Song Hyunsoo, finished preparing to leave work, pulled back the curtain behind the bar and stepped out.
The manager standing at the counter asked, “Good job today. How’s it going managing both the shoot and the bar work?”
“Since I don’t have to stay until closing, it’s manageable.”
“Just do as much as you can. As you’ve seen today, thanks to you, we’ve been steadily getting more customers lately. Even on weekdays, lots of people come looking for you. They must be fans.”
“I’m not that famous yet.”
“It’s like stocks. A sudden surge can happen anytime.”
“Don’t worry about the shop. I need to earn some pocket money until filming wraps up.”
“That’s a relief.”
Though he wanted to keep him longer, the regret was clearly visible on the manager’s face.
Just a few months ago, he’d been the one getting the most flak from the manager, but now so much had changed without him realizing it.
Chaeyoung, who was coming back from serving, set down a tray on the bar and joined the conversation.
“Even if oppa leaves, our place could still do well.”
“How’s that possible?”
The manager looked skeptical.
“‘Actor Song Hyunsoo working part-time even during the <Dissolve> shoot.’ It could become a pilgrimage spot among fans.”
Chaeyoung’s idea sounded like a child’s fanciful daydream. Would a day really come when I’m famous enough for that? Song Hyunsoo gave a slight smile and gently tapped her shoulder twice.
As he zipped up his jacket, the manager asked,
“Tired? Going straight home to rest?”
“That was the plan, but my roommate invited me to hang out at the bar.”
“Twenty-somethings really have different stamina.”
The manager began to grumble about how his body wasn’t what it used to be. Ignoring him, Chaeyoung signaled for Song Hyunsoo to head inside, and he slipped on his scarf and stepped out of ‘Jessica’.
He was tired from filming all week—physically, yes, but the mental fatigue from constant tension and focus was just as harsh.
Even if he didn’t always film alongside Yoon Jooho, whenever they were on set together, the fatigue doubled from being so aware of each other.
Despite his exhaustion, he couldn’t sleep soundly. He knew that if he went home now, he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep until morning. So he didn’t refuse Seo Hae’s invitation.
Plugging in his earphones, he scrolled through his playlist: songs by Choi Hongseo, and a few others.
Scrolling meaninglessly up and down, he finally selected one.
『“Erasing traces of the previous person. That much is common courtesy to your current partner.”』
The song that had played in his car back then. The one he had introduced to him.
Pulling his chin deeper into his scarf against the chill, almost too cold to call it a late cold snap, he waited for the bus.
The scarf was a gift from Yoon Jooho, who had recently returned from Paris.
He boarded the Night Bus to Gangnam. The interior was warm enough, but he didn’t remove his scarf.
Sitting by the window in the very last row, he listened to music and stared blankly out the window.
As the bus crossed Hanam Bridge, his phone rang. It was Jungho. What could it be at this hour? Was he asking for a drink on his day off?
[Where are you, hyung?]
As soon as he answered, Jungho’s urgent voice pressed him.
“I just got off work. On my way to Seo Hae’s bar.”
[SNS…]
“SNS?”
[Hyung, SNS is exploding right now!]
“It must be because you tagged Jooho sunbae and Hyojin sunbae. It’s been slowly climbing since the upload.”
[No, it’s not like that! Is something wrong, hyung? I’m scared.]
“What else could it be? Anyway, I’ll check it out. Hang up for now.”
Opening the app, the notifications flooded his eyes—far beyond the usual number of new followers, comments, and likes.
It was so abnormal it almost felt like some disaster had struck, just as Jungho said. His heart began to pound.
What on earth was going on?
He went to his account home and gasped. The follower count had soared from just over 4,000 a few hours ago to over 40,000.
Just as Jungho warned, it was a bizarre phenomenon, too strange to simply be liked.
The comments flooded with languages from around the world and awkward Korean that looked like it had been translated by a machine.
He could make out a common theme behind the comments.
He quickly checked Yoon Jooho’s account but saw nothing unusual.
