Chapter 128
“What’s that? X reveal?”
“Are we really going to reveal who is whose X now?”
Upon discovering the caption that appeared on the screen, the cast members either shouted, made eye contact with the person sitting next to them, or couldn’t take their eyes off the screen with their mouths open. While everyone showed different reactions, they were all equally surprised by the unexpected timing of the event.
Soon, the countdown began. As the number starting from 60 gradually decreased, even the bustling cast members stopped moving. Before long, the number entered single digits. The living room air was covered with tension and silence.
3, 2, 1. The final number signaling the end of the countdown flashed and disappeared. Though the screen was now black and lifeless with nothing visible anymore, the cast members couldn’t take their eyes off it.
How much time had passed like that? A pleasant low voice broke the silence that had settled in the living room.
[It was just enjoyable and nice to be together. They were a person overflowing with positive energy.]
[Although we’re meeting after 8 years, I think I’ll probably feel similar this time too. So I’m excited and looking forward to it.]
As soon as that voice was heard, all gazes simultaneously turned to Ki Seo-jung. Having spent 3 weeks together, the cast members could immediately recognize who the voice belonged to just by hearing it.
The cafe where Seo-jung and Da-bin had filmed their pre-meeting appeared on the previously black screen along with a bright light. After Seo-jung’s image sitting alone at the table was on screen for a while, soon the entrance door opened with a small bell sound. Of course, it was Da-bin who entered through the door.
“Wow, what? Seo-jung oppa’s X was Da-bin unnie?”
“I thought something was off since the job reveal, and it was true.”
The two people on screen conversed naturally as if they had been meeting until just yesterday. Watching the two, the remaining cast members each left different impressions. Seo-jung simply smiled silently at the voices of the cast members reaching his ears.
After the short pre-meeting video of Seo-jung and Da-bin ended, what followed were images of the two when they were dating. As photos and videos taken together, letters, and gifts appeared on screen, the voices of the two alternated. They were words about the emotions felt while dating. Both Seo-jung and Da-bin naturally spoke the answers they had prepared in advance without hesitation.
But the cast members, unaware of this, were each immersed in the screen with serious expressions, some even shedding tears as if it were their own story. Although it was another couple’s memories, it wasn’t strange since everyone had gone through good times only to end up as strangers in the end.
Amidst these cast members, the expression of Seo-jung, the actual person involved, remained indifferent. Perhaps it was a natural reaction. To Seo-jung, this was no different from a play performed according to a script. As the prepared footage all came to an end, videos of the next couples sequentially filled the screen.
Unlike Seo-jung, who showed no particular agitation to his own video, from the second couple onwards, quite large reactions flowed out. While raising the corners of their mouths, they reddened their eyes, and while pretending to laugh nonchalantly, they turned their heads to wipe away tears. Soo-ho, in particular, showed the most intense reaction.
[Soo-ho was so cute. He was like that from the moment I first saw him.]
As soon as Ji-yoon’s voice flowed through the speakers, Soo-ho, who had been holding back tears, immediately began to wail. He cried so pitifully that Ji-yoon, his former lover, approached Soo-ho and patted his shoulder. Of course, it had no effect. As soon as Ji-yoon’s hand touched him, Soo-ho burst into loud sobs.
Unlike those overwhelmed just by controlling their own emotions, Seo-jung handed tissues from the table to Soo-ho sitting next to him. Seo-jung was this composed. At least, he clearly was until before watching the video of the next couple.
The situation changed 180 degrees around the time the video of the third couple ended. In the momentarily quiet living room, only the occasional sniffling of the cast members could be heard. Seo-jung blinked slowly, waiting for the next turn.
The wait wasn’t long. This time too, with a darkened screen, someone’s voice began to echo in the living room.
[We were friends who knew each other since childhood. They were also one of the few people I could open up to.]
[How do I think it will be for a month? …Well, I guess it will be fun? I’ve been waiting for the day to enter there recently.]
The moment he heard that voice, Seo-jung couldn’t help but flinch. A voice tinged with indifference yet a strange expectation. It was Cha Yoon’s voice.
“Wow, this is crazy. Joo-ah and Cha Yoon were each other’s X?”
“This is insane.”
Realizing who the protagonists of the fourth couple were, Seo-jung rubbed the edge of his lips with his tongue. Come to think of it, it was natural. Cha Yoon had also come here as a cast member of the program. Moreover, he knew from Cha Yoon’s confession a week ago that he and Joo-ah were just friends.
So there was no reason for emotional turmoil, he just had to watch and forget like he had done so far. Seo-jung organized his thoughts and adjusted his posture. But such thoughts were short-lived, and he had no choice but to freeze his expression.
The reason was the photos that appeared on the screen after the pre-meeting video of the two ended. Except for the pictures taken together when they were very young, most of the photos of the two were individual shots of each. It was natural. After their childhood when they attended church together, the two had never taken a photo together.
That was precisely the problem. Cha Yoon’s solo photos were all created by Ki Seo-jung’s hands.
It was around the time they had just started dating. A camera followed Cha Yoon like an extension of his hand, and wherever he went, he captured only Seo-jung through the camera lens. How long had it been like that? Feeling something was off, Seo-jung voiced his complaint.
‘Yoon, why do you only take pictures of me every time?’
‘Well, because that’s my job?’
His point was that since his goal was to make a photo album for Ki Seo-jung from the beginning, he didn’t particularly need photos of himself.
