Chapter 55: The Call That Made His Heart Beat Again

While Yoojun gave a short cough without saying much, Sayoung spoke up again.

“But what brings you to call?”

His voice asking trembled slightly.

Yoojun wouldn’t have called without a reason, but since he couldn’t guess the reason, his heart pounded.

Yoojun didn’t answer Sayoung’s question immediately either.

Sayoung gripped his knee tightly with the hand not holding the phone.

The words Yoojun intended to say would be important, but Sayoung found it fascinating that he was nervous and his heart was pounding right now.

Until Yoojun called, Sayoung felt like a person without a heart.

As if only the shell of a dead heart was planted in his chest, he had no reason to feel a beat at all.

Anyway, since he was proceeding with revenge, it would be natural to feel expectation, excitement, or at least fear of failure, but Sayoung’s heart just stood still as if it had forgotten how to beat.

But now, just hearing Yoojun’s voice and waiting made his heart race.

Expectation, excitement, fear, and worry all rushed in at once.

Sayoung repeatedly rubbed his palm on his knee and gripped the hem of his clothes tightly, finding it unfamiliar and fascinating above all else.

Before long, Yoojun spoke up.

—”What are you doing this evening?”

Sayoung found that question strange.

Sayoung wasn’t doing anything.

He was a person who had forgotten how to do something.

It had been so long since he heard questions like what are you doing, what do you plan to do, or do you have time.

“I am… I am….”

—”What. Are you busy?”

Yoojun asked, immediately showing his displeasure.

Sayoung had no reason to be busy.

Whether before death or now, he was a person with almost no reason to go out of the house.

The only difference between then and now was whether there was someone who recognized that Sayoung was a person capable of going out, a person who could go out and run around busily.

“No. I have nothing.”

—”That’s good. Let’s have dinner or something with me.”

“Dinner…?”

—”Yes. Dinner. No, I don’t mean just eating together… it’s because I have something to say. Something to say.”

Yoojun rambled on as if making excuses.

Sayoung understood Yoojun adding words like excuses.

He wouldn’t want to look like he was suggesting a meal just because he wanted to eat with him for no reason.

Sayoung didn’t feel particularly bad about that fact either.

It was already troublesome enough for Yoojun to get entangled with him, so it was natural that he didn’t want to give room to get more personally entangled with Sayoung.

Sayoung was just curious about what Yoojun had to say.

Sayoung answered obediently.

“Yes. I’m okay with it.”

—”Hmm. Then I’ll come pick you up at 7, so get ready.”

“If you tell me the place, I’ll go there. I can go alone.”

—”…Just do as I say.”

“…Yes. I’ll get ready and wait.”

Rather, this was the point Sayoung couldn’t understand.

Now his leg was fully healed, so Sayoung could drive alone.

Yoojun didn’t have to take the trouble to come all the way here to pick him up, so why did he insist on coming?

Sayoung found that harder to understand than the suggestion to eat dinner together.

Nevertheless, the reason he didn’t ask back and answered obediently was that he didn’t want to go against Yoojun’s mood.

Perhaps Yoojun had a valid reason Sayoung couldn’t guess, and even if there was no reason, if he wanted it, Sayoung had no reason to refuse.

—”Hanging up.”

Having said that, Yoojun hung up the phone abruptly before Sayoung could even answer.

Only after confirming the call was completely disconnected did Sayoung put down the phone beside him.

He had something to do.

Although there was still a lot of time until evening, he now had a schedule to prepare for in time.

Sayoung clenched and unclenched his fist again.

He even wiggled his toes once.

He felt alive.

He felt like he could feel his heart beating and blood circulating in his body entirely.

Sayoung, who meticulously accepted the unfamiliar sensations without missing them, took a deep breath, turned his head, and looked at the desolate living room.

Suddenly, Yoojun’s voice came to mind.

‘Are you only going to take revenge this time? Does it end with just that? You are living right now, Mr. Yoon Sayoung.’

After dying and coming back to life, Sayoung hadn’t thought much about ‘living’.

Sayoung’s purpose was solely revenge.

Taking revenge on Han Jaewoo was such an overwhelming task in itself that he had no energy to think about goals like living properly or regaining a normal life.

‘Then live a bit like a human.’

There is a person who told such a Sayoung for the first time to live like a human, to pay some attention to living like a person.