Photos with the cast of <Dissolve> had been uploaded early yesterday. There was no reason for this reaction now.
What was causing this? Not knowing was driving him crazy…
Suddenly, his anxious gaze grew calm—though perhaps it was more like frozen.
Posts: 473, Followers: 47.21 million, Following: 1
No way… No way… It couldn’t be. No matter who, not even Yoon Jooho would do something this insane.
He had always avoided following Yoon Jooho, even though he often checked his account.
Everyone around him seemed to know he was a fan of Jooho, but he was serious about keeping it lowkey.
But after exchanging accounts with Shin Hyojin and Han Jooyoung and following each other back, he finally dared to follow Yoon Jooho.
It was well-known that Jooho didn’t follow anyone, so it wasn’t strange that a junior actor filming with other seniors would follow him.
Yoon Jooho’s following count was always zero.
From the moment the account was created until now, it never changed. But now, that zero had turned into one.
He tapped the unbelievable number.
“……”
He covered his mouth, fearing a strange sound might escape.
Yoon Jooho’s only followed account was song.h.soooo.
“Damn… this guy really lost it.”
Time on the bus dragged slower than ever.
After getting off, he hurried on foot almost as if running.
At the entrance of Seo Hae’s bar, he rang the bell.
The door opened from inside. He ran down the stairs, rang the bell again, and entered the now somewhat familiar space.
He went straight to the bar counter where Seo Hae was in charge.
Seo Hae was wiping an On the Rocks glass with a dry cloth and greeted him warmly.
“Oh, you’re here? Thanks for working part-time.”
Without responding or sitting down, Song Hyunsoo stood stiffly, staring at him. Seo Hae put down the glass he was wiping.
“What’s wrong? Something happen?”
Song Hyunsoo rubbed his face with his palm several times.
“Spit it out.”
“Well… this. It might be nothing, or it might be a big deal…”
“So what is it?”
“Jooho sunbae…”
“That bastard again.”
“He followed me.”
“What???”
At Seo Hae’s reaction, Song Hyunsoo’s face immediately went pale. He rummaged through his coat pocket and pulled out his phone.
“Right? Weird, huh? This is a big deal, right? Should I call Director Bang right away?”
Just as he started fumbling to call, Seo Hae hurried out from behind the bar and stopped him.
“Enough. No need to bother Director Bang at this hour over something like this.”
“You looked surprised when you heard it too.”
“Yeah, just surprised that a guy who never follows anyone actually did. Who says it’s a big deal?”
“No, this… since creating the account, he’s never followed anyone, and now this—anyone would find that pretty significant.”
“It’ll make the news, sure. It’s Yoon Jooho after all.”
“That’s exactly why!”
Seo Hae grabbed Song Hyunsoo’s hand tightly as he tried to look at his phone again.
“You’re over it, right?”
“Y-yeah. Who cares what people say?”
“But why get so worked up whether it becomes news or not?”
“…”
“You’re both guys. If it makes news, it’ll just be some article reposting celebrity SNS posts. If it blows up, just say you’re a new actor Look Planning is recruiting. Sure, it’ll be talked about since it’s his business, but nothing big enough to worry about.”
Seo Hae spoke firmly and pressed Song Hyunsoo’s shoulders down onto a stool. Still anxious, Seo Hae took the phone from his hands.
After putting down his bag and taking off his scarf and coat, he drank the water Seo Hae handed him. Only then did he feel a little more settled.
“Leave it. He must have made up his mind about something and went for it.”
From behind the counter, Seo Hae said coldly.
Song Hyunsoo opened his mouth to say something but shut it when another customer’s voice sounded behind him.
“Hyung, have you been well?”
The cheerful, pleasant voice.
A group of four or five had just come in, but only one approached Seo Hae to greet him. Seo Hae brightened immediately on seeing who it was.
“Oh, you’re here? Been a while.”
