The Honest Man

The gong is the fourth person in this romance between a couple.

The shou is a movie star, but he doesn't have many fans. In every movie and TV show, he plays old and ugly characters, always the villain. His heavy makeup completely hides his real face, and he always buttons his clothes right up to the top.

Everyone jokes that he's become a stuffy old man while still so young. The shou just smiles shyly and never argues.

At home, he removes his makeup, revealing the beautiful, delicate face beneath it. Then he changes out of his clothes, revealing the faint marks scattered over his pale collarbones.

After his shower, he returns to his room. Just as he's about to close the door, a hand blocks it, then pulls him into someone's arms.

The shou is forced to lift his head, forced to open his mouth, forced to wrap his arms around the newcomer's neck.

The sounds of sucking and splashing fill the room, and ambiguous sensations travel lower and lower.

The man teasingly calls the shou "big brother."

Just then, the shou's husband in name only walks in, catching sight of the shou's dazed face and glistening eyes.

Their gazes meet.

-

The husband's friend arrives as promised. Unsure why the husband is standing at the door, he walks right in, and finally everyone present is caught off guard.

The shou silently closes his eyes.

Because all three of these men have forced themselves on him.

-

When a video showing his face is leaked, the shou's career is ruined. Everyone says he seduced them and used every trick in the book. Otherwise, why would those three men ever be interested in him?

The refined, gentle painting prodigy, the decisive rising star of the business world, the brash and proud esports champion... Every one of them had succumbed to their desires after being tempted by the shou.

The shou offers no explanation and contacts no one. He returns alone to the remote mountain village he once fought so hard to escape.

He's tired. He wants nothing anymore.

-

But just as he lets go, the whole world begins to repent and go mad for him.

*Bittersweet idea, tentatively a melodramatic story where everyone's a villain and everyone gets their comeuppance.

*The shou really is an honest man.

*The shou has a knack for success: whatever he does, he excels at.

*2024.7.16

Theme: Fate weaves its threads, but we must stand firm as stone.