An Obvious Truth
"Yeonjae! You came out so pretty!"
Han Haram spun in circles in front of the TV, twirling like a little top.
"Thank you. But how about you sit down for now? You're going to make yourself dizzy."
"(I'm fine! You really act so well! You were so cool! It felt totally different from when we filmed together! You're really amazing and awesome!)"
Okay, okay — please, calm down.
I tried talking him down a few more times after that, but with no sign of it working whatsoever, I simply gave up and let him be.
It was then that Noh Bihyeok, who had been quietly rewatching the commercial beside us, spoke up.
"...You really were meant to be a celebrity."
Where did that come from?
It was abrupt, but it sounded like a compliment, so I thanked him.
Whether he even heard me, Noh Bihyeok murmured in a daze.
"It's seriously uncanny. How is the kid up on that screen and the kid sitting next to me the same person?"
Here we go again.
I'd already heard this same line a dozen times back when Twins premiered, so it slid right off my back. Ignoring Han Haram and Noh Bihyeok, this time it was Seong Ijun who turned to me.
"Yeonjae...! You worked so hard filming that commercial. It turned out great — you must be proud."
"I am. I saw the final cut a few days ago, but watching it on a screen this big makes it even better."
"Videos are always better on a big screen. This is a little embarrassing to admit, but... whenever I monitor my own work, I always watch it on the biggest screen I can find."
Seong Ijun said it shyly, cheeks pinking.
I wondered whether that was the kind of thing that warranted shyness, but I just smiled and answered.
"Then should we find a time to watch Twins together?"
"...! That would be amazing! We just built a screening room at our place — it's fully soundproofed, so you can crank the volume as loud as you want! Any time that works for you is fine. Actually, if you're free this week—"
"Hyung. Eat this first."
"Mm."
Seong Ijun's words were starting to accelerate again, so I popped a cherry tomato into his mouth.
Honestly, he was a strange one too. He'd amble along in slow motion, then suddenly speed up at the most random moments.
There isn't a single normal person around me, is there.
They say like attracts like — so did that make me strange as well? I was just pondering whether to ask Jinbae about it when Han Haram came shuffling over, utterly worn out.
"I'm tired..."
"That's what happens when you run around like that. Come here. No — sit here."
I'd opened my arms to scoop him up, then remembered An-gae and hastily patted the seat beside me instead. I'd been half-worried he might actually ask to be carried, but Haram, utterly drained, obediently plopped down.
"Yeonjae, I have a question."
Han Haram looked up at me with bright, curious eyes.
I was about to tell him to ask anything he liked when Noh Bihyeok butted in first.
I'm more curious. Why don't you call Yeonjae 'hyung'? You only call me and Ijun-hyung that."
"Yeonjae said it's okay! He said I just can't do it out loud in front of other people!"
"Excuse me, are we not people?"
I pinched Noh Bihyeok in the side as he echoed the question in a teasing voice, shot him a look that said quit picking on the kid, and turned back to Han Haram.
"So what did you want to ask?"
"Yeonjae — what do you think about when you act?"
Think about?
"You just... do it. What is there to think about?"
"Just like that? You can do all THAT just like that?"
Han Haram tilted his head, then pressed on.
"Then could I do it like that too?"
"If you want to, you could. Do you want to try acting?"
"(Hmm... I don't know. But it was really fun when we filmed two weeks ago! I didn't understand any of it until you taught me, but you explained everything so kindly.... You're such a gentle, kind person!)"
What had looked like the beginning of a career crisis ended, once again, in a compliment for me. The way he rambled and fumbled through his words was so quintessentially eight-years-old that I couldn't help laughing.
"Thank you. For saying that."
I ruffled Han Haram's hair.
From beside us came Noh Bihyeok's grumbling — why did he only get spoken to in English he couldn't understand? I ignored him out of pure habit, and Han Haram, apparently used to it by now, just looked at me and started again.
"But I still don't get the story of Killing Horn. So is Kang Seok a bad person?"
"Hmm. Well..."
I let the words trail off.
How many people in this world can be pinned down as simply, cleanly bad?
Stroking Han Haram's hair slowly, I answered.
"Kang Seok cherishes Hon in his own way. But his purpose is clear. He acts gentle so that Hon will follow his every word. That's all it is."
"Then he IS a bad person!"
"That's fair."
It was textbook gaslighting, really. From the moment Kang Seok recognized that Hon trusted him, he exploited the boy for every experiment he ran.
