─ I see. It seems like you’re in a taxi.
“That’s right. I’ll be getting out soon, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
─ At times like this, it would be better to be careful to the point of excess.
“…I know. I’ll be careful.”
At the slightly dissatisfied voice as expected, Muyoung let out a laugh instead. Both the fact that he couldn’t hide his worried expression and that Muyoung noticed it were too soft compared to this situation. Having someone who made him laugh at being told to be careful wasn’t bad.
─ I’d like it if you could text me when you go in.
“Yes, I’ll text you. I’m, arriving now…”
─ Okay. Have a safe trip.
After ending the call, he paid the taxi driver the fare and immediately got out at the apartment entrance. Relieved for now that there were no unfamiliar people around, Muyoung hurried inside the building. He checked whether anything was different from usual as he entered the house, but nothing seemed particularly off.
Only after opening the front door and entering the house did he relax. While talking with the people who were worried, he kept saying he was fine, but apparently he wasn’t. His tense body didn’t lie. After rubbing his naturally relaxing face several times, he looked for what he needed.
He didn’t know how much to pack, but thinking about a week, he generously filled the suitcase with clothes, underwear, and shoes. It was shabby for a 7th-year actor’s luggage, but CEO Choi’s nagging had played a part in him even packing this much for himself. Come to think of it, to live alone, he’d really lived receiving help from and leaning on so many people.
Looking at the time, thinking he should organize a bit more before leaving, he opened the refrigerator. He organized all the side dishes that spoil easily and moved them to the freezer. It was nice that moving his body kept depressing thoughts from creeping in. After roughly scanning the other contents, he looked for the medicine he’d left near the dining table. Having placed it where it wouldn’t catch others’ eyes, it was stuck together with mail he’d gathered to throw away.
While organizing carelessly on the dining table and gathering the medicine, he saw documents that fell with a thud. It was the envelope he’d kept the medicine in. Since it was an envelope from the pharmacy, it had the drug type and name, efficacy, precautions, etc. written on it. Trait disorder. Caution required for specific drugs. It was similar to what was written on the documents in Muyoung’s wallet now. It was a slightly more euphemistic expression, but ultimately the same thing. A person who must be careful and careful again.
He mixed the medicine envelope back among the mail and separately gathered just the medicine to put in his jacket pocket. And while he was thinking of it, he took today’s medicine in advance. The bitter scent remaining after swallowing was a bit nauseating, but it was bearable. He had to endure well until he went to the hospital.
“First, a text…”
When he checked his phone, he first saw that quite a bit of time had already passed. And among the usual advertisement texts and call notifications, he saw a text notification from Dowon.
Han Dowon
When you’re done packing, text me and come down
Had a week been too long? Even though he couldn’t have heard in advance that Muyoung’s schedule was pushed back, Dowon’s quick response made him laugh emptily. Moreover, he himself reacting as if he’d been waiting was also a bit much. There was no one watching, but it was embarrassing.
It looked like he was saying he was in front of the house, so he hurriedly finished preparing. He unplugged everything, grabbed the suitcase, and was about to leave through the front door when he stopped briefly and sent a reply to Dowon.
Are you here now?
Coming down
He looked around the house he was briefly leaving and opened the front door to go outside. Thinking that he’d be waiting outside made him feel awkward for no reason. Unlike the heat outside, the building’s cold air quietly filled the surroundings. He pointlessly tapped the floor with his toes waiting for the elevator. Only the regular sound remained, tickling his ears.
He felt exactly like a child. So this is what it felt like to have someone unexpectedly come for you. He pressed his flushed cheeks with the back of his hand as he got into the arrived elevator. He’d moved around busily and there was the hot weather, but he knew best himself that wasn’t the reason for the rising heat. The strange rippling in his heart was exactly like motion sickness.
He dragged the suitcase toward the entrance and looked around. The sun had already completely set and it was dark, with only the parking lot lit by street lamps. Had he come out too early? He couldn’t see anyone in his field of vision. While he was searching his pockets for his phone for a moment, something was suddenly placed over Muyoung’s head.
“What…!”
“Don’t make a sound.”
A low voice rang right by his ear. It was Dowon. What was placed on his head seemed to be Dowon’s jacket. That familiar deep, heavy scent rushed into his nose.
“Do you see the black car at the far right of the parking lot in front? It’s where I always park. Go straight there and get in the back seat.”
“…Why, what’s going on?”
“I’ll explain later. It’s right in front, so leave the luggage and hurry.”
Muyoung’s heart beat hard and fast at the suddenly unfolding situation. There was anger mixed in the voice that spoke clearly while keeping the sound down. He ran straight to the car Dowon mentioned, leaving the suitcase as Dowon instructed. There was no time to judge. As soon as he got into the safely open back seat and sat down, he looked outside.
