“Today’s schedule is free…. Can’t I just rest for one day? The truth is, I caught a cold….”
When Jaehyun called, Hanryul was inwardly surprised to hear his dying voice.
‘I could tell from the moment he was running around in just a short-sleeved shirt, completely ignoring the weather.’
How ridiculous. That stupid bastard. He has another schedule tomorrow, so just how sick is he? In the entertainment industry, work is a long-term battle, so consistent physical management is important. He went around flapping about without thinking of the consequences, and it seemed things finally went south.
Feeling pathetic toward Jaehyun, Hanryul headed to his house. If he kept whining about being sick and interfered with work, it wouldn’t be good for Hanryul either, so he intended to at least check the bastard’s condition with his own two eyes.
He thought about just entering by pressing the passcode like last time, but if he suddenly barged in, the sick bastard might be startled, so he rang the bell. But the one who came out wasn’t Jaehyun, but his secretary.
Han Woojin.
Hanryul felt uncomfortable with the secretary blocking him as if he were a gatekeeper at someone else’s house. He looked at Hanryul, gave a fake smile, and offered a meaningless greeting.
“Woojin-ssi, then I’ll excuse myself for a moment.”
Hanryul didn’t want to face him for long either, so he briefly greeted him and tried to enter the house.
“Hanryul-ssi, the Young Master is sleeping right now. Please visit next time.”
But Woojin blocked Hanryul once more with a smiling face. Hanryul was greatly irritated by his attitude.
“Woojin-ssi, I came here today to see my manager. Even if Cha Jaehyun is sleeping, can’t I just go in and wait until he wakes up?”
Hanryul asked Woojin with a clenched-teeth smile.
“Ah, I see. But the Young Master is very sick today. If you tell me the reason for your visit today, Hanryul-ssi, I’ll convey it to the Young Master.”
‘Who does he think he is to keep blocking me?’
“Secretary Han, I want to convey my message directly. I don’t think there’s any need for me to tell you the reason I came here.”
Hanryul couldn’t understand Woojin’s attitude of blocking him. Thinking this was a meaningless squabble, he naturally walked past Woojin, who was blocking the doorway, and entered the hallway.
At the sight of Hanryul boldly entering the house, Woojin’s expression momentarily hardened.
“Last time you showed your bold side by pressing the passcode and entering someone else’s house, but today you fortunately rang the bell. I’m delighted to see Hanryul-ssi’s unrestrained behavior changing even a little.”
Woojin spoke toward Hanryul, who was walking into the living room ignoring him. As if this remark had quite an impact, Hanryul stopped walking and turned around to stare at Woojin.
“In the past, you always just stood silently next to Cha Jaehyun, so I thought you were a cold person, but now I see you’re someone with humor too. Cha Jaehyun won’t have time to be bored.”
Hanryul looked into Woojin’s eyes and responded with a slight smile.
“Yes, we got along well without being bored when we were in America anyway.”
Woojin also answered while looking intently at Hanryul.
A sunny weekday daytime. An unexpected battle of wills began. Two handsome men exchanging somehow thorny conversation while smiling. It was a scene interesting enough for anyone to watch, even someone who had no idea of the circumstances before and after.
“I think I’m done talking, so can I go into the room? The truth is, I came to see his face since I heard Cha Jaehyun is sick.”
They got along well in America? He clearly remembered that when he was at Jaehyun’s house for two days, Jaehyun avoided not only him but also the secretary in front of him. Hanryul thought he was talking nonsense.
“Ah, so is that why you bought porridge?”
He was about to stop the conversation and enter Jaehyun’s room, but seeing the porridge in Hanryul’s hand, Woojin spoke to him again.
“Yes, it’s porridge, as you can see.”
Hanryul’s expression management gradually failed because of Woojin, who kept talking to him about every little thing.
“So you know the Young Master is sick. I suppose you haven’t thought about the fact that the Young Master became sick because he had to do manager work that wasn’t even in his plans because of someone.”
Woojin threw an openly aggressive question at Hanryul while maintaining a consistently smiling face. Woojin also found the existence of Hanryul, who appeared out of nowhere in America and made Jaehyun come to Korea, very distasteful.
“You seem very interested in Cha Jaehyun’s affairs since last time. I know that secretaries help a lot with work beside the person they’re in charge of, but even considering that, I think Woojin-ssi’s behavior is a bit excessive.”
“Hanryul-ssi, you’ve been unnecessarily sharp since last time. Do you often hear from others that you’re sensitive?”
“I haven’t really heard that. Does Cha Jaehyun know that Woojin-ssi also knows the contents of this contract? I’m curious. Whether Cha Jaehyun told you all about his circumstances.”
