Chapter 19: An Unsettling Silence

As Yoonseo sat there, unable to do anything but sigh, someone knocked on the editing room door.

When he replied with a “Yes,” the door opened slightly.

“Seonbaenim, you should eat.”

Youngwoo was smiling as he peeked his head through the doorway.

Had it gotten that late already?

He checked the time on his phone and saw that it was almost noon.

“Are you very busy? Should I bring you a boxed lunch?”

“No, it’s okay.”

It seemed much better to be among people than to be cooped up alone in the small editing room.

Yoonseo got up from his seat and left the editing room with Youngwoo, heading for the break room.

Boxed lunches were piled up like a mountain on the large table.

“Ugh, I’m so tired.”

As Yoonseo was undoing the rubber band that held his disposable utensils together, PD Yoo Jeongjin walked over, stretching widely.

Yoo Jeongjin pulled up a chair and, looking at Yoonseo, asked,

“Yoonseo, how’s it going?”

“I’m working on the epilogue right now.”

“Wow, already? I don’t know if I can finish before the screening…”

Yoo Jeongjin, who was in charge of the ‘On the Scene 24 Hours’ segment, was the most experienced PD on the production team, besides Team Leader Kim.

He was also a senior who had helped Yoonseo a lot when he was struggling shortly after his debut.

“Seonbaenim, you finished filming late this time, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, we just finished yesterday afternoon… so I pulled an all-nighter.”

As Jeongjin was tilting his head from side to side and opening the lid of his lunch box, a few others came into the break room to eat.

Yoonseo spotted Chaewon and handed her her lunch box and utensils.

Chaewon winked and sat down opposite him.

“Look at PD Yoonseo’s sense. PD Jeongjin, you should learn from him.”

Writer Kim Hanbyul, who had come in after Chaewon, playfully hit Jeongjin on the back as she chided him.

The impact seemed to be as great as the sound, as Jeongjin winced and squirmed.

Although they bickered on the outside, the two had worked together for a long time and were close.

But if you actually asked them if they were close, they would both vehemently deny it.

As if to prove the saying that a strong denial is a strong affirmation.

“Our writer’s hand seems to get heavier every day. Ah, I’m in so much pain, I don’t think I can edit. I still have a mountain of work to do.”

“That’s why I told you to just film on the weekend. Who was it that asked to schedule the shoot on a weekday because they had plans? Next time, I’m really going to send you on a 24-hour deserted island experience.”

“Yoonseo, I live my life being threatened like this every day… Isn’t it pathetic? I’m already a lost cause, but don’t you lose your pride as a PD.”

Jeongjin, with an exaggeratedly pained expression, grumbled to Yoonseo while making room for Hanbyul.

As Jeongjin was skillfully handling Hanbyul’s grumbling, Hyunjoo and Bora entered the break room.

Youngwoo made room for the two of them, grabbed a few lunch boxes, and left.

Hyunjoo, as she snapped a pair of wooden chopsticks in half, spoke in a slightly louder voice, as if for everyone to hear.

“The department head is coming around three-thirty. The screening order is Sehee, Yoonseo, Seongjae, Jeongjin. That’s how we decided.”

“Oh… I guess I’m in the most serious state.”

“Yes. Get it done somehow while the other teams are screening.”

“Yes, sir. I understand.”

As Jeongjin even saluted and spoke in a sharp, disciplined voice, Hyunjoo let out a remark mixed with a disbelieving laugh, saying, “You’re good with your words.”

Hanbyul shook her head at Jeongjin and then, as if she had thought of something, looked at Hyunjoo and asked,

“Unni, do you know a PD named Kim Injun? PD Jeongjin, do you know him by any chance?”

Yoonseo’s hand, which had just picked up his chopsticks, flinched.

He hadn’t expected that name to come up in conversation.

His eyes wavered in bewilderment, but he tried his best to act nonchalant, as if he were concentrating on eating.

“I don’t know. The name sounds familiar, but I’m not sure.”

“I know who he is. We were at the same production company when he was on ‘Good Morning Today.’ You’re talking about the PD who’s in the Sports Department now, right? I saw him a few days ago.”

Instead of Hyunjoo, who had answered uncertainly with a tilted head, it was Jeongjin who spoke up.

No matter how small the broadcasting world was, he hadn’t known that there was someone who knew Kim Injun right next to him.

And it seemed Jeongjin was even acquainted with him.

“Are you close, PD-nim?”

“No. We just greeted each other in passing since we were in the same office.”

Jeongjin replied nonchalantly to Hanbyul’s question and scooped up a large mouthful of rice.

