Chapter 41
“That bastard sometimes even asks to be taken to hotels, you know?”
“Oh… Choi Hongseo really has made it big, hasn’t she? Now she’s even acting like a proper celebrity?”
Taeyoon, who had been checking each fan to see if any were defective, laughed it off as if it was no big deal. Jaewoo didn’t seem to like that reaction, rolling his eyes at Taeyoon when he wasn’t looking and pouting his lips.
“Still, I think we should at least know who she’s dating… but the CEO just tells us to turn a blind eye. He says she’s so busy her eyes are spinning these days, so if she can at least relieve stress through dating, that’s fortunate enough. Hyung, could you subtly probe the kid? She tells you everything, that brat.”
“She doesn’t. She’s the type who keeps really important things to herself. We haven’t even had time to talk to each other lately.”
After coolly downing a few gulps of his second iced tea, Jaewoo wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and pulled his chair closer to me.
“Then just probe a little later. Please? That brat is too careful with every word in front of me because I’m a company person.”
Having finished checking for defects, Taeyoon stacked the last fan on top of the pile and placed the box on the kitchen floor while clicking his tongue.
“The problem is that young kid not dating, not that it interferes with work. What are you so anxious about? To put it bluntly, Choi Hongseo is feeding UB right now – doesn’t she have that much right?”
“Ah, hyung… outsiders should stay out of it! I’m doing this all for Hongseo’s sake! I’m not saying she shouldn’t date at all, but what if she’s hanging around with someone problematic? Reporters are paying more attention during this crucial time when she’s moving up to A-list. Other members might be fine, but Hongseo absolutely cannot have any trouble during this important period.”
Jaewoo shook his head as if the mere thought made him shudder and checked the clock on the wall. It was about time to leave to make it to the housewarming party.
“If it’s just physical fooling around that’s one thing, but if she’s really attracted to someone… how could you stop that regardless of who the other person is? That’s really inhumane.”
Jaewoo, who had gotten up and was gauging the weight of the vacuum cleaner box I had placed by the door, preparing to leave, curtly retorted to Taeyoon’s words.
“What’s dating and what’s fooling around? I don’t know about difficult stuff like that… but just imagine if some weird scandal gets picked up and the media runs articles and the public pounces and tears her apart. That would be a much more inhumane experience for Hongseo, wouldn’t it?”
Taeyoon seemed to have nothing more to say about that, shrugging his shoulders to show he was backing away from this topic. Then, as he cleared away Jaewoo’s empty glass, he deliberately glanced at me and said:
“Geez, lately I keep hearing about romance everywhere all of a sudden. Leaving aside those precious ones who can’t even date freely, maybe some romantic energy will come to someone like me instead.”
“I’m leaving. Thanks for the beer. Since you helped me pick out a gift, I’ll buy you something delicious next time.”
I pretended not to hear and pushed my empty glass toward Taeyoon, getting up to follow Jaewoo. Even though the air conditioning was running indoors, it felt cooler outside.
■
“Sunbae-nim, but I… I know I’m saying this because I’m drunk, but actors really are different.”
As she said, the person sitting across from me looked quite drunk. Her large eyes with deep double eyelids were hazily unfocused, and the arm pointing at me swayed unsteadily. This girl group member who had debuted just under two years ago leaned her upper body forward as if to get a better look at me, squinting her eyes.
“How is your face like that without any makeup? You’re reeeally handsome. I saw Jo Woomin too… no no, I saw Jo Woomin sunbae in person too, but I think you’re even more handsome, sunbae-nim. Hey, Woo Jonghyeon. You look like a total squid sitting next to sunbae-nim right now, you know? Go sit farther away.”
She threw a few pieces of snack crumbs at the man called Woo Jonghyeon sitting to my left and laughed heartily.
“Bullshit. You’re all makeup too.”
The man cursed roughly while picking up the snack pieces that had fallen on his chest and stomach and throwing them back at her, but he giggled as if he found it amusing. It seemed like everyday banter between them.
“I’m the dance member so it’s okay even if I’m all makeup, you know? And I know my place well so I don’t show off trying to act like someone else. You should wipe off that smoky makeup and try acting in a drama. All your fans will abandon you, won’t they?”
This time Woo Jonghyeon seemed a bit displeased too, spitting out cruder profanity than before and trying to throw a cheese stick instead of snacks at the woman. But she didn’t seem threatened at all, only finding his reaction more amusing.
Unable to mediate or laugh along, I kept drinking more wine. Hongseo, who had briefly left saying she was going to the bathroom, had returned at some point and wrapped her arms around my shoulders from behind.
“Hyung understands. These kids are just a bit rough around the edges, but they don’t mean any harm.”
Hongseo’s voice carried a pleasant mood along with the alcohol.
“Like she’s so well-educated…”
The man seemed embarrassed by Hongseo’s words, his earlobes reddening as he slyly watched for my reaction. It was true that their way of expressing themselves was somewhat rough. But I could tell it wasn’t because they looked down on me, so I wasn’t offended. It was just difficult to fit in since most of them were five or six years younger than me.
