Chapter 34
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 34
"Hello, CEO."
Tae-gon stopped in his tracks when Hae-young, whom he’d run into by chance at the broadcasting station, greeted him.
"Ah, Director Jin. It's been a while."
"Yes. Have you been well?"
"Same as always. I've been seeing you everywhere lately, Director Jin. You should make sure to take your supplements."
He was clearly referring to her landing yet another broadcast appearance. Hae-young smiled and replied.
"Tell me about it. I take a whole handful of vitamins every morning these days. I'm not as young as I used to be; it's exhausting."
They stood in the middle of the hallway, exchanging small talk for a moment. Tae-gon shoved his hands into his pockets and asked Hae-young, "By the way, how is our girl doing?"
"Pardon? Our girl? Oh, Ju-mi?"
Hae-young took a long, slow breath before speaking—a habit she had to warm up, ensuring she didn't just blurt out the first thing that came to mind.
"She's sweet… I suppose."
"Is Ju-mi dedicating herself to Eun-seong and looking after him properly? Don't give her any other tasks; make sure she only handles Eun-seong's affairs."
"Didn't you send her to me so I could teach her the ropes?" Hae-young asked.
Tae-gon let out a smirk. "Director Jin, you're not very sharp, are you? Do you really think I sent her to you because there's no one else in our company who can teach her?"
Tae-gon spoke as if she were slow, prompting a smile from Hae-young. It wasn't that she didn't understand; she simply resented his underlying motive. He didn't trust her team, so he’d assigned a dedicated handler to Eun-seong.
There wasn't a single thing she liked about this man.
"If that was the case, you should have sent someone who's actually good at their job."
"I told you to teach her. You said she was sweet, didn't you?"
"I was just being polite. There's no need for me to speak ill of someone in the CEO's inner circle."
The implication was clear: the girl had no manners.
As Hae-young said everything she wanted with a gentle smile, Tae-gon laughed along. Jin Hae-young. One day, I will absolutely crush you.
"How's the atmosphere on set lately?"
"The atmosphere is quite good. Eun-seong is holding the center well, so everything is flowing naturally."
"What about that kid who was newly cast? Eun-seong's son. What was his name again?"
The mere mention of "Eun-seong's son" brought an involuntary wave of displeasure over him. As Tae-gon pressed his brow, trying to recall the name, Hae-young supplied it.
"Han-byeol."
"Ah, right. I heard he's an acquaintance of yours, Director Jin. You must have gone to a lot of trouble to get him in."
His voice was so full of conviction that she had pulled strings, Hae-young looked at him, utterly dumbfounded.
As they say, a thief sees a thief in everyone.
"I'm just grateful you think so highly of my influence, CEO. It's quite the confidence booster."
"If you didn't pull strings, am I supposed to believe he was just cast off the street?"
"Then perhaps it was fate? It must have been his destiny to play Eun-seong's son."
Hearing that Go Yeon-ju's son was "destined" to be with Eun-seong made his blood boil. He already loathed the fact that they were on the same set, and now she was talking about fate.
"Oh my, look at the time. I should get going, CEO."
"That Han-byeol kid… what does his father do?" Tae-gon continued as Hae-young started to walk past him. "You said you're close. You must know, Director Jin."
*
"Han-byeol!"
Dr. Ju, sitting in the examination room, looked up in surprise and welcomed Han-byeol warmly as the boy walked in. With no filming scheduled today, he was holding down the fort at the clinic.
"Welcome, Han-byeol. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Hello, Doctor. I came to get Yam's medicine."
"Ah, I see. I was actually wondering if Yam was taking his medicine well and if his symptoms had improved. I was planning to ask you the next time I saw you."
Han-byeol sat down opposite him with a mature posture and handed Yam over. Dr. Ju took the tiny brown poodle, who, fully aware this was the vet clinic, was already looking thoroughly dejected.
"Did you come all by yourself, Han-byeol?"
"Yes. Grandma is at home. I thought I just needed to pick up the medicine, so I came alone."
He seemed to have grown even more since they last met. As Han-byeol answered as if it were no big deal, Dr. Ju smiled.
"Now, shall we take a look at Yam? Yam, how have you been? Didn't you miss me?"
As if to say, don't be ridiculous, Yam let his ears droop.
*
Yam's skin condition had improved, so Dr. Ju prescribed only a little more medicine. He also packed an ointment that would be good to apply after his bath and handed the medicine bag to Han-byeol.
"How is your acting practice going?"
"Me? I'm working hard, but honestly, it's a bit difficult."
"What's the hardest part?"
"Well, the acting coach keeps telling me to imagine things, but I can't really picture them. So that's a bit hard."
Han-byeol had stepped into a world that only grew more complex the deeper he went; his lessons were hardly smooth sailing. Perhaps regretting that he’d admitted it was hard, Han-byeol swung his feet back and forth and added, "But it is fun."
"Oh, I'm glad to hear it's fun. Things that are hard to learn are usually more interesting. The easy things are over too quickly."
"What was the hardest thing for you, Doctor?"
"For me? Well… hmm." Dr. Ju paused, a thoughtful look on his face. Then, with a grin, he offered an unexpected answer. "I found that figuring out what's in a person's heart is the hardest."
"A person's heart?" Han-byeol asked back, puzzled.
