“Hey, does that kid do any work?”
Director Kang asked Myeongwoo slyly while everyone was distracted coveting the beef. Myeongwoo, knowing that the person Director Kang was pointing at was Seungun, raised his voice.
“Ah, of course he does! Don’t you know his hand is injured?”
“Really?”
“Why are you suddenly like this? Not like you.”
“I’m asking because I’m worried since he’s our Siyoung’s new manager. Nothing strange, right? Acting weird or anything…. There have been so many weird kids.”
“Sseup, gossiping is a bad habit.”
“Hey, what kind of gossip is this.”
“But why are you whispering like someone who committed a crime?”
“Forget it, what am I even talking to you for. Tsk.”
Director Kang got up from his seat.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m not going anywhere. Everyone, please focus for a moment.”
When Director Kang started speaking, everyone looked at him.
“I want to say thank you for gathering like this despite everyone being busy. Usually this many people don’t gather at company dinners, right? In other words, isn’t this proof that our company atmosphere is good? I’m even more grateful for everyone’s feelings toward Myeongwoo. In fact, you could say this is all the result of what Myeongwoo has built up. How good must a person be to lead people around like the Pied Piper like this.”
Myeongwoo was mortified.
“Director-nim, please sit down! Did you get softhearted with age? Why are you being like this? Huh? Why are you being like this!”
The staff laughed loudly. Director Kang continued undaunted.
“Honestly, just between us, although Actor Gi is the number one contributor who feeds our company, if Myeongwoo hadn’t been cleaning up after him until now, none of us would be sitting here in a cool place grilling and eating meat! I made this gathering because I wanted to praise our Myeongwoo for working so hard.”
Myeongwoo couldn’t stand compliments from others. When Director Kang deliberately exaggerated more and added embellishment, giving a speech that wasn’t a speech, Myeongwoo finally couldn’t stand it and jumped up and forcibly sat Director Kang down.
“You’re being ridiculous! Sit down quickly! Are you already drunk? How much are you going to regret this when you wake up tomorrow?”
“Team Leader Lee Myeongwoo should say a few words too!”
At that moment, one employee stirred things up. Myeongwoo waved his hands. However, another table also stirred things up.
“That’s right, please say a few words!”
“Stand up! Stand up!”
Colleagues tapped glass cups with chopsticks. Myeongwoo, who had been stalling for time, thought ‘forget it’ and jumped up. Then he calmed the noisy surroundings. The faces of many employees, including Myeongwoo who had been drinking, were all flushed. One of them threw out a joke.
“Please tell us how to overcome it when you don’t want to work!”
After pondering, Myeongwoo opened his mouth.
“I just think work is something you have to do with the heart of a tree. When the wind blows, it blows I guess, when someone shakes you, you’re being shaken I guess…. Everyone, have you ever seen a tree move? Of course, if what’s it called, a tremendous tornado blows, it’ll be uprooted. But there aren’t many days like that in life. We all know this. Like a tree that stubbornly stands firm even when rain and wind blow, no, working with the heart of such a tree, somehow I’ve made it to team leader. Let’s not become thin branches but become thick and sturdy trunks!”
“Wow!”
“Well said!”
Colleagues applauded. Myeongwoo scratched the back of his head embarrassedly. That was his habit when he felt awkward. Seungun also clapped along. The heart of a tree. Let’s become thick and sturdy trunks. Very good words.
“In that sense, I really like our Seungun!”
“What? Me?”
Seungun almost spat out the beer he was drinking.
“We picked Seungun really well. It was worth Director Kang and me pushing hard!”
“Why are you like this. Team Leader-nim, you’re drunk too.”
“Drunk? I’m perfectly fine!”
Myeongwoo rubbed his face against Seungun’s cheek. Not satisfied with that, he put him in a headlock and caused a fuss. Seungun gagged. He felt like he was getting tipsy along with him for no reason.
“Where did such a lucky charm come from. Really, the one who works with the heart of a tree isn’t me but Seungun. Do you know what he did last time, Director Kang-nim? I couldn’t tell anyone but… Really this kid, this kid who just came in, last time on set Kim Ho-!”
“I told you you’re really drunk, Team Leader-nim!”
Seungun shoved a carrot into Myeongwoo’s mouth. Myeongwoo opened his eyes drowsily and chewed. Kim Hojun’s name almost came out of that mouth. Of course, it would have entered the ears of those who would hear it, but it wasn’t a good story to spread further.
“I’m not that drunk… And I don’t really like carrots….”
“Drunk people originally repeat what they said, right? Don’t you think Team Leader Myeongwoo is drunk?”
Seungun sought the opinion of the person next to him. An employee who had no interest in what they were talking about nodded and dipped a cheongyang pepper deeply in ssamjang and ate it.
