Right now, the employees of LS Entertainment were all fired up over a single keyword: “HS.”
The female staff were not only replaying HS fancams among themselves dozens of times, but some had even set him as their phone wallpaper.
And that was not all.
The upcoming digital showdown between HS and Mateo was a massive topic not only across the United States but in Korea as well.
And today, at last,
News had come that Mateo and HS would be meeting in person, so everyone in management, Team 1 and Team 2 alike, were sitting together talking about nothing else.
“Wow, is this even real? It feels too unreal, you know.”
“What do you mean, unreal?”
“No, I mean, it is not like HS is going to him, Mateo is the one coming here in person.”
“He can come, what is so strange about that?”
Some people still could not believe that the world-famous composer Mateo was actually coming to meet HS.
Others said it was perfectly plausible if it was HS, and nodded along.
Meanwhile, due to the request to prepare a dedicated limousine and reception room, the executives who found out HS was going to meet Mateo were saying,
“He really never has a quiet day, does he?”
“Tell me about it.”
They sounded like they were not even surprised anymore.
Of course. The CEO seemed a little different.
“If anything gets settled between the two of them…”
Yes.
“I would like you to proceed with the promotion in a very aggressive way.”
He looked like he was quietly hoping the digital showdown between Mateo and HS would actually be realized.
Meanwhile, in the engineering room, another massive betting pool was underway.
“Shouldn’t we raise the scale of the stakes this time?”
“Yeah, the opponent is Mateo. We should put at least 200,000 won per person.”
As others hyped up the idea of raising the stakes, Gi Yeonseon flinched and asked back,
“T… two hundred thousand won?”
For good reason.
The monthly allowance he received from his wife was exactly 200,000 won.
If he lost this bet, he would be losing an entire month of allowance in one shot.
“Knock it off already!”
At that moment, as if speaking for Gi Yeonseon’s heart, another engineer jumped to his feet and stopped them.
“You are not kids. What do you mean, 200,000 won.”
Then he gave a wide grin and added,
“Let us go big and make it 300,000 won each.”
The others let out cheers at his words, and in an instant the atmosphere in the room heated up.
“Wow, now that is a real man. I am in for 300,000.”
“So, is the other team joining too?”
“Damn, this is going to feel like a performance bonus.”
Contrary to Gi Yeonseon’s hopes, the stakes had gotten much bigger.
In the end, he thought of the secret emergency fund he had hidden away.
It was painful, but he would have to break that.
If you call yourself a man, you cannot back out of a sure thing like this.
“Yeonseon, you are not thinking of dropping out, are you?”
“No. Not a chance.”
At his firm answer, the others shouted in delight again.
Soon, with arms folded, each of them fell into thought about where they should place their bet.
Then one of the engineers snapped his fingers and spoke.
“I have decided. I am betting on Mateo this time.”
“Why?”
“Because experience is not just a word people came up with for no reason.”
At that, everyone nodded and said that was true.
After all, he was not just some well-known domestic composer but a world-famous composer who had put hundreds of songs onto the Billboard charts.
He was a composer to whom the label “master,” rarely used in pop music, was attached, so it was natural that people agreed.
However, mGi Yeonseon was the only one who did not nod along.
“Hmm…”
Instead, he tilted his head and let out a doubtful murmur, as if he could not agree.
“What about you, Yeonseon?”
The engineer who had loudly declared he was betting on Mateo turned to him and asked again.
“You think HS will win this time too?”
“Well, I mean, just the fact that Mateo came to see him first is already…”
Trailing off, Gi Yeonseon scratched the back of his head and added,
“Hasn’t Mateo already lost to HS?”
Thus began the betting that had Gi Yeonseon’s emergency fund on the line.
As soon as Mateo arrived in Korea, he followed the LS security staff who had come to meet him and got into the limousine.
Still.
Seeing that they had gone to the trouble of sending people and a car in proper form, it seemed the kid was not completely lacking in manners.
“No.”
He shook his head, trying to get rid of the positive thought about HS.
The reason he had come here today was not because he had been played by a kid, nor because he had any intention of playing along.
He had no intention whatsoever of doing something as childish as a digital showdown.
He had come for one reason only.
To settle things with HS out of concern for his daughter.
Yes.
Today, he would not get worked up like last time, and he would not let himself be drawn into that brat’s pace.
Clack.
Just as Mateo was calming himself and making that resolution,
“We have arrived. Please step out, I will guide you to the reception room.”
The security guard opened the door and gestured for him to get out.
When he stepped out in front of the lobby, the scale of the LS Entertainment building was quite impressive. They had said it was a first-tier entertainment company in Korea, within that country at least.
“If he is a contracted in-house composer at a place like this, his income must be fairly stable.”
Mateo was in the middle of mentally scoring HS in his head when,
“Kyaaaah!”
A group of people standing nearby screamed at the top of their lungs as they saw the limousine.
Judging by the placards in their hands that said “HS,” they seemed to think HS was the one getting out of the car.
Apparently, he rumor that HS was a very successful composer in Korea was not just talk.
When he looked around, the area around the building was packed with women holding placards with “HS” written on them.
“As expected, a guy that popular will not do.”
Thinking that, Mateo followed the security guard toward the lobby.
Step, step.
The people who passed him by paused, tilting their heads for a moment, then,
“Gasp, i-is that, Mateo?”
