The light of my future

«What is it?» I chuckled.

«I want you to show me some moves. I mean boxing,» he clarified after I gave him a puzzled look.

«Ask the general manager for that. He’ll hire a professional trainer for you and schedule your workouts,» I shrugged indifferently, but he didn’t like that answer.

«I need someone who will be patient and not interfere with my personal space in any way,» he tried to explain his request to me.

«Why do you think I’m that kind of person?» I asked through a nervous laugh.

«You have a goal that you want to achieve with my help. And you did not come here to work because of me, which means that you are not interested in me at all,» now it was his turn to shrug.

«Well, that’s a perfectly logical reasoning. It’s not a problem for me. I’ll teach you everything I know myself. Find some free time,» I agreed, but instead of answering, Sung Joon just laughed soundlessly.

«You are very strange,» he remarked as if he found his discovery charming, «at the beginning of the dialogue you speak to me formally, and at the end as if we were friends,»

It’s time to decide who we can be for each other. I think if we work and act together, we can achieve great results,» I concluded in a conciliatory tone.

«Then let’s talk to each other informally. We’re neighbors,» he said on an exhalation and got out of the car, «We’ll train in our free time.»

«Who decided that?» I retorted indignantly as I followed him, «I’m not allowed to have side jobs. You heard that yourself yesterday.»

«Yesterday obviously wasn’t your day. But… I won’t pay you, so… technically, it wouldn’t count as a part-time job. Let me repay you with some help of mine, okay?» He asked, but his question was more like a statement, so I left it unanswered.

We entered the agency building and slowly moved to one of the elevators. I loved spending those early hours in the empty agency building. During the day, vanity will dominate here in every corner.

We went up to the floor where the studio was located, in which the entire film crew gathered for the show in which Sung Joon had been filming for three years. In each episode, he answered questions he received from his fans.

Sometimes he went to places that fans couldn’t afford to visit, and he talked about his experiences in detail and, as a bonus, he always sent an invitation to the same place to the fan who requested Sung Joon to visit such a place. At the same time, the episodes were released much later than the fan visited this place, so there were no spoilers for him.

Today, Sung Joon answered questions and had to prepare a healthy breakfast for himself.

«We need to decide something about the food meant for you,» I announced to Sung Joon as we walked towards the gym where he had a dance practice scheduled right after filming.

«Don’t think about it,» he said grimly.

«It’s part of my job,» I said stubbornly after him, striding right behind him (following yet another agency rule that an assistant shouldn’t walk at the same level as his charge).

«There’s no need to waste food. I won’t eat anyway,» he replied in a reasonable tone.

«Is this a protest?» I asked through nervous laughter, feeling like never before I was close to finding out the reason Sung Joon was refusing to eat.

«Consider that it is,» he chuckled and entered the dance hall.

«You just ate what you cooked…» I objected, but he left my comment unanswered.

I greeted the dancers and choreographers before turning around and heading towards Min Hyuk for our daily meeting. And suddenly I realized that my personal phone number was gone. And I don’t know where he is. I hope my father will return it to me as soon as possible. Now I was not ready to initiate our communication with him.

I ordered lunch at one of the nearby restaurants, after which, on behalf of stylist Sung Joon, I went on my own to get the costumes that local brands provided for him. In them, he will participate in the upcoming filming to promote the new song, which is scheduled for release in two weeks. I took the outfits, after which I drove into the restaurant and proceeded to implement my plan.

«It’s good that your practice is over! I’ve brought water and lunch. Dismantle the containers and bottles,» I announced as I entered the dance practice room.

«Oh, Min Hee, it looks like you took Mr. Sung Joon’s words seriously,» one of the dancers called out to me, a young, thin guy named Lee Hyun, who could light a fire on the dance floor with his energy, «thank you anyway for food!» He bowed in gratitude, and I gave him a polite smile.

I took water for myself and a kimbap wrapped in a transparent wrapper and went to the mirror, where Sung Joon was sitting on the floor with his legs stretched out in front of me and leaning his head against the mirror. As I knelt down next to him, he looked at me in surprise, and then looked suspiciously at the food in my hands.

