Come Back

“Isn’t it cute? Why bother dressing up just to meet me? It’s not like you’re meeting your boss.”

“……”

“Though, I do feel a little prick here,” Haesung said, pointing to his left chest and momentarily scrunching his face, “when I think about how much of an age gap we actually have.”

Setting his teacup down, Haesung turned his body slightly more toward Choi Hong-seo.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“I had a snack during break, so I’m fine.”

Though Hong-seo hadn’t said anything particularly amusing, Haesung rested his chin on his hands, elbows propped on his knees, and kept smiling.

“…Why are you smiling?”

“It’s just surreal to have you here at my place.”

“Honestly, it’s even stranger for me to be here at the vice president’s house.”

Although he’d always thought Haesung was quite expressive with his emotions—quite different from the poker face he showed in the news or his initial impression—today, he was even more so. Haesung kept smiling at him, and it made Hong-seo unsure how to react. He seemed to be the only one feeling awkward in the situation; it felt like he was the one who needed to break the ice.

“What were you doing?”

“I got off work early, so I was spending some time on my hobbies.”

“……”

“That’s surprising. You look curious.”

Hearing Haesung’s teasing words, as if his interest was unexpected, made Hong-seo inadvertently pout. Laughing, Haesung lightly tapped his cheek.

“Want to see what I was doing?”

Hong-seo didn’t have the guts to bring up the new housing situation right then. This was a convenient distraction, so he nodded.

Haesung led him to a room tucked deep on the upper floor. It was a small room, but it maintained a comfortable temperature and humidity despite having no windows.

Inside, glass display cases filled to the ceiling held an array of carefully arranged cameras, each one meticulously displayed.

“This is my hobby.”

From the setup—a single lounge chair with a couple of cameras, a detached battery, an air blower, and some brushes on the table—it looked like he’d been here not long ago.

“With cameras I don’t use often, I do a regular check to make sure they’re still in good working condition. I was passing the time here alone while waiting for you.”

“I didn’t know you were into cameras as well as movies.”

“That’s because it’s not on Wikipedia.”

There were so many display cases along the walls that, in the center of the room, there was also a low showcase filled with cameras, displayed like museum artifacts. As Hong-seo admired one of the cameras in the transparent case, he looked up at Haesung.

Haesung picked up one of the cameras from the table and said, “It’s somewhat known that I like movies and have even invested in a few films by new directors. But no one knows that I collect cameras.”

“……”

The “no one knows” part made Hong-seo pause. Haesung couldn’t have missed his reaction.

“You’re wondering why I’d tell you such a secret, aren’t you? That’s exactly the expression you’re making.”

It wasn’t just excitement he felt from being entrusted with this secret. The fact that he was the only one who knew about Vice President Lee Haesung’s private hobby—no matter how trivial—felt like a heavy responsibility to Choi Hongseo.

From a little distance away, Haesung met his eyes with a gentle yet earnest gaze.

“I’m working hard not to get returned, you know.”

“………”

“I’m trying to show you how serious I am about this relationship by sharing a secret with you.”

“……”

“I’ve learned from experience that unless I go this far, my sincerity doesn’t come through clearly.”

At the end, there was a slight hint of bitterness in his expression.

Even if he wanted to deny it, Hongseo could understand what he meant. Knowing that Haesung was willing to share a hidden side of himself made his sincerity feel more believable.

As he ran his hand along the edge of the showcase, Hongseo voiced a question he’d been wondering about.

“What do you like about me, Vice President?”

Haesung froze as if he’d been caught off guard by an unexpected attack. For a moment, he even seemed to forget to blink.

For once, Hongseo could understand why he reacted like that. Up until now, he’d mostly just listened to Haesung and asked only surface-level questions here and there.

Haesung’s initially tense expression softened, and a small smile crept onto his typically reserved face.

“So you’re finally paying a little attention to me, huh?”

“I just can’t see any reason why you’d like me.”

“I thought I explained in great detail what draws me to you.”

“I barely graduated high school… My family’s financially struggling… and I just don’t fit with someone like you, Vice President.”

He knew well that he and Haesung Lee of ARA seemed worlds apart. If it was just a casual fling, maybe he could understand, but it was hard to believe someone like Haesung would want to date him. Honestly, no one would have believed his words were sincere.

“Hongseo, do you know what ‘out-focusing’ is?”

Hongseo shook his head, and Haesung smiled, lifting a camera to eye level. In his large, steady hands, the camera looked smaller than it really was.

The lens pointed at Hongseo. Though he’d just been in front of the camera earlier and no longer felt nervous posing for one, something about Haesung’s camera felt different—so much so that he had to swallow dryly.

The lens moved back and forth, focusing in and out, and finally, Haesung pressed the shutter with a click.

“Simply put, it’s a technique where you focus on a specific subject to make it stand out sharply, while the background appears blurred.”

He came closer and showed Hongseo the screen on the digital camera.

On the display, there was an image of himself looking slightly flushed, gazing at the lens—gazing at Haesung. Just as he’d described, Hongseo was in sharp focus while the surroundings were softly blurred. Now, he understood what out-focusing was.

At an even closer distance, Haesung looked down at him with an intense, almost pleading gaze.

“That first day we met, at Director Kang’s house.”

“……”

“Everything else around you went out of focus. That’s the first reason.”

He set the camera gently back on top of the showcase.

“The second reason… is what I said last time. I couldn’t stand seeing you in a difficult situation.”

He ran his hand across his jawline, as if trying to ease some frustration, and spoke in a measured tone.

“Normally, I would’ve just stood up and left. But that day, I couldn’t hold back—I had to say something to those people who were treating you like that.”

“……”

“I don’t normally do that.”

He added this almost apologetically, glancing downward briefly before meeting his eyes again with a slight smile.

“On the drive down from Pyeongchang-dong that night, I looked up an idol’s name for the first time.”

Though he hadn’t intended to, Hongseo’s lips curved into a smile. He tried to cover it up with a fake cough, turning his head away, but Haesung’s persistent gaze followed him.

“Why are you laughing? Am I not allowed to look up an idol’s name?”

“To be honest… even you admit it’s unlike you, don’t you?”

“That’s true. It was completely out of character for me. I’d never done that before.”

With a soft sigh, Haesung tousled Hongseo’s hair—a bolder gesture than the careful touch he’d used in the elevator. Then, his hand moved down to rest on the back of Hongseo’s neck, his palm warm and encompassing. This was the most physical contact they’d had yet.

Caught in his gaze, Hongseo found himself unable to look away.

Even though it was just his palm resting against his neck, Hongseo felt a tightness under his arms, as if he were somehow exposed.

He could feel Haesung’s thumb gently brushing over his skin.

“Seeing how hard you worked for so long, without anyone noticing… I realized that when I called you diligent, it wasn’t just empty words. I got even more curious about all the different sides of you.”

“……”

“To the point that even though I had a meeting the next morning, I stayed up until dawn watching your videos.”

“Oh…”

Hongseo’s lips parted slightly, and a soft, almost astonished sound escaped him.

So that’s why he knew so much about me. It wasn’t because he’d researched for a film investment, but because he was genuinely interested.