/
Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Translated by Naralara
Edited by Naralara
“Whew…”
As he opened the door, Inseop sighed. A white bandage was wrapped around his right hand, but he could not move. Inseop, who was dragged by Lee Wooyeon, went to a nearby hospital for treatment, and was forcibly sent home. He ensured that he was okay and could drive, but Lee Wooyeon did not listen. He pushed Inseop’s back, setting up a strange logic that Inseop should also grant his request because he had granted one request.
Only after delaying the interview time and driving him home himself, Wooyeon disappeared with a satisfied smile.
“Hello, Kate.”
Inseop took off his coat while talking to the flowerpot placed by the window.
He didn’t want to leave behind a close friend in Korea, because he would leave if he achieved his goal. However, living alone in a rooftop room was a difficult time for him, who was very lonely. He wanted to grow something because he was lonely, but he had very little time at home, so the first thing that came to mind was flowers.
As soon as he arranged his items, he went to a local flower shop. It was the mimosa that immediately drew his attention. As if a leaf withered when touched, it felt more like an animal than a plant.
The florist who packed the flowerpots informed him that the mimosa’s other name is the Sensitive plant. He also added that when a leaf shrank away when touched with a hand means the person had a sensitive and delicate nerve.
Inseop, who brought the flowerpot into the house with care, named the flower Kate that day.
He always took it out on sunny days and brought it back into the house on cold days. He also watered it meticulously and recorded  it, and checked its condition.
Before going to bed, he always touched Kate’s leaves. Seeing the leaves curling up, Inseop found comfort knowing that he was not alone.
To Inseop, Kate was the only person in Korea with whom he had an open heart conversation..
“I’m hurt.”
He showed his hand to Kate and muttered to himself.
“So I was dismissed early… I feel bad.”
She wanted to touch Kate, but he was limited to touching her only once a day before bed. The florist said that if he kept touching it, saying it was fun, the plant would get stressed and die.
As he sat down on the floor, he began to mourn.
“I really don’t think I’m doing anything right. Kate.”
Others would point out that he was crazy, but he needed someone he could talk to openly.
Choi Inseop, who worked quietly and faithfully by Lee Wooyeon’s side, could not be himself. Crying from loneliness, who liked to talk to people, Peter, a crybaby, was able to be himself only from the moment the rooftop door closed.
“I don’t have time. But I keep making mistakes. Lee Wooyeon, no, Phillip… I’m going crazy. Nothing’s going right, Jenny, I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’m doing right now.”
Inseop covered his face with both hands. Tears flowed. He was ashamed. The guilt and shame that had been holding him down for a while came crashing down just by saying the name Jenny. Even breathing was difficult.
He sat on the floor and cried for a long time. The tears did not dilute the guilt. Still, he couldn’t help but cry.
After crying so much, he got thirsty, and Inseop got up. He took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and drank water. Tears welled up as he drank the water.
He wiped the tears with his palms and changed his clothes. When he checked my phone, there were two text messages.
One was an unknown number. When he checked the contents of the text, it was the reporter to whom he handed his phone number earlier.
“I’m Yoon Ahreum. I wish you all the best in the future.”
He was about to send a reply, but he just gave up. It was because he thought that there was no need to contact her unless it was for business purposes. The other was from Lee Wooyeon.
“I’m taking a break today. Filming starts tomorrow.”
“…”
This was the first time Lee Wooyeon sent a text message. Just reading the short sentences made his heart race. Inseop buried his face in the pillow. He opened his mouth and let out a silent scream. Until he ran out of breath.
“It’s tiring …”
Taking his face off the pillow, he muttered quietly.
When he decided to go to Korea, his whole family stopped him. The reason for the opposition was that they could not send him to a foreign land when he had a weak body and where no one knew him.
He was not blindly stubborn either. Because he knew that no matter how much he talked about it, it was of no use. He started working. From waking up early in the morning, from washing the dishes to cleaning the restaurant, he did whatever he could to earn money. In his spare time, he studied Korean. The exercise didn’t stop. It took a year to collect all of the planned amount. He knelt down in front of his father with his bank book containing all the money, and brought up the topic of going to Korea again. His father looked at the calluses on his son’s hand and nodded.
