Payback

I dropped off Hansoo and stopped the car near Cha Jungwoo’s house. When I turned my head to announce that we had arrived, the manager was still looking down at the envelope in his hand. I waited silently, and after a while I heard a question. 

“This must be a good opportunity, right?”

“Even if it’s a bad opportunity, please make it good.”

Glancing at me, he looked to the side and smiled despondently.

“Right. I should. I know that this industry is all dirty anyway… The best thing for me right now is to not get fired from the company and make money for school for my kids.” 

His words sounded different from the concern that Cha Jungwoo would not obey his words well. I pointed to the envelope, the contract, which he had been looking at for a while.

“When did you get it?”

“Yes? Ah… in the morning. Chief Park gave it to me. They said that if he signs the contract today, my innocence will be proven.”

“What will you say when you give it to him?”

Instead of answering, he looked at the contract with a frown. I felt like I heard something, but in the end he decided not to say it.

“Taemin, you don’t have to worry about it. let’s go.”

Cha Jungwoo listened to the manager’s explanation so calmly that he wondered if it was someone else. It was the same living room as in the morning, but the other person had a clean look as if he had been completely cleansed.

“You have to show up voluntarily in front of the police tomorrow evening. The interview is scheduled for the following evening. In the morning of the press conference, I will write down what you need to answer in advance. Think of it as a script and memorize it. I will tell the stylist what clothes and makeup to wear that day. A few other things to note… First of all, don’t talk too long in a police investigation. You just have to answer yes or no to the question.” 

When Cha Jungwoo raised his eyes as if puzzled, the manager immediately added.

“There is a detective I know who told me in advance. Most of the questions will be formal, so there is nothing to be nervous about. And then…”

“You can speak comfortably .”

The manager, who was looking at the notebook and marking them one by one, glanced up. He looked at his opponent silently, then nodded his head. 

“Okay. The next big thing to pay attention to is the press conference, but I’ll tell you that the day after. Oh, you can cry at any moment, right?”

“Should I cry at the press conference?”

“No. You should never shed tears. When you cry, you will get ugly and everyone who isn’t your fan will laugh at you. But you can tear up right? You need to make eyes that look like you’re going to cry.”

Cha Jungwoo nodded. 

“Write down everything you need to do and go. And how much money that is going to be taken out too.”

The manager looked at him again, but he didn’t say anything.

“You don’t have to lend money right away. D-Day will be the enlistment date that people will forget a little bit, and then again will be the subject of public opinion later. The fact of volunteering in secret while enlisting on that day and the fact of actual donation should be published in the newspaper. That way, a lot of reporters will wait for you two years later. As if waiting for a good son who came back after reflection, with the opposite opinion.”

“… I’ll get the money ready within a month if possible.” 

“You can take it out in advance, but you can’t take out private loans. Celebrities only use private bonds to save face, but…”

“I don’t have to use private loans.”

“Well that’s good”, the manager muttered and then added.

“If you allow me to intervene, it would be good to sell your house in addition to the money. People will have sympathy when they see your wealth actually shrink.” 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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“Stay. I’m here to drink water.”

“I… is Manager Choi going to be the main manager of Jungwoo now?” 

I found a clean cup and got water from the water purifier. His muttering followed with a squeak.

“How did it end so quickly?”

“What?”

“Yes? Ah… so.” 

As he rushed for an answer while the cold water went down my throat, he glanced at the living room and opened his mouth.

“Actually, there is no solid evidence that the former manager hyung recorded the incident. I thought we just jumped to conclusions, but the manager hyung couldn’t answer, so I thought it was because he was caught. It’s been a long time since the two of them were together. Of course, they were like brothers, so after a while, I thought that the misunderstanding would be resolved and the two would get together again. But Jungwoo brought in a new manager like that, and the former manager hyung…”

He stopped talking and shook his head.

“I managed to get in touch with him today, but he was giving up on Jungwoo without any hesitation. He said he’ll be out of the country for a few months, so don’t call him. When did he prepare that… Ha, anyway, both of them finished things too quickly. What on earth is this…” 

Hearing his words, I went to the kitchen entrance. In the living room, I saw the two people still talking head-to-head. The appearance of Cha Jungwoo, which has changed to that of a serious one, was not just a calming and clean appearance of his. Nodding his head at the manager’s words, he was completely devoid of poison.

