Chapter 1
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1
The high midday sun had just begun its descent. The elementary school playground was quiet, the students having vanished like a receding tide after the final bell.
While one might assume it was empty simply because children rarely play outside these days, a group of five or six kids remained huddled in a circle in one corner. From a distance, their small statures and huddled forms made them look as cute as a cluster of cotton balls.
A closer look, however, revealed a heated argument in progress.
"You fouled him, Go Han-byeol! You know you did!"
"No, I didn't! I didn't do anything wrong!"
A soccer game was the root of the trouble.
"What do you mean you didn't? I saw it with my own eyes! You pushed Min-seong just like this! We all saw you!"
"Yeah! We saw it, so stop lying, Go Han-byeol! That point doesn't count! No way!"
The second-grade classmates often kicked a ball around after school. It could hardly be called soccer; the tiny kids were just booting the ball around without rules or a referee. Yet, even in such a chaotic game, Han-byeol's team always ended up with an overwhelmingly higher score.
Naturally, complaints from the opposing team flooded in.
"We're never playing soccer with you again, Go Han-byeol! Don't even think about asking to play with us anymore!"
"Fine! I don't want to play with you guys anyway! I'd rather go home, wash my feet, and take a nap!"
All Han-byeol had to do was read the room and concede a single point. But he stubbornly refused, a vein bulging in his neck, and the other kids grew increasingly irritated.
Even Han-byeol's own teammates began to sense the mood, and soon, it became a one-versus-many standoff.
"Go Han-byeol lies as easily as he breathes! This is why you shouldn't play with kids who don't have a dad!"
Desperate to win, they resorted to cheap shots.
The children knew Han-byeol's weakness all too well. They had internalized the labels their mothers whispered about him—words that followed Han-byeol around like hashtags.
"My mom said so! She said Go Han-byeol hasn't had a dad since he was born! That he's a pitiful kid!"
Broken home. Single-parent family.
"My mom said that too! She said Go Han-byeol's mom had him all by herself!"
The son of an unwed mother.
"Hey, Go Han-byeol. You don't have a dad, right? You haven't had one since you were born, right?"
"No, I do! I have a dad too!"
Flustered by the sudden attack, Han-byeol's face turned red enough to burst. Clenching his small fists, he shouted back at the top of his lungs.
"Hey, Go Han-byeol. Then where is your dad? Call him right now."
"I can't!"
"See? You don't have one, do you? You don't have a dad!"
"No, I do! My dad is just super, super busy, so he can't talk on the phone right now! I do have a dad!"
A burning shame filled his chest as he told the lie. In that moment, if anyone could conjure a father out of thin air, he was confident he would give up his beloved soccer for the rest of his life.
No, he would even endure giving up things he loved more.
As the kids teased him in unison, the cornered Han-byeol could only pant heavily. They poked him in the stomach and shoved his shoulders, telling him to hurry up and call his dad if he really had one.
A wave of sorrow, far too heavy for his small body to bear, washed over him. But Han-byeol widened his eyes, fighting with all his might to hold back the tears.
"Is that why you live with your mom and grandmother? Because you don't have a dad?"
"I told you to call your dad! Why can't you? Do it, hurry up!"
As the kids aggressively shoved his shoulders, he stumbled backward until he was about to trip over the soccer goalpost.
It was then.
A sound bordering on a roar echoed as a vehicle entered the school gates.
The car’s high-output Main Silence system let out an explosive roar, like that of a race car. The children covered their ears and stared as the vehicle entered without hesitation, while Han-byeol seized the opportunity to stand up straight and brush himself off.
The vehicle drifted in a large circle around the playground. The maneuver was like an acrobatic stunt, leaving the children gaping in awe. Just as it seemed to be getting closer, the low-slung car screeched to a halt right in front of the soccer goal.
The children stared at the vehicle as if spellbound, their eyes tracking it with the wonder of having seen a strange, alien creature appear before them.
A moment later, the heavily tinted window rolled down. The man inside, who had been tapping the steering wheel while scanning the children, took off his sunglasses.
At the sight of him, the children's eyes widened in shock, and Han-byeol's lips parted slightly.
"Han-byeol."
The world-renowned, Korean-born actor.
"Dad's here."
It was Im Eun-seong.
* * *
Three months ago.
It was a morning of brilliant autumn sunlight. The intense summer heat had noticeably subsided, and the air on this early autumn morning carried a slight chill, the kind that made newly ripened chestnuts burst from their shells.
As sunlight poured into the room, Yeon-ju's eyelids fluttered. She tossed and turned for a moment, pulling the blanket over her head, but soon sat up with a rustle.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she grabbed her phone out of habit. After checking the time and weather, she opened a portal site and typed a name into the search bar. Her movements were seamless, like someone who had been waiting all night to satisfy their curiosity.
「Im Eun-seong」
Barring any major event, searching his name was the first part of her morning routine. When she entered his name, his actor profile was the first thing to catch her eye.
In the black-and-white photo, shot head-on with a large softbox, his features were remarkably three-dimensional and harmonious.
His neat hairline swept back cleanly from his forehead. Below lyrical eyes sat a smooth, straight nose. He was the classic handsome type.
The bridge of his nose was exceptionally high, and his thick eyebrows were neatly groomed. His upper lip was thin and sharp, but a plump lower lip balanced it perfectly, meeting a sharp jawline to create flawless symmetry.
