It’s been a week since the audition last Monday with no contact from Youth.
‘He can’t fail.’
All the incidents I’d experienced were tremendous stress, but those incidents hadn’t made me anxious that I might not be able to return home. However, after Seo Hanryul bombed the audition, a primal fear that I might never be able to go home took over my body.
If Seo Hanryul was eliminated, I couldn’t picture how things would develop afterward, so I couldn’t even see my own future. As a result of suffering mentally for seven straight days, I even had the misfortune of losing 3kg.
Also, after the fight with him, a sharp cold war continued. Normally, just riding in the car together would lead to noisy arguments, but during this past week, we didn’t exchange a single word except for absolutely necessary talk related to schedules.
Monday came around again, and my face after staying up all night with worry was quite a sight. With dark circles extending down to below my chin, I drove to the front of Seo Hanryul’s house.
“You’re here.”
Seo Hanryul opened the door and I greeted him awkwardly.
“Hey.”
For once, he spoke to me first.
“What.”
“Today’s schedule ends early.”
“So what.”
“…Let’s at least eat dinner together.”
After keeping his mouth firmly shut for a week, he suddenly suggested eating together, but it wasn’t an appealing offer.
The audition results hadn’t come out, so I couldn’t focus on work, and doing work in that state was hard. I didn’t have the energy to deal with his personality one by one while eating. More than anything, my feelings toward him hadn’t been sorted out yet either.
“I’d like to, but my stomach’s not good today. Let’s eat next time.”
I calmly conveyed my refusal.
“…Then don’t eat, just sit in front of me.”
“Ha… When I can’t even eat, watching someone else eat—don’t you think that’s kind of not right?”
“Why are you so narrow-minded? Then are you going to keep not talking and live like this forever?”
‘When he’s the one who didn’t talk.’
I got annoyed again at his attitude of unilaterally approaching me, as if he’d already sorted out his own feelings.
“If you like food that much, take my card. Eat whatever you want. I’ll wait in the car while you eat.”
“…Have you always lived your life like this? Well, I guess you’ve lived just fine this way. You think money solves everything?”
He wouldn’t gain anything from facing me either. I couldn’t understand at all why he insisted on eating with me in front of him.
“Seo Hanryul. You have a talent for cleverly diverting the point when you talk. Money solves everything? Do you want to eat with someone who’s trying to ruin your life? I understand you even less.”
“…Cha Jaehyun, is eating one meal together that hard? …Please.”
Please? Those words came out of that bastard’s mouth? I thought a second fight would break out from my aggressive words and behavior, but he uttered unexpected words.
“Is that something to beg for? …Fine. Let’s go.”
Since he was graciously asking me, I thought I should go, and ultimately agreed to dinner with him.
* * *
I thought we’d just go to any random restaurant without a plan for a meal, but he’d made a reservation at some restaurant. Moreover, the restaurant’s level was extremely high. He’d selected a place no less impressive than the luxurious high-rise restaurant where I’d had my first meeting with Cha Taesan.
When we rode the elevator up, Seoul’s panorama spread out through the wide windows, and the tables were spaciously separated to give a private feeling. In the center of the interior, a string quartet was performing sweet classical music live. Their high-level performance skills further enhanced the restaurant’s sophisticated atmosphere.
‘Isn’t this kind of place for couples?’
At a glance, the majority of customers appeared to be affectionate couples.
‘Senseless bastard. Choosing this location…’
Following the staff member’s guidance, I naturally sat at the table Seo Hanryul had reserved.
“I’m the one who bombed the audition, so why did you lose weight?”
As soon as Seo Hanryul sat down, he spoke in a nitpicking tone. Why was this bastard so interested in other people’s eating and body situation? Thinking about it, he seemed to interfere more than even my parents.
“I’m someone else. Whether I get fat or lose weight, what does it matter? Mind your own business.”
“Are you going to not eat properly, lose weight, then say you’re sick again?”
Ah, he said that because he’s worried I’ll blow off the schedule.
“Don’t even worry about that. It’ll absolutely never happen.”
“Didn’t you say similar things before while wearing a short-sleeved shirt, then spectacularly got sick?”
“…Seo Hanryul, did you make me sit in front of you to listen to your nagging? Your nagging will make even a healthy body sick.”
“…”
When I let out a deep sigh, he fell silent. I just wished he’d keep his mouth shut like that, eat, and let me go.
“…I was sorry last time.”
‘What?’
An unexpected apology in an unexpected place. I was very flustered. The guy with quite the temper suddenly saying sorry to me made me feel almost honored.
“What?”
“Are you deaf? I said I’m sorry.”
