abcnovels
Vol. 2 Chapter 40: Chapter 40
Vol. 2 Chapter 40: Chapter 40
Vol. 2 Chapter 40: Chapter 40
Translated by Chef
Edited by Chef
“What are you going to do with it?”
“Yes?”
“Name”
Inseop meekly said, “I don’t know,” as he hugged the teddy bear.
“You have to give it a name. You name flowers, but why not this?”
Lee Wooyeon playfully pulled the teddy bear’s ear.
Choi Inseop, who made Lee Wooyeon laugh for a long time with the hopeless acrostic poem, ‘Mr. Lee Wooyeon is our company’s celebrity’, eventually became the winner of the day. When Lee Wooyeon’s favorite teddy bear was given to the manager, not someone else, the fans seemed to agree that it was a good thing. Even today, Lee Wooyeon’s smiling face was already occupying the first place in the internet search rankings as Lee Wooyeon’s rare smile.
“You don’t like it?”
“No… I’ll call him Teddy.”
It was the most common name given to a teddy bear. Hearing the name, Lee Wooyeon made an expression that he was not happy with the name.
“Is this a male?”
“I don’t know.”
It was just an ordinary teddy bear with white fur. He had never even thought about the gender of the doll.
“Are you going to bring another male into the house besides me?”
Inseop hurriedly turned around to make sure no one was following him.
“You think I didn’t check that and said bullshit?”
“Oh, no. If you don’t like Teddy, I’ll name it Gongsun.”
Lee Wooyeon’s eyes shone even more fiercely.
“Are women better?”
The voice was low, but sharp. Not sure if he was joking or if he was serious, Inseop nervously fiddled with the teddy bear’s arm.
“I can’t.”
Lee Wooyeon robbed Inseop of the teddy bear.
“I will raise him.
“…..”
Lee Wooyeon started walking with the bear on his side.
“What’s a good name?”
Lee Wooyeon stood in front of the elevator and muttered as he narrowed his brows.
The elevator door opened with a ding. Lee Wooyeon gestured to Inseop to get on first. Inseop went to the corner of the elevator and stood. It was a 6-seater elevator, but it felt full with the teddy bear and two people. Lee Wooyeon pressed the button on the 4th basement floor.
“I’ll have to call it Peter.”
“What?”
“His name. Peter”
It was Inseop’s English name. Hee had never called him that, but there was no way Lee Wooyeon wouldn’t know.
“Let’s live together starting today, Peter.”
Inseop didn’t know where to look, so he followed the pattern on the elevator floor with his eyes.
“How about that? Do you think Peter wants to live with me?”
Lee Wooyeon placed the teddy bear in front of him and smiled softly.
“Pe, Peter, of course…”
It represented the position of the teddy bear, but Inseop feels like he was referring to him, so his face started heating up.
“Of course, you will get along well at Lee Wooyeon’s house.”
Inseop lowered his head and added, Hurry up, Peter bear. At first glance, a cold energy passed through Lee Wooyeon’s smiling eyes. Then he asked out of the blue.
“Do you remember when you asked me to accept the award?”
“Me?”
“The other day when we drank together, you cried and threatened me to win the award.”
“Me?!”
Inseop’s face turned pale. He couldn’t even refute Lee Wooyeon’s words because he couldn’t remember what kind of indecent act he had committed.
“Are you so ashamed and sad when I don’t receive an award? Enough to cry?”
“Oh, no. Not at all.”
“Then shall I not take it?”
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t take it. Aside from the award, Mr. Wooyeon is a great actor.”
“Then why don’t you accept what is given?”
Lee Wooyeon repeated the same question.
“… I’ll take it if you give it.”
Inseop answered in a small voice. At that time, the elevator door to the 4th basement floor opened.
“What will you do if I receive an award?”
Lee Wooyeon asked, his eyes twinkling like a child waiting for his parents’ praise. After seriously thinking about it, Inseop opened his mouth.
“Tell me and I will listen.” “
You know what I’ll ask for.”
“I’ll listen to anything. If possible, everything.”
Lee Wooyeon’s eyes narrowed.
“Okay. Then I’ll propose with the trophy. Don’t go back on your words. Peter is the witness.”
“…haha”
Inseop laughed hysterically at the pointless joke. Lee Wooyeon, who was walking in front with the bear, suddenly burst into laughter.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I just remembered that. A celebrity in our company.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve never done anything like that before.”
Inseop thought that starting today, he should go home and study acrostic poetry.
“Thanks to you, you took my precious treasure back.”
