When I arrived at the house, as expected, Seo Hanryul wasn’t there. I pressed the passcode he told me via text and carefully entered the house.
I expected he wouldn’t be home because of his schedule, but seeing the empty house, I thought the bastard who called someone to an empty house from early morning was truly rotten.
[You called me to your house from the morning when you’re not even home?]
[Then who would be there? I’ll go after finishing my schedule, so wait obediently. And take a picture of the house and send it]
The shameless bastard rather demanded proof photos from me. Fuming to myself, I took a picture and immediately sent it to Seo Hanryul. Meticulous bastard, who does he see as a scammer….
[Stay put nicely at home until I arrive]
‘Damn bastard.’
If it weren’t for that bastard’s strange whim, I could have listened to more of Han Woojin’s interesting lessons. As expected, he’s a bastard who’s no help whatsoever to my mental health.
At first, I was shocked senseless seeing Seo Hanryul’s face. In fact, even now when I see Seo Hanryul’s face, I think it’s probably the most handsome face in this world inside the book.
But as expected, a person’s inner self seems more important than their outer appearance. Now, even facing that sacred face, I only thought he was detestable.
‘Time sure as hell isn’t passing.’
In the end, I spent boring time in the empty house without its owner, and only around 11 PM did Seo Hanryul return home.
“You’re here? We don’t have anything to do between us anyway, so since the audition is coming up, let’s do some acting monitoring. Just show me your acting once.”
“Why should I do that? You keep saying presumptuous things since last time?”
I observed Seo Hanryul’s reaction and requested he show me his acting, but was beautifully rejected. Just how amazing acting is he trying to show that he won’t show it even once? In the novel, it said he did acting that shocked all the judges, but can I trust that? The story is already flowing strangely, so as the audition approached, my anxiety amplified.
“Stop being interested in the audition.”
He answered while shrugging his shoulders, and that sight was so infuriating I wanted to hit him just once.
‘Annoying contrarian bastard….’
“I stayed all day in a house without its owner with nothing to do. Don’t you think that’s a bit strange too? Why are you making me do such strange things?”
“Well. There’s no particular reason? You seem to have forgotten all the contents of the request form just because some time passed, but you have neither the freedom to refuse what I tell you to do, nor the freedom to ask why.”
That damn request form, it came out of his mouth after a while.
“Fine. Do everything your way. What are you planning to do tonight?”
“Do we have to do something? Well, want to watch a movie?”
“I don’t think we’re close enough to watch a movie affectionately together. If you’re going to watch it, watch it alone. I’m leaving.”
“You keep making meaningless rebellions since earlier? Sit down while I’m asking nicely?”
Seo Hanryul looked at me intently and sent a silent warning about whether he’d really watch a movie. I had no choice but to sit on the sofa again.
‘At this point, isn’t Cha Jaehyun’s soul inside Seo Hanryul’s body?’
Attitudes and words that change dozens of times a day according to his mood. To me, Seo Hanryul felt like a second Cha Jaehyun.
* * *
‘What kind of movie starts from the beginning….’
As soon as the movie started, I couldn’t help but be shocked.
The sight of a man and woman entangled and a festival of explicit flesh tones. From the start, without even blinking, a bed scene between a man and woman began.
I was flustered about where to put my eyes at the embarrassing scene to watch together. If I were watching alone, I might have watched it without much thought, but the situation of having to watch such a movie together with Seo Hanryul was very uncomfortable.
‘Of all the movies, why did he choose that kind of movie?’
“Crazy, what are you doing?”
My heart was restless because of the steamy movie from the first scene, when suddenly Seo Hanryul pulled my ear.
“Why are your ears red? They look like they’re about to burst. Do you know that?”
I learned one of Cha Jaehyun’s weaknesses only now. His ears. Since last time, if even a slightly embarrassing situation arose, his ears honestly turned red right away. I was embarrassed because it seemed he grasped exactly what I was feeling right now.
“Let go, you bastard. This is also sexual harassment.”
“Sexual harassment? Those words coming from your mouth. Don’t you have any conscience?”
Seo Hanryul let go of my ear firmly and spoke with a sneer.
He’s right. Sexual harassment from Cha Jaehyun’s mouth. Looking at Cha Jaehyun’s track record with Seo Hanryul, sexual harassment was a very inappropriate word.
‘He’s right.’
