Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Episode 2. A Night with a Top Star (1)
He ran and ran for quite a while.
By the time he came to his senses, he was inside Lee Yena’s car.
“What on earth, huff, is going on, huff.”
“S-sorry, huff, I’m sorry. Let’s, huff, catch our breath first and then talk.”
He wasn’t in a state to respond, so Park Siwoo just waved his hand vaguely.
About five minutes passed like that.
Finally calming his breathing, Park Siwoo spoke.
“What exactly is going on? Are you really Lee Yena?”
“It just kind of… happened.”
“What do you mean ‘it just kind of happened’?”
“I know, right? Haha……”
Lee Yena gave a dazed smile.
For some reason, seeing that smile instantly eased his tension.
Maybe because of that, his previously narrowed view broadened.
‘It’s kind of cute.’
Her car wasn’t a van, but a low-end SUV.
It seemed to be her personal car, not one for public use.
And it was very well hidden.
Even he, who worked in the entertainment industry, had no idea she drove something like this.
More than that—
‘Is that lavender?’
The inside of the car was filled with a pleasant floral scent.
It was a fragrance he had never smelled in the car he used to ride with his ex-wife.
“Um……”
Perhaps thinking he was upset because he wasn’t saying anything, Lee Yena spoke cautiously.
“I’m sorry. I just acted without thinking.”
“No, it’s fine. I was just surprised because it was so sudden.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You really don’t need to apologize. More importantly……”
At that moment, the alcohol rushed up, and Park Siwoo frowned.
“Are you okay?”
A worried voice.
At the same time, a faint floral scent washed over him.
He had thought it was the car freshener, but now it seemed to be her natural scent.
‘No, more importantly.’
Her black eyes sparkled right in front of him.
If he moved even a little, their noses would touch.
Park Siwoo leaned back slightly and said,
“Lee Yena, you’re too close.”
“Ah! S-sorry. I was worried……”
She flinched and quickly pulled back.
Watching her, Park Siwoo let out a bitter smile.
To think he was receiving concern from a woman he had just met, something he had never received from his own wife.
“I had a drink. Something bad happened recently. That’s why the alcohol hit me.”
“Ah…… If it’s not too rude, is it related to you stopping your NewTube activities…?”
“Not unrelated.”
“I see……”
Lee Yena nodded.
Then—
—Click.
She released the side brake.
“Let’s have a drink together.”
“What?”
Park Siwoo’s eyes widened.
Drinking?
And an invitation from Lee Yena, the top singer?
It felt detached from reality.
‘Am I hallucinating because I’m drunk?’
Even as he thought that, Lee Yena was steadily pressing the accelerator.
Her side profile, visible at a glance, was full of smiles.
Not understanding, he asked,
“Lee Yena, we just met today.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“Because I’m a fan. A really long-time fan.”
“Hah.”
A helpless smile naturally formed on Park Siwoo’s face.
‘Well.’
He was divorced anyway.
Having a drink with a woman wasn’t a big deal.
The only problem was that the woman was Korea’s top singer, Lee Yena…
‘Well, it’s just drinking.’
—Ring ring.
A loud ringtone.
And warm sunlight.
He hadn’t checked the time, but instinctively, he knew he had overslept.
“Ha……”
Did he drink too much last night?
He was going to get chewed out by the director.
Sighing, Park Siwoo pushed himself up.
But—
‘This isn’t my house?’
The moment he realized that, memories of last night flowed back like a film reel.
Last night, he got into her car and went to Lee Yena’s house.
Then they drank.
As the alcohol kept going in, the mood deepened.
Starting with a kiss, it went all the way.
In other words—
‘We slept together.’
Just recalling it made heat rise again.
As if to douse that heat—
—Ring ring!
The phone rang again.
[Director]
“Ha……”
He couldn’t ignore it.
Sighing, Park Siwoo answered.
—Where are you?
“I’m sorry, I’m on my way right now.”
—Really? How long will it take?
Normally, he would have shouted, but for some reason, his voice was calm.
Well, of course.
He now had a perfectly valid reason to be scolded.
The director was probably smiling right now.
“About 30 minutes.”
—Take your time.
Click.
The call ended.
Park Siwoo shoved his phone into his pocket and got up.
First, he needed to sort out this situation.
But—
“She’s not here.”
She had already left.
Since their meeting was so sudden, he didn’t even have her phone number.
‘It can’t be helped.’
Park Siwoo headed to work for now.
“A wave of contract renewals is sweeping the entertainment industry. From singer Lee Yena to idol groups and bands, ten entertainers will see their contracts expire this year. Will they renew with their current agencies, or find new ones? Fans are filled with anticipation and concern……”
The taxi driver lowered the volume.
“You getting off here?”
“Yes, please stop in front of the Starlight Entertainment building.”
“Got it. But hey, you work in entertesment?”
“Entertainment.”
“Right. You work there?”
This kind of question came up often in taxis.