I hadn’t misheard. Seo Hanryul was looking at me and clearly saying he was sorry.
“…I’m sorry too. For presumptuously causing a disturbance.”
At his apology, I naturally had to apologize as well.
“I understand your feelings. But don’t worry so much. Even if I don’t get in there, there are plenty of places to go.”
What was that supposed to mean? This bastard absolutely wanted to go to Youth. Why was he saying something he didn’t mean?
“Don’t make obviously false statements. You want to go there. You don’t just want to be a celebrity, you want to become a top star, right? You said you want to show your mother a lot of yourself too. To do that, you need to go somewhere that’ll push you to the max. …Don’t say such weak things, if you’re going to do it, do your best.”
Even as I said it, it was cringey, but I felt like I absolutely had to say this. Because I thought Seo Hanryul was better at lying than expected and quick to give up.
“You’ve been making strange misunderstandings since before. If I can’t get into Youth, will my celebrity life be ruined? You seem to underestimate me. Do I look that incompetent? I can do well enough even without Youth.”
Looking at Seo Hanryul’s eyes, it didn’t seem to be a lie. This bastard wasn’t quick to give up—he was highly conceited.
While someone’s insides were burning up with worry about never being able to go home, the person in question was carefree, so it felt strange. In the novel, he only wanted to go to Youth, so how could he show such an attitude now? Like a young child endlessly asking their mother “why?”, my heart too filled only with question marks of “why?”
“Why?”
I finally threw the question at him. I didn’t know if he’d answer though.
“Why? Fine, since we came here to eat, I’ll tell you specially. I don’t like the CEO there.”
After hearing his answer, rather than solving my questions, my curiosity only grew. He didn’t want to enter because he disliked Lee Dojun? He disliked his future boyfriend?
“Once you enter the company anyway, you’ll barely see the CEO’s face, right? You’re right. Yeah, you’re very capable. But Youth is famous in the entertainment industry, right? You should go to the best place if possible.”
I was flustered by his behavior contrasting with the future flow, and began persuading him.
“Anyone watching would think you’re a Youth employee. Let’s stop this conversation.”
Seo Hanryul spoke with a grimace, as if he hated even hearing about Youth.
‘Why is that bastard really acting like that?’
Ddiririi—
While I was thinking about how to persuade him, Seo Hanryul’s phone rang.
“I’ll go out for a bit. Eat first.”
As soon as Seo Hanryul heard the ring, he grabbed his phone and shot right out.
* * *
The call took longer than expected. About 10 minutes had already passed.
‘Why is he on the phone so long?’
When the food before my eyes was getting cold, Seo Hanryul returned to the seat across from me.
“What kind of call takes so long?”
“…”
Seo Hanryul ignored my words again.
“Ignoring me again? Are you not going to talk to me again?”
“…They said I passed.”
“What?”
“They said I passed Youth.”
Seo Hanryul passed Youth. It felt like something I’d been pressing down and holding inside my heart was exploding all at once. The feeling when I confirmed my university acceptance on the monitor screen. Yeah, a similar emotion to that feeling began to fill my entire heart.
“Congratulations, Seo Hanryul! I knew you’d pass. I really… for a whole week I was so worried I couldn’t eat, couldn’t focus on work… Haah… You really passed in the end.”
Seo Hanryul was the one who passed, yet I was choked up. His face didn’t look very happy. In the novel, when he received the acceptance notification, it said he shed tears of joy… Seeing his bland lukewarm reaction made me think maybe passing was a lie.
‘Ah, no. He might be embarrassed because I’m in front of him.’
Just earlier he’d been putting on a brave front saying it didn’t matter if he failed, so it might be awkward to be happy in front of me. I thought I should quickly send him home so he could be happy to his heart’s content.
“What a pleasant evening for once. Hurry and eat, then go home. A skilled guy is a skilled guy. As expected, your face is worth something.”
Words I normally wouldn’t have said because I disliked Seo Hanryul flowed smoothly out.
“I don’t want to? If you spent expensive money, we should eat everything before going. I’m going to eat very slowly.”
It was a good day today, so I could prettily overlook that level of stubbornness.
“Alright. Let’s eat a lot. Today I’ll pay for everything. Order whatever you want to eat.”
“I already finished paying though?”
He answered with a slight frown.
“Okay, got it. Thanks. The day has come when you buy me a meal.”
It was strange that he bought a meal at this kind of place, but because my mood was so good, I kept letting out foolish laughter.
“But…”
“But what?”
He suddenly trailed off. I didn’t know what he was trying to say, but I got an ominous feeling for no reason.
