Love for Love’s Sake - Chapter 62

Chapter 62

“Yeowoon will have less freedom if he signs with a company. He essentially has no legal guardian.”

It existed, but it was just as bad as not having any. Since Cha Yeowoon was a minor, he would need to contact his parents, and I couldn’t help but worry about his father’s reaction.

“There will be a contract period, but even after that, I won’t force Yeowoon.”

Cha Yeowoon had said he would do anything I asked. That was why I was more hesitant to intervene.

I didn’t want him doing something he didn’t want to do because of me. Even his social media account I would delete immediately if he asked.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Choi Jinseo was looking at me as if I was fascinating.

“Just…When I met Mister Yeowoon last year, I thought he seemed perilous. He looked so exhausted, and when I tried to help he wouldn’t even let me talk to him.”

“It was a difficult time for a child. Still, my Yeowoon is gentle and kind inside.”

Why did I keep talking like a parent? My child was a good kid.

“I know. Children his age are still finding their way. Still, it’s a waste. He has a lot of potential, but if he continues like this, he won’t be able to make the most of it.”

“…”

“I felt that the atmosphere around Mister Yeowoon has changed a lot when we met this time…”

Choi Jinseo said slowly as her eyes busily glanced at me again.

“I understand why it changed. It’s important who you have around you.”

“…Is that a compliment?”

“Of course?”

Choi Jinseo affirmed confidently.

“Okay. If there’s something Mister Myeongha needs, I can help to some extent. As a way to show my sincerity.”

Choi Jinseo threw her unlit cigarette into a nearby trash can and held out her hand to me.

“I mean it. I’m confident in my job, but I also have a really good intuition. I think that’s my greatest weapon. I jumped onto this project based on that intuition.”

Choi Jinseo’s eyes gleamed like a wild animal.

“I have a very good hunch about this one.”

* * *

[ Favorability: 55 ]

Cha Yeowoon was waiting for the finals.

In the preliminaries, of course, he had come in first place.

Due to his records so far, he was considered a candidate to win among the athletes. There were some who had cited his recent poor performances, but in the end, it was him who had won the 100m race.

In the semifinals, without any surprises, he had easily taken first place.

Despite the good results, he was feeling irritated before the afternoon finals. While silently eating the lunchbox in front of him, he glanced across.

There was something more nerve-wracking than the competition.

“Sister Jinseo has always been very popular.”

“…”

“You can tell at a glance, right? She’s pretty. She’s too bright! Doesn’t she stand out?”

“So what?”

Cha Yeowoon chewed his side dishes before finally putting down his chopsticks. Cheon Sangwon smirked as if he had been waiting.

“What? Aren’t I giving advice? My innocent Yeowoon, don’t be defenseless and let yourself be robbed.”

“Who is your Yeowoon?”

Advice. No matter how you look at it, it seemed full of malice.

Cha Yeowoon, looking at Cheon Sangwon’s repulsive face, crushed his water bottle. He wondered why he had joined the track and field team.

He had thought he would just join to play around, but why was he being so uncharacteristically serious. Somehow his results were enough to follow him to the national competition.

The only thing he liked in this competition was the fact that Tae Myeongha sat in the stands.

“Sister Jinseo was sitting next to brother Myeongha.”

“…”

“Why are those two sticking so close together?”

Cheon Sangwon dragged a chair to Cha Yeowoon’s side and whispered.

Certainly, Choi Jinseo was sitting next to Tae Myeongha. Cha Yeowoon, who had found Tae Myeongha in the stands, became irritable when he saw who was right next to him.

“Before the finals, our winning candidate shouldn’t let their mental state waver.”

“Get lost.”

“If I leave, you’ll have no friends.”

“Why do you think you’re my friend?”

“Rivals usually become friends.”

“Rival? With you, who couldn’t even make it to the finals?”

“Did you sell your manners in the used market?”

Cheon Sangwon, having enjoyed teasing by himself so far, fumed.

“You need an opponent to have a rivalry.”

“The only thing I’m worse at than you is running.”

“Okay. Keep on deluding yourself.”

“Hey!”

