# Chapter 41
“I heard you’re joining writer Kim Heera’s drama this time. I saw a lot of articles about it. Congratulations.”
Mo Eunje handed over the gift he had brought. It was a pen engraved with the name of the production and character that Tae Iden had been cast as, along with the year’s number. It was something Mo Eunje had been giving him since eight years ago, when Mo Eunje was Tae Iden’s age. Tae Iden used these pens to analyze scripts and scenarios, and as a keepsake, he had collected every single one without losing any so far.
“Hiiing. I’m really touched every time I get a new project.”
“No acting cute.”
“…If you hadn’t said that, I was about to burst into tears, but now my emotional moment is completely shattered. By the way, hyung, your necklace is super pretty.”
“This? Tae Igyeol bought it for my birthday this year. He really flexed on that one.”
“I flexed too.”
This time, Tae Iden handed over the gift he had brought.
“Thanks. You even remember your hyung’s birthday with such style every year.”
Without thinking much, Mo Eunje casually accepted it and placed it on his lap, but just by seeing the diagonally cut star shape engraved on the box inside the paper bag, he could guess what the gift was. It was those sneakers that looked like rags, as if someone else had worn them and thrown them away—the ones he had jokingly asked Tae Igyeol to buy him on April Fool’s Day.
“Iden…”
Mo Eunje covered his mouth with both hands, looking excessively moved. Tae Igyeol had said they weren’t as comfortable as sports brand sneakers and took time to break in, so Mo Eunje had spent over a year just contemplating whether they would be a reasonable purchase for the price before ultimately not buying them. But now his well-raised younger brother was presenting them as a gift. When he opened the box, it was exactly the model he had been contemplating.
“Oh my god. How did you know I wanted these…”
“How would I not know when you set that sneaker picture as your profile pic for over a month?”
“Ah… Right, I did. Anyway, you thoughtful kid. Thanks, really. Can hyung cry a little?”
“Return them if you can’t shed tears.”
The Tae brothers were equally merciless. Since childhood, Tae Iden had wanted to be like his older brother Tae Igyeol, so he imitated everything from his speech patterns to his walking style, but perhaps because the atmosphere they gave off was different, they felt completely distinct.
Anyway, being touched was being touched, and since he didn’t feel like crying no matter what, Mo Eunje was about to change the subject. Then there was a knock. It seemed the dishes they had ordered—quite a variety—were already out.
“Iden, hello. Oh? Your companion is the novelist. Hello.”
However, the person who opened the door and peeked in was Shin Dael, whom he never expected to see here. Momentarily flustered, Mo Eunje stood up and greeted the official celebrity reader number one warmly. Knowing she wasn’t the object of Tae Igyeol’s unrequited love made it much more comfortable to interact with her.
“What a surprise to see you here, actress.”
“Dael noona! Did you come to eat?”
“I just finished eating and was about to leave, but the owner told me you were here, so I stopped by to say hello. I’m glad I came to greet you, especially since the novelist is here too.”
“Who did you come with? Did you come with Suji noona?”
Shin Dael and Baek Suji had been best friends since they learned acting from the same teacher before their debut, and they were currently known as entertainment industry besties. And Tae Iden’s first love was none other than Baek Suji. Judging from his inability to hide the expectant expression, it seemed to be ongoing.
“Suji went overseas for location shooting. I came with my boyfriend.”
“What? Whoa…! No way. Noona, you had a boyfriend?”
“This is off the record, so keep it to yourself. Novelist, please keep the secret too.”
“Yes, of course. Don’t worry.”
While outwardly smiling casually and responding politely, internally Mo Eunje was just as shocked as the wide-eyed Tae Iden. He couldn’t believe what he had been thinking, trying to pair someone who had a boyfriend with Tae Igyeol. This was definitely a matter that required time for reflection and repentance.
“Then what about our hyung?”
“Igyeol? What about Igyeol?”
Tae Iden’s brother-loving tendencies were about to kick in full force. Come to think of it, this misunderstanding started when Tae Iden said Shin Dael was Tae Igyeol’s ideal type. Mo Eunje quickly spoke up before the clueless younger brother could cause trouble.
“Actress, your boyfriend must be waiting.”
Naturally guiding Shin Dael toward the door, he opened it. Just then, an employee pushing a tray stopped.
“Ah, our food is here. Let’s have another reading group meeting with Igyeol and Minho next time.”
“That sounds wonderful. You should eat before your food gets cold, so I’ll get going now. Enjoy your meal. Iden, eat well.”
As soon as Shin Dael left with a refreshingly bright smile, the waiting employee served the dishes. Unlike Mo Eunje, who felt relieved that one worry was over, Tae Iden looked dejected.
“You’ve waited a long time, haven’t you? The appetizers are a bit late because orders have piled up. We apologize.”
“Not at all. It was a perfectly appropriate and ideal timing.”
Mo Eunje, who responded with unnecessary words, gulped down the lemonade that was the first to arrive on the table. After setting up the octopus salad, cream spinach, and beef carpaccio plate, the employee closed the door soundlessly and left.
