NOVEL NEXT Chapter 14
Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity
Chapter: 14
[“Why are you acting so petty?! Are you even a man?”]
[“How can you, as a teacher, say such sexist things! And petty? Have you finished talking?”]
Joo-won raised his voice, fighting with his younger sister, his face clearly showing his frustration.
Annoyed by the word ‘petty,’ Joo-won finally stormed out of the house, slamming the front door.
The camera zoomed in on his neck, veins bulging.
“Oh my, oh my! Did you see that?”
“Ew, disgusting.”
A woman lying on the sofa quickly nudged her younger brother’s shoulder with her foot.
The younger brother scowled deeply and pushed her foot away roughly.
“Wow… how can someone still look handsome even when they’re that angry?”
“Is there anyone you don’t find good-looking?”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Aren’t you human?”
Ignoring her brother’s swearing, the woman focused on the first episode of ‘Trace: Tracking the Trail.’
She had put it on without much thought because it was Lee Jung-hyun’s drama comeback, but it offered incredible immersion, living up to its reputation.
Only ten minutes had passed since it started, and already, Joo-won’s parents had died, and he had been shown doing hard labor for his younger sister.
As expected of K-drama… they can’t stand dragging things out.
On TV, Joo-won walked into the park with heavy, complicated steps.
He sat on a bench and let out a long sigh, making her think, ‘So this is what the loneliness of a handsome man looks like….’ It tugged at her heart.
[“Mister! Is that ball yours?”]
“Holy…”
“Wow.”
As soon as the kid in the yellow hat appeared on the screen, the two siblings who had been bickering automatically let out exclamations.
The woman, watching the child with slightly reddened cheeks from the cold, felt her heart melt.
“How can a kid look like a fawn…?”
“Here we go again. You don’t care if they’re kids or adults as long as they’re good-looking, do you?”
“Shut up for a bit. I can’t hear.”
The younger brother barely dodged his sister’s flying foot again and grumbled.
A fawn, really? It’s obviously a person.
Sure, the kid’s sparkling black eyes were cute, but not to that extent.
His sister was crazy. She’d sell her soul for a handsome guy.
If he said this, she’d reply, “I’d love it if someone took my soul, so I hope to see one in real life.”
Last time, she came home drunk, hugging the TV and crying her eyes out.
She wailed, asking why they only lived in the TV, saying she’d treat them well if they came out. It was truly embarrassing to share the same blood with her.
[“Then can I borrow it for a bit? I’ll give it back!”]
…The kid was kind of cute.
The child smiled, slightly squinting his eyes.
His eyelashes fluttered like a delicate work of art made by a master.
His beauty outshone the now shabby-looking TV they had bought second-hand two years ago.
[“Mister, don’t you lend your game console to your younger sibling either?”]
[“What?”]
[“My brother always tells me to go away, saying I’m annoying.”]
The kid in the yellow hat began talking without being asked, then squeezed in beside Joo-won on the bench.
Joo-won’s bewildered expression contrasted with the chattering child’s mouth, giving the crime drama a lighter feel.
[“Mister, lend it to your sibling before it’s too late. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”]
The child spoke clearly while looking straight ahead.
Despite his pouting mouth, his cheerful voice made him seem very childlike.
And then, Joo-won’s peculiar expression performance made viewers feel uneasy.
Later, the scene shifted to the sister discovering that all school funds, including her scholarship, were suspicious, revealing a transaction between the chairman and a congressman.
The sister’s solitary struggle to uncover the truth was shown in passing, with the ominous soundtrack growing louder.
Sure enough, the scene showed Joo-won coming home exhausted, only to find his sister had become cold and unresponsive, causing the woman to cover her mouth in shock.
At the funeral, Joo-won didn’t shed a tear, staring blankly at his sister’s portrait.
His friends greeted the mourners on behalf of the completely dazed Joo-won.
After sitting still for a long time, a familiar child caught Joo-won’s eye.
It was that strange kid from the park.
[“That kid…”]
[“Oh? Ah, I heard he’s in Ji-hye’s class. His parents told him not to come, but he insisted.”]
Listening to his friend’s words, Joo-won stared blankly at the child.
Unlike the chattering child from the other day, he quietly stood holding the teacher’s hand.
Watching the child stare intently at his sister’s photo made Joo-won feel breathless.
Joo-won staggered outside and collapsed behind the building.
A shadow flickered in Joo-won’s blurry vision as he stared blankly at the ground.
When he looked up, the child was standing there.
[“Was our teacher your sister?”]
The child looked incredibly calm.
Without any greeting, the sudden words left Jung-hyun unable to say anything, and he simply nodded.
The child, who had been watching Joo-won for a moment, sat down beside him just like he had on the bench that day.
[“Did you lend the game console?”]
At the child’s casually flowing words, Joo-won swallowed the emotions that surged up.
[“…No.”]
Even though he swallowed, it didn’t go down.
Finally, tears began to stream down his face.
His younger sister had died. After losing his parents in vain, his only goal had been his sister, and now she was gone. Why?
‘What have I done?’
