They Came to Ruin My Exhibition… But Ended Up Shocked Instead

The sneer at the corner of Seonwoo’s lips deepened.

Baek Jeongha would probably be at today’s exhibition too, playing the part of Seo Haeyoon’s insignificant lover.

Right then and there, Seonwoo wanted to show Haeyoon once and for all who would ultimately win Baek Jeongha.

“Ready?”

Just then, he heard Jaeyeol’s voice behind him.

Seonwoo naturally changed his expression, turned around, and after confirming Jaeyeol’s appearance, frowned slightly.

“Wow, you put a lot of effort into this?”

Jaeyeol, wearing clothes Seonwoo had never seen before—perhaps newly bought—averted his gaze with an awkward expression and answered.

“There’s no need to go looking shabby.”

“Well, I suppose that’s true.”

Seonwoo didn’t press further and readily agreed.

The better Jaeyeol looked in Seo Haeyoon’s eyes, the better.

That way, Haeyoon would realize what he had lost to Seonwoo and feel miserable.

“You’re the one who dressed up so much.”

This time, Jaeyeol asked.

In his eyes, Ahn Seonwoo was so flashy that he wondered if it was even necessary.

Seonwoo shrugged lightly, approached Jaeyeol, linked arms with him, and spoke.

“Did you forget?

We’re going to show Seo Haeyoon how well we’re doing.”

“…….”

“So we have to dress even better.

We’re going to meet the person who stabbed me in the back.”

“…Right.”

Jaeyeol found the answer unconvincing, but not wanting to pick a fight, he nodded.

It was Ahn Seonwoo who had hooked up with Oh Jaeyeol, Haeyoon’s ex-lover first, yet every time he made a big deal about Haeyoon dating Baek Jeongha as if it were a great betrayal, it felt subtly uncomfortable.

Aside from being shameless, it almost seemed like Seonwoo valued Baek Jeongha more in his life than Oh Jaeyeol.

“Shall we go now?

They said Haeyoon has an event today, so we should see that.”

“Yeah.

We should be leaving now.”

Unaware of Jaeyeol’s suspicion, Seonwoo continued in an excited voice.

Jaeyeol answered calmly and checked his reflection in the mirror one last time.

The image of Haeyoon, who had coldly lashed out at him last time, had continued to trouble Jaeyeol’s heart ever since.

The sharp tone of Haeyoon, who had never once raised his voice at him during their long relationship, had wounded his pride, and he also felt sorrowful for having forever lost Haeyoon’s kindness.

So today, Jaeyeol wanted to look ‘good’ to Haeyoon.

He wanted to make him forget the pathetic sight he had shown while drunk, and at the same time, he wanted to revive the memories of the time when Haeyoon loved him.

Harboring feelings neither could guess, the two left the house together for Haeyoon’s exhibition.

* * * *

“What?

Why are your hands so cold?”

Jeongha, quietly covering the back of Haeyoon’s clasped hands on his knees, raised his voice, surprised by the ice-cold temperature.

The faint trembling was transmitted clearly through his palm.

Today, the first day of the exhibition, a short Q&A session with the artist and a fan signing event were scheduled.

Haeyoon was waiting in a temporary waiting room set up in an office inside the exhibition hall for the event to begin.

Jeongha could already feel that Haeyoon was nervous.

To others, sitting with his usual expressionless face, checking the script he had prepared, and quietly looking around might seem calm, but to Jeongha’s eyes, his tense expression and stiff movements were clear.

But he hadn’t expected his hands to be this icy.

Haeyoon grabbed Jeongha’s hands, which were gently massaging his own, and spoke.

“What if not many people come?”

“…Huh?”

“It suddenly got cold today.

People probably won’t want to leave their houses.

Right?

Who would come all the way out here in this cold to see the paintings of someone unproven…!”

“There are crowds of people outside right now.”

“…Huh?”

Once the floodgates opened, all the words he had been holding inside came rushing out.

It was Jeongha who stopped Haeyoon’s words, which were swimming into increasingly despairing imaginings.

Haeyoon’s gaze, which had been fixed on the floor, finally turned to Jeongha.

“I stepped outside for a bit, remember?

There are so many people.

Everyone looks happy.

You saw them too when you came in.”

