“Repeat the scene from last time.”
“The same scene again?”
“It still doesn’t feel right.”
“Got it.”
He said he wasn’t satisfied with the performance last time.
Hyunsoo Song didn’t quite understand, but there was nothing he could do about it— especially since it wasn’t something the other would be willing to compromise on.
Scene number seventy-eight… seventy-eight…
As he flipped through the pages of the script, he suddenly heard Yoon Jooho’s unusually serious voice.
“Don’t go, getting attached so easily.”
“Sorry? To what?”
Hyunsoo raised his head without much thought, only to meet Jooho’s gaze staring at him steadily.
“The cat. Don’t act all kind and caring if you’re not planning to take responsibility. That’s just meddling.”
“……”
Hyunsoo wet his lower lip with his tongue.
Slowly, he closed the script and set it down beside him.
He took a sip of the warm tea Manager Bang had prepared and took a deep breath.
“Who decides that, though?”
“What?”
“Did you ask the cat? ‘Don’t show interest unless you’re ready to take full responsibility’ is that what the cat told you?”
“What are you even talking about?”
Jooho frowned.
“Sure, taking something in only to throw it away later is irresponsible. But saying that being kind is bad don’t you think that’s a little harsh? Is indifference better than kindness?”
“What’s with you all of a sudden?”
Hyunsoo knew that Jooho could be sharp-tongued.
As Manager Bang put it, his words might be rough, but his heart wasn’t always that way.
Still, being called meddlesome stung a bit.
“Isn’t that how people are too? We meet, we grow close, then sometimes we drift apart. Then new connections come along. A whole life is just a cycle of meeting and parting. Deciding to only bond with people who’ll stick around forever that decision itself feels meaningless.”
A night when rain poured like a waterfall.
Letting a stray cat, soaked and starving, stay in your room for just one night—
Is that irresponsible?
Who decides what’s responsible and what’s not?
Was there some survey done on a hundred cats?
A hundred actual felines?
When someone lets a cat stay the night and then puts it outside again the next morning— does the cat really resent them, thinking, “That was so irresponsible”?
“You sound like an enlightened monk or something.”
Jooho crossed his legs and folded his arms, as if daring him to go on.
Hyunsoo gladly took the bait.
“If you’re not going to solve all my problems, then get lost—
…I used to think like that too.
But now I wonder if that’s really how it has to be.
Sometimes, just having someone to talk to and listen—
That alone can help.
As long as I know they’re really listening, sincerely.”
“Is Jung Jin that kind of person to you?”
“Yeah.”
“……”
“I figured that out thanks to you. I got lucky.”
Jooho tilted his head even further, his posture growing more skeptical.
But Hyunsoo finished what he’d been trying to say.
“You don’t always have to take responsibility. Sometimes, kindness is better than indifference.”
He hadn’t meant to go on a whole speech like some know-it-all, but the words had come out.
Feeling a wave of belated embarrassment, he avoided Jooho’s gaze and lowered his cup, picking up the script again.
“And you shouldn’t try to block yourself from getting attached. If you force it down, it turns into denial.”
“Who said that?”
“My grandma.”
He opened to the page for Scene 78 and wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
“You’re starting, right?”
From his left, he could feel Yoon Jooho’s gaze— hot or maybe burning.
But he didn’t have the courage to meet it head-on.
Instead, he looked forward, his face turned toward the camera without thinking.
The red recording light was on.
They were already filming.
■
“Do rich people even eat different fruits than I do?”
After practice, the strawberries the director handed me looked unbelievably pretty and tasted so sweet it felt like they had sugar sprinkled on them.
“Director, I’ve never had strawberries like this before.”
“Hyunsoo, you always eat everything so deliciously. You’re really blessed.”
“You should have some too, Director.”
Sitting on a tall bar chair by the island counter in the kitchen, Hyunsoo shoved strawberries into his mouth until his cheeks puffed out, then subtly pushed the plate toward the director across the counter.
