SDM 39

8. B0

Seong-woon shivered in the cold winter at the film set, exhausted his mental strength in script readings, drained his energy schmoozing with key figures at drinking parties, and came home irritated by the hologram. Finally, he collapsed from fatigue after throwing a fit.

As he woke up late and ate French toast with soggy egg wash for brunch, Seong-woon realized that the texture was very similar to something. That is…

“…A tongue?”

The moment he uttered those words, he wanted to die. How could he be thinking of that damn tongue while eating this sweet and delicious food…

Thunk. Seong-woon banged his head on the table, screaming internally. Disappear! Please, make that sensation vanish from my mind! As if he’d had his first kiss or something… First, first kiss?

No, it wasn’t his first kiss. He definitely had his first kiss around age eighteen. Of course, it was just lips touching and it was for acting… Seong-woon tried to insist that such a peck, which no one would acknowledge as a real kiss, counted. He pressed his forehead against the cold glass table, breathing heavily.

No, then was that my first kiss? It can’t be. Seong-woon tried to escape the “first kiss” notion, but it wasn’t easy. No matter how much he reflected on the past, he realized that what he did with Baek Sang-hyun yesterday was infinitely close to a first kiss.

“No, that wasn’t a kiss, it was an accident…”

“…What are you mumbling about?”

“Hyung?”

At Ryu Chang-yoon’s voice, Seong-woon straightened up. Ryu Chang-yoon with his hair neatly swept back, walked into the dining room.

“Was our youngest eating? Surely not breakfast?”

It was past 11 o’clock. Seong-woon didn’t answer, he just took another bite of French toast with his fork. The sweet, soft, melting French toast was absurdly delicious. That kiss too…

“Didn’t go to work?”

“No. It’s Sunday.”

Even an executive director takes Sundays off, huh. Just a few years ago, the film and drama industry had to keep rolling regardless of weekends or nights, so Seong-woon’s concept of weekends was still blurry. Things had improved a bit recently, though.

“Don’t change the subject. You’re not really having breakfast now, are you?”

“…I was tired, so I woke up a bit late.”

“It’s cold, you shouldn’t have gone to places like film sets. Wasn’t the script reading room freezing too?”

“It wasn’t that cold.”

“Wear a padded jacket.”

It’s not even winter yet. It’s late autumn, and the temperature doesn’t drop below 10 degrees even in the morning. What padded jacket?

“Mother said she’d have padded jackets made for your film production team.”

“…Mother did?”

“Yeah. You know, she has a fashion affiliate. Though it’s aunt’s.”

They really have control over food, clothing, and shelter, huh. Seong-woon was bewildered by the unfathomable wealth and power of this family.

He thought the French toast portion was large from the start, but after eating about half, he felt he couldn’t possibly eat any more. Seong-woon put down his fork and slowly sipped his warm herbal tea. This body didn’t gain weight easily no matter what he ate, but he’d started avoiding fruit drinks to reduce sugar intake, and somehow it made him feel even more depressed.

“Eat more.”

“I’m full.”

“Should I feed you?”

“No thanks.”

Ryu Chang-yoon, sitting across from him, picked up the fork himself and cut the French toast into pieces. After staring at the piece he was holding out for a while, Seong-woon reluctantly opened his mouth and ate it. He did so thinking that otherwise, Ryu Chang-yoon might hold it out all day.

“So, how was the film set and script reading yesterday?”

“…Well, it was fun.”

Having seen it so often, there wasn’t much new or exciting. It was just his first time seeing Director Lee Jun-ho’s friendly attitude, and though it wasn’t his first time working with actor Song Ji-kwang, it was his first time seeing him so relaxed. And Baek Sang-hyun… fuck.

“Then why was your heart beating so fast?”

“Huh?”

What Ryu Chang-yoon held out was heart rate data. Seeing that, Seong-woon wondered if Ryu Chang-yoon was really a stalker beyond just being a brother complex. Has he been checking this every time?