In Joo-won’s ears, he heard his sister’s voice angrily pleading for help.
And lately, he had been hearing more and more sighs, and the faint sounds of crying that leaked out of her room in the early hours of the morning. All of it tore at his ears without giving him a moment to respond.
Before he knew it, Joo-won was crying loudly enough to drown out those sounds.
Seeing Joo-won, who had appeared rough and harsh throughout the entire first episode, now crying like a child, was compelling enough to shake the hearts of the viewers.
While the woman, who was fully absorbed in the drama, barely held back her tears, the screen slowly shifted sideways.
The child’s figure, calmly staying by Joo-won’s side, was clearly captured.
[“That’s why… if you regret it, it’s too late.”]
The child’s voice was as clear as when he first appeared, and his expression remained as innocent as a child’s.
But his eyes were different. They carried a sense of desperation, crawling on the ground, and a contemplative gaze as if watching from a distance.
The screen caught his empty-looking eyes.
It was a gaze that sent chills down the viewers’ spines.
The woman, with 28 years of otaku experience, was certain that the child was the main antagonist.
And a few hours later, she despaired to learn that the child was just a cameo in the first episode.
* * *
[“Lee Jung-hyun’s “Trace: Tracking the Trail” first episode surpasses 8.3% viewership, the only hope in the OTT market”]
[“Move over, ‘Trace’ is here! The only drama worth watching in the first half of the year?”]
[“Drama King, actor Lee Jung-hyun: ‘I felt it would do well just by reading the script…'”]
“This isn’t what I wanted to know…”
The woman frowned deeply and scrolled the mouse wheel roughly.
No matter what keywords she entered in the search bar, no information about the child actor in the yellow hat appeared.
How could there be no one who knew anything about the fawn-like child who left such a strong impression on her while she was just watching TV?
Who would take responsibility for the hole in her heart left by her departed love? This country was too indifferent to crimes.
She had taken it upon herself to find the culprit, but only useless clickbait articles caught her eye.
“IT powerhouse, my ass…”
The woman closed the last article, titled [Child actor in yellow hat outshines Lee Jung-hyun? Five decisive scenes in the first episode of ‘Trace’], which ended up being just a worthless drama introduction.
She got up roughly from her chair and went to the living room, where she met her younger brother coming out of the bathroom.
“Hey, did you use my computer again?”
“Yeah, so what?”
“Ah, I told you not to go into my room without permission!”
Ignoring her younger brother’s nagging behind her, the woman went back to her room.
Her initial approach was wrong. Trying to search seriously on the computer was a waste of time.
‘In times like this, it’s best to use Blue Bird.’
She turned to her second home, where otakus lived and breathed.
Seeing the blue color fill her phone screen brought her instant calm.
Sure enough, when she opened the app, the real-time trending keywords were ‘yellow hat,’ ‘Lee Jung-hyun crazy,’ and ‘Trace’ lined up.
dramacrazyhuman @dramacrazyhuman · 36 minutes ago
Excuse me, please, I’m in a rush, but can everyone please watch ‘Trace’? Lee Jung-hyun’s insane visuals are killing me.
(A meme showing how handsome Lee Jung-hyun is)
i_am_JEONG_mom @i_am_JEONG_mom · 58 minutes ago
Hey folks, who is the child actor in the yellow hat in ‘Trace’? Did Lee Jung-hyun give birth to him? I’m dead serious… If you have Lee Jung-hyun as your husband and the yellow hat child as your son, pay more taxes.
saying_04 @saying_04 · 9 minutes ago
But seriously, doesn’t anyone know who the child actor in the yellow hat is? I can’t find anything even after searchingㅜ It’s been so long since I’ve seen such a cute, handsome, and beautiful child actor… Ah, I’m considering selling my account ㅠㅠ
└zzoo_love @zzoo_love · 3 minutes ago
First time replying, but leaving a link to an interview with PD Kim Johan. Turns out he’s just a cameo in the first episodeㅜ
https://hottopnews.com/view/id=NS207
“Cameo?!”
The woman, with a look of despair on her face, quickly clicked the URL.
“‘Trace’ is my ambitious work, when planning it― don’t care, not interested. Skip, skip, skip… found the child actor part.”
[Q. Is there any particular point to watch out for in the first episode of ‘Trace: Tracking the Trail’?
A. Personally, I’d like to mention the child actor who talked to Joo-won in the park. He’s not a formally trained actor but was cast by chance, and I think he added a lot to the story. He was originally just an extra for a short scene in the park, but his chemistry with Jung-hyun was so great that they improvised a fantastic scene. That night, writer Hong saw the footage and immediately revised the story. It was the first time I saw such enthusiasm (laughs).]
The interview continued with stories about how they personally visited the child actor to ask for additional shooting, how Lee Jung-hyun loved the child so much that he held him in his arms throughout the shoot, and so on.
“But what’s his name?!”
The woman’s room echoed with her desperate cry at the interview that omitted the most crucial name.
At that moment, ‘that child’ Lee Yeon-jae was sound asleep, completely unaware.