# Chapter 3
“You could just say hello with words.”
With no sign of being offended, the man handed over a new business card.
T&C Entertainment was a major agency that anyone in the entertainment industry would recognize by name alone. As an affiliate of the T&C Group, it had only been around for 8 years, but was famous for using its enormous capital to make overwhelming investments and lobbying everywhere to help its contracted entertainers quickly gain visibility.
There seemed to be some unsavory rumors circulating as well, but they definitely took good care of their entertainers, so not much was said about it.
Recently, they had started branching out to idols and singers to further expand their size. About half a year ago, Seowoo’s manager Jinhyuk had casually mentioned, “These days, T&C is scouting all the good rookies.”
Seowoo had wondered what kind of person ran the company and was curious to see their face, but never expected to meet them like this. He barely stopped himself from crumpling the business card he’d just received, but couldn’t prevent the doubtful question that escaped his lips.
“…CEO?”
“CEO.”
The man, Seo Dohyun, smiled neatly as he pushed his wallet back into his outer pocket. Seowoo stared at the gleaming “CEO Seo Dohyun” on the business card for a long time before looking back at Dohyun. Someone in this position was that crazed knife-wielder from before? Seowoo tried to calmly gather his thoughts.
“There’s no need to go as far as impersonating someone else, is there? What would you do if the real CEO Seo found out?”
“I came to give my greetings at the premiere, and I’m being treated like a common criminal? I don’t know about other things, but identity theft is too petty.”
“Aren’t you the one acting petty right now?”
“Oh my, I just wanted to introduce myself properly, and you’re condemning me. How am I supposed to live with such mistreatment?”
Honestly, if a criminal appeared in front of you wearing a suit saying “I’m the CEO,” who would readily agree?
Seowoo took exactly three deep breaths and exhaled slowly. Stay calm. If this man tried to drag him away, he could somehow attract attention from people around. There were plenty of people who would help Seowoo.
Just as Seowoo exhaled his third breath and opened his mouth to say “Get lost, you bastard” in a slightly more polite way, he saw a familiar face behind Dohyun. At this moment, someone more welcome than even a year-end acting award trophy was approaching Seowoo.
“Jinhyuk!”
“Seowoo, the president wants…”
The cheerful sentence didn’t reach its end. The moment Dohyun and Jinhyuk’s eyes met, the air around them seemed to shrink so suddenly that even Seowoo could feel it.
“…”
“…”
Jinhyuk’s face turned pale then purple, and after looking flustered, he finally bowed his head.
“Ah, um, hello… CEO.”
“Well, look at this… Aren’t you Han Seowoo’s manager? So nice to see you here.”
Dohyun waved off Jinhyuk’s greeting.
Jinhyuk couldn’t hide his nervousness and just trailed off with “Yes…” Seowoo was the only one who was completely dumbfounded. He kept thinking it couldn’t be true, but he’s actually the CEO?
Dohyun put on his usual sly smile and stood Jinhyuk beside him.
“Your timing is perfect. Look, no matter how many times I tell our star Han that I’m the CEO of T&C, he won’t believe me. I’d appreciate it if his manager could give me some credibility.”
“Wait, what… Is my disbelief just simple disbelief right now?”
“What else would it be?”
“There’s a reason…”
He almost shouted but barely held back. It was because he noticed Jinhyuk, who was busy looking around trying to assess the situation. Seowoo took a deep breath and forced a smile.
“Since it seems the president is looking for me, I’ll be going now, CEO Seo Dohyun.”
Without hesitation, Seowoo grabbed Jinhyuk’s arm and turned around. Jinhyuk mumbled “uh, um” and awkwardly followed Seowoo.
Dohyun burst into another mysterious laugh and caught up to Seowoo with large strides. Making sure to look like part of the group, he stood beside Seowoo and matched his pace.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m done with my business.”
“But I’m not.”
Is he trying to joke around now, or what?
Seowoo had to struggle to suppress the anger that was creeping into his expression. Most of the people passing by knew Seowoo’s name or face. Making a scene here with an angry expression and raised voice would only lower his reputation. Especially if this person really was the CEO of T&C.
Seowoo stared straight ahead, as if he had no intention of looking back or even glancing sideways.
“I guess the rumors aren’t completely false? I heard you give people the cold shoulder, and you won’t even look at me once.”
Dohyun continued to smile, showing no signs of irritation. In contrast, the expressions of Seowoo and Jinhyuk, who was being dragged along half-forcibly, were quite gloomy.
Seowoo’s gaze quickly scanned the surroundings. The hallway elevators were crowded, making it risky to board with Dohyun. Barely remembering that there was a staff-only elevator in the back, Seowoo hurriedly quickened his pace.
