# Chapter 58
“…That sounds like you intend to take a lot from this.”
Sensing the doubt in Seowoo’s voice and eyes, Dohyun broke into a bright smile.
“I said I need it, not that I’ll take it. Even if I wanted to, I would deal with Seowoo-ssi very fairly.”
More nonsense. Seowoo narrowed his eyes.
“…Do you even know what fairness means?”
“Of course. Fairness is when I hit you first, and then personally provide you the opportunity to hit me back. Well, if you can’t manage to hit me, that’s unfortunate for you.”
His voice sounded almost confident. Did he really think this was the correct answer?
It wasn’t about turning the other cheek. It was more like slapping someone’s left cheek, then offering your own left cheek saying “hit me if you’re upset.”
It would be fortunate if the other person actually got to hit back, but knowing Seo Dohyun’s personality, wouldn’t he say “time’s up” as soon as the other person raised their fist, and then beat them for insolence?
Though he didn’t voice this thought, it felt like an accurate assessment. As Seowoo looked him over with lowered eyes, Dohyun draped his arm over the sofa backrest and leaned closer.
“You’ve been looking me up and down for a while.”
His finger traced a curve up and down.
“Isn’t it a bit too blatant? Even I have a sense of shame.”
Looking at your gestures, you don’t seem to have any shame at all. His smiling face, as if he’d found something entertaining to play with, certainly suggested so.
“What am I supposedly looking at? Is there even anything to see?”
“There isn’t?”
“Obviously not. What would there be to see on your chest…”
Spitting the words out as if he’d heard something absurd, Seowoo watched as Dohyun’s eyes widened.
“That’s strange, I distinctly remember you saying it looked good.”
What… insane nonsense is this? Seowoo’s mind went blank like a power outage, followed by hundreds of hypotheses flashing through at once. It felt like a chisel had struck the back of his head.
No, even if Seowoo had gone completely mad, he would never have said such a thing. Even giving it the benefit of the doubt, if he had said it, he wouldn’t have forgotten.
Of course, Seowoo had to admit some facts. Dohyun’s chest was indeed firm.
Considering Seowoo’s own pictorial photos circulating on various online communities, he wasn’t in a position to be outdone in physique… but their builds were different, as were their muscle structures. With Dohyun needing to use a lot of physical strength, such differences were inevitable.
As if proving the saying “shirts are worn by the chest,” Seowoo knew Dohyun wore suits as well as any celebrity, showing his well-toned body. Yes, all of this was true, but…
“I… said such nonsense with my own mouth?”
It was unbelievable. He’d never properly seen Dohyun’s naked body until today. How could he have commented on his chest?
“Are you serious?”
“This chest isn’t something anyone would call nonsense.”
His reply was disconcertingly confident. Feeling a headache coming on, Seowoo unconsciously pressed his forehead. He raised a hand and waved it, as if asking for a moment, and Dohyun smiled and closed his mouth.
“…Wait, so you’re saying I actually said something like that?”
Dohyun didn’t answer immediately. This bastard, is he joking right now? Or is he serious? As Seowoo grew anxious, it became harder to tell.
“Tell me honestly. I didn’t, right?”
“Would you like me to say you didn’t?”
If it had been a joke, by now he would have said “Just kidding, of course.” But he hadn’t. He was only smiling slightly, raising his lips, but something about his gaze seemed secretive.
It wasn’t gleaming or mischievous. Though Seowoo couldn’t pinpoint exactly why, the moment their eyes met, he sensed it—this wasn’t a joke.
“When did I even…”
Before finishing, Seowoo suddenly realized. If he’d said it out loud but couldn’t remember, there was really only one day it could have been. The day Seowoo remembered nothing.
“No way, no way… did I say that when I was drunk that day?”
At this cautious question, Dohyun completely crinkled his eyes and laughed broadly. He looked almost benevolent.
“This is quite a leap of progress. If you’ve gotten this far, you’ve come a long way.”
“Did I really say it? About your chest? Me?”
People say that when you drink, you become a different person, but this was like a complete change of identity. Why would I say such a thing?
Covering his face with both hands, Seowoo groaned. When he turned his head, what he saw up close was not Dohyun’s face but his broad chest. He could clearly see drops of water sliding from his collarbones down his chest to his abdomen.