“He’s drunk. But where are we going for the second round? I’m off tomorrow.”
“By the way, I didn’t know much about Seungun-ssi. What’s your family situation like, Seungun-ssi?”
Director Kang, who was nearby, mixed soju and beer appropriately and poured it into Seungun’s empty glass. Until then, Myeongwoo, who had been grabbing and stretching Seungun’s cheek, made a squawk sound and grabbed Director Kang’s shoulder.
“Agh! This is driving me crazy, really! Director-nim!”
“Oh my, what’s wrong? You’re going to give me a heart attack!”
“Haa, please….”
“Please what!”
“Don’t give Seungun burnout! Where is there anyone who asks things like that these days!”
“What? No, I can ask if I’m curious, can’t I?”
“Do you think it’s still the era of Director Kang-nim’s time when you write down mom and dad’s occupations on parent notification forms?”
“I didn’t have that intention, really….”
Director Kang trailed off with an embarrassed face. Seungun rubbed his tingling cheek that Myeongwoo had pinched and pulled so much and awkwardly tilted his drink. The dinner gathering grew more lively. No one thought about going home. Seungun left the noisy place that showed no signs of breaking up and exited the room. He put on his shoes at the shoe rack and left the restaurant.
“It’s hot….”
He decided to walk to the company to sober up. He felt pleasantly tipsy, and the ground beneath his feet spun as if sinking. Seungun, who had been lingering at the company entrance, entered the lobby. His bag was still in the office, so he had to go up to get it.
The office, where everyone had left work, was empty. When he swiped his employee card and entered, the lights turned on automatically. In the meantime, there was a box addressed to Gi Siyoung at his desk. All fan letters and gifts. As soon as they’re cleared, they pile up like this.
Seungun filled his tumbler with ice and cold water to sober up a bit here and returned to his seat. From small and cute fan letters the size of a palm to long fan letters like drawing paper, the shapes and sizes were varied.
“Lots of good words… lots of bad words too… That day just happened to be unlucky. Something like that caught my eye….”
With a hand whose wound still hadn’t completely healed, he picked out a fan letter and opened it. It was a fan letter full of cheesy lines saying oppa’s tears are holy water and whatnot. The cheesy lines they wrote all had similar aspects, so the next cheesy line was somewhat predictable too.
Now I’m going to fold my feelings for oppa… in the shape of a heart…♥
“What is this, uhaha.”
He burst out laughing at the absurd cheesiness. After reading a few, Seungun suddenly fumbled in his pocket for his phone at a thought that struck his mind. This wasn’t the time to be leisurely. He shoved an earphone into one ear hole. He opened the eavesdropping application connected to Gi Siyoung’s phone. A rustling sound rang faintly.
“…Can I hear it.”
He wasn’t sure.
For the past two days, Seungun had observed Gi Siyoung’s every move audibly alone at home. Although he’d committed many more immoral acts than this, this time it felt like he was doing something even worse since it was against a public figure.
Gi Siyoung mainly spent time practicing scripts at home. The sounds in the earphones were mainly occupied by the rustling sound of turning script pages while lying in bed, calm breathing sounds, and line sounds.
He picked up and bit a ballpoint pen to practice pronunciation. He would turn on Korean news and sometimes memorize and repeat exactly what the news anchor with clear pronunciation was talking about. When the news ended, he would switch to an English news channel and shadow long sentences as if reading directly from a prompter.
He thought that since he had grasped so much, effort and such would no longer be necessary in his life, but that wasn’t the case at all. He hadn’t climbed to this position just with his handsome face and body, that is, his innate appearance and the synergy of child actor life.
In places unseen, he poured tremendous effort and passion. His passion wasn’t something so futile and insignificant that President Gu and Min Jihyeon could knock it down.
“……”
Seungun, comfortably leaning back in his chair, quietly closed his eyes. When he heard the rustling sound of him turning script pages, he fell asleep very well like white noise that calmed his mind. Even now, he could hear slightly rustling sounds. With his eyes closed, Seungun sharpened his hearing. Since it was quite late, he thought he might start practicing scripts soon.
– What are you doing, alone?
However, the peaceful time was brief, as a clear voice was heard through the earphones.
What? Is someone with him at home? Seungun thought to himself and opened his closed eyes.
“What am I doing, you ask, alone.”
“Huk.”
Seungun drew in his breath.
He wasn’t with someone. Gi Siyoung was right nearby. He’d been so distracted by the earphone sound that he’d missed the sound of someone approaching. Seeing Gi Siyoung standing with his arm propped on the partition, the alcohol that had pleasantly risen fled. Seungun, caught red-handed, yanked out his earphone, and to make matters worse, his phone rolled and fell out of his pocket.
