“To the house… ?”
He bolted up his body that had been lying down. He should say to refrain from meeting for a while, but rather Dowon was coming this way. The preparation of his heart to organize difficult-to-bring-out words well and talk by phone all became useless. Holding the phone, he bit his lips while crouching on the sofa as is.
─ You’re not lying when you say you’re alone, right?
“…It’s not, that kind of thing.”
At Dowon’s joke not much different from usual, Muyoung naturally narrowed his brow. Whatever he said would only be frustrating stories, so it wasn’t easy to bring out. So answering was all he could do, but even that was in a blunt tone.
The outside glimpsed beyond the balcony was darkly shrouded in darkness. Coming all the way here at this late time would be troublesome too, so why was he coming? Had he heard some news? Or was he really coming to see his face briefly as usual, knowing nothing?
─ First, come down. I parked the car in the parking lot right in front of the door.
“Just, just a moment. I’ll be right there.”
Anyway, he couldn’t tell a person who was already here to go back completely. For now, it seemed okay if he covered his face and went out to quickly get in the car.
After hanging up the phone and standing in front of the mirror, he was shocked. His face was terribly pale. Only after roughly rubbing with both hands did he seem to see what could be called color. First putting on a black ball cap carelessly and wearing a disposable mask, he left the front door.
What should I do? What should I say? Even inside the descending elevator, he looked over his appearance once more and tried to think, but no answer came out at all.
Other than talking about things as they are, no other method even came to mind, but the appearance of Section Manager Kim who had taken him without a word kept flickering before his eyes. Dowon could be different since he’s the party involved… Unable to quite calm down, he kept biting his lips even inside the mask covering more than half his face.
In Muyoung’s eyes coming outside the building, a familiar car standing at the very inside of the parking lot was visible. Being black, feeling fortunate it wasn’t noticeable, after looking around a bit, he immediately approached the car and quickly got his body into the passenger seat. Sure enough, inside Dowon was waiting for Muyoung.
“Were you resting?”
“Ah… yes. That’s right.”
Dowon’s face smiling broadly while passing him the takeout cup placed in the holder was leisurely. Even after getting in the car, when a warm cup was placed in the hands of the flustered Muyoung, the nerves that had been sensitively on edge in various ways finally gently softened. Seeing the subtle tea fragrance rising, it wasn’t coffee.
Whether he’d been quite anxious inwardly without knowing it himself, his cold fingertips now slowly gained warmth. He only then noticed that Dowon’s familiar perfume smell filled the car. Thanks to that, he calmed down a bit more.
“Is there something on your mind?”
“…Pardon?”
“I told you. That everything shows on your face, Muyoung-ssi.”
“…”
He couldn’t reply no to those words because there were things he was worried about. The heart that had been trying hard to endure in the sudden situation crumbling was momentary. Muyoung, who tightly closed both eyes and let out a long sigh, opened his lips unable to even drink the tea held in his hand.
“A bad rumor, a tabloid came out. There’s never been such a thing…”
“Mm, you mean that one claiming I inserted you into the role you’ll take?”
“…You knew?”
“I can’t not know. After all, that’s what I see every day.”
“Seeing every day…”
“No, it’s not work, but those kinds of rumors are separately managed. Both by the household and personally. No matter how light, such things are also information, so they’re useful.”
I see… He only then thought that even if not now, he would have known sometime. He seemed to understand a bit what CEO Choi was worried about. Probably he considered the gap between himself and Dowon, and moreover, from the position of an actor, he would have thought the position of a person named Han Dowon wasn’t necessarily all good.
“It’s okay if you don’t keep showing your face, but drink the tea a bit. No one will see inside here right now.”
“Ah…”
Muyoung only then realized he’d been talking while continuously wearing the mask. At the same time, that he was fearing others’ gazes and a crisis that wouldn’t happen. What was surprising was Dowon reading all of that even better than himself. As he said, he might be a too-easily-read person.
Taking off the mask and placing it on his knees, he took a sip of tea. As warm tea spread inside his body, his tightened insides became somewhat comfortable. His tensed shoulders sank downward. Feeling the gaze continuously looking at him, glancing to the side, he met eyes with Dowon as is.
“…”
He couldn’t avoid it. He wanted to appropriately avert his gaze first as is, but it didn’t work well. The hand holding the cup kept fidgeting and moving, and his moving lips didn’t know what words to spit out, so they were firmly hidden and held.
“Did you eat?”
Thud, the large hand that approached pressed and pulled out the held lips, and the thumb lightly brushed his cheek and withdrew. Only then did the gaze that had been continuously looking at Dowon’s face move to his hand. The strong-looking hand with prominently bulging veins standing out. And right next to it, at the perfume smell felt strongly in that moment, he struggled to hold onto his consciousness and endured his head trying to move following the hand.
