Cheongsang Arts Awards (2)
Under the collective awe of everyone present, Seol Soyoung made her leisurely entrance into the Cheongsang Arts Awards ceremony hall.
Following the ushers' guidance, she headed for her preassigned seat.
And there, I Dahye was already waiting.
"Oh? It's Soyoung."
Spotting Seol Soyoung first, I Dahye offered her a friendly greeting.
Then, taking in the beautifully dressed figure before her, Dahye thought to herself,
This girl really went all out today.
Honestly, the reason Dahye had been able to spot Seol Soyoung so easily was the radiant presence of the woman gliding elegantly from the entrance of the hall.
For the record, Dahye herself had dressed up just as fiercely, determined not to lose to Soyoung in the slightest.
Her black dress, adorned with a single red rose, complemented her platinum-blonde hair perfectly and radiated a captivating allure, while her striking blue eyes automatically locked the gaze of anyone who looked her way.
"How many hours did that take?"
Dahye asked Soyoung then.
What she meant was roughly how long it had taken to put that much effort into the makeup.
"About four hours?"
"Whoa… damn. Just sitting still that long must've been rough."
Dahye made a face as if she were thoroughly overwhelmed by Soyoung's iron will to completely enchant someone.
Seeing her reaction, Soyoung let out a soft snicker.
"You say that, but you're no slouch yourself. That dress is seriously gorgeous."
"Ah, this? The CEO got it for me."
Dahye pinched the hem of her skirt and turned this way and that, examining her own dress.
Baek Junyeong had made a bold investment—lavishing an expensive dress and makeup on I Dahye, the face of JYB at the awards ceremony.
Before the ceremony began, he had thought to himself,
With this, barring some freak accident, our Dahye is going to devour the whole place. Heh heh heh.
Well… contrary to Baek Junyeong's ambitious hopes, the end result was that she got slightly overshadowed by the natural disaster that was Seol Soyoung, who had come fully prepared to dominate.
In any case, every eye inside the ceremony hall was now perfectly fixed on the two of them—one in black, one in white.
Their contrasting auras held the room completely captive.
Yet no one dared approach them lightly, as if they were gazing at flowers blooming on a sheer cliff face.
Since the awards had not yet begun, this was normally the time when actors and directors would introduce themselves or exchange greetings—a period of mingling.
And Dahye was beginning to vaguely understand why she and Soyoung currently felt like they had been stranded on a deserted island.
It was probably because of the "goddess" of an actress sitting right beside her, staring blankly off somewhere.
Even among fellow actors, Seol Soyoung's acting ability was peerless and overwhelming.
People who were more sensitive than anyone to public opinion could sense it, however faintly—the enormous gulf between the young Seol Soyoung and themselves.
Fortunately, the gazes directed at her were mostly positive rather than negative.
Her overwhelming skill, which pulled viewers into complete immersion, was more than enough to make her both an object of jealousy and of admiration among her peers.
Add to that the way she had poured everything into her appearance tonight, and the aura she gave off felt utterly unapproachable.
But that only applied to those who had never shared a scene with her.
"Soyoung!"
A man who had spotted Seol Soyoung called her name warmly and approached.
Dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit and wearing a bright smile, the man's name was Namgung Hwan.
He was the actor who had shared the screen with Seol Soyoung in Welcome to Cafe Violet.
And at present, he was also the strongest contender for Best Actor on the male side.
"It's been a while."
Seol Soyoung inclined her head slightly in greeting toward Namgung Hwan.
At her gesture, his eyes widened as if startled.
"Hey, hey. No need to be so formal, Soyoung. The seniors are gonna think I'm some stuffy old geezer."
"Hmm… then maybe I should've just pretended not to know you."
"Nah, if that's the alternative, I'd rather be called a geezer. Haha."
Soyoung delivered the joke with a soft smile, and Namgung Hwan laughed with complete ease. Then his eyes went wide again as he noticed I Dahye standing beside her.
"Whoa! You're I Dahye, right?"
"You know me?"
"I watched Fly High, of course I know you. And this is a secret, but I'm actually a fan of Hongryeon. That debut track was seriously good."
For the record, the debut track he praised was titled HEY BOY—the title song Baek Junyeong had poured blood, sweat, and tears into creating for Hongryeon.
Because I Dahye, a member of Hongryeon, had appeared in Fly High, the group had received renewed attention and made a successful debut amid massive public interest.
On top of that, the insane catchiness of the title track HEY BOY combined with each member's distinct personality had turned them into a girl group of staggering recognition in a very short time.
