Creak.
Han Seongtae opened the front door and stepped inside.
The moment he entered the house, the smell of alcohol wafting through the place made him let out a dry laugh.
It seemed he had drunk far too much simply because it had been so long since he had seen his friends.
Looking at the traces left behind by the drinking party they had thrown, Han Seongtae shook his head.
“Ugh…”
While Han Seongtae was cleaning up the trash, Rogers staggered out of the bedroom.
Just from Rogers appearing, the smell of alcohol seemed to become even stronger.
“You’re up?”
“Yeah… Where did you go?”
“Ah, I stepped out for a bit.”
Han Seongtae answered immediately as he tied up the full garbage bag.
While he cleaned, Rogers went into the bathroom and did not come back out for quite some time.
The aftermath of yesterday was tormenting Rogers.
After finishing the cleanup, Han Seongtae heated up the dried pollack soup he had bought from the convenience store.
Its savory aroma filled the house.
“Oh, what’s that smell?”
Rogers naturally sat down at the dining table.
Han Seongtae ladled some soup into a bowl and set it in front of him.
“Everyone else is gone. When are you leaving?”
The others who had come with Rogers had spent two nights at Han Seongtae’s house before returning to their own lodging.
Han Seongtae had naturally assumed Rogers would leave with them.
Yet Rogers had now been staying at Han Seongtae’s house for more than four days.
“Why? Do you want me to leave?”
At his friend’s words, Han Seongtae smiled and shrugged.
If Rogers truly wanted an answer, Han Seongtae could confidently say, “No.”
If it meant spending time with a friend, he could put up with a little inconvenience.
‘It’s a shame Minseok isn’t here.’
Han Seongtae was smiling as he washed the dishes when Rogers spoke again.
“Han, what’s this? It’s a mask.”
“Ah, that.”
“Can I have this?”
Before Han Seongtae could even answer, Rogers put the mask on.
Click, click.
He must have liked it quite a bit, because he even started taking pictures of himself wearing it.
Watching him, Han Seongtae burst out laughing.
“Take it.”
It was only a prototype anyway.
Han Seongtae had brought it home as a keepsake, but there was no problem with Rogers taking it.
Han Seongtae was about to resume washing the dishes when his phone vibrated.
Bzzz.
— Park Yeeun: Seongtae, could you make some time this week? It’s been a while. Let’s have a meal together.
At the message from another friend, Han Seongtae gave up on the dishes and continued replying.
Click, click.
Behind him, the sound of Rogers repeatedly taking photos continued.
Around the time the sun was just beginning to rise, Han Seongtae arrived at the filming location.
Everyone had dragged their tired bodies to the set to film Youth My Way.
Han Seongtae greeted people along the way as he headed toward where Kim Minseok was.
Kim Minseok was discussing directing with Yeon Jaehun.
Han Seongtae approached them and spoke.
“Good morning, Director. And good morning to you too, Director Kim.”
“Welcome.”
“You’re here? Hey, hey. Listen to this. This is something Teacher and I were discussing…….”
The moment Han Seongtae finished speaking, Kim Minseok came over and started talking.
Han Seongtae laughed as Kim Minseok immediately began telling him about the conversation he had just been having with Yeon Jaehun.
Once their discussion about the production was over, Kim Minseok casually asked him,
“What are you doing tonight? Mom said she wanted to have dinner together.”
“Ah, what do I do? I feel bad, but I already made plans for tonight.”
“You have plans? With who?”
“Someone you know too.”
Kim Minseok tilted his head at Han Seongtae’s answer.
Amused by his friend’s reaction, Han Seongtae shrugged.
“We should get filming.”
“Yeah, we should.”
Leaving his intensely curious friend behind, Han Seongtae walked toward the set.
A camera followed his steps.
“Okay, we’ll stand by. Please check the sound.”
Perhaps it was because he had gained experience.
Kim Minseok directing the staff now looked completely natural.
Following his directions, Han Seongtae took a long, deep breath and settled into his character’s emotions.
“I look forward to working with you, senior.”
The minor-role actress standing in front of Han Seongtae cautiously spoke to him.
She was playing the student in the tutoring scene they would film today.
Han Seongtae looked at her and smiled gently.
“Yes. Let’s do our best together.”
The young actress’s expression brightened when she saw his smile.
As the two of them spoke, Kim Minseok’s voice rang out to signal the start of filming.
“Ready, action!”
With the director’s voice filling the set, Park Sejun spoke to the student he was tutoring.
“What we learned yesterday was…….”
The subject Park Sejun taught was Korean.
It was the only subject in which he had received high grades while attending university.
Korean had also been one of the subjects in which he scored well on the CSAT.
Park Sejun taught her in a calm voice.
But perhaps he had been a little too calm.
“Teacher, let’s do something besides studying. This isn’t very fun.”
“No.”
“Come on, Teacher! Why are you being so stiff? Let’s take a break. We’ve been studying hard!”
“It hasn’t even been thirty minutes since we started.”
“Come on, thirty minutes is a lot. Let’s do something else. Please? You know, tell me about your first love or something!”
Park Sejun smiled faintly at the girl who was suggesting they play instead because she hated studying.
He had hated studying when he was young too, so it was not as though he could not understand how she felt.
“Then we’re taking exactly ten minutes.”
“Yes!”
“After ten minutes, we’re going straight back to the workbook. Keep that in mind.”
“Okay!”
If it were entirely up to him, he would have let her keep playing.
‘But her mother’s watching, so there’s nothing I can do.’
With a parent monitoring whether she was actually studying properly, he could not simply let her do whatever she wanted.
Since he was being paid, shouldn’t he at least make an effort to look like he was doing his job?
