Come Back

“Vice President, the temperature is quite low. You should put on a coat…”

“It’s fine; I’m just going to have a quick smoke.”

Sending his assistant away with the coat, Yi Hae-Sung crossed the crosswalk and stopped in front of the railing.

Given the time, the area was practically deserted. He lit a cigarette and exhaled the first puff with a sigh. The smoke was quickly swept away by the cold wind, dissolving without a trace.

“Then that’s a privacy violation.”

When he heard Yun Hae-An’s sullen remark, he had nearly responded.

Hong-Seo wouldn’t have said that.

How did he even know where I stayed without anyone telling him? That would be a privacy violation, right? That kid never would’ve said that. Yi Hae-Sung had almost pressed Yun Hae-An, seriously, not to mimic him.

The same person he had once threatened to stop imitating Hong-Seo was now the very one from whom he sought signs of him. Perhaps that’s why everything seemed to resemble him. For someone desperately looking for similarities, everything would inevitably appear alike…

Facing the nighttime scenery, Yi Hae-Sung smirked and shrugged his shoulders. Bringing the cigarette to his lips, he muttered,

“I must be out of my mind.”

Just how much did Yun Hae-An know?

The movie we watched together, the things that kid said to me, the layout of my house that he often visited, even the scent of the custom-made perfume only we knew about… Yun Hae-An had acted clueless when he received the perfume, but seeing his face stiffen the moment he unwrapped it confirmed it.

So, did Yun Hae-An even know about the most intimate moments we shared in bed?

When his thoughts reached that point, Yi Hae-Sung frowned, as if witnessing something revolting. The hand bringing the cigarette to his lips paused. So what if he knew? What would that change?

Shaking his head, he took a deep drag from the cigarette filter.

“I’m out of my mind.”

He knew the reason for his current state of mind.

The night air had grown rather chilly.

It was enough to unsettle Yi Hae-Sung. The colder weather reminded him that the anniversary of that kid’s passing was approaching.

The first anniversary.

He could now enter the columbarium, and the movie was being remade. He thought he was making some progress forward, but that wasn’t the case. Yi Hae-Sung realized that he was still standing in the same place, like a lost child with no idea what to do.

He wanted to see him. He wanted to talk to him, touch him, pull him close and hold him. He still couldn’t accept the reality that he couldn’t do any of those things anymore. He didn’t even know how he could come to terms with it.

The city lights sparkled in front of him as if cast by magic, yet to Yi Hae-Sung, the city was in total blackout.

—

**ARA Group and Hanseo Group’s Split Reaches Final Stages**

**Both Sides Proceed Cautiously Amidst Tension**

The separation of Hanseo Group and ARA Group has reached its final stages.

Since the passing of Chairman Lee Woo-Yeol, the third generation of management has been carefully building the groundwork for a smooth division. Given the scale ARA had already reached in electronics, finance, and insurance, the separation is regarded as a wise decision.

With stock ownership issues fully resolved, the final steps now only involve completing the paperwork.

Yi Hae-Sung, soon to be the first chairman of the independent ARA Group and current Vice President of ARA Electronics, held a meeting with key executives at the ARA Electronics headquarters in Yeoksam-dong earlier today.

Photos show him leaving the building after the meeting. Unlike his typical neutral expression in news articles, his eyes were notably sharp, and his mouth was set in a tense line, conveying the gravity of the situation.

The representatives of both groups are expected to meet on the 28th at Hanseo Holdings headquarters to bring an official close to this journey.

Choi Hong-Seo read the article thoroughly, scrolling back to the top once more. He’d seen similar news multiple times already, so there wasn’t much new information. But the photos taken this afternoon were a fresh addition.

Yi Hae-Sung was captured leaving the revolving door, boarding the back seat of a waiting car in a series of shots featured in multiple news articles.

Unlike his usual unreadable expression in the media, his eyes were noticeably sharp, his mouth set in a firm line.

For years, this plan had been prepared step-by-step, leaving no room for error now. All the articles seemed to echo the same sentiment, but Choi Hong-Seo couldn’t deny the weight of significance this finalization would hold for both groups. He found himself so tense while reading that his shoulders were starting to ache.

Sighing deeply as if taking a big breath, Hong-Seo put down his phone. Then he pulled back the card, pen, and notebook he had pushed to one side of the small dining table.

The card remained a blank white, and the notebook he used to practice what to write on the card was full of crossed-out phrases. Once again, he picked up the pen and started writing in the notebook.

