I’m Not That Obsessive

Chapter 6

“For an Asian, it’s big and well-shaped.”

“You crazy bastard. There are many big Asians too. I guess all the Asians you know were small? All the Asians I know are big.”

“Who are these Asians you know? Your friends? Your lovers?”

Mitchell leaned in closer to me. From a distance close enough to feel his breath, he looked down at me with an arrogant expression.

“I like women. Fuck.”

For some reason, feeling harassed, I responded strongly. I know Mitchell is great and impressive and should be respected. But that’s only possible if nothing had happened between Mitchell and me.

Mitchell often acted like someone desperate to keep me quiet. I had no intention of blabbing his secret anywhere, but when he provoked me like today, I wanted to pretend to lose it and spill everything.

At the same time, I was deeply worried that Mitchell might be watching my nude video repeatedly. With him talking about my lower half, I couldn’t help but worry.

“Ah, you like women? I like women too. Sleeping with men is just a minor hobby. Men are strong, you know.”

“Say that in front of that guy lying on your bed that time. He’d love it, right?”

“He’s not my lover so it doesn’t matter… Why do you care about such things? Do you want to join in on my little hobby?”

Mitchell is a self-centered person. He thinks the world revolves around him.

“But ‘ssibal’… that’s a Korean curse word, isn’t it?”

“…”

“Did you just curse at me? Ssibal?”

While the spread of Korean culture is always welcome, it was a bit disappointing to see the private world of Koreans being breached.

Now I can’t even curse freely…

While I was listening to Mitchell’s unexpected fluent cursing, the car naturally entered his garage.

Mitchell didn’t extend the excessive courtesy of dropping me off at my front door. There was no need to, as we’re next-door neighbors. It’s just a few steps away.

Clack.

As soon as I closed the car door, the garage shutter automatically came down.

“Huh?”

If that closes, the only way out is through the house. Surely he hasn’t forgotten about me.

“Mitchell…”

I pointed at the descending shutter. Even without asking how to get out, he seemed to understand.

“Come this way.”

He pointed to the door leading into his house.

***

It was fine up to the point of entering Mitchell’s house. I’ve even gotten somewhat used to walking around the house with shoes on, like foreigners do.

Of course, my house is an exception.

Anyway, since I had no reason to be in Mitchell’s house, I naturally headed straight for the front door.

I’d been here once before, and the layout was slightly similar to my house, so it wasn’t hard to find.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“…What do you mean, where am I going?”

When asked such an obvious question, it’s surprisingly difficult to answer. The curiosity of why they’re asking such an obvious thing comes to mind first.

“Sit down.”

Mitchell pointed to the sofa in the middle of the living room. Our first meeting was thrilling enough that it should never happen again, but honestly, apart from that, I often thought I’d like to become friends with Mitchell.

America’s star.

The great actor who devoured Hollywood.

Being with him felt like his halo was pouring over me. It felt like I was sharing in the career he had built over decades.

It’s sleazy, but isn’t that what connections are all about? Even though I’ve done nothing for Mitchell’s life.

Anyway, just knowing Mitchell made me feel like I was becoming a better version of myself.

That’s why I wanted to become personally close to Mitchell. Because it felt like my life, which had been broken in Korea, was being compensated just by being associated with him. Because it felt like I was successful in America, not Korea.

“Well, shall we hang out for a bit?”

I sat on the sofa, pretending to be nonchalant while pulling down my rising smile. By then, Mitchell had passed me and entered the bathroom. From the sound of water, it seemed he was washing up.

And for quite a long time…

“That bastard, leaving a guest sitting here and going about his business without a word. You absolute jerk. This is why people say you have no manners.”

I openly gossiped about him in his absence. The self-talk flowed smoothly in English.

“Son of a bitch.”

Of course, Korean is the best for cursing.

At this point, all I could do was wait for him to finish washing up. What can you expect from someone with no sense of courtesy?

Still, I inwardly trusted Mitchell, no, I trusted this son of a bitch in human disguise, but that was my misconception.

“…Shit.”

Since he understood the curse word “ssibal,” I tried using a tense consonant. It seems he doesn’t know this is a curse word either.

I’m not someone who curses indiscriminately regardless of the situation. Only when I’m really angry! When I want to flip everything over! When I can’t control my own feelings! That’s when I curse.

That’s how I feel right now.

“Mitchell! What are you doing after making me sit here?”

He told me to sit as if he was going to entertain me, but after that, Mitchell completely ignored me. Far from getting closer by talking together, he came out after washing, went to the master bedroom, the study, the second floor…

It’s like I’m experiencing being invisible.

