HARD 24

It was an attitude that was not just difficult, but downright arrogant.

However, Go Woonha did not let this opportunity pass. Things like pointless pride and being swept away by immediate emotions had no place in his life. He doesn’t respond with violence even if a rude person comes at him, nor does he turn his back and let a good opportunity slip away just because someone acts arrogantly. Go Woonha immediately shared all his available schedules and times.

“I will work with you, one way or another.”

Go Woonha muttered, directing a dark, chilly eye-smile toward BearB’s email address.

He returned home and turned on the lights. The first place he headed was the bedroom. He had spoken to the person who looks after the house during the day to let the curtain installer in, and had asked for blackout curtains to be installed while he was at work. The changed bedding was a sleek silk material, black like at Cha Gyuwon’s house. The floor rug was also a soft charcoal gray, and the existing metallic silver indirect lighting had been changed with wooden shades to prevent eye fatigue.

“This is totally Cha Gyuwon’s room.”

Go Woonha looked around the room as if he found it amusing.

He had slept so unusually well at Cha Gyuwon’s house that he had tried to imitate his room exactly. He could clearly picture him being shy with pleasure instead of calling it creepy if he saw it. Of course, he had no plans to invite Cha Gyuwon to his house.

He hummed as he loosened his tie. Until he took off his clothes, put them in the laundry basket, and took a shower, he was in a very good mood, sweetly anticipating the near future. After a light glass of wine, he checked the message from Cha Gyuwon.

[Cha Gyuwon (Tomato)]

<Hyung. What are you doing?>

<Are you having dinner?>

<I made braised short ribs.>

<It’s really good.>

<I’ll save some for you.>

He muted all messages from other people and replied only to Cha Gyuwon.

<I’m home now. I ate.>

<Thank you for the thought, Mr. Gyuwon.>

Whether he replied or not, judging from the contact patterns Cha Gyuwon had shown so far, he was clearly awake until late at night. The only difference was whether he slept in the morning, at dawn, or with him at night. In that case, he would have to keep contacting him endlessly. Go Woonha cut off contact at a reasonable point, connected his phone to the charger, brushed his teeth, and lay down in bed.

Home was indeed the best. Go Woonha felt infinite satisfaction in his own space, uninvaded by anyone, and closed his eyes.

And a few hours later, Go Woonha was swimming laps in the pool with a subtly displeased expression. Without rest. As if he was about to collapse from exhaustion.

👟

I can’t sleep because my body isn’t tired.

Go Woonha had come to that conclusion. However, he was no longer satisfied with just any moderate exercise, and knowing that his stamina would accumulate over time and only make it harder to sleep, Go Woonha was lost in thought. I redecorated my room because I didn’t want to get used to sleeping at Cha Gyuwon’s house. I could sleep with other people as much as I wanted, but the process of stopping by a hotel and then going home felt like a hassle.

“This is why you have to get used to hardship.”

Muttering, Go Woonha tidied his hair while looking in the mirror.

Today was the day of his meeting with BearB. BearB was a truly cautious type. It had taken a persistent exchange of emails to finally schedule one video meeting, so this opportunity was very important.

[Cha Gyuwon (Tomato)]
<Hyung. I warmed up the braised short ribs. Come eat.>

It was a message from Cha Gyuwon. Go Woonha was very hungry for both the braised short ribs and Cha Gyuwon, but for now, he just checked the message and left it. The meeting time was just around the corner. He didn’t want to break his concentration.

He then logged into the pre-shared meeting room. He adjusted the camera to get a good view of his face and waited. Three minutes after the scheduled time, BearB entered.

“Hello. This is Go Woonha, the Marketing Team Leader from Balancez, who contacted you.”

BearB’s screen was pitch black. And there was no response. Thinking perhaps the microphone volume was set incorrectly, Go Woonha raised the volume a little more, did a belated mic test saying, “Ah, ah,” and then tilted his head. Go Woonha’s face filled the screen. It didn’t falter in the slightest.

“Mr. BearB?”

A busy sound, as if someone was fumbling on the other side of the screen, was heard, and then a modulated voice came out.

—…This is BearB. Hello.

It was an incredibly low mechanical sound. Seeing that even the voice was modulated, Go Woonha thought that BearB must be a truly particular person about exposing personal information, but as long as the results were good, that was all that mattered, and since artists all have their sensitive sides, he decided to let it be.

“I am truly sorry for bothering you despite you having expressed your refusal several times. I hope you will graciously consider it as a sign of how much we, especially I, wanted to work with you, Mr. BearB. I fell completely in love after seeing your work.”

Go Woonha’s business Korean was excellent. There were parts where his pronunciation stumbled a bit, but that was a minor issue.

But above all, the smile when he said, “I fell completely in love,” was outstanding. He knew that his smile worked well on anyone. Regardless of age or gender.

—…

“Mr. BearB?”

—The condishuns. Ah, no. I’ll hear the conditions.

Ah, finally.

Go Woonha glanced down once at the documents he had prepared and then poured them out like flowing water.

Since he couldn’t see his face, he couldn’t be sure if he was listening well, but he made it easy to understand and especially emphasized the negotiable parts in advance so that there would be no need to ask again.

“As you are very uncomfortable with meeting in person, the entire work process will be conducted via email and video calls like this meeting. The time will be adjusted to fit Mr. BearB’s schedule. And the person in charge…”

—Will the Team Leader be my direct contact?