“I just need a moment, so why are you avoiding me? Let me hear the reason.”
“Ah, yes. I’m busy with official business right now.”
“Did you have a disturbing dream or something?”
Though it sounded like a joke, Seowoo felt guilty and unconsciously let out a fake cough.
Seeing this, Dohyun murmured in a soft tone, as if reminiscing about a first meeting with a lover:
“Our first meeting was quite intense.”
This crazy bastard…
Seowoo put the brakes on his heels and sharply turned his body in the opposite direction. He also released Jinhyuk’s arm that he had been holding. As the freed Jinhyuk blinked, Seowoo managed to put on a smile and looked at him.
“I’m going to talk with him for a while, so please tell the president, Jinhyuk. Okay?”
“…Um, but…”
Jinhyuk glanced sideways at Dohyun. After hesitating for a moment, Jinhyuk soon said, “Okay, call me right after you finish talking,” before disappearing towards the elevator.
Dohyun stared at the back of Jinhyuk’s head, then as if suddenly losing interest, fixed his gaze back on Seowoo.
“Mr. Han Seowoo,”
“Come this way.”
Gritting his teeth, Seowoo led Dohyun towards the emergency staircase as if forcibly escorting him.
Instead of using force to shake off his arm, Dohyun matched Seowoo’s pace, saying “Let’s do that” with a smile that even reached his eyes, like indulging a child. He even opened the emergency exit door himself. It was almost like he was escorting Seowoo.
Is he being polite now? Should I think, wow, he’s actually a good person? What is he plotting? Suspicion only built up. Seowoo briskly passed by Dohyun who was holding the door to keep it from closing.
When Dohyun closed the door and turned around, Seowoo’s face was right in front of him. Seeing Seowoo’s fiercely raised eyes, Dohyun opened his eyes wide for a moment before bursting into laughter.
“You’re getting right in my face.”
“Look here.”
“Are you telling me to look at your handsome face and calm down?”
“Listen, CEO. Did I come all the way here to joke around with you? I didn’t think you were like this, but is your mind flickering a bit?”
He barely managed to hold back the curses that were rising up to the tip of his tongue.
Dohyun raised both hands to shoulder height, trying to demonstrate his innocence. He was a man who strangely kept smiling continuously. If Seowoo hadn’t seen “that scene” before, he probably wouldn’t have been able to denounce Dohyun so recklessly.
Dohyun slowly opened his narrowed eyes and looked down at Seowoo. The height difference wasn’t much, so he only had to lower his head slightly, but for Seowoo, it felt strangely uncomfortable.
“I was just joking a bit because I was happy to see you. Now you’re calling me CEO?”
“Honestly, I don’t want to believe it.”
“But?”
“Our manager isn’t the type to lie to me. If he called you CEO, then you must really be the CEO.”
“Ho.”
Dohyun let out a short exclamation, as if it was quite unexpected.
“You two seem to have a good relationship. Are you generally trusting of people?”
“I trust him because he’s trustworthy.”
It was a reply without the slightest hesitation. Seowoo expected an exaggerated response, but Dohyun remained silent for a moment. His gaze felt somewhat sharp.
“How can you be so sure?”
The question came back like innocent curiosity. What followed sounded somewhat theatrically exaggerated.
“When things are comfortable for the mind and body, who wouldn’t be trustworthy? Real trust comes from trials. Even the so-called great gods always test human faith by putting them in hellish situations, don’t they?”
“…What are you trying to say?”
“I’m just asking how you trust him. Does he say he’ll stay by your side no matter what hell comes?”
A momentary gap passed after the testing question.
From the time when Seowoo was unknown until now when he received attention at premieres, even after more than 10 years had passed, he had never had a major fight with Jinhyuk. They had exchanged light complaints and irritations, but these were easily resolved.
Seowoo didn’t think his own personality was exceptionally good. He was quiet and not very sociable, so he had heard that he was cold. Seowoo knew to some extent that the smoothness of their relationship was largely due to the always kind Jinhyuk. He was a good person, Park Jinhyuk.
So the question of why he trusted him was meaningless. There must have been many moments that made him trust Jinhyuk, but it was the gradually accumulated affection and trust that had become solid and unshakable now.
“Our relationship isn’t so shallow that we need to fall to hell to know.”
“Even heavy trust tends to break when one wants to save their own life.”
“That won’t happen.”
As if he didn’t want to wrestle with this anymore, Seowoo cut off the conversation, and Dohyun raised his eyebrows. He was silent for a moment, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking.
Breaking the brief silence, his question was delivered in a kind tone but sounded completely sarcastic.
“Do you think you have a good eye for people, star Han?”
“…Are you picking a fight now?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
