2#
If not for the medical equipment attached and placed about everywhere, the inner room would have resembled the living room of a luxury home. Within it, a gruff voice echoed.
“What the hell. Are you out of your mind? Why did you crash into a hotel lobby!?”
The agency’s CEO, Gim Hun, dead drunk after enjoying the celebration party, shook his throbbing head from side to side as he looked at Yun Doyeong before him.
Leaning back on the medical bed, Yun Doyeong’s face was so pallid that it had taken on a bluish hue. Staring blankly out the window, he did not appear to be listening at all. Perhaps from the shock of having caused a traffic accident, he simply kept quietly shaking his head from side to side, as if denying reality.
Watching that sight, Gim Hun also let out a long sigh. The alcoholic haze that had made his body feel limp had evaporated before he knew it. The more he thought about it, the dizzier he became—his vision went white, and a chill ran up his spine.
This was the guy who had won the acting grand prize, said he was stepping out for a moment somewhere, shaken off even his manager, and driven out in the company car. The guy who had left behind only a message saying he’d be right back hadn’t returned to the agency where the after-party was going on, nor had he headed to the hotel where the drama filming crew’s party was being held.
Instead, out of nowhere, he had headed to a business hotel and crashed right into the lobby.
Was Yun Doyeong drunk? Absolutely not. His alcohol tolerance was limited to a single can of beer. So he hadn’t even touched a drink, and the worst he got when he did drink was resting his head on the shoulder of the person next to him and falling asleep. Even that was rare; usually, after a single drink, he would go to the back seat of the car and spend the entire time on the phone with family and friends until the alcohol wore off.
Why had a guy who hadn’t taken a single sip of alcohol done such a thing? It was an utterly incomprehensible situation. As he crashed into the lobby, the airbag deployed. The shock knocked him unconscious, and he was loaded into an ambulance and brought to a general hospital. When he opened his eyes in the VIP suite, he stared blankly at the ceiling as though he had no idea what he had done.
“Yun Doyeong. Hey. Hey!”
Startled by his unfocused gaze, Gim Hun lightly slapped his cheek with his hand.
“……I’m fine.”
A feeble voice slipped through his tightly shut lips.
“Why did you do it? Did the car suddenly accelerate? More than that, why did you go to that hotel?”
“……I don’t know.”
“What?”
“That hotel was……”
A place he often went to with Hyeoni to practice the script. The hotel was run by a friend of his mother’s, and he used to rent a room there. Their house was too far from Hyeoni’s, but the hotel was close enough for Hyeoni to walk to from home, partly for exercise. The night view of downtown beyond the window was quite nice, making it a good place to have a beer and lose oneself in sentiment. It was the place he naturally went to at the mention of the word “hotel.”
Yun Doyeong trailed off, let out a long sigh, and rubbed his face dry with both hands.
“We always practiced the script at that hotel. I must have confused it with the after-party location for the drama filming crew. I’m sorry.”
At Yun Doyeong’s respectful apology, a breath of relief escaped Gim Hun’s lips. Watching him, Gim Hun continued speaking.
“……I think I stepped on the accelerator by mistake when I meant to hit the brake. It had been so long since I drove a company car……. I’m truly sorry. Are the people who were in the hotel lobby alright? Was anyone hurt?”
“Fortunately, everyone dodged well, so they’re all fine. Where on earth was your head? From now on, don’t you dare go anywhere without a manager!”
“……More importantly, the people in the lobby must have been quite frightened. Shouldn’t we arrange counseling or therapy—”
“You punk! I’ll take care of that, so you just worry about yourself! Consider yourself lucky you only got off with a hairline fracture in your ribs because the airbag deployed. You could have had your whole face torn apart by glass shards!”
At Gim Hun’s scolding, Yun Doyeong breathed heavily as if suffocating, then covered his face with both hands. He bit at his lip and let out a long sigh.
Startled by Yun Doyeong’s sudden severe agitation, Gim Hun began to comfort him. The shock of the accident was already great, and he realized he had pushed too hard.
“Don’t worry too much. They say a hairline fracture to the ribs heals in a month or two. Thankfully, they said you can still go about daily life.”
“……What about today’s schedule, then? I’m sorry.”
As it was, with having won the acting grand prize, his interview schedule was completely booked. On top of that, there was a string of commercial shoots lined up. The top priority was for Yun Doyeong to recover his condition so he could film as soon as possible.
“I’ll take care of it. Focus on recovering.”
Gim Hun sighed, pressing his thumb against his throbbing temple. He picked up his smartphone to calmly sort out what to say to the reporters and the companies he’d contracted with for commercials, intending to call the office. Just as he was about to press the call button, he hesitated and rose from his seat.
Yun Doyeong was the type with a strong sense of responsibility. He was likely feeling burdened by the schedule disruption right now. It seemed better to make the call outside rather than in front of him. As he was about to head out, a sudden thought occurred to him, and he turned around to speak.
“Oh, right. Hyeoni came by.”
Yun Doyeong, who had been reclining weakly on the bed, widened his eyes.
