That night, lying face down on the mattress while preparing for the script reading, Song Hyunsoo glanced at his phone once every three minutes.
He also took out the watch he had gotten back from Yoon Jooho and fiddled with it.
It was only Wednesday.
But it felt like he hadn’t seen him for weeks.
He wanted to chatter about everything— the real estate agent changing to a friendly attitude upon hearing Yoon Jooho’s name, Director Bang grabbing Cha Kyumin by the collar while cursing this guy and that guy, the manager at the used luxury goods store who said he was a fan of Yoon Jooho and asked him to be sure to pass that along…
If he started talking about all that, Yoon Jooho would act like he didn’t care but chuckle now and then.
No, would there come a time when he wouldn’t even laugh like that anymore?
The TV, left on out of habit, was playing Yoon Jooho’s latest drama.
It was .
Yoon Jooho was playing a vampire living among humans, and he looked lonely.
After staring at him on the screen for a long while, Song Hyunsoo finally opened the message window.
《Is Paris fun?》
《Did you see the Eiffel Tower?》
《Is it really that pickpocket-heavy in Paris?》
Lying face down with his chin on the pillow, he stared blankly at the blinking number one.
He glared at the blinking cursor and began typing the fourth sentence.
After writing and deleting a short sentence several times, he finally sent it.
《When are you coming back?》
He already knew from Director Bang that Jooho was scheduled to return next Monday.
There were two magazine shoots and interview schedules lined up after the fashion show.
Even though he knew, he asked anyway because it meant he wanted to see him.
《I dreamed I went to your place, but you came out and pretended not to know me.
That everything about us meeting and me being cast in never happened.》
《What we had, it wasn’t a dream, right?》
Song Hyunsoo finally fell asleep close to 7 a.m.
It was a common occurrence.
When he woke to the alarm, the fluorescent light was still on, was still playing on TV, and a message from Yoon Jooho had arrived, piled up like the snow that had fallen all night.
《What kind of ridiculous dream is that? Forgot? Ten years Slave Contract.》
The message arrived around 8 a.m. Korean time, midnight in Paris.
It came with a photo of the Eiffel Tower, apparently taken from across the river.
Despite the harsh tone, a small chuckle escaped him.
It didn’t matter anymore.
He didn’t care if they bit and fought; he just wanted to see him quickly.
■
Even after all the foam of the shower gel had washed away, Yoon Jooho stood beneath the stream of water.
His entire body’s muscles remained tense after intense exercise.
Whether from the strenuous workout or heightened nerves, his genitals had partially become erect during the shower.
To suppress it, Jooho lowered the water temperature and brushed the water flowing over his face away with both hands as he tilted his head back.
The business trip to Paris had been a success.
More local fans than expected chanted ‘Juho’ in front of the show venue, and local media scrambled to cover the astonishing popularity of the Korean star.
The outfits he wore to the show and the afterparty received praise.
The two magazine shoots and interviews went smoothly.
Work had gone well.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t sleep soundly.
He kept waking suddenly, as if dreaming of falling off a cliff after an hour or two of shallow sleep.
He was close to losing his mind on the flight home.
He regretted not bringing the triple set of sleeping pills several times.
It had seemed better recently, though.
But this chronic illness, which had become like an old friend, didn’t seem to plan on leaving him yet.
As soon as he returned, he stopped by Monroe’s room briefly before rushing to the Pilates Studio.
After clinging to the Cadillac machine for more than two hours and conquering difficult movements, his whole body was drenched in sweat.
Still, his mind was sharpened as if forged anew.
He wanted to collapse and fall asleep with no thoughts, but it looked like today wasn’t the day either.
To quiet the restless genitals, Jooho resorted to his last resort: recalling his childhood.
Unpleasant memories from childhood.
His cheek twitched as if convulsing, and soon his genitals softened.
A crooked, bitter smile escaped the corner of his lips.
It was always instant relief.
Coming out of the shower booth, Yoon Jooho roughly wiped the water off his body and wrapped a large towel around his waist.
In front of the dressing room mirror, he used a small towel to pat the water from his hair.
His hands gradually slowed, then he draped the towel over his head and let his arms hang loosely.