Cha Yeowoon ignored the agitated Cheon Sangwon and picked up his phone.

He turned it on to contact Tae Myoengha, but was bombarded with a pile of pop-ups.

Why was there so much? He tapped away the pop-ups covering the screen.

Ever since Tae Myeongha created a social media account for him, his clean screen was often filled with notifications. Just creating a social media account had resulted in various alerts: Follows, DMs, likes, login attempts…

After checking the last alarm, he frowned and logged in to change his account’s password.

Upon reviewing his account, he noticed that the number of followers had multiplied severalfold since he last checked. What did Tae Myeongha do? Now, any change naturally led him to think of him. He changed his password and switched to his notification feed.

The only person he followed was Tae Myeongha, so the latest feed from him quickly appeared.

Boeun County, Chungcheong Province. The post showing where it was taken featured a picture of a can of sikhye that seemed to have been bought to drink during the competition, accompanied by a chicken emoticon giving a thumbs-up.

The focus was not only off, but it also appeared to have been a hastily taken shot with the basic camera app.

“Haa…”

It was cute. Cha Yeowoon pressed his twitching lips with the back of his hand.

He shuddered at the thought of Tae Myeongha. He imagined him buying the sikhye and taking the photo from the stands after hearing his complaints about why he didn’t post selfies.

“What are you so excited about that you’re trembling?”

“Cheon Sangwon, get lost.”

“You’re looking at social media? Brother Myeongha is really bad at taking pictures.”

“It’s cute, so it’s fine.”

“To be honest, your photos aren’t great either. Ask him to post something handsome. How can you not feel embarrassed uploading such photos?”

“Not at all.”

Cha Yeowoon didn’t dislike it. They were pictures Tae Myeongha had taken. Just looking at them made him smile when he recalled Tae Myeongha enthusiastically taking them, whether lying down or sitting, and changing poses more frequently than he did.

“Who is liking these unflattering pictures as soon as they’re posted?”

Cheon Sangwon seemed to be making fun of Cha Yeowoon, thinking it was him. However, it wasn’t. Cha Yeowoon immediately recognized who it was.

The username looked strangely familiar. Cha Yeowoon went through Tae Myeongha’s post history.

It hadn’t been long since the new account was created, and now, with it set to private, only a few people could see the account.

There was one comment written by the same username on every post. No words, just a black heart emoji.

Cha Yeowoon’s expression tensed. He felt an uncomfortable sense of deja vu. He recalled seeing this somewhere, but he couldn’t remember.

When he pressed on the username, there was only one post. It was a picture of an old article on Cha Yeowoon. His freshman year of high school, when he had won the gold medal in the spring national track and field competition.

“What’s with the arrogant attitude?”

This time, Cheon Sangwon pulled the phone toward him and looked. Flipping through the pages Cha Yeowoon had been looking at, he hummed.

“Who is this?”

“I don’t know.”

“There’s only your photo? You already have a fan account. Hey, Cha Yeowoon, why did you check the fan account?”

“I looked at it because of senior.”

“You don’t have to make excuses. You want the attention. I heard there was a stir when someone followed you to the school gate during your freshman year.”

It wasn’t a very good memory. The record he had achieved after he entered high school reached the media and caused a brief commotion.

“It’s not that…Look.”

Cha Yeowoon, annoyed with Cheon Sangwon’s teasing, flipped through the screen. Cheon Sangwon tilted his head.

“It’s your fan but why is the person only following brother?”

One following. Cheon Sangwon pointed to the visible number that reaffirmed his words.

“Then, you might want to press follow. Follow Ahn Sia too.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why?”

“Because I only want to see senior.”

Solely Tae Myeongha. That was enough.

“Ew, I’m getting goosebumps.”

Cheon Sangwon scratched his arm vigorously.

“Do you like brother Myeongha that much?”

“Yes.”

When Cha Yeowoon answered without hesitation, Cheon Sangwon’s expression showed displeasure again.

“Does brother feel the same?”

“…”

“No? Did he find it not to his liking after meeting? Just playing for a bit?”

