T/N: Second hand embarrassment is real omggg
The night in Seoul, after the sun had set.
“Ahem, hem!”
Maybe because he was extremely nervous, Kim Woohyun kept clearing his throat as it kept tightening up.
“Hoo…”
In his hands, he was holding a lavish bouquet of flowers.
And, in his other hand, he was holding an action camera.
Why an action camera, out of nowhere?
Other people were doing the challenge too, so from one angle, how could it make sense for the person who was this song’s main character, its motif, and the very person who provided the inspiration, to not do it?
This was all…
For the song’s revival, and because the very purpose of Hyunseung making this song was to make his love come true, he wanted to repay that thought.
Of course.
‘If it goes well, that would be really great.’
But as heavy as his steps were, his mind was heavy too.
Yeah.
He was someone who would be leaving soon.
In a way, he might be doing something awful to her.
Still, he wanted to talk properly.
Even if he had to hide behind the song, and even if he had to use the challenge as an excuse, his heart…
He wanted to convey his sincerity.
Ding-a-ling!
When he opened the cafe door, with the lights on, and went inside, he saw her, who was just in the middle of doing closing cleanup.
“Welcome!”
Even at this point where it clearly looked like closing time, just as always, she greeted him with a smiling face.
“…Huh?”
But when she noticed him, her face gradually hardened.
He did not know if it was because she was startled, or because she was not happy to see him.
“Danbi.”
Maybe because he was nervous, even the voice calling her trembled thinly.
“I… I came because I have something to say.”
At those words, she slowly straightened the back she had been bent over and faced him head-on.
“Just a moment. I closed down the machine, so I can’t do coffee right now, but would you like a glass of water at least?”
“Uh, yes… thank you.”
“You look like you’re nervous, so sit here and let’s talk calmly.”
Sitting face to face with her, Kim Woohyun gulped down the water in a hurry, then spilled out the words he had prepared the whole way here.
“Co… Coffee begins with co….”
“Yes?”
“Latte begins with la….”
He did not have the confidence to meet her eyes, so he kept muttering while staring down at the action camera for no reason.
“Why do my happiness and my pain both start from you, Danbi?”
Kim Woohyun felt so ashamed of himself in this moment.
He felt so embarrassed and thought it was not manly.
This was not how he meant to say it so awkwardly.
Kim Woohyun clenched his fist under the table for a moment.
“The only person who can bring my feelings to an end, after it has already begun, is you, Danbi.”
He sharply raised his head and met her eyes exactly.
“Even though because of work, I’ll be going out to the U.S. for a long time, and there will be many days when I’ll leave you alone…”
He held out the bouquet he had been gripping in his hand and added:
“I want to spend my entire life with you.”
The die had already been cast, and the result that would come out now depended on what choice she would make.
“Hmm…”
For a moment, she looked at him with her arms folded and her eyes narrowed long and thin.
“I’ll watch you go to America and get settled, and then I’ll bring it to an end.”
“Yes?”
“Because I still can’t tell whether you, Woohyun, are my happiness or my pain.”
She moved the corners of her lips that curled up prettily and continued.
“I’ll watch you get settled in America in a cool way, and then I’ll choose.”
“Th-that means, then… you’re positive about marriage with me…”
“Not sure yet. I’ll see what you do from here on out.”
Then, taking the bouquet from Kim Woohyun’s hand as he stood there dazed, she added.
“For now, I’ll take the flowers. I think they’ll go well with my shop.”
Not long after, Kim Woohyun, having judged the situation, sprang up from his seat.
Crash, bang, bang!
At the same time, the chair he had been sitting on toppled backward, making a loud noise.
With a voice even firmer and bigger than that noise, Kim Woohyun shouted so loudly the cafe would fly away.
“Danbi, please make sure you watch me!”
Today, he gained one more reason to live even harder.
The next day.
Kim Woohyun could not bring himself to make public the video that captured his confession scene.
It was a bit disappointing that he could not participate in the challenge, but he has no intention of doing it in the future either.
Never.
It was not because he failed, and not because she did not accept him.
It was because his confession was still “in progress.”
Yeah.
After he goes to America and properly gets settled, he will challenge her again as an even cooler man.
“Heh heh.”
While Kim Woohyun was strolling along imagining newlywed life in America, he stopped at the sound of people murmuring.
“Did you see this?”
“This is insane.”
“But is the dating rumor real?”
“I don’t think so?”
What happened, for it to be this noisy?
When he peeked through the slightly open gap in the door, the employees of Management Team 2 were sitting gathered in a circle, looking at something.
Knock, knock!
Unable to hold back his curiosity, Kim Woohyun let them know he was there with a knock.
“Oh, Kim Woo…, Division Head!”
All at once, their gazes shot to Kim Woohyun.
And then Kim Woohyun blended into the group.
“Did something blow up?”
The fact that they were gathered and chatting noisily like this meant an issue had blown up in the entertainment world.
“Um… if it blew up, I guess you could say it blew up?”
But their reactions were strange. Their mouth corners kept twitching, and he could not tell if it was a good issue or a bad issue.
“What is it?”
Kim Woohyun snatched up the pad they were looking at and checked the contents.
Maybe it was not something they needed to hide anyway, because they handed it over without resistance.
[ Sarah Stewart posts a “call out” post on her personal SNS aimed at composer HS’s malicious commenters! ]
[ Mateo, following Sarah Stewart, uploads an “in defense of HS” post on his personal SNS, becomes a hot topic! ]
[ Critical voices about HS’s “Why Does Happiness Begin With You” quiet down due to Sarah Stewart’s influence…. ]
[ Dating rumors between Sarah Stewart and HS flare up again…. ]
Even at a glance, the entertainment article section was heated up.
