The Man I Wasn’t Supposed to Meet

His eyelids opened, and his clear pupils turned toward the ceiling.

No trace of sleepiness could be found on his face, which had been exhaling breath as quietly as a dead person.

He didn’t even hope to sleep when people slept.

Just five hours, no, three hours….

If even that wasn’t allowed, he wanted to fall into a deep, uninterrupted sleep for even one hour.

For a damn mutant, even that was a luxury.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had woken up with the refreshing feeling of not having a splitting headache.

“Goo Yoo Hyun….”

Taehwa brought up the name he had been repeating in his mind since before closing his eyes and rolled it around in his mouth.

The tactile sensation and warmth of pure existence he hadn’t felt in a long time.

A contact that caused no pain whatsoever.

He thought and thought about that moment, which passed so briefly it was hard to be sure.

The paper coupon with ten round spaces all stamped had only stunned him on the day itself.

From the next day, after coming to his senses, he did quite a few laughable things based on that coupon.

Like going to that cafe, presenting the coupon, and asking if they could identify the owner.

Or sitting stationed at that cafe for about a week, observing the faces of every customer who came in.

Or, suddenly feeling pathetic, giving up, and asking his older sister, Tae-young, for the list of after-party attendees, then sitting at home and cross-checking them one by one.

That’s how desperate he was.

Even if it was only a possibility, if he could be normal, even in a limited way…

He wanted to meet him again….

It wasn’t about what he would do or how he would do it if they met.

He just wanted to confirm whether what he felt that day was really not his misconception.

He shuffled out into the living room and leaned his body against the sofa.

Within arm’s reach was a pile of documents he had been reading.

About three hours before he would go into the bedroom, thinking he might be able to sleep today thanks to the languor enveloping his whole body, he had been looking at extremely detailed personal information—detailed enough to make Goo Yoo Hyun himself let out a great shout if he knew.

The moment he heard he was a celebrity, Taehwa sighed inwardly without anyone knowing.

An idol.

Why hadn’t he thought of that?

The slim build like models on the runway, the hair color that was impossible to guess under reddish lighting, and the appearance of wearing inexplicably difficult brand clothes—even though it would have been stranger if he were a regular person, he had been barking up the wrong tree.

He quickly skimmed over parts easily found through an internet search, like name, age, and debut year.

‘Choi Jong-ik seems to have a one-sided sexual interest in him?’

He was well aware of Choi Jong-ik’s rumors.

That he was a notorious womanizer and liked to play dirty.

He was far from liking men.

Then, was Goo Yoo Hyun of that orientation?

Sometimes, people who claimed to be heterosexual only realized they were bisexual after meeting a homosexual…

Taehwa, who had never been interested in someone else’s sexual orientation in his life, was pondering it for a long time when he suddenly turned his head toward the entrance.

A rapid electronic beep sounded, and not long after, Ji-ho appeared, shouting loudly.

“You told Hyun-soo you’d invest on the condition of casting that guy! That guy you said you helped or whatever!”

Taehwa put down what he was reading and greeted his brother-in-law, who had come running at dawn, without much warmth.

“Did my sister send you?”

“Are you going to ask me to find you a lover again?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you really insane?”

Ji-ho, who was once his inseparable friend but had now become his wife’s errand boy.

Taehwa got up and moved.

Ji-ho followed behind Taehwa, chattering nonstop.

“Why are you human? Humans learn, they learn! Do you have no learning ability? Do you think Yeon Se-jun will bat an eye because you do that? He’ll probably just snort, thinking you’ll give up anyway. Taehwa-yah, can’t you just marry Yeon Se-jun now? What’s the reason you can’t? Try saying it at least.”

“…….”

“Frankly speaking, if you just accept it, where in the world is there a more peaceful relationship than you two? You’re Imprinted to each other, your family backgrounds are similar, you’re close…”

Taehwa, who was emptying a half-full water bottle, finally, upon hearing the words ‘peaceful relationship,’ crumpled the empty bottle, threw it in a corner, and asked with a displeased look.

“Did my sister tell you to say that?”

“Don’t drag Tae-young Noona into this, you brat. This is what I’ve thought all along. You just need to change your thinking a little. That thing you did, trying to break off the engagement by bringing in people you’re not even dating to mess with Se-jun—I know about it, my sister knows, Se-jun knows, everyone knows.”

“I told you so you’d know. You should know.”

As Taehwa moved, Ji-ho followed again, rattling on.

“Sometimes I wonder if you two guys would have been burning with passion if your families had opposed it.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Joo Taehwa. Hey. That habit of deliberately seeking out only harmful relationships—isn’t it time to stop that now?”

“Sit down. Why are you standing and talking?”

Taehwa leaned his large body fully back on the sofa and muttered indifferently with a smile-less face.

“If I were deliberately seeking out only harmful relationships, then of course that’s a sickness. But I’m not.”

What do you mean you’re not! Ji-ho looked at his frustrating brother-in-law and pounded his chest.

Taehwa’s desired annulment of the engagement wouldn’t be that easy.

Because Se-jun saved Taehwa’s life, and even now, as time has passed, he still holds that lifeline.

Anyway, with it being in the news on such a large scale, there were no other alternatives either.

