CH 33

Peter was woken up by a familiar noise. He opened his eyes and looked around and saw that something small was hitting the window. Peter staggered over and opened the window.

“Jennie… ?”

As expected, Jenny was standing below. Peter was completely awakened by the surprise. It wasn’t that he woke himself up at this time, but that her appearance had no choice but to surprise him.

“Wait there. I will come.”

Peter draped a jumper over his pajamas and left the room with a cardigan in one hand. As he went down the stairs, he raised his heels so that his parents wouldn’t wake up.

When he got out and looked closer, Jenny’s appearance was even more spectacular. Her hair was all tangled up, her lips ripped open and bloody, and her eyes had black bruises.

It broke Peter’s heart to see her appearing like this after a few days.

“…Did you fight?”

“Yes.”

He didn’t ask who she fought with. It was unconventional.

Peter put the cardigan he had brought over Jenny’s shoulder. It felt a little small to cover her heavy body, but Peter’s warmt melted her frozen heart.

“Would you like to go to my room?”

“No…”

“Dinner?”

“…”

Peter took her hand without saying a word. He sat her down on a bench in the backyard, said he’d be back soon, and went into the house. Minutes later, he came out again, and in his hand was bread with peanut butter and jam.

“Eat.”

Peter put the bread in Jenny’s hand.

“I’m on a diet…”

“Is that so? Then should I eat it?”

As Peter pretended to take the bread again, Jenny hurriedly grabbed the bread.

“No. It’s fine. I’ll eat it because of your sincerity. Why don’t I go on a diet starting tomorrow?”

“Okay. Great.”

Peter sat down next to her. Jenny hastily began to eat the bread like a man possessed. Peter smiled and waited for her to finish the bread before handing her the orange juice.

Jenny’s complexion returned after she emptied a bottle of orange juice.

“Sorry for waking you up…”

“No. It’s okay.”

“I just wanted to talk to someone. Otherwise, I thought I would die.”

“What did you want to talk about so much?”

Jenny laughed a little.

“I don’t remember.”

Her voice saying that was so pitiful. Peter wanted to calm her mood, so he thought of a pleasant topic.

“Did you finish the homework I gave you?”

“Ahaha. I forgot.”

“Then what will you do? Aren’t you going to write a letter to the prince?”

“Can’t you just write the script for me?”

“Ghost writing?!”

“I’ll write a letter, you can translate it into Korean. Okay?”

“What kind of love letter is that? Who writes love letters for you?”

“Ah, what are you saying? You are only translating.”

Wiping her jam-stained lips, she smiled naturally. Peter’s heart ached when he saw her ripped lips. So to such a ridiculous request, he said yes and agreed.

“Really? Really? Wow, that’s exciting.”

Jenny laughed like a child.

Yes, Jenny just had to laugh.

Peter nodded.

At the time, he didn’t know what it would mean.

Weekend Korean Association gatherings were getting more and more crowded. As the rumors about Philip spread, people who had not been seen for a while started coming to the gathering again. In particular, the participation of women was noticeably higher. Even women who were not of the youth group participated in the meeting.

Even if he was a little late, there was no place to sit, so he had to stand and listen to the class. Peter left the house early to get a seat today.

He looked at the watch on his wrist. His mother’s errand took longer than expected. He was nervous. To get a window seat, he had to enter the auditorium at least 30 minutes before class time.

Philip always sat by the window. His seat was regarded as a reserved seat, and no one sat there.

Peter sat a couple of rows behind Philip. It was nice to see his back from behind. It was a shallow thought that it wouldn’t matter if he didn’t tell Jenny if it was just his back.

“I’m late.”

But he couldn’t run. He hastened his steps and turned around the corner. Peter collided head-on with someone walking from the other side and fell to the floor. The book he was holding was scattered on the floor.

As if muttering, Peter apologized, and quickly began to pick up the book. The person he bumped into also bent down and started to help Peter.

“Thank you…”

Peter couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Philip, no, it was Lee Wooyeon.

Dressed in a white T-shirt and dark jeans, he asked Peter.

“Aren’t you hurt?”

It was a friendly voice. He never imagined that the day would come when that voice was directed towards him. So Peter stood there staring at him for a long time.