Park Siwoo nodded slightly.
“Yes. I see celebrities often.”
The taxi driver’s face brightened noticeably.
“Then do you know where Lee Yena’s headed?”
“Lee Yena… the singer?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m not sure. She’s not with our agency.”
As Park Siwoo visibly flustered, the taxi driver narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to that Starlight place? The one with the lobbying scandal?”
Park Siwoo waved his hands.
“No, absolutely not. I’ll get off here. Thank you.”
“Hey! Don’t you dare mess with Lee Yena!”
“Y-yes!”
“The whole nation is watching her!”
The taxi driver glared sharply at him.
After grumbling for a while, he finally drove off when the light turned green.
“Whew.”
Park Siwoo wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Would that old man ever imagine that the Lee Yena he was talking about had slept with him last night?
‘Damn.’
He had to deal with what happened.
But the person involved, Lee Yena, had disappeared.
He couldn’t just go to her house either.
It wasn’t easy to even enter a luxury apartment complex.
‘If I had known, I would’ve at least written down her number.’
He had been too flustered to think of it.
“Ugh……”
Groaning, Park Siwoo entered the company.
The office was the same as always.
Everyone was focused on their work.
But even in a place like this, there were always trashy people.
“You’re here?”
The director greeted Park Siwoo with a crooked smile.
After getting thoroughly scolded and catching up on his backlog of work, evening arrived.
“Whew……”
Maybe it was because life tasted bitter, but the cigarette felt unusually sweet.
As he chain-smoked, the rooftop door opened.
It was someone he had known since high school.
Kim Seunghyuk.
“You’re smoking again?”
“You know how it is.”
“Yeah. You’ve had it rough.”
“It’s nothing.”
Park Siwoo shrugged.
He couldn’t say he had completely let go, but he wasn’t holding onto regrets either.
After looking at him for a moment, Park Siwoo turned his gaze toward the sunset.
Kim Seunghyuk stood beside him and said,
“Siwoo, I don’t mean anything bad by this, but honestly, the divorce might not be such a bad thing.”
“……”
“It’s a bit of a waste of money, but your marriage looked really tough. And I mean that in a good way.”
He clicked his lighter.
When it didn’t light, he shoved it back into his pocket.
“Got a light?”
“Of course.”
Park Siwoo handed him his lighter.
Click, click.
Listening to the sound, he said,
“By the way, hyung.”
“Yeah?”
Taking a deep breath, Park Siwoo added,
“I’m going to start doing what I actually want to do now.”
Heh.
Kim Seunghyuk smiled softly.
Then joked,
“In that case, how about starting a business? Succeed and hire me. That director is driving me crazy.”
“That bastard bullied you too?”
“Yeah. He’s gotten mean with age.”
Hahaha!
After chatting like that, they got off work.
On the way home, Park Siwoo thought about how to contact Lee Yena.
Fortunately, one method came to mind.
‘I’ll upload a video to Guitar Hero.’
Not just any upload.
He planned to leave his email in the video description.
Then Lee Yena would definitely contact him.
Arriving home, Park Siwoo immediately sat down.
His ex-wife had gone back to her parents’ house, so there was no one to disturb him.
‘It’s been a while.’
He took out his keyboard from storage.
Back when he first bought it used, he had been scolded badly for wasting money on it.
‘Looks like the divorce really was the right choice.’
Thinking that, he opened his composing software.
It was cheap and had limited features, but it was usable.
[Create a new file?]
When he clicked, it asked him to enter a file name.
Usually, that’s where the title goes.
“Hmm……”
After a brief moment of thought, Park Siwoo started typing.
[Please contact me.]
Having set the title, he immediately began composing.
Normally, once he chose a title, the music would flow naturally to match the concept.
But maybe because it had been so long—
Even creating a short piece took quite a while.
By the time he finished and checked the clock, it was already midnight.
‘Maybe because I’m doing what I want.’
He didn’t feel tired.
More importantly—
‘The song isn’t bad.’
After finalizing everything, Park Siwoo did some light editing and uploaded it to NewTube.
He currently had around a thousand subscribers.
The view count of his videos was about the same.
So he couldn’t expect many views right away.
‘It’s also been years since I uploaded anything.’
“Whew.”
‘When I wake up, I’ll probably have an email.’
Thinking that, he refreshed the page to check if the video uploaded properly.
But—
‘30 views already?’
“What the……”
Just as he muttered, a notification went off.
Not just once.
—Ding! Ding!
Several times.
Who would be sending messages at this hour past midnight?
Park Siwoo checked his phone.
And his eyes widened.
“No way.”
What he received weren’t messages, but emails.
And not just any emails—
[Hello, Guitar Hero. This is Jung Jinwoo, executive producer of JYT. I listened to your song and wanted to reach out……]
[Hello, this is Kim Hana, leader of the idol band Sunshine. After hearing your song……]
Countless contact emails from celebrities.