# Chapter 100
Jaei began special monitoring as a senior colleague to celebrate Doha’s drama broadcast. However, after just 4 episodes, he stopped watching and cut off all news articles and video clips.
Jaei was a pure fan who wished that the actor “Ryu Doha,” who debuted last year, would find love in reality with his senior, a person called “Lee Jaei.” Because of this, it was quite difficult for him to watch Ryu Doha’s romance with someone else. He had independently blocked some of Doha’s content so that he could continue supporting the relationship between Doha and Jaei.
When Doha’s drama reached its 12th episode, the end-of-year awards ceremony was held at the broadcasting station. According to Jaei’s strategy, Doha easily won the rookie award because he had done two dramas on the same broadcasting station this year. Since his drama was currently airing, it was fair to say that the award was essentially confirmed in advance. But all of this wasn’t achieved through strategy alone. Doha actually acted well and generated a lot of buzz.
Doha, wearing a tuxedo for the first time in his life, calmly delivered his acceptance speech.
“I dedicate this honor entirely to myself who worked so hard. Ah, just kidding. I’d like to tell CEO Lee Jaei, who allowed me to start acting, and my brother ‘Ryu Doha’ in heaven, that they’ve worked hard and should be happy now.”
Jaei, who was very happy to win the Best Couple Award, couldn’t hide his disappointment when he didn’t receive the Best Male Actor Award. Doha, who couldn’t sit at the same table as Jaei due to his new drama, was watching him carefully with a smile. Usually in situations like this, viewers can sense who will receive the Grand Prize. Jaei might have noticed too if he wasn’t the person involved, but it seemed difficult for him to grasp since it was his own business.
As Doha had predicted, Jaei won the joint Grand Prize with the female lead. Doha witnessed for the first time that 8-year-veteran actor Lee Jaei had tears in his eyes while receiving the award. Jaei, who had clung to him all night preparing his Best Actor acceptance speech, held the Grand Prize trophy and spoke clearly with a neat appearance:
“Since my debut, I’ve received a lot of love, but also a lot of hate. Now I’ve become greedy to be loved by more people. This is my first work after breaking away from acting under the shadow of a director’s fame, which I had been doing since my debut. I had many concerns about whether I could continue acting and succeed without the halo of my previous works, and I was always doubting myself. Thank you for giving me the answer that I can continue acting.”
At this moment, Doha knew very well that the camera would focus on him. Currently, Doha’s inner self was crying like a child, shouting “I love you so much, you’re so cute, Jaei,” but he hid it well within his clean exterior and applauded Jaei with a reliable and cool appearance.
* * *
For Jaei, summer was a sad season. Even though Ryu Doha and Lee Jaei officially started dating in June, Ryu Doha’s birthday was in July, and Lee Jaei’s birthday was in August, summer had been remembered as a very sad season for Jaei for a long time.
Jaei still cannot listen to the music he heard in the summer when he was fourteen. If he saw dramas or movies from that period, he would just tightly close his eyes. These things could be avoided if he tried his best, but the unique air and smell that can only be felt in that season couldn’t be avoided no matter how much he tried.
Therefore, what Jaei feared most was the dawn air of summer. The dawn air of the day when he rushed to the hospital after hearing that Doha had been in a traffic accident… Occasionally, when he had to film around 2-3 AM in the summer, he had to overcome sadness and fear alone.
Sensations and memories are connected. The cold air touching his cheek felt just like Doha’s cold corpse touching his hand that day. Doha who had stopped breathing, Doha who no longer remained in the same world as him. Doha’s final appearance consumed his mind. This was a pain he couldn’t tell anyone about. Of course, not even Doha.
He still hadn’t completely overcome it. Because Doha returning to him and suffering from trauma due to past experiences were separate issues. Still, maybe the upcoming summer would be much better than what he had experienced so far. That was why he was looking forward to this summer.
Jaei’s favorite season is definitely winter. Even though he’s sensitive to cold, he liked winter the most. Doha also always chose winter as his favorite season. It’s because it evokes precious memories for both of them. Doha and Jaei, who met in winter, both did things they regretted on the day they first met, but now they had reached the point where both of them not only forgave but even found their past selves adorable.
Doha’s first leading drama successfully concluded. Since all the lead actors were rookies, the ratings weren’t that high, but thanks to Doha, who was good at creating sweet and beautiful scenes with his opposite-gender actor, the response among young people was very good. And as planned by the strategically skilled CEO Lee Jaei, Doha gently settled into the lineup of male lead actors in their 20s. Since he’s only twenty years old, all he needs to do is steadily maintain this upward trend.
