Cold City Romance Chapter 14.1

In the blink of an eye, several weeks passed by without a moment to catch one’s breath. Now, only one week remained until the long-term all-location shoot that would last a year starting from Taebaek Mountain and the first filming.

Cha Dokyung was still immersed without respite in thorough script practice every single day due to the burden of having to digest unfamiliar lines that were not yet familiar to his mouth and historical drama acting, as it was set in the Joseon era, along with horseback riding, swordsmanship, and stunt training.

The tension and anxiety heightened with the thought that he had not yet perfectly assimilated into the emotionless, cold-blooded scholar named ‘Shim Chaeho.’ The final rehearsals left a sense of regret behind and became even more rushed.

He rode a horse with a wooden sword at his side, galloping along the riverbank of Hwachon and the uphill paths in the forest with his coach. This place, Hwachon, where the outdoor horseback riding training ground was located, was a paradise with the perfect position for riding out on horseback.

During the day, he practiced horseback riding and swordsmanship along the uninhabited blue riverbank and forest, and checked the camera’s movement and the coordination of action scenes according to the martial arts director’s instructions. He matched the reading, confirmed the corresponding storyboard, and at night, he devoted himself once again to acting and script practice.

All the luggage for departure was already packed. Now, the crank-in at Taebaek Mountain was truly right around the corner.

As if nothing had happened, Cha Dokyung returned to his daily routine. In fact, everything became extremely clear. It felt as if the thick fog that had been there had lifted, and his field of vision had suddenly opened up wide.

His mind became even cooler, and his reason became even more cold and sharp.

Over the past few weeks, surprisingly, his mind had been remarkably clear, and his condition had been extremely refreshing. The disturbing auditory hallucinations or tinnitus that had tormented him were not heard at all.

Moreover, his sexual desire itself had completely disappeared in a bizarre way. It was not just the heat induced by pheromones, but even the physiological sexual desire as a man seemed to have been completely castrated.

Over the past few weeks, he had not even masturbated a single time, let alone anything else. There was no arousal or physiological instinct of sexual desire arising at all, and he had no inclination to engage in such dirty acts with anyone. His body fiercely rejected sexual intercourse and masturbation.

For an adult man to not even get an erection and to have no desire to perform physiological masturbation is a very abnormal thing. Cha Dokyung was spending weeks like a priest, as if he had become asexual or someone without sexual desire.

A strong sense of déjà vu hit him, as if it was just like that time.

It was by no means an unfamiliar phenomenon. In the past, when he had first been controlled by the disturbance from Hyun Jaehwi, Cha Dokyung had experienced exactly the same state as now.

Even when he recalled Hyun Jaehwi, to whom he had been sexually drawn to the point of madness, there was no particular reaction, just the same. It was a good sign. It would be better if he could just become a dysfunctional body where desires never arose forever like this.

The cold reason he felt now and all the thoughts arising from it were truly not different in the slightest from that time. Everything was exactly the same as last time, like déjà vu.

Even the eternal parting from Hyun Jaehwi had become numb. He no longer felt that inexplicable resentment toward the boy, nor did he wait for his contact. Cha Dokyung was accepting the complete end with indifference.

If someone went mad from pheromones and lewdly begged their partner to impregnate them, then suddenly changed and beat them as if to kill them, spewed vicious insults, and swallowed pills right in front of their partner’s eyes, it was clear that anyone would lose affection for such a person.

Hadn’t the boy said it to him as well? That the fantasy of first love had now been completely shattered for a cowardly materialist who only cared about faces and bodies….

The rational Cha Dokyung and the instinct-dominated Cha Dokyung were too different.

Looking back from this current state where only reason remained, he could not understand at all why he had engaged in such emotional and agitated actions, and none of the words and behaviors he had spouted made sense to him.

In front of that boy, he always ended up like that. He regretted that he, who was over thirty, had not been more adult-like and composed in front of a young man in his twenties who was six years younger. It was embarrassing to the point of shame that he could not hide his emotions as they came and exposed them raw every time. Rather, in front of that sensible boy, he ended up becoming like a child every single time.

However, that might have been the true appearance of Cha Dokyung. He was the only person who drew out his true nature and real emotions, not the fake Cha Dokyung. Those were the only times when he could become the real Cha Dokyung.

But everything became much more accurate and clear in front of this cold and cold-hearted reason like this. The fact that what Cha Dokyung ultimately needed was not the real thing, but that solid fake glass castle perfectly built up.

