“Open the door.”
Yoo Sinju gave the order radiating a terrifying energy. He always carried a bored, cold air about him, but it was the first time the atmosphere had been this unsettling. Shim Yanggu gripped the back door handle with sweaty palms and opened it. Even though it was an automatic door, Shim Yanggu opened it by hand. Yoo Sinju climbed in without looking back and pressed the door-close button without hesitation. Shim Yanggu got back into the driver’s seat and waited for the new manager who was following behind. But the moment he sat down, a short command came.
“Go.”
“……Pardon?”
The new manager hadn’t even gotten in yet.
“I said go. Can’t you hear me?”
“Ah, no, the manager is still—”
“Who said he’s the manager.”
“…….”
“Go. If you don’t go right now, you’re fired. Today.”
Shim Yanggu started the engine in a panic. The moment the manager reached out to open the door, the car shot off. Then, with a tearful face, Shim Yanggu looked in the side mirror and apologized on Yoo Sinju’s behalf.
Moon Heesung, who had been watching the van speed away, blinked quietly. Yoo Sinju, who had been forced to wash up and come out, had glared at him with a face that looked utterly betrayed by the world. He looked more than a little wounded in his pride, furious at being disregarded. But Moon Heesung didn’t so much as flinch and held out the change of clothes. It was one of the week’s worth of outfits the stylist team had prepared in advance according to the schedule. Moon Heesung, who had already been fully briefed, was handling everything smoothly and competently. As if that made it even more infuriating, Yoo Sinju’s lips had trembled.
Recalling that scene just moments ago, Moon Heesung watched the car disappear into the distance and let out a faint smile. They had met again after a long time, and exchanged (?) words after a long time, but there was only one impression left.
He really hadn’t changed.
Still shameless, still brazen.
The faint smile that had surfaced at the memory of him as a child slowly faded. He hadn’t changed, but… Moon Heesung, who had already quietly taken in everything — the pill bottles visible throughout the apartment, the home devoid of any warmth, the countless empty liquor bottles and the injection marks he had glimpsed in passing — let out a silent sigh.
He hadn’t changed, but…he was more broken than expected.
**
When Yoo Sinju arrived at the filming set, all the staff glanced at him with wide, surprised eyes. He was so notorious for showing up late and not showing up at all that some staff members even checked the time when they saw him. The sun must be rising in the west. No way, Yoo Sinju of all people? Everyone was whispering, but Yoo Sinju looked no less terrifying regardless. His entire attention was consumed by the man who had suddenly appeared.
Having the car pull away from right in front of him had briefly made him smile to himself, as if he’d gotten some small, quiet revenge — but then catching sight of Moon Heesung’s expressionless face briefly in the back window set him off again. That unbothered face was irritating, and yet… seeing him standing there alone, Yoo Sinju thought — just for a moment, just for the briefest possible moment — that maybe he’d left him behind too heartlessly. Of course it was only for the teeeeniest, briefest moment.
“Will he be alright…?”
At the quiet question from Shim Yanggu trailing behind him, Yoo Sinju’s eyebrow twitched.
“Not alright then what. What’s he going to do about it. What’s he going to do to me.”
“…Pardon?”
“Yeah, who told him to act like that toward me? Who does he think he is?”
Yoo Sinju poured it out as if unburdening himself. At that, Shim Yanggu’s eyes widened in confusion.
“…What do you mean……”
At the response of someone who clearly had no idea what he was talking about, Yoo Sinju’s brow furrowed as if it were the other person who didn’t make sense. He had answered assuming it was obviously about the manager he had left behind alone — but.
“The setup time is about an hour, so I was asking if that was… alright with you….”
Yoo Sinju hesitated for a moment, then, unable to hide his embarrassment, turned it around and yelled.
“Damn it…, just tell them no! Tell them that’s out of the question!”
He threw a fit for no good reason and stepped inside the filming set, only to be caught off guard yet again.
“You’re here? Thank you, Sinju.”
“I’ll enjoy this, Sinju!”
“It’s so nice to see your face this early, Sinju. If only it were like this every time—.”
The directors and writers who held key positions on the set all greeted Yoo Sinju warmly. It had been a long time since something like this happened. Staff members showing goodwill on a filming set. They each held a coffee in hand and bowed their heads when they saw Yoo Sinju. He barely had time to raise an eyebrow at their friendly attitude before his gaze was pulled elsewhere.
“All other teams have arrived.”
Moon Heesung was there, respectfully guiding Yoo Sinju toward the prep room. And not just that — he had brought along a few company staff members and was personally handing out pre-prepared coffees to everyone on set. Yoo Sinju let out an incredulous laugh, unable to hide the look of someone who’d just taken a hit.
“…Why are you already. here.”
As Yoo Sinju asked through trembling lips with a forced smile, Moon Heesung replied indifferently.
