Payback

to himself, and asked in an annoyed voice.

“Why did you come all the way here?”

It was completely different from the usual him who always smiled and acted intimate, but I was more comfortable dealing with this kind of rejection.
He must have been a little awkward because he wanted to get close with me.
When I realized it, I couldn’t understand more about myself right now. 

“I heard you quit.
Is that true?”

I asked after a short pause and Hansoo’s expression hardened.

“Yes.
Are you here to confirm it?”

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“Why are you quitting?” 

It’s not the first time he’s got camera phobia, he had been preparing to be an actor for several years.
I was going to add those obvious words, but he opened his mouth coldly.

“It has nothing to do with Lee Yoohan.”

 

“…”

“If that’s what you came here for, I’m going in now.” 

“Myeongshin.”

I was hesitant to bring out these words so I kept my mouth shut for a moment.
However, seeing Hansoo’s expressionless stare, I continued my words.

“Myeongshin did it.
He deliberately called the camera to be brought to the theater to sabotage you.”

“So?” 

“…”

“Yeah, that doesn’t change the fact that I’m a fool.
Even if a fool like me had divine luck, I no longer want to do this anymore.
Or do you want me to get revenge like you?”

His retort left me silent.
To be honest, I thought that he would be angry that I brought up Myeongshin.
But when I saw Hansoo’s unsmiling face, I realized that I didn’t know anything about him.
No, I thought I knew.
Not only Hansoo, but everyone else whom I thought I could lead in the direction I need to go.

“I’m a fool so I can’t take revenge.
I don’t even have the ability to do that.
So please stop worrying about it and mind your own business and work hard.
We weren’t even that close, were we?” 

Hansoo’s last words were heard particularly clearly.
Ah, right.
We weren’t close.
I hadn’t even thought of that.
I didn’t know Hansoo particularly well.

“Goodbye.”

Hansoo mumbled, turned his back and disappeared.
The conversation ended in less than a minute after waiting for two hours, but it was not in vain.
I looked around again and realized that there was no one around.

I saw Hansoo as the consequences of what I had done.
If I hadn’t decided to take revenge, he might not have been so detested by Myeongshin and would not have broken down like this.
Even if that was the result that would have happened anyway, it was certain that it came about more quickly because of me. 

The reason why I felt so responsible and concerned about this was because… Right, he was ‘Hansoo’.
I remembered the unpleasant feeling I had that followed me when he introduced himself on the first day we met.
I guess I am pretty sentimental too.

After a day or two of absence, I visited Alice’s Labyrinth and the manager guided me to the boss’s office first.
I had a hunch that he was going to call for me, so I was preparing myself in advance.
It was obvious that he was going to tell me to give it a shot with the madman.

Anyway, I had something to ask the madman so I planned to end the conversation with the boss quickly.
But I was at a loss for words from his unexpected first greeting.

“You came from working at the gas station today too.” 

“…”

“Huhu, no need to be so surprised by my deduction skills all the time.
That aside, do you have a good plan?”

 

What plan? He immediately noticed the question that appeared on my face.

“Ah, I’m talking about revenge, revenge! You have to bring that punk down right now!” 

The boss waved his clenched fists.

“So when are you going to bring him down?”

“… After all preparations are complete.”

The truth is, there was still a long way to go before I could bring Myeongshin down.
Fortunately, the overexcitement faded from his face. 

“Preparation? Hmm, making Dream’s Director… Yoon a sponsor? Hey… Baekwon doesn’t know who Director Yoon is, do you?”

When I affirmed, he said, ‘Of course’ with a strange expression on his face.
Why was he reacting strangely whenever we talked about Director Yoon? Moreover, with those restless eyes.

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“Do you have anything to say about Director Yoon?”

When I asked, he coughed in vain to hide his embarrassment. 

“Hmmm, no, I don’t have anything to say…”

So there was something he really wanted to say.
This time I narrowed my eyes and stared at him, and he secretly avoided his gaze and changed the subject.

“A-Ask Jay about the Director Yoon.
Well, if you want to approach Director Yoon, it would be better to get to know Jay.
No, no one else but Jay.”

He said the same thing as the madman.
These two were quite close, weren’t they? 

“Are the two of you old friends?”

“… Something similar?”

“Similar? Are you relatives?”

“Not relatives.” 

He let out a suspicious voice as I watched him crinkle his face as if he was uncomfortable.

“Are you two close?”

 

“That’s right! It’s like we’re one flesh!”

The boss raised his voice with excitement, but soon lowered his voice with a cough. 

“Hmmm, well, close to that extent.”

