‘Is it puberty? Kids are really difficult~.’
Noh Baram carefully picked up the TV remote while watching Pyeonghwa’s mood. He thought it would be better to have some white noise in this atmosphere.
Noh Baram turned on the TV and pressed the volume up button repeatedly.
—We’ve prepared famous movie lines for Dohae-ssi’s image transformation! Just read from the top!
—…’If you’re scared, then die.’
—Ooh, if you lower your voice, it’ll feel even better!
—’I know you’re a good guy. So you understand why I’m killing you, right?’…… Mm, this one’s a bit awkward.
—Wow… Dohae-ssi! Just now the atmosphere was like a completely different person! You could even be an actor?
—Haha, you’re too kind.
Crash!
Startled by the sound of something breaking, Noh Baram turned toward Pyeonghwa. The glass cup Pyeonghwa had been holding had fallen to the floor and shattered into pieces.
Water he hadn’t managed to swallow yet trickled down from Pyeonghwa’s mouth.
“Ah, dad…… who was that person who just spoke……?”
“Huh? The person who spoke?”
“No, never mind. I want to watch……!”
“Be careful! Baby, you stepped on the broken glass!”
Pyeonghwa moved toward the middle of the living room, stepping on broken glass.
A variety show was being broadcast on TV. Pyeonghwa carefully observed the celebrities laughing and chatting.
‘That was definitely that bastard’s voice……’
His heart pounded with instinctive fear. He couldn’t even feel the pain coming up through his sole. Pyeonghwa clenched his finely trembling hands and focused on the voice flowing from the speakers.
—Wahaha! Stop it. Dohae-ssi got embarrassed~ You have no immunity to this kind of joke, right?
—Everyone treats me comfortably like a younger sibling, so I really like it. It helps me relax too.
—Aww, look at how his heart is as beautiful as his face. Everyone, you know what? Dohae-ssi is exactly the same even when the cameras are off! It’s like he hasn’t been tainted by the world at all, you know?
—Haha, no. I’m human too, so not to that extent…….
A cast member with a voice similar to that man was shown in close-up filling the screen.
Clear, deep eyes that seemed to hold the blue sea, fine golden hair sparkling brilliantly. Even the fan-shaped eyelashes that fluttered when he blinked were golden.
When he smiled, his plump pink lips split horizontally, revealing white, even teeth. A tiny face with a slender jaw, and skin so white it was transparent with not a single blemish visible.
Rather than handsome, the words pretty or beautiful suited him, but the distinct line from his brow bone down to his prominent nose prevented any thought that he looked feminine. The Adam’s apple protruding from his neck also played a part. No, even without that, looking at his huge build, you couldn’t mistake his gender.
Pyeonghwa forgot his original purpose and stared blankly at his face.
‘Wow…… what kind of person looks like that……’
Among the citizens of the Republic of Korea, there was no one who didn’t know ‘S-rank Hunter Do Dohae’. Even Pyeonghwa, who only wandered around game-related sites, knew what kind of person he was and what he looked like.
The hero who saved humanity, Do Jeongwang’s grandson. And he himself was also an S-rank Hunter active in following those footsteps. That alone was an incredible spec, but actually the biggest share of his fame was his appearance.
Do Dohae began appearing on broadcast media when he was selected as ‘Hunter Public Relations Ambassador’.
Hunter Public Relations Ambassador refers to a state-designated Hunter who works to narrow the distance and resolve prejudices about the profession of Hunter.
His polite and considerate personality wasn’t suited for broadcasting, but whenever he appeared, viewership ratings would skyrocket significantly. They said his face was honey-fun.
Do Dohae, who gained explosive popularity as soon as he appeared, had been working as Hunter Public Relations Ambassador for several years already.
He knew this background, but this was the first time Pyeonghwa had appreciated his face in such detail.
Watching him in video rather than photos, he could newly feel how unrealistically handsome he was. If you were to visualize the word beauty, wouldn’t it look exactly like that? It felt like looking at a male god from mythology.
“Pyeonghwa-ya, let’s treat your injured foot. Come here.”
“Huh? Uh……”
Noh Baram sat on the sofa holding a first aid kit and gestured. Pyeonghwa awkwardly perched on the sofa without taking his eyes off the TV and stretched out his foot to him.
‘The voice is similar…… or is it not?’
Whenever Do Dohae opened his mouth, he felt déjà vu. The tone was similar to that man, but Do Dohae’s side was brighter.
