When Song Hyunsoo downed the whiskey like it was beer and set his glass down, a cigarette filter suddenly appeared, almost poking his lips with how close it was.
Almost by reflex, Song Hyunsoo took the cigarette into his mouth.
Then, a lighter’s flame flickered right at the tip of the cigarette.
Of course, it was Yoon Jooho.
It seemed like his way of saying, “If you’re going to drink that much, at least have a smoke for a moment.”
With their eyes meeting, Song Hyunsoo drew on the filter.
He let out a long exhale of smoke, leaning his arm on the table for support.
“One of them suddenly asked me out for a drink before leaving the country. He’s not the type to say things like that, you know.”
“……”
“He’s always busy. I thought he was just trying to be considerate, so I put it off. Told him we’d drink next time.”
Song Hyunsoo’s head slowly drooped.
“If I’d listened to him back then, would things have been different? If I’d meddled a little more… Maybe…”
His voice echoed as if coming from deep inside a cave, his chin almost touching his collarbone.
Tears welled up in an instant. But he didn’t want to let them fall. Song Hyunsoo quickly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. Then he emptied his glass again.
“What could I have done to stop it? I know it’s useless to think about it now. I know it’s just being pathetic. But… I just can’t shake the thought.”
This time, Song Hyunsoo slumped back against the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling as he smoked.
It was the first time he’d ever talked about this to anyone. Not even to Jung Jin. He didn’t want to burden someone living abroad with depressing stories.
Clink. Yoon Jooho dropped a few ice cubes into Song Hyunsoo’s empty glass with tongs.
Song Hyunsoo, his head resting weakly against the backrest, stared absentmindedly at Yoon Jooho’s profile.
Who would have thought he’d end up spilling everything to Yoon Jooho— the same person who’d once seemed as cold and unfeeling as a mannequin on TV.
With a helpless, bitter chuckle, Song Hyunsoo called out to him.
“Sunbae.”
“Yeah?”
“Caring or being kind isn’t a bad thing.”
“……”
“It’s better than being indifferent.”
“Yeah, I get it. I misspoke back then.”
As he filled the glass with just a third of alcohol over the ice, Yoon Jooho replied.
He clearly remembered it too.
『Don’t get attached so half-heartedly. Acting nice when you can’t take responsibility, that’s just meddling.』
Even though he answered offhandedly, not even looking this way as he poured the drink… Somehow, Song Hyunsoo liked the way he spoke.
Whether it was the alcohol or Yoon Jooho himself, a silly, faint smile kept slipping out.
“Sunbae.”
“Yeah?”
But even though he was smiling, his chest still felt tight.
“Now that Myung Dohoon’s dead, do you think Hongseo’s… a little less burdened?”
“How would I know? But.”
“……”
“Isn’t it better for you to think so?”
Saying that, he handed Song Hyunsoo the glass he’d just filled with ice and alcohol.
Then he picked up his own glass, in which the ice had mostly melted from not being touched for so long, and took a few sips.
“Who else knows about this?”
“You mean about Hongseo? Well, there’s hardly anyone who doesn’t know about that…”
“I mean, the fact that you’re also a victim of that incident.”
“Oh, aside from Jin hyung, not really…”
Song Hyunsoo shook his head as he sat up.
Yoon Jooho rubbed his temples as if he had a headache.
“Are you sure you should be telling me this? It’s not something you’d say to just anyone.”
“Sunbae, you’re not just anyone.”
“Why? Because I slept with you? Did you get attached from just that one time?”
Yoon Jooho’s voice and expression were almost angry.
As if upset that Song Hyunsoo would reveal something that could be used against him to someone else— even if that someone was Yoon Jooho himself.
Song Hyunsoo bristled.
“That’s not it.”
“……”
“You worry about me sincerely, Sunbae.”
As he stubbed out a cigarette that still wasn’t quite finished, Song Hyunsoo ran his hand roughly through his hair.
“I told you because I trust you.”
“Don’t tell anyone things that could be used against you. Not even your grandmother or grandfather.”
“You’re saying I shouldn’t trust you either, Sunbae?”
“…Yeah.”