“Are you injured somewhere?”

When he asked the question as if confirming, Peter barely nodded.

“Is this book interesting?”

He looked at the title of the book in his hand and asked. It was Kim Seungok’s endless journey, which he received as a gift from his uncle. Peter couldn’t answer because he had not read more than a dozen pages yet.

“If you read it and enjoy it, lend it to me later.”

Having said that, Philip handed the book to Peter. All of a sudden, the girls who found Philip surrounded him. Peter grabbed the book he had given him and watched Philip’s back as he walked away.

Peter sat down on a bench without going to class and read the book on the spot. The novel was interesting. To the extent that he looked up at the sky for a while and pondered the sentence.

When class was over, Philip came out, but there were walls of girls around him that were thicker than before. Peter watched Phillip’s back as he moved away from the bench. The opportunity to speak to  Lee Wooyeon first did not come again.

Eventually he put the book back into his bag.

“Is Lee Wooyeon hurt?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“He wasn’t hurt because of you, and you have nothing to be sorry about.”

“I hurt him. I pushed Lee Wooyeon and he fell and got hurt.”

The report was confusing. There was silence over the phone. Inseop thought that swear words or shouts would come, so he gripped the phone tightly.

“… are you okay?”

“What?”

“Are you okay? You pushed Lee Wooyeon, did anything happen?”

He couldn’t understand what CEO Kim was saying, so Inseop asked back what he meant.

“Didn’t Lee Wooyeon say anything? No, no. you come back now Don’t be alone with Lee Wooyeon.”

Inseop looked at the screen of his cell phone and confirmed that the person he was talking to was CEO Kim Hakseung.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. It was not me who was injured, but Mr. Lee Wooyeon. CEO.”

“That’s what! How terrifying Lee Wooyeon’s body is! No matter how tired he is, he exercises, eats healthy food, drinks alcohol and smokes moderately, and does nothing more than relieve stress, and besides…  Ack.”

CEO Kim’s voice faded away from the phone. Choi Inseop shouted, “Hello, hello.” He heard a voice from the manager Cha harassing CEO Kim, and soon after that,  manager Cha picked up the phone, and he continued the call.

“Oh, Mr. Inseop. It’s Manager Cha.”

“Yes. Manager.”

“Is Inseop not hurt?”

“Yes. I am okay.”

“Okay. Lee Wooyeon loves his body like a diamond, okay? So today he can be particularly sharp. Do you know what I mean?”

“Yes. I understand.”

When he heard that he might be particularly sharp today, Inseop tilted his head for a moment.

Although his hand was hurt, Lee Wooyeon didn’t look particularly bad. Even considering that he was an actor with great emotional control, there was no sign of that. As for Lee Wooyeon, Inseop, who gathered enough information to be called a stalker, was able to boldly conclude that his mood was not bad.

No, he even seemed a little excited. Inseop thought that his excitement was due to the horseback shoot in the afternoon.

“And after today’s filming is over, after taking Lee Wooyeon home, go straight home. If he ask you out for a drink or something, then say it’s okay because you’re tired.”

“Of course I can’t drink because he has a shoot tomorrow.”

“No, that’s sort of, Inseop… Anyway, take care of yourself. If anything happens, call me immediately.”

“Yes. Okay.”

Manager Cha told him to be careful a few more times and then hung up. Inseop put his cell phone in his pocket and felt uncomfortable.

“Mr. Inseop!”

In the distance, Lee Eunyoung waved her hand and walked towards Inseop. She was wearing plain clothes as she finished all of today’s filming.

“Are you leaving?”

“Yes. It’s all over for today. When are you leaving?”

“There’s still a long way to go. I’ll probably be able to go after midnight.”

“You must be tired. You should sleep in the car and wait.”

“No. Lee Wooyeon is injured and I have to help him.”

“Lee Wooyeon? Where is he hurt?”

“Hand… because of me. He got hurt because I pushed him.”

His face was hot as he spoke. It was embarrassing to be a manager and to have hurt the actor he was managing.

“Did Lee Wooyeon fall? Oh, I can’t even imagine. Wooyeon is rumored to have good athleticism. They say that he exercises daily. Did he fall backwards after you pushed him? With that body?”