When Mitchell brought a thick script and sat at the table in front of the kitchen to read, I exploded with the anger I had been holding back.

“Can I leave?”

I should have left earlier.

There’s not much to do at home, but isn’t it the privilege of the unemployed to sprawl comfortably at home?

It would have been much better than sitting on someone else’s sofa feeling uncomfortable. Actually, Mitchell wasn’t making me feel uncomfortable, he was ignoring me.

“Don’t expect me to come back!”

“…”

I got up from my seat, snapping at him. Meanwhile, Mitchell just looked at me without answering. He had a face like he was thinking about something. The deliberation wasn’t long, and finally, he opened his mouth.

“No. Stay seated.”

“This guy’s crazy!”

Regardless, Mitchell’s gaze returned to the script. What’s with this attitude of doing his own thing after making a guest sit down?

“You must be so successful that you treat people like decorations, but I’m not like that. There’s a limit to how much you can disrespect someone.”

Since I didn’t expect an answer, I immediately headed for the front door. What stopped me was Mitchell’s ambiguous voice.

“Are you really leaving?”

Mitchell tilted his head to the side and frowned deeply. As if I was the strange one, and he had done nothing wrong.

“As opposed to fake leaving?”

“I’ll be alone?”

“…What?”

“If you leave, I’ll be alone, and you’re still leaving?”

“…”

I didn’t immediately grasp what Mitchell was saying. Of course, if there are two people and one leaves, one remains. Why is he saying such an obvious thing so seriously?

He’s not studying addition and subtraction, so there must be some other meaning.

For a moment, an article I had seen a long time ago flashed through my mind.

[…There is an opinion that Mitchell Cronenwirth suffers from severe affection deficiency. Immediate treatment is needed, but he doesn’t recognize the severity of his symptoms…]

‘Is that it?’

That was it.

Somehow, it felt like I had opened Pandora’s box named Mitchell.

***

“You saw Geon-woo in LA?”

“That’s what I’m saying! Someone posted it on social media. They said he was with Mitchell. Mitchell Cronenwirth!”

“Mitchell from Cash Flow?”

“Yeah! That Mitchell! Look at this.”

Junman looked at the phone Sangju held out.

[Saw Bae Geon-woo in America. He was with Mitchell Cronenwirth. But he made a big fuss when I tried to take a picture. I treated him nicely as a fan of a washed-up celebrity. Tsk tsk. Seems there’s a reason he’s falling from grace]

[Mitchell’s personality is shit]

Two posts were uploaded one after another.

“There’s no photo?”

“Yeah, no photo, but it doesn’t seem like a lie.”

The additional comments that followed were quite detailed, making it hard to dismiss as a lie. The location they met, the time, the clothes they were wearing, and so on.

Moreover, the fact that they boldly posted after doing something worthy of criticism shows they really wanted to share their experience.

“But it looks like your brother really went to America. I thought for sure he’d be in Korea. Geon-woo couldn’t live without you.”

“That’s true.”

“I’ve never seen anyone so obsessed with their own brother. He had to tell you everywhere he went, knew all your connections and who you were close to. Monitoring your entire private life.”

“I wasn’t subjected to it. I voluntarily told him.”

“Anyway! It’s all the same.”

“…”

“I actually thought Geon-woo liked you… in that way.”

“In what way?”

“You know, forbidden love between brothers. A male couple.”

“You’re crazy…”

“It was only after I saw Geon-woo dating a woman that I thought, ah, it’s not like that.”

“Geon-woo is just… he has a strong desire to protect what he has, what he considers his.”

“You’re still defending your brother? After all he put you through?”

Junman frowned. The frustrating daily life he had endured flashed through his mind.

Geon-woo clung to and obsessed over his older brother, Junman, excessively.

Like an attachment doll he had been given at birth, no matter how old and worn, Geon-woo wouldn’t let go of Junman.

That is, until a series of incidents occurred, and Geon-woo left the entertainment industry.

“Remember how happy you were when Geon-woo disappeared? You were so excited, saying you could finally live like a normal person. You were drinking every day, throwing parties and badmouthing your brother. Now you’re curious about him?”

“Are you crazy? Who would be curious about such a psychopath?”

“Wow… You’re probably the only person who would call Bae Geon-woo a psychopath. The great actor.”

“The one who was a great actor, you mean. Not anymore.”

Junman handed back Sangju’s phone with a sigh.

To Junman, his brother was truly an insufferable existence. Geon-woo, who had spent an unstable childhood under divorced parents, had at some point become obsessively devoted to things.

The first was a family photo, the second was an ordinary black crossbag, and the third was his older brother, Bae Junman.