“I feel so bad for our hyung. I really thought Dael noona would make a great sister-in-law. So did Tae Igyeol have a one-sided crush on Dael noona? And Dael noona just met him because she’s nice?”
“Iden. Stop talking nonsense and just eat.”
Mo Eunje felt fatigue washing over him even though they hadn’t even started their meal yet.
After finishing dinner, he took a taxi, dropped off Tae Iden first, and then came home. In the beginning of the meal, Tae Iden had been worried about Tae Igyeol’s love life, but when Mo Eunje promoted Ban Hajun, mentioning that writer Kim Heera was his friend’s mother, he immediately joined the new topic. From then on, they seemed to have shared many pleasant conversations about various things, but ironically, Mo Eunje couldn’t remember the specific content once he got home.
“You’re early?”
Tae Igyeol, who was sitting on the living room sofa reading an economics book, welcomed Mo Eunje’s return.
“I thought you’d be back around midnight after being held up by Tae Iden.”
“Why are you acting like an amateur? I told you I had a meeting with the publisher about my new work right after we finished eating.”
Mo Eunje went straight to Tae Igyeol, put the two shopping bags he was carrying under the sofa, and climbed onto the sofa, using Tae Igyeol’s thigh as a pillow. Indeed, nothing could compare to Tae Igyeol’s thigh as a pillow. Despite being hard as a rock due to muscle training, it was strangely the most comfortable thing in the world.
“Oh right, I met actress Shin?”
“…Where?”
“At the place where I was eating with Iden. She said she had finished eating and was about to leave when the owner told her Iden was there, so she stopped by to say hello.”
“I see you went to that Italian restaurant.”
“That’s Tae Iden’s official meeting place, isn’t it? By the way, did you know actress Shin has a boyfriend?”
“Yeah.”
Mo Eunje was dumbfounded by his matter-of-fact answer. This meant that the guy who liked men was holding hands with her while knowing she had a boyfriend.
“I heard they’ve been dating for about ten years.”
Tae Igyeol even added this casually. Mo Eunje sighed, wondering where to begin teaching him, no matter how inexperienced he was in romance for never having dated.
“Hey, you knew that and still… You should be careful about meeting actress Shin alone from now on.”
“Why would you meet Shin Dael alone?”
“Not me, you.”
Mo Eunje answered with a contemptuous tone and hit Tae Igyeol’s forearm with a thud.
“How could you think of holding her hand knowing actress Shin has a boyfriend? Where’s your conscience?”
“Did you go crazy after meeting Tae Iden? Why would I hold her hand?”
“Last time when I barged into Café Ila with Gye Minho, you were holding actress Shin’s hand.”
“Haa… This is driving me crazy.”
Tae Igyeol’s face crumpled like a piece of paper. His expression looked like he might hit Mo Eunje, who avoided his gaze by rolling his eyes around.
“What kind of eyes do you have to mistake that for holding hands?”
“Then what was it?”
“Shin Dael had indigestion, so I was pressing on her pressure point. That’s why our dinner plans fell apart that evening too. Don’t you remember me pressing for you whenever you get indigestion?”
“Oh, was that it? I thought…”
Now that he heard it, what had appeared to be affectionately holding hands was just an optical illusion. Anyway, the fact that Shin Dael had indigestion that day seemed to be the truth, not a lie stemming from Tae Igyeol’s jealousy. But now that he knew about Tae Igyeol’s sexual orientation, he realized it wasn’t jealousy at all.
Then what was the drunk rambling about?
For a brief moment, fragments of what Tae Igyeol had said while waiting for the designated driver flickered in Mo Eunje’s mind.
‘…She’s someone who shines even when standing still, but seeing her sparkle so vividly and brightly was something I hadn’t seen in a long time… She was so pretty I couldn’t bear it, but how could I possibly ruin that…’
‘Seeing her laugh more than usual and enjoy herself made me feel good too… But at the same time, I kept feeling jealous.’
‘No, it was frustrating, fuck, I just kept feeling so damn jealous.’
Mo Eunje’s mind became complicated. Since he hadn’t recorded it, he couldn’t remember exactly, but it seemed that Tae Igyeol had mentioned the word ‘jealousy’ several times that day. Or maybe it was a memory manipulated to fit the situation. Although he had drunk moderately, he had been drinking, so he couldn’t guarantee that the memories coming to him now were intact. He tended to forget most conversations that happened while drinking, which made him even less confident.
Still, he clearly remembered Tae Igyeol stepping on the castella he had received as a gift from Shin Dael as he got up and staggered. As the castella flattened under his large foot, it felt like his own heart was being stepped on too.
‘So, this is a really reasonable suspicion…’
‘…’
‘Is it possible that Tae Igyeol likes you?’
This was all because Gye Minho, who didn’t have even a mayfly’s eye booger worth of intuition, had said nonsense and made him have strange thoughts. Mo Eunje erased the words Tae Igyeol had said while drunk that day from his mind. Not only were they not accurate memories, but he didn’t want to doubt someone who had already struggled enough with his different sexual orientation. Judging it to be pure self-consciousness, Mo Eunje suddenly raised his upper body.
