Chapter 40
What Taeyoon could imagine from my saying I should buy a car didn’t stop at just a ‘change of heart.’
“……”
“What, are you finally dating Yoon Juho?”
Perhaps interpreting my lack of response as the confusion of someone whose sore spot had been hit, Taeyoon raised his eyebrows and brightened up.
Taeyoon was the only person who knew about my relationship with Yoon Juho. After reuniting in Seoul, Taeyoon had watched me for several years of continued contact and was the first to notice, casually asking as if testing the waters. I had tried to deny it, saying his imagination was too rich and it was impossible, trying to change the subject. But Taeyoon knew me too well and had conviction, not just suspicion. In the end, I ended up acknowledging the relationship due to his persistence.
Surprisingly, Taeyoon liked Yoon Juho. Having lived as a top star his whole life, he was surely playing around messily, but seeing that not a single scandal had broken in his private life so far meant that guy wasn’t just some half-assed pervert but a professional. ― That was his reasoning. He didn’t seem to be a professional pervert, but it was true that he was thorough in managing himself.
When the word “dating” came attached to Yoon Juho’s name, I unconsciously frowned.
“Even if I died and came back to life, that would never happen, so give up your expectations. If you like him so much, why don’t you try seducing him yourself.”
Taeyoon firmly shook his head and straightened his body that had been leaning against the bar.
“He’s rolling around with a guy like you, so would my size satisfy him? I just get eye candy watching him on TV.”
Taeyoon, who put the bottle mouth to his lips and took another sip, frowned and tilted his head, perhaps due to the bitter taste of the beer.
“But you know, looking at what Yoon Juho’s been doing lately, I’m increasingly dissatisfied.”
“Why, didn’t you used to say he was just right as my match?”
“The conditions are perfect. The conditions are perfect, but… if he’s in that position, shouldn’t he be able to cleanly take care of your backing? What’s he doing letting such articles come out?”
“……”
Since he was someone who checked my articles more meticulously than I did, I had guessed he couldn’t have missed that morning’s article. I had just hoped he wouldn’t say anything about it.
As expected, the production team of <Eternal Night> had several other actors in mind besides me. Once that became clear, I became even less confident about the results.
I brought the beer that was about half remaining to my lips and spoke as if it didn’t matter.
“Forget it, what does that have to do with Yoon Juho.”
“Actor Jung, being too upright breeds resentment, you know? Is it shameful to get work through connections in the entertainment industry? It’s not just actors either. MCs who string along their close juniors and younger friends into their programs one after another – who criticizes them? Rather, they’re praised for being loyal and taking care of their people. Setting up beliefs alone only hurts you.”
My reluctance to network wasn’t because I was upright, as Taeyoon and people around me thought. I wasn’t upright enough in character to live with such grand beliefs. I was just an ordinary person who was bound by and influenced by all the past that had made my current self, struggling along.
When I saw that article this morning, I had momentarily felt the impulse to call Yoon Juho out of frustration. Even if I couldn’t bring myself to ask him to push for me, I wondered if I could talk about whether he knew how things were going.
“Upright my ass. I just can’t do it even if I want to because it doesn’t suit my personality. You know. I don’t have that kind of social sense.”
“……”
Taeyoon, who was looking down at me with the beer bottle in his mouth, didn’t seem to believe my words very much. I rubbed the water droplets on the surface of my beer glass with my fingertips and said while lifting the glass.
“I’ll have to wait and hope for good news.”
The beer that had one or two sips left was no longer as delicious as it had been initially, perhaps because the ice had melted.
As soon as my glass was empty, Taeyoon took out a new beer and filled my glass.
“The Mr. S in that article is Song Yeojun, right? His fans were going crazy in the comments saying he’s perfect for it. Do they even read the original work before talking? How could Song Yeojun express that upright yet pitiful and sacrificial love? He’s a guy who can only pose.”
The Song Yeojun that Taeyoon was talking about was the actor most frequently mentioned for the role of ‘Lee Su’ in netizens’ hypothetical casting. A former model, he had attracted attention by taking lead roles from his debut work as part of a major agency.
Taeyoon glanced at me and asked.
“You read the original webtoon, right?”
“I did.”
“You’re perfect for it. It’s a chance to shut up those who say you can only play director, team leader, and chaebol third-generation roles! Look at your face, it’s exactly the mask that would make viewers mistake you for a vampire. You need at least this level of face for believability, Song Yeojun is freezing cold…”
While being raised under ‘Hwaye’s’ care, ‘Lee Su’ thinks he’s a vampire like her. He has no doubt about it, and believes that the human ‘Jeongseol’ cannot understand ‘Hwaye’s’ loneliness and pain until it’s revealed that ‘Jeongseol’ is a vampire, and therefore cannot truly love her.
