“Haeyoung-ah, you know noona’s in a hurry. I need someone with the visuals.”
“I’m not interested, and more importantly, I’m busy. You know this too, noona. Law school breaks aren’t real breaks, you know? I’m doing practical training right now too.”
“You… Yoon Haeyoung, when you were in a bind, I lent you tuition money without asking any questions. When Cha Seonwoo was suspicious back then, I kept my mouth shut till the end, didn’t I?”
“……”
Cha Seonwoo. At the name that flowed from beyond the receiver, Haeyoung unconsciously pressed his lips tightly together. Anyway, Hajin knew all too well how to make him shut his mouth.
Hajin was the talent who got a job at a broadcasting station a year after early graduation, passed the notoriously difficult media exam on the first try, and had a banner with her name hung at the school. After enduring several years at one of the big three networks, when she suddenly said she was transferring to HBC, he’d wondered if she was being bullied at work or something, but making such worries meaningless, hadn’t she immediately gotten assigned an entertainment program as soon as she transferred?
It was only brief congratulations upon hearing the news she’d called to share after a long time. Haeyoung couldn’t hide his bewilderment when he heard it was some kind of matchmaking-style program. Of course, he wasn’t worried. It was an unfamiliar topic since he’d never had any interest in it… But what was there to worry about when Lee Hajin was the person who took care of her own affairs the best?
Haeyoung listened to her fairly confident words and thought she’d naturally do well. He felt good just from her new challenge. And he actually was.
If something good happened to Hajin, Haeyoung could sincerely congratulate her. She was that significant of a person to Haeyoung. That is, if only she hadn’t proposed that he appear on the program.
“Why me?”
“Casting male participants is so difficult. Would I be making this kind of request to you otherwise? If someone looks even halfway decent, they’re a scumbag, and if their specs are decent, there’s something shady about them. The male and female cast members need to be on the same level for viewers to immerse themselves in it. Haeyoung-ah, I can’t use something defective for a program with my name on it.”
Scumbag… It was a blunt choice of words. Haeyoung let out a laugh.
“If we’re talking about defects, I’m no slouch either.”
“You wanna die? Don’t make such comments about my precious baby I raised so well.”
At his lightly thrown self-deprecation, Hajin immediately lowered her voice. At the firm threat that seemed like she’d come running right away to throw a punch, Haeyoung obediently answered, “Yes.”
Though he’d said it jokingly, Haeyoung was serious. And Hajin probably responded without humor because she knew it was said seriously.
Hajin, who he’d known since before entering university from growing up in the same neighborhood, was also the person who introduced Cha Seonwoo to him. She’d connected them saying wouldn’t it be good for them to know each other since they were in the same department, which was probably not long after entering university.
Cha Seonwoo, who was three years older than him, looked too mature in a freshman’s eyes, and his atmosphere was different from other people around him, not just because of his exceptional appearance. His gentle voice, his kind but occasionally mischievous attitude that he couldn’t hide, even the boyishness that suddenly showed when he smiled.
How could you not fall for him? He was someone who innately drew attention. In the business administration department where it was hard to memorize all the names of same-year classmates, there wasn’t a person who didn’t know Cha Seonwoo’s name.
Yoon Haeyoung dated that Cha Seonwoo for five long years if you could call it long. Though it was now almost half a year since they’d broken up.
Haeyoung switched the hand holding his phone. Then he lowered his empty hand that had been holding the phone and repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fist. His fingertips felt like they were growing cold. Just from hearing the name.
Could he forget Cha Seonwoo? If he had to live with a fragment lodged in his chest that he could never remove or forget for his entire life, wouldn’t that count as being defective?
There were other defects he had too, but Haeyoung shook off the heavy thoughts by clenching his fist tight.
“You know you still haven’t forgotten Cha Seonwoo.”
At Hajin’s voice that came out calmly as if knowing this about him, Haeyoung stopped. Hajin was the person who introduced Cha Seonwoo to him, and… she was also practically the only person who knew about his relationship with him.
Haeyoung touched his lips with a face that didn’t know what answer to give. At the same time, his feet that had stopped also began to move slowly again. Hajin’s voice was still chattering away from beyond the receiver.
“I’m not telling you to come here to date. Hey, do you think there are people who come here to actually date? Everyone comes to promote themselves. To promote their stores, shopping malls, unknown actors to get their faces known, rich people with nothing to do come to increase their Instagram followers.”
