Chapter 31: The Man who shouldn’t share a screen with Me.

“Um, didn’t you say they were originally going to cast Lee Mingyu?”

Jeongmin perked up his ears at the content of Yoojun’s call coming from the back seat while driving. Not only was Yoojun’s voice sunk low, but the nature of the conversation was unusual.

They were on their way back after finishing a magazine interview. Yoojun was scheduled to rest without other work until starting the next movie shoot. The interview today, which had been scheduled in advance, was his last agenda before the next project.

“No, he isn’t someone I know well. I was just surprised because it’s a bit unexpected.”

Yoojun continued to speak in a calm voice, but Jeongmin, who had known Yoojun for a long time, noticed that his mood was quite uncomfortable.

“No. Casting is ultimately the director’s inherent right, so it isn’t my place to argue. If you thought that was the best choice, Director, then I am fine with it too.”

If it was the role Lee Mingyu was considered for, it was the role of ‘Kang Museong’, a major character who leads the central story together with and stands in opposition to the protagonist, ‘Kang Mujun’.

He remembered talking with Yoojun about how it was good because Lee Mingyu was a quite appropriate casting in terms of image and acting skills.

Did a problem occur with casting that role? Jeongmin’s expression became serious as well.

“Yes, I think so too. Yes. Then I will see you on the audition day.”

Yoojun ended the call without adding more words. Jeongmin quickly opened his mouth.

“Is it the director?”

“Yeah.”

At Yoojun’s calm answer, Jeongmin briefly admired him inwardly. Although it was daily life for a big star like Kim Yoojun to be treated like an emperor wherever he went, Director Jung Myeongcheol, the director of <Summer Solstice>, was a master acknowledged even on the world stage.

For such a director to contact him personally and ask for understanding regarding casting in advance. He realized anew how great Yoojun’s position as an actor was.

Jeongmin, whose shoulders shrugged with pride even though it wasn’t his own ability, cleared his throat once for no reason and asked again.

“Why? Did he say he cast someone else for Kang Museong?”

“Yeah. It turned out that way.”

“Who?”

“…Han Jaewoo.”

“What?!”

Jeongmin was so surprised he almost stopped the car. He wondered if he had heard correctly. Jeongmin raised his voice and asked again.

“Han Jaewoo?”

“Yeah. Han Jaewoo.”

“Whoa….”

A raw reaction popped straight out of Jeongmin’s mouth. He really hadn’t expected Han Jaewoo’s name to pop up here at all. Jeongmin, suddenly flooded with annoyance, spoke with a frown.

“Ah, why does he keep getting entangled with you, hyung?”

“Well… since it’s such a good work, they must have been greedy for it too.”

“No, that’s true, but…! I keep getting the feeling that it’s not just because of the work.”

At Jeongmin’s voice muttering as if it were completely unsettling, Yoojun kept his mouth shut and looked out the window. If he hadn’t heard it from Sayoung first, Yoojun would have been surprised and unsettled just like Jeongmin.

From a certain moment, Yoojun acted believing everything Sayoung said was true, but when the future he informed him of came right once again, it was fascinating all over again.

To think that knowing the future like this is because he died once and turned back time. It was more realistic to say that a nonexistent precognitive ability had suddenly appeared.

According to Sayoung, the reason Jaewoo’s feelings, which were merely light interest in Yoojun, deepened rapidly was starting from after they worked on this project together. Yoojun also couldn’t know why Jaewoo became so sincere about him.

Even until the moment Sayoung died, Han Jaewoo reportedly hadn’t achieved any progress with the Yoojun of that timeline.

The reason was simple. Because Yoojun didn’t feel even a shred of affection for Jaewoo. It wasn’t a feeling that would change just because time passed.

However, Han Jaewoo seemed to consider the fact that he was a married man to be the biggest obstacle.

At Yoojun’s attitude of not letting him close even while working together, Jaewoo fretted more as days passed. Eventually, by the time filming ended, he had completely fallen for Kim Yoojun, and from then on, his attitude toward Sayoung became even more vicious.

Synthesizing the story, it was clear that even the Kim Yoojun before knowing Sayoung didn’t have even a speck of feeling for Han Jaewoo. That would also be why Sayoung didn’t include Yoojun in the targets of his revenge.

Even if Yoojun didn’t intend it, his action of putting up excessive walls might have consequently influenced Jaewoo’s emotions. Of course, even if that were so, it wasn’t Yoojun’s fault, and there was no reason for Yoojun to care or take responsibility.