“…Do you check this every day?”

“Not every day.”

“Then?”

“Only when you meet Baek Sang-hyun.”

“…Baek Sang-hyun?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of relationship do you think I have with Baek Sang-hyun… Why on earth are you checking that?”

“He’s special to Chae-yoon. Baek Sang-hyun, I mean.”

Ryu Chang-yoon’s use of ‘special’ seemed to have thorns. It didn’t feel like he meant that ‘Ryu Chae-yoon’ liked Baek Sang-hyun as a fan. As Seong-woon quietly observed Ryu Chang-yoon, a sudden thought struck him, making his eyes widen.

Could it be that Ryu Chang-yoon not only knew that “Ryu Chae-yoon” had wanted to meet Baek Sang-hyun but also knew what kind of error had occurred in the Ryu Shin secretarial office?

“Hyung, you don’t mean…”

“Don’t mean what?”

“…”

But Seong-woon couldn’t bring himself to ask. He just pursed his lips and furrowed his brows. Ryu Chang-yoon pressed his fingertip to smooth out the wrinkle.

“What’s bothering you?”

“…Do you happen to know that I said I wanted to meet Baek Sang-hyun at that time?”

Realizing that leaving it unaddressed would only lead to more suspicion, Seong-woon asked without hesitation this time. Ryu Chang-yoon looked at Seong-woon quietly for a moment, then smiled, curving his lips.

“Is there anything about you that I don’t know?”

“You’re really acting like a stalker, stop it.”

“I’d like to be a stalker for Chae-yoon.”

“Hyung.”

“Yes?”

Does Ryu Chang-yoon really like Ryu Chae-yoon as a sibling? Seong-woon, having been on the receiving end of so much hatred, couldn’t confidently say he could properly read people’s emotions. So Ryu Chang-yoon’s current attitude was just confusing to him.

“So you did know?”

“I did.”

“But you just let things happen?”

“The secretarial office doesn’t report everything to me in real time. I received a report afterwards… That’s why I was bothered by you meeting Baek Sang-hyun even after that.”

…Is that really the case? Seong-woon thought back on Ryu Chang-yoon’s behavior. He still felt uneasy, but it wasn’t incomprehensible.

Pushing aside all the questions and curiosities filling his mind, Seong-woon read the next quest floating on the hologram. Then he asked Ryu Chang-yoon the question he needed to be answered right now.

“…Can you teach me accounting principles?”

* * *

What good is it to have a handsome face, 6-foot height, a good body, and even a good brain to study well, when all Seong-woon needed right now was someone who could teach accounting principles? Teaching was something Ryu Chang-yoon was utterly incapable of. In short, Ryu Chang-yoon had no talent for teaching.

“…It’s okay, hyung. Thanks.”

“Huh? But I hardly taught you anything…”

 The genius mind of Ryu Chang-yoon couldn’t understand the mind of an average student at all. The parts he assumed Seong-woon would naturally understand, Seong-woon didn’t know at all, but this wasn’t Seong-woon’s fault.

“I’ll explain it to you in detail.”

“No, it’s fine… I’ll figure it out on my own.”

Still, Seong-woon couldn’t bring himself to argue point by point with someone who was trying to help, so he just brushed it off. He only asked Ryu Chang-yoon one worried question.

“Hyung, do you do this at work too?”

“Hm?”

“At work, do you also…”

How to put it… does he work as if counting numbers not as one, two, three, but as ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand? Skipping all the middle steps and being at the end alone while others can’t even understand?

“I guess it’s similar?”

Feeling sorry for Ryu Chang-yoon’s coworkers, Seong-woon struggled to pull the textbook that Ryu Chang-yoon was still firmly holding with his fingertips. He couldn’t help but sigh.

In the last midterm exam, Seong-woon had scored 82 points. It wasn’t a particularly low score, but it wasn’t high either. It had barely exceeded the B0 grade that the quest required.

