# Chapter 29
What kind of random nonsense was this in the middle of a perfectly normal conversation? Unable to control his automatically furrowing brow, Seowoo asked dubiously.
“…Are you filming your own drama?”
“Just listening to you talk, there’s not much difference. First impression was terrible, he sticks by your side, helps you diligently, devoted to you. In terms of scale, I think I’m being a bit more devoted, aren’t I?”
It was impossible to tell if the voice dripping with regret was genuine or exaggerated. When he put it that way, it seemed vaguely similar, but thinking about it coldly, wasn’t this complete fraud? Seowoo’s gaze, which had softened while talking, once again sharpened with intense force.
“What nonsense are you talking? Is what happened with Woojae the same as what happened with you? Is a person’s life the same as children’s games?”
“I’ve never once thought of playing house with you. No matter what the reason was for our first meeting, I would have acted just like I am now. Because there’s a good reason.”
“…What reason?”
“To approach a hedgehog who doesn’t know how to lay down its spines even after I’ve explained things this clearly?”
Though his expression and tone hadn’t changed much, that’s precisely why it touched something inside Seowoo. Normally, he would have snapped back telling him not to talk nonsense, but perhaps because they were discussing old stories, his mood was peculiar.
“Anyway, thank you for telling me.”
“It wasn’t even a story worth thanking me for.”
“Didn’t you hate talking about yourself?”
That was true. He had nothing to say. As if not expecting an answer, Dohyun turned toward the counter with a fresh smile.
“Have you eaten?”
“Eaten?”
“It’s just the right time for dinner.”
Whether he knew Seowoo was at a loss for words or not, Dohyun naturally flipped the topic. Seowoo glanced at the clock and then looked back at Dohyun.
“I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had a proper meal today. Koreans run on rice…”
The theatrical way he exaggeratedly stretched his words while rubbing his stomach was dramatic. Whenever Dohyun tried to change the atmosphere, he would act noticeably flamboyant like this. As Seowoo looked up at him with narrowed eyes as if observing, Dohyun suddenly thrust his face forward.
“Why aren’t you answering? Are you planning to starve?”
“Sud-suddenly don’t get so close!”
I really got startled there. When Seowoo snapped irritably, Dohyun showed his characteristic lazy smile.
“No need to be shy. I don’t intend to let you starve, so please give me an answer.”
“…I haven’t eaten yet.”
“You must be hungry. Let’s stop chatting and set the table, shall we?”
“Set the table?”
Not “should we buy something” or “should we order,” but “set the table”? The unexpected choice of words made it difficult to manage his expression.
“If I went grocery shopping, I need to prepare food, right?”
Dohyun rolled up his shirt sleeves to his elbows. His arms, with their prominent veins that looked more suitable for carving people than meat, were clearly visible. Seowoo let out a short groan.
“We could just go out and buy something to eat. Do we really have to sit across from each other and eat again?”
“We were just sitting across from each other until a moment ago, how disappointing… Outside food isn’t good for your health.”
“…Do you remember what we ate for lunch today?”
It didn’t seem like a situation where one could lecture about outside food. Dohyun, who was moving between the refrigerator and counter taking out necessary ingredients, naturally added a retort.
“We can’t live eating that kind of food for all three meals a day.”
There was nothing to refute. Once again, he had been completely caught up in Dohyun’s pace. If he gets indigestion from eating together, he’ll definitely have to claim damages. Seowoo made a clear promise to himself as he sat down in the chair that Dohyun had pulled out.
“You shouldn’t starve. Dieting by starving is bad for your health too.”
At Dohyun’s words, casually thrown after a glance, Seowoo’s mouth twitched oddly.
“Did I… tell you I was on a diet?”
“You are, aren’t you?”
Dohyun opened his eyes wide as if he had heard about this fact long ago. But as far as Seowoo could remember, he had never directly mentioned it, either in print or to Dohyun. However, it wasn’t something to feel strange or perplexed about, so Seowoo turned his head nonchalantly.
“If you know, then let me diet in peace.”
“It’ll make you gain less weight than eating out. I’m a CEO, do you think I would choose fattening food to feed you? What do you take me for?”
With his sleeves rolled up and a carrot in his hand, it was easy to forget that he was a CEO, but that was also true. Dohyun was the successful head of an entertainment agency.
There was probably the power of capital lurking in the background—no, Seowoo had directly confirmed the power of organized capital. But it wasn’t a completely rootless, hole-in-the-wall operation.
Thinking about it that way, Dohyun’s words made sense. Dohyun turned his head and smiled brightly at Seowoo.
“Honestly, I think you look best just as you are now.”
“…Are you joking or serious?”
Although not particularly reassuring, with his qualities as a CEO, perhaps his eye for these things might come into play.
When Seowoo asked quietly, Dohyun raised his eyebrows as if he hadn’t expected such a question, then immediately broke into a broad smile across his face.
“Of course I’m serious. How sad would I be if even 1 gram of our actor disappeared, hm?”
“I’m an idiot for asking…”
As Seowoo muttered to himself, Dohyun chuckled. Even with a kitchen knife in his hand now, he couldn’t frighten Seowoo like before. Despite being much closer together than back then, the fear of death had receded a step further.
A person who strangles Seowoo’s neck and digs into his private information without permission, yet says he wants to get close to Seowoo and make a good impression. Could the two coexist? It was now difficult to be certain whether Seo Dohyun’s essence was the carrot in his left hand or the kitchen knife in his right.
“If I really thought it was necessary, I would have brought diet food. As I’ve said many times, I haven’t been in the entertainment industry for just a day or two.”
Seo Dohyun cooking according to a diet plan? This was newly surprising. After briefly imagining it, it seemed completely mismatched, yet looking at his behavior, it was also plausible.