For years, Taehwa had been creating fake lovers to irritate his fiancé Se-jun, but if that had been effective, they should have broken off the engagement long ago.

“No, then what if this guy doesn’t go along with your plan this time? What if he gets a taste of the money and sticks to you like taffy, taking what you give and not letting go?!”

Seeing that Ji-ho wasn’t likely to back down easily, Taehwa raised an eyebrow as if tired.

“What do I do? I’ll just attach him.”

“Is that as easy as you say? He’s pretty, right? You were also smitten by that face, weren’t you? Joo Taehwa, if you’re doing this because you’re completely taken by his face, that’s really not it. Think again. If he doesn’t let go, you’ll just attach him? That’s what they call getting played for a fool, man!”

Taehwa wanted to throw Ji-ho out the front door if he could.

His friend and brother-in-law, backed by his wife’s orders, usually didn’t leave on days like this.

Was there no choice but to scare him…?

Taehwa, who had roughly washed his face, let out a long sigh and looked at Ji-ho with lifeless eyes.

“Yoon Ji-ho.”

“What, what.”

The cold gaze seemed exactly like that of a stranger, making Ji-ho unconsciously take a step back.

Now he saw that his eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn’t slept well.

“If you called me, say something!”

“I’m trying my best to solve the problem using the common sense that applies here.”

So this is the only way after all.

Taehwa was no stranger to that kind of fear from those close to him.

He averted his gaze from Ji-ho, who was turning pale, imagining who knows what, and picked up the conversation lightly, as if joking.

“No one will get hurt, and no one will die. It’s not such a bad method, is it?”

****

A meeting for the unofficial audition.

Yoo Hyun, who arrived at the cafe thirty minutes earlier than the scheduled time, went to a secluded seat to avoid people’s eyes.

“Please enjoy….”

The employee placed an iced americano and glanced at Yoo Hyun.

Even though he had meticulously covered his face with a hat and mask, it seemed they had recognized him.

When Yoo Hyun slightly bowed his head, the employee started and hurried away as if they had seen a ghost.

Feeling awkward at the sensitive reaction, he took off his hat and put it back on a couple of times.

Maybe they hadn’t recognized him after all…?

Even where the air conditioner was blasting, the high-necked, long-sleeved shirt was definitely hot.

If it weren’t for the Name, he would just wear sleeveless tops.

Yoo Hyun took out the straw and gulped down the cold drink.

Zzzzing—His phone vibrated, pushing against the table.

[Director Baek says something came up and he’ll be about twenty minutes late. Should I come pick you up now?]

He easily pictured Sangjin’s face, heart sinking at Director Baek’s message.

After telling him not to worry and speaking boldly, today’s Sangjin had dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept properly for days.

He had insisted on driving himself, but Sangjin forcibly made him sit in the passenger seat and drove him in his own car, looking more nervous than the person taking the audition.

Thinking about it now, it was funny.

He said it was okay even if he failed, but he was doing all the worrying himself.

Yoo Hyun chuckled softly.

Sangjin had dropped Yoo Hyun off in front of the cafe and returned to the company.

Since he was offering to come pick him up right away, it seemed he hadn’t gone far, but there was no need to make him do the bothersome task.

[It’s twenty minutes, not two hours. I’ll just wait.]

Yoo Hyun sent a reply and finished his drink.

He should order another one when the director arrives later.

He was tilting the glass with condensation to pour the ice into his mouth and crunching on it when—

“Are you here to meet Director Baek Hyun-soo?”

Hearing the director’s name, Yoo Hyun stood up.

He took off his mask and hat and was bending his waist when he froze with a creak.

He had arrived twenty minutes earlier than the agreed time and had just received a text that the director would be late, so Director Baek couldn’t possibly have arrived already.

Who is it? He hadn’t heard that anyone other than the director was coming…

Hastily chewing and swallowing the ice in his mouth, Yoo Hyun looked up and met eyes with a strange man.

Yoo Hyun had never met the director and didn’t know his face, but he was certain this wasn’t Baek Hyun-soo.

If Baek Hyun-soo looked like that, there should have been rumors in the film industry about a director more handsome than the actors making movies.

That’s what he looked like.

The modifier ‘more handsome than an actor’ suited him.

It was an appearance that even Yoo Hyun, who had considerable pride in his own looks and had met many celebrities, wasn’t immune to.

“…….”

Yoo Hyun, who had been considering possibilities like the iris being a much lighter color compared to the jet-black hair, belatedly realized his gaze had lingered impolitely long.

He quickly averted his eyes from the man to the ice-filled glass and offered a greeting.

“Ah, hello.”

“Yes. Long time no see.”

Yoo Hyun, who had been certain it was their first meeting, visibly faltered.

Long time no see?

If he had seen a man like that before, there was no way he wouldn’t remember.

Still, the tone was too casual for stating something untrue.

As he stood there hesitantly with various thoughts, the unfamiliar man spoke in a voice tinged with laughter, offering a seat.

“You’re not waiting for me to sit, are you? I’m not that formal, so please sit.”

He tentatively sat down, his rear barely touching the seat, and racked his brain.

Recently, he rarely went outside, and he hardly ever met people to begin with.

The only place he could have met someone like this would be at an awards ceremony at best.