Chapter 89
Judging only by information available through searches, he and his older sister Lee Hanseo didn’t seem to have a particularly bad relationship. Of course, the inside story of a chaebol family couldn’t be grasped through articles alone. But seeing how she brought him to headquarters and entrusted him with important work, she didn’t seem like a petty person who would restrain her younger brother and block even opportunities to display his abilities.
As Gayoon said, all related articles spoke of Lee Hanseo’s management as thoroughly results-oriented. It was a management method that followed exactly the style of their father, Chairman Lee Wooyeol. There were even many evaluations that she was more bold and aggressive than Chairman Lee Wooyeol.
That’s why Lee Seogyeong had to give up his executive director position at the New York branch.
Knox Hotel & Resort was focusing on expanding its influence in North America and Southeast Asia rather than the Chinese market, where variables were strongly influenced by political situations.
So Lee Seogyeong’s move from the New York branch to the Shanghai branch was essentially equivalent to a demotion within Knox.
I don’t think that bastard remembers me from five years ago.
I would have been just one among the countless playthings that passed through him before and after. Even when I visited the mansion near the Hamptons, Lee Seogyeong couldn’t even properly remember my name.
But I didn’t want to encounter him in any way, didn’t want to lay eyes on him even from afar. That was why I had investigated his movements in my own way before deciding to come to Korea.
At the time, I had only focused on avoiding Lee Seogyeong.
I knew that Lee Seogyeong’s younger brother was the little kid who had visited ‘Mio Palazzo’ with his mother long ago. But I didn’t even know that kid was the same person as my proper first experience partner, the young man who had shoved Luca into the fountain at the plaza.
So there was no reason to be wary to avoid getting entangled in romantic problems with Lee Seogyeong’s younger brother.
What if I hadn’t met Lee Han again?
If it had remained only as a wistful memory that I occasionally comforted myself with pleasant imaginings, thinking he must be living well somewhere.
A bitter smile leaked at the twisted knots of fate that had become hopelessly tangled after getting intertwined. The most amazing part was that while fate was getting twisted, I didn’t even know it was twisting.
“Surely they wouldn’t call someone all the way here and then use someone else for the advertisement. Today’s an event where I didn’t even receive travel expenses. It’s almost like I attended to solidify the advertising deal, so you should keep showing your face to the Knox people as much as possible too. Got it?”
I roughly nodded at Manager Yoon’s words and brought the glass to my lips. As alcohol touched repeatedly, I unconsciously pressed my slightly stinging lips with my teeth. It was a mark from Yoon Juho’s bite.
Like someone feeling a cavity, Manager Yoon clicked his tongue seeing me suck air through my teeth.
“You brought what Gayoon gave you to put on your lips, right? It’s already peeled off a bit. Keep applying it frequently. How does an actor tear his lip while shaving? Take this opportunity to switch to an electric razor.”
Since I was a grown adult, there wasn’t a suitable excuse to plausibly cover up the lip wound. I had no choice but to use shaving as an excuse.
Yoon Juho was flawless when it came to work. If it had been during drama filming, no matter how angry he was, he would never have left such traces. It was also one of the reasons I’d continued the relationship. Thinking that he had made such calculations and attacked even in moments when he was blue with rage made it even more detestable.
As I tried to endure the stinging and swallow more cocktail, Manager Yoon spoke in rapid tones with barely moving lips like a ventriloquist.
“It’s the Knox deputy, Jiin. She’s coming this way. Let’s do well without mistakes, Actor Jung. If this works out, it’ll be your first TV commercial.”
Not long after Manager Yoon finished speaking, a delighted voice came from behind.
“Jiin-ssi, Manager-nim! Thank you so much for coming. Seeing you here makes me even happier. Wow, you both look so great today!”
She herself seemed like a different person from the last meeting. Dressed up in a glamorous evening dress with bold makeup, she didn’t look like an ordinary office worker.
“Deputy-nim looks like a celebrity yourself.”
“I think this is the first time I’ve heard such business talk from Jiin-ssi.”
She laughed refreshingly. I had only said what I felt, not flattery, but I didn’t feel the need to assert my innocence.
“For our department, this is also part of work, so racking our brains about how to dress each time is also stressful… Ah, but that must be the same for Jiin-ssi too.”
She lightly tapped my shoulder with a bitter smile, then turned toward Manager Yoon.
“Oh right, Manager-nim, I felt so bad hearing you even refused travel expenses.”
“Since our actor might soon become part of the Knox family, we couldn’t accept travel expenses. Please don’t worry about that at all.”
I could understand why I brought Manager Yoon along today. I would never have been able to make such comments that subtly pressured the progress of the advertising deal.
The deputy, showing a brief satisfied smile, naturally placed her hands on mine and Manager Yoon’s shoulders.
“There’s also a corner where you can try making cocktails yourself. There’s a super famous bartender from Scotland running it… well, I don’t know much about that field. Anyway, there’s a photo zone in that area, so let’s take a picture of Jiin-ssi there. Ah, our team leader is also over there, so I’ll introduce you.”
“……”
My heart dropped to my feet with a thud.
And soon it felt like it bounced back up with strong elasticity and hit my head.
