He seemed like someone poking and prodding here and there, trying to find a weakness that might exist somewhere. But for someone trying to exploit another’s weakness, the man himself looked as if he were the one cornered.
Wondering how to handle the situation, he stared at the man’s face with a complicated expression. Then, after a brief glance at me standing behind him to his left, he made a decision.
“Go to the study and wait.”
He had never used such a firm, commanding tone, not with me and not with the people of Phantom .
Pointing to the study door, which was directly in front of us and right next to the master room around the corner, he stepped aside. The man, who brushed past me and glanced at me for a moment with eyes holding a light mix of contempt and curiosity, entered the study and closed the door.
After letting out a deep sigh that seemed to rise from the bottom of his lungs, he turned completely to face me. His fatigue-worn face offered a troubled smile.
“He’s a guy I used to know… he paints. I don’t know why he’s all the way in Chicago, but I think I need to hear him out.”
“……”
“As you can see… he doesn’t seem like someone I can just brush off lightly…”
“I suppose… not.”
“Haa… This really wasn’t what I intended…. What should I do about breaking our promise again? How about you and Yuni go, just the two of you?”
Perhaps thinking my passive reaction was a sign of my displeasure with the situation, he placed his hands on both my shoulders and leaned down to look at me, his face full of apology as he tried to read my expression. It was the face of a man at a loss, having unintentionally canceled our dates twice in a row.
But I had no complaints about our dinner plans being canceled. Of course, it would have been nice to spend time together, but this situation wasn’t his fault, and I had no intention of making him worry by showing any displeasure.
“If I stay… will I be in the way?”
“……”
My question seemed to take him by surprise. He paused for a moment, then quickly shook his head several times.
“No, why would you be in the way? It’s not like that at all. I just thought you’d be disappointed since our plans keep getting canceled.”
“I didn’t want to go out, I wanted to be with you, CEO… so if it’s okay, I’d just like to stay here. I’m… worried about what’s going on.”
With the hand that had been on my shoulder, he gently lifted my chin. My gaze, which had been looking down at his chest, met his eyes. I felt like he would see right through me—that my use of the word ‘worried’ included the pettiness of not wanting to leave him alone with another man.
“Was he in the past…”
“……”
He stopped as he was leaning in as if to kiss me. I shook my head and gently pushed his chest. I felt strange for trying to ask such a question. I was aware that we were dating, but I still needed more time to get used to myself acting the part.
“No, it’s nothing. I’ll explain everything to my Noona. You should go in and talk to him.”
As I tried to turn away, he grabbed my shoulder again, stopping me.
“Are you asking if he’s someone I used to date?”
“……”
“Are you?”
Even if they had been, I knew well that it had nothing to do with our current relationship. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him. So, not wanting to show such an unseemly side of myself, I didn’t answer. Honestly, I wanted to hide somewhere. I could feel my ears turning red and heat rushing to my face.
“You can ask. You’re someone who has the right to question me about things like that.”
Giving my shoulders a light shake, he kept trying to look at my face. I raised my arm to hide my face and pushed him away.
“F-First… just go talk to him.”
His hand, which had been holding my shoulder, slid down my arm, and finally, he cupped my face. My reddened face was ultimately exposed, but he didn’t make fun of it. His face as he looked down at me was only serious.
“Later… I’ll tell you everything.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he pulled me into a hug. A hug itself wasn’t a rare occurrence, but this time, it wasn’t when I’d expected it, so I was a little surprised. Moreover, a strong force was squeezing my upper body, as if trying to imprint me into his arms.
Thinking about his journey since coming to Chicago, which had been short on leisure both time-wise and mentally, this hug didn’t seem to be just about the current situation. I felt as if I understood that he was going through a particularly difficult time, so much so that I felt sorry for not having hugged him first.
“I’ll tell you everything.”
As he muttered, emphasizing it once more, I nodded and wrapped my arms around his broad back. After some thought, I patted his back a couple of times, and he laughed like someone who had received unexpected comfort from a four or five-year-old.
He went back to his room to change first, and I also headed to my room to call my Noona and explain the situation.
I was worried my Noona would be disappointed that our plans were canceled, but she actually seemed relieved. She said it was for the best, as she’d been feeling burdened by the prospect of having to act cheerful in a situation where we were all obviously awkward with each other. I couldn’t say anything to that.
After the call, I took off my gown and changed my clothes, trying to distract myself from my thoughts, which were all focused on the study. I sat down at the table to refine the sketches from earlier, but it was hard to concentrate.
Just as I was about to get a can of beer from the fridge in the small kitchen between the living room and my room, the bell rang again.
“Ah, Yeehyeon-ssi…. A-Wei, CEO Liu, is he in?”
This time, it was Shu Shu. He was in the same outfit he’d worn to the opening event at the gallery that morning.
“Yes… But he has a guest right now and is in the middle of a conversation.”
He’s probably just managing his connections for the New York branch anyway. Shu Shu muttered with a displeased look and gestured toward the inside of the suite.
“May I wait in the living room?”
It seemed another problem had found its way to him… but there was no reason not to let Shu Shu in.
