Come Back

■

Choi Hong-seo’s eyes, who was looking over the scenario, stayed on one spot for a long time. It was a line from the character Park Dong-ha, the son of a couple who run a famous restaurant. It was also the part that Park Dong-ha had been criticized for by director Kang Woo-hyun during the last scenario study.

Although Director Kang did not strongly criticize it, Choi Hong-seo thought it was an overly typical performance.

Although Park Dong-ha was not born with outstanding talent, he was a hard worker like Choi Hong-seo. He held on to the character until the end, even when he felt he was lacking, and although he was sometimes criticized for his overly bold interpretation, he was not the type of person to bring predictable acting to the study.

Perhaps it’s because he was dropped from a project in which he was set to be the lead actor.

I thought my brother’s way was wrong. But it wasn’t. I don’t know about other industries, but here, skills aren’t everything. No matter how hard you try and wait, you might not get the opportunity.

After studying, I looked back at the poisonous words that Park Dong-ha had poured out to Yoon Hye-an. Now that I have a rough idea of ​​how Yoon Hye-an has lived her life in the entertainment industry, I can’t help but think those words were referring to her sponsor.

Could it be that he was pushed out by another actor who had powerful sponsors behind him?

Swish, a warm hand widely wrapped around Choi Hong-seo’s chin from behind to the front, who was lost in thought. The moment he sensed that his head was turned by that hand, a short kiss covered his lips and he pulled away.

“……”

Understanding looked down with a smile filled with wonder. The hand that was wrapping around his chin gently ran its thumb over his skin.

“My hand keeps stopping on that page. Is there a scene that you’re having trouble with?”

“No, I just blanked out for a moment.”

Sitting side by side on the same sofa, Choi Hong-seo and Lee Hae-seong were passing the holiday afternoon by looking over the script and materials or articles that needed to be checked.

“Please pay attention. You’ve neglected me for too long.”

Lee Hae-seong, who sat close to him, hugged Choi Hong-seo’s waist and pulled him into his arms. Choi Hong-seo’s back touched Lee Hae-seong’s chest. He buried his lower body in Lee’s shoulder, turned his head, buried his face deep in the nape of her neck, and inhaled her scent. Choi Hong-seo, who held the scenario in one hand, gently caressed his head and ears with the other.

“Are you feeling lazy? Want to go for a walk in the garden?”

The third-floor living room overlooked a half-acre garden of two thousand square meters .  The mansion was surrounded by three large gardens decorated with different themes, both for the enjoyment of the countryside and for privacy from curiosity.

Choi Hong-seo, who was looking at the garden, turned his gaze to see Hae-seong’s pale face with dark circles under his eyes due to lack of sleep. It seemed that breathing fresh air and getting some sunlight would help him a little. As he nodded, Hae-seong put down his tablet first, stood up, and held out his hand.

Lee Hae-seong still didn’t know what Choi Hong-seo had suffered the night before. The symptoms weren’t severe enough to completely lose consciousness, as they had been in Bong-an-dang, Director Kang’s reception room, and Lee Hae-seong’s Seocho-dong villa. Choi Hong-seo fell into a deep sleep, sweating profusely and feeling faint.

I was just scared last night, maybe it wasn’t ‘that’ thing. Maybe I just had a chill.

When I woke up, my condition was completely normal. My whole body was aching from the aftermath of sex, and the places where he had held me tightly or rubbed against me were a little sore, but it was no different than usual. Yes, I must have been mistaken. It was the same pattern every time until now. So his sleep was more of a problem than mine.

Even though it was a walk in the front yard, it was an environment that was the same as walking in the countryside. It was necessary to be heavily armed to walk in the 2 degree weather. I glanced at the back of Hae-seong Lee, who was leading the way to the dressing room. He didn’t really like talking about anxiety.

How long could Choi Hong-seo’s soul stay in Yoon Hye-an’s body? No one could be sure. One day, when she suddenly opened her eyes, Choi Hong-seo could disappear from this body and both body and soul could completely become Yoon Hye-an. If Yoon Hye-an was truly destined to never wake up from her unconscious state, Choi Hong-seo’s soul could disappear and her body could return to its previous state of unconsciousness.

Since something so absurd had happened, there was no guarantee that things wouldn’t go back to normal at some point, without any reason or warning.

And Hae-seong was extremely reluctant to talk about that anxiety.

Choi Hong-seo knew what kind of mentality that was. It’s not that he doesn’t want to talk about it because he thinks it’s trivial. He’s too scared, and he doesn’t see a solution, so he just wants to ignore it and pretend not to know.

