145. Pull Me Into That Conversation Too
"If you approach Ju Min-seo saying she's a face you keep running into, she'll steer the conversation according to the script and the assigned scenario. Your job, Yeon-woo, is to create a *friendly atmosphere*."
"A friendly atmosphere?"
"You know, the kind of things you'd do for someone you're attracted to. All that ambiguous is-this-a-thing-or-isn't-it stuff. It's not quite flirting yet, but if you meet her three or four more times like this, you just know it's definitely going to turn into something……"
What on earth is all this nonsense? Rembrary arched an eyebrow.
"What's a 'thing'?"
"Huh? You don't know?"
"I don't."
"Uh…… well, you see……"
Words of this sort are notoriously hard to define when someone asks for their exact meaning. The VJ was no different — when Rembrary questioned a word he'd assumed was common knowledge, the man floundered.
"Just act in a way that makes people watching think, 'Does that person like this person?' No wait, act so that the other person thinks, 'Does he like *me*?'"
In the end, the VJ simply dropped the unexplainable word altogether.
But this much was enough for Rembrary to grasp the general gist.
"Ah, I see. Understood."
So all I have to do is subtly persuade a follower of another temple to come over to ours.
He'd done that countless times. He was confident.
"Then later, Jo Sa-yeon will show up and get jealous without even realizing it's jealousy. That's your cue to gracefully bow out, Yeon-woo."
"Underst— I understand."
"Fighting!"
"I have a question."
"What is it?"
"May I contact Jo Sa-yeon separately after filming wraps?"
The VJ blinked for a moment, then laughed and said of course he could. Rembrary felt a measure of relief at the thought that today, at least, he would be able to confirm one of the three suspect candidates.
At last, the group arrived at the café near the broadcasting station where today's shoot was to take place.
Before stepping inside, the VJ explained everything to Rembrary one more time.
"You'll be ordering at the café when you 'run into' Min-seo. While you're placing your order, she'll come up beside you, and that's when you strike up conversation."
"May I order anything I like?"
"Sorry, what?"
"Who's paying?"
"It comes out of the production budget……?"
"Excellent."
"Excuse me?"
Rembrary smoothed out his clothes neatly and strode into the café. The VJ, utterly bewildered, followed him in.
Perhaps because the show was currently sitting at number two in the variety ratings, the moment Rembrary walked in with a camera in tow, people immediately started murmuring — "Isn't that him?" "It is, right?" "The two-timer? The two-timer?" — doing their best to act like they'd recognized him.
Rembrary gave a warm, beneficent wave to those who'd recognized him, and only lowered his hand when the VJ shook his head to tell him to stop.
"Rolling."
The VJ hoisted the camera to shoulder height. Rembrary nodded and approached the counter.
Whoa, it's really Yeon-woo.
The barista standing behind the counter tensed up along with him and swallowed dryly. He'd been told in advance, with the filming permission sorted out, that Yeon-woo would be coming — but seeing him up close, the man was far more handsome than expected, and it made him nervous for no reason.
They said he was handsome enough to pass for crazy, but he really is gorgeous.
Marveling inwardly, the barista fixed his gaze on Yeon-woo's lips, determined to take the order without a single mistake.
"Everything from that end there."
"?"
"Give me all of it, all the way to the end there."
But the question Yeon-woo asked was far too easy. It was technically profanity, but it was so easy you'd have to certify it as standard English.
"All…… of them?"
The barista glanced back and forth between the menu he had long since memorized and the one Yeon-woo was pointing at with his finger, then swallowed again — this time for an entirely different reason.
How many is that? Fifteen drinks and six kinds of dessert.
He's eating ALL of that?
"Is this maybe a mukbang?"
"Pretty sure this is a mukbang shoot, not a dating show?"
Unlike the barista, the other customers — who didn't know the program's name exactly — could be heard whispering among themselves. The barista shot a quick glance toward the VJ, who wore an expression of enlightened serenity. Their eyes met, and the VJ gave a small nod. Taking that as just go with it, the barista said he understood and began ringing up the drinks Rembrary had ordered into the register.