Every trial left Hon coughing up blood or nursing wounds, and yet a single worried word from Kang Seok was enough to make him forget it all and grin like a fool.
Coaxing and manipulation — no honest person could call that good. And yet....
"Still, he'll have been a good person to Hon. I think so, anyway."
"Why?"
"Because without Kang Seok... Hon would still be in that room, all alone."
Being used was arguably the kinder fate. Better than spending every day by himself with no one beside him. Seen that way, Kang Seok had been absolutely necessary to Hon.
Even if it led to whatever ending it led to.
"Yeonjae's here? And Haram-ie too!"
The moment we arrived on set, Jung Hyun hyung came striding over with a grin.
Han Haram, who only two weeks ago had been timid and careful around every adult, greeted him brightly.
"Hello, hyung! You look amazing today too!"
"So do you, Haram-ie. And the two of you holding hands like that — you look like real brothers. I'm starting to get a little jealous here."
I snorted at how smoothly he milked the joke.
"Did the photoshoot go well?"
"I suffered, you know. Missing you like crazy. I swear I never want to get on another plane again. Oh — I brought you a souvenir. I'll give it to you at home later."
"Thank you."
Jung Hyun hyung was as busy as any A-list star should be. I barely saw his face these days — sometimes I questioned whether we actually lived in the same house.
If it weren't for Killing Horn, I'd have seen even less of him.
Thinking that, I was glad all over again that I'd taken this drama.
Jinbae agreed to keep the ever-bouncing Han Haram occupied, and Jung Hyun hyung and I went to prepare for the shoot. We were meticulously walking through our lines together over the script when, all of a sudden, he fixed me with a long, quiet stare.
"Is there something on my face?"
"It's just... acting opposite you like this. It feels good."
Abrupt, and completely out of nowhere.
But faced with words that went beyond merely pleasant — words that landed somewhere closer to happiness — I had no defense. A smile spilled out of me before I knew it.
"Me too. Filming with you is wonderful, hyung."
"Back when we first met, I never imagined we'd keep crossing paths like this. Life is strange, isn't it? After that, every time I watched you act, I thought — someday I want to do a proper project with him. This time, we really got lucky."
Looking at his soft smile, I smiled back.
"That's true. I'm just so glad the script you picked happened to come to me too."
"...Sorry?"
Jung Hyun hyung's brow creased faintly, pure confusion written across his face.
Why was he suddenly—?
"What's wrong?"
"Yeonjae. Don't tell me... you chose this project because of me?"
"Of course...?"
What was he even saying? My own brows knitted in confusion.
Then Jung Hyun hyung shot to his feet and shouted.
"What? Seriously?! You took this role because of ME?"
What was with him.
"Obviously. Why are you acting like you had no idea?"
"No — how would I know that? You never told— wait, seriously?"
Jung Hyun hyung was flabbergasted. Like a man who'd just heard something that had never once occurred to him, he stared at me with round eyes and asked again.
Seeing that, it was my turn to be astonished. Why was he so shocked?
"Why didn't you ever tell me? I thought... wow. It never even crossed my mind that you'd be doing this because of me."
"I don't understand why YOU'RE so surprised, hyung. I did it because you were in it. Obviously."
"I'm grateful for the sentiment. It makes me happy. But... we've never once talked about this. If you don't say it out loud, how would I ever know?"
Well, sure. But this was different.
Hyung looked utterly dumbfounded, but honestly, I was just as thrown.
"It felt too obvious. I didn't realize it was something I needed to say."
"Sorry?"
"You're the reason I started acting in the first place. Without you, there would be no me standing here today...."
To me, it wasn't a confession — it was a law of nature. As self-evident as the fact that the Earth is round. Not once had it occurred to me that such a thing needed to be spoken aloud.
"If it weren't for you, hyung, I would have lived a worthless life."
"......"
The Lee Yeonjae who existed before meeting Lee Jeonghyeon had been nothing at all.
Granted, thanks to An-gae I'd known how to shed the Misfortune Factors, so I wouldn't have spiraled into misery. But I would have scraped by — and only scraped by.
A life of merely breathing, unable to reach out to a single soul. A useless existence, spent alone.
"You changed my life, hyung... so I assumed you'd know."
I apologized for startling him, but the expression on his face had gone blank.
"......"
As if he'd taken a blow to the head, Jung Hyun hyung just stared at me, unseeing. It was a long while before he finally opened his mouth.
"Yeonjae. You...."