don’t you?”
“Well, it’s all thanks to YouTube.”
It wasn’t a compliment. Jung-ho puffed out his chest proudly and diligently licked off the rice grains stuck to the spatula.
Finally, Song Hyun-soo drizzled sesame oil over the rice, closed the pot lid, and turned down the heat. Even just with kimchi and sesame oil, a delicious aroma was already rising.
“Ah, hyung! Where are you going? You said you’d tell me the story!”
As Song Hyun-soo moved away from the stove, Jung-ho, unwilling to give up, pounced again.
“I’m going to smoke a cigarette, why?”
“Are you already distancing yourself from us because you’re filming a movie with Yoon Joo-ho? That’s too much.”
“No. I’m distancing myself because I dislike you.”
Answering with a serious expression, Jung-ho pouted his lips and finally backed away.
“Just guard the pot well.”
“Kimchi fried rice again?”
“So, you’re not eating it?”
“Who said I’m not eating it? I’m happy about it, hyung’s pot of kimchi fried rice.”
He chuckled at the sly remark and grabbed his jumper. As he was about to go out the back door, Song Hyun-soo stopped, his hand on the doorknob, and looked back at Jung-ho.
“Ah, and.”
“Yes?”
“Yoon Joo-ho drinks Samdasoo too.”
Leaving Jung-ho standing blankly with the spatula, he stepped outside.
The weather was getting colder day by day.
News outlets warned daily of the worst cold spell in 20 years this winter. Song Hyun-soo shivered and zipped up his jumper all the way. The worst cold spell in 20 years… Residents of rooftop apartments would have to put up bubble wrap on their windows.
He took a drag from his lit cigarette, exhaled a long stream of smoke, and pulled out his phone. His thumb automatically navigated to the SNS app. The app showed him random, similar posts.
“Just by looking, they shaved their jaw with a filter. They should at least shave it reasonably. Yoon Joo-ho’s jawline isn’t even this sharp. How much did they lengthen their legs? Excuse me, the utility poles in the back are all crooked, you know?”
Song Hyun-soo felt indignant towards the fake handsome guys on SNS, who had tens of thousands of followers. If you think I’m seething with jealousy, you’re right. It’s true. It made my stomach ache that people who are all fake get attention, notice, and sponsorships.
Once upon a time, Song Hyun-soo also had nearly 100,000 followers. Thanks to having a friend who was a popular Hallyu idol.
He had once uploaded a photo taken with Choi Hong-seo without thinking, and his followers increased by over 30,000 in a few hours. He had been terrified, thinking something had happened. Recalling the memory, Song Hyun-soo let out a small laugh, but his smile suddenly faded. He put a cigarette to his lips, his laughter gone.
Some of Choi Hong-seo’s fans started idolizing Song Hyun-soo, Choi Hong-seo’s friend, and claimed to be fans themselves. They left comments in English, Chinese, some foreign language he’d never seen before, or awkward Korean that sounded like it came from a translator. They weren’t followers who would help him land roles. But it didn’t matter. He was grateful to them for supporting him just because he was Choi Hong-seo’s friend. A very small number of them even became genuine fans of Song Hyun-soo.
However, after ‘that incident,’ Song Hyun-soo completely deleted his account from that time.
He started a new account when he began going to theater, meaning when he started trying to move forward.
Freed from the algorithm, Song Hyun-soo navigated to his account home.
576 posts, 2649 followers, 324 following.
The number of followers hadn’t changed. Only two more than yesterday? This was the reality of an unknown actor with no significant works. He clicked on the most recent post. Photos and videos of cats uploaded last night.
song.h.soooo Found a stray cat family living in the restaurant parking lot
Here, mother cat Tricolor who recently gave birth, and her four kittens
All the other siblings are playing well, but this little booger is scared alone.
This one keeps looking as if it wants to play but doesn’t come. Hey, how are you going to live in this harsh world like that?
little_coco They’re totally lap cats, or maybe the older brother is popular with the cats?
s_jooo97 First time I’ve been jealous of a cat lol. All the babies are so cute.
nueee1018_ Hyun-soo, why are you suddenly using such terrible English lol
h0ng_h0lic Oh, four kittens… four…
no_pro.blem @h0ng_h0lic That’s not the problem right now.
urrvoice_jy @h0ng_h0lic I’m so worried about my oppa, wondering how he’s going to live in this harsh world.
kichic_kai37_01 What’s with the naming sense lol. Tricolor because of the pattern, and Nose-booger because of the smudge next to her nose lol. Oppa, please lol.
bombom.yr0423 @kichic_kai37_01 Later, you must let your wife name your children…
w0rld.howlive_zngd ‘Imma’ X ‘Inma’ O
xohongxosong Oppa, it’s okay, we don’t like you because you’re good at English.
chochoahco1224 @xohongxosong This foreign fan is killing oppa twice ㅠㅠ
wh_a_thap_ Even though he says that, it’s probably Nose-booger that Hyun-soo oppa cares about the most.
kitykikeywt @wh_a_thap_ lol, exactly.