Only for the Two of Them (1)
What happened that day at Hanaro Department Store became the talk of the entire country.
Leaving the community boards and heading over to YouTube, I found countless videos of people recreating the Fly High flash mob flooding my feed.
I never imagined this many would go up in just two days…
Bzzzzzt—
That was when it happened.
As always, my other phone started ringing.
A text from Seol Soyoung, of all people. What was this about?
She'd been a little hard to reach lately, juggling Fly High filming with choreography practice. So what was going on?
Hm? A handwritten autograph, all of a sudden?
Ah.
Right — I'd handed those out as bribes when I was casting the idols. But how did she find out about that…?
She was clearly feeling left out that she was the only one without one.
Well… that wasn't exactly a hard request.
And back came the fastest reply I'd ever gotten from her.
Well, she was going to become one of the biggest actresses of her generation — getting one early could only be a good thing for me.
The real reason, though, was that my noona had been dropping pretty obvious hints that she wanted one, so I'd brought it up to get one for her.
Still, I couldn't exactly say that out loud, so I sent a vague reply instead.
Compared to the energetic replies from just a moment ago, that last one felt somehow dejected.
Meanwhile…
I Dahye watched Seol Soyoung, who was looking uncharacteristically tense.
Before filming today, Soyoung had realized she was the only one who hadn't received Writer 927's autograph, and she'd been quietly downcast throughout the entire shoot.
Unable to just sit and watch, Dahye had told her during a break to just ask Writer 927 about it.
And so, after much deliberation and at her friend's suggestion, Seol Soyoung had finally steeled herself and texted Writer 927.
Watching her, I Dahye couldn't help but be startled.
…So that face of hers was capable of looking like that.
The corners of Seol Soyoung's mouth were turned up as she exchanged messages with Writer 927.
Anyone could see it was a smile of pure joy.
And she wasn't even aware of it herself.
To make the great Seol Soyoung lose even her famous control over her own expression…
Just how deeply had Writer 927 taken root inside that girl?
From Dahye's perspective, it was a genuinely shocking sight.
"So? What did he say?"
Dahye asked.
"He said he'll give me a signature. In exchange, he wants to trade for mine."
"Oh, that's great. Hm…?"
But the face that had looked so happy just a second ago shifted in an instant.
"Did something go wrong?"
"…It's nothing."
Nothing, my foot.
Just looking at her face, you could feel the gloomy aura radiating all the way over here.
I Dahye let out a deep sigh.
She wanted to give her friend some advice, but she was in a similar position herself — so she couldn't quite bring herself to open her mouth.
Time flew by, and filming for Fly High was finally drawing to a close.
Standing before the last shoot, Seol Soyoung kept her eyes tightly shut, lost in a swell of emotion.
The final day of filming for Welcome to Cafe Violet felt like only yesterday — and already she was at the last shoot of the next project…
On top of that, Fly High had meant juggling dance practice and recording sessions alongside everything else, so the time had passed in an even more chaotic blur.
Honestly, she'd cut back on sleep to practice dancing, singing, and acting on top of it all.
It would be fair to say she'd pushed her body to the limit over the past few months.
But Seol Soyoung never once complained.
More precisely, she was in no position to make any weak noises about it.
Because the person who had planned this entire Fly High had worked several times — no, dozens of times — harder than she had.
All of this had started with a single counseling session with him.
Back then, and even now, the situation facing her mother and herself had been far too cruel.
And yet.
Having understood everything, he had become her hope.
In an instant he had conceived the drama Fly High, and this time — unlike the previous project — he had even involved himself in the production stage.
He was the one who had brought JYB on board for the casting, and she'd heard he had even worked on the compositions with CEO Baek Junyeong.
There was surely more she didn't know, but the important point was this: he had gone that far for someone who was nothing to him.
And once again, he asked for no particular compensation in return.
If only he wanted something from her, her heart might feel lighter…
Seol Soyoung knew, deep down.
