TAKE 12
He couldn’t gauge how long it had been since he woke up feeling refreshed. His head was much clearer too. Seungun, who crawled out of bed, wandered around the house looking for Siyoung. But not even his shadow was visible. An unpleasant and uneasy feeling had been following him like a shadow since yesterday. Suddenly worried about the bag left in the living room, he hastily opened the zipper.
He knew there was no reason at all for Gi Siyoung to rummage through it, but people living with guilt always lived precariously like walking a tightrope in a pit of fire, suspecting that others might have done what they did. Fortunately, there were no signs that anyone had touched the bag.
Instead, when he checked his phone, there was a message from Myeongwoo.
Today let’s meet at Siyoung’s house instead of the company
Looking at the time, it was a text that came 30 minutes ago.
Understood.
After sending a simple reply, he quickly showered. He didn’t want to look like someone who had just woken up. There was also no reason for Myeongwoo to know that he had slept here. While putting back on the clothes he wore yesterday and grooming himself as neatly as possible, before long the front door opened.
Myeongwoo was entering while talking with someone. Next to him was Gi Siyoung, whose hair was slightly not completely dry.
“You’re here?”
Myeongwoo, standing at the entrance, checked on Seungun who had arrived earlier than him and made a surprised expression.
“Huh? You came really early?”
“Yes, I came out early to go to work today. Where were you, Gi Siyoung-ssi?”
Gi Siyoung, who heard Seungun lying casually from behind Myeongwoo, secretly burst into laughter.
“Went to exercise and came back. But why are we meeting at home? Is my house a hangout spot?”
Gi Siyoung grumbled while drinking ice water. Myeongwoo pulled out a stiff envelope from his bag.
“Teacher Gwak’s play has started. Go show your face. I already ordered and sent a flower basket in advance. Agree with him if he says thank you.”
Inside the envelope were two thin paper tickets. Looking at the date, it was today.
“It’s tonight’s performance.”
“Yeah. You don’t have a filming schedule today anyway. Strike while the iron is hot, I bought them last night. Seungun, you don’t go to the office either, stick to Siyoung’s side today and monitor whether he watches the performance well and returns home properly.”
“Team Leader-nim, you’re not going with us?”
“I’d like to go watch together too—”
“Thank you.”
Gi Siyoung didn’t even listen to Myeongwoo’s next words and took the two tickets between his fingers. At the annoying behavior, Myeongwoo glared, but Gi Siyoung didn’t care about that at all.
“Noona.”
“Who’s this!”
A theater actor with a microphone taped to their forehead spread both arms wide. The actor who shared a warm hug with Gi Siyoung also greeted Seungun warmly. That person took the two of them to the passage behind the theater waiting room.
“You came to see Teacher Gwak, right? He’s in the waiting room. He’ll probably be happy when I tell him you came. Oh, do you want to drink something?”
“Seungun-ssi, what do you want to drink?”
The theater actor stood in front of the mobile shop in the corridor and took out their wallet, saying they’d buy it. Gi Siyoung smiled and stopped their hand, then took out a card from his back pocket.
“Just water is fine for me.”
“One water, please. Noona, what about you?”
“I’m fine.”
After finishing payment, they walked straight down the long corridor. Staff members were bustling about. Vending machines and performance posters were occasionally attached to the walls. Looking at the date written on the poster, it was a performance that would run for about three months.
Passing by staff busily moving props to be used during the performance and heading to the waiting room where actors gathered, acquaintances who came to show their faces to actors they knew could be seen one after another. While silently listening to Gi Siyoung and the theater actor each sharing their recent news and following along, a man walking from the front gestured toward behind Seungun and loudly called out to someone.
“Oh, President Gu!”
Seungun was startled and hastily turned around. How many people surnamed Gu are there in the world, yet he instinctively checked. Of course, the President Gu behind him wasn’t someone Seungun knew.
“Do you know a President Gu?”
Gi Siyoung whispered playfully.
“No. The voice was so loud that I turned around without realizing it.”
He made an excuse that didn’t even sound like an excuse and continued walking. The theater actors’ waiting room was different from Patrick’s flashy waiting room. However, the acquaintances who visited here to celebrate them and the flower baskets and bouquets they brought were excellent enough not to fall behind.
The overwhelming makeup of the actors, who each had microphones firmly taped somewhere on their faces, was no different for today’s protagonist who welcomed Gi Siyoung.
The elderly theater actor was short in stature with a small build. The wrinkles on his face deepened whenever he smiled, which was rather a plus factor for his impression.
That he was the most seasoned and experienced actor in this play could be fully understood thanks to the treatment from surrounding actors and the people overflowing around him.
“Hello, Teacher.”
When Gi Siyoung greeted with a voice full of courtesy, the veteran actor holding a bouquet in his arms laughed heartily.