“So… you’re saying I’m fine as I am now?”
“I told you. Even 1 gram is precious.”
It might have seemed somewhat sincere if not for those additional words. Seowoo looked at the back of Dohyun’s head with a detached expression, resting his chin on his hand.
The sound of the kitchen knife hitting the wooden cutting board, the sound of oil sizzling in the pan—these small sounds scratched at his ears. He did say he could cook reasonably well, and the sounds were quite promising.
Dohyun took out sophisticated Nordic-style dishes from the cabinet. It felt like defeat as the visually appealing, simple food served on unnecessarily pretty dishes made his mouth water.
After properly setting the table, Dohyun naturally sat down across from Seowoo.
“You know I’m being sincere, right?”
“I don’t know.”
Seowoo replied curtly as he pulled a dish toward himself. After all that chopping and mincing, the menu Dohyun had chosen without asking Seowoo was none other than omurice. It looked so neat that it could have passed for restaurant food; Seowoo almost let out an exclamation.
“You asked because you’re concerned about maintaining your weight. Don’t be upset; I know everything.”
“If you knew everything, why have you been avoiding answering and changing the subject? I’m really concerned about this.”
“I was trying not to talk about work while eating, but geez.”
Dohyun pulled his chair close to the table and sat down. He answered with a voice tinged with light laughter, then immediately tracked Seowoo’s movements meticulously yet sharply, as if reading every line that made up Seowoo.
It felt almost obsessive, yet there was a public distance as if dealing with a complete stranger. The strange tension that Seowoo occasionally felt occurred when Dohyun acted this way—in those moments when, despite smiling, he didn’t seem as frivolous as usual.
“You were probably around your current weight during ‘Recycle.’ You were slimmer than now when filming ‘West of Camellia,’ and you had gained a bit more when you took on ‘Hello BomBom,’ right?”
“……”
Though casually thrown out, the impact of his words on Seowoo was above average. The information that flowed so naturally, as if reciting a script, would be difficult to know without carefully observing Seowoo’s filmography.
Whether aware of this effect or not, Dohyun continued rattling off words without pause.
“It seems you don’t take roles that require extreme weight gain, so plus or minus about 10 kilograms from here? For this upcoming project, you’ll lose a bit more, so it’ll be similar to when you filmed ‘West of Camellia.’ It must be quite hard to maintain that thin frame, with muscle loss too. There’s no need to overexert yourself to maintain at the expense of precious muscle—”
“Did you memorize this?”
“What?”
Dohyun looked at Seowoo with innocent eyes that seemed to say ‘What do you mean?’ as if he had never worn a serious expression. Seowoo raised his eyebrows, having only stuck his spoon in the omurice without even thinking of eating it.
“Do you know exactly how much weight I gained and lost and when?”
“Even fans would know this much, wouldn’t they? It’s visible to the eye, even without specific numbers.”
It wasn’t wrong. Devoted fans knew in detail how much muscle Seowoo had built for which projects and how much he had dieted.
But that was one thing and this was another. Fans always showing interest in Seowoo could be appreciated, but that wasn’t an acceptable excuse for Dohyun’s behavior.
“Are you my fan?”
“You’re asking the obvious. If I wasn’t a fan, why would I consider making you the face of the company?”
It seemed to make sense but also felt forced. It wasn’t clearly convincing, but it was hard to deny.
“…Let’s say that’s the case and finish eating.”
“Seeing how enthusiastically you’re eating, it must be quite tasty.”
“Well…”
Unlike usual, praise didn’t easily come out of his mouth. After pondering his words for a while, Seowoo finally uttered one sentence.
“It’s different from how it looks.”
“Different from how it looks… you thought the food might be poisoned?”
“I was just glad you didn’t call Manager Gu to do it.”
“Manager Gu isn’t good at cooking. Well, he can make enough to survive, but he lacks skill and burns things. He’s at the level where he can only really boil ramen.”
Whether it was Seo Dohyun slicing carrots or Manager Gu troubled by burning a frying pan, both were equally hard to imagine.
“Then were you always good at it?”
“Always?”
“Or did you learn it?”
Dohyun tilted his head side to side and smiled playfully. At this peculiar response, Seowoo raised his eyebrows in puzzlement.
“I’m just pleased that you’re starting to get curious about me.”
“…Don’t tell me. I’m not going to listen.”
“You’re still so touchy.”
Touchy my ass. Seowoo irritably moved his hand, scraping the bottom of the dish clean, then got up abruptly from his seat.
“Are you going to your room?”
“Yes, talking to you makes me exhausted in no time.”
“Leave the dishes. I’ll clean up.”
Dohyun didn’t try to hold Seowoo back. He just calmly smiled while skillfully stacking the empty dishes.
Cooking and washing dishes—at this point, it felt more like he’d hired a housekeeper rather than having a CEO or roommate. Had the roles of employer and employee been reversed?
“…Are you really going?”
The moment he saw the dishes piled in the sink, the cutting board, and the oily frying pan, Seowoo frowned with an inexplicable pang of conscience. After all, Dohyun had taken the time to cook for him, so shouldn’t he help?
“If you want to spend more time with me, well, you could sit here.”
“…I’m going to my room.”
As Seowoo sharply turned his body away, he heard Dohyun burst into loud laughter behind him. At times like this, he was unmistakably the usual Seo Dohyun.
No, what exactly was the “usual” Seo Dohyun? A slick entertainment company CEO who enjoyed making jokes, a man of the same age who acted as if he would give his blood and flesh to get close to Seowoo, or an unpredictable gangster who might end Seowoo’s life at any moment? Trying to pick out the real Seo Dohyun from among these, no matter how much thought or consideration was given, was not an easy task.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