Lee Wooyeon held the treasured item he had never owned into his arms as if it were extremely precious.
“Now that we’re doing this, we’ll look like a normal couple.”
“Who?”
Lee Wooyeon pointed at Inseop and him alternately.
Inseop couldn’t bear to ask where he was, how, and why he looked like that.
“My boyfriend usually gives me a lot of presents like this. Useless and bulky.”
“Shall I take it back?”
Inseop cautiously reached out his hand, but Lee Wooyeon didn’t even seem to hear.
“It’s nice, normal.”
He was a person who was far from the word normal. There was nothing that was not extraordinary, from his appearance, voice, and occupation. Even Lee Wooyeon, holding a teddy bear on his side, looked like he had just walked out of a pictorial, far from being ordinary.
But the person standing next to him.
Inseop looked at his reflection in the glass door and lowered his eyes in depression.
“Where shall we go?”
Lee Wooyeon opened the glass door and asked.
“I told you to think about it, yesterday.”
”… “
Inseop had completely forgotten. He didn’t even think about dinner because he was worried about the lies that Lee Wooyeon told him.
Reading Inseop’s expression, Lee Wooyeon smiled bitterly.
“…Did Kangwoo go first?”
Inseop looked around and asked. As soon as the stage greetings were over, Kim Kangwoo was nowhere to be seen. He thought he’d get down first and pull over to a convenient place to get around and wait.
“Then, will the three of us go on a date?”
When Lee Wooyeon took out the smart key and pressed the button, the headlights of a car flashed not far away. Today, he realized why Lee Wooyeon had come here in his own car and not in a van.
Lee Wooyeon opened the back door of the car, shoved the teddy bear in, and opened the passenger side door. Inseop looked around and hesitated for a moment before getting into the passenger seat. Lee Wooyeon, who sat in the driver’s seat, asked as he pulled down his seat belt.
“Do you want something to eat?”
“Anything is fine.”
“Shall we go eat stir-fried octopus after a long time?”
Inseop’s face grew pale at Lee Wooyeon’s suggestion. Previous exploits came to mind.
“Just a joke.”
Lee Wooyeon started the car and asked Inseop,
“Think quickly. I need to put in the navigation.”
“Yes, I will.”
Lee Wooyeon frowned at Inseop’s quick reply.
Why are you trying so hard? It’s not like a new employee going out to eat with his boss. Am I the only one looking forward to a date today?
Lee Wooyeon playfully asks as he deftly turned around the corner of the narrow parking lot.
“..I expected a lot too.”
Inseop crumpled the hem of his clothes and lowered his eyes. In fact, he was more concerned about the lies Lee Wooyeon told him yesterday than the expectation of dinner now.
He’d rather be honest and ask everything right now.
Inseop glanced at Lee Wooyeon.
“Do you have something to say?”
Lee Wooyeon asked directly as he felt the gaze.
He remembered Lee Wooyeon’s face he saw yesterday. Eyes that narrowed as he smiled and lips that smiled as if they were drawn. But he had cold eyes that looked at him as if he was searching for some reason.
“…no.”
Inseop turned his head.
“I have.”
Lee Wooyeon turned the steering wheel as he said that. At that time, a vehicle pulling out from the right cut in without even turning on the blinker. Lee Wooyeon stepped on the brake and blocked Inseop’s body with his arm so that he would not lean forward.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
The collision was narrowly avoided, but Lee Wooyeon looked annoyed.
Besides, of course, the person who had almost hit them was stubborn by not moving back.
Lee Wooyeon reached out from the driver’s seat and motioned for the car to move backwards. Then, the other driver responded by blaring his horns. Lee Wooyeon laughed briefly and grabbed the steering wheel.
“Tell them to go first.”
Inseop spoke carefully. Whenever there was a dispute, regardless of the circumstances, the disadvantage was always the celebrity’s side. Before becoming a manager, Inseop didn’t want to see Lee Wooyeon get swept up in bad things.
As Lee Wooyeon let out a sigh and pulled his car back, the person’s car roared out of the parking lot as if it had been waiting for it.
Lee Wooyeon shifted the gear back to D and turned the steering wheel. He didn’t look very happy.
“Thank you.”
“What are you thankful for?”
Lee Wooyeon made a confused expression.
“You gave in because of me.”
Inseop remembered exactly what Lee Wooyeon said about not wanting to get behind the wheel because of the idiots who drove like idiots.
Lee Wooyeon’s expression subtly changed. It was not clear whether he was holding back his laughter or holding back his anger, but it was clear that he’s suppressing his anger.
