# Chapter 50
Hong Duyoung laughed hollowly, extremely surprised by Doha’s statement that went beyond what he had imagined. Though Doha was born with a stoic and insensitive disposition, having lived his entire life closely observing Jaei, he could quite accurately gauge human tension. The moment Doha revealed that his revenge was targeted at “Lee Jaei, not you,” Hong Duyoung relaxed. The anxiety swimming in his pupils disappeared.
It was so cowardly and petty how he just laughed it off the moment he knew the revenge wasn’t directed at him, despite pretending to be engaged in a sacred and great love. Doha wanted nothing more than to strike his face and shoulders hard with his fists. But he had to endure it. This was a collaboration with Jaei, and he couldn’t ruin the task assigned to him because of a momentary emotion.
Forcibly suppressing his anger, he demonstrated the nuanced inner acting he had built up through days of special training with his beloved, foolish cat-like acting genius senior Lee Jaei. Despite being significantly taller than Hong Duyoung, he held his head high and continued speaking, looking down at him with his gaze lowered from above.
“Why do you think I told you this, Director?”
“That’s exactly what I wanted to ask. You must know that I’m the closest person to Jaei in the world, so why are you telling me this when I could tell Jaei everything?”
It was laughable how he exaggerated his friendship with Jaei and acted as if he was on Jaei’s side. Doha suppressed the snicker that threatened to escape and continued seriously.
“I thought Director would be more curious than anyone about the outcome of this revenge. I didn’t audition without knowing that this film was about my brother.”
He hadn’t known. During the time when he mistakenly thought Hong Duyoung and Jaei were lovers, he had only pretended to be Jaei’s fresh young secret boyfriend to interfere with their relationship. But regardless of the truth, that wasn’t important. Though he had joined the production while backing away, he put on his most intelligent expression and pretended everything had been planned from the beginning.
“If you tell Jaei everything I’ve said today, the story would become really boring, right? No, or would it become interesting if you told Jaei?”
He smiled comfortably with crinkled eyes and continued.
“Do whatever you want, Director, as you please. Nothing much will change anyway.”
Hong Duyoung, with both hands in his pants pockets, was lost in thought for a moment before asking Doha with an intrigued expression.
“Can you tell me what the goal of your revenge is?”
“I need to make Lee Jaei exactly like my brother. Don’t worry, I won’t kill him. I have no intention of becoming a murderer.”
Slightly perching on the desk, he continued.
“Jaei is currently enjoying things he shouldn’t be enjoying. I’ll make it so he can never act again, just like my brother. Of course, the film will be released safely, and Jaei’s retirement will happen after the film is completely removed from theaters. I don’t want to harm other actors and staff either.”
“To bring down actor Lee Jaei…”
A light flashed in Hong Duyoung’s eyes. Nothing could stimulate Hong Duyoung more than the image of Jaei being unable to act for life and his career as an actor being ruined.
“That’s why I’m specially informing you in advance about what will happen. There’s only one thing I want from you, Director. That the ending of the film you create doesn’t anger Ryu Doha’s surviving family. If you’re making a film of someone else’s story without permission, please at least maintain this level of business ethics. For my poor dead brother.”
Hong Duyoung nodded as if understanding Doha’s feelings. Doha predicted that he was now using this opportunity to create an ending where his self-projected character “Haeyoung” perfectly claims “Heejai.”
“No matter which way you take the ending, Director… my revenge in reality is destined to succeed. Because.”
“…”
“Jaei loves me.”
Doha, having finished his conversation with Hong Duyoung, opened the conference room door and left. Outside the conference room, Jaei was waiting anxiously for Doha. As soon as their eyes met, Jaei grabbed both of Doha’s arms with his eyes full of hurt and anxiety. He was perfectly immersed in the character setting he had created himself over the past few days.
“Doha, why did you act that way toward that kid earlier?”
Tears slightly glistened in his eyes and his voice trembled slightly. Ryu Doha, destined to be the lead in future romance dramas, looked down at Jaei with cold eyes while acting as the bad guy.
“What’s the problem? Why are you being so sensitive again?”
Jaei, who rarely put his feet on the ground at home because he was always being carried or piggy-backed by Doha, did his best to act as the inferior party in front of Hong Duyoung. To increase his immersion, he temporarily erased from his memory the fact that just yesterday, Doha had removed all the bones from fish before placing only the flesh on top of his rice.
“You had unnecessary physical contact with that kid earlier. It was just a practice session, so there was no need to do that in front of me. It felt like you were doing it deliberately for me to see.”
