“—Right? Yeon Seonha’s ex-husband. That’s why I said I wanted to interview Noise. I was just saying it casually, but they actually set me up with you guys? Ahaha, your chief really can’t tell the difference between a joke and a serious comment.”
When Hongdan first joined this place, Noise, rumors like this circulated.
“That’s the guy, right? You know, the one who got divorced from Yeonhwa.”
“Oh yeah, I heard about that too. But he married so young that his only credential is a college diploma—how did he get into a place like this for his first job? Even if they’re divorced, a daughter-in-law is still a daughter-in-law, right? Did Yeonhwa pull some strings?”
“Oh no, no! I heard he got kicked out without even getting alimony or anything. It’s just, you know, issue value, issue value. This industry is pretty sensitive to that stuff, right? Where else would you find free publicity like that? This place isn’t called Noise for nothing.”
The reason he, who had nothing, could enter this place was none other than the title of being Yeon Seonha’s ex-husband.
It was a unique credential that no one else could replicate, and a handicap that no one would accommodate—or rather, that wasn’t worth accommodating.
What’s more, if this had just remained a baseless rumor to the end, that would have been one thing, but there actually were people who interviewed Noise because they were curious about Hongdan. Thanks to that, this nonsense naturally weakened over time but never completely died out. Honestly, even Hongdan himself now doubted whether this was really just a rumor.
Hongdan pinched his thigh hard. To avoid getting excited by his opponent’s provocation, he needed to disperse his attention.
“…Who I was previously married to shouldn’t be that important to our interview.”
“—But that doesn’t change the fact, does it?”
Right. That’s true too. And just because I was married to Yeon Seonha doesn’t mean what’s inside your skull changes from udon noodles to a human brain.
Hongdan twisted his wrist a bit more. The pinched area stung, and surely even without checking now, there would be blue-purple bruises on his thigh. Nevertheless, Hongdan chose to increase the bruise marks instead. This was also for Cha Jaewon’s sake.
“—I didn’t realize it just from the photos. You’re quite sensitive, aren’t you, Reporter Choi?”
“Director, I contacted you today to schedule an interview. A convenient time for you…”
“—Well, I guess that’s why you got divorced.”
But even that consideration seemed like a luxury for this udon-brained idiot.
“—Oops, sorry.”
Mockery disguised as an apology came back. Finally, Hongdan’s barely-held rationality snapped.
Hongdan switched the phone to his other hand and tilted his head crookedly. Just as twisted words poured out without passing through his brain.
“So. Are you living like that because you’re so stoic?”
“—What?”
“Are you living like that because you’re so fucking insensitive and tough? Thirty-three years old and still getting your ass wiped by your parents while acting all coy.”
“—Hey! Who the hell do you think you’re talking to…!”
“Who the fuck are you? What, are you some hidden bloodline of the Joseon dynasty? Are you a Cha or something? We’re all commoners paying the same taxes, so where do you get off playing aristocrat?”
“—How are you and I the same commoner? No, were you even at the commoner level to begin with? You’re a bastard who barely avoided welfare recipient status thanks to Yeon Seonha!”
That son of a bitch again…
Cha Jaewon would bring up ‘that’ name whenever he felt like it, thoroughly grating on Hongdan’s nerves. If this wasn’t a situation dependent on a phone receiver, Hongdan would have already grabbed the bastard by the collar and ground that smug face into the floor. Hongdan swallowed his regret and crumpled the now-useless notepad haphazardly instead of his thigh.
However, the call with the bastard wasn’t entirely fruitless.
Through Cha Jaewon’s persistent and relentless mentions of Yeon Seonha, Hongdan had caught on to one important fact. This was a radar that had developed semi-forcibly. During his married life, there were days when he received text message terror numbering in the dozens in a single day. Which meant.
“Yeon Seonha, Yeon Seonha… Now I get it. Why you’re so desperate to get on my nerves.”
In the end, Cha Jaewon was just jealous too.
“You want to marry into that family, don’t you?”
That someone like Choi Hongdan dared to fool around with the only son of the great Yeonhwa Group.
“I’m right, aren’t I? You also want to get a look at Yeon Seonha’s dick. You want to try sucking on the Yeonhwa spine too, not just Executive Director Taewon.”
