The Hyung Who Was More Gossipy Than the Staff
Lee Hwa-young.
She had a pale pink rose tucked behind one ear.
And around her stood three women, almost like escorts guarding a queen.
Their makeup was so bright it made their skin look translucent, with an effect that called to mind a bride’s wedding look. Add to that the pure-white, tight-fitting dress that looked almost like a wedding gown, and the whole thing was dazzlingly overdone.
On either side of Lee Hwa-young, two designers stood like bodyguards, while a third woman in the back carefully lifted the hem of her dress so it wouldn’t drag on the floor.
Han Seo-jun watched her with a slight furrow between his brows, and Ha Ju-young tilted his head a little, the corners of his mouth lifting.
Even now, his expression still held a mixture of shock and fascination.
“Whoa~! You’re seriously blinding. Are you doing a pictorial shoot or something?”
“Stop saying useless things and get out of there already, unless you’ve booked the elevator for yourself.”
“Ah, yes~”
Ha Ju-young let out a bitter laugh and pressed himself against one side of the elevator before stepping out.
Seo-jun followed him out.
As he turned his head slightly, he saw Lee Hwa-young slowly stepping into the elevator.
That was when it happened.
He heard hurried footsteps, and Team Leader One came briskly over with two other employees.
One of them had a phone pressed to his ear and was raising his voice.
“...Yeah, clear everything on that side. The roses are fine! Anyway, fill it as much as possible with red tones. Didn’t I say we need the image to feel intense?”
Following the man shouting into the phone, Team Leader One and the other employee disappeared into the elevator.
Seo-jun shifted his gaze, started walking again, and spoke up casually.
“You’re busy, huh?”
“Right? I mean, among everyone at our company, Hwa-young’s probably the busiest. I can’t even count how many ads she’s shooting right now. She’s on TV every time you turn it on.”
That wasn’t an exaggeration.
Hwang Dong-jun had said the same thing.
At this rate, Lee Hwa-young’s chin would only keep rising higher and higher.
Too much exposure could make viewers tired of her, sure—but she transformed flawlessly for every commercial, each time with a different concept.
Sometimes she came on like a glamorous woman with a seductive smile; sometimes she was a cold, haughty city woman; and other times she looked like a pure, bright young girl.
That was why people occasionally found themselves thinking, Wait, that actress in the commercial was Lee Hwa-young?
“Oh, and I heard Han Seo-jun got an apartment commercial this time too? Was it MG Construction?”
He glanced at Seo-jun’s face as he asked.
“...Yes.”
“Lucky you. I thought they only ever stuck to that old, heavy middle-aged image, but maybe they’re trying to shift toward something younger and sharper now?”
He made no attempt to hide the genuinely envious look on his face.
“I just want to manage my weight a little better and get back to work soon. But even when I eat just a little, I put weight on so fast.”
That probably wasn’t the real issue.
His manager had been running around talking about how he loved drinking and that it was a headache to deal with.
A manager was supposed to keep a tight lid on an actor’s private life, after all.
Either his mouth was just too loose,
or everyone already knew, which made it pointless to hide.
“Still, I’ve been working really hard lately. What do you think? Do I look better now?”
He stopped walking and rubbed his jawline, watching Seo-jun carefully.
“You look fine. You’ve changed a lot from a few days ago. If you lose just a little more, I think you’ll look exactly like you did in that drama from before.”
What Seo-jun saw before him was still a long way from sharp.
He had escaped a lot of that formerly bulky look, at least.
But he absolutely couldn’t say that out loud.
Weight was a sensitive issue not only for women, but also for young male actors whose image was their livelihood.
Of course, there were always people naturally indifferent and easygoing about that sort of thing.
“Really~?”
“Yes. The line of your face has definitely sharpened up.”
Rather than stopping at a perfunctory show of support, Seo-jun let his gaze linger around Ha Ju-young’s jaw as though he were studying it closely.
People were always more fond of those who gave them positive feedback.
But that attitude had to look not merely “appropriate,” but sincere.
Ha Ju-young was a fairly hot actor in the industry right now, wasn’t he?
And since they were at the same agency, Seo-jun needed to make him an ally for the future anyway.
