Chapter 88
“Did you really get a lover or something?”
Yoon Juho, who spat out his words while chewing forcefully, seemed to have sobered up completely. His sharp, glinting eyes looked like he knew something when he said that. Was I being overly sensitive?
“……”
I adjusted my loosely worn baseball cap to buy time to think.
I definitely had gotten a lover. Though it had become nothing in just a few days. But I had no intention of returning to my previous relationship with Yoon Juho.
Instead of my front pocket where I had crammed my phone and cigarettes, I stuck both hands in the back pockets of my jeans and spoke with a disinterested tone.
“If I keep doing this kind of thing with you, I feel like I won’t be able to meet a real lover, so I’m trying to quit.”
“Then be my lover.”
“……”
It was completely unexpected. I unconsciously looked up at Yoon Juho. And the next moment, laughter burst out.
Yoon Juho stared at me with a displeased face.
“You’ve changed a lot, even making jokes now, Yoon Juho.”
Even as a joke, it wasn’t something that would come out of his mouth. As I continued to let out bitter laughs, absurdly flustered, Yoon Juho grabbed my shoulder.
“You said you won’t sleep with me because you want to make a lover. Then if you become my lover and sleep with me, that solves it. Isn’t it rather a solution?”
Is he being serious? I thought it was a tactless joke.
It was a relationship I had wanted to end even before reuniting with him in Bangkok. If it was Yoon Juho, he could make plenty of partners to roll around with whenever his body felt like it. Every time he moved cities every two weeks, no, every day he could change partners. What would there be to miss about one of them—me—dropping out?
I hadn’t expected him to come out like this when I said I wanted to quit.
I pushed away his arm that gripped my shoulder painfully hard. The arm didn’t budge, as if he had no intention of giving way.
“Seeing how you act out all those various roles without difficulty, you’re not lacking in sensitivity either.”
At my sighing soliloquy, Yoon Juho’s brow furrowed deeper. I continued speaking while looking directly at him.
“You’re the type who relieves stress from acting through sex. I can’t stand my lover sleeping with other people too.”
“……”
“And I don’t know if you realize this, but any normal person can’t bear their lover sleeping with someone else. That’s what being lovers originally means. If you’re going to talk about being lovers to other people besides me… know at least that much common sense before you speak. You’ll get slapped.”
Yoon Juho only glared at me with eyes that had much to say. But his lips didn’t actually open. I took his twisted, tightly shut lips as meaning he had no more words to counter with. This time I put more force into pushing away his arm and took a step.
Just as I was about to pass right by Yoon Juho’s side, a firm arm blocked my abdomen like an embrace.
“Transfer your agency to Look Planning.”
“What?”
“We’ll cover the contract termination penalty fees, so transfer agencies.”
“Did you seriously eat something wrong?”
I pushed away the blocking arm while trying to suppress my voice to avoid raising it. I felt like I was about to get angry. This was different from suddenly calling me out at dawn saying he had time, or pressing my face down on the pillow during doggy style.
Telling me out of nowhere to transfer agencies. It was so out of left field that I couldn’t grasp the reason or purpose at all.
Yoon Juho cornered me against the wall and came close. His face came right up to mine. His bloodshot eyes blazed.
“The one who ate something wrong isn’t me but you. Why are you suddenly trying to do strange things? It’s a relationship we’ve continued for 4 years—is there really a need to quit without any special reason?”
“……”
“I’ll pay UB the penalty fees and give you 300 million won as a signing bonus. No matter how much you landed a role in <Eternal Night>, no company would risk giving you that level of signing bonus right now. It’s excellent conditions.”
Loud cheers and laughter burst out from the second floor that the <Eternal Night> team had rented entirely. I too had drunk quite a bit, and my face grew hot from the humidity and heat so soon after the typhoon had passed.
I took off my baseball cap and ran my fingers through my hair. I waved the cap’s brim like a fan in front of my face. To stay as calm as possible, I first asked for the reason.
“What’s the reason? Why are you telling me to change companies?”
“……”
But as expected, Yoon Juho couldn’t give any reason.
‘He’s lived as a top star since he was really young. So you have to understand to some degree that his mindset is a bit different from ordinary people.’
That’s what Taeyoon had said about Yoon Juho. Taeyoon might be able to, but I couldn’t accept this kind of coercion just because he was a top star.
I should have quit earlier. Because it was just a physical relationship, because we didn’t meet often. Even if he didn’t make sense and was a bit unreasonable, I could just get through those moments… I had been complacent and dragged it out.
Actually, calling me out suddenly in the middle of the night because he had time wasn’t great either. He was a sex partner, and since the other party was a popular actor pressed for time, I had just let it slide.
“If you’re going to force that kind of content, at least show the sincerity of coming up with one or two plausible reasons. How much do you take people for fools…”
I ended my sentence with a sigh. In any case, he was someone I’d been intimate with for 4 years. Like showing my vulnerabilities to an unknowable stranger and revealing my weaknesses, I didn’t feel refreshed.