Through the moving luggage and the bustling noises, he learned that a new neighbor had moved into his upstairs penthouse.

That place had been the perfect secret space for only the two of them, where he and Hyun Jaehwi had secret meetings. The mere fact that he had completely cleared out that special space was enough.

Cha Dokyung humbly accepted the true end. Then, he deleted everything from his cell phone, from Hyun Jaehwi’s contact information to the records.

He could not afford to make another crazy, vulgar phone call to the boy, whining and begging him to come pick him up like last time, using the excuse of disturbance again.

Cha Dokyung no longer wanted to depend on anyone. At the end of the consultation with Professor Eugene Seo, he vowed to overcome everything on his own somehow.

If the disturbance came again during the Taebaek Mountain shoot, he decided to receive medical help, including pheromone relaxants, from Professor Yoo. He had packed all the strong emergency medicines and suppressants. Since she had even promised to come and help in emergencies without sparing travel, he would be able to get through any crisis somehow.

—I am leaving Korea soon too…. Of course, would I do something trashy like starting something I cannot even take responsibility for and then leaving?

—Leaving soon…. What do you mean? Not after a year?

—I am trying to return to the American institution as soon as possible without fulfilling the term.

Hyun Jaehwi had also clearly declared to him that day that he would return to the institution as soon as possible. He had boasted that once he left for America, he had no intention of ever returning to Korea. If the boy left, they would truly never cross paths again.

Over the past few weeks, there had been no contact from Hyun Jaehwi. The same went for him. He might have already left for America, where the institution was located.

If that was the case, then it was rather good. Now, he really wanted to focus solely on acting. The filming of this series, into which a massive production budget had been invested, was no joke.

Just three days before departure, he received a confirmation call from his mother that was exactly the same as the one from half a month ago. It was his mother’s persistent call checking on the household’s condolences and celebrations.

[Dokyung, you haven’t forgotten Mr. Chairman’s birthday, right?]

“…….”

[You are going off to film in a remote place for a whole year. Of course, no matter what, you must set aside everything else and definitely pay your respects before you go.]

“……Ah, when did you say it was?”

[The day after tomorrow, the day right before you leave. I told you over and over that the birthday is on the thirtieth of this month, drilling it into your ears…. Kid, how is it that you always forget like this? You must definitely show your face to Mr. Chairman and pay your respects before you go. If you do not come, it would be rude, and he would be very disappointed.]

“…….”

[Dokyung, you must never forget whose grace it is that allows you to carry out your activities without any major incidents…. He absolutely detests ungrateful and rude behavior without any sense of propriety.]

His mother understood more accurately than anyone the immense influence that the current Chairman had on the Cha family.

Not only the hospital where his father was the center director and the affiliated university where his mother served as a medical school professor, but all the members of the Cha family were not free from the powerful influence of the HK Group and the current Chairman.

Of course, it was not pretense; the people in this household genuinely respected and liked him as a person. He took care of everyone with a vessel larger than that of a family, and if it were not for the grace of the current Chairman who looked after Cha Dokyung like an adopted son, all the achievements of their family now would be nothing more than sandcastles, and that was a fact that was more grateful and significant to the Cha family than anything else.

It was absurd, but Cha Dokyung had forgotten his father’s birthday before, but in his lifetime, he had never once failed to show his face on the current Chairman’s birthday. Even while carrying out busy activities, catching short naps without a moment to breathe, it was the same without exception every year.

His parents always made sure to repeatedly urge him like this every time on the Chairman’s birthday, calling to confirm that no matter what, he must meet him in person and pay his respects with full propriety.

Cha Dokyung, the top star with a noble and elegant image that everyone admired, voluntarily became an excellent event to showcase his closeness every year to the precious invited guests who visited on the Chairman’s birthday, calling himself the Chairman’s adopted son, and the current Chairman regarded that very proudly and satisfactorily.

Therefore, this year as well, Cha Dokyung had to prove his value in this annual event and fully demonstrate his role as the luxurious trophy sponsored by the Chairman, repaying his grace.

It was an extreme example that well showed how the power structure of the two families was concentrated on the current Chairman.

It was a history that went back generations, starting from his father’s father. From his grandfather’s time, the two families had a close relationship. It was a very historic and tenacious bond between the two families, who had been each other’s lifesavers, tightly connected down to their children.