In the meantime, the next player, Ju Min-seo, appeared and came to stand beside Rembrary. She had only just walked into the café and hadn't heard what Rembrary was ordering — which, thankfully, left her with the calmest face on the premises.
As she drew up next to him, she gave a small, deliberate start of recognition. Rembrary, who had been idly smiling at the menu, recognized the woman he'd seen at the pre-production meeting and feigned surprise. "Oh?"
"You look familiar. Haven't we crossed paths somewhere?"
Min-seo pretended to be waiting her turn to order, then mimed being startled and cried out, "Whoa, Yeon-woo!" Then, as if delighted that a celebrity of the moment had recognized her, she asked, "Wow, wow — you're Yeon-woo, right?"
"That's me."
"Where have I seen you before?"
Even as she asked, she had her answer ready. If Yeon-woo said he'd seen her around the broadcasting station, she was going to say she was a longtime fan of Jo Sa-yeon. After all, if a celebrity was going to claim he'd often seen someone else's fan, there was no other answer it could be.
Say broadcasting station! Quickly!
In truth, Min-seo had been somewhat tormented ever since she heard Yeon-woo would be cast in this shoot. Wasn't the man standing in front of her the very culprit who had derailed the two-timing team's concept into something bizarre?
Min-seo had liked the transit team's original storyline. She'd wanted it to flow smoothly along that track, and by the end, she'd hoped to at least play at being Jo Sa-yeon's lover. And yet, of all people, they had to bring in Yeon-woo……
So the moment she heard his name, Min-seo had made a resolution: I will absolutely not get swept away. Even if Yeon-woo is at his most Yeon-woo, I will not get swept away. I will protect this storyline.
Which was why she was rapidly calculating his answers and questions in her head in advance. When Yeon-woo seemed to tilt his head as if he might give some absurd reply, she hurriedly handed him the answer key too.
"Near the broadcasting station, maybe?"
"No."
It was useless.
"At the temple."
Min-seo flared up and pushed back. "Wouldn't it be the broadcasting station? I'm not even Buddhist."
"I'm not Buddhist either."
And how often would the two of us be running into each other at a temple, you lunatic?!
Min-seo shouted inwardly and argued once more. "It's the broadcasting station, isn't it? I spend most of my day near the broadcasting station."
"No. I spend most of my day nowhere near it."
Hey! Celebrity! Hello?!
Whether or not Min-seo was screaming inside, Yeon-woo flatly denied it yet again and asked another question.
"What's your religion?"
"I don't have one. There's no chance we met at a temple or a church."
"Why don't you have one?"
"Excuse me?"
"Think it over again. Is there really any need to stay without one?"
"What? I mean— need aside, there's no god to begin with?"
"Think carefully. If a god exists and you don't believe, you lose out. But if no god exists and you believe anyway, you've lost nothing."
"What? …Huh?"
As Min-seo faltered, somehow half-persuaded, the onlookers watching the shoot all arrived at roughly the same thought.
'He's proselytizing.'
'That's proselytizing.'
'Yeon-woo is proselytizing.'
'I feel like I've seen this exact thing on the street before.'
Unable to bear the sight any longer, the VJ waved his arms wildly in a frantic signal to change direction. The two-timing team's storyline had its own charm, sure, but this had turned into a roller coaster hurtling completely off its rails. Entertaining, yes — but absolutely not the direction a virtual dating show was meant to pursue. And an uncontrollable broadcast could blow up anywhere, at any time. The ratings were stellar and the reactions were good, so they'd been leaving him alone so far, but there was no way they could let him Yeon-woo-ify the perfectly safe transit team too.
Fortunately, Rembrary understood the VJ's signal. So it should be more like drawing a follower of another god over to mine, he'd thought — and apparently he'd done it too much like his actual day job.