Remembering that he had put in a lot of effort just to get that score, Seong-woon realized he would be in big trouble if he continued like this. He skimmed through the parts he had missed while hospitalized and realized he might end up facing a ridiculous failure penalty.

“Chae-yoon?”

Should I ask for a private tutor? But then, how would I explain why I’m studying so hard? Well, maybe I could say that once I started, I found myself wanting to try my best? But then again, it’s a bit ridiculous and embarrassing to be getting tutoring as a college student.

Should I go back to that study group? The problem was— the study group pretty much fell apart after the midterms. Two members took a leave of absence, and the leader joined another study group. Only Seong-woon and Baek Sang-hyun were left, and there was a notice in the group chat saying the class representative could put them in different study groups if they asked.

Seong-woon, wracking his brain with worry, forcibly sent away the persistently clingy Ryu Chang-yoon and tried studying all day, but it was in vain.

“I guess I’m just not smart enough…”

Was he always this dumb to understand things without someone teaching him? Or was it because he really disliked this subject? He used to be good at acting without anyone teaching him…

Seong-woon, who didn’t want to come to school at all, looked for a different café instead of the one he usually went to. He definitely didn’t want to create opportunities to meet Baek Sang-hyun.

Now that it was too cold to sit on the terrace, Seong-woon was sipping warm tea and reflecting on his past. He had no idea that his image was being shared on a page called “Today’s Ryu Chae-yoon” in the school community and that it was being uploaded to all websites beyond the school boundaries. It went something like this.

Today’s OOTD

(Collage photo of worn items)

(Today’s Ryu Chae-yoon photo)

Coat from B Company: 5.28 million won

Knit from C Company: 3.2 million won

Pants from C Company: 4.8 million won

Shoes from H Company: 2.8 million won

Bag from T Company: 800,000 won (Is this comfortable? He always carries this)

The watch is still the Ryu Shin (probably) smartwatch. But seriously, what version is this? Can’t find the exact same one even after months of searching. Wish Ryu Shin would tell us so we can copy it.

80 comments

That coat is gorgeous but I’m 500 won short of buying it

➥I’ll give you 500 won

➥➥Haha…

What if a hobbit wears that coat?

➥They’d become Frodo

➥➥Hahahahaha

The bag looks out of place every time I see it lol Everything else is first floor department store but this one’s on the 3rd floor

➥Among Ryu Chae-yoon fans, there’s a theory that this is the only thing he bought himself

I heard the watch is custom-made. I have a relative in the Ryu Shin lab, and they say a custom-made watch with maximized accuracy for heart rate, blood pressure, and ECG goes out each time. They said something about a separate transmission function, but I couldn’t understand that part properly

➥I agree

➥The overall form factor does seem to be Ryu Shin’s. Ryu Chae-yoon wouldn’t wear Chinese products lol Maybe the watch strap is a custom order from H Company?

➥Whoa, is Ryu Chae-yoon sick then?

➥➥Don’t react to rumors. There’s no proof that it’s even Ryu Chae-yoon’s

➥➥➥Isn’t it weirder if it’s not? His brother probably made it for him

➥➥There were some talks about that. He didn’t go to school and took the GED, right? We thought he’d gone abroad long ago, but that wasn’t the case either

➥➥➥Well…

➥➥➥How do you know that?

➥➥➥➥They say he mentioned it when he entered university? That he didn’t go to school and took the GED

➥➥➥➥➥Oh…

➥➥➥➥➥➥What do you mean “oh”? Just keep quiet

Of course, RBS, Ryu Chae-yoon’s agency, was monitoring all of this, but there weren’t many negative comments. Although it did stimulate the inferiority complex of those steeped in feelings of inadequacy, it was actually a good promotional tool that didn’t cost a penny, so they left it alone. However, whenever there was a sign of false or near-factual rumors spreading, they would swiftly delete such posts.