Besides me, there were about four or five other guests invited to the housewarming. They were close acquaintances that the ‘Layered’ members had each invited. When I arrived, about ten people in total, including the ‘Layered’ members who didn’t live in the dorm, were already gathered around the dining room table drinking.
The venue was a fancy mansion in an upscale residential area, and they were drinking expensive alcohol of various types, but the drinking session with snacks, chicken, and spicy tteokbokki spread out was just like any ordinary housewarming party of people in their early to mid-twenties.
Noticing that the various bottles circulating the table were nearly empty, Hongseo brought a bottle of champagne from the kitchen connected to the dining room. It was high-end champagne from a famous brand.
“I bought two bottles at duty-free to drink today.”
People cheered when they spotted the hefty black bottle in Hongseo’s hands.
Only one person sneered with a contemptuous tone.
“Tacky bastards. What’s so great about that level of alcohol? And that wine should be drunk in burgundy glasses, not flute glasses, to better enjoy the aroma. Do you drink all champagne in flute glasses?”
Everyone’s gaze turned toward the far end of the table. There sat a twenty-three-year-old young man whom Hongseo had introduced as an actor from an idol group background.
He had been quiet the whole time. I thought maybe he was as unsociable as me, but it seemed more like he wasn’t particularly enjoying this gathering.
The atmosphere quickly froze over. Several people muttered curses under their breath, and he got up from his seat, grabbed his phone, and left the dining room.
“Why did you invite that bastard Go Jiwoon? He’s killing the mood.”
As soon as the glass door connecting to the hallway completely closed, someone harshly raised their voice.
“When has he ever lived drinking stuff like this? He’s no different from us. What? Flute? Bur-what? It’s not even funny… why is that bastard acting like that lately?”
I already felt like a professor who had awkwardly joined a post-festival after-party, and now I felt even more uncomfortable. Whenever I became conscious of the awkwardness, I had no choice but to sip the champagne Hongseo poured for me.
“He’s been acting like that since he got a sponsor through that drama.”
“……”
The space that had been constantly noisy suddenly became quiet as if by magic.
The meaning contained in that silence wasn’t just disgust and displeasure. Curiosity, intrigue, and unconscious slight envy all tangled together – complex emotions like black smoke… Even if I couldn’t explain it logically, I could feel their complex and contradictory emotions through my skin.
“Last month, wasn’t it? He went to some island in the South Pacific or something and posted photos on SNS, bragging like crazy. That was also his sponsor who took him there.”
The man who revealed that the actor Go Jiwoon had a sponsor looked quite drunk. All his exposed skin outside his short-sleeved t-shirt was severely flushed.
When he took out a cigarette pack to pull out a cigarette, the ‘Layered’ member next to him tugged at his side to give him a hint. He glanced at Hongseo and threw the cigarette pack back on the table. Hongseo didn’t smoke for vocal care, and the dorm was non-smoking.
Whether it was because Hongseo was a popular star with the highest stock value, or because she was the actual owner of this house, the atmosphere throughout the drinking session had been one where everyone tried not to greatly displease Hongseo.
“I wondered… he was going crazy about some private jet and a detached pool villa with four bedrooms, so I wondered where he got that kind of money.”
Woo Jonghyeon clicked his tongue sarcastically, and the man chewed on a cheese stick instead of a cigarette as he spoke.
“I don’t know what he did for his sponsor on that trip, but after he came back, they bought him an apartment in Gangnam.”
“What?”
It was Woo Jonghyeon alone who asked back almost shouting, but almost everyone present had the same expression as Woo Jonghyeon.
Hongseo, who had been quietly drinking without joining the conversation until then, subtly grabbed her phone and got up from her seat. It was after the phone placed on the table had vibrated.
The conversation continued even after Hongseo left the dining room.
“So he’s going to move into that apartment soon? 28 pyeong or 23 pyeong… even if it’s a small apartment, it’s in Gangnam. It must be around 2 billion won, so it’s no joke.”
“Wh-who’s the sponsor?”
“He didn’t say that much. But he seemed like his mouth was itching to talk about it. He probably wants to brag. Who would envy someone living luxuriously by selling their body? What must he have done on that trip to get that? Ugh, shibal, it’s disgusting just thinking about it.”
The man shivered his thin shoulders and finished chewing and swallowing the cheese stick in his hand. Then, as if his throat was parched, he emptied a full glass of champagne in one go like beer.
Not envious, he said. Disgusting, he said. The man was saying that, but his expression somehow looked different from his words. Maybe he couldn’t help but regret that 2 billion won apartment in Gangnam.
I’m not particularly weak with alcohol, but perhaps because I mixed various types of wine and whiskey, I suddenly felt overwhelmed by the intoxication. While everyone was focused on the actor Go Jiwoon’s sponsor, I quietly got up and left the table.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