«What is it?» He twisted his nose contemptuously.

«My lunch,» I answered with a sigh of satisfaction and took a bite, «I’m sorry, I don’t offer you. I know that you will definitely refuse. Therefore, having learned well everything that you told me on my first visit here, I decided to feed all these people that make up you. Let’s consider that you are full when they feel full, «I said, and exhaled in relief, feeling full, after which I unscrewed the cap from the bottle of water and took a greedy sip, and when I wanted to bring the bottle back to lips, Sung Joon snatched it from my hands and drained the rest of the water in an instant.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise, but decided to refrain from commenting, noting how greedily he drinks water. Even at that moment, he looked like he was on the set.

«Get another bottle?» I asked, barely suppressing a smile, secretly glad that he had accepted something from me for the first time ever.

«No. What do we have next on the plan?» Sung Joon asked, wiping his face with a towel that hung on his shoulder.

«Studio work. And filming. Your work day should end at eight o’clock in the evening. Now you have an hour break,» I said, stifling a yawn.

«Then let’s go,» he said, and nimbly got to his feet, after which he strode confidently out of the hall, tossing the empty bottle into the bin along the way.

I hurried to get up and was able to catch up with him only in the middle of the corridor. I didn’t ask any questions as I followed him, as I wasn’t sure he would answer them (silence was his style). Sung Joon ended up taking us to the agency cafeteria, which was located on the third floor. His appearance did not go unnoticed by the other employees, but everyone only greeted him modestly as he walked past them to the distribution.

«Find us a place,» commanded Sung Joon, giving me a quick glance over his shoulder.

I sat down at the first table I came across and began to look around (despite the fact that the room was occupied by a large number of people). The dining room was designed for several hundred people and right now, by my conservative estimate, was ninety percent full. Everywhere there were small tables designed for three, four and five people. Everything was decorated in white and green, which was diluted with fresh flowers and soft bean bags.

Sung Joon placed two trays of the same set of food in front of me and then sat across from me.

«I can’t eat it all by myself,» I glared at him indignantly.

«Only half for you,» he chuckled, and began to watch closely as I proceeded to the chicken soup with rice noodles.

"M…delicious!“ I remarked delightedly and in the next moment my plate was in front of Sung Joon, and to my surprise, he began to eat, „this is the first time I see you eating something. You didn’t even touch the food that my father prepared last night. «This morning doesn’t count. You cooked for yourself,» I chuckled and grabbed a second bowl of soup, hoping it wouldn’t be taken away from me, «but why, I feel like I’ve been taken advantage of?»

«So it is,» he answered in an indifferent tone, not looking at me.

«Even so, I’m still glad I could be of use to you. I don’t understand how you have the strength to do everything,» I shook my head indignantly.

«I don’t focus on myself. I don’t need to think about it. Others do it for me,» he replied again, as if he didn’t care about everything that happened not only around him, but with his direct participation.

«Are you saying that you position yourself in this world as a shell?» I asked in surprise, and only after that I realized what I had said. But it was too late to take back his words.

Sung Joon returned his spoon to the table and lost himself in his thoughts for a moment, obviously thinking about my question.

«I have a soul, but it belongs to your father, and is locked in the walls of this building. My heart belongs to the fans, each of whom sees me the way they want to see. There are millions of Song Joons in the world and the only thing that unites them is my face.»

I swallowed nervously and was horrified at the calmness with which he said everything I heard from him.

«Among all these Sung Joons, there is one. The real Sung Joon,» I tried to cheer him up, «I think your desire to leave the agency is due to the fact that you want to find the one – the real you,» I said with a wistful smile and noticed, how Sung Joon looks at me with undisguised fear on his face and pain in his eyes, «I’m sorry, I think I said something wrong,» I said regretfully, noting that his mood changed so often, so I didn’t know what expect from him in the next moment.

«We need to go,» Sung Joon said instead of answering and got to his feet.

I carried the trays onto the conveyor belt, along which they went to the shop where they washed the dishes, and hurried after my ward.

