Because Ahn Jiho insisted and insisted on buying dinner, Hyunseung had to leave in the middle of work and step out of the building.
“Such a pain.”
But the closer he got to the set-menu restaurant they had agreed on, his stomach grumbled like an alarm clock.
Since I am going anyway, I should eat a lot.
Once he parked and stepped into the restaurant, a delicious smell greeted him.
“Composer-nim!”
When he headed to the reserved room, this time it was Ahn Jiho who welcomed him.
With that mountain-sized frame greeting him so eagerly, he felt just like a big-breed dog.
Of course, he did not find it cute or pleasant.
“Perfect timing.”
While he took his seat, Ahn Jiho showed an almost over-the-top gladness, even pulling the chair out for him himself.
“Did you eat something wrong?”
Feeling burdened, Hyunseung frowned and asked, and with an innocent face, Ahn Jiho shook his head.
“No? I didn’t eat anything and just waited till you came.”
“Then why are you grinning like you’re missing a screw.”
As if he had not even realized he was smiling, Ahn Jiho asked, “I am?” and scratched the back of his head.
“Yes, you.”
Casting a suspicious look at him, Hyunseung added,
“You suddenly insist on buying me a meal. Are you doing this to get a song?”
“That’s not it.”
“Then why are you, so unlike yourself, acting this overbearing?”
At that, Ahn Jiho’s lips only opened and closed a moment.
“Because I am, th-thankful.”
He answered in a voice that sounded like it might crawl away.
Right.
The reason Jiho had called Hyunseung out today was to repay him for helping him successfully wrap the first day of drama filming.
What that meant was—
Jiho had practiced his acting while listening to the song Hyunseung had given him, and thanks to that, he had been able to pull off the emotional scene scheduled for day one.
Of course.
There was no way Hyunseung would know that. Jiho could not say it outright either.
Because if he told him, Hyunseung would surely look at him with every kind of grimace and say it was creepy.
“What are you talking about?”
Sure enough, unable to understand, Hyunseung raised one eyebrow and asked again.
“I’m just thankful for this and that and wanted to treat you at least once.”
Though the suspicion in his eyes did not disappear, his mouth was satisfied enough, as he gulped down the appetizer soup.
Good thing he eats well.
Watching that, something occurred to Jiho and he clapped his hands with a “Clap!” and spoke.
“Soon we’re having the wrap party after the production presentation. Do you want to come, Composer-nim?”
Wiping the soup from his lips, Hyunseung answered at once,
“Absolutely not.”
“Why?”
“All the industry folks will be there.”
“Most likely, yes.”
Furrowing his brow as if dredging up a memory, Hyunseung continued,
“There’s this one persistent, loud woman there, so I’m not going.”
He had already been invited to that wrap party by that woman, the Red Thread coordinator.
Even though he had refused several times, she kept texting once a day telling him to reconsider, and it was killing him.
Not only texts.
She kept calling like crazy, so he was seriously thinking about blocking her.
He had already promised to have a meal with the music director after the drama ended, and he was already worrying about how to wriggle out of that.
“Who’s the loud woman?”
At Jiho’s question, a woman’s voice, as if she were on a call, came from beyond the room.
“Like the voice you’re hearing outside right now, there’s this woman who’s a ruckus and acts like an old man….”
Trailing off, Hyunseung’s face went white.
Yes.
That voice. He did not know the face, but he was sure of that voice.
“Composer-nim?”
By instinct, Hyunseung brought a finger to his lips and gave a look that said, “Shh.”
If the owner of the voice beyond the threshold really was the Red Thread coordinator, then the moment she heard Jiho’s voice she would surely recognize him and try to say hi.
That, at least, had to be prevented.
“Hey, let’s go.”
Hyunseung put down the spoon he had been using and said,
“Now?”
“Yes, right now.”
“We’ve still got a lot of courses left.”
“I said let’s just go.”
At a loss for words, Jiho simply nodded.
If anyone was serious about eating, it was Hyunseung, and for him to leave in the middle of a meal, something urgent must have come up.
More than that…
Have I ever seen the Composer this flustered?
Judging by that expression he would never normally make, that flustered look…
This was not just “urgent.”
He thought it might be a major incident that would be hard to manage and that the Composer was in danger.
If so, isn’t this when I should be of help to him?
He had, in ways seen and unseen, received a lot of help from the man.
“Composer-nim.”
Jiho stopped Hyunseung, who was about to jump into the car and flee.
“What?”
He was not good at expressing himself because he felt shy, so he should repay him in some other way, somehow.
“Whatever it is, whatever happens, I will help. So contact me anytime.”
With eyes that shone with firm resolve, Jiho added one last line.
“Don’t overthink it. Promise.”
But what came back was:
“Did you change your concept from crying to striking poses now?”
A face that had settled down again and a listless answer.