Dr. Ju nodded. Today had been a day spent entirely lost in thoughts of Yeon-ju.
"You can't see what's inside a person's heart from the outside. For me, figuring out those invisible feelings is the hardest thing of all."
"But Doctor, if you want to know, can't you just ask them directly?"
"Ah? Oh. Well… I suppose so?"
Dr. Ju let out an embarrassed laugh at Han-byeol's clear and simple answer. Is Yeon-ju doing well? Is she holding up okay by his side?
Today was a day when he had done nothing but pile up such thoughts.
"You're right, Han-byeol. If you're curious, you should just ask. Why is something so simple so difficult?"
Unable to even utter the words "I miss you," he was merely rambling nonsense to her young son.
"Maybe asking is hard because you already know what they're going to say?"
"Ah…"
"It's like that for me, too. There's a boy named Jeong-hun in my class. Even if I ask him to play every day, he always says no, so eventually, it became hard to ask. Because it's obvious he'll say no." Dr. Ju slowly closed and opened his eyes. "It's obvious. But if I keep asking, Jeong-hun will feel bad. That's why I don't ask. Then, later, Jeong-hun tells me first—when he's finally free to play."
"Yes… I see."
It is hard to ask. He is afraid.
Because he already knows the other person's answer.
"That's just how it is for me," Han-byeol said. "I'm sure it's different for you, Doctor."
"No. Now that I think about it, I think my reason is exactly the same as yours, Han-byeol."
Dr. Ju smiled warmly, as if he had reached an epiphany. Han-byeol, who had been fidgeting with the medicine bag, picked up Yam and stood up.
"And my mom said that all the answers are in a person's eyes. That's why you have to look them straight in the eye when you talk."
"Yes. The answers are in the eyes."
"That's what she said. Since my mom told me, it must be true. If you're really curious, take a good look at their eyes."
"Your mother gave you some wonderful advice. I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Han-byeol."
As Dr. Ju expressed his gratitude with a sincere expression, Han-byeol puffed out his cheeks and blinked.
Tomorrow was finally the first day of filming. The day he would meet the "Filial Piety is Money" mister again. He didn't really like the idea of meeting that strange, foolish mister, but at the same time, he kind of wanted to see him.
When I see the "Filial Piety is Money" mister, I should ask him.
"I'll be going now, Doctor. Goodbye."
"Goodbye, Han-byeol. Take care."
If he missed me, by any chance.
*
"Hey, One Star!"
The next day, as soon as Han-byeol arrived at the filming site, Eun-seong called out to him in a loud voice.
As everyone burst into laughter, Han-byeol scowled and walked over to Eun-seong. He couldn't understand why the man insisted on making up nicknames when he had a perfectly good name.
He was a strange mister, indeed.
"One Star. Did you practice a lot?"
"Hello."
When Han-byeol greeted him with a voice dripping with obligation, Eun-seong chuckled. He looked down with smiling eyes and playfully ruffled the boy's hair.
"Ah, why are you messing up my hair?"
"Because it's your hair, of course."
As Han-byeol raised both hands to protect his head, Eun-seong seized the openings to mess it up even more. When Han-byeol glared at him, huffing with annoyance, Hae-young, who was standing nearby, burst into laughter.
Remembering Hae-young mention that the child hadn't said a single word on the way here because he was so nervous, Eun-seong was trying to help him relax.
"If you don't like it, grow up quickly and mess up my hair too. Though it'll be hard for you to grow as tall as me."
"Ugh!"
His eyes full of resentment at being unable to retaliate, Han-byeol pouted, prompting Eun-seong to tilt his head.
"One Star. Do you like jajangmyeon?"
"No."
"Then what? Do you eat Cheongyang chili jjamppong loaded with fresh oysters?"
"What's that? I can't really handle spicy food."
As they talked, Han-byeol naturally let go of Hae-young's hand. When Eun-seong reached out, Han-byeol took his hand without even realizing it.
"You have to eat to film. They don't let people who starve themselves stand in front of the camera here."
"What about you, mister? What did you eat?"
"Me? I was waiting to eat with you."
As Eun-seong strolled forward, Han-byeol kept pace with his small strides.
"Decide. Jjamppong or jajangmyeon?"
"Are those the only two choices?"
"For someone getting a free meal, you sure are picky. There's sweet and sour pork, too."
"Then I don't have many choices. I'll have jajangmyeon."
As Han-byeol calmly made his choice, Eun-seong passed the order to his manager, Dong-hwan.
On the way to Eun-seong's waiting room, Eun-seong held Han-byeol's hand. Lost in the random thought that the "Filial Piety is Money" mister's hands were as huge as he was tall, Han-byeol followed along obediently.
"One Star. Didn't you miss your dad?"
Han-byeol's eyes went wide, and he let out a sharp gasp. Not knowing why, Eun-seong glanced down at him.
"Did you miss me or not? Hurry up and tell me."
"No. I'm not telling you."
"So you did miss me and were dying to see me? One Star, it's written all over your eyes."
Gasp! Startled once again, Han-byeol clamped his mouth shut like a clam. Finding the sight adorable, Eun-seong burst into laughter.
Having lost the chance to ask his own question first, Han-byeol remained stubbornly silent all the way to the waiting room. Meanwhile, the sweet and sour pork and jajangmyeon were on their way.