ARA’s understanding was so anxious that she couldn’t sleep properly and was drying up. Something had to be done.

“That guy’s causing trouble again.”

He lowered his voice and whispered, enjoying the understanding. Choi Hong-seo followed him and stopped walking. Tiffany was loitering in front of the door leading to the dressing room. The guy, who was standing on his hind legs, tried hard to push the door open with his plump gray front paws. The two watched the scene from the other side of the hallway for a while.

The boy tried to somehow put his hand through the slightly visible black gap. He even stuck his face in. He couldn’t believe that the playground he always went to was closed today. Meowing, as if expressing doubt, he didn’t seem to give up.

Because of Tiffany, Choi Hong-seo and Lee Hae-seong were able to laugh for a moment. When it became difficult to suppress their laughter any longer, Choi Hong-seo called the guy first.

“tiffany.”

The two gray ears twitched and the guy turned to me. Niya, the guy whined as if he was reproaching me for closing the door. The guy stared at Choi Hong-seo from where he was sitting, tilting his head a couple of times. Then, he soon ran down the hallway. It was still unusual for the guy to approach him first, so Choi Hong-seo lowered his body and held out his hand to him.

“I told you not to go in there. There are a lot of toys in your room.”

Tiffany sniffed Choi Hongseo’s hand for a moment, then circled around him, raised her chin, and cried loudly. The boy seemed to be dissatisfied, but Choi Hongseo found him cute. He gently stroked him from head to tail, and Lee Hae-seong spoke from above.

“What’s wrong? You look anxious.”

“Really? Are you upset because you wanted to go into the dressing room but couldn’t?”

Tiffany now rubbed her body against Choi Hongseo’s thigh and grumbled.

“Isn’t golgolsong a sound made when you’re in a good mood? Are you feeling better already?”

Choi Hong-seo was happy to see Tiffany, who was the first to initiate skinship, so he stroked the girl’s long fur more diligently. Lee Hae-seong also knelt on one knee and buried his large hand in Tiffany’s fluffy fur.

“On the other hand, they also purr to appease their anxiety. Did you look like you were in a bad mood? I’ve also heard that they purr to comfort their owners when they look sad or depressed.”

“Tiffany, did you? Did I look like I was in a bad mood?”

When he thought that maybe Tiffany sensed his anxiety and tried to comfort him, his forehead grew hot. He mustered up his courage and carefully picked him up. The guy stared at Choi Hong-seo’s face here and there as if checking something. Meow, meow, the guy cried out loud a few more times and jumped down the stairs leading down.

Even though he couldn’t ask Tiffany what her true intentions were, Choi Hong-seo was sure that she felt something that he couldn’t express in words. It was like that from the beginning.

“Should we go out before it gets colder?”

Lee Hae-seong woke up first, stroking Choi Hong-seo’s head as he looked toward the stairs where Tiffany had disappeared.

Lee Hae-seong, who dressed Choi Hong-seo in a thick goose down jumper, also gave him a scarf.

“Do I have to wear a scarf too?”

“It’s quite windy. You’d better listen to me.”

It seemed like it would be frustrating, but I obediently gave in to what he said.

“Huh? What is this?”

Lee Hae-seong, who was carefully wrapping the scarf around his neck, stopped and felt the lower part of Choi Hong-seo’s neck with his fingertips.

“Why… is something strange?”

“Let me see for a moment.”

He turned Choi Hong-seo halfway around, took off his scarf, and examined the area he had touched earlier.

“You got a wound that wasn’t there even in the morning. Did you get hurt without me knowing?”

“No, nothing happened.”

“Isn’t this just a wound? It’s like a rash… and doesn’t it itch?”

“No, not at all.”

Unlike Hae-seong, whose eyebrows were furrowed and his expression was serious, Choi Hong-seo was calm. When he reached out and felt, he felt a round, rough surface under the back of his neck.

“This won’t work. I need to see a doctor. Let’s go to the hospital first.”

“Isn’t it the weekend today?”

“Just ask me to come out.”

“It’s okay, it’s not itchy and the symptoms aren’t severe.”

“You shouldn’t take skin diseases lightly. Once you start, they will torment you relentlessly.”

“I’ll definitely go to the hospital on Monday. It’s not serious enough to require me to come in on this holiday.”

“……”

“huh?”

He grabbed the reluctant Hae-seong’s arm and asked once more to get his assurance. Hmm… His expression softened as if he had no other choice. However, he grabbed his cell phone and said that there was no room for compromise.

“Instead, I will get a diagnosis even through a photo.”