“…….”
Sungjin held his breath and waited for Yuwon to turn his gaze away. However, regrettably, what awaited Sungjin was Yuwon’s voice coming from right behind him.
“What are you doing there?”
“……!”
Sungjin almost screamed like a puppy whose tail was stepped on, but barely came to his senses.
“Ah. Well….”
What should I answer to not look like a strange person? As Sungjin desperately racked his brain and avoided eye contact, Yuwon stared intently at his face and then suddenly asked.
“Do you drink coffee in the morning?”
“What?”
At the sudden question attack, a stupid reaction came out first. When Sungjin opened his eyes wide and asked back, Yuwon asked again.
“I’m asking if you drink coffee in the morning.”
“Uh….”
He didn’t prefer drinking coffee on an empty stomach, but he didn’t refuse and drank what colleagues bought for him. Sungjin rolled his eyes and hesitated before opening his mouth.
“Sometimes?”
Then Yuwon asked back like a cafe employee taking an order.
“Between americano and latte, which do you like?”
If I’m drinking it on an empty stomach, it’s better to have a latte than an americano. Sungjin obediently answered.
“Latte, I guess….”
“Between hot and iced?”
In this hot weather, he didn’t want to drink a hot latte from the morning. Although the air conditioner was running at full power 24 hours a day, it didn’t offset the hot image given by the outside scenery.
“Iced….”
When Sungjin answered awkwardly, Yuwon finally smiled, twisting his pretty lips as if satisfied.
“Sit over there. I’ll make you a cup.”
“What? No….”
“No need to decline. It’s automatic anyway, so it’ll be ready quickly.”
Whether Sungjin declined or not, Yuwon just pulled out a chair, made him sit down, then pushed him back into the table. Sungjin, who was suddenly trapped between the table and chair, ended up waiting for Yuwon to make coffee for him while being bewildered.
So suddenly? He was flustered and at the same time afraid of the aftermath. What is he trying to do again? The hostility toward him that he felt throughout yesterday’s filming was definitely not an illusion created by his victim mentality. Sometimes he treated him well, then his attitude changed like flipping a palm again, so he still couldn’t figure out what intention he had.
‘Why is he doing this to me….’
It was bewildering because it was something he’d never experienced in his life. Usually, classmates of Yuwon’s type either treated him like invisible air or ridiculed him as a laughingstock, but Yuwon repeatedly treated him well and then tormented him.
Sungjin didn’t have the ability to distinguish what his true feelings were. If he’s going to torment me, why does he only torment me from the beginning, why does he pretend to be nice and then change course? While Sungjin desperately racked his brain and tried to make a rational inference, Yuwon filled an empty glass with ice, poured milk, and even added a shot to complete a latte and brought it over.
“Do you need syrup?”
Right now, even if I drink it, I won’t know what it tastes like, so syrup doesn’t matter. Sungjin shook his head.
“Here.”
Sungjin stared blankly at the latte held out in front of him, then gave his thanks in a daze.
“Thank, you….”
And then Yuwon’s CCTV-like gaze followed. As if to monitor whether Sungjin drank the latte to the end, a blatant gaze landed on Sungjin’s face.
Honestly, it was burdensome. Sungjin deliberately kept his eyes down on the table and sipped the latte. Because the machine used was a good product and the beans were also top-grade, it tasted good. The problem was that Sungjin wasn’t in a state to distinguish what kind of taste it was.
Sungjin squeezed his eyes shut like a sinner receiving poison and emptied the cup. When the bottom was revealed in an instant with only ice remaining, Yuwon, who had been watching him silently, asked.
“Not enough? Want to drink more?”
Sungjin reflexively answered in shock.
“No! I’m fine!”
How long do I have to sit here like this? All he could think about was wanting to escape from this seat. However, Yuwon didn’t seem to have any intention of getting up from his seat.
“…….”
“…….”
Why? Why isn’t he leaving and enduring in front of me? Just as Sungjin, who had been watching his reactions, was enduring with his head bowed as well, Yuwon suddenly reached out his hand. Sungjin unconsciously flinched. However, Yuwon’s fingertip stopped just before touching below Sungjin’s chin.