“So you’re embarrassed seeing such a scene? You’ve done things worse than that, so why act pure?”
Right. Cha Jaehyun has done things worse than that. From indiscriminate one-night stands to tormenting Seo Hanryul…. Seo Hanryul started continuously attacking me as if he’d caught some fun leverage.
“Ha…. Shut up and let’s just watch the movie.”
If I kept responding to Seo Hanryul, it seemed the conversation would flow in a strange direction, so I ignored him and fixed my eyes on the TV screen. Fortunately, Seo Hanryul didn’t say much to me after that either.
The movie was more interesting than I thought. I was surprised it started with a provocative bed scene at first, but it had its own story. The plot was a cliché story that seemed familiar from somewhere, but perhaps because of the splendid visuals, it kept people focused.
The content was simple. A princess from a defeated country vows revenge and infiltrates the imperial palace of the victorious country as a maid, approaching the crown prince. She made a plan to kill the crown prince and take revenge on that country’s emperor.
But like any romance movie, the princess and crown prince fall in love. And the princess spends painful anguished time between revenge and love.
[I hate you. I’m going to kill you tonight.]
[Yes, as much as you want. Here’s my heart. Stab here precisely. Can you do it?]
[Cruel bastard…. Because of you, my life was completely ruined.]
[Speak properly. Who suddenly appeared one day in front of someone who was minding their own business and tore up their heart? What are you hesitating for? Stab me now.]
“Hey, do you think it’s possible to hate someone enough to kill them and then fall in love like that?”
The movie reached its climax. I was super-focused appreciating the man and woman’s lines when Seo Hanryul suddenly threw out a trivial question.
‘That bastard interrupting my concentration….’
“Isn’t it obvious? Humans aren’t robots, they’re emotional animals.”
I answered half-heartedly so my concentration wouldn’t break.
I think Seo Hanryul just muttered something. I didn’t hear it well. I wanted to focus on the movie, so I didn’t ask him again what he said.
* * *
Of all movies, he chose the wrong one very wrong. He pressed the real-time popular movie #1 on the OTT service without thinking, and as soon as it started, an embarrassing scene appeared.
Jaehyun’s reaction to seeing that scene was also a spectacle. His ears were turning red as if they’d burst soon. Jaehyun’s appearance watching the movie while pretending to be calm, not knowing his ears had turned red, was funny.
“Let go, you bastard. This is also sexual harassment.”
When he grabbed his ear, the bastard spouted nonsense, but Hanryul even thought that sight was rather cute.
When were his ears red earlier, the movie must have been quite interesting, as the bastard seemed to forget the fact that he was sitting next to him and stared piercingly only at the screen.
When he was focused on the TV screen, Hanryul looked at his profile for a long time. A comfortable appearance wearing a white plain t-shirt and loose gray sweatpants. Even though his outfit looked like pajamas, his face was shining. Hanryul thought that apart from Jaehyun’s personality, he had no choice but to acknowledge his one splendid appearance.
‘He makes that kind of expression too?’
Jaehyun’s subtle expression that changed every time the screen switched continuously aroused interest. When the story reached its climax, Jaehyun looked only at the screen without blinking once.
‘Isn’t he going to fall into the TV at this rate?’
“Hey, do you think it’s possible to hate someone enough to kill them and then fall in love like that?”
In the end, Hanryul spoke to Jaehyun.
The bastard was so focused on the movie that he didn’t properly hear his words and answered half-heartedly. But even that sight continuously stimulated Hanryul’s inexplicable interest.
“Yeah, you might be right….”
Looking at Jaehyun who only watched the movie, Hanryul muttered quietly.
Although it was an insincere answer, Hanryul thought his words couldn’t be wrong.
Right. Because people are emotional animals. Hanryul decided to acknowledge his feelings.
In the past, he had feelings of wanting to cleanly erase the existence called Cha Jaehyun from his life, and furthermore, wanting to kill him out of spite. But the Cha Jaehyun before his eyes now was too different from before.
And that appearance confused him every day. No, beyond confusion, it was arousing inexplicable interest. But separate from arousing interest, hatred toward him still remained, falling into a strange stalemate.
What happened to make him change like that? And what kind of bastard is Cha Jaehyun?
Until the movie ended, looking at Jaehyun who didn’t even glance his way, Hanryul had no choice but to admit the fact that he had come to have a kind of interest and curiosity about him.
