At Wonha’s words, Sangho blinked with a blank expression. Wonha yawned once more without any particular concern, stretched, and went outside the room. Standing still in the room, Sangho felt something warm spreading inside his heart along with an awkward feeling.
Well, since this is inside that manhwa, I thought he was dating guys. If we meet normally… are we friends?
Sangho had never called guys his own age ‘friends.’ Come to think of it, Wonha said he wanted to become close because ‘Sangho,’ who’d watched his independent film, had said something meaningful. Could what he’d repeatedly emphasized, that it wasn’t ‘fan service,’ have meant he wanted to become friends? With just the word ‘friend,’ Sangho felt like the last wall he’d set up in his heart was crumbling. Sangho had never had a friend to open up to until now.
“What games do you have?”
Sangho, in a slightly excited tone, asked as he came out of the lit studio.
The game Wonha had was a two-player console game. He said it was a recently released cooperative game, but Sangho, who’d only played computer games, touched a game pad for the first time. The game that had supposedly won all kinds of gaming awards was really incredibly fun. Sangho, who’d been immersed in the game after ordering chicken in the middle, drank three 500ml cans of beer. As he got drunk, the buttons kept slipping, and he couldn’t get past a certain section.
Time was passing 2 AM, going beyond midnight. Sangho suddenly thought he might have stayed at Wonha’s studio for too long. Sangho, who’d put down the pad for a moment, leaned his swaying head against the sofa backrest and said to Wonha:
“Noooo… I’ve been here too long. I think I should go now.”
“Already? We haven’t even finished half of it yet.”
“It’s dawn… already. You need to sleep too, Wonha…”
“You can just sleep here and go. Tomorrow’s Sunday anyway?”
At Wonha’s words, Sangho rubbed his bleary eyes. Come to think of it, after tomorrow passed, it would be time to go to work. At the thought of having to see the Center Director’s face again, his brow furrowed of its own accord.
“Damn it… Why is the weekend only two days…”
“…Something did happen, didn’t it?”
Sangho put his hand on his head and let out a shallow sigh. With alcohol in him, his chest felt even more stuffy and his emotions seemed to surge even more. When Wonha questioned him again, Sangho, as if irritated, spilled the story about the Center Director.
“That person is the head of our department, and it’s right that I should do well, but… Do I really work that badly? Like… are the supervisors spreading word that I can’t do my job?”
“What are you talking about?”
“And then, what, he tells me to get an autograph. Tells me to arrange a meal. If I don’t do that for him, he’s gonna throw a fit at me…”
“Autograph? The Center Director who took my autograph told you to arrange a meal?”
“Wonha. Do I seem like an idiot to you too? Like I can’t do my work properly.”
“…No.”
Sangho blinked at the somehow cold tone. This kid is using informal speech to his hyung. Still, making a fuss about informal speech over a two-year age difference seemed a bit much. Sangho chuckled and leaned his head on Wonha’s shoulder. Flinch—the firm shoulder stiffened with tension.
“Thanks. For calling me a friend.”
“…”
Instead of an answer, he felt a hand quietly settling on his shoulder. At the warm warmth transmitted from the palm, Sangho slowly closed his eyes. This time a slightly deeper sigh came out.
“I’m such an idiot. I’m not good at anything and I always ruin everything by being conscious of others. I’m sorry I think I made a lot of mistakes with you too. Today too, we were supposed to hang out but I…”
As Sangho’s voice gradually drooped, Wonha’s finger poked into his brow. At the gesture that seemed to say not to frown, Sangho felt the depression that had been creeping up suddenly disappear. Wonha, who’d pushed up Sangho’s brow with his finger like that, showed a bright smile.
“It’s okay. Because we’re friends.”
“Uh, yeah. Then, you can speak comfortably too. Call me hyung…”
“Okay. Hyung.”
As a low laugh was heard together, Sangho drifted into sleep.
***
Sangho only opened his eyes when it was almost noon. Spring sunlight was leaking through the closed curtains. I’m sure I slept on the sofa yesterday. Did Wonha move me? Sangho, who’d been sitting and scratching his messily sticking-out hair for a moment, came out of the room with a puffy face, yawning. Wonha, wearing glasses and sitting in front of the computer typing, greeted Sangho who came out of the room.
“Hyung. Did you sleep well? I ordered hamburgers.”
“Uh, yeah…”
Sangho felt slightly awkward at the friendly form of address. Come to think of it, yesterday while drunk, he’d subtly asked Jang Wonha to call him by his name and to call him hyung. It would seem funny now to act awkward and say ‘Wonha-ssi’ or ‘Actor-nim.’
Well, he said we’re friends.
Thinking nothing of it, Sangho plopped down on the sofa. Come to think of it, Dohyun had gone crazy over the fact that ‘Sangho’ had assaulted Wonha and killed him, so just being friends should be okay, right? He also felt a nagging concern that even that might be dangerous, but Sangho was quite intoxicated with the fact that he’d made a friend for the first time.
There might be some stressful things at work. Then you drink with a friend and blow off steam. Getting closer to that kind of ‘normal’ life, Sangho felt quite a solid sense of stability.
Wonha, who’d been tapping on the keyboard for a moment, swiveled his chair around and asked matter-of-factly:
“About the Center Director yesterday. You said he wanted to have a meal with me?”
“Ah, that. Don’t worry about it. I’m going to refuse.”
“Will that be okay? For me, eating a meal once isn’t difficult.”
