Rumble, crash!
The sound of thunder was vivid in his ears.
When he startled awake with his eyes open. Dohyeong had to despair at the scene unfolding before him.
“…Where is this?”
What was captured in his eyes was the scenery of his home.
No, since it was the house before changing the interior, should he call it Haesung and his house?
At that moment, he felt like he’d been hit on the head. The situation was already over, so why was he seeing the old scenery?
He raised his hand and touched his face. If he couldn’t touch it or had no sensation, he thought this would be a dream.
“…I can feel it.”
But contrary to Dohyeong’s wishes, the sensation touching his fingertips was clear.
In the end, everything up to the moment he was rushing to the rest stop was a dream.
The things he so desperately wanted appeared in a dream and fulfilled his wishes for a moment.
Breaking up with Haesung too.
Filming <Glass Holding Stars> too.
Furthermore, even standing wholly as Kim Dohyeong himself.
“Fortunate… no, or not?”
It would be strange if he felt fortunate about the fact that he still hadn’t divorced Haesung even at this moment.
If everything he’d been seeing until now was all a dream, he would be someone who experienced everything in that dream.
“No, no. That’s not it.”
It was agonizing.
Whether he should regret that the separation from Haesung was a dream, or feel relieved that they hadn’t broken up.
Unable to get a grip, confusion mounted even more.
What if this very moment was actually the dream? If it manifested as a dream like this because he kept chewing over the past Haesung and present Haesung.
Just as he was about to slap his cheek to wake from the dream.
Beep.
With an electronic sound, the closed door opened.
Rumble, crash!
Thunder struck once more, and lightning flashed, illuminating Haesung standing at the entrance.
“…You’re not asleep.”
A dry voice. A listless tone and a somehow exhausted expression.
It was a face in his memory. It was the Haesung he had experienced at some point.
“…Why did you do that?”
What came out in that moment were words completely unrelated to his will.
No, this too was a phrase deeply embedded in his memory.
“How much… do you even know about me, hyung?”
Rumble! Crash!
At the loud thunder continuing again, Dohyeong clenched his fist tightly.
“I heard everything you said to the production company.”
“……”
Haesung didn’t say anything. He just looked at Dohyeong with dry eyes.
_’Dohyeong-ssi, don’t be upset and listen.’_
His clasped hands moved anxiously. The middle-aged man who had been stroking the back of his hands and knuckles looked at Dohyeong and smiled awkwardly.
_’We… need definite assurance regarding acting ability. Since the genre is thriller… you understand what I mean, right?’_
He couldn’t understand what he meant, but he had no choice but to nod.
And the story he heard was something he never wanted to believe nor could believe.
_’Jung Haesung, that bastard said that!’_
Wootae’s face and voice, even more filled with resentment than himself, was still vivid in his mind.
_’That bastard, huh? Said you’d be lacking to take the lead role in a thriller movie! That you’re still, still insufficient in acting, so is there a need to take on the adventure!’_
It felt like the whole world was collapsing.
No matter what anyone said, he thought Haesung would be on his side. He believed that no matter what ordeal came, Haesung at least was someone who could reach out his hand and pull him up.
His collapsed heart shattered into pieces, reaching a state where it couldn’t be put back together.
His face toward Haesung was stained with sadness. His trembling lips barely managed to spit out a word.
“What do you even know about me, hyung?”
He already knew the answer to the following question.
Was it because he’d already experienced it in a dream?
Or was this very moment a dream?
Unable to get a grip, Haesung let out a heavy sigh and opened his mouth.
“Where would there be someone who knows you better than me? Dohyeong.”
Again, he heard the sound of the whole world collapsing.
When he sank down to the floor, cracks began to spread across the ground.
“Even if I hadn’t told the production company… wouldn’t your potential or limits have been visible anyway?”
That appearance speaking calmly thrust a dagger into his chest.
Did he think he was just hurt because of Haesung’s cold evaluation? That wasn’t it.
“I didn’t tell them not to use you. I just answered when they asked what kind of actor you were.”
“So why, there!”
“You should have shown it. What kind of actor you are. How much you’re immersed in, thinking about, and pondering the role. You should have shown those people.”
At Haesung’s last words, Dohyeong burst into tears.
As soon as he covered his face with both hands, Dohyeong’s body also collapsed to the floor.
The thought that everything was over and the fact that there was no refuge for him anywhere gouged and hurt his heart this much.
Eventually, the floor that had been cracking began to collapse in an instant.
No one would catch him, right? Whether this was a dream or reality.
He would have to fall alone and wander through that darkness again.
Eventually, even the floor that had been barely supporting Dohyeong couldn’t withstand the cracks and collapsed.
That’s when it happened. Along with the feeling of someone firmly grabbing him, a familiar voice brushed past his ear.
“Dohyeong!”
Gasp, he opened his eyes wide while gasping for breath.
What he saw in front of him were Haesung and Wootae looking down at Dohyeong worriedly.
“What is this…”
He couldn’t distinguish where the dream started and reality began, what was reality and what was a dream.
Stammering, when he raised his body, Haesung let out a sigh of relief.
He, who had been outside with Wootae, turned away for a moment and ran his hand through his hair.
“Hey, do you know how surprised I was? The kid who was sleeping well suddenly couldn’t breathe, even cried. But he wouldn’t wake up. I was so startled I stopped the car.”
Wootae explained to Dohyeong, who had half-risen, what had happened until now.
