The Meeting
Then again, I suppose I could see why he'd assumed it was a given. Same high school and all.
High schoolers default to casual speech, and it's only once you hit university that you start being polite with strangers.
But that was his logic.
From my side of things, we'd never once exchanged a word. Never seen each other's faces. We were two people who knew each other's names and nothing more.
And when two people like that cross paths for the first time out in the real world? Obviously that's a speak-politely situation. No?
“I'm… sorry, what?”
I watched Do Hyunwoo stammer the question back, and felt a quiet satisfaction. Mm. Polite speech now. So he did understand.
“Sorry—do you two know each other?”
Ah, right. The meeting had been so shocking I'd completely forgotten about the in-house composer.
“No, we don't.”
It was our first time meeting, so strangers was the accurate answer.
“Ah, um… we went to the same high school, though.”
“What?! You two are classmates?!”
“Technically, yes?”
Which was true?
Huh. But they seemed pretty close, the two of them. The composer was visibly more at ease with me than Do Hyunwoo was.
“Wait… so Yeonwoo said you were strangers, and then told you to use formal speech… which means…!”
The composer muttered to himself for a moment before his face lit up with sudden comprehension.
“Oh! Don't tell me! You two! Dated and had a nasty break— ahem. No. Right. My apologies. Yeonwoo, please soften that expression a little….”
…I hadn't expected to hear that, which was exactly why my face had twisted into something murderous.
Catching myself, I consciously smoothed my scrunched-up features back into place.
“We met for the first time today.”
“I'm sorry?”
“We only knew of each other's existence, right?”
“Ah, well, with two faces like yours, I suppose just knowing of each other would be—”
Figures a creative type would have an overactive imagination. First earlier, and now this. The man could spin a fantasy out of absolutely nothing….
“Well then. Hello. Nice to meet you.”
Things had gone this far, might as well offer a proper greeting.
“Ah… yes….”
Mm. He definitely understood me this time. No more casual speech.
“I've… heard a lot about you.”
Hm?
“About what, exactly?”
“Oh, uh—my friends at school used to talk about how there was someone insanely pretty at our school….”
“Really? Ah, I heard plenty about you from my friends too.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. That there was one guy annoyingly good-looking for no good reason.”
For the record, that particular assessment came up every single time I talked with my high school friends back in my male days.
When you meet up with classmates after graduation, the school-days stories come out without fail—and in that setting, there was simply no way the school's top-tier visual output wouldn't get a mention.
“Uh, um… right….”
“That's a compliment.”
He fumbled like he'd never received a compliment in this particular genre before, and in that awkward fumbling I caught a glimpse of a strangely familiar silhouette.
“Haha… right, it is…?”
“It is.”
It is, I said.
“Though honestly, you're even better in person.”
It was true—no camera could fully capture the real thing.
Look at me, saying that about myself.
But today once again, I was reminded that no camera on earth had the resolution of the naked eye.
“Ah—Yeonwoo, you too.”
Oh, hold on.
“So your friends talked about me a lot, you said?”
“Y-yes… does that bother you…?”
“No, not that.”
If there'd been a girl like me at school back when I was a guy, I'd have done exactly the same. It was only natural, so it didn't bother me at all.
It was more that—
“Did your friends show you photos too?”
“Uh… yes….”
“My photos are with your friends?”
I don't particularly like having my picture taken?
Dislike it enough that even with this face, I barely take any. My messenger profile picture is the default gray silhouette—where would anyone even get a photo of me?
“Ah, from the sports day group photo, or the graduation album, things like that….”
Ah-hah!
“Oh, I see. That explains it.”
Phew…!
For a second I thought it was some kind of covert photography situation and nearly broke out in a cold sweat….
“Um, but….”
“Yes?”
What now?
Do Hyunwoo hesitated, his words trailing off.
“Did you… join our company…?”
“Yes.”
“Oh! Then are you a trainee, by any chance?”
“No?”
“…I'm sorry?”
Was my answer that hard to parse?
“I already debuted?”
“WHAT?!”
…Why is he so shocked?
Although… even his shocked face is handsome.
Isn't that just unfairly overpowered?
As I was thinking this, Do Hyunwoo tilted his head in confusion and said quietly:
“If you'd debuted, there's no way I wouldn't know….”
Oh, so that's why he was surprised.
“I worked on my debut song with the composer here, you know?”
“WHAT?!”
Hm… he still doesn't get it, even now?
Good grief, this man has zero interest in what his own company actually does, huh?
“For the record, my debut was less than a year ago.”
“Uh… is it that group… no, wait, it's not…?”
Earlier it was a familiar silhouette, but now I'm getting a familiar feeling too!
That exact feeling I get when I'm tormenting Minseo and Yuna!
“Yeonwoo… could you stop bullying Hyunwoo at an appropriate point and just tell him….”
The composer must have judged him hopeless at this guessing game, because he stepped in to stop me.
“No thanks?”
This was turning out more fun than expected. I didn't want to quit.
“Ah… um… would you maybe tell him, then?”
“I said no.”
Well, it was entertaining, so I left Do Hyunwoo to agonize on his own.
