Articles about the major accident Haeseong had experienced this time poured out like bamboo shoots after rain, and in an instant, public sympathy for Haeseong spread like wildfire while criticism of Director Jo Yeongchun flooded out. Additionally, Kim Woonjung, who had thrown himself to save Haeseong, rose to the surface and was currently gathering exceptional popularity.
The drama collapsed right before airing, resulting in massive losses, but the ripple effects it caused were tremendous. The corruption Director Jo Yeongchun had committed in the past surfaced and was re-examined, and famous celebrities involved in those incidents were being pulled out like dried croakers strung together. The entire country was in an uproar due to issues popping up every other day.
The atmosphere flowing toward Haeseong wasn’t bad. News spread to the public about a CF appearance featuring Jin Haeseong and Kim Woonjung together, which had been contracted beforehand. People sent their support with one voice, anticipating what kind of chemistry would burst forth between the two—one who saved the other from crisis, and one who received that grace.
The atmosphere flowing on the surface like that was truly good, but……
“……”
Euiju, sitting in the driver’s seat, stared straight ahead with a tired face. Only Haeseong, sitting in the passenger seat, was grabbing and shaking Euiju’s right hand placed on the gear shift while shouting.
“Don’t go. I said I don’t want you to. I’m scared! Didn’t you say you’d give it to me whenever I needed it? Was all that a lie?!”
Haeseong’s loud voice filled the van and rang out. He glared at Euiju, who was chewing his lower lip and staring ahead indifferently.
“Huuu……”
Euiju and Haeseong had already been in a standoff for nearly 30 minutes.
They had met with a magazine company that had always treated Haeseong well, conducted an interview about the situation at the time of the accident, finished the interview in a comfortable atmosphere, and had just returned to Haeseong’s house. Up until then, the mood between the two had been good and sweet.
The problem started when Haeseong wouldn’t let Euiju leave.
“Don’t go.”
So stubborn was he that Haeseong was throwing a fit and making a fuss, saying that if Euiju didn’t sleep at his house, in his bed, he would talk to the company and have him fired.
“Sleep here and go. Stay with me……”
Euiju, who had a troubled expression, let out a deep sigh. Then he pulled his hand free from Haeseong’s grasp in one motion.
“Fine. Have it your way. I just won’t come to work starting tomorrow, right?”
“…What did you say?”
With those words, Euiju unbuckled his belt and got out of the car. Haeseong, who had been momentarily dazed, also urgently unbuckled his belt and got out of the car after him. Haeseong grabbed Euiju around the waist as he was gathering his luggage from the trunk.
“What are you doing right now?”
“Haeseong-ah. As you know, I absolutely have to go home.”
“……”
“I told you if you don’t want to go to my house, let’s go to my place together. I clearly presented a solution. Despite that, you’re the one being strangely stubborn. Aren’t you?”
“……”
“Just how many minutes has this been going on.”
It was true. Euiju had presented a solution, and Haeseong had ignored it.
Haeseong’s mouth, which had been about to spew out some rebuttal, closed. The air that had instantly become awkward circled between Euiju and Haeseong.
“…I don’t want to go to ahjussi’s house.”
“Why don’t you want to go? Is it too cramped? Is it because the kids are noisy?”
At Euiju’s question, Haeseong just stuck out his lower lip several times but gave no answer. That appearance was like a child who seemed to want to avoid saying the reason, unwilling to speak, so Euiju narrowed his eyes.
“…The new caregiver lady is uncomfortable. Ahjussi is way more comfortable.”
Haeseong, who had avoided the question, gave an off-topic answer. He was talking about the caregiver the company had hired for him because his arm was uncomfortable. She was a professional company employee who mainly dealt only with VIPs—what could be uncomfortable about that?
“Choose. Will you just go up, or will you follow me?”
“……”
Haeseong seemed to ponder as if deliberating. Watching such a Haeseong, Euiju felt puzzled.
When he had come last time, although he had said the house was cramped, he had stayed without much discomfort. He had spent time with the twins not badly, and had eaten the meals prepared for him well without leaving anything. Of course, he did have a strange war of nerves with Roun… but still, being this reluctant to go seemed a bit strange.
“…Fine. I’ll just go up.”
Haeseong smoothly released Euiju’s waist that he had been holding. Soon his back view trudging toward the private elevator after turning around looked very lonely, causing Euiju to almost grab him for a moment.
However, he couldn’t follow. Once he started allowing it, there was a strong possibility he would continue to be stubborn from then on.
Euiju, who had been watching for a long while until Haeseong’s pitiful back view disappeared, forcibly turned his body around. He quickly left the parking lot, lest he end up chasing after his actor if he stayed any longer.
Euiju, who had arrived home, didn’t go inside but sat in a corner of the yard and stared at one number for a long while.