Seo-jung couldn’t understand. Isn’t a photo album a place to capture memories? Can it be said to have proper meaning if the person you shared time with isn’t in it? And above all, Seo-jung felt the same way. He also had the desire to capture the image of the person he loved in photos.
In the end, after a long argument about this, Seo-jung emerged victorious. From that day on, Seo-jung was able to take not only photos of the two of them together but also solo shots of Cha Yoon. Of course, Cha Yoon’s solo photos ended up stuffed somewhere in his drawer without being properly placed in the photo album, but anyway, that’s how it was.
The photos that had been hidden like that came back before Seo-jung’s eyes after going round and round. He had to face the past they had shared together without any warning or mental preparation. He had no choice in the matter.
He took in every detail of Cha Yoon’s appearance in the slowly changing photos. Cha Yoon smiling towards him while standing under a cherry blossom tree, Cha Yoon fluttering his clothes with ice cream in his mouth on a hot summer day, Cha Yoon holding out a red autumn leaf to him, Cha Yoon calling him while surrounded by snowmen…
Despite so much time having passed, seeing the photos made the days he had spent with Cha Yoon flash through his mind as if they were yesterday. Seo-jung bit his lower lip. It was because of the throbbing pain rising from near his heart.
After the day of Cha Yoon’s accident, Seo-jung consciously ignored the photo album placed in the living room. He didn’t have the courage to face the time contained within it. He was afraid. While the photo album had been a symbol of eternity when they were together, for Seo-jung who was left alone, it was merely a token signaling the end.
Although he had repeated hundreds, thousands of times that it was right to let Cha Yoon go, that they were already over, Seo-jung also knew. Ridiculously, even he who uttered those words couldn’t acknowledge it. So he tried even harder to erase the photo album from his mind. Because he believed it was the only way to protect the last bastion that remained for him.
But as if mocking Seo-jung’s efforts, he finally had to face it. While it was being introduced as memories of Cha Yoon and Joo-ah on the screen, only Seo-jung knew. Those were traces of the love he and Cha Yoon had created.
Finally, as even the last bastion he had tried so hard to protect was taken away, he had no choice but to acknowledge it. The fact that Cha Yoon and Ki Seo-jung were completely over.
And the moment he realized all this, tears flowed from Seo-jung’s eyes as if it were a lie. Seo-jung quickly lowered his head to hide his face.
This shouldn’t be happening. It wasn’t the time to show tears. It didn’t make sense for Seo-jung, who hadn’t shed tears while watching his video with Da-bin, to cry while watching Cha Yoon’s X reveal video.
He tried to stop the tears while collecting himself, but as if they had no intention of listening to their owner, the tears continued to fall. The Seo-jung who had been comforting others’ emotions was no longer there. Now, only Ki Seo-jung, who found it burdensome even to control his own emotions, remained in place. It was then, as he helplessly watched the teardrops falling in round circles.
“What? Is Cha Yoon oppa crying?”
“Cha Yoon is crying? What nonsense… Crazy. Hey, are you really crying?”
The voices of Sae-young and Joo-ah, seemingly shocked, were heard. To think that he, who always went around being grumpy, would show tears. There couldn’t be a more shocking situation for the “Please Take Care of My X” cast members. In an instant, all eyes turned to Cha Yoon.
“Yeah, seeing that makes me tear up.”
Whether he knew Seo-jung’s feelings or not, Cha Yoon answered nonchalantly. His voice was too calm for someone shedding tears, but no one pointed this out. He grabbed a handful of tissues from the table and then rubbed his eyes.
“To see Cha Yoon cry, I’ve lived long enough to see everything…”
Joo-ah muttered while looking at Cha Yoon. The look of complete incomprehension was an added bonus.
“But honestly, I didn’t think Yoon hyung would cry either.”
“No, Joo-ah, you’ve known Cha Yoon for so long, but you’ve never seen it?”
“Of course not. He’s such a heartless kid.”
“Well, Cha Yoon is more the type to get angry rather than cry.”
Ji-yoon nodded as if it wasn’t completely incomprehensible. Although somewhat cold evaluations of him were exchanged, Cha Yoon simply tapped his eyes a few more times as if unaffected.
Thanks to the cast members’ attention being focused on Cha Yoon, Seo-jung was able to distance himself from people’s gazes. Just as he was trying to compose himself, encouraging himself to quickly pull himself together…
He felt something soft touch the palm of his hand resting quietly on the sofa. Seo-jung, blinking slowly, realized the identity of the thing carrying a lukewarm temperature. It was the tissue Cha Yoon had been holding.
Seo-jung reflexively grasped the tissue Cha Yoon had given him. Realizing that there was no wetness felt anywhere, Seo-jung finally understood what Cha Yoon’s series of actions meant.
Cha Yoon had known. That he was crying.
Pretending to suddenly cry to draw people’s attention, picking up unnecessary tissues to hand to him. Realizing that it was all for his sake, it finally sank in. That Cha Yoon’s memory had returned.
At that moment, all sounds disappeared, and one by one, people began to be erased from the sofa where 10 cast members were sitting. In the end, only Cha Yoon and Ki Seo-jung remained.
The small gesture of handing over a tissue containing lukewarm warmth instantly transported Ki Seo-jung to the past. It felt as vivid as if it were just yesterday that they woke up seeing each other’s faces first thing every morning, kissing and sharing body heat. It was a brief reminiscence, like a match lit by the Little Match Girl.
And that night, for the first time, there was no message from Cha Yoon.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