«Did you seriously talk about training?» I asked as we rode the elevator to the floor where his studio was.

«Yes. We’ll train at night, so come up with something to say to your father,» announced Sung Joon.

«In a month, I will move into my apartment. I will live separately from my parents. Therefore, it will be better if we start training after I move.» I reasoned out loud, to which Sung Joon nodded his head in agreement.

Later that evening I ran into my father again in the kitchen. He was drinking wine and browsing the news on his tablet computer.

«You’re early today,» he stated as I walked to my room without even looking at him, «shall we talk?» he suggested and I stopped where I was, then slowly turned my head in his direction.

«About what?» I asked, getting ready to defend myself.

«Sit down, Min Hee,» he motioned me to an empty seat separated from him by a kitchen island. I walked over to the high bar stool, but sat down not on the seat my father offered me, but on the one next to him, which made my father chuckle, «you never do what you’re told.»

«No one said I’d be easy,» I breathed back tiredly.

«I did not hope for it. Otherwise it would not be you. You do not have my blood, but there is a lot of everything that you adopted from me. Persistence. Purposefulness. Judgment,» father stated proudly.

«So you only wanted to talk about that?» I asked impatiently, not sharing his philosophical attitude.

«Decided to give you back your phone,» he replied and took my smartphone out of the inside pocket of his jacket, «Alex has been trying to reach you all day. I said you left the phone with me. He asked me to call him. Are you dating him?» he suddenly asked, while carefully watching my reaction to his question.

«No,» I chuckled and shook my head, «this is the son of my mother’s friend. You know yourself. He lives in America.»

«Distance is not a problem. It dissolves under the influence of feelings. Are you sure that there is nothing between you? Perhaps you want to move to America because of him?» His father asked in a calm but suspicious tone.

«The only person I want to go for is myself. There is no need to look for any catch. I just want to follow my dream. Like you once followed your dream. Like my mother, who still tries find your own «I.»

«A dream,» his father chuckled sadly, «is such an abstract concept that it is not in our minds, but the thought of it makes us move forward, forgetting about what everything was started for from the very beginning. You have a goal. This is commendable. But consider if it’s worth it. And if this is really your dream,» he smiled and reached across the table to pat my hand, «Mom said hello to you. She promised to be back soon.»

«Uh-huh,» I said indifferently and got to my feet, then went to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of cold coffee, which I didn’t really like.

«Today I heard interesting rumors,» his father said with a heavy sigh, «for the first time since Sung Joon has been working at our agency, he appeared in the dining room with his assistant. And the most interesting thing was that he shared his lunch with her.»

«That came as a surprise to me too,» I replied as if I was trying to justify my indecent behavior, «Song Joon refused to eat all the time, and today he decided to go there himself.

«Well, it’s commendable that you’ve become friends, but don’t let it get out of hand. Take control of yourself, your feelings, emotions, and Sung Joon’s mind. You might make a good team after all.»

«Thanks for the advice and guidance. I have to go. Tomorrow morning, we have a shoot for a youth clothing brand,» I breathed tiredly, drained the contents of the bottle and trudged to my room, where after forty minutes of explaining and retelling the events of my life to Alex, I was able to fall into a deep sleep.

CHAPTER 5

«The key to your motorcycle, and the key to your apartment. You will only pay for utilities. Do not break furniture, do not throw parties at night. Be a good girl. Eat on time, and… do not forget about us,» my father instructed me.

«You sound like I’m leaving for the other side of town. I’ll be living just a few floors below,» I laughed, looking at the code numbers for my new apartment, written in my father’s even handwriting on a small piece of paper, «thank you for keeping your promise! "I kissed him on the cheek, took the key to my «horse» from the table and hurried to the parking lot, «I’ll transfer my things to a new apartment in the evening!» I called out before leaving my parents’ apartment.

For the first time in several endless working weeks, I felt the currents of the wind with my skin and how speed is subject to me. My father said that my «iron horse» had passed technical care and now he thanked for it with his smooth roar of the engine and smooth movement on busy city roads.

