Chapter 180: Dissolve: His Last Choice

“San, look at me.”

Baek Kang gripped San’s shoulders tightly.

“Listen carefully to what I’m saying. You were never here today.”

“Where did you get all this blood on you? What even… hap—”

San, who looked like he was about to burst into tears, wiped the blood from Baek Kang’s face, seemingly not hearing his words. Slowly, he turned his head.

“That… is that Dad?”

San backed away, trying to avoid the dark blue blood spreading to his feet.

“Hyung, you didn’t do it… right?”

Baek Kang snatched the rag from San and wiped the traces of blood from San’s hands as he spoke.

“San-ah, you have to get out of here right now. Grab the fishing rod from the shed, slip out the back, and head to the beach. Last night, Ajusshi hit you, and you didn’t want to see him, so you didn’t go into the house at all—you just grabbed your fishing rod and went to the sea. Got it?”

“You’re just a witness, right, hyung? You’re not going to Prison, right? Right?”

San seemed unable to hear Baek Kang’s words anymore.

Trying to reassure the trembling San, Baek Kang forced a smile.

“When Ajusshi got drunk, didn’t he go fishing with me for two or three hours? You know the place, right? Go ahead, I’ll catch up with you soon.”

“No.”

San jerked his hand away from Baek Kang, who had been carefully wiping away the blood, his tone icy and defiant.

“What do you mean, no? If you stay here, you’ll only get yourself in trouble! Do as I say!”

“No! All you did was kill someone who deserved to die! Hyung, you just… you protected us, so why should you have to go to Prison?!”

San’s tears streamed down as he screamed at the top of his lungs.

He wiped his tears away with his sleeve, then suddenly rushed at Baek Kang, clutching his collar tightly.

“Let’s just say… let’s just say I killed him with you, hyung.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“I’ll go to the Police Station and tell them everything! What that bastard did to me and Nuna! Then you won’t have to go to Prison, hyung. I saw something like that on TV!”

“San!”

Baek Kang grabbed San’s cheeks with both hands.

“San-ah, look at me.”

“……”

“It won’t be long. It’ll be over soon.”

“……”

“Five years, ten years. You can’t wait even that long?”

Hic, sob. San shook his head. It was unclear if that meant he could wait, or he couldn’t.

Baek Kang wiped away San’s tears.

“Compared to a lifetime, that’s nothing. After I’ve paid for my crimes and come out, we can be together again. No worries. Free. The three of us.”

Tears pooled in Baek Kang’s eyes as he stroked San’s face. This wasn’t in the script, this emotion.

Through blurred tears, Baek Kang—Yoon Jooho—smiled. Then, as if to confirm, he added,

“You trust me, don’t you, San?”

The man in front of him was clearly not Baek Kang, but Yoon Jooho.

Breaking free from his parents’ unjust control, fighting to keep his own autonomy, striving to go higher, to a place of freedom—this was the struggle, the struggle to break free.

Baek Kang seemed no different from him now.

San—Song Hyunsoo—sobbed. Gripping Yoon Jooho’s wrist that cupped his cheek, he nodded repeatedly, sobbing harder.

I trust you. I trust him. Without a single doubt.

“…Cut.”

Even after the Assistant Director’s careful cut sign, the two maintained their posture and emotional line.

Yoon Jooho’s hands didn’t lose strength as they cupped Song Hyunsoo’s cheeks.

Song Hyunsoo gently rubbed the inside of his grasped wrist with his thumb, as if calming a wild beast.

As Yoon Jooho blinked and met Song Hyunsoo’s gaze, he slowly took a deep breath to calm himself.

Neither spoke a word.

Even if the Director hadn’t given them an okay, it wouldn’t have mattered.

Both of them—Yoon Jooho and Song Hyunsoo—knew this moment had been the best.

A crackle, crackle—the Director’s agitated voice came through the walkie-talkie held by the Assistant Director.

[Okay.]

“It’s an okay.”

The Assistant Director relayed the words directly.

Hoo. Only then did Yoon Jooho exhale deeply and step back.

Song Hyunsoo also relaxed, letting out a sigh.

As Yoon Jooho stepped away, the heavy pressure that had been weighing down his entire body seemed to lighten.

Only then did he become aware of the Staff surrounding them.

The Staff, still caught up in the explosive emotions, moved cautiously even after the okay sign was given.

From the Monitor room set up near the living room, Director Jung Joonhee came rushing out.

“There’s nothing left to polish or cut here. This will go in the final edit as is.”

He gave the two actors a thumbs-up.

“Really, Director?”

Seeing Song Hyunsoo’s flushed face, Director Jung nodded with satisfaction.

“Yeah, there’s nothing more to say. That was just Baek Kang, and that was just San.”

It was the highest praise an actor could receive.

Song Hyunsoo couldn’t hide his joy, beaming as he looked for Yoon Jooho with his eyes.

Yoon Jooho, too, watched him with a gentle smile.

Director Jung looked between the two, slightly concerned, and asked,

“We still need to get more shots of the same scene. Can you keep your emotions up, or should I give you some time to get back in the zone?”

The two actors glanced at each other. Without a word, with only a look exchanged, they could read each other’s thoughts.