Hearing Hanryul’s sharp question, Woojin felt flustered. He thought the man in front of him was quicker-witted than expected.
“Now I see that contrary to your soft appearance, you seem to have quite a different personality.”
Having been slightly pushed back by Hanryul, Woojin had no choice but to change the subject.
“Ah, my appearance? Yes. Many people often mistake it. People commonly mistake me for having an easy-going personality because I have a thin face, but that’s absolutely not the case. The entertainment industry is a tougher world than you think, so you need more than just an average personality to survive here.”
“I see. It’s good to know more about Hanryul-ssi. …By the way, the Young Master has quite picky taste, so he doesn’t eat food bought from outside well. I’m telling you this hoping it will be helpful to Hanryul-ssi, so please don’t misunderstand.”
Hearing Woojin’s words, Hanryul felt anger rising to the top of his head. The person called Han Woojin was someone extremely talented at gently scratching at the other person’s nerves while smiling.
“Yes, thank you for the good information. I’ll ask Cha Jaehyun about this directly, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t worry too much about it.”
The two continued their suffocating conversation while maintaining smiling faces.
* * *
“Ah…. What time is it now?”
I opened my eyes in bed. My head hurt so much that even my sense of time seemed to have disappeared. I only slightly raised my upper body from the bed when I heard voices talking outside.
It seems Han Woojin hasn’t left yet.
‘Really persistent bastard.’
Curious about who Han Woojin was talking to, I quietly approached the door and put my ear to it. There’s no way he has the nerve to be on the phone with Cha Taehan in my house, right?
‘…?’
Listening carefully, Han Woojin wasn’t on a phone call. He was having a conversation with someone, and the owner of the voice seemed to be Seo Hanryul.
‘Ha…. Why did Seo Hanryul come again? These crazy bastards….’
No matter how much I thought about it, there was nothing for the two to talk about, but strangely, the conversation continued.
“I suppose you haven’t thought about the fact that the Young Master became sick because he had to do manager work that wasn’t even in his plans because of someone.”
‘Why is he acting like that?’
I kept secretly eavesdropping, but the conversation was flowing in a seriously strange direction. Han Woojin was clearly picking a fight with Seo Hanryul. But Seo Hanryul also wasn’t backing down and was firmly responding to Han Woojin’s provocation.
Both bastards must have gone crazy. I’m the one who’s sick as hell, so why are these two random bastards sitting here fighting in my house?
The law of conservation of craziness.
A phrase suddenly came to mind. Since Cha Jaehyun wasn’t acting crazy anymore, I thought the two innocent bastards started causing a scene as a reaction. My head was killing me, and this was maddening.
‘If you’re going to fight, please go outside and fight.’
But their sparks-flying conversation didn’t seem like it would die down easily. In the end, I gave up on going out to the living room.
‘Go ahead and fight well.’
I thought that when the fight ended, I should subtly pretend to have just woken up and go out to the living room. Even if I went out now, I didn’t have the confidence to endure that strange atmosphere.
“Ha…. Didn’t I tell you last time in America? That I’d help you. We seem to be allies. Woojin-ssi, I don’t think there’s any need for you to treat me so sharply.”
I was about to go back to bed when something strange came out of Seo Hanryul’s mouth.
‘What? Allies?’
I pressed my ear close to the door again and started listening carefully to their conversation.
“You keep saying you’ll help since last time, and today you’re using the interesting expression of being allies. If you intend to play soldier with me, I’ll politely decline. I have absolutely no such thoughts toward the Young Master.”
Incomprehensible words came out of Han Woojin’s mouth too. Since last time? Have the two of them met when I wasn’t around? The puzzle pieces didn’t fit together as to what was going on. Hearing their suspicious conversation, I thought this wouldn’t do and immediately opened the door and went out.
“Seo Hanryul, you came too?”
When I came out, both their gazes turned toward me.
“But why did you come? I said I was sick. Don’t tell me you came thinking I might have lied like last time? I’m sick, as you can see, so believe me a little.”
“Hey, what kind of trash do you take me for? I came to give you this.”
Seo Hanryul smoothly held out the porridge in front of me.
“What’s the occasion? Well, anyway, thanks.”
Seo Hanryul’s action of suddenly bringing porridge was very strange, but I pretended to be grateful and received the porridge.
But in my head, only the conversation the two had been having earlier kept coming to mind, and the very fact that the two of them were in my house was very unpleasant. However, I absolutely couldn’t show my displeasure in front of them.
For now, I thought I should observe the two of them and watch the situation.