But…… Rembrary furrowed his brow slightly. He was in a bind. He had no idea how to make himself seem interested in a woman he was supposed to be courting.
Then should I simply treat her as I would the faithful?
What was it they liked again?
They loved it most when he used his Divine Power for them.
Their second favorite was prayer.
Their third favorite was……
Ah.
It was when he held their gaze and looked at them, steady and unwavering.
Rembrary, recalling the old days, turned toward Min-seo with a smile a touch gentler than usual. Then he bent his knees to bring himself level with her eyes, and quietly gazed into them.
Min-seo, who had been huffing and puffing inwardly, felt her anger evaporate in an instant the moment his gaze met hers. Yeon-woo's shell was a staggeringly handsome face. She had no idea what he was doing right now, but sitting here like this, she found herself inexplicably happy.
And Rembrary, recognizing with perfect clarity that Min-seo was being enthralled by him, gently pressed his advantage.
"Shall we pray together?"
Watching the scene unfold, the onlookers started murmuring among themselves yet again.
'Definitely a street evangelist.'
'Proselytizing.'
'He's doing it again.'
The VJ shook his head rapidly, signaling that this, too, was not it. Meanwhile, the time had come, and this time Jo Sa-yeon was sent in.
With a jingle, the café door swung open. Jo Sa-yeon entered, and on his way to the counter, he pretended to run into Min-seo by chance, calling out with a smile.
"Min-seo! Fancy seeing you here."
In that instant, Min-seo — who had very nearly been swept away by Rembrary — hurriedly pulled herself together and looked over at Jo Sa-yeon. He approached quite naturally, then feigned noticing Rembrary only belatedly and delivered his next line.
"Oh…… aren't you Yeon-woo? From Wild Animal…… right? The idol?"
Even as he said it, he wore an expression that asked, And who is this guy, being all cozy with Min-seo? It was remarkably natural acting.
"Yes, hello."
Rembrary straightened his bent knees and returned the greeting. The spectators, who had briefly been confused about whether this was a mukbang or street preaching, saw Jo Sa-yeon appear and reaffirmed that yes, this was definitely a Dating Process shoot, and quietly went back to watching.
Countless eyes were trained on him, but Jo Sa-yeon paid them no mind, a knowing smile playing on his lips. He glanced back and forth between Min-seo and Rembrary, then threw out a barbed question.
"So, you two…… know each other? The way you're standing there, it looks like you do."
His original line had been "Do you two know each other? You seemed pretty chummy?" — but since Rembrary and Min-seo hadn't actually been talking when he walked in, he'd improvised a slight variation. The VJ marveled at the sheer professionalism, while Min-seo hastily waved her hands.
"No, we don't know each other. He's just on TV a lot, so I only know his face."
"You looked pretty close for 'only know his face.'"
Jo Sa-yeon asked, his expression perfectly calibrated to hover right on the edge of jealousy, "What were you two talking about?"
In the meantime, the barista was busily preparing twenty-one coffees and desserts. Rembrary, keeping his eyes locked on Jo Sa-yeon, answered in Min-seo's place.
"Religion."
Min-seo pressed a hand to her forehead. Jo Sa-yeon, on the verge of triggering the full-fledged display of jealousy his role demanded, tilted his head slightly forward. "About what, exactly?"
And in that moment—
Jo Sa-yeon gave the faintest flinch. Rembrary caught that split second with surgical precision. And having seen it, Rembrary changed his mind. Instead of meeting Jo Sa-yeon separately to interrogate him, he would probe for the crack right here — because during filming, even if he felt cornered, there would be no escape. No, better yet: the pressure might actually drive a confession out of him.
Having reached his judgment, Rembrary broke into a genial smile and made his offer.
"Would you like to join the religion talk too, Jo Sa-yeon?"
'He's proselytizing again.'
'Yeon-woo just keeps proselytizing.'
— End of Chapter 145: Pull Me Into That Conversation Too —