Why would Tae Myeongha play with a child like Cheon Sangwon?

Although Cha Yeowoon disliked Cheon Sangwon, he accepted his words to some extent since he was acquainted with Tae Myeongha. It really bothered him that Cheon Sangwon liked Tae Myeongha, but he understood.

Tae Myeongha was someone anyone couldn’t help but to like.

If he wanted to become someone cute and kind that Tae Myeongha liked, he shouldn’t fight with Cheon Sangwon. He made up his mind to endure him.

Because Tae Myeongha was kind to everyone around him. Even to this guy.

“Cha Yeowoon, were you thinking about something unpleasant just now?”

“Yes.”

“Why are your answers so short? If it wasn’t for brother Myeongha, I would have beat you up a long time ago.”

“Me too.”

“When the hell is brother going to break up with you? After the college entrance exam?”

“…”

“Why the scary look? Brother is a senior and will naturally break up with you after graduation.”

Cha Yeowoon, who had been glaring at Cheon Sangwon, stood up while holding his lunchbox. Even as he threw away the trash and went to stretch, his expression remained tense.

He couldn’t deny Cheon Sangwon’s words.

There was a nuance to Tae Myeongha’s kindness. It felt like someone making the most of their time, someone who didn’t hold back on anything and didn’t care about themselves.

When they were together, it was simply pleasant to the point he would lose his composure, but when apart, anxiety would tend to set in.

Tae Myeongha might be thinking that they would naturally stop seeing each other once he graduated. Maybe that was why he was dating him.

After stretching his shoulders, he took out his phone from his pocket.

[Tae Myeongha] : Congratulations on winning the preliminaries

[Tae Myeongha] : Congratulations on winning the semifinals!

[Tae Myeongha] : The final is at 3 o’clock?

[Tae Myeongha] : Congratulations in advance on winning the finals

As Cha Yeowoon checked the messages that came in succession, his eyes softened.

Indeed, it was good.

Even if it was scary, he would easily forget. He briefly placed his lips to the phone screen displaying the messages.

[Cha Yeowoon] : I miss you

[Cha Yeowoon] : I like you

[Me too], Cha Yeowoon hoped to hear that reply.

* * *

[ Sub-Mission: Find 100,000 (2,103) fans for Cha Yeowoon. ]

It was working.

Although it was a modest number in front of 100,000, these two thousand followers was a great first step.

“Is it really that great?”

While I was intoxicated with joy after checking Cha Yeowoon’s account and gently stroking my phone screen, Choi Jinseo asked.

“It’s really working.”

“Of course. I didn’t spend money on viral marketing for nothing.”

With Choi Jinseo’s coaching, the title of the post I had written was like this: ‘There are ordinary people who can be this handsome.’

The gist of it was that I had stumbled upon a picture of Cha Yeowoon by chance while scrolling through social media and captured it as if possessed. Followed by a dramatic comment under a different username, saying something about how Cha Yeowoon was a track and field athlete. In order to attract people in the beginning, it was inflated with fake comments and likes using usernames that belonged to Choi Jinseo.

Once the post had risen to the top, there was nothing else to do. Recommendations and comments swelled in an instant.

“The post would have been buried if not for Cha Yeowoon. It’s easy to push it to the top when the subject is good.”

“I respect you…”

Other than watching Cha Yeowoon compete, I felt it was worthwhile putting all my efforts into employing my phone.

“You two suddenly seem to have become close.”

Ahn Sia, who was eating the Inarizushi she had bought yesterday under the sun screen, offered me cold bottled water. Although sun screens were installed in various places around the stands and the stadium, it wasn’t enough to block the heat as lunchtime passed.

“Big brother, did you see Cha Yeowoon looking at you earlier? Wasn’t his face fierce?”

“He’ll loosen up after a while.”

“No. He should keep it until the end of the finals. Is it the power of jealousy? Cha Yeowoon is running really well today. Why is he so good? I was surprised. It’s like he’s crazy.”

After hearing Ahn Sia’s admiration, I suddenly felt thirsty and quickly opened the bottled water. I could guess the reason for Cha Yeowoon’s change.