That he didn't want anything like that. That he had always been that kind of person.
And that, more than anything, was what made him truly terrifying.
If everything unfolded the way he had told her during that counseling session…
If everything went according to his design…
Then how on earth…
Was she supposed to live her life repaying a debt that large?
What kind of heart was she supposed to carry toward him as she went on living?
— We'll be starting the final shoot shortly!
But right now, she didn't even have the luxury of thinking about that.
Because this shoot was the final gift he had prepared for her.
So.
She would pour into it everything she wanted to say to her mother, and every ounce of her gratitude toward him.
Only for those two people.
…She would give the performance of a lifetime.
Seol Soyoung opened her tightly shut eyes and walked slowly toward the set.
"Hm? CEO, why are you just sitting there staring into space?"
"Ah. I think I just had a brief bout of delirium."
"Delirium, all of a sudden? You're already getting that in your late thirties?"
"No. Anyone who saw Soyoung-ssi's final performance yesterday would have come down with the same condition. Ah — right, Writer-nim, you didn't get to see it."
CEO Baek Junyeong kept grinning at me in the most irritating way.
Soyoung's performance yesterday must have left quite an impression on him.
But did he have to keep needling me like this?
"The fact that I composed the OST she sang at the end is… well, should I call it an honor? Hehehe."
"Ugh, I get it, just stop! I'll catch it when it airs."
"That doesn't count as seeing it in person. And Episode 16 doesn't air for another month — how do you plan on waiting that long?"
"Hmm, when you put it like that, I am getting pretty curious. Should we just reshoot Episode 16 right here in front of me, then?"
"Excuse me? We already did the wrap applause on set. There's no way that would be possible."
"So what? I'm Writer 927, aren't I?"
The moment I said it so shamelessly, CEO Baek Junyeong's face went dead serious and cold sweat started beading on his forehead.
What? I'd just been joking around — why was he overreacting like that?
Worried it might actually turn into a real controversy, I quickly clarified that I'd been kidding.
Only then did CEO Baek finally let out a breath of relief.
"But why the sudden visit to our headquarters?"
He asked, looking genuinely puzzled.
Fair enough — it was a reasonable question. I hadn't been coming by JYB HQ much lately.
Honestly, once the choreography and OST work had wrapped, there hadn't really been a reason for me to show up.
Even after that, the only reason I'd still dropped by occasionally was simply to hear about how things were going on set from CEO Baek's perspective.
And now that filming for Fly High was completely finished, there was no longer any reason for me to visit.
"I don't think I'll have any reason to come by JYB anymore."
"…What? Wh-what do you mean by that?! Just now! Finally! For the first time ever I got to tease you a little — don't tell me you're sulking over that and never coming back for the rest of your life? You're not that petty, are you?!"
Whoa. That nearly blew out my eardrums.
Was that the half-air, half-voice singing technique he was using?
"That's not it. I'm an outsider — there's just no reason for me to keep coming here. But if something genuinely important comes up, I'll think about it and drop by."
"Hold on a second! Then what about JYB and Dahye?!"
"…Huh? JYB I can maybe, maybe give you a hundred times over — but why is I Dahye's name suddenly coming up here?"
"Do you have any idea how much she's been hounding me lately, asking where the successor is? If you're not coming anymore, at least take her with you!"
"No matter how I look at it, that is not my problem. And you're the one who casually started calling me the successor, so you can clean that up yourself."
"No! Successor this, successor that — you're the one who made Dahye like that in the first place!"
"Huh? I never did anything like that. Anyway, I'm busy, so I'll be heading out. Honestly, I feel like I've worked you pretty hard this whole time — you've really been through a lot."
"W-Writer-nim!"
I bowed my head to CEO Baek Junyeong and walked straight out of the room.
Hmm. I thought I heard some kind of screaming coming from the direction of the CEO's office…
Yeah, I was just going to ignore that.