# Chapter 30
What a ridiculous guy.
That was the emotion Woojin felt during today’s conversation with Hanryul. Moreover, he did that annoying action of shoving his face in at the end. When he did that, Woojin had the urge to push his face away, but barely suppressed it.
Also, he realized that Seo Hanryul’s personality was more eccentric than he’d expected. Until now, he thought Hanryul was just a pitiful reed-like man being pushed around by the guy called Cha Jaehyun.
Hanryul clearly hated that Jaehyun bastard enough to make his skin crawl. But the conversation with Hanryul felt less like meeting an ally and more like engaging in an inexplicable, subtle power struggle.
Woojin couldn’t understand the behaviors of both Hanryul and Jaehyun. From Hanryul, who claimed to hate Jaehyun yet pulled these absurd stunts, to Jaehyun, who went along with that embarrassingly stupid scrap of paper that could hardly be called a contract.
“Secretary Han knows too, right? I never do anything I don’t want to do. You can go in now.”
When he saw Jaehyun after returning home, sure enough, trouble had erupted. Jaehyun was searching for something with a pale complexion, looking anxious.
His face was very dejected, like a shabby deflated balloon with all the air gone.
Normally, this would be a cause for inner celebration, but strangely, Woojin found himself concerned about this fact.
About seven weeks had passed since Cha Jaehyun came to America, and it had been about a month since he began this strange cohabitation with him.
At first, the very idea of going to America alone with him was disgusting. But now… he even thought it wasn’t so bad. As an inexplicably bitter feeling arose, Woojin tried hard to suppress it.
‘Get a grip. As if I could like him.’
Returning to his room, Woojin stared out the window for a moment, then picked up his phone as if he’d made some decision. He sent a short message to Taehan.
[Executive Director, Young Master says he plans to return to Korea in three days. It seems he’s planning to wrap up his studies in America and go back.]
[That’s good news.]
Ten minutes later, a short reply came from Taehan. It was a very positive feedback. Nevertheless, Woojin continued to feel an uncomfortable sensation, as if something was stuck.
Why am I like this?
Yes, let’s be honest. This situation is very irritating. I don’t want to go back to Korea. I’m sick and tired of reporting his daily activities to Taehan.
But it wasn’t something he could just go and tell Jaehyun that he didn’t need to sign such a contract. Because if Jaehyun found out that he had been tailing him today, it was clear he would try to distance himself even more.
‘No, returning might actually improve the situation. It’ll be much easier to stick close to him, like before.’
Woojin let out a short sigh at the strange reactions in his body and lay down on the bed.
* * *
[Ladies and gentlemen, our aircraft will be landing shortly. Please fasten your seat belts and open your window shades. Thank you.]
In the end, thanks to Seo Hanryul, who threw all concept of time out the window, I packed everything up in three days and boarded a plane back to Korea.
No matter how much of an outcast bastard I am, I’m still nominally a chaebol’s son. Being an entertainer’s manager is absurd. But wanting to live peacefully for the remaining time, I decided to bet on Hanryul’s promise. He promised to let me go cleanly after six months.
The mood when leaving and returning was completely different. Just two months ago, I had praised money as the best thing after experiencing first class for the first time.
I was still sitting in first class now, but unbelievably, both my body and mind were groaning like a sick chicken. I had the belated realization that the reason I felt so light back then was because my heart was happy.
I hadn’t slept properly for the past three days. Constantly running simulations about what would happen next made it impossible to sleep.
For three days, I kept thinking about how to avoid Cha Taesan and Cha Taehan’s radar as much as possible. First of all, it was clear as day that I would face a big problem with Cha Taesan.
What would he throw at me when I return to Korea? Hopefully not a golf club—all sorts of frightening scenarios came to mind. But knowing there was no answer no matter how much I thought about it, all I could do was prepare myself mentally for the impending situation.
And Cha Taehan. Cha Taehan and Han Woojin come as a set. So he would naturally know all about the relationship between Seo Hanryul and me. What would he think if I suddenly said I was going to be Seo Hanryul’s manager?
After much deliberation, I came to the conclusion: ‘Be Seo Hanryul’s perfect dog for six months.’ In the novel, Cha Taehan waits to catch a ‘big deal’ that would take down Cha Jaehyun in one blow. In the end, Seo Hanryul and Lee Dojun blew it up first, so he had nothing to do.
This thought made me realize that if I faithfully followed Seo Hanryul’s words for six months, Seo Hanryul could actually become a shield against Cha Taehan.
If I live quietly without offending Seo Hanryul, Cha Taehan wouldn’t be able to catch a ‘big deal’ from me no matter how hard he tried.
In the first place, Seo Hanryul could have done anything without coming to America. But the reason he came all the way here was probably because he wanted to pay back Cha Jaehyun for the humiliation he had suffered.
He must have thought Cha Jaehyun wouldn’t last a few days and presented such a ridiculous demand. So I judged that if I just fulfill the contract well for six months, thinking I’m dead, I could avoid the worst.
Of course, this is only when running at 100% optimism. Still, since things have gone wrong, I need to do my best. I didn’t even want to think about a future where I’d go to jail in this wretched body I didn’t choose to enter.