“Sorry. I kind of just scarfed them all down by myself, huh?”
“No, no. I put them out for you. Eat as much as you want.”
The director, smiling warmly, pushed the plate even closer to Hyunsoo.
“Hyunsoo, where do you live? If it’s on the way, maybe Jooho can give you a ride.”
“It’s okay. I can take the bus.”
“You said you don’t have an agency yet. Getting around must be inconvenient.”
Just as he was stabbing another strawberry with his fork before even finishing chewing the one in his mouth, Hyunsoo’s hand paused.
It didn’t seem like the director had figured out on his own that he didn’t have an agency.
Jooho must’ve told him.
Come to think of it, when he first came to this house, the director had opened the door and told him it must’ve been tough coming in the cold — as if he already knew he came by public transport.
Even the security guard at the gate had recognized Hyunsoo right away.
Thinking back now, it was clear Jooho had taken care of things in advance.
If Jooho really was that considerate, that was genuinely surprising.
“You still haven’t signed with a company?”
At the voice coming from behind, Hyunsoo turned his torso.
Jooho was walking out of a room with a digital door lock, sliding his arms into the sleeves of his coat.
He was just putting on a coat, and yet it looked like an advertisement.
What an unfair world.
Everyone in this country had been deceived by that face for thirty years.
A national scam.
“You told me to find one, but you never said I needed one.”
“Where do you live?”
“It’s fine. I’ll just take the bus.”
“I asked where you live, not whether I’d drive you.”
“…Bogwang-dong.”
As Jooho approached the island counter, the scent of his cologne hit hard.
The director handed him a sports bag.
Jooho slung it over his shoulder and gestured his chin at Hyunsoo.
“Come down with me.”
“It’s really fine. You’re busy.”
“It’s not like I’m sacrificing myself for you. I’m actually on my way to Pilates.”
Oh, of course. If he weren’t already headed that way, he definitely wouldn’t have offered.
What a huge mistake it would’ve been to think otherwise.
He really has a talent for doing good deeds and still getting scolded.
National actor Yoon Jooho was offering to personally drive him home.
Anyone in Korea would jump at the chance.
Even someone who didn’t like Jooho would remember this moment for the rest of their life.
But the awkward mood during practice made Hyunsoo hesitate a bit.
Did the director think Hyunsoo was lingering because of the strawberries?
The director grabbed Jooho’s arm.
“Wait a bit so Hyunsoo can finish his strawberries before he goes.”
Oh, Director… now I just look like someone who’s obsessed with strawberries…
Like a sulky teenage boy throwing a fit at his parents for embarrassing him in front of his crush.
Hyunsoo shot the director a resentful look.
Even so, he stuffed his mouth with as many strawberries as he could.
He could feel Jooho’s appalled gaze on him,
but no matter how desperate he looked, he couldn’t give up strawberries the size of baby fists.
“Ah, d’one. Let’s go.”
I’m done eating.
Let’s go.
After finishing every last strawberry, Hyunsoo got off the bar chair and started pushing Jooho’s shoulder.
He ignored Jooho’s look that said, “Was that really so important?” and just kept pushing.
What would a man with hundreds of billions, maybe trillions, know?
Pride only lasts a moment — if I leave those strawberries behind, I’ll regret it all night in bed.
The director walked them to the elevator.
“Manager Han will be here in about 30 minutes. I’ll leave after checking the cleaning is done.”
“Okay, hyung. Thanks.”
“See you tomorrow, Hyunsoo.”
“Yes, Director. Have a good night.”
Hyunsoo gave the director a polite bow as he waved goodbye with a kind smile.
Once the elevator doors closed and they were alone in the small space, Jooho’s cologne hit even stronger.
Leaning back into the corner of the elevator with his arms crossed, Jooho silently watched him.
Under his gaze, Hyunsoo nervously tapped the handrail with his fingertips.
Unable to endure the awkwardness any longer, Hyunsoo was the first to speak.
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