The music in the venue suddenly changed to a faster song. As the volume increased along with it, my body resonated with the strong beat. With people’s cheers, the atmosphere instantly became tumultuous.
Alcohol and music, dim lighting, men and women dressed stylishly. And with the temporal backdrop of Friday night, the place was floating with excitement and exploratory tension ready to overflow.
Then someone approached, nodded to us asking for understanding, and whispered something to her. Whatever story she heard, her eyes widened greatly.
“Please go there first, and I’ll follow soon to introduce you. Manager-nim, see you there.”
Watching her retreating figure with hurried steps, I emptied the remaining cocktail in one gulp.
There was no guarantee that the team leader she mentioned was definitely Lee Hancheoeum. Rather, since she belonged to PR Team 1, it was more likely she was referring to Team 1’s leader.
But I couldn’t be certain either way.
According to searches, his sister seemed to want to appropriately utilize his excellent looks that people were interested in. Photos of him taken by reporters at official events like today were also circulating on the internet quite regularly.
Indeed, such articles always included talk about his appearance reminiscent of entertainment celebrity article comment sections. Comments discussing the brands and prices of clothes or watches he wore were also frequently visible.
It was just a world I hadn’t paid attention to, but he too was living a life not free from public scrutiny.
“Here it is, this is where we’re supposed to go.”
Manager Yoon, who had been looking at the event venue layout in the pamphlet, pointed to one spot with his thick finger.
“It doesn’t seem like they called other model candidates either, so it looks like it’ll work out well. Otherwise, why would they introduce you to the team leader? Let’s see, you need to apply that lip stuff once more.”
Following Manager Yoon’s instructions, I took out a small stick from my jacket pocket and rubbed it over my lips to spread it. It was a product like tinted lip balm that didn’t need to be carefully applied while looking in a mirror.
The affected area stung. Even though it was just slightly torn, being on the lips, it kept irritatingly bothering me. As I frowned and tried to put the lip balm back in my pocket, another person approached and greeted me.
“Actor Jung Jiin, hello. We’re from A Magazine.”
The man with a flushed face who still looked young was, if my memory was correct, the youngest editor at A Magazine. Most editors attending such parties for photography rather than as invited guests were the youngest ones.
“<Eternal Night> script reading has started, right? I’m personally very excited about it. I’m a fan of the original webtoon and also a fan of yours. And Actor-nim, please do a photo shoot with our magazine too. We’re currently discussing shooting with a vampire concept to match your Lee Su role in <Eternal Night>.”
“That’s a very good plan. Please contact the company once.”
“I will, Manager-nim. I briefly saw you during the ‘Layered’ interview last time, but I couldn’t give you a proper greeting then.”
Manager Yoon stepped forward to deal with him, and they exchanged business cards. Feeling my throat dry and thinking of having a drink of water, I stopped, remembering I needed to reapply my lip treatment.
“Jiin-ssi, you’re close with actor Yoon Juho too, right? I’d like to take a picture of you two together, would that be okay?”
Do you know where Yoon Juho is? — After asking his companion holding a camera, he soon narrowed his eyes and nodded.
“Ah, there, yes, he was there.”
Then he looked back at Manager Yoon.
“There’s a corner where you can try making cocktails yourself over there, and in front of it there’s a structure made by stacking bottles of this brand’s whiskey. It would look great if you two shot there together.”
“Perfect! We were just about to move in that direction anyway. We’ll see Juho there.”
Manager Yoon seemed pleased, thinking things were going smoothly. While moving away from the bar toward the inner area, Manager Yoon also declined all photo requests from other party attendees.
“This is why anyone who sets foot in the entertainment industry should become famous first. Even before filming starts, the reaction changes immediately like this, but just wait until the work does well. Then you can also choose works as you want and even edit scripts, man.”
Unlike Manager Yoon who was excited with optimism about the future, my actual mood was hitting rock bottom. My mouth kept drying so I unconsciously licked my lips, and the lip balm I’d applied to hide the wound had probably mostly worn off.
Who was the team leader the Knox deputy would introduce? All my nerves were focused on that. Even the fact that I had to do awkwardly fake photography with Yoon Juho wasn’t considered a problem.
The answer was revealed quickly.
Even before stepping into the space where an arched partition created an entrance, his figure caught my eye.
Like at the hotel lounge in Bangkok. When together in the same space, he was someone whose gaze couldn’t help but be drawn to him.
Perhaps to hide his gaunt face, he was wearing horn-rimmed glasses today too. They were glasses of a subtly different design from last time. His eyes, as he shook hands surrounded by three or four people, met mine over the shoulder of the person in front of him.
As if that gaze wrapped around my throat and strangled it, I stopped breathing.
Whether he didn’t know I was invited, his face stiffened awkwardly upon discovering me. It was a subtle change, but also a clear change that the party whose eyes met couldn’t fail to notice.
But even that lasted only an instant.
His gaze, having regained balance by indifferently passing over me, turned back to his companions.
“Oh, Juho’s over there.”
Manager Yoon, who couldn’t know about the awkward situation between Yoon Juho and me, immediately pulled my back toward where that guy was.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
