Chapter 45: Dissolve: His Last Choice

Song Hyunsoo stared at Yoon Jooho’s profile.

He knew? 

He’s known all along and still kept talking down to me?

He’d thought Jooho was speaking informally out of habit, without realizing it. 

But if he’d known and kept doing it anyway that meant he was consciously allowing the distance between them to shrink. 

The thought made Hyunsoo grin involuntarily.

Trying to suppress the smile twisted his face into something strange. 

He leaned forward to peer at the touchscreen in the center fascia.

“Mind if I mess with the audio a bit?”

“Go ahead.”

He started by switching on the radio. 

A commercial played, but the surround sound was so vivid it felt like a war movie. 

Jooho must have upgraded to a higher-end audio system.

“Hey, hyung. If someone got this car with all these options, how much would it cost?”

“……”

Leaning over the console, Hyunsoo noticed Jooho watching him. 

Still resting his temple on one hand, Jooho stared with a look that seemed full of things he wasn’t saying.

“Why’re you looking at me like that?”

“It’s just… Most people are a little cautious when they bring up money. But you just go straight for it.”

“Well, what I’m really asking is how much it costs, right? Whether I dress it up or not, the question’s the same. So? How much?”

Hyunsoo leaned in closer, eyes gleaming with curiosity.

“No idea. Don’t remember.”

Jooho answered curtly, like it wasn’t worth the effort, and lightly pushed Hyunsoo’s cheek away with the back of his hand.

It was just a casual touch.

But it hit Hyunsoo like a slap.

Or maybe like a soft caress that sent heat shooting up his face. 

This guy touches someone’s bare skin, someone’s face, so easily…

He could feel his ears burning, though it wasn’t cold. 

Embarrassed, he grabbed both ears and pressed them down firmly. 

Trying to act unaffected, he tossed out a line.

“You know that makes you sound like a total asshole, right?”

“How so?”

“You say you can’t even remember how much a car costs when the base price starts at 330 million won. To someone like me, that’s just infuriating.”

“If you’re that curious, ask Sangho hyung. He remembers everything.”

All the options, taxes, and extra fees are probably around 400 million won. 

A 400 million won car.

If this were a livestream, he’d be smashing the button like crazy lol. Hahahaha.

“So technically, I’ve probably already used up a million won’s worth of this car just by sitting here…”

Hyunsoo’s voice gradually faded until he stopped speaking entirely.

The commercials had ended, and a news segment began on the radio.

『Continuing with our report Top star Kang Miyeon has been accused of engaging in transactional relationships over the past several months. Rookie actor Nam Minwoo, formerly a model, made the claims today. According to Nam, Miyeon allegedly received tens of millions of won in compensation for their meetings…』

Neither Hyunsoo nor Jooho said a word.

■

Leaving the radio on, Song Hyunsoo pulled his phone out from the pocket of his padded jacket.

Every portal site was plastered with the same story.

It was about Kang Miyeon, a top actress in her mid-thirties, and her relationship with Nam Minwoo, a rookie actor in his early twenties who had started out as a model. 

Nam Minwoo had publicly claimed that their relationship was transactional.

But Kang Miyeon wasn’t some flash-in-the-pan star. 

She was an established A-list actress with a solid career. 

Because of that, the scandal surrounding her private life had an explosive impact, regardless of whether it was true.

It was such a bombshell that even the recent “Yoon Jooho family feud article” — which had dominated headlines — was completely buried. 

A bedroom scandal, after all, was far more sensational than a story about arguing with one’s parents.

“Kang Miyeon released a statement saying it wasn’t a transactional relationship, that they were dating. She says Minwoo lashed out and lied when she tried to break things off.”

“You think people care what’s true? The bait’s already been thrown out.”

As bitter as it was, Song Hyunsoo couldn’t help but agree with Yoon Jooho.

To the masses, the truth didn’t matter. 

They only craved the more salacious story. 

They wanted something more immoral, more shocking, more miserable.

What was actually true didn’t need to be revealed. 

Whatever people wanted to be true — that would become the truth. 

Even if you came forward with irrefutable evidence, saying, “No, this is what really happened,” most people would still refuse to believe it.

Having lived through Choi Hongseo’s death, Song Hyunsoo knew just how vicious and deranged that madness could become.

