“Didn’t you say you were leaving? I’m done talking too. Now go on your way.”
“…Stop paying attention to Jiwon.”
Hanryul had made a mistake. His true feelings had leaked out of his mouth without him realizing it. Hearing those words, Dojun’s black eyes began to ripple as if he’d caught another interesting tidbit.
“He’s just a manager, yet you seem quite interested in him.”
“Just a manager? So that’s what CEO-nim thinks when you think of Jiwon. I understand that thought well.”
“Then let me ask again, what business is it of yours?”
At the tail-chasing that started again, Dojun made a straight face as if he was fed up.
‘Informal speech?’
Jaehyun had said Dojun’s first impression was formidable, and though Hanryul hadn’t shown it, he too had felt it the moment he first saw him. But that didn’t mean he was intimidated in the slightest. Anyone claiming to be an agency CEO had at least that much guts.
In a place without Jaehyun, the person called CEO threw off his mask completely and began speaking informally to him with an overbearing attitude.
‘So you want to try this?’
“CEO-nim, although I’m young, why are you suddenly dropping honorifics? We’re not that close.”
“So that’s what bothers you. This will be interesting. …There will be many more things to bother you going forward.”
“Pardon?”
When Dojun threw out an unpleasant warning, Hanryul smirked and asked back.
“Seo Jiwon-ssi is quite interesting. I’d say the proper expression for this emotion is curiosity.”
At Dojun’s straightforward statement, Hanryul couldn’t help but be flustered. Seeing a man who readily admitted to that emotion he himself had been denying all along made him think life must be easy for some, and he even felt an inexplicable sense of defeat.
“That’s funny to hear. So what’s your reason for telling me that?”
Dojun, declaring to him as if making a proclamation that he was interested in Jaehyun.
Seeing that shameless appearance, Hanryul could identify the emotion he’d felt after seeing Dojun’s gaze toward Jaehyun.
An anger he absolutely couldn’t suppress.
Thanks to Dojun boldly revealing his true feelings and telling him to back off as if he didn’t care about someone like Hanryul at all, Hanryul was finally able to face his own heart squarely.
That his feelings toward Jaehyun weren’t limited to simple curiosity. Though he didn’t want to admit it, that emotion had long surpassed mere curiosity.
“I’ve never had anything I couldn’t have. Whether I call Seo Jiwon out separately or spend the night with him is absolutely none of your concern. Please leave now.”
‘What? Spend the night?’
The moment he heard those words, Hanryul’s rationality became paralyzed and his fingertips began to tremble faintly.
I see. In the end, I’ve been caught by that bastard. After hating him to death like that. His weak heart was pathetic. At the same time, all the inexplicable emotions he’d felt when looking at Jaehyun until now became clearly understood.
The reason he felt disgusted every time Jaehyun smiled sweetly in front of others, the reason he kept wanting to touch and reach him, the reason he kept thinking about him when he wasn’t visible and even felt an ache in his chest if he was hurt…
These were moments commonly experienced when falling in love.
How did I end up in this state? Though he’d tried hard to ignore it, his affection for Jaehyun had long surpassed his hatred.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
He hadn’t even finished sorting out his heart yet, but the man like a runaway train before his eyes kept launching aggressive words and actions at him.
“…Is Jiwon an object? Something you can have just because you want it.”
“You must not know, but you’re also a type of object. Celebrities are products.”
“…Jiwon isn’t a celebrity though.”
At the conversation that was strangely off track, Hanryul could intuit that Dojun was a more serious character than he’d thought. Dojun wasn’t talking about interest as person to person. He was speaking of Jaehyun as if converting him to an object.
Separate from his feelings toward Jaehyun, Hanryul felt a chill from Dojun, who talked about people as objects without changing a single expression.
“CEO-nim. I acknowledge your abilities and there are parts I respect. But this time, you didn’t have to follow along. If you do this, you’ll interfere with my work too. I’m also officially a signed celebrity, so please let me focus on my work. …And I care about Jiwon a lot. Talking about Jiwon as an object really isn’t right. Please stop paying attention to Jiwon. I’m asking you.”
Hanryul suppressed his emotions and began to refute Dojun with a businesslike attitude. At the sudden change in attitude, Dojun tilted his head slightly and looked at Hanryul.
“That won’t do.”
Dojun answered gently while dropping honorifics again.
“As expected, we can’t communicate.”
“Hanryul-ssi. Stop acting above your station, will you? It’s becoming difficult to endure any longer.”
Dojun too was beginning to be irritated by each of Hanryul’s actions, so he sent him a quiet warning. To get out of his sight immediately. The sight of him, who was nothing more than a celebrity and manager relationship, protecting his manager was both ridiculous and annoying.