It was a face with nothing lacking and nothing in excess. Moreover, his gaze seemed to pierce right through the photograph, possessing a magnetic pull that made it impossible to look away.
Yeon-ju stared quietly before raising her eyebrows and searching for recent articles. Confirming that nothing had been updated since a report from three days ago, she clicked on the last article she had read.
It was an interview with actor Im Eun-seong, who had gone to the United States for a movie shoot.
She read and reread the article she’d already seen, as if trying to memorize every word, before finally putting her phone down. Then, turning her head, she looked at the face of her child, who was still fast asleep.
"You're sleeping so soundly, my son."
Last night, she had stayed up later than usual, lying in bed and chatting softly with her son, Han-byeol, before falling asleep right there. Although it was a single bed, it was spacious enough for a mother and son to share, so Yeon-ju occasionally slept in her son's room.
Yeon-ju gazed at her sleeping son's face for a long time.
His deep, symmetrical double eyelids gave him delicate and beautiful eyes. His fair, flawless complexion, without a single visible pore, was exceptional even for a child.
Perhaps because she had just been looking at his photo, she thought she saw a glimpse of Eun-seong in her son's features. A shadow of worry crossed her face.
"Yaaawn, Mom, what time is it?"
Having been stared at for so long, Han-byeol woke up naturally, yawning with his mouth wide open. She quickly shook off her somber thoughts and put on a warm, affectionate smile.
"It's seven-forty. You have to get up now. Grandmother will be coming to wake you up soon."
Watching her son struggle to wake up, his eyes fluttering open and closed, Yeon-ju slid closer and hugged him tightly. As his small, slender body fit perfectly into her arms, she showered his face with kisses.
"Did my son sleep well?"
"Yeah. Good morning, Mom. Yaaawn."
Her son's voice, as he let out yawn after yawn, was so incredibly lovely and sweet that Yeon-ju kissed his face several more times.
Even ten years ago, when I gave birth to you all alone, I never imagined you would become such a presence in my life.
"Han-byeol."
"Huh? Okay, I'm getting up."
"No, not that. Mom loves you so, so much."
There were days when I grieved, thinking I had traded my bright future for you.
When did you grow up like this to become my world, my everything?
"I really, really love you so, so much, my son."
When Yeon-ju hugged him tight and told him she loved him, Han-byeol, who had been lying still in her embrace, reached out and wrapped his arms around his mother's back. As the child's warmth seeped through her clothes, Yeon-ju let her heart rest for a moment, enveloped in an indescribably warm and gentle comfort.
"I love you really, reeeally much too, Mom."
It was a cozy scene, as warm as the autumn sunlight streaming through the window.
* * *
"Hey, Eun-seong. How are you feeling? Any jet lag?"
Tae-gon, the CEO of Eun-seong's agency, found him at the fitness center, right in the middle of a personal training session.
Drinking a protein shake, Eun-seong looked up. He was in the middle of bulking up before his next movie's crank-in, and his body was harder than ever.
"Why even ask? I'm dying here."
"What's your body fat percentage?"
"Nine."
"Oh. You're almost there."
Aiming for 7% body fat, Eun-seong's body looked almost superhuman. Drenched in sweat, his body—pure muscle, devoid of fat—looked magnificent.
A trainer, a former national wrestling champion, pushed Eun-seong through his final reps while Tae-gon watched with his arms crossed.
Dressed flamboyantly in a white double-breasted pinstripe suit with a navy pocket square, Tae-gon looked almost like a groom. It was a fashion choice born of his love for flashy attire, but it didn't suit the fitness center in the slightest.
As Eun-seong finished his final set and stood up, straightening his back, Tae-gon approached him with a towel. Once the trainer handed over a week's worth of meal plans and left, Tae-gon spoke.
"An article about you returning to Korea will go out around tomorrow. I've sorted everything out with your US agent."
"Just handle it."
The US movie's filming schedule was originally expected to take six months, but production was suddenly halted due to the local director's personal issues.
Because of this, Eun-seong had returned to Korea abruptly, and the media was not yet aware of it.
Tae-gon quickly adjusted Eun-seong's schedule, moving up the timeline for the Korean movie that had been on standby. Eun-seong's time was money, and considering his massive influence, not a single moment could be wasted.
"Oh, by the way, Eun-seong. What about the fitting? Is today okay?"
"Today?"
The costumes for the movie had already been made. But since the samples were produced before he left for the US, they would have to be remade to accommodate the changes in his physique.
For the Costume Team, this meant completely altering outfits they had already finished, but it couldn't be helped.
"Director Jin Hae-young is asking if today works. I guess they need some time to make the alterations, too."
"Sure, whatever. But do I have to go there?"
As Eun-seong stood up and asked, Tae-gon quickly followed. Taking the towel and protein shake from Eun-seong's hands, he grinned.
"What are you talking about? We can't have someone as valuable as you running errands. I'll tell Director Jin to come here. How does two o'clock sound?"
"Whatever you want."
As Eun-seong headed straight for the sauna, Tae-gon stopped at the entrance. When Eun-seong disappeared without even looking back, Tae-gon lightly raised the empty protein shake bottle and called out.
"Eun-seong! If I stay with you any longer, I feel like I'm going to turn gay, so I'm leaving first!"
Eun-seong had already taken off his shirt.