Changsik couldn’t make up his mind easily and kept fidgeting, so Cheonghyeon let out a small sigh and blurted out a single sentence.
“I just have something to think about while taking a walk. I saw my father earlier today too. I’ll take a short walk and be back.”
With those words spoken, Changsik had no authority to stop Cheonghyeon. He felt a pang of regret, realizing he’d forgotten amidst his busy schedule.
He’d seemed fine earlier, but he couldn’t possibly have been okay. Changsik finally nodded.
“Come home early. I’ll prepare something light for dinner, so make sure to eat it when you get back.”
Cheonghyeon nodded at the worried nagging and stepped out of the car.
A walking path happened to be nearby, and he thought it would be nice to just keep walking; it would clear his mind of distracting thoughts.
“I’ll be back. I might be late, so you should go to sleep first.”
Even though it was a winter night, the weather wasn’t particularly cold. The temperature was low, but perhaps because there was no wind, standing still even felt cozy.
Watching his warm breath meet the cold air and dissipate was quite addictive. Cheonghyeon stood at the start of the walking path for a long while, watching his breath scatter.
As he slowly moved his steps and emptied his mind, the events of the day naturally surfaced. He hadn’t realized it then, but Gi Cheonghyeon’s father and Gi Cheonghyeon himself looked exactly like the brother and sister he had met that afternoon.
On his first day here, he had quite liked the way he looked strangely cool when expressionless.
Now, he thought he could guess where that impression came from. Add self-righteousness, arrogance, sensitivity, and the weight of years to his own face, and that would be the face.
Just as that brother and sister had resembled each other, even in their eagerness to get one more shot on camera, perhaps Professor Gi and he also shared some similarities in personality. A slight smile escaped him.
Changsik, who arrived late, wouldn’t know, but when Gi Cheonghyeon’s father met his gaze, he clearly looked flustered.
Did he recognize his own child, even without affection? He scrutinized him thoroughly for a long moment. Then he went inside. But the moment when that sharp gaze met his, instantly crumbling into flustered confusion, kept coming back to him, making him chuckle.
He’d decided to take a walk to clear his head, but now it felt even more cluttered. He thought little time had passed, but walking without thought, an hour had flown by. He should probably head inside before it got colder.
“Oppa!”
Just as I was almost back at the lodge, a figure suddenly ran up and hugged me. No, right before hugging me, she elbowed me in the solar plexus and grabbed my neck. Startled by the person charging at me, the self-defense techniques I learned during my royal days came out automatically. This body probably knows nothing about self-defense now, but maybe it was because I practiced it thousands, tens of thousands of times since childhood. My body moved on its own.
“Ah, ahh…. This, just. Let go. Gah, ahh….”
Looking closer, it was a girl much younger than me. She could be eighteen at best. Flustered, I released her arms and gave her the water I was holding. It was fortunate the product for today’s commercial shoot was bottled water. She seemed a little calmer, so I looked at her face. Naturally, it was unfamiliar. Did Gi Cheonghyeon have a younger sister? I didn’t think I’d heard anything about that.
“Do you know me?”
The girl hesitated, as if she didn’t know how to answer. My eyes sharpened instinctively. The concept of a stalker fan naturally flashed through my mind.
“Who are you?”
“I just… really like you, oppa… I live nearby too, and I was passing by and got excited…”
As I stared at her sharply without saying a word, the girl gradually lowered her head. She crouched slightly, looking as if she might run away at any moment, so I gently grabbed her shoulder—ready to hold her back if needed.
“I’ll call my manager. Wait here.”
“Oppa, I just like you, that’s why I’m doing this. Why are you treating me like a criminal? I liked you even when you weren’t popular. Now that you have fans, you don’t care anymore? Is that it?”
I froze at those words. I didn’t know what kind of blunder the old Gi Cheonghyeon had made, like giving his number to Ihwa. Seeing my hesitation, the girl grew even bolder in her rebuke.
“Wow, I had no idea your character was this awful, oppa. Seriously. What did I ever do for you? I liked you when you were nobody, and now this? I’m speechless.”
“What did I do for you?”
“Huh?”
“What did I do for you? Even if I did something, am I supposed to just tolerate you waiting outside my dorm in the middle of the night and then hugging me?”
Initially flustered, I sensed something was off as the girl continued speaking. If she had genuinely liked Gi Cheonghyeonand they had been close, Gi Cheonghyeon wouldn’t have committed suicide.
While I didn’t know the full details of the situation, I was certain that only Kwon Ihwa had been around Gi Cheonghyeon.