“That’s right, if Inseop wasn’t here, I would have pretended not to know and would have hit him from behind.”
A while ago, an offer for a public service advertisement for safe driving came to Lee Wooyeon. Since most public advertisements do not charge model fees, they only have the purpose of enhancing their image. As a celebrity, it was the best way to increase their image. However, CEO Kim immediately rejected this ad offer. It was because he believed that entrusting such advertisements to the Benz killer was something that no human being should do.
“I guess the saying that driving brings out your true nature is true. There should be one or two really shitty things. Thank you for your hard work.”
In front of the parking lot, the windows were lowered and Lee Wooyeon thanked him.
It was a kind voice that was not much different from the one that is used for talking about fucking things up, like just now.
After finishing the settlement, Lee Wooyeon raised the driver’s seat glass.
“Shall I drive?”
Inseop looked at Lee Wooyeon anxiously and asked. Lee Wooyeon burst into laughter.
“No. There’s no way I would do something like that when I’m next to Inseop.”
He seemed to be in a better mood. The wind coming in through his slightly open car window blew his hair back slightly. When their eyes met, Lee Wooyeon smiled.
“I can see right now”
“Yes?”
“You didn’t make eye contact all day and avoided me. I was hurt.”
Lee Wooyeon expressed the hurt he had received in a clear voice. Seeing Inseop at a loss for what to do, Lee Wooyeon wondered if he should shed tears even now. At that moment, his phone rang.
“I’ll answer the phone.”
Inseop apologized and took out his cell phone from his pocket. Lee Wooyeon glanced at him and checked the caller’s name.
“Hello. This is Choi Inseop.”
<Inseop-ah. ..Are you with Lee Wooyeon?>
“Yes! I’m with Lee Wooyeon!
“CEO!”
Lee Wooyeon shouted loudly next to him. A low sigh came through the phone.
“What happened?”
<Did you see the article?>
“What article?”
Inseop was surprised and asked back. Lee Wooyeon silently passed his cell phone to Inseop. Inseop quickly entered the portal site, checked the social side first, and then skimmed through the entertainment side.
“Uh… “
[Chae Yeonseo hospitalized due to a traffic accident.]
With trembling hands, Inseop clicked on the article and read the contents. The exact situation was still unknown, but she was transported to the hospital due to a sudden collision while she was filming, and the article said that her life was not affected.
“Is she okay?”
Inseop asked in a worried voice. The car stopped at a signal at a crossroads.
<hmm. I tried talking to them on the phone, but it looks like nothing is broken or just a light bruise.>
Inseop let out a sigh of relief.
“That’s fortunate.”
Choi Inseop did not have a one-on-one relationship with Chae Yeonseo. He went back and forth to the broadcasting station and hadn’t had a chance to exchange greetings. Even so, Lee Wooyeon stared blankly at Inseop, who expressed his sincere relief.
<But just in case, she’ll be hospitalized to get checked.>
“So?”
Lee Wooyeon asked.
In terms of CEO Kim’s speech, he knew that the most important news will come last.
<… She was in the same car as Director Lee.>
“He died?”
<You… No, Director Lee is unscathed. That’s why they didn’t want to publish an accident article, but the article must have appeared right away because the car they bumped into was the vehicle the reporter was riding in. What luck.>
Lee Wooyeon frowned at first, then took his cell phone from Inseop’s hand to check the article. Inseop looked at Lee Wooyeon with a nervous feeling.
<Of course, I’m not forcing you to go there, but there’s still eyes on you, and for now…>
Director Lee was somehow going to pretend to be related and will try to turn other people’s attention to Lee Wooyeon. It was an obvious trick, but as CEO Kim received the phone call, he had no choice but to ask Lee Wooyeon.
The problem was that what he didn’t like about Lee Wooyeon was that he was a person who wouldn’t do anything even if a knife came into his throat. CEO Kim carefully followed each word.
<You have to go once to stand on her side, as a duty…>
“Okay. Let’s go.”
<Yes. Go and…what?>
CEO Kim asked back in surprise, as if he had heard something unbelievable.
“I’ll go. Please send a message with the hospital name and ward number. Is it surrounded by reporters?”
<Oh, I guess they’re on the floor…>
“You called me to go. But you’re a coward because you called Inseop first and not me.”
At Lee Wooyeon’s words, Inseop was taken aback and said, “You’re not being cowardly,” and intervened from the side.
<No. It’s true that I’m cowardly… Lee Wooyeon, you’re not taking strange drugs, are you?>
It was a question that CEO Kim always asked to confirm whenever there was a rumor that the prosecution was investigating cannabis or drugs. Of course, this is also the question Lee Wooyeon asked the day he took his injured cat to the veterinary hospital.