Lastly, the unknown figure of ‘Lee Dojun’ remaining was also a problem. However, with enough characters to worry about already making my head spin, I decided to think about Lee Dojun later.
‘Right. I don’t have time to worry about someone I don’t even know. Whatever happens, I just need to avoid jail while I’m in this body.’
My brain was spinning rapidly as if it were an hour before an exam.
‘To think I have to waste my concentration on such thoughts.’
Thinking about the elusive future one after another made my head hurt again.
“Haah…”
Finally, I held my forehead and let out a dry breath.
“Young Master, are you alright?”
‘…?’
Han Woojin suddenly placed his hand on my forehead, then removed it. It happened so suddenly that I couldn’t stop it, and a beat late, question marks began filling my mind. Where does he think he’s touching?
“What?”
“Young Master, you’ve been complaining about headaches continuously for the past three days. Are you really alright?”
He could have just asked if I was sick, why the sudden touching? He’s been off since before.
“Secretary Han, I appreciate your concern, but please refrain from such actions. You startled me.”
“Young Master, I apologize.”
But he didn’t look sorry at all. Now that I look at it, Han Woojin seems to have a shameless side too. His impulsive action made me forget all the thoughts I was wrestling with.
‘Ah, what was I thinking about?’
Right, I was making plans. To obey Seo Hanryul well. No matter how much I worry, the reality will probably be worse. All I can do is face it head-on.
Cha Taesan, Cha Taehan, Han Woojin, and even Seo Hanryul. When I return to Korea, there are too many people who will be keeping tabs on me.
Starting tonight, I need to meet Seo Hanryul, and I wonder what he’ll demand.
‘I should just sleep.’
The numerous worries floating in my head and Han Woojin’s concerned gaze—all of it was burdensome, and I forcibly tried to sleep.
* * *
“Seo Hanryul, don’t you think this is a bit much?”
As soon as I arrived in Korea, I diligently reported to Seo Hanryul about my arrival and asked where I should go. Seo Hanryul told me to come to the conference room at his agency by 8 PM.
Taking his words at face value, I wore the neatest attire possible and arrived at the conference room by 7:50 PM. Before he entered the conference room, I kept chanting to myself.
‘For six months, I am Seo Hanryul’s dog. A dog. A dog…’
But despite my tearful self-hypnosis, Seo Hanryul’s additional demands shook all my resolutions.
As soon as he arrived, Seo Hanryul tossed an empty memo pad at me.
“What is this?”
“Write it down.”
“Write what?”
“Your home address and the passcode.”
This felt a bit wrong. That’s why I ended up making this mild resistance to him.
“I told you before, didn’t I? Don’t dawdle. Your comprehension seems quite lacking, huh? So, are you going to do it or not?”
But his attitude was so firm that whatever I said seemed unlikely to make any difference.
“Ha, shit…”
In the end, a curse that the real Cha Jaehyun would say came out automatically, though I didn’t intend it. I had no choice but to write down my home address and passcode on the paper and hand it over to him.
“Is that enough now?”
“Enough? Hand over your phone too.”
“Why the phone now?”
“Now I see your IQ might be a bit low too. Have you already forgotten the contents of the demand form? I need to install GPS.”
Right. That damn bastard. I threw my phone at Seo Hanryul. He caught my phone, quickly installed the GPS, and tossed the phone back towards me.
“You know what happens if you delete it, right? The contract is void.”
Cha Jaehyun is truly a bastard. But Seo Hanryul, who devised such a revenge method, is no less.
I could understand Seo Hanryul’s attitude. But it was very irritating. I was falling into a state of cognitive dissonance, understanding him while also becoming increasingly annoyed at facing him.
“Seo Hanryul, you’re more interesting than you look. Why not put a dog collar on me too, huh?”
I cynically responded to Seo Hanryul, letting go of everything.
“Ah, that’s also a good idea. Why didn’t I think of that? Should I?”
Crazy bastard. Now it’s confirmed. Seo Hanryul is definitely unhinged.
Like recognizes like, and perhaps Seo Hanryul is just as crazy, which is why the crazy dog Cha Jaehyun took a liking to him.
“Come back here by 6 PM tomorrow. I’ll provide specific details about the schedule. You know what happens if you’re late, right? It’s an immediate violation of instructions. Remember that.”
“I will absolutely not be late.”
“Whether you’ll be late or not, we’ll have to see, won’t we?”
Annoying guy, provocative till the end. I wonder which part of him Cha Jaehyun fell for to follow him around.
“It seems we’ve finished everything for today. I’ll be leaving now.”
I was so annoyed by Seo Hanryul’s taunting attitude that I immediately left the agency building.
Ding-
As soon as I left the building, my phone vibrated. The phone screen displayed [Chairman]. My neck stiffened as soon as I saw those three characters. I immediately turned on my phone and checked the message sent by Cha Taesan.
[Cha Jaehyun, I’ll be coming to your house tomorrow evening, so wait obediently.]
I knew Cha Taesan would want to see me someday. But I just arrived in Korea this morning. It’s sooner than expected, way too soon.