Resting his hands on the wide edge of the sink, Jooho’s gaze landed on his phone.
He knew the surest way to fall asleep in such extreme situations.
The human body.
Exhausting physical exertion focused solely on instinct.
And release.
There had been chances for that in Paris as well, but each time he hadn’t felt like it.
‘It’s real. It really was with that person.’
The face that used to laugh foolishly while saying nonsense suddenly crumpled like a cake dropped on the floor.
That face appeared repeatedly before his eyes.
The thought that he was the one who ruined such a pretty and sweet cake followed him everywhere.
Fiddling with his phone, Yoon Jooho turned his back and sat on the edge of the sink.
He tugged the towel down from his head and clenched it in his hands.
He sat there spaced out until Seo Hae, worried he hadn’t come out of the bathroom for too long, called him.
Only after Seo Hae’s loud scolding did he slowly change clothes and leave the dressing room.
He crossed the Pilates Studio with the Han River View stretching beyond the curved glass wall and headed for the kitchen.
Snacks were prepared on the island table as usual.
Instead of freshly squeezed juice and salad, today there was cake.
Recalling the distorted cake from earlier, Yoon Jooho let out a small, hollow chuckle as he took a seat on the stool.
“What were you thinking about sitting there like that? You scared me. I thought something had happened.”
“What’s scary about it?”
“If Superstar Yoon Jooho got hurt in our studio, I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”
The idea alone was chilling, and Seo Hae shivered his broad, Pilates-trained shoulders.
Then he placed a cup of freshly brewed hot coffee beside the cake.
“The cake and coffee today? What’s with that?”
“You don’t look well. Eat something sweet to get your strength back, and drink coffee to sober up.”
Seo Hae settled on the stool opposite Jooho, who began by drinking the warm coffee.
“How’s the cat?”
“She’s fine. Gained some weight, too.”
“You haven’t seen her in days. Has she forgotten your face?”
“……”
Jooho’s hand, reaching for the coffee, hesitated.
“What, from your reaction, it sounds like she really did.”
Seo Hae bent over laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“Isn’t it hilarious? The great Yoon Jooho sulking because he got ignored by some tiny creature.”
“Who’s sulking? Even so, he’s the one who can’t do without me.”
“That’s just what you think. You know why they call you the butler?”
Already living with two cats, Seo Hae stated confidently.
He took a sip of his coffee, then set the cup on the coaster and asked,
“You said you threw away all your perfume and scented candles?”
“Did Sangho say that?”
“The bar’s buzzing with the rumor. Yoon Jooho went head over heels for a stray cat and completely quit the scented candles and perfume he used to love. These days, Yoon Jooho’s scentless.”
“They’re all so bored. It’s bad for the body, but what else can I do? Do I have a choice?”
“Oh, yes, Mr. Yoon Jooho. Fine, fine. Enough. Now show me pictures and videos of the cat. Anything new?”
Leaning over the table, Seo Hae watched as Jooho showed him his phone’s photo album.
“This guy’s fur has changed a lot. When you first brought her, she was scruffy, but now she’s glowing.”
“She was underweight. She’s always been pretty.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Seo Hae secretly rolled his eyes at Jooho, who, pretending to be indifferent, had even made a separate photo folder for the cat.
“Anyway, we’ll see how long she lives. Yoon Jooho letting this kind of creature into his house.”
Jooho murmured bitterly as he raised the coffee cup to his lips,
“Now it’s two.”
“Two? Ah, Hyunsu-ssi?”
“……”
Instead of answering, Jooho simply gulped the coffee as if it were whiskey.
“Why? Weren’t the two of you doing well?”
“Doing well?”
“You brought someone to the bar with you. That means it’s a meaningful relationship.”
“I just took him there because there wasn’t anywhere else to drink.”
“You were sticking to drunk Hyunsu-ssi like glue.”
“What else could I do with someone who couldn’t even hold themselves up?”
“You could at least support him. You didn’t have to stand face to face hugging, arms around his waist, lips brushing his ear.”
“……”
Seo Hae looked away as Jooho’s cold gaze silently met his.
He quickly changed the subject.