It was after being drained to the point where just exchanging greetings took several hours. As exhausted as he was, he desperately wanted to shower and lie down as soon as he got home.
Jiseo focused more on taking off and organizing his outfit than touching his phone.
So it was after finishing all his priorities that he noticed a message from Yeongwon had arrived earlier.
“If you have something to say, come to my place, why call? Even if I’m not home, you can just come in like usual.”
― I want to talk on the phone.
“It’s hard to accept, I don’t want to do that, but did you decide to compromise with hyung?”
― I have a proposal for you, hyung.
“What is it? Is this a situation where we have to repeat the same talk again?”
― It’s a different proposal. It’s the best I can concede.
“I’m home so you can speak comfortably. Or you can come and say it. Want to do that?”
― I’ll do it by call for now.
He didn’t know what proposal he’d brought, but Yeongwon hoped to have the conversation by phone rather than face-to-face.
If Yeongwon repeated the same argument as before, he would have no choice but to give the same answer. If that happened, the one who would get exhausted and fall off first would be Yeongwon without exception.
Maybe Yeongwon also anticipated that today’s conversation wouldn’t end with this call. There might be more to compromise on, so maybe he wasn’t making a wasted trip.
Jiseo withdrew his gaze from the entrance he’d been glancing at without realizing it and focused on Yeongwon.
― You know the program that became popular with virtual dating in the past?
“Ah, that one. I saw an article on my way to the event venue this morning. It’s starting again.”
― Right. Did you also see how that program works?
“I did. But what are you trying to talk about? Is this a topic to discuss with hyung?”
― The number of people entering the shared living is eight total. They’re picking up to four couples.
It would be an article that had impact on ordinary people too, but it was spreading just as much among celebrities. Maybe the targets knew even better.
In conversations with Yeongwon, everyday conversation always took up more weight than work-related parts.
Occasionally they asked about each other’s parents’ well-being and naturally shared family matters.
They had to. Because the family elders had been close since they were very young, that’s how they with a fairly large age gap could be close.
They sometimes talked about works, but…… since he had almost no variety show appearance experience, especially about that, they usually didn’t select it as a conversation topic.
If Yeongwon mentioned it to this extent, everyone might have been chattering about the virtual dating show all day.
The chatterbox got into another topic. Jiseo, who secretly let out a deflated laugh, focused on the call a bit more.
― If a dating scandal comes out while filming that, you’d have no choice but to leave, but if not, you appear as a regular for quite a long time.
“……”
― Even if it’s virtual, if you don’t date, you can date for a long time, right?
“……”
― Most of all, everyone who appeared there got married.
“……”
― Hyung, want to go on there with me?
He hadn’t expected the flow to go in this direction, but even though they were on a call, Yeongwon’s expression was naturally drawn in his mind.
Jiseo, who had been lost in his own thoughts for a moment, deliberately lowered his voice and answered.
“Mm. This seems like a proposal that hits both you and hyung.”
― …….
“Have you thought about what happens if the appearance falls through? You’re openly advertising that you want to date already.”
― …….
“What if people misunderstand that you’re focused more on dating than work?”
― ……I don’t know, keep the promise. If you’d kept the promise, hyung, I would’ve wanted to just remain a viewer too.
“……”
― If you’d listened to me, I would’ve also thought of you……
“……”
― ……Sorry. For rushing in without thinking of you, hyung.
The confident voice gradually became smaller, and eventually Yeongwon voiced an apology.
He couldn’t deny the fact that he’d deliberately called Jiseo. He’d made a decision and roughly coordinated with his agency, but in fact, even so, it wasn’t something he could just appear on. He had to get permission to appear through SNS too.
Not to mention Jiseo, he had to talk with Jiseo’s agency too, so there were many mountains to cross. Nevertheless, he had thought it was a good method.
He really did want to appear, but in fact, more than that, he thought Jiseo would reconsider their relationship asking if he could really do that much.
He pulled him in with a program they could use because they were celebrities, yet in action he acted like an ordinary person no one knew about.
Thinking about it, that was right. Jiseo probably wouldn’t get the appearance qualification. Because there would inevitably be overwhelmingly more opposition than approval.
If he were Jiseo’s fan, he didn’t think he’d want to see his favorite celebrity publicly engaging in romantic acts.
Although they called it acting, they’d already shown too much that acting doesn’t remain just acting. They’d probably want him to film one more work rather than have a romance that didn’t need to be public.
But the promise to marry him came first, and his profession was chosen afterward. In many ways, it wasn’t that he meant to monopolize Jiseo, but that private territory was originally his share, Yeongwon secretly insisted.
Even so, as he said, after the appearance fell through, it seemed like it would be a bit problematic. He had something to say, but this also actually needed Jiseo’s permission.
― If it falls through, I might get related questions during interviews. Then if I say I wanted to appear together because I have someone I like……
“……”
― ……wouldn’t that work? Because it would naturally connect that the other person is you, hyung. Most people know we’re close.
“……”
― Then can’t I say that I like you, hyung, so I coaxed you to appear together and you had no choice but to listen?
“Why did you apologize earlier if you were going to say that?”
― I was sorry for rushing in without thinking of the aftermath, but I just found a solution, right now.
The voice that had been wilting came back to life. It didn’t mean he became full of energy, but simply that he brightened.
Jiseo was interested in something other than the fact that Yeongwon had brought an amazing solution.
“Right. You can rush in without thinking of the aftermath.”
― …….
“You spoke to hyung like you were whining because it’s a phone call, right?”
― When did I?
“You whined about keeping the promise.”
― ……But I apologized right away.
As Jiseo claimed, Yeongwon hadn’t really thrown a tantrum. Jiseo also knew that he’d expressed his frustration because he couldn’t hold it in.
What he’d mentioned with a lowered voice was actually just worry about Yeongwon’s future activities. He himself could just make excuses and be done with it. But Yeongwon, even if he acted bold, wouldn’t go around explaining things while directly mentioning him.
Even if it was okay to do so, even if he talked like he really would, in the end he wouldn’t do it. Even if he actually acted on it, it didn’t matter to him.
“Do you really want to go on there with hyung?”
Even though he knew what answer would come since it was pointless to ask, Jiseo deliberately asked Yeongwon’s intention again.
― If we go on there, we’ll eventually get married, I don’t know when.
“……”
― I had the wrong kind of crush. It’s just one-sided love, but I was thinking you were mine. Why? Because you promised you’d marry me, hyung.
“Did hyung do wrong?”
― Yeah. If you’d said you’d give me a chance to confess later when I grew up, I would’ve talked about dating first, not marriage. Then even if you rejected me, hyung, it wouldn’t be a problem at all, but now it’s a real problem. You don’t even realize that?
“……”
― Why won’t you keep your promise…… You said you’d marry me…….
What Yeongwon added last sounded like it was being conveyed by the childhood Yeongwon, without a single lie. It seemed like he was whining just like back then.
Unable to say anything for a moment, Jiseo took a deep breath and lightly stroked his face. The corners of his lips caught on his fingertips curled up into a curve without him knowing.
He didn’t know if it was because they were only having a phone conversation or if he’d stopped at this point, but he could picture the sulking face.
Whether the problem was that he acted like he was deliberately throwing a tantrum, whatever he did was cute. That created a problem. An insane-seeming decision followed.