‘Wow, I want to die!’
Pressing his temples, Seowoo turned his head in the opposite direction.
“…Fine, if it’s true, I’m sorry anyway.”
“You’re apologizing? Why?”
“Telling someone their chest looks good isn’t exactly sane, regardless of the reason.”
“If you knew the full context, you wouldn’t need to apologize at all.”
Indeed, as if proving it was no big deal, Dohyun’s voice was extremely light. But regardless of the context, Seowoo still couldn’t accept that such nonsense had come out of his own mouth.
It would be easier to insist Dohyun was lying, but judging by his reaction, this was the truth. By now, Seowoo had enough sense to recognize that.
Unlike Seowoo’s miserably distorted expression, Dohyun’s face was utterly refreshed.
“I won’t accept your apology. If you insist on apologizing, you could say it looks good one more time instead.”
“…You’re truly out of your mind.”
“I suppose so? Lately, I’ve been thinking that myself.”
His natural response came as if answering a greeting. Seowoo pressed his forehead once more. Well, what can I do about it?
❖ ❖ ❖
“Are you alright?”
“…Pardon?”
As Seowoo looked at Manager Gu with half-focused pupils, Manager Gu’s usually unchanging gaze briefly wavered.
“You seem like you haven’t slept well. Would you like to rest your eyes for a moment?”
“Ah…”
It must have been visible even from the outside. With his mind complicated in various ways, he’d unintentionally slept less for several days, and it was apparently showing on his face.
Though he’d made an effort to manage his condition for the shoot, someone observing closely would certainly notice.
“Is it that obvious? Are my dark circles bad?”
“No, it’s fine. It’s not that severe. I just asked because you looked unwell.”
“Yes…”
Of course I look unwell—ever since then, I’ve developed a condition where I look at his chest instead of his face whenever I see Seo Dohyun!
Even when he tried to probe for details about what had happened that day, Dohyun only maintained a smile without explanation.
‘If you want to touch it, just say so.’
After blurting out such nonsense, Seowoo had no desire to inquire about the details.
Recalling that face made the back of his neck feel stiff again, and a deep shadow fell over his face.
“Hah…”
Seowoo sighed, covering his face. Sitting quietly kept bringing up unwanted thoughts. It would be better to erase them by talking about something else or focusing on work.
“Is Seo Dohyun not here today?”
“His morning meeting is running late, so he’ll be a bit delayed.”
“If he’s busy, shouldn’t you be there instead of here?”
Why was Dohyun’s right-hand man standing sentry at the filming location? Looking at him quizzically, Manager Gu tilted his head as if he was the one who found it strange.
“I’m Han Seowoo-ssi’s manager, aren’t I? What would you do without your manager beside you?”
“…Just give me a real manager then.”
“I never thought I was fake.”
With such a crisp comeback, Seowoo lost the energy to argue. Fine, let’s drop it. He took a long sip of coffee through a straw and let out a deep sigh.
“I’m tired, but not sleepy. I think I’ll be fine once I focus.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Well…”
Seowoo trailed off. There was indeed something, but it wasn’t something he could tell Manager Gu. He couldn’t exactly discuss his employer’s chest, could he?
A staff member approached, looking for Seowoo. It seemed they were preparing for the next scene. Seowoo rose from his chair, putting down his coffee cup.
“I’ll get ready for the chase scene!”
“We’ll cut once after the chase and go straight into the action! Be careful not to trip or fall in between steps—it could be dangerous.”
Listening to the director’s instructions, Seowoo checked his makeup one more time. This filming scene involved chasing a criminal through complex alleys.
Seowoo, playing the role of a prosecutor, was the pursuer, and the actor playing the criminal needed to flee, staying about a block ahead. A supporting actor playing an accomplice would jump out from inside an alley to interfere with Seowoo, who then had to shake him off and continue.
“Hello, sunbae-nim!”
Someone suddenly appeared beside Seowoo as he was scanning the script again. He turned reflexively to see a young man with a youthful appearance smiling brightly and bowing deeply at a 90-degree angle.
Seowoo recognized him immediately. It was Jung Eungyu.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