How did you stop being so angry? I couldn’t understand, so I looked at him a little more with narrow eyes. The change in mood like a loser… loser? I don’t even know why I came up with this word. However, the reason could be understood from the words of Cha Jungwoo before leaving the house with the manager.

“Hey.”

He called me on the porch while the manager and the road manager were discussing something. He put his hands in his pockets, leaned his shoulders against the wall, and stared at me sternly. 

“What?”

“Do you want some advice?”

“No thanks.”

As I was turning my body, I heard his advice regardless of my refusal. 

“Do you know who you should be most vigilant about if you want to stay in this industry in the future?”

When I turned my eyes, I heard a somewhat bitter voice.

“Competitive actors, managers, media, fans? No.”

“…” 

“The company you belong to. The scariest thing is the company that owns you.”

I turned my head thinking I didn’t need to hear it anymore, when I heard a familiar name.

“Especially watch out for Director Yoon.”

*** 

Director Yoon. Director Yoon.

I repeated it several times in my mouth. There was a nasty feeling, but am I really deliberately blocking him from his work? With the fear of creating unwanted emotions if I get more deeply involved. So, I overlooked the words I should have heard like a fool. The words ‘Yooni’ and ‘Did you buy it’ that sounded funny in Cha Jungwoo’s voice file should have been ‘Director Yoon’.

‘I told you. Turn up the volume and listen to something interesting.’

Yes, I should have completely believed what he said. The fact that everything ended too early like the road manager’s question, that the boss I saw in the parking lot didn’t seem to care at all, and that you knew solid evidence and the culprit from the start. In the end, again, you are the cause. 

Because you are the real culprit behind this.

‘Where are you?’

As soon as I stopped walking at the entrance of the train and sent a text message, I got an answer right away.

‘Wait at home. I’ll be there.’ 

Maybe it’s because I’m used to it now, and I walked through the short hallway where only the front door was lit and into the dark living room without hesitation. A hand, knowing the position of the switch without looking at it, reached a point on the wall. As soon as the lights came on, the small world turned into color. A living room with books and documents still unorganized. But strangely, it didn’t feel dirty. Perhaps someone came and cleaned it, so there was no dust inside. It was probably right, seeing that the water cups on the kitchen table when I left this morning were no longer there.

Cleaned but not organized. I thought of the owner of the house who would have asked the cleaners like this while sitting on the comfy sofa. ‘Do not touch anything’. Among the things that were not organized according to his will, there were mixed screenplays that I had forgotten about. I just looked at it and slowly reached out and picked it up. Yesterday he went out and sat in the same seat watching the script and fell asleep on the sofa. I looked down comfortably like yesterday and turned the script over.

Before I got into the content, I suddenly realized that this place wasn’t awkward at all. Why isn’t there any unfamiliar feeling or discomfort when it’s someone else’s house, especially the madman’s house? I looked for the part that I read yesterday with my eyes and remembered, “Ah.” Because of the things scattered all over the place. There was a sense of life here. The warmth of an invisible man remained in the air. living space. Did I unconsciously feel comforted here? I felt weird. Because I always saw the opposite and felt comfort from that. Pathways to the graves full of darkness, underground and stillness.

Flip. 

I turned a page and focused on the new content that followed. My mind soon filled with the world of the protagonist, who went deeper and deeper into danger.

***

Click.

A small noise awakened the darkened mind at once. When I opened my eyes in surprise, I saw the ceiling of the living room. I fell asleep again, damn it. Cursing inside, I got up from the couch I was lying on . As I stood up, the depressed part of the sofa slowly returned to its original convex shape. It’s all because the seats are so comfortable. I blamed the sofa and looked around to find the cause of the sound. 

But I didn’t have to look for long. I saw the madman coming out of the kitchen as if he had just taken a shower, he was wearing loose pants and his hair was still wet. As he put the fresh bottled water to his mouth, he noticed me who had woken up. Trying to wake up completely, I looked at him blankly, but he stopped near the table and offered me the bottle of water.

“Drink.”

The still half-awake head refused, but my hand was already receiving the bottled water he offered. Watching him drink water, I suddenly felt thirsty. The cold water he just pulled out of the refrigerator cooled my mouth and went down my throat, washing away the rest of my sleep as well. And I must have been really thirsty. I grabbed the empty water bottle and looked for the trash can.

“What are you looking for?” 

“Trash can.”

I expected the landlord, of course, to tell me the answer, but he unexpectedly extended his hand.

