When his thoughts reached there, he felt a little sorry for guarding against Dowon all along, and Dowon, who was in a position that couldn’t be opposed in the industry, was also a little hateful. He wouldn’t be someone who didn’t know he was in that kind of position. Dowon acting this way even seemed familiar, showing signs that he hadn’t been rejected or refused much.
“If you don’t believe an actor appearing in dramas to that extent.”
“……There must be a reason I’m not famous.”
Perhaps that’s why he spat out a joke mixed with resentment unlike himself.
The face of Dowon that he looked at with the laughter that burst out was still handsome and at the same time had an atmosphere difficult to approach. But it was also true that he felt a little relieved at the smile that instantly relieved the stiff atmosphere. Muyoung caught his breath a little only after submitting the documents to the person in charge together with Dowon.
After getting his ID back and getting close to the building entrance where they had entered, Muyoung narrowed his vision thinly at the sunlight that still hadn’t gone away. As he reflexively raised his hand to block the sunlight, Dowon immediately approached to the side.
“What kind of place is comfortable for you?”
“What?”
“If we’re going to talk, we’ll have to move locations. If we have a conversation standing here and even catch people’s eyes, wouldn’t it be uncomfortable for both of us? I know a place where we can talk quietly, so let’s move there.”
“Ah… that’s right. Yes.”
The fact that he had come by taxi without much thought caught him, but he thought the taxi driver probably wouldn’t know who he was either. In the midst of it all, Dowon’s words were strange. He didn’t seem like someone who would care for others like that. While thinking thoughts that would obviously be rude if revealed outside, Muyoung mumbled his answer in discomfort that didn’t completely go away.
“Why, are you reluctant because the meeting is getting longer than expected even though you were planning to refuse the other person?”
“That’s… not it. Where shall we go?”
At words that seemed to read the thoughts in his heart as they were, he almost couldn’t properly hide his expression. Even though he remembered Dowon’s words to talk after finishing the procedures. Even while nodding his head in agreement to the man’s proposal before leaving, it wasn’t genuine. He wondered why his thoughts had changed from just one meeting so he wouldn’t organize as planned and even wanted to talk more. He didn’t believe Dowon’s words saying he liked Muyoung from the beginning.
Do you smoke? To the consecutive questions, he appropriately shook his head to show denial.
Muyoung didn’t smoke if nothing else. It was partly because his bronchial tubes were weak, and Jinho had said it seemed like a scent that didn’t go with his pheromones, so he had cut off even the brief curiosity he had. In contrast, Jinho had consistently smoked since taking over the business. Seeing that he immediately remembered the location of the ashtray designated in his house, what wasn’t organized wasn’t just his heart.
“There’s one thing about Muyoung-ssi that’s different from what I thought.”
“What.”
Dowon nodded as if he didn’t plan to smoke right away, and as he took the lead, Muyoung also moved his steps. The man who stopped in front of a black business sedan finally looked like he was in exactly the right place. He gestured toward the passenger seat door and said, “Please get in.” The moment he felt Dowon’s face urging him was quite a playful expression. Inadvertently, Muyoung realized he had been captivated by the other person’s gaze.
“That you’re also good at lying. I almost believed what you just said about not being reluctant.”
“……”
The words of the man who terribly and consistently flustered him rather seemed more like lies, so Muyoung quietly shut his mouth and opened the passenger seat door to put his body in the seat. In this situation, if he talked back more to Dowon, it seemed it would rather be like digging his own grave.
Dowon, who directly held the steering wheel, crossed through the city center without much talk, as if there was no sense of discomfort from carrying another person. With his title, he wondered if he would rather be accompanied by a driver, but his appearance driving directly looked quite familiar.
“On weekends, if I don’t have work, I tend to drive the car myself as much as possible. Even deliberately.”
“……Ah, yes. Driving is like that.”
Remembering that he had endured for a long time with a garage license and then received training out of necessity, Muyoung nodded in agreement. Wondering if his thoughts were showing, he tried to cover his mouth with his palm, but the man rather laughed as if such Muyoung was interesting.
“How is it that everything you think shows all over your face?”
“I don’t particularly remember paying attention.”
He didn’t say that today was the first time he was caught so embarrassingly. Things that weren’t like usual overflowed besides meeting Dowon.
“Please be comfortable since it will take some time.”
“It’s not bad even now. It’s also spacious……”
“The car you usually ride in… Isn’t the actors’ van more spacious?”