But why does a corner of his heart continue to feel uncomfortable despite knowing that?

“…Are you okay, hyung?”

Jeongmin, who had been gently gauging the mood at Yoojun’s silence in the meantime, asked cautiously. Yoojun answered, ‘About what?’ without taking his eyes off the window. Jeongmin continued with an awkward expression.

“No, just… you dislike Han Jaewoo too, hyung. It’ll be uncomfortable if you work together….”

“What can I do. I have to do it since the director cast him. I can’t always work only with people I like.”

“That is true….”

Yoojun’s words were not wrong. Since there are so many diverse groups of people in the entertainment industry, one couldn’t always work only with those they fit well with or liked. If desired, there were ways, but that would require the actor to overstep and interfere with casting, which was one of the actions Yoojun truly hated.

“Sigh…. Whatever the case, it feels unsettled….”

Jeongmin muttered in a voice small enough not to be heard in the back this time. Although there was nothing Jeongmin, the manager, could do when the actor said it was okay, disliking it was still disliking it.

For Jeongmin, who knew how high Yoojun’s expectations were for this movie, he just hoped Han Jaewoo wouldn’t cause trouble in various ways.

In fact, he had no idea that Yoon Sayoung was also preparing to jump into this movie.

****

When the doorbell rang, Sayoung was half asleep in an ambiguous posture that was neither lying down nor sitting on the sofa.

Lately, sleep would pour over him if he went out even for a moment. He couldn’t tell if it was because of his injured leg, his mind full of thoughts, or if there was something like a side effect of turning back time.

Perhaps it was simply because it was winter. Sayoung had found it hard to endure the cold of winter from before.

Silence becomes deeper and thicker when it meets cold air. Whenever he felt suffocated by that freezing temperature, Sayoung used to crawl under heavy blankets and get hopelessly drunk on sleep.

People said Sayoung was a lazy person who indulged in luxury with the money his spouse earned and didn’t even do housework. The Sayoung of that time did not know how they could chatter about the daily life of Sayoung, who was buried inside the house.

‘Did I fall asleep?’

While Sayoung couldn’t come to his senses immediately and was only blinking his eyes slowly, the doorbell rang again. Only then did Sayoung straighten his waist which had been leaning on the sofa.

There is no one to visit this house. Because his mother is a person who is careful and delicate in everything, she never barged in blindly without contacting in advance.

Kim Yoojun, the only stranger who had come to this house since Sayoung moved in, had already left.

Sayoung’s heart beat in an anxious way. The intrusion of a stranger he hadn’t thought of evoked an unfamiliar fear.

Sayoung reached out, gripped his crutch tightly as if holding a weapon, and approached the intercom while killing his footsteps as much as possible, relying on the crutch. The face on the screen was very familiar. But even though it was a familiar face, he couldn’t be relieved.

The person in front of the house was Han Jaewoo’s manager, Choi Eunseong.

Sayoung stood in front of it without answering and tried to guess why Eunseong had come to find him. He recalled that the photo taken with Yoojun at the hospital had been published as an article.

He had thought that it would definitely touch a nerve with Han Jaewoo, but he didn’t know he would send his manager this instantly.

Once he roughly guessed who the opponent was and the reason for the visit, the mind that had felt vague fear settled down. Sayoung slowly pressed the call button on the intercom and opened his mouth.

“Hello, Eunseong”

The face beyond the screen flinched in surprise, then soon smiled awkwardly.

[Ah, hello, Sayoung]

At one time, Sayoung was grateful to him, and also walked on eggshells around him. Sometimes, he envied him for staying closest to Han Jaewoo at all times.

There were times he missed Jaewoo so much that he wished, like a joke, that he would rather become Jaewoo’s manager. Upon seeing Eunseong’s face, the foolish emotions that had been inside him in the past days came to mind vividly.

Even after exchanging greetings, Eunseong still looked flustered. He peeked around the entrance wondering if the door might be open, and realizing the door was still firmly locked, he opened his mouth toward the screen again.

[Um… I came because the actor sent me. He heard the news that you were discharged after being injured and told me to deliver a gift….]

While speaking, Eunseong couldn’t look at one place and continuously shifted his gaze here and there.

Sayoung, who was quietly listening to those words from inside the door, unwittingly burst into a smirk. Even in a trivial sentence, it showed how difficult Eunseong found Jaewoo.

It was a pitiful, yet also laughable sight.