“Give it. I’ll throw it away.”

“…” 

I looked up at him suspiciously, wondering if I had heard it wrong, but he casually took the bottle from my hand and headed for the kitchen. After a while, he returned empty-handed and asked as if he remembered.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

The reason I thought something was strange was because he had such a relaxed smile. It was not that perfunctory smiling face, but a comfortable expression. Rather, I straightened my body and stared sharply at the guy who was approaching me, only making me more vigilant. However, the guy who sat down next to me naturally stretched one arm over the sofa where I was sitting and asked softly.

“What would you like to eat?” 

“… No thanks.”

I refused coldly, stiff. But his mood became even warmer.

“You should have slept comfortably in bed. Oh, did you sleep on the sofa waiting for me?”

He nodded and smiled, making dimples, as if in a good mood. 

“I was going to come earlier, but the call I was waiting for from the US was a little late.”

Then he fiddled the side of my hair with his hand on the sofa.

“It’s good to see you sleeping, but it’s even better awake.”

At this point, fear crossed the border. I raised my awkward arm like a robot, took his hand off, and asked seriously. 

“Are you very tired right now?”

Even though I slapped his hand, he backed away without a sign of ill-will. Then he looked into the air for a moment, as if contemplating my question, and then nodded his head.

“Hmm, hearing you, it seems like I’m tired.”

No, it’s not “seems like”, you are very tired right now! I tried to shout, but his hand, which had fallen, tried to reach me again. I grabbed his hand before it touched my face, and he smirked and took my hand in the opposite direction. And then said, 

“Okay. I will hold your hand.”

Bugs crawled from inside. An unknown feeling, along with a chill, paralyzed my thoughts. If it was the usual annoying guy, I would have blurted curses. However, the act of fiddling with his hands as he listened to me diligently and that never-ending smile blocks the way he responds. What the fuck was this bastard…

“When was the last time you slept?”

He looked at me with heavy eyes, thought for a moment, and then opened his mouth. 

“It was about 30 minutes when I came here to see you yesterday.”

“Before that?”

“Two hours in bed with you three days ago.”

“… Before that?” 

Unlike his usual self, his head was not working well, so he cut off his words, thinking about it again.

“Hmm… three days before that, an hour and a half.”

Three days before that was when he came to see me in XXX. So you’re saying that you didn’t even sleep and came down to kiss me for a little while? Half incomprehension, half incredulous, I urged.

“Then?” 

‘What “Then”?’ he asked with his eyes. Meanwhile, he was rubbing my palm with his thumb in a circular motion. I realized it too late and gave it strength to pull it out, but the guy who said he was tired had a lot of power.

“Tell me anything else you’re curious about.”

I have a lot of questions. Especially the issue of Cha Jungwoo, the purpose of which I had to meet you. But now I know that if I ask, I will get an easy answer, but I didn’t want to bring it up. There was a feeling that I didn’t want to talk anymore with the guy who had changed so much, but deeper, I also was worried about his condition, unlike what I could see on the surface.

He was like a time bomb. His kind and gentle appearance was seen as a warning to the end of the limit. As if you don’t know what you’re going to do if something twists like that, revealing the cruel nature you normally hide without filtration. For example, when I forcibly pulled my hand out of his. In an instant, the smile disappeared from his face. Despite the cold feeling, I spoke bluntly. 

“You go to bed.”

I pointed to the bedroom with my chin, but he stared at me with an expressionless face and forcibly grabbed my hand again. I immediately heard a warning when I moved my arm unconsciously due to the force.

“Be obedient.”

As I raised my eyes firmly, he smiled politely at his mouth. 

“Say it again.”

“You go to bed.”

“Why?”

Well, it’s because you can’t sleep and you’re being more crazy than usual. I barely swallowed the answer that came up to the tip of my tongue and came up with another answer. I don’t know why I made this excuse either. 

“… Because I’m sleepy.”

As I spoke, the cold light in his eyes disappeared for a moment. With his eyes implying ‘hm?’, he asked.

“You’re sleepy?”

“… Yes.” 

Of course it’s been a long time since I woke up. When I nodded my head, he just said ‘Ah~’ and returned to his soft eyes from a while ago. In addition, he smiled crookedly and chills ran down my back again. Should we just fight and hit instead? As I pondered, the madman grabbed my hand and stood up.

“Fine. Let’s sleep for now.”