Since the apartment complex wasn’t large, the parking lot at the entrance of the building where he lived was small enough to fit entirely in view. Dowon, who had taken off the jacket, suddenly ran into the flower bed on the left, leaving the suitcase by the entrance.
“…Huh?”
Since it was an old apartment, there were many shrubs and trees near the flower bed. Dowon’s expression was fierce as he dragged out a shabby-looking figure who had apparently been hiding in the blind spot behind them. It was an expression he’d never seen before. In Dowon’s other hand that gripped the assailant’s collar was a rather large camera held carelessly. The assailant’s black clothes that were dragged out were all dirty with dirt and dust, showing how long they’d been enduring inside.
Even though he struggled as if he’d roll on the ground, it didn’t work on Dowon. The assailant, who had been violently resisting and reaching for the camera Dowon was holding, started shouting as if overwhelmed.
“Ah, why are you doing this! I’ll, I’ll sue you for assault!”
“Go ahead. Let’s see what happens when you mess with someone who was hiding in front of someone else’s house like a rat doing illegal filming.”
“You’re making false accusations. When did I do illegal filming? I’m just someone taking pictures of stray cats.”
The man caught by Dowon seemed to use all his strength to somehow escape at first, but when that clearly didn’t work, he just spouted whatever. The quiet interior of the apartment complex became noisy. Some houses seemed to be murmuring and looking out from their balconies, but soon the opened windows closed, as if they found it too bothersome to care. Muyoung watched nervously from inside the car, unable to get out.
“You hid someone earlier and you’re grabbing me. Aren’t you the one with something to hide?”
“You’d better watch your mouth.”
“I think you’re the one who should be careful. Huh? Who’s the one who grabbed someone indiscriminately!”
No matter how he looked at it, the man seemed to be in the wrong for hiding in a deserted place, but Muyoung was terrified by how strangely confident he was. It was partly because it was his first time experiencing this, but also because it was such an unexpected timing and the situation was rough. How had Dowon even known there was someone in a place like that?
“You’re lucky with your ancestors. Assault, fraud, illegal pornography production, distribution, what else was there. It’s so dirty I can’t remember it all.”
“Wha, what? Han Dowon, how do you know about me…?”
Dowon sneering at the flustered assailant’s face was an expression Muyoung hadn’t seen before. Muyoung, who had been dazed for a moment, held his breath even inside the car as he examined that face. Witnessing such an unfamiliar moment with his own eyes made him anxious with the rushing tension.
The assailant who had been loudly shouting his innocence quickly quieted down after exchanging a few more words with Dowon. Then several men in black clothes came running from afar. They seemed to be people Dowon had called.
Only then did Dowon release the collar he’d been gripping and hand the assailant over to them, seeming to quietly give instructions, but it didn’t reach properly inside the car. Even in the midst of that, words like police, report, and action came through sporadically, informing him that the situation was being handled. The people who approached seemed to be private security guards.
The people who received the assailant quickly disappeared. After confirming they’d moved far away, Dowon finally approached the car. He brushed off here and there on his clothes as if dust had gotten on them and pulled the driver’s seat handle. Then, seeing Muyoung looking at him confusedly from the back seat, he got into the back seat instead.
“Were you surprised?”
“No, I wasn’t… Yes…”
Muyoung, who was about to say no out of habit, nodded his head while pressing down on his still-violently beating chest and slowly caught his breath. The confusing situation was one thing, but he was curious about the people who had rushed in too quickly, and surprised that Dowon had caught that person.
“Catch your breath for now.”
Dowon was the one who had been struggling outside and handling the situation, yet water with a freshly opened cap was in Muyoung’s hand. He slowly took a sip and handed over the bottle he’d been drinking from. Dowon received it right away and drank several sips nonchalantly.
“That person earlier, what exactly…”
“It’s probably because of the tabloid.”
“Then, was he a paparazzo?”
“A vicious one. Not just celebrities, but everyone who seems to have some money is a target. He hides in houses and endures for days like this to take pictures.”
That rough, fierce momentum when Dowon dragged the man out of the flower bed was hard to believe even while seeing it with his own eyes. The chilling feeling he’d felt just moments ago was still vivid. The fact that there was a human who endured in a place where no one’s eyes reached, watching others, and that he’d become such a person’s target, was creepy.
“…I don’t know why they’d go this far.”
That was exactly the point he couldn’t understand. He hadn’t heard that they’d demanded anything or made threats to either Muyoung’s company or Dowon’s side. There were no signs of it becoming an article and breaking out. They’d tried to do something to block the article, but it was frustrating since the other side showed no signs. Then, seeing it quiet for a few days, he’d been a bit relieved, wondering if it would become like it never happened. CEO Choi and Section Manager Kim had thought the same.