Then he came closer and whispered quietly while signaling with his eyes toward Haesung.
“For once, his face went completely pale, and he made a fuss grabbing you, you know?”
At those words, Dohyeong’s gaze turned to Haesung.
Just as Wootae said, with a pale face, Haesung, who had been taking deep breaths, glanced at the two of them.
“I can hear everything.”
“No, well. I said it so you’d hear. So you’d hear.”
Haha! Wootae, who laughed awkwardly, said he should get some water and went to the back of the car to open the trunk.
Haesung snorted, then approached Dohyeong.
As if to reach out his hand or not. After pondering for a while, he tapped Dohyeong’s knee. To think this was the result of much deliberation.
It was so different from his appearance in the dream that he even laughed at the sense of disconnect.
“The dream… must not have been good.”
“…No.”
“Are you okay?”
“…I think so.”
“What kind of dream was it?”
What should he say? The worries coming to mind weren’t very long.
“…The day hyung left the house.”
At his words, he could see Haesung’s eyes shake.
“That day when it rained a lot and there was thunder… that dream.”
Both Wootae, who had been coming in with water from the trunk, and Haesung, who had been quietly looking at Dohyeong, fell silent.
After a brief silence, Dohyeong smiled bitterly and repositioned himself.
“It’s all in the past, so what. It’s okay.”
“Dohyeong.”
Haesung called Dohyeong, but he didn’t want to talk about this matter anymore.
Right now, he only wanted to shake off the dream.
“Hyung, let’s hurry and leave. We’ll be late.”
In the end, he had no choice but to rush Wootae.
“Huh? Uh, yeah. Let’s go. We’ll be late. Right. We’ll be late.”
Wootae, who hurriedly headed to the driver’s seat, signaled with his eyes to Haesung standing outside.
It was a signal to not ask anything now and just get in the car.
Whether he understood that meaning, or it was just his own judgment. Haesung also didn’t continue speaking and got in the car.
Vroom, thud! Along with the sound of the door closing, silence lingered in the car.
Would it have been better if he hadn’t fallen asleep? Dohyeong’s sigh settled deeply on the floor.
***
When they arrived at the rest stop that was the meeting place, Haesung got into Seonghyeok’s car, which had arrived earlier.
Before getting out of the car, it seemed like he wanted to say something to Dohyeong, but in the end, he couldn’t say anything.
Wootae also couldn’t easily speak to Dohyeong.
As if lost in thought. Or as if not wanting to say anything, he was silently looking out the window.
But wasn’t there a saying that a market day falls on the day you go? The raindrops that had been falling one or two at a time just before arriving at the filming location became heavier, and eventually the location meeting and rehearsal that day were canceled.
“Still, it’s fortunate they secured lodging in advance. Otherwise, we would have had no choice but to wait in the car. Hey.”
Wootae joked around, but Dohyeong only nodded silently.
Of course, he couldn’t add anything to that.
Because Wootae also knew well how terrible that day’s memory was for Dohyeong.
“Let’s see, let’s see. We’re… oh, here it is. Room 612.”
Just as he was about to put the card key in. He felt a presence next to him. When he turned his head, it was Haesung and Seonghyeok who had taken the opposite elevator.
“Next door… is it? Manager Do?”
“That’s how it turned out.”
Haha, the awkward laughter of the two continued.
Dohyeong and Haesung also made eye contact then slowly turned their heads toward the door.
“Shall we have a beer later, Manager Ji?”
“Shall we? There’s a lot piled up to talk about.”
No. In fact, they were going to talk about what happened a little while ago, or why Haesung and Dohyeong were acting like this.
The two weren’t unaware of it, but they didn’t particularly want to object.
“Hyung, I’m going in first.”
“Huh? Oh!”
Dohyeong bowed his head to Seonghyeok and Haesung and entered the room. Wootae watched Dohyeong’s retreating figure and let out a sigh.
How could he improve that mood? At times like this, Yuchan always helped, so he couldn’t get a grasp at all.
“Manager Ji.”
Then, Haesung’s voice broke through his worries.
“Later, when you have a drink with Manager Do.”
Are we doing it together? Does that mean he’ll join?
No, it’s uncomfortable. I don’t like it.
While mulling over numerous thoughts, a calm voice continued.
“Could you also bring out Kim Dohyeong-ssi? Of course, I’ll take Dohyeong-ssi.”
“Where?”
“I want to… talk a bit.”
At Haesung’s words, Seonghyeok nodded. It meant let’s do that.
Wootae also didn’t think further.
“Let’s do that, yes. I’ll bring Dohyeong out later.”
“Thank you.”
Unlike Wootae, who had become immune to Haesung’s strange behavior continuing since morning, Seonghyeok was startled and turned around.
Leaving Wootae entering the room behind, Seonghyeok looked Haesung up and down.
“What?”
“No, I know you’re not a completely stingy guy, but…”
Seonghyeok, who had been pulling his carrier into the room, kept shaking his head.
As if he’d seen an unbelievable scene, his expression still couldn’t hide his surprise.
“It’s the first time you’re saying thank you for something like this.”
Haesung, who had been quietly chewing on those words, looked at Seonghyeok with a puzzled expression.
“I have no idea what that means. Hey, Manager Do.”
Haesung followed Seonghyeok with a flustered voice, and soon the wide-open door closed.
Click, along with a simple sound, silence flowed through the corridor again.