“You’ve recovered to 88.25 percent. Keep at it a little longer, and you’ll fully regain your old look. No, actually, I think you might end up looking even better than before.”
As Seo-jun casually invented a convincing number and spoke with a serious expression, the corners of Ha Ju-young’s mouth rose.
“Ah, not that much, come on...”
“No, really, senior. Before, your look was all sharp edges, but now there’s a softer feel to you too. Directors will like that.”
His eyes shifted slightly as he studied Seo-jun’s expression.
It was the look of someone trying to judge how much sincerity there was in another person’s words.
On the surface he seemed loud and relaxed, but inside he was surprisingly careful and selective about people.
Seo-jun’s guess seemed to be right.
The corners of Ha Ju-young’s mouth rose a little as he looked Seo-jun over.
“I’ve been surviving on chicken wings and greens, so it’s good to hear that. I just need to lose three more kilos and I’ll hit my target. Thanks.”
“Not at all. You’re almost there now, senior. Fighting. And also...”
Seo-jun let his sentence trail off, and one of Ha Ju-young’s eyes lifted a little as he watched him.
“Why do you keep putting ‘-ssi’ after my name? Just think of me as an easy little brother and call me Seo-jun.”
Before Seo-jun could even finish, Ha Ju-young lifted one corner of his mouth.
“...Sure, I can do that. I thought you might be shy, that’s all. Okay! I’ll call you that from now on.”
“.....!”
What was this?
The first and last time Seo-jun had seen him at that bar, he’d been such a smooth talker.
Was Han Seo-jun’s MBTI actually I?
Ha Ju-young gave him a grin and a small wave before stopping in front of the Team Two office and opening the door.
Seo-jun turned away from him.
Good.
First, he’d turn the other actors at the agency to his side as much as possible.
And then, much as he disliked the idea, he’d have to appease Lee Hwa-young’s temper to some degree too.
Even if she was the kind of actress who seemed completely impossible to control, the kind who might as well have the words I’m the crazy bitch in this territory written across her forehead.
He had a reason for keeping on good terms with her.
Shin Yeon-ho. That bastard was the reason.
Getting close to Lee Hwa-young, who was wild and unpredictable, would do nothing for Seo-jun’s mental health, so at first he’d decided it was best to keep a reasonable distance.
They were both in Team One, after all. He figured he could just treat her like she didn’t exist.
But then Kang I-han got into an accident, and the replacement who would stand in for him turned out to be Shin Yeon-ho of all people.
At first, Seo-jun had flared with anger at the thought, but soon his mind changed.
The idea flashed through his head like a bolt of lightning: this was a gift from heaven.
If he could use Lee Hwa-young to turn Shin Yeon-ho’s debut stage into a literal hell festival, wasn’t that the kind of job where Seo-jun wouldn’t even have to lift a finger and would still get everything done?
They were keeping it quiet so it wouldn’t leak outside, but there had always been plenty of popular actresses throwing tantrums on set.
For more than three years, there had been that bastard who, merely because he held the money, had lorded it over Seo-jun in every way possible and treated him like a servant.
He was young, sure, and in front of the public he wore a sheep’s skin and pretended to be a sweet, innocent boy, but someday Lee Hwa-young would tear that filthy mask off.
Seo-jun would simply create the atmosphere that let her do it.
He had no intention of resorting to vile blackmail or anything like that just because he knew her private past.
Would he do such a thing with this kind, harmless face?
Besides, for the next few months, he had to stand in front of the cameras as an idol center.
That was completely different from the pure white-boy-next-door image that lived on dew and sunlight.
The clearer the big picture in his mind became, the better he felt.
“Wow. Seriously, my life can actually go this well?”
He stopped walking and reached for the handle of the Team One office door.
A wide grin spread across his face.
***
The front door opened, and a middle-aged woman stepped inside.
Her hair was dyed a reddish shade, and with her heavy makeup, she was unmistakably anything but ordinary at a glance.
The woman watching her from the inner part of the living room lifted the corners of her mouth.
“Welcome, you little brat. How long has it been?”
“I know, right? It feels like it’s already been more than a year.”
The red-haired woman removed her shoes and walked into the house as if she knew the place well.
The woman who had greeted her led the way across the long hallway.