Doha looked down at Jaei with a disapproving expression, then pretended to give in and took his hand while saying:
“I told you to stop with the paranoia already. It’s a sickness. And this behavior isn’t professional, Senior.”
“I’m sorry if it felt that way. I just spoke out of anxiety. I’m afraid your feelings might change while acting…”
“How long do you think I’ve been in the business? If you’re like this already, what are you going to do in the future? If you’re going to be like this, let’s just break up now.”
“What?”
Momentarily choked up, Jaei let go of Doha’s hand. However, not long after, Jaei swallowed his tears, grabbed Doha’s hand again, and said in a submissive voice.
“I understand. I’ll be careful.”
“Do it in moderation. Don’t make people sick of you.”
“I’m sorry. Don’t abandon me.”
When Jaei showed such extreme remorse, the empty-eyed Doha wrapped his arm around Jaei’s shoulder and spoke lifelessly.
“Abandon you? Why would I abandon you, hyung?”
“You’re not upset, right? Do you want to come to my room tonight?”
At those words, the previously soulless Doha asked with sparkling eyes like a child:
“Can I do what I want? There’s something new I want to try.”
Jaei, with a slightly frightened expression, blinked without answering, then soon nodded. Hong Duyoung, who had been watching the two with a complex expression, passed by Doha and Jaei and greeted them.
“Take care.”
Doha and Jaei also bowed their heads in greeting to him. After greeting the production director who inadvertently witnessed this scene while passing through the lobby, they left the office. Standing in front of the elevator, Doha tightly embraced Jaei with both arms. He lowered his head to gently kiss Jaei’s ear and whispered in an affectionate voice.
“Do whatever you want, Jaei. Do everything you want to do to me.”
Unlike Doha’s concerns, the great actor Lee Jaei, who hadn’t been damaged at all by the role-playing, opened his eyes wide. Blinking his eyelids cutely, he whispered stealthily.
“Was it also a lie that you had something new you wanted to try? Ah, disappointing. I was looking forward to it.”
“What? You were looking forward to it? Then I’ll do well for you, Jaei. I’ll never disappoint you.”
He pinched Jaei’s side, and as Jaei convulsed with laughter in his arms, he planted a kiss on his cheek. Just then, a message arrived on Jaei’s phone. It was from Hong Duyoung. Doha slowly released Jaei from his embrace.
[Jaei, your demeanor is really unfamiliar. I think it’s all emotions that will pass anyway. It’s not bad if you think of it as gaining new experience as an actor. But take thorough care of your body. It’s a role that uses a lot of physical movement.]
With a snort, Jaei shrugged and showed the message to Doha. Doha made an expression as if he had swallowed something unpleasant. Anyway, they had succeeded in making Hong Duyoung perceive their relationship in a distorted form, as planned for today.
Before boarding the elevator, the production director walked out from the office. Ending up going down to the underground parking lot together, he began to lecture Doha. Having worked in the film industry for decades and witnessed all kinds of strange relationships, he wasn’t surprised at all by the relationship between Doha and Jaei, but he severely criticized Doha’s attitude.
“No matter how much you’ve been blessed by Jaei, he’s a senior as high as the sky, and you shouldn’t behave that way. A brat who just graduated high school, with the ink not yet dry behind your ears, how dare you talk back to your senior. Impudent punk.”
He raised his hand toward Doha’s head, with the same bad habit he had when dealing with rookie actors. In that instant, Jaei quickly wrapped his arms around Doha’s head to protect him. Doha instantaneously reduced his body size and nestled into Jaei’s arms. Jaei tilted his head and asked.
“Why are you after our baby? Director, why are you raising that hand?”
The director, who had tried to take the Korean Wave star’s side only to be subjected to Jaei’s “our baby” attack, lowered his hand with a very embarrassed expression. Jaei tenderly stroked Doha’s head and cheek as he asked.
“Were you very scared from being scolded?”
“Yes, hyung. I was so surprised my heart is pounding.”
Doha placed his hand on his chest and spoke while panting. Pretending to be infinitely frail, Doha looked at Jaei with pitiful eyes and then suddenly wrapped his arms around Jaei’s waist. Jaei rubbed his cheek vigorously against Doha’s round cheek, comforting the baby who had nearly suffered a great indignity.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Hyung will buy you ice cream.”
“I’m scared. Please protect me.”
“Don’t worry. Let’s go eat mint chocolate. You’ll feel better.”
Doha, who had been hugging Jaei’s waist while curled up small, suddenly straightened his body. Naturally, Jaei’s feet floated in the air. Ignoring the bewildered gazes directed at them, Doha lightly lifted Jaei and leisurely exited the elevator.
