Slate 26

Should he say Haesung speaking calmly was bewildering? Or should he say Director Na, who was persuaded and proposing to him, was bewildering?

No, perhaps both applied.

Dohyeong, who had been pressing down on his throbbing head, turned to look at Director Na.

He couldn’t do that. He didn’t want to. He tried to say words of refusal, but.

“…Well, it does seem like a good idea.”

Seeing his face smiling while making an awkward expression, his words were blocked shut.

Right, even from Director Na’s perspective, saying such things wouldn’t have been easy.

Because he was one of the people who had watched from when Dohyeong and Haesung decided to marry until now. Even if he didn’t know everything, he knew some parts.

“How should we do it?”

Right, this was work. He decided it was a decision and action based on business without even a grain of personal feelings mixed in.

“Please tell me. How should we do it?”

Dohyeong faced Haesung confidently. Whatever thoughts led to this proposal, he firmly resolved not to be swayed.

“But I also have one condition.”

Never again could he become the Kim Dohyeong who was swept along by his will.

***

“Did you see?”

“Yeah, I saw. What’s going on?”

“Their divorce, was it really noise marketing?”

Whispers started here and there. Some looked puzzled, and some secretly cheered and moved away.

Just two people. Only Wootae and Yuchan viewed it unfavorably.

“Hyung, did you hear what’s going on?”

At Yuchan’s question, Wootae glanced at him.

‘It’s just work. So don’t worry about it too much.’

Although he had heard the story from Dohyeong, he wondered whether he should tell Yuchan this straightforwardly.

If it was just something Director Na proposed, it would be fine, but it was something Haesung proposed first.

Keeping his mouth shut like this wasn’t a bad thing either. But what kind of person was Choi Yuchan? It was obvious he would definitely chase after Director Na and question him.

“Director Na proposed it.”

He decided to lie. He just needed to give Dohyeong a heads up.

Besides, if he said Director Na proposed it, Yuchan wouldn’t be able to move rashly either.

“Director Na did?”

“To act as Yujin and Yehyun, they can’t be the way they are now. You know too, Yuchan, that the relationship changed a lot compared to the previous work.”

“……”

As if he had nothing to say after hearing that, Yuchan just pressed down hard on the soft flesh inside his mouth.

All he could do in this situation was look unfavorably at Dohyeong and Haesung sitting close together eating meat.

“Dohyeong and I have the love line.”

“You two are so close anyway.”

“Being close and dating are different.”

“Isn’t an ex-husband and friend also a bit different?”

He was this anxious and frustrated, but Wootae accepting this situation like it was nothing seemed strange.

Yuchan, who had been looking at Wootae with eyes full of anger, nervously picked up his drink glass.

“Aren’t you bothered at all, hyung? If Jung Haesung gets any ideas from this, if he tries something with Dohyeong again!”

Wootae, who had been quietly listening to Yuchan’s words, slowly turned his head to look at Haesung and Dohyeong. Haesung was eating meat without saying anything, then placed a mushroom on Dohyeong’s plate. Watching the two of them, Wootae scoffed, “Ha!”

“Jung Haesung?”

“Hyung.”

“Yuchan-ah. If you think about it carefully. Jung Haesung, back when he married Dohyeong. No, even before that, he was someone for whom his own position and beliefs were most important. You know why he didn’t say a word even when Dohyeong was being attacked like that? Because he had nothing to say. Because he thought his own thinking was right. But in a place crowded with staff and actors like this, would he do something foolish? Try something? Hey, come on.”

Although Wootae spoke while shaking his head, Yuchan still wasn’t reassured.

The reason was one. This time, it was no different from Haesung taking the initiative to protect Dohyeong.

Yuchan looked back at the two people and swallowed a big sigh.

No matter how much he thought about it, he was anxious. Just the fact that Haesung and Dohyeong were together made him frightened.

This wasn’t simply because of that fact he told Wootae.

‘If Dohyeong gets shaken again like this.’

It was a concern from the perspective of someone who knew all too well how big and deep Dohyeong’s heart was.

Eventually, unable to hold back, Yuchan stood up from his seat.

“Yuchan-ah. Where are you going?”

“I can’t do this.”

Leaving behind a single word, he walked away step by step. He felt the gazes around him piercing, but that wasn’t what was important to him now.

What he was focusing on was only those two people—Dohyeong and Haesung, talking while eating awkwardly. Only those two.

“Dohyeong-ah.”

When he finally got close to the two. Yuchan called Dohyeong. Dohyeong, who had been picking up meat, lifted his head.

“Oh, Yuchan-ah. Did you finish eating meat?”

Why was this appearance, no different from usual, so touching?

Just as he was about to speak with this newfound feeling, he heard Haesung’s voice asking as if puzzled.

“Who?”

“This is Yuchan, a friend.”

It was strange to be introducing himself as a friend to him now.

Just when he thought being together was everything, his body flinched at Haesung’s gaze looking at him.

It was a bit sharper than usual. No, rather it was a gaze like looking at a stranger.

“A friend.”

“Hurry and eat the meat. Yujin-ssi.”

Yujin? In an instant, Yuchan’s mind spun quickly.

