Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“...Hyung, what are you doing right now?”

Jo Yonggi lowered the driver’s-side window and stared blankly.

A 186-centimeter-tall man crouched down, smiling at a stray cat.

“P-Pspspsps.”

He even started making noises like that.

Manager Jo Yonggi’s brain shut down.

Of course, Park Songhu didn’t dislike animals.

But it wasn’t like he particularly liked them either.

In fact, he was someone who could pass the same stray cat countless times without so much as glancing at it... and now he was doing this.

“...Hyung?”

He called out, but there was no response.

He was completely absorbed in the cat.

“Songhu hyung!”

“Eek!”

What kind of sound effect was that?

Only then did Songhu hyung stand up, dusting off the knees of his pants.

“Ah, uh, you’re already...”

His voice trailed off, and then he closed his mouth.

“You’re here.”

“...?”

What kind of way of talking was that?

“Hyung, are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah.”

During his hiatus, Park Songhu had spent his time holed up at home alone, so even his manager, Jo Yonggi, was seeing him for the first time in a while.

...Had something happened during that time?

‘Well, I guess.’

His hiatus had lasted a little over a year.

Even the mighty Park Songhu could be nervous about filming his comeback after such a long break.

“Get in, hyung. Your salon appointment’s at ten, so we should leave with time to spare.”

Park Songhu nodded and opened the passenger-side door.

“...Back seat, hyung.”

“Ah.”

“Haha, easy mistake. It’s been forever since you rode in this car.”

A little later, Jo Yonggi glanced at the back seat through the rearview mirror.

Songhu hyung was looking out the window.

‘Man, that side profile really is...’

The morning sunlight fell across the bridge of his nose, and his profile looked like a work of art.

He hadn’t even had plastic surgery. How did a nose shaped like that occur naturally...?

“Hyung, you’re still insanely handsome.”

“Yeah.”

“Oh... You’re not telling me to shut up for once?”

Normally, whenever anyone complimented his looks, the automatic response was, “Shut up.”

Jo Yonggi gave the rearview mirror two surprised glances and started the car.

‘He does seem a little gentler.’

Well... now that he thought about it, calling him gentle just because he hadn’t said “shut up” was kind of questionable.

A little later, the car arrived at the salon in Cheongdam-dong.

The salon Park Songhu had been going to since his debut.

“Oh my, Songhu! How long has it been!”

The director came striding out from inside with a flamboyant gait.

“...Yeah. Long time no see.”

He gave a slight nod.

The moment he sat down, the director’s fingers slid through Park Songhu’s hair.

“Hmm, does your hair texture feel a little different? It seems softer.”

“Ah, well.”

“Hmm?”

“...I took care of it while I was resting.”

The director nodded.

“Oh, really? You must’ve taken good care of it. Your hair’s in much better condition.”

The styling continued.

While the assistant designer curled the hair around his temples, the director approached Jo Yonggi and whispered.

“Songhu’s really matured. He’s become such a decent guy. He must’ve done a lot of thinking by himself all this time.”

Jo Yonggi agreed.

The director tapped beneath her eyes.

“...From what I can tell, he must’ve suffered a lot on his own and finally grown up. Anyway, Yonggi-ssi, take good care of him from his side.”

“...I will.”

Just then, the phone in his pocket rang.

[CEO Baek]

Jo Yonggi hurried outside the salon and answered.

“Yes, sir.”

-Songhu doing all right? Everything going according to plan? Damn it, that rude bastard hasn’t even called me once on the day of his first schedule. Not once!

The agency CEO was in the middle of ranting when Jo Yonggi spoke.

“Sir, the thing is... hyung seems a little different.”

-What?

Jo Yonggi explained everything that had happened today.

Including what the salon director had just said.

-...Really?

Another silence.

-That Songhu bastard... Maybe he’s finally become human...

“Seems that way...”

-Hey, but you’re supposed to be Songhu’s manager. Should you really be talking about him like that?

“...”

***

At that same time, the real Park Songhu was leaning back against his hospital bed, staring into space.

‘Maybe I did something stupid...’

Now that the day had actually come, he was starting to worry.

Just as he began wondering if he had been too reckless.

Bzzzt—

His phone vibrated.

When he turned on the screen, there was a long message under CEO Baek’s name.

So long he had to scroll to reach the end.

“...What is this.”

It said he had worked hard all this time, that although his personality was admittedly terrible, the CEO believed he must have reflected a lot on his actions (for the record, when the personality scandal first broke, CEO Baek had immediately cursed him out and said he’d always known this would happen), that he was a butterfly capable of flying even higher, and finally, that he would support him to the very end.

‘I feel like throwing up. What’s wrong with him? All of a sudden.’

There was no way CEO Baek would suddenly send a text like this for no reason. Something had definitely happened.

“That bastard... what the hell has he been doing out there?”

***

JTBS, <​Our Hospital> studio.

“Especially today, I’d like everyone to make sure they don’t cross any lines.”

The PD repeatedly emphasized this to the cast.

“As you all know, today’s guest is Park Songhu.”

Inside the hospital-room set, the regular cast of <​Our Hospital> sat on their respective beds.

“Park Songhu, huh... He is pretty cynical.”

“He probably won’t play along with jokes, right?”

“Then how the hell are we supposed to work with him?”

The cast looked troubled.

“Still, the ratings should be good, right?”

“Well, since this is Park Songhu’s comeback broadcast, I think we can assume a certain level of ratings is guaranteed.”

“I saw him in person once before, and I literally couldn’t speak for a few seconds.”

“And his face is so tiny...”

One testimony after another poured out from people who had seen Park Songhu in person.

“If he had a good personality with a face like that, he’d be unstoppable...”

“God must’ve spent all his focus sculpting his face and forgotten about the personality part.”