“I’ll pass on being commanded and coerced outside the bedroom. I said that properly from the beginning, right? There’s no way you, who memorizes scripts so well, would have forgotten that. Well, even when I said that, you did as you pleased anyway.”
“It’s not a bad proposal for you. I don’t understand why you’re getting angry.”
“Right, you wouldn’t understand. I don’t understand why you’re being stubborn either, but you don’t necessarily need it to be me. Since we weren’t dating, it’s not like you’re being dumped either. If you’re doing this because your pride is hurt, there’s no need for that. I’m just saying let’s quit because I’m tired of dragging it out lukewarmly.”
Yoon Juho’s eyes changed color. His cheeks and lips twitched as he sneered coldly.
“Lukewarm? All this time you’ve been disheveled, writhing, barely able to swallow saliva while begging that you felt like dying… Ah, that was lukewarm?”
“Don’t nitpick my words. That’s not the point. I really want to do well in this project. Let’s not make things awkward and affect the work.”
“For a project to go well, chemistry between actors is most important. Otherwise, why would I be killing time at dinner gatherings like this? Good scenes don’t come out just from each person delivering their lines well. Is there a way to get closer than skin-to-skin contact? Huh?”
I roughly swatted away Yoon Juho’s hand as he provocatively pressed his finger into my chest, deliberately targeting where my nipple was.
As if he wanted to have a physical fight, he immediately shoved my body hard. I momentarily lost balance and leaned heavily against the wall behind me. Immediately, Yoon Juho’s body covered me. While grinding his lower body blatantly, he sucked on my lips. He bit both my upper and lower lips at once, applying force as if he would tear them off with his teeth.
I raised my elbow and pushed against below Yoon Juho’s collarbone. He pushed away my arm while backing off. Even so, he kept his teeth on my lips until the last moment.
“You… crazy bastard.”
The eyes looking at me as I wiped my lips with the back of my hand were roughly disheveled, as if he was the one who had been ambushed with a kiss.
“Since you’re saying that was lukewarm all this time, this side feels pretty bad about it. I’m curious what it’s like when it’s hot?”
Having said that, Yoon Juho turned around first. The sound of footsteps on the gravel lot extending from the parking lot grew distant. From the second floor above, another burst of raucous laughter erupted.
I scraped my lower lip with my teeth at the stinging sensation. The fishy taste of blood seeped onto the tip of my tongue.
■
It was an event commemorating the 30th anniversary of the official Korean import of a world-class luxury whiskey brand.
From the photo wall before entry to the interior, the venue was gorgeously decorated in the brand’s signature gold color.
Surprisingly, my photo wall entry order was right before Yoon Juho’s.
While attendees stood at the photo wall pretending to have just arrived with busy steps, they actually had to enter according to an order thoroughly coordinated by the organizers. Sometimes there were checks and power struggles in that process. Generally, the more popular stars appeared later.
I encountered Yoon Juho at the waiting area before moving to the photo wall, but since both he and I were accompanied by managers, we only exchanged formal greetings.
While I had attended alone at just the previous event, this time I was with Manager Yoon. It meant the company judged that I had investment value. Just having my appearance in <Eternal Night> confirmed, many things surrounding me were changing.
“The media enthusiasm was different from the photo wall.”
Having entered the venue and receiving brief explanations from the event staff, Manager Yoon whispered to me.
“I watched until Yoon Juho’s shoot after you went in. It was hotter during your turn. Even though Yoon Juho has a higher rank, Jung Jiin is hotter right now.”
Manager Yoon, who added this with an excited voice, began walking ahead.
The venue was divided into several sections so people could experience whiskey in various ways. It was a format where you could freely move around and enjoy whatever experiences you wanted.
Manager Yoon and I, each taking a pamphlet, first stopped by the bar grandly built in the center of the hall. Since our entry order was almost last, the venue was already bustling with people.
Cocktails that beautifully highlighted the golden color of whiskey, today’s event protagonist, were served to us one glass each.
Leaning against the bar and sipping alcohol, I surveyed every corner of the hall with my eyes.
“Why, is there someone you’re looking for?”
I almost spilled my cocktail at Manager Yoon’s words. I set down the drink mixed with whiskey, Earl Grey, and hazelnut aromas on the bar while hiding my agitation as much as possible.
“Just… looking around.”
Not some other department, but he belonged to Knox Hotel’s PR team. If he had been an ordinary team leader rather than someone from the owner family, there would have been a high probability he’d attend.
‘Actually, there’s no need for me to be at a place like this, but there are many things they tell me to do.’
He had definitely said that when he showed his face at the luxury brand event last time.
Come to think of it, the boss who expected a lot from him was probably referring to his older sister, Lee Hanseo.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