“I was overseas on a fan meeting tour until last week. I’ll be free for a while now. I’ll visit often… huh? Hyunsoo?”
Who’s calling my name here? Turning his head, Song Hyunsoo saw Jung Sungwon.
“Ah… sunbae, hello.”
“It’s okay. Nothing to get up for.”
As he awkwardly tried to stand, Jung Sungwon smiled wryly and lightly pressed his shoulder.
Surprised, Seo Hae looked between the two.
“You two… know each other?”
“At Jooho sunbae’s birthday party. Hyunsoo was in charge of the cocktails. You couldn’t make it, right?”
“Ah, I heard about it a lot. The rookie actor Jooho introduced everywhere.”
“That’s right. That’s Hyunsoo.”
Jung Sungwon smiled and looked down at Song Hyunsoo with a slightly teasing grin.
“I remember giving my business card to Hyunsoo back then.”
“Ah… yes… but… someone kept telling me to throw it away.”
“Well, it’s good you know each other. Let’s have a drink. You’re both industry seniors and juniors, so it wouldn’t hurt to get friendly.”
At Seo Hae’s suggestion, Jung Sungwon hesitated, then looked back at Song Hyunsoo.
“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, though.”
Contradicting his words, he pulled back the stool next to him and smiled brightly.
“But I’ll sit just for a bit. I never miss a chance.”
■
Passing Marronnier Park, faint raindrops began to scatter across the windshield.
Yoon Jooho glanced up at the sky and turned up the volume on the audio.
On the way from his home to here, he had been replaying this one song over and over.
The song from the first time he and Song Hyunsoo went down to Myeonghaeri together.
A strange song that felt like something Song Hyunsoo was telling him, and also something he was telling Song Hyunsoo.
Even during his overly sentimental adolescence, he never projected his emotions onto music like this. He gave a bitter smile, thinking it was a late growth spurt, far too late.
Turning right just past Hyehwa Station, the car slowly drove through a dark alley and stopped diagonally across from ‘Jessica’.
There was still over an hour until ‘Jessica’ closed.
After smoking half a cigarette, Jooho seized a quiet moment when no one was passing and got out of the car.
“Welcome… Yoohoo.”
The part-timer’s automatic greeting faltered when she saw who it was. She looked like a college student, probably Chaeyoung.
He nodded in greeting and looked around the shop, but didn’t see who he was looking for. Maybe she had stepped out for a smoke.
He took a seat at the counter.
He wondered what expression Song Hyunsoo would make when he saw him. His lips felt dry.
A man, older and looking like a manager compared to the other staff, approached stiffly with a menu.
“May I take your order?”
“If possible, I’d like to try a cocktail made by Song Hyunsoo.”
“Oh… you came to see Hyunsoo. He’s not working until closing anymore.”
“Is that so? I didn’t know.”
When Jooho’s disappointment showed, the man didn’t know what to do and scratched the back of his neck with an awkward smile.
“Hyunsoo is a bit much. Even though you see him on set every day, he didn’t tell you and made you come here for nothing. Haha.”
“No, it’s my fault for not calling ahead. I figured they’d just tell me not to come.”
Unable to leave without ordering anything, he drank a cup of coffee.
Stepping outside, the rain had turned into a light drizzle—a cold rain that seemed to seep right into the bones.
After striking out on his first attempt, he grew more anxious.
It felt like whatever he wanted had already slipped out of his reach. Yet, meaninglessly searching for him, he couldn’t leave and kept looking around.
He couldn’t go home like this. He decided to go to Seo Hae’s apartment without a plan.
As he sat in the driver’s seat, his phone vibrated in his pocket.
With a hopeful look, he hurried to take out his phone.
His expression darkened. Clenching his brows and biting his lip, he hit the top of the steering wheel several times.
He tossed his phone carelessly onto the passenger seat and quickly started the car.
The bright screen showed a message from Seo Hae. Attached was a photo.
■
1) 비꽃 (Bi-kkot): Raindrops falling sparsely at the start of a rain shower.