“Pose Jiho, out.”
Figures. A “crisis” was not a thing that existed for him.
Early morning, with the sun just starting to edge up over the horizon.
“I’m heading out.”
After speaking toward his father’s door, Hyunseung left the house.
He should hurry to the office.
Consumed by the urge to capture the motifs that kept popping into his head, he had spent a sleepless night.
After a brief burst down the empty road…
Screech.
Gliding smoothly into the parking tower, Hyunseung took the corner, looking to snag a good spot.
Screech.
The kind of tire friction sound you would hear in a childhood driving game filled the wide interior.
“Oh.”
Just then, like a fish in water, as he happily drifted toward a prime spot—
Screeech!
He ran into a car coming out of another corner.
Luckily, because the speed was low, they avoided a collision.
“Hm?”
Calming his startled heart, he looked over toward the other vehicle and saw a familiar face.
“Executive Director Park?”
At the same time, having discovered the other driver was him, the man opened the door and came out, scolding out of nowhere.
“Hey, punk! What are you doing jumping out like that! I almost got into a damn accident first thing in the morning!”
He no longer found that side of him purely off-putting. Perhaps it was because he knew the man behind it now.
“Anyone can see I was going straight and you jumped out, Executive Director.”
“What does a pipsqueak like you know about driving to be giving me advice?”
At that, bristling, Hyunseung pushed back,
“I’ve been driving for a good ten ye—”
“What? Ten years?”
“No? I said three years.”
He feigned innocence and then abruptly changed the subject.
“But why are you coming in this early? Don’t executive directors usually show up later?”
“If I were that kind of executive director, I couldn’t have climbed this far. I always come out at this time, work out, then head to work.”
“Morning gym at this ungodly hour?”
“Yeah. The gym in the building is only empty at this hour.”
“So, what’s your big three total?”
“You need to hit five hundred at minimum to call yourself a man, don’t you think?”
“I thought you were prepping for a bodybuilding contest. Isn’t that heavy?”
“That kind of thing, what’s heavy about it.”
No matter how heavy something is, it is only heavy when you lift it for a moment.
There were far heavier things in Executive Park’s life.
For example… Poverty was one.
Being an executive director was one.
Being the head of a household was one.
Especially the name “dad” was so heavy it was frightening.
But it was a burden he could not set down. Even if it crushed him to death, it was one he had to carry.
This kid standing in front of him would know it too, once he became a father.
“So that giant build of yours wasn’t made for nothing.”
At that, Executive Park nodded and said, “Of course,” only for a moment.
“The older you get, the more thoroughly you have to manage yourself. A day will come when your body won’t allow you to lift even if you want to.”
He casually straightened the lapels of Hyunseung’s jacket and added,
“And if you are a man, your clothes should never be in disarray.”
Then he smiled soundlessly. Gratitude was in that smile.
Right.
In a way, it was something he had avoided facing, fearing that if even his daughter rejected him, he might collapse.
At that kid’s one line, he had gained strength and been able to face it, hadn’t he?
“No matter what anyone says, the father is you, Executive Director Park.”
Executive Park had not forgotten what Hyunseung said.
Now that he had become someone who could exchange messages with his daughter anytime, he truly must not forget.
Ding!
Right then a message came from his daughter.
[It must be morning in Korea now, right? Good morning, villain daddy! Make sure you eat well!]
While he had not been there to watch over her, his daughter had grown up so very much.
So much… that she could even tell when he was lying.
Since they had started talking again after a long time, his daughter had often been saying she wanted to come back to Korea. He did not ask why.
He had thought it was a white lie for the sake of his daughter and for the family, but it seemed it was not.
In the end, he and his wife agreed to a clean divorce, and it was decided that he would bring his daughter to live with him.
Anyway, her elementary school years in the States would soon be over, so he planned to bring her over when she graduated.
And what else did she say?
That she wanted to see The Moon in person? It stung a bit, but he also felt relieved that she was asking for something he could do for her.
Of course, their relationship would not flip like the back of a hand.
Even so, now that they had become people who could press the call button anytime, that was enough for now.
The distance that had grown between them could be filled slowly with new memories.
[You make sure to eat well too. Dad will come over soon.]
Just as Executive Park was sending that reply…
“Who is it that you’re smiling at like that?”
At Hyunseung’s question, Executive Park adjusted his expression and, for no reason, started nagging.
“It’s nothing. And stop holing up in the studio working all the time. Work out a little.”
Then, thinking that one day he would repay Hyunseung in a big way, he got into his car.
Honk!
Grinning impishly as if to say, Move, he tapped the horn.
“He says his piece and just leaves.”
Watching him, Hyunseung let out a brief laugh and got into his own car.
The face reflected in the windshield looked much more at ease than before.
He did not know the details, but it simply looked as if he had managed to set down just a little of the weight on his heart.
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