The main character was, unsurprisingly, HS.
Ah.
If there was something surprising, it was that Sarah Stewart and Mateo stepped in?
Even if it is made as a joke, if the one who made it is an unprecedented genius, then that too becomes a work that pierces through a century.
For Sarah Stewart’s fiery temperament, it was a post that you could feel had been written quite calmly.
Of course, it did seem like it would become the perfect firewood to reignite the dating rumors that had quieted down.
To call his song a joke is something even I cannot do.
Still, with Mateo joining in as if in coordination and posting a defense of HS, this would probably have quite an effect.
Especially since for a while, the world had been noisy over the “HS vs Mateo” rivalry, his recognition would give Hyunseung tremendous power.
‘Hoo…’
Kim Woohyun let out a breath inside, as if he felt relieved.
He had forced himself to pretend not to know, telling himself the criticism that followed could not be helped, but it was not like he was not worried.
It was the first time he had been criticized for a song, and more than anything, because of his narration, it felt like even Hyunseung’s song was being undervalued.
But still.
Now, it feels like he can let his mind rest a bit. It seems that worrying about Hyunseung is not something only he does.
“Division Head, do you happen to know anything?”
At that moment, one employee asked Kim Woohyun, who had been lost in thought, with a sly expression.
It probably meant, tell us about the relationship between “HS” and “Sarah Stewart.”
“You mean between those two?”
When Kim Woohyun asked back, lifting his eyebrows, people’s eyes sparkled and they perked up their ears, saying, “Yes!”
Like little children waiting for Santa’s present.
“Hmm, well?”
“Huh?”
“I don’t know?”
At his teasing answer, the employees let out groans.
“Do you all have that much time?”
Kim Woohyun, with his face turning firm again, dismissed them.
“Go back to work.”
Guys, you can cry if you want.
Because.
There is no Santa.
Thanks to the unexpected posts from Sarah Stewart and Mateo, “Why Does Happiness Begin With You” kept taking first place, like a sailboat with the wind at its back, smoothly sailing along.
And seeing how Kim Woohyun has been buying Habit coffee again with a much brighter face these days, it looked like his love venture was also sailing smoothly.
With that, everything was smoothly working out. The preparations to establish, the organizing of things related to Korea.
Just, one thing.
If there was something not working out….
[ Our research team will absolutely not give up, so we hope that you also will never give up. ]
The research, which was the only method and the only option to fix his father’s ears, was continuing to be stuck.
“Haa….”
After checking the email, Hyunseung slumped forward like he was going to dig into the desk.
He had already been prepared that it would take a long time.
But actually having to see the contents saying “failure” over and over with his own eyes was a painful thing.
‘It’s something I expected.’
Hyunseung replied to the email the doctor had sent directly, with a short message, [ Understood. Please, may a miracle happen. ]
“Hoo….”
Just as Hyunseung let out a deep sigh.
“Come out and eat!”
From outside the room, he heard his younger sister’s urgent voice.
Creeeak.
When he opened the door and went out, his younger sister was already fully ready to leave, urgently clearing the kitchen.
“Where are you going?”
Hyunseung asked, staring blankly at Hyuna like that.
“Where would I go, I’m going to work my part time job.”
Saying that, Hyuna, as if there was no time for this, grabbed his hand and sat him down in front of the table.
“Eat quickly before it gets cold and put it in the dish tub to soak!”
Seeing her like that, like a mom who goes to work even on weekends taking care of her son, he let out a hollow laugh.
“But I have something to talk about, can’t you take today off?”
Hyunseung, remembering that he needed to discuss a school issue, grabbed Hyuna’s hand as she was about to leave and asked.
“It’s part time, how could I take off?”
Hyuna continued, as if scolding her older brother.
“I don’t want to work on weekends either. But they said they’re busy and asked me to help, what am I supposed to do. Talk later, later.”
Just as Hyunseung was about to open his mouth to say something at those words.
“Just take over the cafe already!”
As if an old matter came to mind, Hyuna shouted with glaring eyes.
“Tsk.”
In the end, Hyunseung could not say anything, and just nodded while taking a spoonful of rice from the table and putting it in his mouth.
“Ah, right.”
Just then, Hyuna, who had been heading toward the entryway, came back and called to him again.
“Oppa.”
“Yeah.”
“Clear your schedule next Tuesday.”
“Why?”
Hyuna asked back, looking at him like he was weird.
“Why, why do you think! It’s a birthday.”
“Whose?”
“I’m going crazy, seriously.”
Then, as if frustrated, she slapped her chest and shouted.
“It’s your birthday, oppa!”
“Ah…”
“Are you an idiot? Forgetting your own birthday.”
Even though she grumbled, she seemed genuinely upset, stomping her foot.
“Until now, we didn’t have any room for it, and you got busy so we couldn’t celebrate properly, but now if you really go to America, you’ll be even busier, so for this birthday at least, spend it with the family.”
Hearing that, Hyunseung felt like his head was going blank.
A birthday, a birthday.
Ever since he came back, it was a day he had never once thought about.
When he was young, he did not have the room for it, and after he started making money, he was busy.
And because on his birthday in his previous life, the image of Hyuna turning away coldly, saying she wanted to cut ties, kept coming to mind…
Hyunseung, reluctantly, nodded toward Hyuna, who was waiting for an answer.
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