#062
When Kang Dojun hesitated to speak, Park Daeho grew frustrated and urged him on.
“What is it? What evidence?”
“……”
“Ah! It’s the contract!”
At Park Daeho’s correct guess, Kang Dojun swallowed a low groan.
Park Daeho seemed to remember something as he took out his phone and sent a text somewhere. Then, with a much more refreshed expression as if he’d removed a troublesome boulder, he said to the staff member.
“I sent a message, so we’ll have the contract sent over in a bit.”
“…A message?”
Kang Dojun looked flustered as he snatched the phone from Park Daeho’s hand to check. The 11-digit number on the text screen belonged to Lee Yeonwoo.
“You have Yeonwoo’s number too?”
“He gave it to me directly earlier? Yeonwoo-ssi even entered the number himself.”
“…Yeonwoo did?”
「Hello, Yeonwoo-ssi. This is Park Daeho, Dojun’s manager. We need evidence materials because of today’s incident, so would it be possible for you to send us the contract from when you filmed Rural Conquest? We’d be grateful if you could send both the original contract and the renewed contract.」
Kang Dojun felt deflated reading the text content.
‘I was trying to resolve this on my own somehow.’
Lee Yeonwoo must have been waiting for contact, as the “read” notification appeared less than a minute after the text was sent.
Anxiously and nervously, he waited for Yeonwoo’s reply.
‘Should I tell him we don’t need it anymore, even now?’
After about 5 minutes, a reply saying “Yes” came along with the electronic contract files.
Kang Dojun bit his lower lip.
Now Yeonwoo would have figured out that this incident happened because of him. He’s a kid who gets lonely easily – what if he’s digging himself into the ground alone? His heart felt heavy.
“The files came!”
Hearing the notification sound, Park Daeho quickly retrieved his phone that Kang Dojun had taken.
Kang Dojun wanted to resolve this situation quickly and go see Lee Yeonwoo.
And he wasn’t the only one who wanted to go home. The staff member’s face lit up as they held out paper and a pen.
“Then let’s write the response post quickly. I’ve summarized the key points that must be included here. Please look at this and write in Dojun-ssi’s style. We’ll review it later and add or revise as needed.”
The staff member moved to another spot with Park Daeho to examine the contract contents.
“We’ll extract this part and…, Manager-nim?”
“Yes?”
“I can handle this myself, so if you’re worried, you can go help with the writing.”
“No, that’s not it…. Never mind.”
Even after moving to where the computer was across the room, Park Daeho couldn’t take his eyes off Kang Dojun.
He was writing diligently. That was all. But…
‘Something has changed.’
Kang Dojun had voluntarily narrowed his life radius because he didn’t want to get caught up in gossip. But now that he was actually caught up in gossip, despite it being his own affair, he was calmer than anyone else.
No matter how oblivious Park Daeho might be, this change was clearly visible. He’d known since they’d been together since elementary school. Kang Dojun’s current composure was like some kind of symptom. After becoming an adult and settling into acting, he’d thought it had gotten better.
‘That wasn’t the case.’
“Daeho.”
Kang Dojun called Park Daeho from afar.
“Yeah, what?”
“I’m done writing. Read it once.”
“Okay.”
Park Daeho immediately went to Kang Dojun and read the paper he handed over.
‘Let’s see.’
It included a sentence about the PD committing contract fraud against a civilian, expressed suspicion that the recording seemed edited, mentioned that they also had the original contract, and included an apology saying that as a public figure, he shouldn’t have cursed even when angry, and he was sorry.
“It seems fine? The staff will review it again later.”
“Okay, I’m going to get some water.”
“Let’s go together.”
* * *
“It’s already 10 o’clock.”
Lee Yeonwoo, lying on the sofa, looked at the clock and let out a short sigh.
Still no contact from Kang Dojun.
‘Must be busy resolving things.’