“Hey, I’m strong too.”

Choi Inseop protested in a weak voice.

“Ha ha ha ha ha. You’ll be strong. Of course. But I wonder if Lee Wooyeon is someone who will fall if pushed. He must have been very careless at the time.”

Was Lee Wooyeon someone with a careless personality?

Inseop tried to recall Lee Wooyeon’s expression just before he hit him with his body, but to no avail. He did not have time to look for fear that his identity could be revealed if he saw the contents of the notebook.

He was lucky. He could only explain it like that. Of course, the results were terribly bad.

“By the way, didn’t you say he was filming a horse riding scene today? I think I have seen a trailer with horses before.”

“Yes…”

As Inseop;s expression suddenly darkened, Eunyoung thought that she had made a mistake in her words, and reached out to him with a bright voice.

“Ah. It’s okay. These days, whenever possible, the action team will do it for you.”

“… He said he won’t use a body double.”

“… but. Lee Wooyeon is a bit like that.”

Either way, Inseop’s expression didn’t seem to brighten. “Oh,” she said and slapped her knee.

“Okay. Go and ask the horse.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Lee Wooyeon has a horse to ride. Go and ask the horse to finish filming safely today.”

“… Can I ask?”

There was no way the animals would listen to him if he asked for such a request, but it was brought up in the hope that it would be of some comfort to Inseop, who looked depressed.

“Sure. They’re trained kids, so they’re amazingly good at doing what people ask. They even understand the words ready-go, cut. So, go ahead and ask them to make sure we can shoot safely today.”

Inseop’s expression brightened at once.

“Where shall I go?”

“Uhm, maybe, they usually put it in the back of set 5. There is a building that has been set up like a stable there.”

For her, who had only been an assistant performer for five years, the scenery on the set was like a picture on the palm of her hand.

“Can I go over there?”

“Yes. Go over there and when you come out to the pond, turn left and go straight. If you don’t know, call the staff and ask and they will tell you.”

“Thank you.”

“Ah, this is nothing. Thanks to Inseop, I ate a delicious lunch today. If you don’t know, should I go with you?”

“No, it’s okay. I will go alone. After a while, I have to go help Wooyeon change his clothes.”

“Okay, then. I’ll go ahead. See you next time.”

“Yes. See you next time.”

Choi Inseop greeted Eunyoung and diligently moved toward the direction she had given. As she said, as he turned left along the pond, he saw a trailer with horses parked there.

He thought it must be around here, so when he asked a passing staff member, he pointed to a shabby looking temporary building in the corner.

As he got closer, he could smell the animals. As he opened the door to enter the building, someone hurriedly ran out of it.

“uh… .”

“――!”

Their shoulders bumped into each other. Choi Inseop recognized that he was Kang Youngmo’s manager and bowed his head. However, Kang Youngmo’s manager turned his head with an angry expression and hurriedly left the place. Inseop scratched his head in embarrassment. He felt bitter at this situation where even Kang Youngmo’s manager ignored him.

It seemed to be true that if celebrities didn’t get along well, the people below them also did not get on with each other. He had no intention of making friends with the people in the field, but it was painful to have such a bad relationship.

Inseop took a deep breath and entered the building where the horses brought for filming were tied up. Inside the building, it was so dark that he could barely see the front. There were no voices. There seemed to be no one around.

Inseop walked slowly and told the tied horses to take good care of them. He stopped in front of the horse that was the biggest and most powerful of them. Seeing the name tag on the front of the dark gray-haired horse, Inseop widened his eyes.

“Jenny?”

The horse pricked up his ears when he heard his name and turned to look at him. Considering the physical condition of Lee Wooyeon, who was the tallest and had the best physique among the cast, this dark gray horse was most likely his.

His heart trembled at the strange coincidence. In the East, this was called karma.

Approaching the gray-haired horse, Inseop calmly spoke to him.

“Hey. Jenny… Please.”

He rubbed the horse’s mane with his hand. When he met the eyes of the gentle-looking horse, he felt as if he had read his thoughts, the thoughts which he could not tell anyone.

“Me too…  a useless and pathetic human being.”

