Joo Won's penthouse was silent, save for the low, damning murmur of the television. The monitor glowed, casting a cold, blue light across his rigid features. On the screen, his brother—his Ji Woo—was bowing deeply to a sea of flashing cameras.
The sight was a physical ache in Joo Won's chest.
On TV, Ji Woo's voice, calm and steadfast, filled the room. "Let me be clear: there has been no data leak. At YERIN, we handle user data with the utmost responsibility, using it solely to refine and improve the player's experience."
A bitter, metallic taste filled Joo Won's mouth. He was the reason his brother was standing there. He was the architect of this humiliation.
The news anchor's voice-over was slick with faux concern. "YERIN is now under formal investigation by the Ministry of Gaming Ethics, casting a long shadow over their recent victory."
On screen, Ji Woo bowed again, lower this time, a public display of submission that felt like a knife twisting in Joo Won's gut. His brother's final words were a quiet act of defiance, a trust in a system Joo Won knew was already corrupted.
"We welcome the investigation," Ji Woo said, his gaze steady despite the storm. "The truth will be found in the official report, and we have faith in that process."
The truth. The word echoed in the silent room, a mockery of Joo Won's own existence. He was the one who had manipulated the truth. He was the one who had forced his brilliant, honest brother into this position of having to beg for his integrity. The monitor flickered, the image of his bowing brother branding itself onto Joo Won's soul. This was his victory. And it felt like a total and utter defeat.
——
Hana planned to visit Joo Won in his apartment under the pretext of some work but there is nothing at the moment that needed his attention. The earlier episode didn't bother her later on as she thought about it. She knew that he was under immense psychological pressure. So, she had to execute this task secretly. An idea dawned on her about the game. She thought of proceeding with this.
Joo Won seemed more distant now a days. More than when he was pretending to be Bae Hoon with her. It could be due to the fact that he revealed his secret to her or for his friend's current condition or the fact that he shouted at her. Maybe because, now that Hana held a handle of a powerful whip of a secret, Joo Won does not dare to come out of Bae Hoon's shell. But Hana knows that even if she holds the handle of it, she will never become its driver. She will destroy it before anyone can use it against him. Hana grew more protective of Joo Won than she could even been of Bae Hoon.
15 mins after Joo Won left the office, Hana called him to know if he reached his apartment yet because that is where she can attempt to see the birthmark. She was still waiting for Ji Woo to send the photo who, in the meantime, was ransacking his bedroom to find the photo. After getting the confirmation that Joo Won had reached the apartment, Hana took the cab to his address. Once she reached, she rang the doorbell. He opened the door. He slightly bowed greeting her. A new normal between them.
He opened the door, his polite mask firmly in place. "Yes, Hana? You wanted to discuss the game?" His tone was all professional distance. He hesitated before inviting her in.
She followed him into the living room that felt familiar yet unknown. As he poured tea, her mind raced. How do I ask a man to take off his shirt?
"Um... yes..." she started, her words stumbling. "I was thinking... what if we gave players the option to play as villains? A role-swap feature."
Joo Won considered it for a bare second. "That's actually a brilliant idea. We should include it in the next update", as if the data leak case didn't matter at all.
The conversation was over before it even began. Panic fluttered in her chest. The tension made her throat feel tight. " Uhm...I am thirsty, would you mind if I grabbed a water from the fridge?" she asked, something she would never have needed to ask if he were still Bae Hoon.
"Yes, of course," he said. For Joo Won, this feels like a thousand needles pricking him in the stomache although throughout his life, he saw people change. The most important people of his life did anyway. The person who he was slowly starting to consider as his mother changed suddenly. An orphan like him didn't deserve anyone's warmth- he had been telling himself this his whole life. So, Hana's change didn't bother him that much. He was deep in his thoughts when his eyes widened in realization. The fridge, the polaroids.
But Hana already was halfway towards the fridge. Joo Won never moved this fast in this life. He practically jumped from his couch and moved quickly to intercept her, his usual grace, calm demeanor deserting him. She had just reached for the handle when his panicked cry—"Wait, Hana!"—made her turn. The movement was too sudden. He stumbled forward, colliding with her before she could even process his warning. The result was not shocking...her lipstick smearing a crimson streak across his pristine white shirt was the obvious result.