“…That’s true, but.”

“If you don’t believe me, you can go out and see for yourself.”

Jeongha’s attitude was confident.

Haeyoon blinked blankly.

In fact, as Jeongha said, he had passed through the exhibition hall when he arrived, so he already knew there were visitors.

He had imagined an empty hall, so he was surprised to see more people than expected.

But that might be all of them.

They might have left quickly because the paintings weren’t as good as they thought, and even if they came to see the paintings, they might not be interested in the artist, leaving the Q&A and fan signing area empty.

The anxiety he hadn’t fully shaken off stirred up his insides.

Jeongha didn’t add anything more and waited quietly.

The worry and anxiety Haeyoon felt now were natural.

Showing others the results of your hard work is always burdensome for anyone, especially a first experience.

At the same time, Jeongha knew Seo Haeyoon well.

He knew he was a strong, solid person.

So rather than trying to comfort him with words, Jeongha just held his hands tightly and waited for him to calmly sort out his thoughts.

As expected, feeling the calmness and warmth Jeongha gave him, Haeyoon gradually settled his mind.

Until he came here, Haeyoon had done his best.

There wasn’t a single painting that didn’t contain his soul.

He hadn’t started this expecting great success.

He just wanted to repay the people who liked his paintings with better work.

So what if the hall wasn’t packed?

What if few people came to the signing?

If even a few people saw his paintings and felt the sincerity within them, that was enough.

“…Thank you.

My mind has calmed down a bit.”

“I didn’t do anything?

Still, I’m glad you’re calmer.”

Haeyoon smiled softly as he looked at Jeongha, who had soothed him maturely without a single word of common encouragement.

Jeongha’s expression turned serious in that moment.

“Hmm, but today… you know that Oh Jaeyeol and Ahn Seonwoo might come, right?”

“…Yeah.”

Jeongha carefully watched Haeyoon’s expression.

Haeyoon only answered a little slowly; he didn’t seem particularly reluctant or worried.

Since he had expected them to come and even sent invitations, Haeyoon was probably prepared.

But still, Jeongha wanted to check one more time.

“If you don’t want to see them, tell me.

I’ll make sure they never appear in front of you.”

He meant it.

And Haeyoon knew very well that with just one word from him, Jeongha would definitely do it.

Haeyoon shook his head lightly.

“No, it’s okay.

They came all this way, so I should at least thank them.”

His attitude was not just okay, but seemed relaxed.

Jeongha smiled slightly and nodded.

“Yeah.

Then that’s settled.”

Hearing Jeongha’s answer, Haeyoon turned his head toward the exhibition hall, where there were probably visitors admiring his work.

What mattered now wasn’t people like Oh Jaeyeol or Ahn Seonwoo.

What truly mattered in Haeyoon’s life was Baek Jeongha right before him, the friends who would come to support him, and the visitors who would grace this place with their presence.

People like Oh Jaeyeol and Ahn Seonwoo were just passing incidents.

That was all.

* * * *

“This is….”

“…….”

Entering the exhibition hall, Ahn Seonwoo and Oh Jaeyeol reflexively closed their mouths and stopped walking.

Seonwoo’s eyes, in particular, as he looked around the interior, trembled violently.

In truth, Seonwoo had been quite flustered since seeing the building where the exhibition was held.

No matter how much Seo Haeyoon had promoted his paintings on social media, he hadn’t been active long, nor did he have an impressive career to show off, so he had wondered how big an exhibition he could possibly hold.

He thought Seo Haeyoon wasn’t capable of handling a large-scale exhibition, and there was no way anyone would invest that much in him.

But the exhibition he saw was completely different from what Seonwoo had imagined.

The building, nestled in a scenic area integrated with nature even within the city, looked quite impressive from the outside.

Seonwoo, who had no interest in such things, didn’t know, but the gallery where Haeyoon’s exhibition was being held was considered the hottest space among the younger generation who enjoyed art, and it was a place many rookie artists dreamed of holding solo exhibitions.

It was a fairly large gallery, so to hold an exhibition for several days alone, you needed a considerable number of high-quality works and the ability to draw a crowd, making it a difficult space for rookies.

Seonwoo didn’t know any of that, but the impressive exterior of the exhibition hall alone was enough to surprise him.