Chapter 3
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“What kind of people gathered in such numbers? Everyone came and now it’s all blocked up.”
Jaewoo grumbled while tapping the upper part of the steering wheel with his fist.
As he said, cars were lined up long along the hotel’s entrance road. With crowds gathered on both sides of the road as well, it was complete chaos. Event staff had been deployed, but it seemed it would take time for things to be organized to some degree.
“We left early, so we won’t be late.”
Leaning the back of my head against the seat, I muttered halfheartedly. It was a trip I’d been dragged on after sleeping only about two hours since returning from Bangkok. It was because of the intense sex that had continued until dawn. I had enjoyed myself all night thinking I could sleep plenty at the accommodation, but while I was away on the business trip, my schedule had been urgently arranged.
It wasn’t even the beginning of proper summer yet, but this was a VIP invitation party to showcase L brand’s new fall products.
“We did well sending Hongseo’s kids earlier. The organizers even let them perform, but what if we were late? How would we handle the boss’s nagging?”
As if the mere thought was terrible, Jaewoo wrapped his broad shoulders with his own arms and shuddered.
“But how did the order end up including me? Did someone cancel or something?”
Among the celebrities invited to this event, only Hongseo was from our company. Until I left for Bangkok, I definitely knew it that way. But in just a few days, the other members of ‘Layered,’ the idol group Hongseo belonged to, and even I were included on the invitation list.
“What kind of hurtful words are those? You’ve attended this brand’s events several times before. The response was good each time too. Our Jung actor-nim is also quite the sellout king, you know.”
I recalled the sneering comments about not doing any work and just frequenting luxury brand event venues. At this rate, there would probably be additional criticism calling it the agency’s ‘bundle selling’ to piggyback on Hongseo’s popularity, but I didn’t bother voicing such thoughts.
In the meantime, the car had only advanced about 1-2 meters. When I twisted my waist to change my sitting position, a groan escaped from my mouth. A sharp stimulus was momentarily applied to the languid, dull pain remaining in my lower back and buttocks.
“What’s wrong?”
“Just muscle pain.”
“Did you overdo the exercise there again for the photo shoot? Hyung’s fans don’t want a bulky Jung actor, you know. Take it easy.”
Instead of correcting Jaewoo’s completely off-base misunderstanding, I lightly massaged around my side.
I had muscle pain all over my body as if I’d been beaten up rather than having sex all night. This was despite not usually being lazy about exercise. It was pain that brought to mind someone’s claim I’d seen somewhere that there’s no exercise that utilizes all the body’s muscles as evenly as intense sex in various positions.
I pushed my buttocks forward and crossed my arms to relieve the discomfort even a little.
“Oppa, no crossing arms.”
Stylist Gayoon, who had been looking at her phone in the seat next to me, pulled my arm. Since I had to stand at the photo wall immediately, I needed to be careful not to create wrinkles. I obediently uncrossed my arms.
“More than half are probably fans who came to see Yoon Juho, but only people like us are suffering for nothing. Excuse me, there’s no point in you lurking around here. Yoon Juho got a suite room and will come straight down from there. Let’s move along, okay?”
Jaewoo, who had been chattering words that the people outside the window couldn’t even hear while tapping the steering wheel, suddenly turned to look at me. His expression showed he’d made a mistake.
“Ah, hyung. Sorry. Still, he’s your friend, but I misspoke.”
“He’s not even here, so what. Feel free to speak comfortably. He’s my friend… I guess, though you and he aren’t close.”
Since I sometimes went out saying I was going to meet Yoon Juho, Jaewoo considered us quite close. But it wasn’t really a relationship that could be defined as friendship.
“Still, I should be careful normally to avoid mistakes.”
Jaewoo, who grinned showing white teeth on his tanned face, looked forward again and let out a sigh of relief.
“Ah, finally it’s clearing up a bit.”
Jaewoo closed the gap with the car in front and followed closely. Following the uphill road with fairly lush forests on both sides, the vehicle gradually approached the hotel building. Feeling my mouth dry, I looked for the water bottle I’d placed in the cup holder.
I had been visiting NOX Hotel at least once per quarter for purposes like attending events like today’s or interviews, but I still felt resistance when faced with the name NOX.