When I pulled into the agency’s underground parking lot, I occupied a vacant spot, and while taking off my helmet, I noticed Sung Joon rapidly approaching me, just after leaving his minibus.

«What it is?» He asked furiously, kicking the front wheel of my vehicle.

«This is my iron horse,» I answered without hiding my pride.

«You do realize it’s dangerous, don’t you?» he asked, shocked by his discovery.

«I try not to think about it. And I don’t advise you. It’s also dangerous to breathe nowadays, so my hobby is no different from your daily habits. In general, you don’t need to worry. If something happens to me, without an assistant they won’t leave you,» I smiled, sliding off my iron friend.

«How can you talk about it so easily?» He asked indignantly.

«Relax you!» I laughed as I headed for the elevator, «just a month ago you didn’t even want to look at me, and now you’re worried about my safety. Besides, isn’t it me who tastes food for you?» I continued to laugh, «and never complained about it. I almost forgot! We can start training. Today I’m moving into a separate apartment,» I announced smugly, feeling that I was on the threshold of my new life.

«I hope you don’t stop coming to work on time now. What area are you moving to?» As if casually, he asked.

«My new neighborhood is closer than you think,» I chuckled, «I’ll live a floor lower than you live.»

Sung Joon raised his eyebrows in surprise and thought for a moment.

«Then you don’t have to ride that motorcycle and put your life in danger?» He asked hopefully.

«You should be so worried about your little one, not about me. He drives even faster than me,» I chuckled.

«He rode a motorcycle? Where did you see him?» He shook his head in annoyance, and I realized that I created a problem for Cho Hee in the face of his older brother, «I have a job in the studio right now. I need to finish the song, so you can hang around the office for a couple of hours. If I need anything, then I’ll let you know,» he suddenly changed the subject, arriving in thought.

«Okay,» I agreed and exited the elevator on the floor where Sung Joon’s manager’s office was. Even though it was early morning now, I’m sure he was already here.

«Oh, Min Hee! Come on in. I was just compiling a list of addresses that Sung Joon received gifts from last month,» Min Hyuk smiled as if he was sincerely glad to see me.

I looked around and found hundreds of boxes, letters and gift bags that filled his office.

«Wow! Is this all from fans?» I asked admiringly as I sat down on the sofa, where I could barely find an empty seat.

«These are just the ones that have come down to us. In general, we try to accept everything and respond to fan letters fairly quickly. Feedback is important. Both for us and for the people who send all these gifts,» Min Hyuk breathed out and threw on me a sympathetic look. «Today, Sung Joon will be at the agency all day, so your job for the day will be sorting out the letters and sorting out the presents. You need to do it in two days at most, as Sung Joon has to sign letters that will then be sent to his fans. But this will be taken care of by the deportation of public relations. In addition, select ten letters that Sung Joon will personally answer. Arrange the letters by topic: thanks, requests, wishes, and so on.»

«Okay,» I replied and tried to smile, not imagining how I could deal with this on my own. I would rather be running errands for Sung Joon.

For a month of working with Sung Joon, we were able to find a common language and coexist peacefully without violating each other’s personal space. Sung Joon is a complex, I would say closed person who has certain characteristics. For all the time we did not discuss anything other than work, but the more I was in his environment, the more I was imbued with sympathy for him and understood why he was stingy with the manifestation of emotions. With his pace of life, it’s hard to remain polite and courteous, but he somehow manages to do not only this, but also maintain energy and generate ideas.

I decided to start with the most difficult, so I started with paper letters, of which there were hundreds. Written by both girls and boys of all ages. They mostly wrote about how they love and admire Sung Joon. They ask him not to stop there. In the initial stages, I came across a couple of letters in which the fans threatened to hurt themselves if they found out that Sung Joon was in a relationship, and wrote that he was their life and they would not let him love anyone other than them. The tone of the letters was so persuasive that it took me a moment to digest what I read. I pushed them aside to show Min Hyuk. I’m sure the agency should respond to this in some way.