With a complicated expression, Yoon Jooho fished out a cigarette and held it in his mouth, while Song Hyunsoo wiped his face several times.
“Even if I get stabbed in the back, I can handle the consequences myself.”
And with eyes still wet, he met Yoon Jooho’s gaze directly. In that moment, it felt like his drunkenness had vanished.
He declared, head-on.
“I won’t regret it.”
Telling Sunbae everything.
Falling for Sunbae.
For a while, Yoon Jooho looked straight into Song Hyunsoo’s eyes. As if searching for the truth in them, to see if he really meant what he was saying.
“You won’t regret it even if you get stabbed in the back?”
“I won’t.”
“Even after all you’ve been through, you still trust people?”
“Who says I trust just anyone? I trust you because you’re not just anyone…”
Because he was Sunbae.
If you can’t trust the person you like, who can you trust in this world?
No matter how much he drank, even as his tongue began to slow, he couldn’t bring himself to say that much.
Yoon Jooho pressed his fingers against his eyelids and was silent for a while.
From the right hand he’d left on the table, smoke rose slowly from his cigarette.
And finally, his thin lips twitched as if to say something.
“Lee Seokyung…”
“What about Lee Seokyung?”
“You said he was a pervert beyond imagination, right?”
“Sunbae, you saw the News too. You could tell just from that. The truth is even worse.”
“……”
“Why, Sunbae, do you know something?”
But Yoon Jooho shook his head firmly a couple of times. Like someone trying to shake something out of his mind.
Then, bringing the cigarette to his lips, he spoke decisively.
“Anyway, from now on, don’t tell anyone about that.”
“I get it. I won’t. Not even to Sunbae. Never. Satisfied?”
“How are you going to not tell me something you’ve already told me?”
“I just won’t. I won’t. I said I won’t.”
“Can you write a Promise Note?”
“A Promise Note…?”
“I’m not like you, I don’t trust promises made with just words.”
Even with his dulled mind, Song Hyunsoo thought Yoon Jooho’s words were strange.
“Who I trust, whether I get betrayed or not… It’s not your loss, and it has nothing to do with you, Sunbae. Why do you want a Promise Note from me about that?”
Hmm. Yoon Jooho closed his mouth and sighed, setting his cigarette on the ashtray with his neat fingers.
Then, resting an arm on the table, he leaned toward Song Hyunsoo.
“I’m thinking of making a Contract with you.”
“We already did. I even signed the Contract Agreement, so what contr—”
Yoon Jooho reached out and pressed his fingertip firmly to Song Hyunsoo’s upper lip.
“As an Actor.”
“……”
With that one sentence, Song Hyunsoo fell silent. Even after Yoon Jooho moved his hand away, he couldn’t say a word.
What did I just hear? As an Actor… He doesn’t mean that, does he?
“You know my situation with the company is complicated. So I can’t make a Contract under Look Planning’s name right now.”
“……”
“If things go wrong and I can’t get back to Look Planning, you and the company would both be taken from me.”
With slow blinks, Song Hyunsoo tried to make sense of Yoon Jooho’s words through his alcohol-fogged mind.
“For now, let’s make a one-on-one Contract with me. If things get resolved, you’ll officially join Look Planning.”
Finishing with a voice so dry it sounded almost brittle, Yoon Jooho gave a faint smile.
“So now you’ll be related to me, right?”
He picked up the cigarette he’d left on the edge of the ashtray. When it was between his fingers, the cigarette somehow looked thinner, and the smoke a little more blue.
“Someone who approaches you with a plan from the start is actually easier to deal with. Once you’ve got some experience, you can tell. The most dangerous is someone you trust.”
“Why?”
“The moment you learn someone’s secret, it becomes power in the relationship. And that power changes people. Even if they never meant to, they end up stabbing you in the back.”
Tap tap, Yoon Jooho flicked the ashes and drained the rest of his drink, chin raised. Setting the glass down, he added in a flat tone.
“Just because you can trust someone now doesn’t mean it’ll last forever.”
He may have offered precious advice as an industry senior, but—
In Song Hyunsoo’s mind, only one thing remained.
I’m thinking of making a Contract with you. As an Actor.