After showing him to the living room, I asked if he needed a drink. Shu Shu, who had requested coffee, called me back as I was heading to the kitchen and asked for a beer instead. When I returned to the living room, I had two bottles of beer in my hands.
“Thanks. Don’t mind me, Yeehyeon-ssi, you can go rest in your room.”
“It’s okay. I was just getting a beer for myself before you came, Shushu-nim.”
“Well, I’d be grateful if you’d drink with me while I wait.”
Shu Shu didn’t bother refusing.
I took a seat on an identical sofa across a small table from Shu Shu, who was sitting on a single velvet sofa with a sky-blue silk cushion. From my seat, I could see the east side of Chicago through the right window and the entire living room in front of me. Besides where we were sitting, there were two more sofa sets in the living room, providing enough facilities and space for about twenty people to have a small party.
“I saw your work. It was good.”
“Ah… You must have been busy, thank you for taking the time to see it.”
“I just found out today that you were the artist of ‘Isolation’, Yeehyeon-ssi.”
“……”
“That bastard A-Wei, he worked at a gallery in Hong Kong, and he’s a gallery owner himself in Seoul, but he was never one to hang many paintings in his own home. But that piece, he always hung it in a prominent place every time he moved.”
Everyone who knew him well said the same thing, about how special ‘Isolation’ was to him. It was, of course, a pleasant thing to hear, but I hadn’t expected Shu Shu to join the chorus.
“…Why?”
Noticing my gaze, Shu Shu took the beer bottle from his lips and smiled. Thinking I might have stared too obviously, I quickly turned my head and apologized.
“No, it’s just… I was surprised to hear you call him ‘that bastard,’ Shushu-nim…”
As if he knew I’d say that, Shu Shu laughed again. Then, tilting the beer bottle once more, he playfully raised his eyebrows at me.
“When I’m stuck on a project, I use curses much worse than that.”
I must have had a look of disbelief on my face, because Shu Shu kept laughing as he looked at me.
“Anyway, anyone who visited his house for the first time had to answer A-Wei’s question about what they thought the theme of that painting was. He owns several famous works, but he showed a particular obsession with that painting…. And now, to think that you, Yeehyeon-ssi, are the artist of ‘Isolation’, and that you had a past connection with the Director. I don’t know how things get so tangled up. I haven’t lived that long, but sometimes life is just hilarious. Isn’t it?”
As if he himself had been the subject of one of life’s comedies, Shu Shu smiled bitterly and drank his beer.
For him, who seemed so perpetually bright, life must have also been a real situation unfolding in the wild, not in a greenhouse. While telling myself that what you see isn’t everything, I suddenly felt sorry, wondering if I had at some point held a prejudice against Shu Shu.
“Is A-Wei treating you well?”
“……What?”
The surprise attack of a question made me choke on my beer in an unsightly way. It was a relief that I could blame my reddened face on the coughing fit.
While saying sorry and asking if I was okay, Shu Shu laughed as if wondering what I was so surprised about.
“A-Wei and I have been friends since kindergarten. I can tell just by the way he treats you, Yeehyeon-ssi. Besides, that bastard doesn’t seem to have any intention of hiding it, so.”
I know him, if he really put his mind to hiding it, he’s the type of guy who could fool God himself about who he’s dating—to Shu Shu’s added comment, I just fidgeted with the innocent beer bottle.
“I asked if he’s treating you well, but it seems like he’s head over heels for you, Yeehyeon-ssi. Am I right?”
Shu Shu, egging me on to talk, seemed to be enjoying my reaction a little. The more he did, the more my face burned. I hadn’t even fully gotten used to being in a relationship with just him, and talking about it in front of someone else was still too high a hurdle for me.
As I was trying my best to steer the conversation in another direction, I heard the sound of the study door opening from the hallway connected to the living room. It seemed their conversation was over. I let out a sigh of relief, placed the beer bottle on the table, and stood up.
“……Seon-yu?”
The hallway leading from the living room to the study and the master room wasn’t long. Moreover, from where Shu Shu and I were sitting, the hallway was clearly visible. Shu Shu, who had slowly risen from the sofa as if he’d seen a ghost, had not called out his name. Shu Shu’s brow furrowed tightly as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“H-Hyung…”
The man who had come out of the study first reacted to Shu Shu’s voice. He, who had been following the man out, saw the situation, scowled, and bit his lower lip hard. He looked utterly dismayed. But Shu Shu’s eyes were fixed only on the man.
“Why are you… here…”
“Uh… I’m looking into holding a solo exhibition in Seoul, and my gallery said they’d introduce me to a good place, so I came all this way and… it turns out to be Weikun hyung.”
The man, who had walked hesitantly down the hall to the entrance of the living room, smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. Then, looking at Shu Shu with a complicated gaze, he spoke cautiously.
“Have you been well? Your work… it’s gotten even better.”
“……”
“Your ankle… how is it?”
“That was so long ago.”
Shu Shu smiled bitterly and looked down at the beer bottle in his hand.
The moment I heard the mention of his ankle, a page in my memory flipped open. The search results from the portal site that had told me about ShuShu’s past—how he had to give up dancing due to recurring ankle injuries and the side effects of an infection in the surgical site.
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