“…….”
“…….”
How long had they been waiting? Kim Jaeho, who had been sitting quietly against the wall with his eyes closed, also bolted up from his seat. He approached Euiju with an obviously exhausted face.
“Euiju-ssi, you’re here? You weren’t answering your phone, so I had no choice but to come all the way here.”
It had been several days since he unilaterally notified them of his resignation. By now, it should be a period when Haeseong would be incredibly busy with external schedules without a moment to spare. As far as he knew, today was the day Haeseong had a script reading for Director Kim Seongwon’s film. It was an important schedule, so how on earth was he here…?
“Euiju-ssi. Please try to stop Haeseong. I’m seriously going crazy here. Every single schedule has been blown off, and the company made such a fuss that he almost got caught by reporters. It was absolute chaos after you left like that. The kid threw such a fit about going to see you… Ow!”
The one who pushed aside Kim Jaeho as he was voicing his grievances was none other than Jin Haeseong.
Had he grown taller in the meantime? Their eye level, now even closer than before, felt threatening. Haeseong’s cool gaze coldly scanned Euiju’s dark expression.
“…….”
“…….”
Euiju was the first to avoid their locked gaze. Seeing this, Haeseong scoffed as if it was ridiculous.
“Don’t act so pathetically like this and tell me a proper reason.”
“…….”
“You’re saying you’re abandoning me and leaving. There’s no way I can understand you just ending it by saying you’re sorry. Try to convince me.”
Silence settled. Euiju gave no answer, and Haeseong glared at him. Kim Jaeho just watched Haeseong’s mood with tension.
Watching Euiju’s lips that wouldn’t open, an explicit sneer appeared at Haeseong’s beautiful mouth corners.
“Ahjussi. I’ve really held back a lot.”
His low voice was sinister.
It was true, so there was no way to refute it. The fact that Haeseong, who had a fiery temperament, was approaching this rationally without turning everything upside down meant he was literally holding back.
Like he was keeping his previous promise with Euiju.
He had blown off his schedules and come all the way here, leaving everything behind. Euiju had nowhere left to retreat.
“I told you. Something came up so I’m leaving temporarily. I’m not going for good, once I finish my business I’ll come back…”
“Stop disappointing me.”
At those words, Euiju raised his head. He met Haeseong’s gaze directly. The child’s voice was utterly cold, but his eyes were saying something different.
Don’t abandon me.
Looking at those eyes, Euiju’s mouth opened on its own as if possessed by something.
“…The youngest is sick.”
In an instant, Haeseong’s face froze.
“He has a serious illness that can’t be treated in Korea. They say I have to go to America to make the child better. The reason I couldn’t contact you after we came up from Jeju Island was also because the child suddenly lost consciousness and I was too frantic. …I’m really sorry.”
Fine ripples appeared on his frozen face. Except for his chest rising and falling slightly, Haeseong was completely rigid.
“Oh, there was such a situation? Oh my, Euiju-ssi, I’m sorry. I didn’t know and…”
Kim Jaeho, who had been reading the room, jumped in with surprise.
“A serious illness, what’s wrong with him? It can be cured, right…?”
“So.”
Haeseong cut off Kim Jaeho’s words.
“What you’re saying is, because your younger sibling is sick, you’re abandoning me and leaving.”
“…….”
“That’s right, isn’t it. Once again, I’ve been pushed behind your precious family.”
His face, blinking slowly, was frighteningly emotionless. It was an artificial expressionlessness, like wearing a beautiful mask.
Euiju lowered his head and squeezed his eyes shut. The person who knew best that Haeseong hated being pushed behind his family was none other than Euiju himself.
He didn’t want to tell him the real reason. Especially because the child had always had an exceptional jealousy toward his family.
Kim Jaeho tilted his head and interjected.
“Haeseong-ah. That’s natural though. When family is seriously ill, who would just keep going about normally? He has no choice but to leave for treatment.”
Despite Kim Jaeho’s nagging, Haeseong stared at Euiju without even the slightest blink. After a moment of silence, a small laugh burst from Haeseong. Kim Jaeho looked at him with puzzlement.
Haeseong let out a derisive laugh as if it wasn’t funny at all.
“Ahjussi doesn’t have money. I’ll cover everything, so ahjussi should stay here. You have a noona too, so there’s no need for ahjussi to go as well.”
“Haeseong-ah.”
“Ah, noona’s hand is inconvenient? You said you were saving money to get a prosthetic fitted. I’ll do all of that for you. Then she’ll be able to take care of the kids alone, right? I’ll even attach a few people so she won’t struggle alone. It’ll be way better than ahjussi going himself, so ahjussi can stay here.”
Even though it wasn’t something that should come out of a minor’s mouth, Haeseong continued speaking naturally. It was an arrogant attitude like when Jang Yeonguk had offered to employ him without knowing how the world worked.
“If it’s a problem that can all be solved with money, why were you shouldering it alone? I have a shit ton of money, so don’t worry.”
As if he’d found the answer, Haeseong nodded to himself.
Of course, though Haeseong came from a very good family and was raking in enormous money through his acting activities, this kind of solution was impossible.
Haeseong took out his phone as if he was really going to implement what he’d just said and tried to make a call somewhere. Euiju urgently stopped him.
“I’ve already solved the money problem myself, so you don’t need to worry, Haeseong. Don’t do this.”
At Euiju’s firm words, veins stood out on Haeseong’s smooth temples.
“What are you talking about? Ahjussi doesn’t have money. You’re poor. You always wear the same clothes and walk everywhere to save even a single penny, yet what are you solving?”