“The mole here. Do you know about it?”
“What?”
At the unexpected sentence that came one after another, Sungjin couldn’t catch what he heard at once for a moment, then barely realized.
“Ah. No….”
It was a place he’d never particularly paid attention to in his life, so he didn’t even know there was a mole in such a place.
When Sungjin answered indifferently, Yuwon’s fingertip finally poked the part located almost at the nape of his neck.
“It’s here. Like it’s asking to be kissed there.”
It was a voice mixed with laughter like a faint wind sound. Sungjin hurriedly covered the back of his neck with his hand. Is this… sexual harassment? Normally, it would be a situation one would think of as flirting, but for Sungjin, who had lived too much of his life being ridiculed, it was just bewildering talk. And at the same time, thoughts like ‘Who would think such a thing?’ passed through his mind. Just as he confidently denied that no one would think such a thing looking at his nape.
‘Huh…?’
From several years ago, the memory of a moment that he could now barely distinguish whether it was a dream or reality passed through his mind. The moment when a man with an impression similar to Lee Yuwon persistently kissed and sucked on the back of his neck. At that instant, Sungjin felt like all the blood was draining from his body.
So, could it be… that the man he met that day, the person he unintentionally stood up and ran away from, wasn’t just someone who looked similar but could actually be Lee Yuwon himself…? Is that possible? Can such a thing happen in the world?
Sungjin, whose face had turned completely pale, reviewed his first meeting with Lee Yuwon.
When they sat next to each other in business class on the plane, Yuwon acted restlessly to a strangely noticeable degree. Looking back now, he thought that perhaps it might have been behavior trying to draw his attention or interest.
Then when we met at the studio, he persistently asked if we were ‘meeting for the first time.’ His attitude was exactly like someone frustrated that I didn’t remember Yuwon. And there, Sungjin had very confidently answered as if to say what else would we be if not meeting for the first time.
It was from then. That Yuwon, who had greeted him with a kind attitude like a merciful cat, suddenly started coming at him aggressively.
‘Ah…?’
If the reason Yuwon changed his attitude like flipping a palm was because I didn’t remember him, everything makes sense. It was a moment when all the doubts until now were resolved. Sungjin’s face turned white in real time. The curiosity gradually began to fade, but he wasn’t happy at all. Rather, an even greater, enormous despair was waiting for Sungjin.
“…….”
Yuwon, who immediately caught the change in Sungjin’s expression, smiled crookedly. Then, curving the corners of his elegant cat-like eyes, he asked.
“Why are you so nervous? Like someone who committed a crime.”
That one sentence seemed to be saying this. I know what you did in America three years ago.
“…….”
Even if he had not ten mouths but a hundred, he had nothing to say. Suspicion soon turned into certainty. Until now, I thought I’d lived decently in my own way, but to think I’d meet the target of the one mistake I made in my life in a place like this. The person he’d thought until now was just someone who looked like Lee Yuwon was actually the real Lee Yuwon? No matter how small the world is, how are Yuwon and I acquainted? Even though they say enemies meet on a narrow bridge, this was a disaster beyond measure.
As Sungjin, like a cornered mouse, couldn’t say anything and trembled with a completely pale face, Yuwon spoke with a quite satisfied face.
“I quite like you, Sungjin-ssi. It seems I’m still lacking to be to your liking, so I’ll try harder. You can look forward to it.”
It was the most chilling sentence Sungjin had heard in his entire life. What do I do? Should I apologize now for doing wrong? Should I even kneel and beg? Should I say I made a mistake due to a strange misunderstanding while drunk, and I’m sorry for not daring to recognize you?
However, at this very moment, Sungjin was in the middle of a tiger’s den being watched by cameras from all directions. If he apologized to Yuwon in front of the camera with the microphone on, he would definitely be subjected to a barrage of questions from the PD during the interview, the last filming of the day. So right now, no matter what, he had to deny it.
“…….”
Sungjin bit his lips tightly and avoided eye contact. Probably he can’t openly say in front of the camera that we’d already met at a hotel either. His mind went blank about what intention and what thoughts he had in doing this to him.