“Is he really here to do a digital showdown with HS?”
They began whispering among themselves with shocked faces. He could not understand the Korean being spoken, but he heard his name in the middle of it, so it seemed they had realized who he was.
This was going to be troublesome.
Still, it was something he had to endure for his daughter’s sake.
Step, step.
Mateo deliberately quickened his pace.
If he stood out any more, weird rumors would start circulating in Korea.
For example.
“Mateo personally comes to Korea to seek the opinion of junior composer HS.”
Some trashy headline like that.
No, but were they not leading him too far inside? That thought occurred to him right around the time,
“Here we are.”
The security guard stopped in front of a huge door that looked like it had been made from solidly worked old wood.
Knock, knock.
He rapped on the door lightly and said, “He has arrived,” politely addressing HS inside.
However, there was no answer from within. He knocked once, twice, three times more, but there was no sign of anyone. Not even a hint that someone was inside.
Was the door simply too thick for any sound to be heard?
“Open the door so we can at least check whether he is inside.”
At Mateo’s instruction, the guard, looking flustered, took out his phone.
“You are early.”
At that moment, a voice came from the side, and when he turned his head,
“Nice to meet you, I am HS.”
A man with a very familiar, or rather annoyingly handsome, face was holding out his hand for a handshake.
Ah.
So his daughter really did go for looks.
After firmly telling the security guard not to leave his post and to stay right outside, Hyunseung entered the reception room together with Mateo.
Because he had heard from Sarah that there were rumors Mateo was “gay.”
Of course.
He had never heard anything like that in his previous life, so it might just be a “they say so” rumor. Still, there was nothing wrong with being cautious.
First of all, even though it felt a bit creepy, he was extremely curious why this man was so obsessed with his relationship with Sarah Stewart.
That was why hhad called him over to Korea. If they talked face to face, he would be able to know for sure.
“His face?”
Hyunseung gazed quietly at Mateo’s face, a man he was meeting again across lives. Since they had known each other in the previous life, it was natural that he found him familiar, but in a way he felt familiar in another sense too.
“Is it because the face looks younger?”
Staring intently at Mateo, Hyunseung tilted his head.
“Do you not think it is rude to stare at someone in front of you to that extent?”
Unable to endure that stare any longer, Mateo furrowed his brow and snapped.
“Why did you say you wanted to talk in person?”
Instead of answering, Hyunseung looked at the wrinkle forming between Mateo’s brows.
“Can you not hear me?”
There was something familiar about him.
Not a sense of déjà vu, but the feeling that he had seen something very similar somewhere.
“Are you ignoring me right now?”
The way he ended his sentences sharply, the Indian dimples that appeared when he frowned, the particularly full upper lip.
“And I already did not like that you were not here waiting first when I arrived, but now you look like you have no intention of talking at all, so I am going to leave.”
Even the way he walked when he was angry.
He had definitely seen it recently.
“Wait a moment.”
As Mateo rose and headed for the door, Hyunseung jumped up and called out to stop him.
Then he followed him up from his seat and slowly opened his mouth.
“Since we have met like this, how about we each share one secret?”
At that, Mateo snorted as if it was absurd and shot back,
“What? Are you seriously saying you called me here to play some childish secret-friend game?”
“Why are you so angry? You do not even know what kind of secret I am going to tell you.”
“I have no interest in your secrets.”
When Hyunseung asked with a mischievous face, “Really?” Mateo again got caught up in his pace and shouted,
“Yes. I just want to know what you are to Sarah Stewart. That is it. I have no intention of having some childish digital showdown or playing some silly secret-friend game.”
“If you tell me one secret, then I will honestly tell you about my relationship with Sarah Stewart. How does that sound?”
“What? Are you trying to make a deal with me?”
“If you go back as you are now, you will not get anything, and it will just be like you came all this way to Korea to visit some junior composer. Are you fine with that?”
Mateo felt the back of his neck stiffen like he was about to collapse from high blood pressure on the spot. Before coming, he had sworn to himself he would not be drawn into his pace.
Yet somehow, the entire mood in the room was already under HS’s control.
“I guarantee it is a secret that will surprise you, so why not sit down calmly and hear it.”
Not wanting to see that sly smile on HS’s face, Mateo turned back and went to the sofa.
“All right then.”
Taking one spot on the sofa, he added with a mocking tone,
“Let me see how amazing this secret is.”
Sitting down opposite him, Hyunseung picked up his teacup.
Clink.
He gently swirled the cup and savored the rising aroma.
“Hm.”
Watching HS’s relaxed manner, Mateo felt like he was just toying with him.
“If you do not start talking right now, I am going back to America.”
“I have an elder I am very fond of, and he always says this.”
Setting the cup back down, Hyunseung continued.
“He says you should not live life too quickly or with too much force.”
“You are a kid, stop giving useless advice and just talk.”
“I was just about to.”
In truth, this was the advice Hyunseung himself was worst at following.
He had only said it because seeing Mateo so worked up made him want to drag things out a little.
Then crossing his legs, Hyunseung finally revealed his secret.
“The truth is, I am composer HS and I am also Choi Jihyun.”
The moment he finished speaking,
Slump.
The leg Mateo had crossed lost all strength and slipped down.
Leave a Reply