Yoonseo barely managed to chew and swallow his food, then got up and walked to the water cooler in the corner.

His mouth felt constantly dry, and he kept drinking water, while Hanbyul continued in a soft voice.

“A friend of mine started working here about a week ago on ‘Baseball Together.’ But she said that PD-nim suddenly didn’t come to work today and isn’t answering his phone. So she asked me to ask around if anyone knew him.”

Yoonseo threw the soggy disposable paper cup in the trash but couldn’t return to his seat.

So Kim Injun hadn’t come to work and wasn’t answering his phone.

His now-moistened mouth and throat went dry again.

Only when Hyunjoo asked with wide, surprised eyes was Yoonseo able to return to his seat.

“Did something happen on his way to work?”

“She said that before the meeting yesterday, he said he had to make a call and then suddenly came back pale, packed his things, and left. And he didn’t come to work today, and it seems he’s not even answering the director’s calls.”

“Did something bad happen? He didn’t seem like the type to just disappear.”

As everyone tilted their heads in confusion, only Yoonseo bit his lower lip.

So Kim Injun had disappeared without a word.

It was a situation where he couldn’t help but remember what Taekyung had said yesterday.

‘That PD, you probably won’t see him later. Maybe you’ll never see him again.’

While Yoonseo was mulling over Taekyung’s words, his team members started to voice their own uncertain speculations.

Maybe something had happened to his family.

But even so, it was too irresponsible to not even answer his phone.

Maybe he had gotten into an accident.

But Yoonseo couldn’t agree with any of it.

‘You owe me one more time, PD-nim.’

‘Then you won’t be able to refuse my request, right?’

It was because of those words, which he couldn’t just dismiss.

Han Taekyung had seemed so confident when he had said them.

As if he were certain that he wouldn’t be able to ignore his kindness this time, that he would end up granting his request.

“PD Jeongjin, can you ask the other PDs you know?”

“Okay.”

At Hanbyul’s words, Jeongjin immediately took out his phone.

As Hyunjoo also offered to ask around, Yoonseo squeezed the phone in his hoodie pocket.

He could just ignore Kim Injun’s disappearance, and in fact, it was a relief not to have to see him, but he couldn’t just brush it off.

It was because he was certain that Kim Injun’s disappearance was not unrelated to him.

He didn’t know how it had happened, but he was sure that Han Taekyung had done something.

And it was because of him, of all people.

“PD-nim, why are you eating so little? Are you tired?”

“Ah… no. I was just thinking about something…”

Yoonseo gave Chaewon, who was asking with concern, a bright smile and then started eating his lunch box again.

But he couldn’t really taste the food.

The disappeared Kim Injun, Han Taekyung’s confident voice, and himself, unable to do anything.

Everything was a mess, but amidst it all, a vague premonition made Yoonseo feel helpless.

This time, he might be the one to contact Taekyung first.

Even Team Leader Kim, who had heard Hanbyul’s story, had used his connections to ask around, but no one who knew Kim Injun’s whereabouts had appeared.

The conclusion that it was a simple disappearance was reached after the news that Kim Injun hadn’t come to work the next day either.

As it was also the day of the broadcast, everyone was busy, and Kim Injun was pushed to the back of their minds.

After finishing the final mix and dubbing, he had taken a short nap on the sofa in the editing room, and when he woke up, there were about two hours left until the live broadcast.

After confirming that there were no calls for him, Yoonseo sat up, let out a sigh, and closed and opened his tired eyes.

He had wondered if he would get a call from Taekyung, but there were no messages or missed calls from him.

He had thought that if he were really involved in Kim Injun’s disappearance, he would be gloating about it right away, saying it was now his turn to grant his request, so it was unexpected.

Was he wrong?

Was it just as people had speculated, that something bad had happened to his family or that he had a personal problem and couldn’t be contacted?

Yoonseo went into his message box and looked at the messages exchanged with the still-unsaved number.

After the message ‘I’m on my way up too,’ the conversation with Taekyung had ended.

Should he ask?

Or would it be better to just pretend not to know?

Yoonseo, who had been weighing his options, buried his face in his hands.

Either way, the feeling of being played in Taekyyung’s hands was unpleasant, and only a futile sigh escaped him.

“…”

Yoonseo, who had bit his lip hard, squeezed his phone.

He couldn’t keep repeating the same foolish thoughts.

If Taekyung had really done something because of him, he had to at least know the details so he could think about how to deal with Kim Injun if he ever came back.

If it had nothing to do with Taekyung, then he could just stop worrying about it.