“That’s a relief. Until now, most of the leads were orthodox method actors. So I thought I’d get criticized.”
“You act well too.”
“My face tends to overshadow it a bit.”
“I can’t refute that.”
Cha Jeonghan, who laughed at my answer, sat next to me and took the phone, scrolling down to check the comments.
“Don’t look at malicious comments.”
“They’re all visible, so how can I not see them?”
“I’ll read only the good ones for you.”
“Seeing things like this doesn’t affect me at all. Just because they say I’ll fail doesn’t mean I fail, and even if they ask why they keep using someone like that as an actor, I keep getting cast anyway—what can they do? No impact.”
“Your mental strength seems stronger than anyone’s.”
“I’m strong, beyond strong, against people who criticize me. Strong against the strong, weak against the weak. The problem is I’m mentally weak toward you.”
Cha Jeonghan, who spoke as if it was nothing and read a few more comments, gave me the phone and leaned on my shoulder.
“I have plans tonight. Kim Taewung, Baek Mooyoung.”
“It’s been a while since you met them.”
“They said they have something to ask for work-wise, asking me to speak to Grandfather for them.”
Kim Taewung and Baek Mooyoung that Cha Jeonghan mentioned were children of prominent businessmen. Kim Taewung, son of the Hanyoung Foods president, and Baek Mooyoung, grandson of the Moorim Pharmaceuticals chairman, were people who were among the more decent ones in the chaebol connections Cha Jeonghan knew.
“Will you be very late?”
“Probably. Ah, drinking itself is fine, but trying to stay sober is hard. When I see Ji Yuhyeon, I’ll collapse, I’ll go to Ji Yuhyeon and die.”
“Don’t drink too much.”
Because of what always happened when he got completely drunk, I couldn’t say he didn’t need to worry because I was here. Cha Jeonghan nodded and got up from his seat.
“I’m going to exercise. I need to build up my stamina more before entering the production.”
“Okay. Text me the meeting place and everything.”
Cha Jeonghan answered and went into his room. And not long after, a message arrived with things like the place and time he was meeting today. The Hanyoung Foods president’s son and Moorim Pharmaceuticals grandson were people at a level that Cha Jeonghan could reluctantly deal with occasionally even if he didn’t want to meet them. Other children from prominent families did unspeakable things and played around dissolute and dirty, but those two at least couldn’t do such things openly because they grew up in strict and upright families.
Even if Cha Jeonghan secretly went to such places, since his face was so well-known, rumors easily spread from anywhere. So Cha Jeonghan had cut off contact with most people he knew to some extent. That was precisely why there were no rumors about his private life aside from small scandals until now. Even though people stuck to Cha Jeonghan the whole time trying to break an article, he gave no pretext whatsoever. Even in photos that appeared in scandal articles, Cha Jeonghan wasn’t anywhere. It always broke from the woman’s side, and Cha Jeonghan was in the position of explaining.
Since he managed that side so thoroughly, there wasn’t much to worry about with plans Cha Jeonghan made. What I had to do wasn’t about Cha Jeonghan’s scandal but hoping he wouldn’t drink so much that he lost consciousness today. I sincerely hoped, waving my hand at Cha Jeonghan who waved while leaving saying he was going to exercise. Please don’t end up blaming myself today.
Around 7 PM, Cha Jeonghan headed to the meeting place with Dongyun hyung. It was a lounge at a famous hotel, so fortunately even if someone happened to photograph him, it was a place that wouldn’t be a problem at all. There seemed to be a room inside the lounge where only VVIPs could enter and have private conversations while drinking, so they were probably meeting there. Now the only thing to hope for was that Cha Jeonghan would drink moderately.
After Cha Jeonghan left for his appointment and I was left alone, I looked at and memorized Cha Jeonghan’s schedule, then started playing the previous drama of the writer and director working with Cha Jeonghan this time from the beginning. Because I thought it would be good to watch it once while understanding what kind of directing they did and how they liked the story to flow. Just in case Cha Jeonghan asked me something or wanted to hear my opinion, I wanted to give even a tiny bit of help.
With the gripping story and sweeping direction, I couldn’t do anything else and watched five episodes in a row. I felt like time had passed so quickly I couldn’t believe five hours had gone by. I knew a long time had passed because my body was stiff from sitting in one position for too long.
It was already past midnight, but Cha Jeonghan still hadn’t come home. If he’d at least started to leave, I would have gotten a call from Dongyun hyung, but since there was no such contact yet, it seemed the drinking session was running long. I played the next episode of the drama and leaned my body back against the sofa again.
After finishing episode 6 and about to play episode 7, I got a call from Dongyun hyung. Thinking they were leaving now, I answered the phone to hear Dongyun hyung’s troubled voice.
– Yuhyeon-ssi! Here, hey, Jeonghan-ah! This is that Crystal Hotel… can you come now?
“Hyung, is something wrong with Jeonghan?”