“I take one pill a day.”
<Hey! Don’t joke around! Don’t you know what’s upsetting these days?>
“I’m driving, call me later.”
Wooyeon ended the call. Inseop put his phone back in his pocket. When the traffic light came on, the car started moving.
“Sorry. We’ll have dinner some other time.”
“It’s okay.”
“I’ll take you home.”
“No. If you stop at the subway station over there, I can go.”
Lee Wooyeon did not answer, turned on the hazard lights, and parked the car on the side of the road.
Surprised by the sudden stop, Inseop turned his head.
“If you tell me not to go, I won’t go.”
Wooyeon’s soft voice was low. He didn’t feel the usual playfulness at all.
“No. Of course…”
He wanted to say of course he should? go, but the words didn’t come out.
He remembered the friendly backs of the two people he saw in the underground parking lot of the theater and the eyes that looked at him yesterday. He wanted to tell him not to go. He hasn’t thought of what he wants to eat yet, but he wanted to ask for a meal today after a long time. Inseop held onto the hem of his clothes and closed his eyes tightly before opening them.
The moment he was about to reveal his foolish selfishness, Inseop caught the script in the door pocket next to the driver’s seat. He himself gave it to him. He knew the meaning of the script, which seemed to have been read to the point where the outside was in tatters.
“…you have to go.”
It was him who encouraged him to endure false scandals to appear in the drama in the first place.
“You’d better visit the hospital yourself,”
Inseop continued in a calm voice.
“Do you want me to come with you? Wouldn’t it be better to have a manager accompany you? Don’t you think so?”
Lee Wooyeon looked at Inseop with a subtle expression and smiled.
“I don’t want to go to the hospital with Inseop.”
Inseop’s heart throbbed at the sincerity masked as a joke.
“Then should I order a flower basket and deliver it to the hospital room?”
“You’re completely back to the manager’s version. Never mind. Why would I give her the flower that I haven’t even given to Inseop yet?”
Lee Wooyeon turned off the emergency light and started the car again.
“You don’t have to take me to my home. It’ll be just around the corner.”
“It’s because I want to take you home.”
Lee Wooyeon’s mouth was smiling, but his eyes were not like that at all. Inseop thanked him because he knew that he could not break his will at times like this.
Evening air flowed through the slightly open car window.
“A while ago…”
Inseop opened his mouth first. Lee Wooyeon slightly raised his eyebrows instead of answering.
“You had something to say.”
“Oh, that”
Lee Wooyeon tapped the steering wheel lightly.
“How do I look?”
“What?”
“Do you like it?”
Inseop blinked, wondering what this was about, and managed to ask back, “What are you talking about?”
“I’m trying to look good to Inseop these days.”
Lee Wooyeon smiles playfully. Like a boy.
His heart thumped. To the point where he was afraid that his heart that he barely fixed will be broken again because it was beating so hard.
“Tell me if there’s anything you don’t like. I’ll fix it if I can.”
“There is no such thing.”
Inseop replied quietly. Then Lee Wooyeon grabbed Inseop’s left hand. Surprised, Inseop tried to pull his hand out, but Lee Wooyeon did not let go.
“We can’t be seen from the outside.”
“Still…”
“Then I’ll hold it until it passes through Banpo Bridge,” he said, turning the steering wheel with one hand. When Inseop lowered his hand, Lee Wooyeon spread out his fingers and clasped his fingers tightly. Through his fingers, he felt like his heart was about to burst with warmth.
He liked this guy. So he was greedy, selfish, and scared. Even at this moment when he reveals his affection for him, he was worried that this full feeling will disappear without a trace.
So he wanted to be brave.
“Uhm…”
Lee Wooyeon turned his eyes and answered Inseop’s call.
“Then, have you met Chae Yeonseo before?”
He hoped that his heart was sincere as one does.
Inseop waited for Lee Wooyeon’s answer with a nervous feeling like a sinner ahead of his sentence.
“It’s my first time today except for a public occasion.”
An orange beam of light that came through the driver’s car window touched Lee Wooyeon’s hair. It was as beautiful as a flower.
Inseop blinked quickly. He felt like he was going to cry.
The hands held together were warm, and the man’s eyes were soft from time to time. There was no sign of lying or hiding something. Lee Wooyeon touched Inseop’s fingers one by one.
“Such a thing, that’s nice.”
Inseop couldn’t answer Lee Wooyeon muttering to himself.