“Sorry, but I can’t stop. CEO-nim, you’re interested in Jiwon?”
“Stop latching onto my words. Unless you want to leave Youth as of today.”
“I don’t care about that. And I’m the same. The same.”
The two men’s eyes faced off tensely without an inch of concession. The standoff continued for a while, and Hanryul, unable to overcome his emotions, left first.
“Damn bastard….”
On the way back to the lodging. Hanryul even came to resent Jaehyun. That emotion was closer to a kind of disappointment than the hatred he’d felt before. After that bastard changed, all sorts of strange bastards kept clinging to Jaehyun. From the person called secretary to the person called agency CEO. Whether Jaehyun had any awareness or not, he just smiled his good-natured smile without recognizing this situation.
‘He’s a strange bastard.’
Also, as of today, Hanryul was able to quickly sort out his feelings about Dojun too. He had to keep Jaehyun far away from the dangerous-looking Dojun.
‘…It’s almost over, isn’t it?’
Soon Hanryul realized the biggest problem. Dojun wasn’t the problem. There were barely three weeks left in the period promised with Jaehyun. At this rate, it was certain that bastard would return to America again in three weeks.
‘Then what about me?’
They’d agreed to settle all relationships if no incidents occurred during the six months. That bastard had also been tempted after hearing his conditions and accepted the absurd demand.
Now what should I do? The unpleasant dinner with Dojun and such wasn’t important. Hanryul had fallen into a bigger problem.
* * *
Refreshing. I’d slept well after a long time and started the day in a good mood. As soon as I opened my eyes, I was very curious about how much the two’s relationship might have progressed.
‘What? Why are they like this again?’
But from the lodging all the way to the airport, the atmosphere between the two was ominous. Normally when the two met, they should at least have a light argument, but today the two were treating each other as invisible people. Something big must have happened the night before.
They should have done well, but they must have ended up having a big fight. Was it Seo Hanryul’s fault, or Lee Dojun’s fault? No, there’s no one at fault. Obviously the two fought with each other and lost their affection for one another.
Even in the novel, Lee Dojun’s fan-denial period wasn’t this long. Looking at the space between the two that was so cold they might freeze to death, I couldn’t think of anything but that there was no answer.
‘Ha…. Should I stop caring?’
No. Maybe if I return to America, the two’s relationship will magically connect. With only three weeks left, I didn’t want to get more involved in these two bastards’ love front. The person helping would feel rewarded if they showed even a little progress, but this was completely uninteresting.
‘Did I do something wrong?’
If I hadn’t suggested drinking yesterday, would the two’s relationship have become this cold? I even thought that I was the one at fault.
Right, the atmosphere is shit anyway, so let’s try asking them to eat together.
“Should the three of us have a simple meal before boarding the plane?”
Pretending to be oblivious, I approached the two subtly and suggested eating.
“Did a beggar take up residence in your stomach?”
Seo Hanryul snapped irritably. When didn’t he nag me annoyingly about not eating properly, and now he’s sitting here making beggar jokes. I felt embarrassed about myself for giving that bastard quite generous points last night alone in my room, saying he was the protagonist so he was kind and whatnot.
“When didn’t you pester me about not eating properly, so why are you like this today?”
A sigh came from deep within my heart. Yesterday too, he must have grated on Lee Dojun’s nerves like this. And Lee Dojun wouldn’t have held back. I don’t need to see the video to know.
‘Like I really wanted to eat because I was hungry.’
The atmosphere was so shitty I was trying to lighten it up.
“Then Hanryul-ssi can drop out. I’ll go eat with Jiwon-ssi.”
“CEO-nim, do you want to eat this early in the morning? Hey, Seo Jiwon. You say it yourself. Are you really hungry?”
Seo Hanryul asked me with menacing eyes. If I said I wanted to eat now, it was obvious I’d be tormented by that bastard for the remaining three weeks.
“Haha, I’m sorry CEO-nim. Now that I think about it, we’ll get in-flight meals anyway, so I guess we don’t need to eat.”
In the end, I gave in as he wanted.
“And Seo Jiwon. You come see me for a moment.”
Seo Hanryul suddenly grabbed me and dragged me to a secluded corner. Unable to avoid the sudden action in time, I had no choice but to be docilely dragged where he wanted.
“…Seo Hanryul. I don’t mind, but isn’t this rude to CEO-nim too?”
“Stop with the etiquette talk. Do you want to eat that badly?”
The appearance of snapping irritably from earlier was gone, and he was showing me a faint smile and strange goodwill.
“Ha…. Are you really a psycho?”
It’s not like he’s performing Peking opera. I finally spat out a remark at the bastard who kept changing expressions constantly.