“Sometimes public transit is faster.”
“…….”
“Of course, you wouldn’t know that, always riding around in a chauffeured car.”
“…….”
“It’s peak traffic hour right now.”
He answered with an indifferent face, completely unfazed. What made it even more infuriating was that after tossing out those offhand remarks, he then turned around and —
“Shall we head in.”
— switched back to that irritatingly polite, formal tone.
“……Are you seriously trying to start something with me?”
It looked exactly like provocation, and Yoo Sinju sharpened his gaze and stared him down. Even at the declaration-of-war tone of the question, Moon Heesung didn’t react at all and said quietly — quietly enough that only Yoo Sinju could hear —
“Go in.”
“…….”
“…I said it twice now.”
Snap.
The face of a Yoo Sinju who had been holding himself together twisted viciously.
“…So you do want to start something….”
Yoo Sinju trembled all over and whispered back in kind. From that moment, an invisible battle between the two of them began.
**
“Why is your face running so hot today?”
Director Myeong Dogyeong, the makeup artist who handled Yoo Sinju exclusively, asked in surprise as she cooled his face with a toner pad. Known simply as Director Myeong. She was a makeup powerhouse who had been steadily working with him since his early days. As someone of her caliber who worked primarily for overseas productions and fashion magazine covers, she wasn’t exactly at the level where she’d trail around after celebrities — but out of loyalty to Yoo Sinju, who had recognized her talent back when she was just starting out, she had continued to handle him exclusively until now. Having known Yoo Sinju since his rookie days, Director Myeong was a powerhouse in another sense entirely — one who took his fussiness in stride without batting an eye.
In the waiting room set up by the filming staff, Yoo Sinju had his legs stretched out against the shelf, eyes closed, leaning back against his chair. The makeup and hair staff assigned to him alone numbered five.
“…There’s a reason.”
“This is going to take over an hour.”
“Fine, let it go over.”
“Fine nothing. Hey, youngest, take out the essence.”
Director Myeong flicked her hand toward a staff member who looked like they’d just started working. At that, the visibly nervous staff member fumbled and rummaged frantically through the bag.
“You didn’t sleep properly either, did you. You’ve got dark circles.”
“……I do, because of someone.”
“Someone… ah, could it be.”
Director Myeong glanced toward the waiting room door and spoke up.
“That new manager who just came in?”
At that, Yoo Sinju, who had kept his eyes closed the whole time, opened them briefly. At the reaction of someone wondering how she knew, Director Myeong let out a small smirk.
“That’s it then.”
“…What is.”
“I heard from the manager.”
“Heard what.”
“That a strange person had come in.”
“What?”
“Had a bit of a run-in with the new manager?”
The new manager had been shut out and wasn’t even allowed to set foot inside the waiting room, stationed only outside the door. Director Myeong had noticed him as she came in — the atmosphere was so still that she had mistaken him for a bodyguard at first, not a manager. It was only after the road manager’s introduction that she finally learned he was the newly arrived manager.
“A run-in? What kind of run-in. Does something like that even qualify to have a run-in with me.”
Yoo Sinju replied as calmly as he could manage.
“Be nice to him. Good people are hard to come by these days.”
“Hard to come by my ass.”
“Finding people isn’t easy. Stop giving the manager such a hard time.”
“Why is Director Myeong worrying about the manager. Are you two dating?”
“Don’t say disgusting things.”
“The manager is actually the devoted-love type, you know. Why don’t you start accepting his feelings already.”
“I like people younger and better-looking than me.”
“The manager would cry if he heard that.”
“Someone like the new manager, for example?”
“What?!”
Right in the middle of that natural, flowing conversation, Yoo Sinju shot upright. With that sudden movement, all the pads that had been placed on his face tumbled off, and the staff who had been working their hands through his hair and pressing essence into his skin all jumped in surprise and stared at him.
“Wh, whoa. What’s wrong?”
Director Myeong was startled too and stared at him wide-eyed, and only then did Yoo Sinju realize he had overreacted — his words caught completely in his throat for a moment. Yoo Sinju sat there gaping blankly for a beat, then sat back down as if nothing had happened.
“I was startled because you said something ridiculous… that’s all.”
“…Did I say something so outrageous?”
“What’s good-looking about that guy? Good-looking my ass, he’s got an annoying face….”
“Sinju, you look at your own face every day so maybe you just don’t know.”
“What?”
“I think someone like that could make it in this industry.”
“…What?”
“Even if his style is a bit outdated. You know I have an incredible eye for raw material.”
“…….”
“His hair is long so you can’t see his face that well, but his face is small and his nose looks good… has he had work done?”
“Director Myeong is past her prime.”
“What?”
“Your eye for these things. It’s gone completely to shit.”