While Park Sejun looked through the workbook, she was looking at her smartphone.
‘I can teach this one like this.’
Scribble, scribble.
He made several notes in the workbook.
He copied problems into his notebook as well, searching for the best possible way to teach her.
How much time had passed?
Just as he thought the ten minutes were probably nearly up, she hurried over and thrust her smartphone toward him.
“Teacher, Teacher! Look at this. This is you, right? It is, isn’t it?”
“What is it?”
Park Sejun took the smartphone from her and looked at the screen.
“Huh…?”
The moment he saw the MiTube video playing on the screen, his body stiffened.
She was watching footage of Park Sejun performing on the street with a foreign band.
“This is you, right?”
“It is, but…”
Why was this uploaded here?
It even had more than five hundred thousand views.
Park Sejun stared at the video for a while before letting out a small laugh.
What did it matter how the video had ended up online?
He only did it as a hobby anyway.
Park Sejun was just about to tell her it was time to resume the lesson when she spoke.
“Teacher, sing for me too!”
She abruptly brought over an acoustic guitar and held it out to him.
Park Sejun blinked at her.
“If you sing for me, I’ll study really hard!”
“…Seriously?”
“Yes!”
“You promise?”
“Of course! Have you ever seen me go back on my word?”
“I think the problem is that I’ve seen it way too many times.”
“Teacher!”
Shaking his head at her reaction, Park Sejun accepted the guitar.
Drring.
The guitar had been maintained fairly well.
At this level, he could probably get one song out of it.
“Just one song, okay?”
“Yes! Oh, Teacher, can I record you?”
“A video?”
“Yes. I want to upload it to MiTube!”
“…Do whatever you want.”
His face had already been exposed once.
It would not make much difference if it happened a second time.
With the smartphone filming him, Park Sejun plucked the strings and opened his mouth.
I want to fly now.
We’re all going to fly together.
It was a song called I Want to Become a Butterfly by a famous band.
A powerful shout burst from his mouth.
The camera recorded Park Sejun singing his heart out.
The next day.
“……This is insane.”
Views: 843,556
Looking at the video, which was already closing in on one million views, Park Sejun lowered his head.
He had thought that even at most, it would never pass seven hundred thousand.
The street-performance video was approaching one million, while the one of him singing alone had already passed two hundred thousand.
Combined, the two videos had exceeded one million views.
It was an impressive number.
The public response was not bad either.
⤷Nera: What? Is this guy a singer? His vocals are insane.
⤷Muneojyeo: The vocals are crazy, sure, but what’s with that emotional delivery? First time I’ve ever cried while listening to a song.
⤷Lotion: I regret so much that I wasn’t there. Why didn’t I go to Hongdae that day?
Pretty good reactions.
As Park Sejun read the comments one by one, his expression gradually became strange.
Bzzz.
The screen darkened, and a single name appeared.
[Shin Jaehyun]
It was a name Park Sejun could never forget.
When he was young, this was someone who had helped him nurture his dream of becoming a singer.
Even now, he still called Park Sejun and urged him to make his debut.
“Sejun. Have you given any thought to singing again?”
It would be a lie to say he did not want to sing.
But circumstances did not always work out the way one wanted.
“I….”
Just as he opened his mouth again,
“Cut!”
The filming ended.
Voices saying “Good work” came from all directions.
Han Seongtae exhaled and pushed away the emotions of the character before moving on.
Now it was time to meet Park Yeeun.
Perhaps because it was the day that marked the end of the workweek, the streets were crowded with people.
Han Seongtae headed toward the restaurant he had reserved in advance.
Their seats were in a private room, allowing them to eat comfortably.
“You’re early.”
“I just got here. You’re early too, Seongtae.”
“We happened to be filming nearby.”
Park Yeeun had arrived ahead of him and was waiting.
The two sat across from one another and chatted pleasantly.
They started with how they had been doing and moved on to recent events.
Their conversation continued for more than two hours as they ate.
And yet, they still did not run out of things to say.
“I heard you’re filming a drama. Isn’t it difficult?”
Just as Han Seongtae was filming a movie, Park Yeeun was filming a romance drama.
“It’s not difficult. Everyone’s been really good to me. What about you, Seongtae?”
“Same here. Everyone gets along well. There hasn’t been anything especially difficult either.”
As the meal drew to a close, the two paused their conversation and prepared to get up.
‘My wallet was in my bag.’
Han Seongtae rummaged through his bag to get his wallet and pulled out both the wallet and a keychain.
Park Yeeun immediately noticed the keychain.
“What’s that? It’s so cute.”
“Want to see it?”
“Yes!”
She immediately accepted the keychain and carefully examined it.
Han Seongtae quietly waited for her.
After some time, she spoke.
“This is from Baeknyeoncho, right? The Ji Yeonwoo glutinous-rice-cake version.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“It’s so cute. Can I have this?”
“Yes, you can.”
Park Yeeun smiled brightly at his answer.
“But why did you make this?”
“It’s merchandise we’re going to give fans at an autograph event. That one is a prototype.”
“Wow, the quality is really impressive. Your fans must be happy, Seongtae. Their actor takes such good care of them.”
“Hahaha.”
Han Seongtae smiled awkwardly and stood up.
By the time Park Yeeun followed him outside, the merchandise was already hanging from her car key.
She seemed to like it quite a lot.
“Can I post this on OnStar?”
“Yes.”
The moment he finished answering, Park Yeeun began taking pictures of the merchandise.
Just how many was she taking?
Her fingers moved busily across her smartphone.
[Thank you, Seongtae.]
#Keychain #HanSeongtae #Cafe #Cute…
Not long after the post went up on her OnStar account,
Bzzz, bzzzz!
The public reaction exploded.
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