CH 41

“So, did you come to Korea after studying in the US?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

“Why did you come to Korea?”

Putting the glass to his lips, Lee Wooyeon smiled softly without saying a word.

His father, who could not keep his son in a mental hospital because of his social status, asked a relative to send him to Korea under the pretext of recuperation. According to his father, people like him needed to suffer a little to come to their senses.

Lee Wooyeon, who was living a life close to confinement in a remote mountainous area where it was surprising how electricity was available, knocked down the manager who was guarding the hut and came to Seoul. And he immediately went to an entertainment company and asked if he could become an actor.

That was the fucking secret story that brought Lee Wooyeon to where he is today.

“Rumor says that you came to Korea against your parents will for acting because you came from a very prestigious family, is that right?”

That’s right. He was kicked out. He got kicked out because he was crazy. He almost went to jail for doing something crazy. Of course, as they said, because of his prestigious family, he was put in a mental hospital with a good name, not a prison but a sanatorium. Lee Wooyeon smiled kindly and did not say those words out loud.

That day was an accident. An accident that occurred due to a moment of carelessness in which the person he had been suppressing showed up and his real self personality was revealed. It started with the opponent who was waving bananas while mocking him, calling him names before the match and deliberately kicking his shin during the match. It was a particularly bad day, and the match didn’t go as well as he had hoped, but the fire was ignited. After the match, he went to the opposing team’s locker room and trampled on the player until he collapsed. Hearing this, one might think it was a common fight between people of the same age, but if they looked closely, the hairs on their body would stand in fright.

The opposing player who provoked him was so injured that he could not use one of his hands, and his cornea was almost peeled off, eventually losing his sight. It was such a tragic situation that it was considered a miracle to be alive. Not only that, the opposing team player and the same team player who stopped him were also injured. Among them, there were several students who were injured to the point that they could not play at all. Everyone said he was going to jail, but he was released into a mental asylum. At that time, Lee Wooyeon couldn’t help but admit that money could really solve anything. Of course, his illness could not be solved even with money in the end.

After a series of tests, he was diagnosed with a lifelong quarantine. Lee Wooyeon quietly remembered the face of his mother, who calmly listened to the doctor’s explanation that his innate temperament could not be changed.

As usual, he read various emotions from his mother’s eyes.

Shame and anger, fear and sorrow, and despair. 

Isn’t it sad when a person is sick? He really doesn’t know why he couldn’t just kill a living thing?  ‘Can’t you really understand why you shouldn’t hurt people?’ His mother held her son’s hands and asked earnestly several times. At that time, he had stopped pretending to be kind, so he honestly smiled and told the truth.

‘I’m not sad. I don’t really know what sadness is. Why not kill it? It’s terribly annoying. It doesn’t matter if you die or not. Hahaha. What if I get a little hurt? You get hurt after a car accident, it’s similar. Yes, I’m serious. Shit, what can I say? I was born like this. Let’s accept what we can’t help.’

With a beautiful smile on her son’s face, saying that, the mother let go of the ugly thing. After the visit, the mother returned home that day and attempted suicide. She couldn’t accept the fact that her son wasn’t a sick patient, but that he was born intact and that the God she loved so much gave her such a monster.

Of course, it was a brief show as she had her wrists cut in the bathtub of a house full of employees. But for his father, even the brief show was a huge event. When his father, who had appeared dazed for a few days, talked about it for a long time, he did not show any particular reaction.

He wasn’t really worried because he thought that if she really wanted to die anyway, she wouldn’t have chosen that way. He just thought about it for a moment, then said that it would be difficult for her to play tennis for a while.

Upon hearing his words, his father jumped up from his seat and left. That was the last time. After a while he was expelled to Korea.

“Really? Did you come to Korea to act?”

“… … .”

As if she had accepted Lee Wooyeon’s silence as a positive, she screamed while blinking her lashes covered with mascara.

“I think the rumors are true. Totally cool.”

The actress sitting next to Lee Wooyeon was one of the famous idol members, and the so-called agency put her in a small role in the drama. Without noticing, she clung to Lee Wooyeon and asked about it, so no one thought of stopping her. He thought it was rude, but in fact, everyone was curious about Lee Wooyeon’s past.

“Are there any rumors?”

Lee Wooyeon asked with a smile as if surprised.