"Ahaha… it's all thanks to the CEO writing such a great song."
"Yes! And that proud CEO is right here!"
…Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
The moment he heard praise for himself, Baek Junyeong materialized between them as if by magic.
Before long, Studio NMIX's Na Yeongjin and Go Dongbin joined in as well, and the noise around Seol Soyoung and I Dahye began to swell.
Amid that lively atmosphere, Dahye continued to feel something off.
More precisely, it was Seol Soyoung, who had been staring off in one direction this whole time.
Is there someone over there?
Curious, Dahye followed the direction of Soyoung's gaze.
There sat the assigned seat marked with Seol Soyoung's name.
No—more accurately, it was the empty seat right beside hers…
At the end of Soyoung's line of sight, Dahye saw a certain person's name.
Writer 927
…It's that guy again.
Looking at Writer 927's name, Dahye thought to herself.
Just like with the signed text message last time, her friend seemed to like this person an awful lot.
And it wasn't even the guy chasing after her—it was her friend who was suspiciously, completely smitten with him.
Honestly, it didn't make any sense.
To reduce that perfect girl everyone admired to this state…
Did he save a country in a past life or something?
Anyway.
Dahye felt a strange sense of kinship, finding her own situation and Soyoung's somehow similar.
A short while later, as the main awards ceremony approached, the attendees gradually began taking their assigned seats.
At the round table where Seol Soyoung sat were Namgung Hwan, who had filmed Welcome to Cafe Violet with her; Na Yeongjin, filling the empty seat of Writer 927; and cinematographer Go Dongbin.
Seating was usually arranged so that people who had worked on the same project sat together, just like this.
On the Fly High side, so many JYB people had appeared that they had been seated together as a group.
But Soyoung felt something odd as she looked toward the Fly High table.
I Dahye, who had snapped at Baek Junyeong earlier and then rushed off somewhere, was still nowhere to be seen.
That was when it happened.
With the hosts' smooth banter, the Cheongsang Arts Awards ceremony officially began.
The very first segment of the event was the congratulatory performance celebrating the awards.
The moment MC Shin Dongmin finished speaking, a familiar-looking man stepped onto the awards stage.
It was Baek Junyeong, CEO of JYB.
He opened the congratulatory performances by performing the choreography to Fly High—the theme song of the drama of the same name—alone on stage.
Normally, the actors and industry figures attending the Cheongsang Arts Awards were notorious for giving congratulatory performances a lukewarm reception.
The age range of the attendees varied widely, and the sheer weight of the Cheongsang Arts Awards name itself played a part.
But Fly High, a song nearly everyone knew thanks to the drama and the flash-mob frenzy, surprisingly drew a warm response.
Some people naturally sang along, and a few of the younger actors even mimicked the dance moves from their seats.
The final performance of the night, Hongryeon's stage, earned a similar reaction.
"Hey~ boy~"
Hearing the mysterious singing coming from the seat beside her, Seol Soyoung tilted her head.
Looking closer, she saw that Namgung Hwan—who had earlier declared himself a Hongryeon fan—was enthusiastically singing and dancing along.
The cameras had even caught him in the act.
"…"
Soyoung carefully managed her expression and turned her gaze back to Hongryeon performing on stage.
There, among them, was Hongryeon's maknae—I Dahye—who looked as if she had hastily changed into her stage outfit.
The reason Dahye had snapped at Baek Junyeong earlier was that a congratulatory performance had been scheduled, yet he had forced her into an expensive dress and sent her into the hall beforehand.
Having to change clothes twice was more than enough reason to be annoyed.
As she continued watching Hongryeon's stage, Soyoung found herself a little surprised.
More precisely, it was because of I Dahye—the one who stood out most among the members, radiating bright energy and practically flying across the stage.
Come to think of it… Dahye is an idol…
She had gotten so close to her on set that she had almost forgotten—Dahye's real profession wasn't acting; it was being an idol.
Watching tonight's congratulatory stage, Seol Soyoung understood it with absolute clarity.
I Dahye was someone who shone brightly enough when she acted, but on stage she shone so brilliantly that no one else could even come close.
Perhaps even Soyoung herself…
And so, amid the positive atmosphere among the actors, the congratulatory performances came to an end.
Now the only remaining items on the Cheongsang Arts Awards schedule were the award categories themselves.
And the text Seol Soyoung had sent to Writer 927—"Please look forward to it"—was still very much a work in progress.