「Seo Jiyul. 010-86XX-XXXX」
“Haa……”
He really wondered if he had to go this far.
Director Jin Yeongseol had made a truly strange request of Euiju.
—Euiju-ssi, you stick with Haeseong all day so you would know well. That there are many girls interested in Haeseong. Among them, is there a girl Haeseong has looked at with interest?
Euiju, flustered by the unexpected topic, blinked his eyes. He soon came to his senses under Jin Yeongseol’s sharp gaze and opened his mouth.
—…There have been many who showed interest in Haeseong, but there has never been a case of the opposite.
—Even if there isn’t, you could set up a meeting at least once. It’ll help with the next project, so please cooperate.
“Haa……”
According to what he heard in detail from Secretary Kim, the next project was a romance genre and Haeseong couldn’t get a grasp on it at all.
But he couldn’t understand why they were trying to solve that through actual dating, and also really couldn’t understand why that had to be carried out under the manager’s lead.
Discouraging actors or idols from dating was an old practice. Unlike in the past, these days it had become frequent to deliberately arrange places for dates and such. It was a kind of safety measure telling them to date safely without getting caught, so to speak.
Not long ago. Euiju had run into Jiyul by chance at the broadcasting station.
—My number? Is there something wrong?
—No. It’s not anything else…… That is, well…… Could you give me your number…?
Seo Jiyul crossed her legs back and forth as if embarrassed and made a shy face. Euiju looked at that appearance as if puzzled, then recalled something and carefully asked back.
—By any chance, are you interested in actor Jin Haeseong?
—…Yes? Ah, that’s not…… Ah, that’s right. It’s because of that! So I… Ahjussi, please give me your number!
—There’s nothing wrong with that. If you give me Jiyul-ssi’s number, I’ll call you.
—Kyaa! That’s great!
To think he would use the number he obtained like that this quickly.
Since she had said she was interested in Haeseong first, she would be suitable as Haeseong’s date partner. The problem was that it didn’t seem like Haeseong would agree to do it.
Euiju, who had been suffering from a headache with his head leaning against the wall, let out a deep sigh.
“Huu… Let me at least try asking.”
Euiju began composing a text message to send to Seo Jiyul.
***
“I’ll do it.”
Euiju doubted his own ears and raised his head with a jerk.
“What?”
“I said I’ll try dating. Set a date and tell me.”
Euiju, who had been tensely braced in case harsh words came back, stared at Haeseong while doubting his own ears once more. Haeseong, who had been rubbing his eyes, continued speaking indifferently as if there was nothing to deliberate about.
“Well, I’ve been thinking about it inwardly. That fucking… whatever instructor nagged so much about how you have to try that kind of dating for that kind of acting to improve. But listening to it, that also seems to be true. The shooting is right away, so I have to try something.”
“…I see.”
As if to show he was serious about acting, there were clear traces of him having been troubled about this part. Euiju, who hadn’t expected him to agree at all, asked back in a daze.
“Don’t you have a girl you like? Is Jiyul-ssi okay? You found that girl quite disagreeable before.”
“If I’m doing it for experience anyway, it doesn’t matter who I do it with. Ah, not there—a bit higher up.”
At Haeseong’s request, Euiju rhythmically kneaded the muscles leading to the inside of his thighs. Now his hand gestures were so skilled that to anyone watching, they would look like those of a massage therapist with 10 years of experience.
Euiju continued speaking while gauging Haeseong’s mood.
“…Still, it would be good to do it with someone you have a favorable impression of. The purpose of dating is to do it because you want to feel those kinds of emotions.”
“Ah. I’ll take care of it myself. Seriously, such nagging……”
“Okay, okay. Then I’ll set up an appointment and tell you.”
Lest he upset Haeseong’s mood, Euiju patted his calf soothingly.
Even to Euiju’s thinking, the fact that Haeseong accepted and agreed to do the absurd proposal was itself a miracle. Since he had expected to face Haeseong’s expression full of indignation as soon as he brought up the topic, he had to be satisfied with the current situation.
Thanks to injuring his arm, Haeseong, who had almost all his schedules canceled, was enjoying a honey-sweet holiday. While Haeseong was resting, Euiju had tried to spend intimate time with the children after a long while, but Euiju, who had been called all the way to Haeseong’s house on the grounds that his body was uncomfortable, had to knead Haeseong’s legs here and there as he was told. Even though there were many days now when he didn’t seem to be in pain, Haeseong enjoyed Euiju’s touch to the fullest. Euiju also knew that fact all too well, but since he was just seeking affection, he simply went along with whatever he was asked to do.
Haeseong, who had been lying comfortably sprawled on the bed, suddenly grabbed Euiju’s idle hand.
“Hm?”
Euiju, whose hand had been grabbed, looked at Haeseong with a puzzled expression.