“I don’t really want to get my face known either.”
He answered with a somewhat clumsy laugh. Getting his face known—he had no reason for that, nor any desire to do so. All he was interested in was steadily solving the problems right in front of him one by one.
However, as if she’d expected Haeyoung to respond this way, Hajin pulled out the card she’d been hiding.
“Appearance fee: ten million.”
“What?”
His feet stopped once more. Because the amount he heard from the receiver was hard to believe easily. Ten million? Ten million?
Haeyoung bit his lower lip. He wasn’t pleased about appearing on an entertainment program, one where he’d have to live in the same house with people he’d just met and create a romantic atmosphere. He couldn’t understand having to show himself dating to strangers whose faces he didn’t even know.
However, Yoon Haeyoung needed money. And in the midst of that, the amount he heard was enough to perk up his ears. Ten million won… It was an amount he couldn’t gather overnight with an intern or part-time job salary.
Haeyoung, who had been carefully weighing it, finally called out to Hajin.
“You’re lying, right? Noona, you’re not joking, it’s really ten million won?”
Haeyoung’s voice rose slightly higher than before. Hajin, who keenly noticed the slightly raised voice, didn’t miss the opportunity and asked.
“Have you ever seen me joke around with money? The budget hasn’t come out exactly yet, but it’s certain it starts from at least ten million.”
As if driving a wedge into his wavering heart, Hajin continued gently.
“I absolutely won’t interfere with your practical training. I’ll ask for understanding about filming first, and if you say no, I’ll just film your commute scenes. The filming period is one month, and at most it’ll be within four weeks. Just think of it as working two jobs with room and board included during that time.”
“Mmm……”
“You’re just meeting new people to get some fresh air. Of course, since it’s a program, you’ll have to do what you’re told. But aside from a few dates and stuff like that, you can use the remaining time freely.”
The scales in his head were gradually tilting to one side. The weight of the appearance fee he’d heard from her was quite substantial. Noticing from the lengthening silence that Haeyoung had almost come around, Hajin continued again.
“You had a girlfriend before, and hanging out with women isn’t awkward for you either. Just help noona out this once, okay?”
“Even if I appear, I won’t be able to like anyone.”
“You don’t know that… No. Right, just match the vibe roughly. I’ll bring out the chemistry with editing. So you’re appearing, right? Should I submit your name for approval?”
“……Fine.”
Haeyoung, who had been hesitating, finally nodded in surrender to the money. It was too large an amount to refuse while putting principles first… If he could get ten million won for playing the fool for a month, he was willing to do it.
Yoon Haeyoung needed money and was quite desperate. Because in the face of poverty, people easily become shabby and cornered.
“Thank you! Thank you, Yoon Haeyoung! Noona will buy you something delicious after filming ends. Ah, you pretty thing!”
Finally, the sound of jumping up and down could be heard from beyond the receiver. As he couldn’t help but laugh at that noisy commotion, soon Hajin’s somewhat calmed voice was heard. It was so like her to give notice that she was hanging up now and then cut off the call without even hearing a response.
He looked down at the disconnected call for a moment before shoving his phone into his pocket. He’d been on his way to school for a leave of absence consultation, but the purpose of the consultation had disappeared in an instant. Should I mooch a meal off the professor? Haeyoung rubbed his hungry stomach as he crossed through the school’s main gate.
Looking at the cherry blossom trees that looked particularly desolate with only bare branches remaining, Yoon Haeyoung swallowed a sigh.
I should have gone to a different university for grad school. This school had too many memories with Seonwoo hyung. It was unavoidable since they’d spent their entire college years together.
If he appeared on Hajin’s program… Seonwoo would probably find out with high probability. He wasn’t the type to seek out this kind of program, but who knows? He might look it up upon hearing that he appeared.
What would hyung think seeing me on screen? It was quite a pathetic delusion for someone who had been the first to say let’s break up. Haeyoung deliberately erased Seonwoo’s face that had been filling his head along with a brief scoff.
Erasing something deeply carved wasn’t easy, but it was still much better than right after the breakup. Taking a deep breath and straightening his back, he began walking again. It seemed like just yesterday when he couldn’t imagine life without Cha Seonwoo, but twenty-six-year-old Yoon Haeyoung could now live without Cha Seonwoo.