“Ah, that’s because it’s a car used when working.”
He answered while fixing his gaze on the air vent where air conditioning wind weakly came out because he couldn’t feel stable anywhere in the neatly organized vehicle.
Even so, he felt all of Dowon’s movements nodding while even letting out a small laugh, as if pleased somewhere in the answer that vaguely picked things up roughly. Muyoung, whose attention was caught even by small sounds, looked toward Dowon then quickly looked straight ahead.
“I’m sorry. Since Muyoung-ssi is an actor, I’m a bit familiar, but I forgot that Muyoung-ssi might not be. I was rude.”
“No, it’s okay. Really……”
Come to think of it, the man who had been friendly to him from beginning to end had treated Muyoung familiarly from the start. Just like someone he knew. If it was because Muyoung was an actor as he said, it wasn’t a strange thing. He thought that perhaps he had misunderstood alone because his adaptation was slow since he was a person he met for the first time through matching. Muyoung shook his head at Dowon who was even politely apologizing and released the remaining tension.
“It seems you haven’t come to the trait agency often.”
“……Yes. In fact, I think today is the second time.”
“It must be your first time coming after mandatory education.”
“……It probably is.”
In the midst of talk that would naturally arise if they were the same trait holders, he tightly closed then opened his eyes at the fatigue that rushed in rapidly. He didn’t know how much farther they had to go to arrive at the destination, but he didn’t want to be rude enough to sleep with Dowon driving next to him.
He tried somehow to overcome drowsiness by slightly bringing his fingers to the right air vent where air conditioning wind came out, then even pressed down on his eyelids. However, by what kind of trick, his vision continued to flicker.
“If you’re tired, get some sleep for a moment.”
“No, it’s not. I can’t do that……”
He came to his senses sharply for a moment, but again his eyelids sank down heavily. No matter how much he tried to wake up by tightly gripping his thighs, he couldn’t stop it. He fell into sleep helplessly to the extent of not even noticing that Dowon, who had continued talking to Muyoung since getting in the car, was no longer attempting conversation.
* * *
The wind blowing gently on the night walk path he was taking after a long time was quite cool, unlike summer. Although it wasn’t a familiar path, the verdant tree smell and scent of wildflowers blooming in season on the densely wooded forest path made his heart comfortable. Was there even a lake around? As the unique smell of the waterside that flowed in occasionally spread refreshingly, a smile naturally rose to his lips.
Looking around at the surroundings where there weren’t many people, the person he had tried to spend leisurely time with hadn’t come yet. Only then feeling strangeness and looking back at the path he had walked once more, a hazy light rushed over from far away.
Huh. Here. Where was this again?
“……-ssi, Lee Muyoung-ssi?”
“……Ah.”
Muyoung, who had just woken up after falling asleep, blinked several times and came to his senses. Because focus didn’t match right away, the interior of the car that came into his flickering vision was unfamiliar. As soon as he realized who he had been with until just before, he straightened his back and sat up, letting out a deep sigh. Why on earth did he fall asleep?
“Are you okay?”
“……Yes, I’m really sorry.”
“That’s fine. I deliberately didn’t wake you.”
Although he thought wouldn’t it be difficult for anyone to wake someone they met for the first time if they were asleep, Muyoung deliberately didn’t point it out. Rather, it was because he thought it wasn’t something for him to say after falling asleep in a place like this.
Following Dowon getting out of the car, he looked around. It seemed to be the underground parking lot of a fairly large-scale building, and sure enough, he couldn’t hide his agitation at the name of H Hotel written at the entrance of the luxurious-looking elevator.
“This is……”
Muyoung, who couldn’t hide the appearance of hesitating at the place called a hotel, looked at Dowon. Dowon, who had been waiting for the elevator to come down, leisurely smiled and continued speaking.
“Unfortunately, this place’s lounge is better than expected for having a conversation.”
“……I see.”
“I want to reassure you that I made you misunderstand, but if I did that, it would be like lying.”
When he was puzzled at the words spoken in a voice clearly tinged with laughter, the elevator arrived in front. As they got on the machine and it started moving, he inadvertently met Dowon’s gaze looking at him while making eye contact. If misunderstanding was a lie, didn’t that mean his misunderstanding was correct? Even though he discovered Muyoung’s expression becoming haggard, the laughter didn’t cease from Dowon.
“What’s unfortunate is that it’s only me so far. I have to seduce Muyoung-ssi, don’t I?”
“……”
