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.