Instead, he gave his son permission to go to Korea only after promising a one-year deadline, contacting him once every three days, sending an email if his phone did not work, receiving a regular checkup at the hospital once a month and sending a scan of the results. .
If he were to write about the hardships he experienced after coming to Korea, ten notebooks were not enough. In fact, there were exactly thirteen diaries written with tears at that time.
That was how he was able to be where he was today. Compared to when he was following Lee Wooyeon like a stalker and collecting data, it was a much better situation now.
It was painful though
His body was comfortable, but his mental hardship was difficult to describe in words. He was very intimidated and fearful, but he felt like he was going to die because he couldn’t show it.
When he injured his hand today, he almost fainted when he saw blood flowing. He barely found a handkerchief and tied the wound, but when he had to look at his skin again, the sandwich he ate for breakfast almost came up.
“It’s tiring. I think I’m going to die. I’m lonely… I miss Mom, Will, Grandma, Mary, and Nicholas, I miss you. I want to go home. I’m tired of Paris Baguette sandwiches. I’m scared of extreme fans… I’m lonely.”
He hugged the pillow and acted like a child to his heart’s content. He wanted to act as weak as he wanted, even when he was alone, because no one would see him.
“Philip, …I hate Lee Wooyeon. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him so much… I won’t like him. I don’t like him. I hate him. He’s a bad guy. A bad guy. A bad person.”
Placing one cheek against the pillow, he mumbled monotonously. Words piled up in his mind like a magic spell. After repeating ‘hate’ and ‘bad person’ a hundred times, Inseop’s cell phone rang.
Choi Inseop jumped up from his seat and picked up his cell phone. It was CEO Kim.
“CEO. This is Choi Inseop.”
Returning to the mature manager, he knelt down and started talking on the phone.
“Inseop, where are you? Aren’t you with Lee Wooyeon?”
In-seop hesitated for a moment.
Should he talk about hurting his hand because of the eccentric fan, or should he just keep quiet about it?
“I’m at home. I had urgent business, so I came home first.”
He explained his situation in words that were neither false nor true.
“I thought so. Manager Cha was suddenly called.”
“Manager Char?”
“Yes. Lee Wooyeon called him urgently and asked him to drive today, but I wondered what was going on.”
“… ”
Lee Wooyeon promised that he wouldn’t say that he was hurt. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a lie.
“Sorry. I will go back right away.”
“No, it’s okay. Are you okay? Manager Cha will have a hard day today, huh?”
“No. I will leave right away.”
Inseop picked up the clothes he had taken off.
“…Lee Wooyeon said that if he called you, he will use manager Cha as a fixed manager in the future. Forget it. You better just rest at home today. I just called because I was curious about what was going on.”
Inseop felt guilty when he remembered the face of manager Cha, who was particularly pale on the day he came after working as Lee Wooyeon’s manager. He didn’t want to give affection, but he also didn’t want to cause trouble.
“I’m sorry. Because of me.”
“It’s okay. Besides, today… Oh. Ha ha ha ha ha. Okay. Can you stop by the office tonight?”
“Yes. What time shall I come?”
“Come around 9 o’clock. At that time, Manager Cha will also be free.”
Inseop picked up a pen and wrote in his notebook, 9 o’clock office. There was no way he’ll ever forget it, but it made him feel reassured to write everything down like that.
“Yes. I will come before then.”
“No no. Just come on time. Understand?”
“Yes. Then I’ll be right on time.”
“Okay. Thank you for your effort.”
The phone was disconnected.
Inseop put his phone back on the desk and hugged the pillow.
“I don’t want to go…  I don’t want to go.”
He wanted to look professional, so he said that he would go without asking why, but his heart was not okay. On a day like today, he just wanted to rest at home. His hand hurt and his heart was aching.
He wanted to finish his day reading a novel.
“No. Calm down.”
He got up and slapped his cheeks with both hands. It was said that managing the mind with pain was a Buddhist practice.
‘Sorry God. I will live like a Buddhist only when I am in Korea.’
As the little tingling pain on his cheek was gone, he felt his heart weaken again. Inseop slapped his cheek again with the palm of his hand.
He looked at himself in the mirror, thinking that his body and mind would get used to the pain and not feel any pain at all.