Yoon Jooho arched his eyebrows at Song Hyunsoo a few times, then spoke to the Director.

“We can go right away.”

Confirming Song Hyunsoo’s nod of agreement, Director Jung patted both of them on the shoulders.

“Everyone, let’s make sure the actors can stay immersed.”

As the Director returned to the Monitor room, the Staff began resetting the scene.

Yoon Jooho and Song Hyunsoo had to step away briefly to touch up their makeup.

Even then, they kept glancing at each other over the shoulders of the busy Staff.

Amidst the bustling, tense set, it felt as if their senses were connected.

The excitement of becoming one with the role rushed through their veins. It was a thrill like nothing dopamine could offer.

Just like that night when they first came to Myeonghaeri, acting alone on the deserted road.

Right now, he wanted to disappear with Yoon Jooho somewhere, to get tangled up in a mess of heat and desperation.

This surging passion inside—he wanted to unleash it, but only on Yoon Jooho.

And he was certain. Yoon Jooho must be feeling the same.

A gaze so intense it bordered on anger, fueled by longing.

The way Yoon Jooho stared at him, as if wanting to seize, devour, and destroy him, made his feelings clear.

He couldn’t stand to let anyone take acting away from someone like that.

When the X Corps scandal broke, all Song Hyunsoo could do was watch helplessly.

All he could do was curl up under the covers, crying, trembling, as he watched the dark malice spreading in real-time online…

What if I had flown straight to Bangkok to be by Hongseo’s side back then?

Or, what if I had at least gotten Hongseo’s lover’s number in advance?

If I’d been able to contact him immediately, if I’d pushed him to do something quickly since X Corps meant Hongseo…

He knew all these were pointless hypotheticals, yet he couldn’t shake them off.

Even in ordinary life, waves of regret would rise up unexpectedly.

While eating, while washing his hair, while doing the dishes at ‘Jessica’, and especially when he lay down to sleep.

But this time, he wouldn’t just stand by.

He believed this was the only way not to let the lesson learned painfully through Hongseo go to waste.

He would protect what mattered, never let it be taken from him. Never again.

■

Ding.

His phone, left atop the sink, chimed with an incoming message. Song Hyunsoo spat out the foam in his mouth and checked the contents.

《Come down to the Underground Parking Lot in about five minutes.》

Brushing his teeth with his right hand, he typed out a reply with his left. O… kay… Might… be… a bit… late.

Before he could even put the phone down, another message arrived.

《It’s fine. Dress warmly.》

Rinsing his mouth and stepping out of the bathroom, Song Hyunsoo stood in front of the wardrobe.

“……”

The orange padded jacket Yoon Jooho had given him and his own black padded jacket hung side by side.

After a moment’s hesitation, he reached for the orange one and slipped his arms through it.

It was true—they had shared their true feelings with each other over the matter of his parents.

When facing great pain and danger, their safety was the priority above all else.

But his parents’ issue, and their own problems as lovers, were separate things.

He had no intention of just glossing it over, but he didn’t want to pretend he didn’t care at all and punish him out of spite either.

『“I’m the only one in love, aren’t I.”』

Song Hyunsoo’s hands, tying the scarf that Yoon Jooho had given him, gradually slowed and finally stopped.

Some confessions have a greater impact when not said directly to the person concerned.

Admitting he loved another man would be a weakness in front of his cunning parents.

It was as if he was laying his soft, vulnerable nape before his parents’ fangs.

That must be his resolve.

A resolve much like my own…

Song Hyunsoo’s hands, frozen for a moment, moved again to knot the scarf.

Then he stuffed the gloves Yoon Jooho had gifted him into his pockets. In the mirror, he looked fully bundled up.

Why did he want me to dress warmly? I thought we’d just drive around and talk.

He sneaked out of the room like a petty thief.

Since all the lead actors were staying on the same floor, he felt a bit nervous about bumping into someone.

He made it safely to the elevator hall, but just as he relaxed, ding, the elevator arrived from downstairs, and Shin Hyojin stepped out.

“Oh? Hyunsoo.”

Her face and voice were filled with cheerful warmth. From her clothes, it looked like she was returning from the gym.

“Where are you going?”

“Ah… just thought I’d take a walk.”

“At this hour?”

Now that he thought about it, it was already past midnight. He realized his excuse was flimsy, but there was no turning back now.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“When the sun goes down around here, it gets really dark. Isn’t it dangerous?”

“I’m going with the Manager.”

“Oh, really? The Manager, you said he was your friend, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Shin Hyojin smiled in relief.

“Have a good walk.”

“Yes, Senior. Good night.”

Bowing to her, Song Hyunsoo let go of the button that had been keeping the elevator doors open and hurried inside.

Whew.

She hadn’t even questioned him suspiciously, but as the elevator doors closed, a sigh of relief escaped him.

Secret office romance just wasn’t his thing. No, actually, right now it was more like a cooling-off period, and it’s not like they’re really dating…

He went down to the Underground Parking Lot, glancing around for Yoon Jooho’s car.

As if he’d been watched all along, a message arrived instantly.

《Stay right there. I’m coming to you.》