This time as well, he planned to definitely pay his respects to the Chairman before departing on the long one-year location shoot. As his mother said, the current Chairman disliked rude and ungrateful people who did not know grace the most. He wanted to avoid the tiring act of falling out of favor.

However, what he was truly curious about, what he really wanted to ask his mother, was something else.

‘Will Jaehwi…. attend that day too?’

‘Has that boy already returned to America?’

However, he could not bring himself to say those words. If it was the current Chairman’s birthday, it was natural for the youngest son, Hyun Jaehwi, to attend. However, as he had declared to him last time, he might have already left for America much faster than scheduled.

Cha Dokyung did not know at all whether the boy had already left for America or was still remaining in Korea. If the boy had returned to America, he vaguely thought that he would naturally make the final contact with him. So, he only assumed that he had not left yet. However, there was no way to confirm whether the boy had really left Korea. He could not ask Hyun Kangwoo about it, nor could he ask Hyun Serin.

However, even if he encountered the boy at Mr. Chairman’s birthday banquet, with him leaving for Taebaek Mountain the next day, nothing would change.

The fact that he would depart on the long-term one-year location shoot for filming as scheduled, and that Hyun Jaehwi would return to America where the institution was located as scheduled, no matter what happened, was something that would absolutely never change. Now, there were really no variables at all.

The morning after the Chairman’s birthday, he had to unconditionally leave for the promised filming location at Taebaek Mountain.

“I will definitely pay my respects before I leave. So, please do not worry.”

When parting indifferently, one just needs to give a farewell greeting. If he got to see his face one last time, he would wish for the boy’s happiness in this rational and calm state like now.

Because I was not adult-like….

I am really sorry for hurting you and just throwing childish tantrums. I will wish for your happiness there as well.

If at that place, he directly confirmed with his own two eyes the fact that the boy had really left for America, he would probably despair.

To leave for America forever without even a single word of contact, hating me that much. To you, I will be remembered eternally as a hateful and ugly figure you want to erase. Jaehwi, if that is the case…. For this birthday of the Chairman, in front of people, neither acting as an elegant trophy nor putting on a fake smile. I feel like I really would not be able to do anything.

“The current Chairman must be pleased. His adopted son, whom he has watched since birth, has grown into such an outstanding top star and is stepping up to help with the group’s image advertisement.”

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, who approached the outdoor VIP table at the banquet hall, scanned the entertainer Cha Dokyung up and down as if amazed.

Cha Dokyung, dressed in a luxurious suit that fit his body neatly, stood up from his seat and exchanged a handshake with the minister with an elegant and dignified smile, then bowed politely to greet him.

“They say the screen cannot capture the real thing, and as I heard, it is dazzling to the eyes. The current Chairman boasted about you so much.”

The current Chairman at the head seat of the VIP table and his parents in the seats next to him looked at Cha Dokyung with pleased gazes every time a precious guest appeared, as he stood up and greeted them politely as if they were his own guests.

Cha Dokyung fulfilled his duty without a single sign of fatigue. This was the way he repaid the current Chairman, and it was the annual event he had observed every birthday.

“He is definitely different from ordinary people. When he stood up, I thought a halo was shining around him.”

Cha Dokyung gave a flawless and dazzling smile to the high-ranking VIP invited to the banquet, the kind that could only be seen in advertisements. The noble and beautiful man was fully performing his role as the current Chairman’s elegant trophy.

“You flatter me too much. It is all thanks to Uncle here.”

In response to the current Chairman, who referred to him as his adopted son in front of the precious guests, Cha Dokyung attached the title of uncle to the Chairman. Occasionally, when he elevated him by using the title of uncle in front of people, he liked it so much.

The current Chairman looked at Cha Dokyung with an expression of pride and smiled pleased. There was nothing wrong with it. To him, he was truly a father figure who sponsored him socially and materially. Using the title of uncle often was not pretense but Cha Dokyung’s sincerity. He was also someone he had seen for so long since birth that the title did not feel unfamiliar.

“Uncle, happy birthday.”

“Dokyung, I heard you are leaving tomorrow for filming and going on a long journey for a year…. Finish the filming safely and come back. I will take care of things and look after you, so do not worry about useless rumors or family matters.”

The current Chairman, who valued close bonds and personal connections between people and had a broad-minded nature, was hot-tempered and moody, sharp as a knife to those who went against his will, but he was a person full of affection who never turned away from those he considered his own.