“I saw the news. It seems like something important is happening, so I wanted to wish you…”

No, this isn’t it. This time, he drew circles randomly over the letters, erasing them in frustration.

He hadn’t expected it to be this hard to come up with a single line for the card to go along with the gift.

Picking up his phone again, Hong-Seo left the page of search results for “ARA Yi Hae-Sung” open and opened a new tab. “Encouragement… message… writing… advice,” he muttered as he typed each word slowly and deliberately.

Just as he was about to look through the search results, a cheerful melody sounded from the oven, signaling the end of the cooking. Though he wasn’t skilled in cooking, he’d recently purchased a versatile oven to heat up simple meals and make snacks for Tiffany.

Hong-Seo opened the oven with a hopeful expression.

The chicken breast, dried by hot air, looked similar to the picture on the blog.

The shriveled meat almost looked like dried orange peels. He tore a piece along the grain and put it in his mouth, finding it chewy yet not too tough. It seemed like he had followed the blog’s recipe correctly.

Tiffany, apparently drawn by the scent, had already come down from the cat tree and was prowling around the kitchen entrance.

“Smells good, doesn’t it? It’s your snack. I’ll give it to you once it’s cooled.”

As if impatient for a taste, she raised her tail and opened her mouth with a couple of small meows.

“It’s still a bit too hot for you.”

After cooling a shredded piece by blowing on it, Hong-Seo crouched down on the kitchen floor. Placing the treat in his palm, he watched Tiffany approach slowly, sniffing it cautiously. Her little gray ears twitched, and her gray nose wiggled, making him smile.

Tiffany, with her mostly white fur and patches of gray, looked like a long-haired breed that had been dyed around her eyes and ears, making her appear dignified even when she looked rather amusing.

Once Tiffany was done inspecting, she finally picked up the treat. She quickly finished the small piece, licking her lips, and looked up at him.

“What? You want more?”

She responded with a little meow.

This time, he didn’t shred it too finely but split a piece in half and placed it in his palm.

Tiffany took one piece in her mouth, then scampered out of the kitchen, carrying the other piece up to the top of the cat tree. She laid it between her paws and chewed the remaining morsel.

Though her wariness had eased somewhat since they first met, she still only approached him when it was treat time. Fortunately, she didn’t mind being brushed, although she would still jerk away or hiss lightly if his hand, rather than the brush, touched her.

He was beginning to understand why cat owners were called “servants.”

Even though he couldn’t hold or pet her, he enjoyed taking care of her and found her undeniably adorable.

As he watched Tiffany leisurely enjoy her treat atop the cat tree, he glanced at the time on his phone and realized with a start that it was nearly time to leave for his second appointment.

There was no longer any time to fret over what to write on the card.

He quickly tidied the oven to prevent any mishaps in his absence, and, standing by the table, held the pen with determination. There was no more time to hesitate.

Pressing the pen to his lip in thought, he glanced toward the head of his bed.

There, three movie posters hung side by side on the wall.

Only three movies they had watched together. Yi Hae-Sung had given him all three posters as gifts.

Though not the original posters that had since become collectible, he had managed to find affordable reprints online. They were old films, but still classics that continued to be mentioned among film lovers.

Looking at the posters, fixed to the wall with masking tape, helped calm his dizzy and confused mind a little. Though Yi Hae-Sung was no longer his lover, the memories were still entirely his own.

After gazing at the posters one by one, Hong-Seo bent down and touched the pen to the card. Despite the hours he had agonized over it, he now wrote the words firmly, without hesitation.

“You’re someone who can make the world bend to your will.

So whatever you wish for, I’m sure it will work out as you want.”

It felt like these were the only words he could offer him now, and perhaps, they were the only words he needed to hear.

Words that the past Hong-Seo had once told him…

In that case, giving him what he needed felt like the best thing he could do.

After folding the card and slipping it into an envelope, he gently tucked it into the ribbon tied around the gift box in the long, rectangular shopping bag on the sofa.

With the shopping bag in hand and his bag slung over his shoulder, he paused in front of the cat tree. Tiffany, having finished her treat, was lying there sleepily.

“Will he accept the gift?”

Tiffany blinked slowly and flicked her tail as if in response. With a slightly anxious smile, Hong-Seo tapped her soft front paw.

“I hope he doesn’t get angry…”

Not wanting to be touched, Tiffany swatted his hand away. Smiling wryly, he withdrew his hand.

“Stay out of trouble. I’ll be back soon.”

Before leaving, he glanced back at Tiffany one last time, as he often did, and closed the door.

Inside the carefully packed shopping bag was a striped tie.