These days, Doha is busy filming commercials. The CEO personally made the final confirmation for all advertising contracts. Somehow, rookie Ryu Doha is now in a position where he’s following Lee Jaei’s footsteps and taking away his advertisements one by one. However, no one will know that all of this is CEO Lee Jaei’s strategy.
The intelligent Lee Jaei, who started practicing baduk (Go) during his break and is quickly catching up to Doha’s skill level, has designed Ryu Doha to be the only star-quality actor in his 20s who threatens Lee Jaei’s position. Jaei realized that he has a talent for business.
So, Doha went to work early today for a commercial shoot. Jaei, who was still enjoying his break and rolling around on the floor, checked the date while browsing his phone. Today was that day. The day he first met Doha 20 years ago.
Jaei, who takes daily walks for his mental and physical health, left the house with his face covered by a mask. The snow that had been falling all morning had stopped and the sun had risen, but the snow that hadn’t been swept away still remained unmelted. Jaei, who was heading towards the park, changed direction and walked.
As expected, Haesung Elementary School, currently on vacation, had white snow piled up on its playground. Jaei left his footprints all over the snow as he crossed the playground and sat obediently on the bench where he had received chocolate from Doha, sending a message to his first love from his memories.
[Hey]
[What]
When he sent a childish message, he received an equally childish reply. The most amazing thing about talking with Doha was that replies always arrived within 30 seconds. He heard that Doha works very diligently on set, so how could he reply so quickly? Perhaps it’s because he was originally a soul? He really was a mysterious person.
[I’m not going to tell you where I am but I’m waiting for you now so find me yourself]
[Seriously, excuse me]
[What?]
[I’ll come pick you up within 30 minutes. I’m on my way back from work so it will take some time, so please stay somewhere warm]
Since he happened to be on his way back from work, it seemed that Lee Jaei mysteriously always sent messages at the right timing.
Of course, Jaei thought Doha wouldn’t be able to find him easily. Jaei was alone, immersed in memories, waiting for a call from Doha asking about his whereabouts. With so many places where he and Doha had built memories over 20 years, how would Doha know he was here?
Although it seemed like someone resembling Doha was parking his car in front of the school gate and getting out just 15 minutes after hanging up, and it seemed like that tall man was approaching him with his face hidden behind a black mask, his black coat fluttering, and it seemed like he was approaching him with long strides as if using a space-contracting technique, and holding out a gift box…
“Congratulations on seeing the same man for 20 years, Jaei.”
“Doha, who has been seeing the same man for 20 years, how did you know I was here?”
Jaei, who had removed his mask, couldn’t hide his smile and received the box with a happy face. Instead, Doha tilted his head at Jaei’s question. On this special day marking 20 years since they met, when asked to come to a specific place, wouldn’t it be stranger not to think of this place? If he had thought of a different place, he should rightfully be broken up with.
Doha, seated on the bench, watched with interest as Jaei opened the gift box. The gift was prepared in advance for today. The box was filled with only mint chocolate. After confirming that there wasn’t a single flavor he liked, Jaei laughed heartily and then stuck his finger into the box and stirred around. As his fingertips felt the bottom of the box, Jaei’s fingers soon grabbed something and pulled it out. It was a cinnamon-flavored candy.
Jaei, who had fallen into Doha’s trap, carefully unwrapped it, removed Doha’s mask, and popped it into his mouth. Then he started exploring the box again.
After a while, Jaei, with an expression like a fisherman who had caught a big fish, vigorously pulled up something shiny. Doha playfully said to the delighted Jaei:
“This is a wedding ring. Since you took care of the house, I took care of the ring, honey.”
“Thank you very much. I’ll wear this for all my schedules from now on. Honey, you still have a long way to go, so don’t wear yours yet.”
“Yes, it’s really cowardly, but I’ll pretend to be single for the time being. Ah, and…”
While Jaei was putting the ring on his finger, Doha got up from his seat and started gathering and forming the snow piled on the ground with his bare hands. And the moment Jaei raised his head, Doha placed a round snowball on top of Jaei’s head and shouted:
“This is a veil!”
“Aah! Cold!”
Jaei, who was unilaterally attacked again, shouted with laughter. He scooped up the snow piled on his head with his hands and returned it to Doha. Knowing that there was no chance of winning a full-fledged snowball fight, Jaei tightly hugged Doha’s arms and waist to prevent him from moving, and said:
“Let’s meet here in the future too, Doha. Let’s live together to our heart’s content in this life, and meet here again in the next life.”
Doha brushed off the snowflakes that had settled on Jaei’s crown and gently kissed him. Then he firmly promised:
“Yes, let’s absolutely not miss each other.”