“You’re making me feel embarrassed like I’ve already come down when I haven’t even gone up on stage yet. Welcome.”
“I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll be in Row 1, Seat 5, Teacher.”
“I won’t even give that direction a glance. Because you make me nervous.”
“When you’re on stage, you’ll only see me, right? You told me my surroundings always sparkle brilliantly. Oh, this is my manager. He came with me to watch your play, Teacher.”
“Hello. I’m Im Seungun.”
“Welcome. I hope you enjoy watching. By the way, all young people these days are handsome.”
“That’s right, Teacher. I also turned around when Siyoung called ‘noona’ first, and I was surprised to see another handsome guy next to the handsome guy. Does your company hire employees based on looks too?”
The actor who had guided Siyoung to the waiting room chimed in. At the suddenly focused attention, Seungun smiled awkwardly. He could never get used to these kinds of situations.
He wasn’t someone who should be praised like this. No matter how much nice clothes Gi Siyoung bought for him to wear, how could clothes hang properly on a crooked hanger? Seungun was convinced that the most shabby person in the large mirror lined with dressing tables was none other than himself.
Seungun quietly retreated to a corner and looked at Gi Siyoung. Gi Siyoung held hands with the veteran actor and had various conversations. It was the first time seeing him show courtesy to a senior. Perhaps to him, not all seniors were the same seniors. While he did whatever he wanted to bastards like Kim Hojun, he treated people he truly acknowledged as seniors more respectfully than anyone.
Gi Siyoung’s acting career was long enough not to fall behind anywhere, but among the colleagues here, he was the youngest. When acquaintances who came flooding in discovered Gi Siyoung and greeted him, Gi Siyoung stood at the center of the fussing people and drew them in with an irresistible smile.
Gi Siyoung, who shook hands with people until his fingerprints wore off for a while, found Seungun standing awkwardly in the corner. He couldn’t introduce him as his manager to each person approaching, nor did he want to introduce him that much.
After lastly greeting the veteran actor in the waiting room that turned busily like a pendulum, Gi Siyoung took Seungun and headed to the corridor.
“It was hectic, right?”
“It was fun. It was a completely different atmosphere from Patrick’s too.”
“Patrick?”
Gi Siyoung made an expression that he was bothered that that name came out of Seungun’s mouth.
“Patrick radiates with his whole body that he’s Gi Siyoung-ssi’s fan, so why don’t you accept it? Be a bit more affectionate with him.”
“The first button was fastened wrong.”
“The first button?”
They found and sat in the seats Myeongwoo had ticketed. The dim theater had lights on just enough to barely make out the seating chart, so all the audience members were busy crouching to find their seat numbers. Because the interior was dark, they didn’t even recognize Gi Siyoung.
Gi Siyoung let Seungun enter the inner seat. When he sat in the plush seat, the stage was right in front of his nose. It was close enough to see even the pores and number of wrinkles on the actors. On both sides of the fairly large stage hung heavy, long red velvet curtains.
“Don’t tell me I’m the only one who remembers what happened in Bali?”
Seungun looked at him with obvious eyes.
“Patrick suddenly barged into my room. Saying he’d return a 500 won ballpoint pen.”
“Because my name was on it. And—”
“Are you taking another man’s side in front of me right now?”
Gi Siyoung cut off his words like a warning. Hah, really. Seungun let out a laugh because it was absurd. While laughing and rolling his eyes, beyond Gi Siyoung’s shoulder, a large, deep, and dark pit could be seen below the red velvet curtain decorating the stage.
“……”
Seungun frowned and stared at it intently, then his whole body stiffened rigidly. His tongue hardened and he couldn’t swallow his saliva. It was a grave with no visible bottom.
Why do you keep someone next to you who’s digging your grave and waiting?
He hadn’t heard wrong. The shaman’s auditory hallucination that had been heard since yesterday started again. Startled, Seungun jumped up from his seat. Because Seungun suddenly stood up, the people in the back seats murmured. Gi Siyoung grabbed Seungun’s wrist, puzzled.
“Im Seungun-ssi.”
“……”
That’s when it happened. A production staff member who suddenly appeared from behind the stage began folding that pit neatly. Could the pit be folded? Just as he thought that, Seungun realized it was just one of the props. Gi Siyoung wiped Seungun’s temple with the back of his hand as he finally sank back into his seat.
“Are you hot? Want to go get some air for a moment?”
“No. It’s the front row. It’ll be immediately noticeable if it’s empty.”
His stiffened tongue loosened again. He could swallow saliva down his throat. Seungun unbuttoned a few stuffy buttons and turned his body forward. Gi Siyoung’s gaze persistently followed, but soon he forgot about that too when the surroundings were dyed in darkness.