In fact, it wasn’t that he didn’t know that asking an animal wouldn’t change the situation. Now he just wanted to do something. The warmth in his hand felt good, and Inseop did not stop stroking the horse.

The horse rumbled, and snorted. He could see the horse’s breath scattering white in the dark air.

It had been a long time since he had had this kind of contact with a living creature. The horse shook its head up and down with a continuous sound, and he wondered if it felt good to just touch the fur with her hand.

As soon as he showed a certain reaction when touched, Inseop’s mood gradually improved. It felt quite different from Kate, who only shrugged off leaves when he touched her with his fingertips.

“Yes, yes. You are so warm and cute.”

After speaking, Inseop raised his hand as he thought he was a pervert. Then the dark gray horse moved its head and placed it under Inseop’s hand.

“You want me to touch you again?”

The horse snorted as if he was responding. Inseop smiled and waved his hand. He liked the movement and warmth he could feel from living things.

He didn’t have many friends, but he grew up with a lot of love in a large family.

A lively buzzing sound at every dinner. Will’s lovely movement felt at his feet. A mother’s goodnight kiss, which was passed along with a good night greeting. The whispers of his brothers. Those things were good. He miss it terribly

“Should I raise a horse?”

Choi Inseop remembered the scene with a horse standing in the corner of the roof and smiled to himself without enthusiasm. Anything was fine. It was a feeling of wanting to lean on anything that could alleviate the despair and loneliness he felt right now.

“Don’t. I shouldn’t hahaha,. That’s pretty funny Ha ha ha ha ha.”

Inseop said to himself and laughed for a long time. The dark gray horse was blustering and drooling as if it had understood his clumsy gag.

“Jenny, there you are. I’m not really a good person, no, I’m a very bad person.”

He lamented over and over again.

“But I like being kind to people, and I want to be friends with kind people. And to Lee Wooyeon …”

The end of the speech was blurred. Inseop looked around. Confirming that no one was there, he continued.

“I want to be acknowledged by that person as well. As a good manager. A manager who was quite good. After I leave, when he thinks of me, I want him to think, oh, he wasn’t bad. Well, it’s absurd even when I think about it. What does that matter? No matter how he remembers me… He won’t even remember me in the first place. Just like how he doesn’ remember Peter from America.”

As soon as the name “Peter,” came out of his mouth, his heart sank. He felt like he swallowed a potion that had a strange taste, mixing the memories of that time and the present self.

“I wish Lee Wooyeon was a little more mean to me.”

Even if it was in front of another person, his palm was torn, but he did not frown at Inseop. Throughout the filming, he asked Inseop if he was okay. Yesterday, he had a nosebleed and collapsed, so he said he was worried, and even smiled kindly.

He had to admit that he was starting to look at him with the same eyes as Peter at that time.

“Hey. Lee Woo-yeon…  maybe he’s not a bad person. Then just—.”

Having said that, Choi Inseop covered his mouth with his palm. He wanted to keep the words he had just mumbled in the dark inside.

How much did he beat his heart and cry as he read Jenny’s letter? How regretful that he should have believed Jenny as much as he did. Out of unbearable guilt, he did not dare to even visit Jenny’s grave, and he cried in front of her for days and days.

After everything, he wanted Lee Wooyeon to be a good person now.

“Haha… I’m going crazy.”

Inseop pressed his forehead with his palm and closed his eyes.

He said that he hoped that the only thing he had to go through all the hardships and go to Korea to check was the fact that Jenny had lied to him again.

Irreparable. Garbage. A sick bastard. Dummy. Crazy bastard.

He poured on him the bad words he knew. Still, the feeling of guilt that filled his chest didn’t go away.

As Inseop hardened his face, the dark gray horse made a sound with his mouth and put his chin on his shoulder. Then he shook his head and tapped Inseop’s shoulder. With a short movement, Inseop could read exactly what it wanted from him.

“Strength… Mine?”

It purred. And saliva spouted from the moving horse’s mouth. Even that was comforting to Choi Inseop. He reached out and hugged the horse’s neck.

‘Jenny, I’m sorry, Jenny, I’ll never doubt you again.’

Inseop stood like that for a long time.