He was just clutching his silent phone and checking internet reactions. Comments full of question marks, comments cursing Kang Dojun, or comments defending him. Various comments were posted.
“Han Taegu, that bastard.”
As soon as the variety show Rural Conquest that he was in charge of ended, he brought up controversy about Kang Dojun as if he’d been waiting.
Ding.
He quickly got up from the sofa and checked his phone. A contact came from a phone number that wasn’t saved.
????
「Hello, Yeonwoo-ssi. This is Dojun’s manager…」
It seemed like contact came from the number he’d entered this morning. Lee Yeonwoo carefully checked the text content and read what Park Daeho sent several times.
“Contract?”
Contract. So today’s incident was related to this.
His thoughts flowed quickly. Thinking that Kang Dojun got involved in this incident because of him, depression dominated his mind.
After immediately finding and sending the saved electronic contract, his mood plummeted to the bottom of the underground. He decided to control this emotion as much as possible before it got worse.
“Meditation, meditation.”
He put on a ’10-minute meditation method’ video on YouTube and sat properly with his eyes closed.
“Meditation gives rest to our brain and mind…”
His eyebrows twitched obliviously.
“Please straighten your back, with your palms facing the ceiling…”
“Fuck.”
The gentle narration didn’t enter his ears at all.
“Is this really a calming method?”
Fine, let’s do yoga instead.
This time he put on ‘Yoga to Control the Mind’ on YouTube and followed the screen.
“Stretch your right hand and place it on the floor, left hand to the side…”
The difficulty wasn’t high, so Yeonwoo could follow along easily.
“Breathe in deeply and exhale…”
He tried desperately to calm his mind by following the sounds in the video.
[I’m subtle, but Kang Dojun has been kinda sketchy since way back ㅋㅋ]
“Ha!”
A comment he’d seen earlier came to mind and a hollow laugh burst out.
“What does he know about our hyung?”
Breathing in again,
[Deal with it right now? ㅋㅋ Does the PD own their house? Telling people to come and go; Acting all high and mighty, thinking he’s something special^^;]
“He’s not that kind of person!”
All the breath he’d inhaled was spent shouting.
He bit his nails. No video was properly getting through to him.
‘What is this, did my illness relapse? That can’t be.’
Illness, illness. Being conscious of it made him feel like he’d go even crazier. Yeonwoo quickly got up and opened the refrigerator door. Naturally, there was no alcohol to be found even if he washed his eyes and looked.
There should be at least some alcohol for cooking, but Kang Dojun was thorough.
His chest felt stuffy and his stomach was nauseous.
This happened because of me. Because of me. Because I didn’t write the contract properly. Because of that…
Medicine… medicine. There must be spare medicine. Looking through the cupboard, he could find it without difficulty.
He swallowed it without water. He crunched and chewed the pill. The bitter taste of medicine filled his mouth. Only then did he realize he’d taken his medicine.
He slumped down in the kitchen and buried his face between his knees.
The medicine’s effects hadn’t appeared yet, but with the bitter taste on his tongue, he seemed to feel a slight effect.
“Placebo effect maybe.”
After gradually calming down, he started meditating again.
He sat properly and stayed still with his eyes closed for 5 minutes without any flowing video or sound.
Ding.
“Hello?”
Sunbae!!!
“It’s me, Yeonwoo.”
Sunbae, you’re not that kind of person! PD Han Taegu must have…
Shin Gihyeon was extremely agitated and stammering. He seemed so wronged that he couldn’t speak properly.
Something Kang Dojun had said jokingly once came to mind.
‘Should I quit acting?’
Even if it was just a joke. It can’t be like this. He can’t quit so unfairly like this.
Perhaps because he’d seen Kang Dojun acting today, he felt like he’d go even crazier. That brilliant him – he might not be able to see him anymore.
‘I ruined hyung’s life.’
With my own hands. Lee Yeonwoo let his gentle eyes droop downward. His eye rims turned irreversibly red, and tears gathered heavily in his eyes.