Hongdan didn’t bother hiding the sneer that was leaking out. No, he actually made it louder. Since he’d already fucked up the interview and everything anyway, he wanted to completely crush Cha Jaewon’s nose. Honestly, he also needed someone to vent his anger on right now.
“Seeing you having a fit like this makes me think my life is actually better. I at least got to rub elbows with that family for a bit, you know? As for you, well, you might be able to smell their pheromones for the rest of your life at best. Oh, if you start buying Yeonhwa stocks little by little from now on, you might be able to watch at the shareholders’ meeting. Might as well buy the bio side, right? That one’s dropped quite a bit.”
“—……”
At the end of the caustic sarcasm poured out without giving him room to breathe, only the sound of heavy breathing came back. Hongdan generously waited for his opponent to come up with an appropriate rebuttal. It would be even better if he hung up on his own out of embarrassment.
Contrary to the faint hope he held, what came back was a rather stale threat.
“—…You’re confident you won’t regret treating me like this today, right?”
Idiot.
“Yeah. I already have so many other things to regret in life besides this bullshit that I’m too busy to worry about you too, you little shit. Don’t you dare contact me asking how to seduce Yeon Seonha.”
Click—
This time he hung up first without waiting for Cha Jaewon’s reaction. Anyway, all he had left to pour out now would be one-dimensional anger.
“……”
He put down his phone on the desk as if throwing it and quietly closed his eyes. Perhaps even his sighs were worn out now, as nothing flowed from his slightly parted lips.
He’d probably be called by the Editor-in-Chief before today was over to explain this situation. He didn’t feel even a shred of crisis, anxiety, or any thoughts at all. It was as if his brain had stopped.
For a brief moment, Hongdan, who had been immersed alone in the silence, opened his eyes, sensing the surroundings becoming subtly busy.
Checking the time on his monitor, it was almost lunch time.
He hadn’t eaten properly yesterday or today, but he wasn’t hungry. Hongdan just left a message to Jaeon saying he’d eat lunch alone today, then got up from his seat following the others. He craved a cigarette more than a meal. He remembered putting the ones left over after briefly learning to smoke last year and then quitting in his wallet. Hongdan rummaged through his bag.
Then, something caught on his fingertips.
“What’s this?”
It was quite large, too big to fit entirely in one hand. Yet a faint warmth lingered around it.
…He had a vague idea of what it was.
Hongdan took out the heavy thing.
Sure enough.
“Crazy bastard.”
It was a lunchbox.
Clearly snuck in by someone whose head lately contained nothing but worries about Hongdan’s meals.
There was even a bright yellow envelope tucked into the rubber band wrapped around the lunchbox.
Hongdan carefully removed the band. Then he picked up the envelope first, which had some diagonal creases.
The reason he couldn’t just throw this away immediately and had to open it was probably due to the remnants of feelings that had grown too large to deceive himself anymore. Even knowing this, Hongdan couldn’t easily stop his hands.
Soon, along with a short note nagging him not to skip meals, something long fell out with a thud. Judging by the size, the envelope seemed to have been intended to hold that in the first place.
“Ah.”
For a moment, Hongdan’s eyes squeezed shut and opened. It didn’t take even two blinks to figure out what that shabby wooden piece was. Its appearance was too clear.
Pointlessly so.
‘You act like someone who’s never seen cherry blossoms before.’
‘Just walk past. Don’t pick fights for no reason.’
A leaf split into five or six sharp branches.
‘Do you like flowers that much? Times like this, you really are an omega.’
‘I don’t like flowers that much.’
‘Then why do you keep…’
Among them, in the very center, the largest branch had a small hole threaded with a crimson cotton string tied in a pretty knot.
‘I like maple leaves.’
Especially, his words that he’d probably been preparing for quite some time.
‘I like the season when things turn the color in my name.’
‘……’
‘During that time, I feel a bit like a protagonist too. That’s why.’
Autumn.
Even after the flowers and leaves had all fallen. Even if they were just barely clinging to bare branches.
In itself, it was Hongdan’s season alone.
[For your eternal autumn]
In the end, Hongdan’s head could only fall down, holding this autumn’s last maple leaf.
“Why are you doing this to me, really…”
It was also the beginning of a long winter.