“He’s waiting in the lobby; I’ll bring him up.”
“W-wait a moment.”
“Hm?”
Gim Hun looked at him with puzzled eyes. The two were close friends. Gang Hyeon had joined the agency first, and Yun Doyeong had followed in his footsteps. Both were former child actors, and Yun Doyeong had the better filmography. However, Gang Hyeon’s acting, which had perfectly portrayed the child role of a psychopath during his child actor days, was stable and top-tier as well. Compared to Gang Hyeon, who had sharp, fierce eyes, Yun Doyeong had a soft, refreshing gaze and a face more favored by the public. The agency knew the two were close, but it was a situation where they had no choice but to push Yun Doyeong. Through that process, Gang Hyeon must have been greatly disappointed even if he didn’t show it. Still, seeing them look out for each other, Gim Hun opened his mouth with a fond heart.
“He came at dawn. He said he saw the article about you and came.”
“At dawn?”
The moment Gim Hun finished speaking, Yun Doyeong’s question jumped out. At his intensely curious gaze, Gim Hun nodded.
“Yeah. He came without even putting on a coat. The kid was pale as a sheet when he arrived. He must have been really shocked.”
As Gim Hun placed his hand on his waist and clicked his tongue, his eyes fell on Yun Doyeong’s figure. His vacant eyes had sharpened, and his index and middle fingers, unsure of what to do, kept tapping the bedsheet. It was a habit of Yun Doyeong’s that appeared whenever he was anxious.
Yun Doyeong tried to act composed in front of Gim Hun, but his nervousness was palpable. He opened his mouth, thinking he wanted to see Hyeoni quickly, but quickly shut it again. It was because he remembered the message Hyeoni had sent before he headed to the business hotel.
A hotel with my lover.
As Hyeoni’s message vividly burned before his eyes as if etched into them, his heart sank with a chill. Contrary to his rapidly souring mood, his words came out calmly.
“I’ve caused a lot of worry. He must have waited a long time; please bring him in.”
Gim Hun nodded, put his smartphone to his ear, and stepped out the door.
Listening to the sound of the closing door, Yun Doyeong repeatedly tapped the blanket with two fingers. Soon, he took a deep breath and clasped his hands together.
The time it would take Hyeoni to come from the first-floor waiting room to the VIP suite where he had been admitted was barely five minutes, but it felt endlessly long, as if time had stopped. He felt the illusion that even his shallow breathing was not coming easily. Just when his heavy heart was pressing down on his chest to the point of breathlessness, the hospital room door opened.
Unconsciously, Yun Doyeong took a deep breath. It was a conscious act he performed before filming to shake off his tension. As his chest swelled, it ached sharply. Suppressing the pain with a wince, he looked at the person walking into the room.
Dressed in sweatpants and a black knit tee in the middle of winter, his face was so pale that it had turned bluish. His eyes, which usually gave a sharp impression due to his double eyelids, were full of worry, giving him a gentler air than usual. Approaching hurriedly, he observed Yun Doyeong’s complexion, looked at the IV lines draped in a row, and asked with a surprised gaze.
“Are you okay?”
“Were you crying?”
“Y-yeah…... I was shocked to hear you were hurt.”
“Did you come straight from the hotel?”
The question flew out before Hyeoni’s faintly trembling voice even reached his ears.
“Y-yeah……”
At Hyeoni’s ambiguous answer, Yun Doyeong’s eyes grew sharp. Heat flared around his eyes, and something hot shot up inside his chest with a whoosh.
Which hotel?
What kind of woman?
What were you doing?
The words he had wanted to ask while gripping the steering wheel and heading toward the hotel swirled in his mouth. He knew it was impolite and not something to ask in this situation, so he forcibly swallowed them down. The very fact that Hyeoni had left his lover behind and come out at dawn upon hearing about his accident—he had to take that as comfort for now.
Trying to rise to greet the approaching figure, a sharp pain flared near his ribs. A pained groan escaped him. Startled, Hyeoni quickly approached and supported him. He raised the back of the bed further so Yun Doyeong could lie half-reclined.
“Are you okay?”
When Gang Hyeon asked again, Yun Doyeong forcibly pulled up the corners of his mouth.
“Yeah. They said my ribs are cracked.”
“I heard from the CEO. Why did you do it? Why did you crash into the hotel lobby?”
“……I don’t know. I don’t remember that moment.”
He had been so furious at the time that his vision went completely black. He had driven blindly toward the hotel that came to mind and just stepped on the accelerator in that state.
Yun Doyeong placed a hand on his constricting chest. Trying to maintain his composure, he slowly inhaled and asked in as calm a voice as possible.
“What about your lover? Did they come with you?”
“Hm? Ah…... I put them in a taxi and sent them off.”
“How long have you been dating?”
“Uh…... About a month.”
“Who is it? Someone I know? An actor? A singer?”
“No. Just a regular person.”
“How did you meet?”
“……While working part-time.”
“What kind of part-time job? A cafe? A restaurant?”