I grabbed a bottle of water and a biscuit dessert from the vending machine, then went up to the roof of the building, feeling a little tired from having plunged into Sung Joon’s life. He was responsible for all the people who called themselves his fans. And I could hardly imagine how much strength he needed for this.

Watching the noisy city from above, I thought about the fact that success is an unbearable burden for a person, and they need to share with others so as not to go crazy and drown in the madness that is happening around. I felt really sorry for Sung Joon and hoped that he could find a source of energy because I would have to force him to stay at the agency.

Back in the manager’s office, I continued sorting the letters. At some point, someone sat down on the sofa next to me and, looking up, I found Sung Joon in front of me.

«Hey!» He waved his hand at me and smiled tiredly. «I hope you haven’t been here all day. Looks like you did. Aren’t you going home?» He chuckled, leaning forward slightly to look at the contents of one of the stacks of letters, while I tried to discreetly push the stack of threatening letters under the table.

«No. I want to finish today with at least these letters from fans.» I smiled tiredly and glanced around the office, as if showing that I still have a lot of work to do. «What are you doing with all these gifts?»

«I know that toys are sent to shelters, hospitals and other institutions. Something goes to the museum, which is located on the first floor of the agency, and something is sorted out by the employees themselves.»

«You don’t take anything for yourself?» I asked surprised.

«No,» he answered quickly, and pretended that all his attention was focused on the letter in his hands. «I look at the list of gifts and thank the fans on social media, noting the most interesting and unusual ones.»

«Interesting system,» I breathed out, feeling dryness in my eyes.

«I don’t have any system. I just don’t like gifts,» he stated.

«It’s usually the other way around. People love gifts.»

«Who said I’m an ordinary person?» Through weak laughter he asked.

«I didn’t even think about it,» I laughed, but then I looked at him, deciding that I should share my thoughts with him. «On the contrary, every day I get more and more confused about who you are, what you are, and most importantly, until today I could not understand why you work so hard.»

«And what prompted you to think like that?» He asked, looking at me point-blank with genuine interest in his eyes.

«In all these letters…» I glanced at the piles of sorted envelopes, "…sincere words of gratitude and love for you and an expression of admiration. You give hope, heal souls and help people overcome difficulties, surviving in endless problems. Your departure from agencies will be a personal tragedy for many. But at the same time, I realized how hard it is for you. You bear the burden of responsibility for all these people.»

«If that’s how you tried to convince me to renew the contract, then it turned out exactly the opposite for you,» he laughed, leaning back against the arm of the chair. «Why did they make you do this? Normally, the PR department handles sorting.»

«I’m not complaining. It was an interesting experience. Only my back was a little stiff,» I answered, unable to suppress a yawn, and straightened my back, hoping that my fatigue would go away.

«Leave everything and let’s go home,» Sung Joon commanded. «Looks like you were going to move into a new apartment today.»

«I have to finish so I don’t have to come back here tomorrow. Minhyuk gave me two days for everything.»

«He went on a business trip with your father. They won’t be back until Wednesday evening. Tomorrow I have a free afternoon, so I can help you,» Sung Joon promised and covered his mouth with his hand to cover his yawning.

«Why are you so friendly?» I asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

«I never touched on this part of the work. Therefore, I will help you with pleasure, but… on the condition that you go home with us, and not on your own, so to speak, transport.» Curving his face in a grimace of disgust, he put forward his condition, to which I rose to my feet and stretched blissfully.

«I don’t see any reason to refuse,» I smiled weakly and followed Sung Joon to the door, and then remembered that I had left my things on one of the nightstands, so I returned and suddenly heard something falling, and when I turned around in fright, found Sung Joon lying unconscious on the floor.

«Song Joon!» Frightened, I ran towards him. «Song Joon!» I called, but he did not react at all and at the same time looked so pale that I doubted whether he was alive.

I called our agency’s duty doctor and tried my best to bring Sung Joon back to his senses. At the moment when the male doctor rushed into the office, I was sitting on the floor and begged Sung Joon to regain consciousness.

The doctor, using some liquid from a small bottle, brought Sung Joon back to consciousness, and I breathed a sigh of relief, feeling tears flow down my cheeks.