"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" she gasped, her heart hammering. The accidental touch was enough to send current through her skin. But she knew that this was her chance. She said, "Please, let me wash it for you."
He resisted instantly, "No, it's fine. Really."
"No, I insist." Her voice was firm, layered with a meaning he couldn't decipher. She held his gaze, the unspoken hanging heavily between them. This was never about the stain. It was about the truth hidden just underneath. And each second she was coming closer to uncovering the secret, the more restless she grew.
Joo Won gave in. He removed his shirt, revealing his lean muscular body. For Hana, it was happening in slow motion. For a moment she forgot her purpose. Joo won removed one button after another. He slid one arm out first, letting the fabric slip down over his bicep, the muscles flexing and relaxing beneath her gaze. Then the other arm followed, the shirt peeling away like a layer of armor, revealing the sculpted lines of his torso.
Hana's eyes were fixed, unwillingly captivated. It was as if the world had slowed to a crawl, every movement stretching into elongated seconds yet felt short.
Every line and contour of his body was sharply defined, muscles flexing and relaxing with effortless grace. His shoulders were broad yet refined, a subtle interplay of power and elegance. The faint shadows accentuated the ridges of his abdomen, the sinews of his arms, and the curve of his oblique muscles leading down toward his waist.
The motion of removing a shirt, ordinary in other contexts, had become intimate, almost hypnotic. He remained unaware of the spellbinding effect his bare body had on her. The slow, deliberate cadence of his movements, rendered him both formidable and strangely vulnerable. For Hana, it was a moment suspended outside time—a private revelation, where strength met beauty, and the ordinary became cinematic.
Joo Won unbuttoned the shirt, slipped it off, and handed it to her, avoiding her eyes.
Quickly shaking her immoral thoughts into the ground, she took the shirt. Her eyes immediately flew to his left arm. But there was no birthmark. Instead, she saw a tattoo of two stars—the first one larger, the second nestled beside it, comparatively smaller. What was more surprising was the geography on his skin. Starting from his arms, chest and going all the way to his back as if someone whipped him from the back. Hana was hesitant in asking about the wounds that had long recovered but left a cruel proof that they existed. They once were rewarded to this man because he had probably been too kind to someone, or spoke without instructions.
This was not the proof she sought. It was something else entirely, a mystery she hadn't anticipated. She was utterly confused.
Hana stood over the sink, gently rubbing at the lipstick-stained patch on Joo Won's shirt, her mind half on the task, half on Joo Won's body. The soft swish of water and the faint scent of detergent filled the quiet apartment.
Suddenly, her phone buzzed on the counter, its screen lighting up like a signal cutting through the calm. She froze for a heartbeat, heart racing. Ji Woo... it has to be. Abandoning the shirt, she hurried to the counter. It was him. He sent a photo. It was of two stars. One big and the other, smaller.
For a moment, her mind went blank. It was the same pattern, yet fundamentally different. The photo showed a birthmark crudely traced with pen, while this man bore the permanent, deliberate ink of the real thing.
Hana didn't want to bring up the scars. Instead, she enquired about the tattoo, Joo Won explained softly, "It was a birthmark. It grew lighter as I grew up. When we were in the US, I had it tattooed to bring it back."
He pointed to the larger star. "That is Ji Woo." His finger then moved to the smaller one. "And this is me." He confessed that what was once a mark of his contempt had become his most cherished reminder—a piece of Ji Woo and the orphanage he had left behind. "The bigger star was always Ji Woo. I was merely his follower." He chuckled in reminiscence.
"Initially, I only recreated the original, larger star. But since Ji Woo had always drawn a smaller star beneath it, I thought of getting the smaller star tattooed too. He said the big star needed a companion so it would never be lonely." A sad smile touched his lips. "Though, to him, the big star was always me."
In the cruel theater of their lives, both were stars—Ji Woo was the brilliant rising sun of the gaming world. Joo Won was the dazzling center of the Hwangs' made up universe. Far away yet bound together in a constellation of loss and memory, each following a path that had been written for them long ago.