“No. I’ll just… say you’re too busy.”
Even as he said that, Sangho frowned as if he had a headache. He didn’t want to become someone who dragged Wonha around to show off his connections.
“The Center Director mentioned rumors and told you to arrange a meal, right?”
“…How did you know?”
“That type is obvious. He can’t even come ask for an autograph himself and makes you do it. That’s how he acts like he has influence within the company and makes people feel intimidated.”
“But he’s still the Center Director. What can I do? If he tells me to do it, I have to, don’t I?”
“Pfft. Hyung. The personnel evaluations don’t even go through the Center Director in the first place? He has the title so everyone just treats him decently and avoids him, but why would such a great Center Director chase after a new employee who’s only been there two months, asking for autographs and to arrange meals? It means he’s not a threat at all within the organization.”
“Is… that so?”
“It’s true. Since hyung usually doesn’t show when you’re in a bad mood, you might seem even more easy to bully. Considering his reputation in the company, there’s no need to confront him head-on, but… if you push back even a little, he’ll probably crumble.”
After saying that, Wonha sipped the tea on the table and turned his gaze back to the computer. Sangho, who’d been watching from a distance on the sofa, somehow felt more at ease. Come to think of it, Wonha’s words were more persuasive than the Center Director’s out-of-the-blue ‘rumors’ talk. Why would such a great Center Director cling to someone who’d only been employed for two months? In truth, he might have no influence in the company and was harassing the janitors because he was desperate. With that thought, even the Center Director who’d seemed so scary and difficult now seemed somehow laughable.
“I see.”
Sangho’s voice rang out calmly, somehow sounding relieved.
***
― Beep, clocking in.
It was Monday again. The night before, Wonha had made a fuss telling Sangho to sleep over. Staying at Wonha’s studio for all three days, I feel pretty bad about it, but Wonha had insisted, saying “We couldn’t play on Saturday, so we have to at least play on Sunday.” So the day before, they’d ridden around in Wonha’s car all day going out to play, and returned to the studio late to sleep. Wonha must have been tired because he didn’t even see Sangho get up and leave at dawn, sleeping deeply.
Entering the indoor gym, there were piles of sandbags he hadn’t seen before. It seemed they’d been brought in to fill the indoor area with the lacking sand. Geez. What are they doing stacking them at the entrance like this? Clicking his tongue, Sangho quickly gathered his cleaning tools and started cleaning the first floor.
The variety show that Wonha and Kyungoh were appearing in had finished all filming as of last Friday. The broadcasting station’s equipment had all been removed, and there was no more lunchbox trash that had always been there. Instead, there were traces of training done over the weekend here and there, so there were more places to clean again. Still, this was work he’d done quite a bit, so Sangho started cleaning from the first floor with practiced ease.
Sangho finished cleaning the third floor and began heading to the trash area to throw away the full garbage bags. Since it was slightly past clock-in time, he could see staff members going up and down here and there.
“Oh, Lee Sangho!”
And the Center Director, as if he’d rushed straight to the indoor gym right after clocking in, approached Sangho with quick steps. Sangho set down the garbage bags in a corner of the first-floor lobby for a moment and bowed in greeting. So it’s come. His heart pounded with slight tension.
“So, how did it go? Did you set up the meal appointment?”
“Ah, that… Wonha doesn’t really arrange meals with strangers. I did bring it up though…”
“You brought it up?”
“He seemed kind of upset and asked who wanted to have a meal, questioning me closely about their name and affiliation.”
At Sangho’s words, the Center Director’s face turned deathly pale. Briefly moving his lips to process Sangho’s words, the Center Director asked urgently:
“S-so? What did you say?”
“I just vaguely said I was asking once.”
“Really? Are you sure? You didn’t mention my name?”
“No.”
“Y-you’re not lying, are you?”
“No. I’ll go do my work now.”
The Center Director grabbed Sangho’s forearm as he bowed and tried to leave. His face was extremely anxious about whether he might have gotten on the bad side of Wonha, who was the Board Chairman’s nephew.
“Y-you, you, I wasn’t even done talking but who taught you to leave on your own? Since you act with such poor social skills, maybe that’s why actor Jang Wonha got upset? Huh?”
“What? Why are you being like this again?”
“Maybe you said something weird!”
At the sharp, tearing shout, Sangho could feel the students in the gym murmuring and looking out. From the staff office upstairs too, people were coming down one by one, wondering what was happening. The Center Director was in a completely excited state. Sangho vaguely realized the situation was turning in his favor.
“You asked me to do that privately. Center Director. Then what should I do? I’ll call Wonha again and tell him to please have a meal just once.”
“Wh-what? Are you threatening me right now?”
“It’s not a threat, you’re the one who told me to do it.”
Sangho firmly removed the Center Director’s hand and rummaged in his pocket to take out his cell phone. The Center Director’s face was now hardening to an ashen color.
“Y-you insolent bastard!”
The Center Director, his face twisted viciously, lunged at Sangho before he could press the call button on his phone. Sangho, hit by the Center Director’s body tackle, fell backward with a flustered expression. Behind Sangho were the piled-up sandbags. Since dozens of bags weighing about 20kg each were stacked there, the moment he got crushed under them, he wouldn’t be able to avoid going to the hospital.
Crash-bang-bang-bang!
The moment the swaying sandbags poured down on Sangho, someone’s large frame wrapped around him. A faint sunlight scent rushed into his nose, and Sangho lost consciousness right there.