I had never craved any role this much. My desperate desire to appear in <Eternal Night> wasn’t just because other casting offers had dried up. It wasn’t because of my greed to become a Hallyu star under Director Hwang Sooyoung either.
Even if I couldn’t assert that I was perfect for that role, while reading the original webtoon, I couldn’t help but see myself overlapping with ‘Lee Su.’
Me, who wanted to be Mother’s real son and somehow wanted to have more in common with Mother…
Taeyoon cautiously spoke while reading my mood as I had become quiet.
“Couldn’t you… at least say something to Yoon Juho?”
“……”
“Alright, alright! If that director or whatever has good eyes, they’ll choose you!”
“Anyway, don’t say weird things like dating or whatever in front of Jaewoo.”
As soon as I finished speaking, Jaewoo came in grumbling while carrying a large box and pushing the door with his shoulder.
“What is this that’s so heavy, hyung?”
“Oh? Did a package come? There wasn’t one just a while ago! This way, bring it to the kitchen, Jaewoo!”
I quickly got up to help carry it, but Jaewoo screamed for me to get out of the way, saying it was better for him to move it alone quickly. Jaewoo was the type who could easily move a small office refrigerator by himself. Seeing even such a guy struggling made me curious about what exactly had been bought.
What Taeyoon took out from the box placed on the stainless steel counter was a cast iron pan. Seeing it, Jaewoo’s eyes without double eyelids widened.
“You made me carry this just now? How many of these are there?”
“I just asked you to put it here since you were carrying it in. You’re really something else.”
While Jaewoo stood in front of the air conditioner, shaking the front of his t-shirt to cool his sweat, Taeyoon served him a glass of peach-flavored iced tea. It was Jaewoo’s favorite drink.
Jaewoo, who came and plopped down in a seat with one chair between us, must have been very thirsty as he emptied the glass in one go.
“Even if you say my taste is cheap and whatever, powdered iced tea mix is still the best!”
Looking at Jaewoo pushing out his empty glass with only ice left, asking for more, Taeyoon laughed as if amazed but obediently took the glass. The fact that <Dom>’s kitchen stocked iced tea powder was because of Jaewoo.
While making another glass of iced tea, Taeyoon raised his voice.
“Choi Hongseo and them are moving into UN Village? Did ‘Layered’ make that much money? I thought they just barely paid back their investment money since they spent so much until now. Are they already getting carried away and overspending just because money started coming into their accounts?”
“No way!”
Jaewoo, who denied it cleanly with one stroke, had an expression like his mouth was itching because he wanted to say something. It seemed like his butt was bouncing invisibly too.
“No way? If it’s a 4-room mansion in that neighborhood, decent properties would have monthly rent of at least 5 million won. If the view is decent, it would easily exceed 10 million. If I were them, I’d save that money and scrape together for 1-2 years. You never know how long idol popularity will last.”
“That’s… someone the president knows offered it under good conditions, so it won’t be much of a burden for them.”
“What crazy person would rent out a mansion on that golden land under good conditions for no reason? Park Jaewoo, you’ve rolled around in that industry for that long and still have dreams and hopes in your heart? Even if someone died in a house in that neighborhood, the housing prices wouldn’t drop.”
“Ah, I don’t know! Since the president says so, I just take it as such. And why are you saying such things about kids who are just starting to do well? Hongseo is now only one step away from becoming a complete world star. Not just a Hallyu star, but a world star.”
Jaewoo’s face, which had been giggling while particularly rolling his R pronunciation, suddenly became calm. Without even thinking to drink the newly made iced tea that Taeyoon had given him, he leaned his upper body toward me and lowered his voice.
“Hyung, but… about Hongseo, that guy seems to be dating someone these days.”
“Hongseo?”
It was such unexpected news that my voice got a little higher instead.
“Didn’t hyung notice? Even though she’s so busy, after schedules end, she always goes somewhere else. She’s glued to her phone all day, and sometimes she even grins while looking at her phone… it’s exactly the form of someone dating. When I asked other managers, she apparently does this during overseas schedules too.”
Even during domestic activities, the time ‘Layered’ stopped by the accommodation to sleep was only about 2-3 hours at most. They’d come home at 2-3 AM and leave for the shop around 5 AM for hair and makeup setting, so there was no chance to see their faces.
“Maybe she’s checking articles and comments. She searches as a hobby whenever she has time.”
“I know her expression when she’s checking comments. It’s completely different from that. I’m betting my 4 years of manager experience on this – that’s 100% dating. At minimum, some kind of fling.”
Jaewoo, who paused there for a moment, habitually glanced around even though he knew only we were in the store, and lowered his voice.
“That guy sometimes even asks to be dropped off at hotels, you know?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
