“I-I’m sorry, but could you turn up the volume a bit?”
At the mercilessly trembling voice, the taxi driver glanced at Euiju through the rearview mirror and turned up the radio volume. Euiju’s hand gripping the passenger seat turned white as it curled up.
Since it was rush hour with heavy traffic, the slowly rolling taxi allowed him to leisurely view Seoul’s scenery that he was encountering after a long time. While looking out the window, Euiju suddenly doubted his own ears at the bolt-from-the-blue news that pierced into his ears, and listened intently to the female voice flowing from the radio.
[The Gangnam Seoul police station reported that around 3 AM that day, an assault dispute broke out between Jin Haeseong-ssi’s party and 4-5 other customers at a bar. The agency denied that Jin Haeseong-ssi was intoxicated at the time, but testimonies continued to emerge that he broke equipment, caused a disturbance while drunk, and assaulted ordinary customers…]
“You just can’t trust those punks with pretty faces. They cause trouble like this every other day! Seriously.”
The driver’s voice, as if he’d boiled his anger, was remarkably loud for his build and resonated throughout the taxi interior. Thanks to that, the quiet and monotonous female voice from the radio was drowned out.
“Kids these days have no sense at all.”
[Also, actor Jin Haeseong-ssi recently…]
“Jin Haeseong is the guy who played the male lead in that drama on Channel 8, right? His face was all intense and his eyes were sharp, so his impression was nasty too. Tsk tsk tsk.”
Curses about celebrities that ordinary citizens commonly make poured out—that good-looking guys naturally pay the price for it, that if someone with already one prior record commits assault again it must be their true nature, and they’ll surely cause a big incident again soon. Euiju’s hands, which had been quietly listening to the driver’s words and the radio, began to tremble more and more faintly.
‘What on earth is this…’
How nice it would be if he could accept all the shocking information flowing into his ears.
When the Hollywood movie Haeseong filmed right after becoming an adult became a worldwide mega-hit and the news reached even Euiju, Euiju thought that Haeseong, having achieved great success, had shaken off the wounds he’d received from him and was doing well. He’d only thought that Haeseong, who hadn’t contacted him, was no longer wandering and had pulled himself together to work.
Since he was such a famous and talented remarkable kid, Euiju had thought he would face news of him head-on when he came to Korea. But to encounter him like this as soon as he arrived in Korea, and with the worst kind of news at that…
-Actor Jin Haeseong-ssi’s controversies continue to erupt.
The announcer’s words on the radio meant that such bad news had occurred multiple times, so Euiju couldn’t help but feel confused. He couldn’t make heads or tails of what was going on.
He couldn’t keep his body still. His hands kept trembling, so he clasped them together to calm himself down. He took in a breath that made his chest swell greatly and slowly exhaled, but his shaking heartbeat didn’t subside due to the shocking news.
“We’ve arrived.”
“…”
“Hey. I said we’ve arrived.”
“…Ah, I’m sorry.”
The fairly aged driver glanced at the dazed Euiju and clicked his tongue. As if ‘Kids these days…’ was his habitual phrase, he looked disapprovingly at Euiju, who was fumbling around unable to find the door handle.
The place where Euiju got off was in front of a newly built apartment building. Since he had cleared out the house he’d lived in when he went to America, this was where he’d arrived after Moon Jeonghun considerately told him to stay at his place until he could find a new house.
He didn’t even remember Moon Jeonghun’s instruction to call immediately using the house phone when he arrived, since his mobile phone wasn’t activated yet. Building 301, Unit 701. Euiju, who had rushed into the building urgently, entered the house after punching in the number he’d memorized beforehand.
Without even having time to look around the house, he opened his suitcase. He brought the laptop he’d been using since university to the living room table, turned on the power, and connected to the Wi-Fi. Feeling his lips burning up, he kept swallowing.
「Jin Haeseong」
When he typed his name in the search bar and clicked on the article category, Euiju’s eyes widened more than ever. At the feast of articles pouring out, he didn’t know what to do and ended up taking his hand off the mouse.
***
With each step the man took, shadows were cast by the flashy neon sign lights. The silhouette wearing a cap pulled down low and a mask pulled up just below the eyes was hunched over like someone who wanted to hide their existence.
