“Wow, actually making the reservation really makes it feel like we’re going on a trip!”
Song Hyunsoo looked satisfied after finishing the reservation, and Yoon Jooho chuckled at the sight.
“When your passport came out, you said that’s when it hit you.”
“You can have that feeling more than once, you know.”
Passport.
For this trip, Song Hyunsoo had gotten a passport for the first time in his life.
Now that he was officially an Actor under Look Planning, he had to retake his Profile Photo, and Yoon Jooho asked the Photographer to also take a passport photo while they were at it.
Thanks to that, Song Hyunsoo was able to get his passport with a professional shot by a famous Photographer.
Outfit, pose, expression, even the lighting. On the day of the profile shoot, Yoon Jooho personally checked and paid attention to every detail.
At times like that, Yoon Jooho was the very model of a true professional and reliable senior.
He had learned a lot from seniors in the theater world, but acting on stage and acting in front of a camera were different in many ways.
In front of a camera that could do close-ups, subtle expressions were much more important.
Song Hyunsoo learned from Yoon Jooho how to use every muscle in his face.
After working together like that, for some reason, their desire for each other became overwhelming.
That day, as soon as the front door closed, they clung to each other like mad and tumbled right there in the entryway.
It was their first time together in front of Monroe.
Song Hyunsoo had begged Monroe several times to go to the room, but the cat just loitered around as Yoon Jooho laid Song Hyunsoo down and kissed his chest, not leaving until his pants were finally being pulled off.
Still, that day, even Song Hyunsoo couldn’t bring himself to stop midway.
His train of thought, which had started from the passport, had gone way too far.
Ding. Song Hyunsoo, who’d been lost in thought while watching a video of the Eiffel Tower, snickered at the message notification that popped up on his screen.
“What are you watching that’s making you grin like that?”
Yoon Jooho glanced over at Song Hyunsoo in the passenger seat and asked.
“Are you looking up my old videos again?”
Song Hyunsoo clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“Your delusions are getting worse, you know.”
“It’s not a delusion, it’s a fact that you look up my old videos once or twice a week and giggle.”
“Well, that’s, ugh…”
Even though it was true, Song Hyunsoo scrunched up his face in a strange expression, reluctant to admit it, and finally confessed.
“It’s just… You were honestly so cute when you were younger, that’s all.”
In Song Hyunsoo’s YouTube Playlist, clips and videos about Yoon Jooho were organized by period and theme.
Among them, the ones from Yoon Jooho’s child Actor days were the ones Song Hyunsoo watched most often.
“So, what were you laughing about?”
“A message from Juyoung-hyung. It was funny.”
“He can make you laugh?”
Dissolve, which had finished Crank-Up at the start of summer, had recently completed post-production and passed review.
Marketing and promotions would take another month or two, and then, at last, the premiere would arrive.
The plan was to target the White Christmas and Year-End season.
Once they returned from Paris, the actors would start promoting the film in earnest.
The upcoming photo shoot was part of the promotion, too.
They already had a lot of interviews and appearances on TV and YouTube scheduled.
The four young actors who shot Dissolve together had spent the entire summer side by side, growing close before they realized it. Even Yoon Jooho and Han Jooyoung.
The four of them had even created a group Chatroom on Messenger.
Every two or three weeks, they would try to coordinate their schedules to meet up, and they’d share articles related to Dissolve.
Sometimes, Han Jooyoung would bring up rumors from the entertainment industry and ask if they were true.
During those times, Yoon Jooho, who usually just read and rarely participated, would step in and scold them for gossiping about pointless things.
During the summer, if they had any spare time between shoots, they’d all go to the beach together.
During that intense summer, when Yoon Jooho’s parents’ trial was in full swing, maybe it was Dissolve and Myeonghaeri that kept Yoon Jooho going. Song Hyunsoo truly believed that.
“They know we’re going to Paris tomorrow, right? Noona and hyung?”
“So what?”
“Juyoung-hyung asked me to bring back a Gift.”
Yoon Jooho snorted.
“He really has a lot of nerve.”