They were entertainers, after all. Even now, jokes went back and forth.

As laughter drifted through the room, the PD sighed.

“It’s fine now, but if you say things like that after Park Songhu arrives, we’re in trouble.”

They had never expected the episode to be particularly funny in the first place.

How could they, with Park Songhu as the guest?

The reason he could still be booked as a solo guest was because the ratings were guaranteed anyway.

That was the level of buzz the name Park Songhu carried.

“So we should just tease him about being aloof, right?”

“Don’t push that too far either. If the atmosphere suddenly turns awkward, we’re screwed.”

“True. Once Park Songhu gets annoyed, his expression stays sour for the whole shoot.”

“Well, that’s just his personality.”

The PD clapped his hands to draw everyone’s attention.

“I’ll say it one last time. Keep today’s shoot tamer than usual, and absolutely no remarks about the personality scandal. Especially you, Jeon Jaemin. You ask those kinds of mischievous questions all the time.”

“Yes, yes.”

***

“Songhu oppa!!”

“Oppa, oppa, over here!”

“Have a good shoot!!”

When I arrived at the broadcasting station, a crowd of fans was gathered outside.

I swallowed hard at the unfamiliar situation, while the manager went ahead of me and cleared a path.

“Hyung, hurry inside.”

As I passed through the fans, someone stepped forward.

She was holding paper bags in both hands.

“Oppa, please take these! I made them myself!”

It was a gift.

For me.

No, for Park Songhu.

“Uh, thank you...”

I accepted the gift, but my hands were shaking so badly that the bag rattled.

Something inside clinked.

‘What if it’s breakable? Wait, did I just use formal speech? Am I supposed to speak casually? How do you talk to fans? What does hyung normally say to them?’

While I was panicking, another fan held out a letter.

Not knowing what was going on anymore, I simply accepted everything I was handed and repeated my thanks.

I bowed over and over as well.

“...”

“...”

The fans’ expressions were starting to look strange.

Wait, did I mess something up?

Then one fan shouted that she was rooting for me, tears welling in her eyes.

Soon after, I heard someone say they loved me.

Some of the fans were actually tearing up.

‘What’s wrong with everyone?’

My heart pounded.

Then I sent my manager a silent look begging for salvation, but—huh?

He was smiling warmly.

So I hadn’t made a mistake?

“...Thank you. I’ll do my best.”

With cheers erupting behind me, I finally escaped into the broadcasting station.

Once we reached the hallway, the manager nodded and spoke.

“Hyung, give them to me. I’ll hold the gifts.”

“...”

Even as I walked through the station, all kinds of gazes landed on me.

Staff members, managers for other celebrities, coordinators...

They didn’t exactly seem to be looking at me favorably.

‘Do they think I ruined my career with a personality scandal and already came crawling back?’

If that was the case, it was unfair.

I wasn’t the one who did it!

Click—

When I opened the waiting room door, a patient gown for the show was hanging from a clothes hanger.

The manager said he would wait outside, and the door closed.

The moment I was alone, the strength left my knees.

“Huuuu...”

I clutched my chest.

You’d think I would’ve calmed down a little by now, but my heart was still pounding like crazy.

What the hell was even happening right now?

I changed into the patient gown and stood in front of the mirror.

Even through the makeup, I could see myself trembling.

My lips were probably blue right now too...

Meanwhile, the patient gown’s details were absurdly elaborate.

The hospital logo was even embroidered on the cuffs, and the ties in the back had to be fastened just like a real hospital gown.

I had to give the broadcasting station’s prop team credit for craftsmanship.

I pulled out the script.

The very first line.

What I was supposed to say when I entered the set.

My answer to <​Our Hospital>’s signature question.

-What are you in here for?

And my answer was.

-Prince syndrome.

It seemed like a line written with Park Songhu’s character in mind.

He did have that kind of image.

‘Right. Easy.’

I closed the script.

Prince syndrome.

Honestly, I didn’t even need to memorize this.

Knock, knock—

“Songhu-ssi, you can go in now.”

“!”

My throat went bone-dry.

I tried to swallow, but there was no saliva.

I left the waiting room.

The hallway was long.

Wait, was it always this long?

I didn’t remember it being this long when I came in earlier.

‘Breathe. Calm down. Today is the first and last time.’

I reached the door to the set.

A staff member was saying something into an earpiece, and murmuring voices leaked through from the other side of the door.

[You’re going in.]

The prompter lit up.

The staff member opened the door.

I stepped forward.

Slide—

In an instant, the wide hospital-room set spread out before me.

Blinding white lights stabbed into my eyes.

Six hospital beds.

And sitting on them were people I had only ever seen on TV.

“Whoa, we’ve got a new patient in our ward!”

“Who is it? Who is it? Gasp!”

“He’s way too handsome!”

Cheers and applause.

The main MC waved.

“Hey, hey, hey! Long time no see!”

“Hyung, it may have been a while for you, but this is supposed to be a patient you’ve never met before. Why are you saying long time no see?”

“There are reasons. There are reasons.”

Laughter filled the studio.

“Man, but he really is handsome...”

“His face is like the size of my palm.”

“What kind of illness could bring someone this handsome to our hospital?”

There it was.

The question had come.

“What are you in here for?”

Now all I had to do was say the line I’d memorized earlier...

‘...What was it?’

I was so nervous that my mind went blank.

Literally pure white.

I had definitely memorized it just a moment ago.

I had been repeating it over and over.

The silence was growing.

The celebrities I had only ever seen on TV were staring straight at me, and the cameras were glaring at me with glowing red eyes!

...Remember, Park Songmin!

Park Songhu’s illness.

The illness Park Songhu has.

What could it be?

At that moment, the image of Park Songhu from the hospital room flashed through my mind.

“Anger management disorder...?”