“No, that’s…”
“The money’s been solved? Does that even make sense? Wow, fuck. If you’re going to make up such bullshit lies, I guess you really have lost affection for me. Right?”
“Jin Haeseong!”
Anger could clearly be seen rising in Haeseong’s pupils as he looked directly at Euiju. Haeseong stepped right up close to Euiju. His voice flowing out as if marinated in betrayal was utterly cold.
“But what can we do? I can’t understand it even if I die. If you’re not going to accept my money either, then I have my own thoughts too.”
“…….”
“Wherever ahjussi goes, I’ll just follow you.”
Having finished speaking, Haeseong pushed past even Euiju and exited through the gate.
“What do you mean…!”
“Haeseong-ah. What do you mean by that!”
Since he wasn’t wearing a hat and mask, Kim Jaeho jumped in alarm and followed him out. Euiju was also startled and quickly caught up to Haeseong, grabbing his wrist.
“What do you mean by that!”
“Why? Ahjussi is also doing whatever the fuck he wants, so is there a law saying I can’t do the same? It’s annoying, so don’t grab me like this.”
Euiju’s hand was firmly pushed away. Just like how Euiju had pushed away Haeseong’s hand a few days ago.
“Oh my, Haeseong-ah. First put this on. Please. Okay?”
Haeseong, who had been glaring at Euiju with cold eyes, roughly pressed on the hat that Kim Jaeho handed him and started walking past Euiju.
Euiju, his soul departed, just stared blankly at his retreating figure.
***
On the spacious terrace that commanded a clear view of all of Seoul, a table was set up for casually drinking tea. Jin Yeongseol, sipping wine while gazing at the sunset dyeing the entire sky orange, suited the scenery perfectly.
Having finished her business in England and returned to the country around lunchtime, Jin Yeongseol enjoyed a leisurely rest after taking a languid bath as soon as she arrived home.
She was in a good mood because the meeting with Director Kim Seongwon for <A Languid Summer Afternoon>, which Haeseong was entering, had ended in a good atmosphere, and since the meeting with the new director who was garnering attention overseas had also ended successfully, she was popping celebratory drinks ahead of time, so to speak.
When Haeseong had caught Lindberg’s eye and successfully established a foothold in Hollywood, Jin Yeongseol had mulled over and over her wise choice.
It was none other than Haeseong’s success that had elevated the status of J Entertainment, which couldn’t establish itself stably due to the incidents and accidents caused by trainees at the time, and it was precisely her own ability that had stably built up the company by discovering that child.
Aspiring talents with useful looks and skills who aimed for the global market rather than staying in the Korean market applied to the company in droves after seeing Haeseong’s success, and the company also succeeded in nurturing various people while preparing various footholds in overseas markets.
In the span of a few months, Haeseong’s height had grown remarkably, and his facial lines were also changing from the current androgynous image to become masculine and attractive. The reason she had gone to England was also because of that. It was for a meeting with a director who could help shed his child actor image when Haeseong’s body fully matured.
If she successfully stabilized J Entertainment, other affiliated companies would sequentially fall into Jin Yeongseol’s hands. If that happened, the face of the future head of J Group might change, so Jin Yeongseol had staked everything on perfectly constructing Haeseong’s image.
As Jin Yeongseol was happily swirling her wine glass while picturing the future, news that shattered her pleasant imaginings was delivered by her secretary.
“What? He skipped the reading? Why are you only reporting this now!”
At that moment, a thud- sound came from the entrance beyond the hallway, and Jin Yeongseol’s head whipped around immediately. Since neither parents nor siblings could enter this house, there was only one culprit. It was Jin Haeseong.
Before long, her nephew’s figure appeared before her. Team Leader Kim Jaeho entering while reading the room was a bonus.
“Good timing. You little bastard. What kind of person is that Kim Seongwon guy for you to dare pull such a stunt!”
As high as his reputation was, his sensitivity also pierced the sky. He hated terribly when promises were broken, and he was someone who hated the very act of being contradicted or refuted. To have completely blown off a promise with such a person meant the matter would obviously escalate.
“Team Leader Kim. What the hell did this kid’s manager do?!”
“Ah, well, I’m sorry. You were busy so I couldn’t report it. Lee Euiju-ssi recently quit the company…”
“What? Why all of a sudden!”
“Well…”
Kim Jaeho scratched his head as if perplexed. At that moment, Haeseong, who had been looking at his aunt without emotion, interjected.
“I want to go to America. Send me.”
At her nephew’s out-of-the-blue words, Jin Yeongseol let out a hollow laugh as if exasperated. Only Kim Jaeho gave Haeseong looks with a face that had turned ashen.
“Are you in your right mind right now?”
“I want to go and live there.”
Jin Yeongseol looked her nephew standing crookedly up and down. Just in case, with a thought of maybe, she casually posed a question.
“…Don’t tell me, are you doing this because you want to meet your dad?”
“Fuck, I didn’t even think about that bastard.”
“Haeseong-ah. First calm down. Okay?”
Kim Jaeho, blocking Haeseong’s front, briefly explained the circumstances to Jin Yeongseol. Having heard his entire story, Jin Yeongseol took a long breath to control her rising anger.
“I guess because I keep calling you a kid, you think you really are a kid. It looks like you’re planning to go relying on just Lindberg, but that bastard is on the verge of being ruined right now because he’s involved in a gang rape case. That’s why I went to England. You, who haven’t even perfectly established yourself in Korea, going to America to act…”
“I’m not going to act.”
“What?”
“I’m saying I won’t do it anymore.”