He felt chills ripple up from his spine to the nape of his neck. 

He didn’t even dare to look at the comment section. 

Swallowing dryly, he forced himself to speak.

“What’s this? Were you a Kang Miyeon fan?”

“…Huh?”

“You’ve gone completely pale.”

“No… It’s not that. Um, would it be okay if I smoked? I mean, unless you don’t allow it in your car…”

“No such rule. Go ahead. I was about to have one too.”

With that, Yoon Jooho cracked open both the driver and passenger side windows. 

The fresh air helped settle Hyunsoo’s nerves a little.

They lit their cigarettes in silence.

On the radio, the three hosts were still going on about Kang Miyeon and the rookie actor, their voices weighty and grim, as if the fate of the nation hinged on this story.

Nam Minwoo claimed that over the past seven months, he had received a luxury officetel apartment, a sports car, designer goods, and monthly cash “living expenses” from Kang Miyeon in exchange for what he framed as a transactional relationship.

『If this is true… I mean, it’s one thing to call it a “contractual relationship,” but let’s not sugarcoat it — it’s sponsorship, or in blunt terms… prostitution. Regardless of the truth, this is likely to deal a serious blow to actress Kang Miyeon’s career.』

One of the hosts said it with a feigned air of propriety, as if he were trying to sound mature and measured.

That was the last straw for Song Hyunsoo. 

He had been smoking quietly until then, but now he couldn’t hold back.

“Why should she take a hit regardless of the truth? If it’s not true, then she shouldn’t take a hit at all.”

Shouting at the audio speaker as if the radio hosts could actually hear him, Song Hyunsoo finally shut the radio off with a huff.

He could feel Yoon Jooho’s puzzled gaze wondering why he was reacting so strongly but he couldn’t bring himself to explain.

“Want a piece of advice that might help you survive in this business?”

Yoon Jooho began, tapping his cigarette against the ashtray.

“A tip on how not to get caught up in scandals like that.”

“There’s a way to avoid them?”

“It’s simple. Just sleep with top stars only.”

“……”

“People with a lot to lose tend to keep each other’s secrets.”

Dragging a long pull from his cigarette, Yoon Jooho exhaled with a furrowed brow.

“Look at this case. Was it Kang Miyeon who spilled the beans? No, it was the guy, some model or whatever who went public. These things always come from the side with nothing to lose. For someone like Kang Miyeon, no matter who she slept with or dated, there’s no reason to expose it.”

Though he seemed to be holding himself back, Jooho’s voice was gradually rising with intensity.

“She gave the guy an officetel in Gangnam, bought him a car, gave him allowance money, even got him a role. Then she says she wants to break up of course he didn’t let go quietly. He probably snapped. Because he had nothing to lose. It’s a ‘you die, I die’ kind of situation.”

“That one of your trade secrets too, sunbae?”

Hmph.

Jooho let out a low chuckle.

A cynical smile curled on his thin lips— cryptic, but telling. 

He didn’t answer, but the grin said enough.

It was a yes.

In truth, since becoming an adult actor, Yoon Jooho hadn’t been caught in any serious scandals for over ten years.

If all his relationships, sexual or romantic, had been with people in similarly high positions, it made sense. 

The odds of a leak would be low. 

There was logic in what he was saying.

Jooho’s smirk lingered as he finally offered a vague follow-up.

“Well, it’s not like I plan to spend my life just jerking off, not at this age and with this face. I’m gonna sleep with someone, sure.”

Only top stars, huh…

“But what if the person you’re drawn to isn’t a top star?”

“It’s just sex. Do you really need to be drawn to the person? If you feel that drawn, you’d be dating them.”

The word dating coming from Jooho’s lips stirred something unexpected in Hyunsoo’s chest.

A sudden jolt rising and crashing like motion sickness.

“Then… you’re saying dating someone who isn’t a top star is possible?”

“Haven’t you been watching the news? Kang Miyeon was dating that guy. And look what a mess that turned into.”

Hyunsoo turned fully now, twisting his waist to face Jooho directly.

“So what? Do you only date top stars too?”

Flicking away the short cigarette filter between his thumb and forefinger, Jooho shrugged.

“Doesn’t matter who it is, relationships don’t last long anyway.”

“Because you get bored and dump them?”

“They usually dump me.”

“Why??”

The question came out loud.