The temperature, which had dropped even lower as it entered the early morning hours, was as cold as thin ice. The weather, boasting the lowest temperature of the winter so far, was chilly enough to make one’s downy hair stand on end despite being bundled up tightly.
Despite the colder weather and late hour, the streets were full of crowds. Other places were quiet with no people, but not this street. Loud singing and shouting ran rampant due to drunk people, and promotional materials, plastic bags, and paper trash rolled around on the ground.
Though it was a street full of bars, the further one ventured into the interior of the street, the less commotion there was and the fewer people there were. The place the man arrived at after walking for about 5 more minutes stood out conspicuously compared to other places—even the building’s appearance was different.
Upon entering inside, as if to announce it was a private space, there was an entrance that could only be opened by those possessing a card. The man, who looked around his surroundings, took out a card from inside his coat and swiped it, and the translucent glass door began to open automatically.
“Welcome. Welcome to ‘Shade.'”
The man who entered inside showed the card that served as an access pass once again to the guards waiting at the front counter. The guards, much larger than the man, didn’t let down their vigilance and scanned the man up and down. Only then did the man take off his tightly pressed cap and mask to reveal his identity.
“Please go in.”
A height just over 170cm, delicate features were revealed under the bright lighting. The guard, who immediately recognized the man’s identity, opened the door leading inside. The man, who made an effort to tidy his hair that had been pressed down by the cap, entered inside.
What was visible as soon as the door opened was a long corridor. The man headed toward the room at the very back of the corridor with familiar steps.
The man who stopped in front of a certain door took a deep breath. The end of his breath trembled intermittently, clearly showing he was very nervous. He gripped the door handle, but his movement was full of hesitation.
The man who took a deep breath muttered something as if to gain courage, then opened the door wide.
The first thing to greet the man was none other than thick cigarette smoke.
“Ah, fuck, that bastard Lee Siwoo came again.”
Choi Won, who was sitting closest to the entrance, grumbled unpleasantly at the sight of Lee Siwoo appearing out of nowhere. Though he seemed already messily drunk with his eyes completely unfocused, only the gaze glaring at Lee Siwoo was sharp as could be.
It couldn’t be helped. Lee Siwoo was always the one who broke the heightened excitement.
Not just Choi Won, who had scolded Lee Siwoo, but the men and women in the room were all thoroughly drunk and slouching. Inside the room were three men and three women, six people in total. Each and every one of them slowly raised their heads at the appearance of a new person, busy trying to identify who it was.
“Oh my. He really came.”
“Hahaha! That bastard’s really something too.”
“Fuck, what did I tell you. He always shows up only when things get fucking fun. Ptui.”
Dirty phlegm was sucked into a cup. Everyone in the room looked at Lee Siwoo and added their own scolding.
However, one person did not.
Lee Siwoo kept his gaze fixed only on one man, as if not caring about anything else. On the man in the innermost seat, who had his head leaning on the woman next to him with his eyes closed languidly.
“I came to pick you up. Come out.”
“…”
The woman seemed pleased to have a man with a much larger build than her clinging to her, her lips curled up fully. The sight of her caressing the man’s soft hair with a languid face looked very satisfied.
At Lee Siwoo’s voice, the eyes of the man who had been closing them began to slowly open. The man who straightened his body that had been leaning on the woman had his face shadowed by his bangs, with only his prominent nose bridge barely visible. Soon the man swept back his bangs coolly with a slow gesture.
A face without a single flaw was revealed, like a doll carefully crafted by an artisan. The deep-set eyes, sharp and straight nose bridge, and full lips boasted splendor. When even the firm jawline supporting them was revealed, it truly displayed its full value.
When his attractive eyes folded into a half-moon shape, a languid and loose atmosphere dominated the interior even more. The physique contrasting with his beautiful features was larger than any of the men in this room. His chest, which seemed toned through exercise, had its outline revealed as it was through the thin shirt, and veins stood out prominently on the thick arms below his rolled-up sleeves.
“You came?”
With a kind eye-smile and smile that would make anyone who didn’t know think there was no face more innocent, he greeted Lee Siwoo.
The owner of that smile was none other than Jin Haeseong, who would soon turn twenty-two.