The way of speaking was also different. That man was full of irritation in everything, had an explosive temper, and spat out curses without hesitation. On the other hand, Do Dohae used a soft and kind tone.
It was strange. There wasn’t a single resemblance, so why did he keep being bothered by it?
‘……Huh?’
Pyeonghwa had good eyes. Not just good eyesight, but excellent observation skills. Even if he captured something in a passing glance, information about it would accumulate neatly.
‘The eyes… they’re Ctrl C Ctrl V, aren’t they?’
Pyeonghwa noticed that the eyes of that man, which he had thought were incongruously pretty, were exactly the same as Do Dohae’s eyes, at a level of being cut and pasted.
The only difference was the color. Unlike the man with black eyes and black eyelashes, Do Dohae had blue eyes with golden eyelashes.
Just then, a subtitle appeared at the top of the screen saying ‘What happened during break time’.
A junior writer running a coffee errand spilled coffee on Do Dohae, who was sitting on set.
Even though his pure white shirt was stained coffee-colored, Do Dohae soothed the junior writer without showing any sign of displeasure.
—Aah, what do I do! Are you okay? Your clothes… dry cleaning fee, no, compensation…!
—……It’s fine. It’s an old shirt.
—I’m sorry. I’m really sorry…..
—Don’t blame yourself too much. Mistakes that can be fixed are okay. I can change clothes, and the coffee……
—Gasp, the main writer’s iced latte with extra shot……!
—Let’s say I spilled the coffee. I’ll buy it while changing clothes. An iced latte with an extra shot.
Do Dohae, who quickly managed the situation, stood up saying he would go change clothes.
The junior writer clutched her heart while watching his departing back.
Shortly after, it was revealed that all of this was a hidden camera set up by the production team.
The cast members admired Do Dohae’s character for not getting angry even though his clothes were ruined, saying he spilled it himself so the junior writer wouldn’t get scolded, and even going to buy coffee again himself.
Do Dohae said anyone would have acted the same way and was embarrassed.
‘Huh. He looks annoyed though.’
Pyeonghwa noticed that Do Dohae’s brow, though smiling, had narrowed slightly.
A shadow of eyelashes fell on his pretty eyes folded into half-moons. Then his clear blue eyes darkened as if holding a cold ocean floor.
‘Gasp!’
It was a fleeting moment, but his spine chilled and all the hair on his body stood on end.
His instinct recognized it first. It wasn’t similar…… but that man himself!
Bewitched by the beautiful face, he had momentarily lost his judgment. Looking again, from the eye shape, voice, to the overall silhouette, it would be strange if it wasn’t that man.
Do Dohae, praised as an angel by everyone, was the same person as that bastard with a trashy personality! At this unimaginable identity, goosebumps rose along his arms.
“That’s impossible…… Ow!”
“You even lose your soul watching a pretty person just like me. My son~.”
“Don’t press so hard. It hurts!”
“I have to pull and stick the bandage like this so it won’t fall off.”
“And I wasn’t staring because he’s pretty, that hyung once did to me……!”
“There, treatment done! Make sure to disinfect once a day, patient~.”
Noh Baram playfully mussed Pyeonghwa’s hair and winked one eye.
Pyeonghwa stopped what he was going to say and looked down at his sole. Noh Baram had removed the glass fragments, stopped the bleeding, sprayed disinfectant, and covered it with gauze and bandage.
His touch was still neat. Pyeonghwa pouted and smoothed the gauze.
Before, he had treated wounds in exactly the same way.
Was it when he was five? He fell while trying to avoid a car running at full speed through a red light, and his knee was scraped on the asphalt.
Noh Baram, who was following behind at the time, poured out curses he normally wouldn’t say at the rear end of that car.
Muttering the car’s license plate number, he carried the injured child into the house and treated him meticulously like now.
Dad must love me…… Young Pyeonghwa fell into a big misunderstanding.
Noh Baram was a very fair human. He was as kind to his child as he was to his lovers. And being fair meant he could never be a priority no matter what happened.
He didn’t keep his promise to attend the daycare talent show, never came to birthday parties even once, and broke all the promises he made with Pyeonghwa linking pinkies, like going to amusement parks, camping, kids cafes, etc.
Whenever young Pyeonghwa was disappointed and hurt by his father, the moms would soothe him saying Pyeonghwa’s existence was a blessing and a gift.
Blessing, gift…… Words that didn’t suit a life no one had wanted. Being fooled only lasts a day or two; Pyeonghwa also changed his thinking after a few years.