“I had business at the company for the first time in a while, so I came by to say hello.”
Mission accomplished: greeting the composer, my original objective.
“Right, this is the first time since that recording session, isn't it?”
“Yes. It's been a while.”
“My goodness… it feels like yesterday that you said those words to me, and now the song's release is already upon us.”
…That comment really left an impression on him, huh.
All I did was tell him something I already knew….
“When are you planning to release the song?”
“Probably… the end of this month.”
“Ooh….”
That really is just around the corner….
“We're having a company dinner that day. Will you come?”
“Hmm… yes. Sure.”
I'm the featured artist, so skipping it would feel off, no?
It's not like my part is small.
“Really?!”
“…You're the one who asked, why are you so surprised?”
Did he not expect that?
“I… well, I thought you wouldn't come.”
“Why did you think that?”
“Ah, no… you just seemed like the type who would, but apparently not….”
Hm… it felt like there was more of a reason behind that….
My curiosity was piqued, but I decided to stop wondering right there.
“Well then, I've said my hellos, so I'll be off.”
My desire to go home outweighed my desire to know.
“What?!”
At my announcement, Do Hyunwoo visibly jolted.
“What?”
I said I was leaving, so what.
“N-no… nothing… yes….”
“Hyunwoo, try to understand. Yeonwoo's a little… like that….”
“Yes… I hadn't realized, but apparently so….”
The two of them stole glances at me, then resonated with each other in silent understanding.
What. Share with the class.
“What is it?”
“…Nothing.”
Seriously? anticlimactic.
Disappointed, but it didn't seem like they'd tell me, so I gave up.
“Anyway, I'm off. See you at the dinner.”
Ah, right. Almost forgot to say this.
“Composer. Don't tell him what I do.”
“WHAT?!”
It wouldn't have mattered much if the composer told him.
But leaving it like this was simply more fun.
And even if the composer stayed mum, if Do Hyunwoo got curious enough, he could always just ask around the company himself.
“…Yes.”
Hearing the composer's resigned, deflated reply, I opened the door without a shred of regret and stepped outside.
“Mm!”
That was fun!
An utterly unexpected encounter—but precisely because it was unexpected, it was all the more entertaining!
Well then, time to head— oh.
As I moved to leave, the coffee I'd bought at the café earlier caught my eye.
I'd completely forgotten to drink it after buying it….
May as well hand it out now, right?
Click!
“Honestly, that person, what the—”
“Ah.”
The moment I pushed the door open and stepped back in, Do Hyunwoo—who had been mid-sentence with the composer—looked up at me and froze solid.
“Please, continue.”
I was curious what he'd been saying.
The instant the air turned awkward, the composer hurriedly spoke up to me.
“Um… why did you come back?”
“Drink this.”
I pulled one cup out of the carrier—two were tucked inside—and handed it to the composer.
Mm….
Yes, magnanimity. I was feeling generous today.
“Drink up.”
“Oh—thank you.”
The coffee I'd bought for myself, I gave to Do Hyunwoo.
“Well then, I'm off for real this time.”
“Ah, um….”
“What?”
“I… I wasn't badmouthing you just now, really….”
“I know.”
Would a guy do that, knowing that if an idol got caught talking behind someone's back he'd be cancelled into the abyss?
Besides, I was firmly in the composer's good graces.
“Still, I'm sorry. If it upset you, I'd like to apologize.”
Hm. Decent character, this one.
Could he be a future world star in the making?
Feeling that people become successful for a reason, I extended my right hand forward.
“Then please throw this away for me.”
I shook the empty coffee carrier I was holding.
They do say people with good character are also diligent about recycling.
And since I recycle diligently myself, I figured that statistic roughly checked out.
“…I'm sorry?”
“It'd be weird to walk around carrying a coffee carrier with no coffee in it, no?”
“Ah, right, yes….”
YES! Trash disposed of!
“Okay, really leaving now.”
“Ah, goodbye.”
“Yep. See you around, if we ever cross paths again.”
Though I doubted we would, realistically.
…Wait, that wasn't a death flag just now, was it?
And so, unable to shake the feeling that I had planted the flag with my own two hands, I headed home.
[Yeonwoo, did you happen to meet Do Hyunwoo today…?]
“Oh, yes, I did. Why?”
How did the Manager know?
It was hardly anything worth mentioning…?
[…Did you cause him any trouble, perhaps?]
“Hmm… that depends on how you interpret it?”
I hadn't openly picked on him or tormented him, after all.
…Wait. Was openly tormenting him exactly what I'd done?
“He reminded me of our members, actually.”
[…In what way?]
“The satisfaction factor?”
If I'd had him back in my school days, he'd have been the kind of stress-relief target I'd want to carry around like a beloved plush toy.
[Good heavens….]
“What? Why?”
But wait, did something happen?
I didn't do anything that serious?
As I'd thought earlier—it was nothing, wasn't it?
Just as I was tensing up, wondering if there was some incident I didn't know about, the Manager explained.
[No… I just called to confirm the facts, that's all….]
“Oh, is that all?”
See? Nothing serious after all.
All that tension for nothing.