“He even sent me a link.”
“So, what does he want you to get?”
“Jam.”
“Jam?”
“He said you can get it in Korea, but the variety’s not as good.”
“Picky, isn’t he.”
Yoon Jooho clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
Truth be told, he had no intention of going out of his way to buy a Gift for Han Jooyoung during their short trip.
He already felt they barely had enough time for just the two of them.
Thinking it was better to get this out of the way, Yoon Jooho turned to warn Song Hyunsoo.
“Don’t overdrink tonight.”
“What’s overdrinking? Half a bottle of whiskey?”
“……”
Let me have a little more. Song Hyunsoo tilted his head and put on a cute face.
Glancing sidelong at his lover, Yoon Jooho scraped his upper teeth against his lip and said firmly,
“Acting cute won’t work.”
“Were you saying I was cute just now?”
“I’m not taking care of a drunk again.”
“If you don’t want to go, I can just go alone.”
Passing Dongdaemun Entrance Station and the National Theater, Yoon Jooho scoffed.
“You think I’d really let you go alone?”
“Wait, don’t tell me you’re still suspicious of Seo Hae-hyung?”
They weren’t headed home but to Seo Hae’s Bar.
Seo Hae had been pestering them since last week, saying he had something he wanted to give them before their trip and to stop by his Bar for a bit.
『The more I get to know you, Hyunsoo, the more charming you are.』
That’s what Seo Hae had said back when he and Song Hyunsoo were apart.
Because of that, Yoon Jooho had been on guard against Seo Hae ever since, while Song Hyunsoo didn’t think much of it.
“Hyung doesn’t care about me at all. He’s just teasing you on purpose.”
“Yeah, that’s what you thought about Jung Sungwon too, wasn’t it.”
“……”
Sensing he was at a disadvantage, Song Hyunsoo quickly changed the subject.
“It’s been a while since we’ve seen Seo Hae-hyung. I just want to have a drink with him.”
“Just get drunk. Then I’ll do whatever I want with your body.”
“Doing that to someone drunk is shameless!”
“Shameless?”
Yoon Jooho raised his voice a little as he glanced at Song Hyunsoo.
“Isn’t it shameless to beg and pester me to take your clothes off, to touch you, to kiss you, when you’re the drunk one? Hm?”
“When did I e…ver…”
Song Hyunsoo tried to deny it confidently, but in the end, he only rolled his eyes and let his voice trail off.
There was a night that Yoon Jooho remembered, but Song Hyunsoo couldn’t—a night that remained in the X-file.
It was at Seo Hae’s Bar, the day Song Hyunsoo first confided something deeply personal to Yoon Jooho.
He could normally hold his liquor, so getting that drunk was rare. But that night, he blacked out.
When he woke up the next day, he was in Yoon Jooho’s bed, but he still couldn’t remember what had happened the night before.
“If you do that again, I’ll really do whatever I want, so you’d better be prepared.”
“……”
“I’m not enough of a gentleman to hold back twice when you’re basically begging for it.”
They were now crossing Hanam Bridge.
Time always seemed to fly when they were together.
Even just chatting about little things was fun, so even though they spent a lot of time together at home, they never got bored.
Of course, just lazing around together wasn’t all they did. After all, Yoon Jooho had never lived a lazy life.
Two or three types of exercise, Acting Lessons, and Foreign Language Lessons. With just those fixed routines, it was impossible for him to be lazy.
Instead, Yoon Jooho made Song Hyunsoo join him for all his schedules. And it wasn’t just as a bystander.
He assigned him his own Instructor and made sure he received lessons suited to his level.
That meant that, even when they weren’t at home, the two of them were practically together 24/7.
Song Hyunsoo’s lessons were part of his Actor Training. Exercise, acting, foreign language—all were essential skills required of modern actors.
If you were an Actor with a major agency and ambition, you had to manage yourself at least to this degree, even if the difficulty and level varied. Because of that, Song Hyunsoo never realized.
That all of this was not only training as an Actor, but also the result of Yoon Jooho’s meticulous personal planning.