– He’s insisting he won’t go unless Yuhyeon-ssi comes. Hey, Jeonghan-ah. Should I put Yuhyeon-ssi on the phone? You bastard, listen. Go and see. He’s there when we get home.
If Cha Jeonghan needed me, I was ready to go anywhere. I quickly got up, went to the room, roughly grabbed outerwear and immediately left the house.
“Hyung, I’m going now. Since it’s not congested, I’ll arrive in 20 minutes. Just send me which floor and where to go.”
– Okay. I’ll send it right away. Come carefully.
“Yes.”
I quickly went downstairs, went out to the main road, and barely caught a taxi. Since it was dawn there weren’t many taxis, so I could only say I was lucky.
Fortunately, since it was dawn the road wasn’t congested, so I arrived at the hotel in 15 minutes. I went up to the 70th floor written in the message hyung sent and met Dongyun hyung who was out in front of the door. Dongyun hyung, with a face as happy as if he’d seen an oasis in the desert, quickly took me inside the lounge bar.
“Did the other people all leave?”
“They left a bit past midnight. Only that one is making a fuss saying he won’t go unless Yuhyeon-ssi comes, so I spent an hour coaxing and soothing him but he won’t listen. I completely raised both hands and feet. What stubbornness like that.”
“You know. How stubborn Jeonghan is.”
“Even though I know, he surprises me every time—that’s the problem.”
Finally able to laugh, Dongyun hyung smiled and opened the door at the deep end of the hallway. Inside that door was decorated exactly like a very nice hotel room. Except there was no bed or bathroom—if anyone saw, they wouldn’t know at all it was a place inside a bar. Behind the sofa where Cha Jeonghan sat, Seoul’s night view spread out beyond the glass windows, impressive enough to draw admiration even in this situation.
“Hey, Jeonghan-ah! Yuhyeon-ssi is here! I’ll drink some water, so bring him out. Call if you need more strength.”
“Yes. You worked hard. I’ll bring him out.”
After watching Dongyun hyung pat my back saying to do well and leave, I approached Cha Jeonghan who was sitting leaning against the sofa with his head down. Then I sat next to him and grabbed his arm.
“Jeonghan-ah. I’m here. Let’s go home now.”
Even though he was drunk, as if he still recognized voices well, Cha Jeonghan raised his head and looked at me. It was similar to the eyes I’d seen recently, so strength entered my whole body.
“Yuhyeon-ah….”
“Yeah. Now that I’m here, let’s go home quickly. Let’s go and sleep. Why did you drink so much?”
“Since Ji Yuhyeon came… now….”
“Yeah. Now that I’m here, you can go now. You can relax. I’m here.”
Cha Jeonghan, who nodded, let out a deep breath. Then he tilted his head back and leaned against the sofa. Seeing several whiskey bottles placed on the table, he probably didn’t drink them all alone, but it still seemed like he’d drunk a lot of strong alcohol.
“Can you stand up? Hold onto me and get up.”
I grabbed Cha Jeonghan’s arm and lifted him with my other arm wrapped around his back. Cha Jeonghan got up as I told him to, then sat down again, and repeated getting up and sitting down. Thinking it wouldn’t work like this, I hugged his body firmly with both arms like before and tried to lift him up, when Cha Jeonghan, who had been maintaining his balance fairly well while getting up, tilted over.
“…Ah!”
Unable to withstand Cha Jeonghan’s height and the strength that had gotten stronger from being drunk, I fell onto the sofa as if collapsing. The moment the back of my head touched the sofa, I felt weight on top of my body. When I opened my eyes to grasp the situation, I saw Cha Jeonghan who had fallen with me as if covering my body. As breath reached my nape, strength and heat simultaneously entered from my eyes to my toes. I quickly pushed Cha Jeonghan’s shoulders away. But Cha Jeonghan didn’t budge at all and raised his head from my nape while still covering my body.
“……”
“……”
The moment our eyes met, I forgot to breathe and forgot where I was. Fortunately, even in this situation, the thought that I mustn’t repeat the same mistake remained. I deliberately turned my gaze away first and pushed Cha Jeonghan’s shoulders with both hands again.
Cha Jeonghan, who had been moving back as if pushed by my strength a bit, suddenly came close to me again. Surprised, I turned my head to look forward again, and this time our eyes met right in front of my nose. Our breaths mixed… close enough for our gazes to tangle and dig in messily. The moment I put my hand on his shoulder again, our lips locked. Now Cha Jeonghan was completely covering my whole body and looking down at me.
“Jeong-, mmph, Jeonghan-ah….”
The completely locked lips separated with a smacking sound. I barely pushed Cha Jeonghan’s shoulder and half raised my body. Cha Jeonghan looked at me like someone who couldn’t have what they wanted to have. He seemed angry at being pushed away, and seemed to have become stubborn. I had a slight thought that I wanted to just stay still no matter what happened, but knowing that my ridiculous thought would stain our tomorrow with regret, I turned my gaze from Cha Jeonghan.