But clinging to Ihwa could only happen once or twice. With her busy work schedule, Gi Cheonghyeon’s timid personality would have made it hard to keep contacting her. That much was clear from the messages between Cheonghyeon and Ihwa.
Gi Cheonghyeon was always overly sensitive to others’ feelings, and Ihwa felt guilty whenever she couldn’t reply quickly to his messages. A relationship where both parties constantly felt sorry for each other didn’t seem healthy.
If there had been just one more person besides Ihwa by Gi Cheonghyeon’s side, he wouldn’t have made such an extreme choice.
At first, I was flustered, but after hearing the remark about why they were being treated like criminals when I’d only said I would call my manager, my conviction only grew stronger.
At my cold words, the girl bit her lip. While I briefly contacted Changsik on my phone, she slipped away.
A hollow laugh escaped my lips. As expected, she hadn’t truly liked Cheonghyeon.
Upon entering the dorm, the manager and Hando were putting on extra layers. Yoonwoo was standing outside the door, urging them to hurry up.
“Cheonghyeon, are you okay? Should I call the police right now?”
「Hyung, there’s a weird person here」
The moment Changsik received that message, his heart felt like it was dropping. Hando and Yoonwoo, who had been in the room, came out after seeing the frantic manager and immediately put on their clothes upon reading the message.
“It was nothing serious. A stalker fan? Something like that, I guess.”
“What? What did she look like? We should’ve reported these bastards to the police station, students or not.”
“It’s fine. She was just yelling something, and by the time I contacted you, she ran off.”
“What did she say? You actually listened to her? That kind of talk is all nonsense, not worth hearing.”
“Just… she said, ‘Why are you treating us like criminals when we liked you when you weren’t popular?’ I listened because I couldn’t remember if she was someone who genuinely liked me back then. But as I listened, I realized she wasn’t, so I got angry.”
Cheonghyeon’s calm words froze the atmosphere among the three men, who had been fuming, as if cold water had been poured on them. Changsik also forgot what to say, stuttering as if his brain had short-circuited.
As everyone watched him, Cheonghyeon smiled lightly.
“What’s with you guys? Nothing happened. I’m just exhausted from today’s shoot. I’m going to bed first. Hando and Yoonwoo, you guys should head to your rooms too.”
Cheonghyeon spoke as if it were nothing and went into his room, but the three men stood there, unable to say a word.
It felt like it was their fault that Cheonghyeon hadn’t been popular in the past, even though it wasn’t really their fault.
“Hyung, you know we can’t just let this slide, right? We should check the CCTV and hand it over to the police.”
“Of course. No matter what happens, I’ll catch them.”
They couldn’t forgive whoever had made such words come out of Cheonghyeon’s mouth.
Hando, Yoonwoo, and Changsik gritted their teeth at that stalker fan. They would catch her, no matter what.
[ My baby’s ad is on TV!!!!!!! ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ I was watching a drama with my mom just now and screamed in shockㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
└ Me too T_T Hahahahaha so freaking funny
└ Is the cafe going crazy right now because Cheonghyeon’s ad just popped up?? Hahahaha
└ Yep, I got so startled I came straight here Hahahaha
[Wait, my little brother Hahaha He doesn’t even watch Immortal Love, but suddenly he burst into the living room;; What’s up? I asked, and he said nothing and went back to his room… Looks like this little bastard also came running at the news of the Cheonghyeon ad]
└ Your little brother is cute hahaha But what if he sees the reaction and comes to watch~!~! The ad already passed ㅠㅠ
└ Exactly… Seems like a blockhead. But seeing him like Cheonghyeon, his eyes are properly fixed on him
└ Hahahahahahahahahaha Oh, I feel bad for my little brother T_T
[Waaah! Go check Director Jo Hanyoung’s Instagram! There’s a lighthearted making-of clip up T_T Cheonghyeon T_T T_T]
└ No way, this guy keeps tagging Cheonghyeon and posting creepy smiles on his stories, his mouth must be itching… I was like, “What a clingy asshole,” but honestly, I’d be itching to say something too… How did he hold back?
└ Yep, lol
[ High School Ver. (http://godingGI.youtuve)
College Ver. (http://daedingGI.youtuve)
Office Worker ver. (http://zicdingGI.youtuve)
Everyone go to YouTube lol. I’m hyper-quoting. Kim!!!!! All three are over 60 seconds >_< ]
└ Gyaaah, thank you T_T
└ Gsgsg Praise the diligent strawberry S2
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