“…”

“Ah, it’s true?”

I guessed he was hiding something from his squeaky voice.
I nodded my head to say I understood. 

“Is the boss also close with Director Yoon?”

“Of course we’re close.
Director Yoon is…”

Is…? I wanted to hear the next word, but the president swallowed the word and changed the topic.

“You’ll find out later, why didn’t you come yesterday?” 

It’s not enough to get an attendance check from the madman, and now I had to get it from the boss too.
I sighed and replied that I had something going on.
Then he replied that it wasn’t a big deal.

“Is that so? Sounds like someone you know is going through something and you’ve been told to mind your own business.”

“…”

“More importantly, today…” 

“How did you know?”

I subconsciously blurted out a stern question.
Frankly, it was creepy.
His casually spewing words stabbed all the points where I was uncomfortable.
However, the president still spoke casually.

“You said you had something going on.
From Baekwon’s personality, you don’t seem like you particularly care about anyone.
So since you couldn’t have said kind words to the other person, the result is obvious.
The other person must have cut you off and told you to mind your own business in a bad mood.”

He added indifferently, explaining quickly as if tired. 

“It’s not something unexpected so it’s no big deal right? Let’s focus on our Jay more than that.”

Then he held out a business card.

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“Go there, Jay is waiting for you.
Can you hold your liquor? Jay is rather innocent so he’s a lightweight.
I think there’s a party over here, so go and have a drink instead.
It’s a chance to get to know each other a little while holding each other’s hands and hugging each other so that the other guys can’t even touch him, hm?”

I couldn’t perceive the smiling face of the boss, who spoke nonsense innocently.
Even though I knew that this person was not that formidable, I was surprised yet again.
It was also true that it hit the nail on the head unexpectedly, but this time, one more thing surprised me.
Or rather, It would be more correct to say that I realized it. 

The boss was moved to tears by my story, but the most important person to him was the madman.
Someone I should pay more attention to, according to him.
But why would he be willing to set me up with that man without any hesitation? I was only now stupidly asking a simple question that I should have thought of first.

“Why are you trying to set me up with Jay whom you adore so much?”

The president who was grinning with his imagination running wild then slowly turned solemn.
If he had answered, “I want to help you,” I might have been offended and stood up.
Fortunately, I got an honest answer.

“Because you’re the one Jay is interested in.” 

“You mean it doesn’t matter if it’s a man?”

“It’s the first time in five years that he’s shown an interest in someone,even if it’s a rotten opportunity, shouldn’t I grab onto it?”

… So I’m the rotten opportunity.

“Normally, if anyone approaches him, he either buries him cleanly or crushes him to the point where they can’t get out of the house.
Baekwon is the first person he cherished enough to bring into his place of work.” 

Confusion came the second time I heard the word ‘cherished’.
Maybe I was misunderstanding what that word meant?

“Besides, after hearing Lee Baekwon’s story, I couldn’t help but help you.
It’s not that I was touched or anything like that.”

He hardened his face, but the corners of his eyes were already moist.

“Fortunately, I also liked Baekwon’s personality.” 

“How many times have you seen me?”

“Huhu, that’s what I like about you.”

“…”

“In normal circumstances, if someone says they would help, one would see it as a good opportunity and take advantage of it, but you ask why.
You’re so honest that the other person might even take their offer of help back because they were offended.” 

“Nothing is free in the world.
So I couldn’t completely understand it.”

The boss smiled again.
But it was a smile that felt different from before.
This time, I was sure that the smile was similar to that of the madman.

 

“Lee Baekwon.”

I heard a kind and soft voice, but I only trusted the eyes of the other person who wasn’t smiling.
Questions that entered my ears were filtered like sand and spread inside. 

“Do you believe that people can change?”

“No.”

I answered without hesitation.
Then, a satisfied smile spread in the eyes of the boss.

“I think so too.
People don’t change.
That’s why even if you were shitty in the past, no matter how much you improved, your nature hasn’t changed, that’s why you’re getting revenge.
If you’ve really changed, you shouldn’t want to avenge yourself.” 

“What does that have to do with my question?”

“That is the reason.
I believe that people don’t change, so it doesn’t matter if you’re a man as long as Jay shows interest in you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.
If you think I haven’t changed, shouldn’t you want to keep me farther away…”

“I think you’re mistaken, but you’re not the one whom I believe hasn’t changed.” 

For a moment, I felt like I had been hit by cold water.
The boss realized what I had realized and let out a bitter laugh.

“Because I want Jay to be able to genuinely smile like he used to.”