“So, are you still busy these days?”
“Even busier now. I’m in a complete frenzy because of the year-end specials and all the programs changing slots for next year.”
After taking a seat on the living room sofa, the homeowner turned toward the assistant in the kitchen.
“Bring me some coffee. Americano, right?”
“Yeah, make mine hot.”
“What’s this? Weren’t you ice coffee until the day you died?”
At that, the red-haired woman gave a snort and frowned slightly.
“I’m getting older too, and my knuckles ache. I really can’t drink ice anymore.”
“Well, there’s no beating age.”
At the homeowner’s words, the red-haired woman gave a bitter smile and opened her bag to take out her phone.
After checking the time on the screen, she spoke slowly.
“First, turn on the TV. There’s something I need to check.”
“What does someone who works at a broadcasting station need to check on TV? Seriously, that’s hilarious.”
“Not our station. TBS.”
“...Really? What’s so interesting?”
The homeowner picked up the remote and flipped through the channels with her finger.
Watching the screen, the red-haired woman let out a short sigh.
“It hasn’t started yet.”
“Why? Is it an important program?”
“No, it’s just that O Su-ja came from the U.S. a little while ago. TBS got the interview first, and I wanted to see how it came out.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Her gaze moved from the TV back to the homeowner.
“But why did you suddenly ask to see me?”
“...Well, the thing is.”
The homeowner pressed her lips together for a moment, and her expression twisted almost instantly.
As her eyes turned sharp, her friend caught on and frowned in turn.
“A while ago, Director Kim sent me a video called ‘That Bastard’s Final Cut.’”
“...What video?”
“Han Seo-jun. That guy was filming a drama, remember?”
“Oh, right. So?”
Before speaking again, the homeowner let out a deep sigh.
“Someone uploaded that video to the internet, and it spread in no time. But no matter how I think about it, there’s no one who should’ve been able to do that. It was the director’s cut, so there was no way it could have leaked.”
“.....!”
“So I dug around, and it looks like it might’ve been that kid’s father...”
“Your husband?”
She nodded slowly.
“I kept stewing over it inside, but I just couldn’t stand it anymore, so I casually tested the waters a few days ago.”
“And?”
“He shot it down immediately and said I was talking nonsense.”
“Then it probably wasn’t him. Would your husband really go that far? He’s got enough on his plate as it is; I doubt he’d have time to worry about that.”
“That’s because he’d just have his secretary do it!”
The woman’s face twisted in an instant as she snapped the words out.
She bit her lower lip hard and exhaled.
“So what are you going to do? Just let it go. In the end, he’s her husband, isn’t he? Of course he’d want to help his own child with something. That kid’s probably his sore spot anyway.”
“Haahh...!!!”
An irritated groan burst from her lips.
“After that, I just pretended not to know. But a few days ago I went to a gathering, and Madam Shin of Shinwoo Enterprise said something to me. She said MG Construction had changed models to refresh their image, and the new face was that bastard.”
The red-haired woman took a moment to choose her words, then shrugged as if it were no big deal.
“That’s certainly possible. His image has gotten better lately, hasn’t it? Honestly, if you look at it objectively, I think it was a decent choice.”
At her friend’s words, the homeowner bit her lip.
“The president of MG Construction is my husband’s high school classmate.”
“.....!”
“They still go golfing together now and then, and they also attend social gatherings sometimes.”
For a moment, silence fell.
Just as their conversation was about to resume, a clear female voice came from the TV screen.
The TBS news interview.
On the screen, the actress O Su-ja was seated.
The friend who was a PD reflexively turned toward the screen, and her hand lifted as if to tell the homeowner to pause the conversation for a moment.
[I heard you’ve already finished the script reading. Were you okay physically? I heard you had been filming a feature film in L.A. right up until just before this.]
At the reporter’s question, O Su-ja shook her head gently.
[Not at all. I’m actually so excited to be taking part in a Korean drama. It’s been wonderful getting to work with our actors too. We’ve only done the reading so far, but I’ve already discovered one actor with truly astonishing talent in this production.]
[Really? Could you tell us a little about who that actor is?]
[Well, I’m not sure I should say that on air.]
A meaningful smile bloomed at the corners of O Su-ja’s lips.