“Of course. Other than that, what was it? Oh right. Wooyeon, I heard that your family is some kind of aristocratic family. Hey, this is a lie. Where are the nobles in America?”

To be precise, his grandfather was of British aristocratic descent. However, Lee Wooyeon could not be regarded as belonging to that family because he was a son brought by his mother when she remarried. Lee Wooyeon smiled enthusiastically.

“Lee Wooyeon Oppa, don’t you have a girlfriend?”

She glanced at the people around her and grabbed his arm and asked in a charming way. Lee Wooyeon pretended to check his cell phone by pulling his hand out.

There was a text message. The sender was his manager. Lee Wooyeon was about to go out to check on Inseop, who said he was going to the bathroom, but didn’t come back.

A smile fell on Lee Wooyeon’s lips as he checked the text.

“Oh, Wooyeon oppa. Where are you going?”

“I’ll go out for a while.”

Lee Wooyeon politely apologized to the people around him and stood up.

When Inseop saw his face while washing his face in the bathroom, he was terribly surprised. His lips were torn and his cheeks were swollen red, so no matter how much he looked at it, it was like advertising that someone had hit him.

Unable to return to his seat, he sent a text message to Lee Wooyeon saying he would wait in the car. He turned on the music in the car and sat back with the seat back.

Tears flowed down his cheeks as he remembered the two Jennies who would no longer exist in the world. Not one of them, he could protect. He didn’t get any help. Even now, he ran to the drinking party and questioned Kang Youngmo about the horse medicine! He must have been the one who broke the reins! That person was a bad guy! He was the bad guy! He wanted to shout. But he had no evidence. For a short period of time, he was able to feel the way this world was going to make his bones ache.

Now, if Inseop said that he was beaten by Kang Youngmo, his relationship with Lee Wooyeon would become even more awkward, and the filming of the drama may be disrupted. Then, as a matter of fact, Inseop would be fired.

It wasn;t unfair to get fired. In the end, he just hated his own incompetence, because he had no choice but to step back without being able to solve anything. What kind of  a grown man was he to lock himself in the car and cry out.

Should he go away? Should he go to America? Can’t he just throw it all away and go to America, take care of Jennie’s grave for the rest of his life, and live with a heart of atonement?

“Jennie….”

Inseop closed his eyes as he called out a name from which there was no answer. Jennie, Jennie, Jennie, Jennie, Jennie … . I miss you, my one and only friend.

Then someone knocked on the car glass. Inseop was startled and got up from his seat and lowered the glass of the car.

“I’ll take the car out soon…”

He said that as he had double-parked because there was no parking space, but the person looking at him from outside the car was unexpected.

“What are you doing here?”

“…I am tired.”

Choi Inseop thought it was fortunate that the lights in the car were not on. He won’t be able to see the scars on his face in the dark lighting in the parking lot.

“Okay. I haven’t been able to sleep at all these days. I also want to sleep next to you if possible.”

Seeing Lee Wooyeon smiling softly, Inseop breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. But the words that followed made his heart sink an inch or so.

“But who did that?”

“Yes?”

“Your face.”

“I fell.”

Lee Wooyeon reached out to the inside of the car glass. The white hand approaching from the darkness was terrifying. Inseop unconsciously tried to pull back, but his chin was caught.

Lee Wooyeon, who was looking at his face, as if examining, muttered to himself.

“Can you fall and get hurt like this?”

“… ”

“Who hit you?”

Choi Inseop hesitated for a moment whether he should confess everything that happened with Kang Youngmo. But he kept his mouth shut and shook his head.

“I fell. This is what happened when I slipped down the stairs.”

Lee Wooyeon grabbed Inseop’s cheek with the other hand. The feeling of the cold palms made Inseop’s heart warm and his eyes widened.

Lee Wooyeon, who always had a smiling face, opened his eyes slender and spoke in a cold voice.

“It’s annoying for you to keep getting hurt.”

“… Yes?”

“It’s unpleasant.”

Choi Inseop didn’t know what to answer, so he stuttered, as if he was sorry, and apologized.

“If you know you’re sorry, then be careful.”

“Yes.”

“Go home for today. I can take a taxi and go back. You tell Manager Cha about the car.”

“No. I’m fine.”

Lee Wooyeon’s eyes softened.

“Go home.”

It was a voice so resolute that anyone would understand that it was a command, not a request. Choi Inseop had no choice but to nod his head.