The protagonist’s name in <Glass Holding Stars> was Yujin.

Flustered by the two people’s actions he couldn’t quite grasp, Yuchan looked between Dohyeong and Haesung alternately.

“What are you two doing right now?”

“You eat too, Yuchan. The meat is nicely grilled.”

Yuchan became even more confused by Dohyeong’s appearance—one side acting, one side treating him as usual.

Dohyeong, who had been tapping his side, picked up one piece, two pieces of meat with tongs and placed them on Yuchan’s plate.

“Don’t you need something to drink?”

If he thought about it, Dohyeong and Yehyun’s textures weren’t very different.

Of course, Dohyeong was a bit warmer and kinder than Yehyun.

While lost in thought, Haesung sitting beside him sighed deeply and shook his head. A displeased voice pierced Yuchan’s ears.

“Why bother taking care of him? He’ll manage on his own.”

“Why do you keep picking fights? I’ll handle it myself.”

At that moment, Yuchan realized.

The fact that they were having a conversation immersed in their respective roles. It didn’t seem like Director Na proposed it, and it was obvious it was someone’s opinion between the two.

Then, should he exist as Yuchan?

No, he absolutely couldn’t do that. If they were acting, he also had to act the same way. Perhaps this might be more advantageous.

At least in <Glass Holding Stars>, Yehyun was in a position to receive Onyoung’s one-sided affection.

Yuchan smiled brightly and stuck close to Dohyeong’s side.

“Yehyun-ssi. Which meat is the most delicious?”

As if quite flustered by his words, Haesung and Dohyeong’s eyes widened. But Yuchan didn’t back down and continued speaking.

“There seem to be quite a few types, but maybe because I’ve been abroad for a long time, I have no idea what’s delicious. If it’s okay, could you recommend some tasty cuts?”

He could see Dohyeong’s flustered eyes shaking. Even this appearance was cute—he must be seriously gone.

Suppressing the desire to joke right now about how cute he was, he stuck even closer to him.

“This one is delicious. Try eating this.”

Dohyeong calmly pointed to a piece of meat on Yuchan’s plate. So he could clearly know which meat it was even without chopsticks touching it.

“I’m not sure which one.”

But Yuchan was someone who didn’t miss even that moment.

“Feed me.”

Use every situation that can be used, catch every opportunity where he could gain the upper hand. Having come this far with that mindset, it wasn’t difficult to apply it at this moment.

Flustered Dohyeong looked at Yuchan with eyes asking why he was being like this, but he just shrugged his shoulders.

“Why, I’m just asking you to feed me. I really didn’t have any strange thoughts.”

“…There, there are watching eyes.”

“If Yehyun-ssi thinks it’s strange, other people will see it that way too.”

Onyoung’s personality without hesitation, without backing down. That was going to shake Yehyun. So it meant it wasn’t strange even if he expressed himself full of his own personal feelings and heart.

Dohyeong hesitated for a moment and glanced at Haesung sitting beside him. When he picked up a piece of meat with an expression like he couldn’t help it.

“Don’t you have hands?”

Haesung’s sharp voice was heard.

Was this sincere? Or was it because he was thorough in Yujin’s role?

“Asking to be fed in a place full of people, that’s not a very mature behavior.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“……”

“Asking to be fed and acting spoiled to someone you fell for at first sight, that’s not strange. Ah, have you never done that? Too busy maintaining your dignity?”

Even in the drama, Yujin and Onyoung were incompatible. Two people who ran incompatible just by atmosphere, how much more so their personalities?

This worked out well for Yuchan. Using this gap, he could naturally bring up stories he couldn’t say as Choi Yuchan.

“And who are you to pick on something when Yehyun-ssi isn’t saying anything? Are you his lover?”

At that moment, he saw Haesung’s flustered expression. He also couldn’t grasp which side’s feelings it was.

“Or are you in unrequited love?”

“Onyoung-ssi. This person is.”

“Yes, I know. Yehyun-ssi spoke of him often. The fiancé of the person he liked. Someone so wonderful, kind, and dependable that he couldn’t hate him. But that’s all there is to it. Rather than being unable to support Yehyun-ssi, if you interfere like this, it’s bitter.”

Isn’t it? At Yuchan asking with a smile, Haesung narrowed his brows. Then after putting down his plate on the floor, he turned to Dohyeong.

“Let’s do the rest when there’s no intruder.”

This time it was the perfect Jung Haesung. He stood up from his seat without listening to Dohyeong’s words anymore.

Dohyeong, who had been watching that back for a while, sighed deeply and turned to Yuchan.

“Why are you really being like this?”

“What? I was just acting the same way.”

“…I know, I know but.”

Dohyeong also had nothing to say. Responding emotionally was the same whether it was Yuchan or Haesung.

Somehow it felt like he kept being caught between them.

But what was strange even in the midst of this was the fact that his heart stung at the lines Yuchan recited as Onyoung.

He didn’t want to hear it. Even the feeling of accepting reality wasn’t pleasant.

Because it felt like he was talking about Haesung, not Yujin. This feeling of realizing reality two, three times over was very unpleasant.