Go Woonha’s position was too high and his schedule too tight for that.

However, Go Woonha, who was well aware that he had pushed aside other artists who had shown interest and frayed the nerves of his team members due to his own insistence, answered without much hesitation.

“If that’s what Mr. BearB wants, then I’ll have to do it.”

An eye-smile, so gentle it was brilliant, filled the screen.

—…

“If you need time to think about it…”

—No. I’ll do it.

To be honest, given the response intervals so far, he hadn’t expected an answer so quickly, so Go Woonha’s eyes widened.

—I’ll do it. Please send the contract.

He didn’t do the foolish thing of asking if he was serious.

“I will send it to you in writing. If you give me your home address…”

—No. Please send it by email. That’s possible, right? An electronic signature.

“It is possible, but.”

—Then let’s proceed that way. …I’ll trust you, Team Leader.

Is he the type who is difficult to approach at first, but lets his guard down completely once he opens up? Go Woonha, with a smiling face, promised to send the contract right away.

Since they weren’t having tea or a meal together, it was right to conclude the meeting. He was about to start the closing remarks when BearB, who had been silent except for his answers, suddenly asked.

—Team Leader. By the way, your name was in English in the email. Is that your real name?

“Ah.”

Go Woonha recalled his email signature. It was indeed his English name.

“It’s because I’m an American citizen. I have no problem communicating in Korean. I must have confused you. I am the same person as the sender of the email. Let me introduce myself again. I’m Go Woonha. I will be communicating with you under this name. I look forward to working with you, Mr. BearB.”

—…

He thought this was really the end.

“The legal team will contact you for the information needed for the contract, so please don’t worry about exposure…”

—What do you do after work?

“Pardon?”

—I’m asking what you plan to do after work. Ah. Just. You seem popular. Maybe you’re meeting a friend. Uh, yes. That’s why. Small talk, or something.

He’s rambling. It reminded him of someone, but since Go Woonha was at work, he pushed aside his personal thoughts and answered in a business-like manner.

“I’ll probably meet a friend.”

—Do you have friends in Korea too?

“A lot.”

Go Woonha laughed, “Ha ha.”

“Do I look like I don’t?”

—…No. You look like you have a lot. A whole lot.

“I’m sure it’s the same for you, Mr. BearB. Then, for future contact…”

While Go Woonha mentioned a few more points, BearB said nothing. When asked if it was okay to wrap up the meeting now, he said a very low and very short, “Yes,” and then disappeared just like that.

Go Woonha also ended the call and leaned back in his chair.

“Difficult.”

He muttered, rubbing his eyebrows.

He shared via the internal team messenger that BearB had expressed his intention to sign the contract and sent an email to the legal team. He then spent his time busily wrapping up his afternoon work. As he did, the day quickly darkened and grew dim. Go Woonha turned off his computer and checked his phone. He sifted through the accumulated messages, discarding the unnecessary ones, until he found Cha Gyuwon’s.

[Cha Gyuwon (Tomato)]

<Hyung. Are you done with work? Are you coming?>

Having already forgotten what he had said in the meeting with BearB, Go Woonha briefly pondered how to reply. If he said no here, he would surely whine and cry for him to come eat the braised short ribs, and honestly, he wasn’t confident he wouldn’t go over today.

But just then, a message came from a man three years his senior, whom he had met when he was taking a gap year in Korea. He was the prospective owner of a woolen business family that was expanding into sportswear, including golf wear.

[Apparel Park Inhyun – Seoul]

<Woonha. I’m in Korea. Let’s grab a drink.>

If it were just a simple acquaintance, he would have said let’s meet next time, but as it happened, their fields overlapped a bit. Honestly, it was a sudden message, so he briefly thought about him, considering the possibility. As he recalled, he was a heterosexual man who had quite a lot to learn from and was quite gentle. Go Woonha thought for a moment, then sent a text to Cha Gyuwon. What he had intended to be a light message became quite serious.

<Sorry. I have to work.>

<Let’s eat next time.>

<Be sure to eat dinner.>

Without even realizing he was being sincere, Go Woonha sent the text, clicked his tongue in displeasure, and then replied to the hyung he had met during his gap year, Park Inhyun. He was the type who really enjoyed working, but maybe because he hadn’t slept properly for a few days, today was a little annoying.

“……”

Cha Gyuwon looked at his phone screen with a dark expression. Then, he looked at his monitor.

Both were dead black and unresponsive. His own reflection was visible on the dark screen. His own appearance was also dark and gloomy.

He didn’t want to see his dejected expression, so he tried to look away, but a feeling of powerlessness came over him first, and he found himself staring blankly at the screen.

“…Is he meeting a friend, or is he working…”

A melancholy voice flowed out.

Cha Gyuwon clutched his face at the intense urge surging up inside him, before finally collapsing onto his desk.

“I want to lock you up, hyung…”

But to do that, he was too insignificant, and Go Woonha was too brilliant…

A good while later, Cha Gyuwon got up from his seat. The news said the temperature would drop sharply starting tonight and a fierce wind would continue for several days. Cha Gyuwon got dressed and then picked up a blanket. It was thick and dark, with cute characters woven into it. He then went to the entryway and paused in front of his shoes.

“I don’t even know where he is.”

Muttering in a hollow voice, Cha Gyuwon just stood there as the entryway light turned on and off several times.