Although the tone certainly wasn’t affectionate or warm, such things couldn’t be important to Sayoung now.

Sayoung just focused on the content of those words.

Waiting for the evening time to approach, Sayoung tried to recall how he lived before meeting Han Jaewoo.

It felt similar to finding a small box in a pile of garbage stacked like a mountain, but the fact that he was trying awakened a different sensation.

Should I just try growing a plant?

Not to fill the time waiting for Han Jaewoo, but just with the purpose of growing a plant, should I buy a flowerpot?

Sayoung began to fumble and make trivial but difficult plans.

****

Time was passing.

“I’m dying….”

Yoojun put his phone on the nightstand with an expression literally saying he was dying and collapsed face down onto the bed as he was.

He felt completely exhausted, but it was certainly not because he went to work out.

Going to work out was an extremely ordinary daily routine.

Yoojun didn’t skip working out even while taking a short break.

Since filming was ahead, body management was essential.

Physical strength management was natural, and body shape management including weight was also important.

He couldn’t be relieved just because it was a historical drama and he would wear many layers of clothes.

Basically, only when the body was well-toned did the clothes fit well even when wearing many layers.

There was an exposure scene scheduled, but even without exposure, Yoojun was always the type to manage strictly.

It was the same even when taking a long break.

The first quality an actor must possess is naturally acting ability.

Not all actors need to have handsome looks.

However, Yoojun had handsome looks no matter what anyone said, and he thought there was no reason not to use that natural advantage.

There are those who try to prove their sincerity about acting by ruining their appearance, but Yoojun didn’t sympathize with their thoughts.

Two advantages can sufficiently coexist.

Yoojun always strived to move in a direction that maximized both appearance and acting ability.

So, just as he worked out as usual, returned home, took a shower, and was about to take a short rest.

Yoojun received a phone call.

It was a call from Director Jung Myeong-cheol.

The moment he saw that name on the phone screen, he had a strong premonition: ‘This is it.’

It could have been a call just to schedule a meal, or contact to deliver news that they decided to pick someone else for the role of Seo Danwoo, but somehow he got a feeling.

And Yoojun’s premonition hit the mark very accurately.

Yoojun heard from Director Jung that they eventually decided to cast Sayoung for the role of Seo Danwoo.

From the fact that the director contacted him first and directly again this time without making someone else do it, he could know once again how favorably the director viewed Yoojun.

Yoojun’s nervousness started right from then.

It was definitely good news.

In fact, Yoojun was genuinely relieved while talking to the director on the phone.

Even if Sayoung didn’t take the role of Seo Danwoo, they could have plotted things in other ways, but not just for revenge, honestly, Yoojun hoped Sayoung would genuinely take that role.

If he were to make an excuse, he could say it was because he suited the role of Seo Danwoo the most.

Although he observed because Sayoung was the starting point, still, throughout the audition, Yoojun seriously watched other actors’ acting and carefully observed if there was really no actor who suited the work well, or if there was someone who could do better than Sayoung.

As a result, Yoojun could understand better than anyone why Director Jung tried to choose Sayoung even taking the risk of commotion.

Unless one hadn’t seen Sayoung acting as Seo Danwoo, if one had greed for the work, one couldn’t choose anyone else even after seeing him.

But even that wasn’t actually Yoojun’s real reason.

He could use it as a plausible excuse for others, but he couldn’t deceive himself with such a trick.

Yoojun just.

He just wanted Sayoung to start acting again.

Whether the start was for revenge or whatever, he wanted him to come out of that space where not a single blade of grass seemed likely to grow and live a life, and he hoped that start would be taking the role of Seo Danwoo.

So Yoojun was genuinely happy when he heard Director Jung’s decision.

To the extent that he was surprised himself by the emotion he felt.

And Yoojun’s new worry started from then.

It was genuinely difficult to decide how to deliver this happy news to Sayoung.

It was easy to call and deliver the words, but the problem was that he didn’t want to inform him like that.

Yoojun wanted to check with his own eyes the expression Sayoung would make the moment he heard this news, the aura he would exude, and perhaps the happiness he might express for the first time.

To do that, he couldn’t inform him by phone or such.

He had to meet him in person.

That was exactly the reason why Yoojun called Sayoung just now.