“No, it’s too late too, and… I have no appetite.”
“Something like a tabloid…”
Whether he noticed Muyoung startled at the word tabloid, or whether he was choosing his words. For quite a while, Dowon didn’t continue his words. Unable to do anything but wait quietly, he was just watching for Dowon’s mouth to open. Was he trying to say it’s difficult after all? That they shouldn’t meet until it’s settled since it already happened?
“It’ll probably disappear soon. Muyoung-ssi just needs to spend time as usual.”
“For a while I have to stay only at home… So meeting became difficult.”
“Can’t we just meet like today?”
“No, no matter what…”
Since nothing’s been resolved right away, I can’t guarantee. The moment he felt the muttering voice approach close, Dowon’s face was visible right in front of his nose. The streetlight outside crossing one side of his face, the darkened pupils glistened. The movement of the black, deep-colored pupils examining here and there all over his face was vivid.
“Whatever you’re worried about, if it harms Muyoung-ssi’s body, isn’t that not good?”
The touch brushing the area around his lips once more was careful. It seemed the trace of biting caught Dowon’s eye.
At the unexpected point, Muyoung turned his head toward the car window and covered his mouth with his palm. At that appearance, Dowon, who let out small laughter, withdrew the body that had approached close and sat properly in his seat.
“Take care of meals well and rest even better than usual. If you can’t go out, you’ll only be at home.”
“…They said to do the schedule.”
“That’s fortunate. If the agency can’t judge properly swept up by that thing, I was going to take measures directly.”
Muyoung was briefly confused about what he meant. After noticing Dowon had casually said something scary, his expression distorted strangely.
Was it sincere? It must be sincere, right?
Since all the things that happened today were a series of fluster, Muyoung had made vows dozens of times that he’d be more careful in anything anywhere from now on. But Dowon was rather dissatisfied with his agency more than the tabloid, so it was a bit confusing.
“Today I told the company that I know CEO-nim, so there won’t be any misunderstanding about CEO-nim.”
“Really? Then now they know all of Muyoung-ssi’s trait too?”
“That’s… right?”
“That’s good.”
He felt sorry toward Dowon. He thought perhaps Dowon might have been swept in because of his selfishness. Though he was a kind person who looked after his surroundings, he felt shameless today, himself who was just helplessly leaning. Even though he came all the way to the front of his house, since he had to be careful about movements, he was reluctant even to take him inside.
What he was most sorry about was Dowon’s attitude as if he already knew everything he was worried about. If it were usual, he was shameless enough to freely joke at least once asking to come inside or when he’d let him sleep over, but now he was silently staying by his side.
Muyoung, who couldn’t know what point was good in the current situation, was curious about Dowon’s meaning but didn’t particularly add words. Just slowly drinking the appropriately cooled tea and calmly going over what happened today again.
What happened couldn’t be settled immediately. He himself had no ability to resolve it. Even CEO Choi had just said it would be better not to step forward even if it was unfair. But it also wasn’t something that could be hidden at all. For now, doing what he had to do as usual was right.
Thanks to that, even the things he’d been hiding from CEO Choi and Section Manager Kim were somewhat organized, so that was fortunate among things. …Ah, was it a story that it was good there was no misunderstanding?
“I’ll make sure there are no misunderstandings from now on too.”
“To the company, if you inform them at least about your trait or that you’re close, it’ll be comfortable for Muyoung-ssi too. That way they can respond.”
“That’s true, but CEO-nim’s story is also mixed in…”
“Honestly, I felt good.”
“Pardon…?”
He wondered what this was about again. Muyoung knew too well that rumors always chase stimulation rather than truth, and the more they spread, the farther they get from truth. It was familiar since it was something he’d experienced sickeningly since childhood. But Dowon seemed different. Since he was a person who had to take responsibility for a company and was a member of a group everyone knew, he thought he’d be more sensitive to worse rumors than himself. But saying he felt good.
“It means someone noticed I’m interested in Muyoung-ssi.”
“That’s… No, is that something to feel good about?”
“Because they even kindly linked us? Though I’m a bit sorry I haven’t done that much.”
Of course, I know I was used in a dirty story. Don’t worry. Dowon’s face answering gently while shrugging his eyebrows was no different from usual, so Muyoung felt deflated.
Like that, until emptying one cup of tea, Dowon kept making Muyoung give empty laughs with words that were unclear whether sincere or joking.
Had an hour passed? The building’s lights went out one by one. At Dowon’s words to go in now and rest deeply without thinking about anything, they parted with a much more comfortable heart.
Only after returning home and lying down did he realize that, unlike himself, Dowon hadn’t drunk anything in the car.
To be continued in Volume 2