“It’s because of me.”
…What?
Shin Gihyeon’s rambling about Kang Dojun’s kindness, coolness, charisma, self-management, and all sorts of admiring feelings suddenly stopped.
“Because of my contract, he got angry and that happened. It’s because of me. Because I signed something I shouldn’t have.”
…That… the toxic clause contract you told me about before?
“*Sob*… Yeah. Hyung was trying to fix that and… *sniffle*. Because of me… I should have, *sob*. Done it properly.”
Are you, are you crying?
“I’m not crying.”
The sound of sniffling clearly echoed through the phone.
After listening to the crying sounds for a while, Shin Gihyeon made one suggestion.
Then you should post something too. Like Han Taegu did.
* * *
“If we just finish writing this, we can go home, right?”
Kang Dojun asked, obsessively checking the time. Park Daeho answered while getting water from the water dispenser in the company corridor.
“Yeah, probably. But did you hide a honey jar at home or something?”
“Huh?”
Kang Dojun was startled.
‘Look at this guy.’
Park Daeho naturally changed the subject.
“But didn’t Han Taegu think we’d have the contract? This is ending easier than expected.”
“Ah, that…”
‘Why are you tearing up the contract?’
‘The PD said to throw away the existing contract because it would get confused with the contract he revised.’
‘…Yeonwoo, there’s no such law.’
Back then, discovering Yeonwoo and separately storing the existing contract full of toxic clauses was a stroke of genius.
Han Taegu must be laughing right now saying ‘Kang Dojun, go to hell.’ Not knowing that the arrow he shot was returning like a boomerang.
“Who knows.”
Kang Dojun spoke indifferently while touching his phone.
「What are you doing?」
「Are you sleeping?」
「Things are going well so I think I’ll be there soon.」
He left the options and pondered what to send.
“But the more I think about it, the funnier it gets. Why blow it up now of all times? Our movie production is almost finishing up. Of all times.”
“He wouldn’t want to damage his own career.”
If the lead of the currently airing 《Rural Conquest》 became the subject of controversy, there would be viewers who wouldn’t watch the program.
After milking the ratings for all they’re worth, it was obviously his nasty intention to blow things up after the show ended, saying ‘Let’s see you fall into ruin.’
“Sorry. For introducing you to the PD of such a shitty program.”
“Not really.”
Kang Dojun casually brushed off Park Daeho’s apology and decided to send all three options he’d thought of. Just in case Yeonwoo was blaming himself even though it wasn’t his fault, he added ‘Don’t worry too much’ and sent it.
He was the one who got angry at Han Taegu, and it was purely trouble he’d brought upon himself.
“Yeonwoo is too pure, that’s the problem.”
“…*Cough*, Yeonwoo-ssi is?”
Park Daeho, who was drinking water, choked and coughed.
Kang Dojun looked at Park Daeho with a crooked gaze for sending Yeonwoo a text without saying a word to him, even though this was the only way.
“Why did Yeonwoo give you his number?”
His eyes looked like he might say ‘Delete it’ right away.
“He wanted to see your childhood photos?”
“…My childhood photos?”
“Yeah, when I said we were elementary school classmates, he gave me his number.”
At those words, an undeniable smile appeared on Kang Dojun’s face.
‘I could show him myself.’
He could show him anytime if he just asked, but imagining Yeonwoo secretly trying to get his photos from behind was endlessly adorable.
“But are you really okay?”
“Why do you keep asking since earlier? What wouldn’t be okay?”
At Kang Dojun’s answer, Park Daeho recalled the answer to the question that had been circling in his head.
“Are you tired of it? Is acting not fun anymore?”
“…What?”
Kang Dojun, who had been unable to put down his phone and anxiously waiting only for Yeonwoo’s reply, paused. He turned his gaze to look at Park Daeho. He spoke with an even more confident voice.
“Are you going to quit acting?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