My throat was parched, but conversely, sweat was seeping from my palms. Still, compared to my debut days, now was considerably better.
After moistening my dry throat, I put the bottle back in place. The car soon slid into the underground parking garage entrance.
“Don’t forget the pose we practiced earlier. The PR company really emphasized to make sure the watch is well exposed.”
Gayoon reminded me while fixing my slightly flattened hair from leaning against the seat. Looking up and down at the pure white suit with a worried face, Gayoon took out a portable brush for removing dust. I stiffly spread both arms while sitting in my seat like someone standing at an airport security checkpoint.
“Oppa wouldn’t have this problem, but please be careful not to get the clothes dirty.”
The expensive products decorating me from head to toe were ‘rental items’ that had to be returned after the event. Though there were stars who received sponsored products as gifts along with the so-called ‘transportation fee’ as compensation for attending events, in my case, returning them was mandatory.
There was a reason for attending such events despite receiving a small transportation fee and enduring the inconvenience of having to be careful about contaminating sponsored products. It was because I could maintain a certain level of recognition by having my name and face consistently exposed in media even while taking a break from projects.
“Contact me and I’ll be waiting at the main entrance. Don’t just drink in a corner and come back – today, go around here and there and make some impressions, okay?”
Leaving Jaewoo’s nagging behind, I got out of the car. Looking back, his expression was more desperate than usual. Gayoon’s face, who usually doesn’t fret much, wasn’t bright either. It made sense since I hadn’t had any projects for half a year.
While raising my hand to mean don’t worry, I actually wasn’t very confident myself. Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, I hurried my steps.
After having my name confirmed by the event staff, I was guided to the upper floor. The photo wall was prepared in NOX Hotel’s pride, the outdoor garden. After completing the photo wall shoot that lasted less than 2 minutes, I was guided inside the building by staff. The main party was being held in the hotel’s largest banquet hall.
I wore a VIP band on my wrist and entered inside. ‘Layered’s’ stage had apparently already ended as a different girl group was performing. Thanks to sound equipment that rivaled concert halls or clubs, the vibration of sound felt like it was pounding my entire body.
I squeezed through the people enjoying the performance and gradually moved toward the front. Today, as Jaewoo had requested, I planned to show my face here and there.
The importance of the role didn’t matter. I wanted to move busily with any role. Since I had been fortunate enough to never have work interrupted since debut, whether it was minor roles or supporting roles, the recent leisure was rather burdensome. If both body and mind became loose, I would only be tormented by unnecessary thoughts.
A famous film director who was more recognized for artistic merit overseas than domestically caught my eye from afar.
Director Kang Woohyeon, known as an aesthete, was a respected film director. At the same time, he was also a big player in the domestic art market and a VIP customer of many luxury brands. Spotting him at events like this wasn’t difficult. Today too, glamorous people who were hitting the highest stock prices in their respective industries were gathered around Director Kang.
The rumor that Director Kang Woohyeon was looking for production and investment companies for his new work was already open knowledge in the industry. Since I had only appeared in dramas so far, I thought he might not know about the actor named Jung Jiin himself, but this wasn’t the time to hold back for such reasons.
Let me try bumping into him first. It wouldn’t hurt to make my face known.
Just as I had firmed my resolve and was about to take a step, someone called out to me from behind.
“Jung Jiin.”
I turned around at the force gripping my shoulder. It was Yoon Juho.
“Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
A stiff interrogation immediately flew at me.
Since the interior was bustling, it was difficult to even secure enough space to take my phone out of my pants pocket. I barely managed to get my phone in hand while almost stabbing Yoon Juho’s chest with my shoulder as I stood close to him. There were three or four missed calls under Yoon Juho’s name.
“You called? I had it on silent so I didn’t know.”
“Then why didn’t you answer yesterday?”
“……”
“Fine, it should only be once or twice.”
Yoon Juho spoke as if resigned, making a bitter expression. He sometimes cornered me like this, making me seem like a bad guy. It was a reaction I couldn’t understand at all from this side.
“I was in Bangkok for a photo shoot. Why were you calling?”
“I wanted to introduce you to someone.”
“Who.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
