Second Photoshoot (2)
Second Photoshoot (2)
After that, I took photos with Lil' One.
We took some with her cradled in my arms, and some with a concept of going for a walk with a leash around her neck...
A shot of her running outside, a scene where I'm giving her feed...
Just how many pictures did we even take?
"Lil' One... aren't you tired?"
"Woof!"
Lil' One barked vigorously.
She didn't look tired in the slightest.
If anything, it was probably because the other staff members had been taking such good care of her —
her fur was glossy and her belly looked full.
"Please, just say you're tired... Daddy feels like he's dying..."
Had I pushed my luck too far with the Director?
It seemed she had changed her strategy to working me to death.
Now that it's come to this, should I just tattle everything to A-ra?
No, if I do that, I won't come out of it unscathed either.
I'd probably get dragged in every single weekend to do something.
"Director, since we took this many photos, it feels like a waste to just use one for the goods card and throw the rest away. How about releasing a photobook?"
"A photobook? I don't think that would be bad...? What do you think, Seong-hwan-ssi?"
"Ugh... as long as you let me rest, I'm fine with anything..."
The pictures were already taken anyway.
I gave her permission to use them however the Director wanted.
Of course, a portion of the profits would still be deposited into my bank account.
"Alright, we're done taking photos now, so please take a rest."
"Thank you... uheu heuk...."
I couldn't tell you how long I'd waited for those words.
Then I looked at my watch, which I'd been resisting checking for a while.
The shoot had started at 1 o'clock, and the watch already read five.
***
"What, you're all done?"
"Yeah..."
"Ugh, what are we going to do with a daddy that sloppy, Lil' One~"
Jeong Hwan-yi, who had just finished her work, came into the break room.
Instead of comforting a friend who looked like he might collapse at any moment, she seemed to have come to see the adorable Lil' One.
"Lil' One is so well-behaved. How can she just sit still on the table like that?"
"She's my daughter, you know."
"Ah, it's because she's your wife's daughter~"
"Hey."
I protested about being completely excluded.
No matter what anyone said, Lil' One was my daughter.
"So? What happened?"
"Well, we ended up with so many pictures that we decided to publish a photobook too."
"You're going to be raking in the money, huh."
"I don't know... personally, rather than my own photobook, I'd prefer if it was made into a Lil' One photobook."
Wouldn't a puppy photobook be a world first?
I also wanted to preserve her young appearance in something like a photobook...
"Even so, that's a bit..."
"It's a joke, so don't take it seriously."
Only then did Jeong Hwan let out a chuckle and pull out a chair to sit down.
She held Lil' One's front paws and did a "sshaesshaesshae" dance before patting her on the head.
"What are you going to do now? If you've got nothing else, want to grab some food with me?"
"Mm... A-ra Noona said she'd be late today, too, so..."
It wouldn't be any fun going home and eating alone anyway.
It should be fine to leave Lil' One at the agency for a bit and go.
"But the Director said to wait because she wanted to see you for a moment?"
"Really? Now that you mention it, I was wondering why she was still here when the work was all done. So that's what it was."
Jeong Hwan-yi planted her head on the table and let out a sigh, and Lil' One started copying Jeong Hwan-yi.
She was copying her, right?
*
"Seong-hwan-ssi~"
"You're here, Director."
"What's this, why is your speech suddenly so stiff?"
"If you don't know why, Director, that makes you an exploitative boss."
Would you rather be exhausted and have more money, or be comfortable and have less?
For someone like me, who would unconditionally choose the latter,
there was nothing more annoying and difficult than my workload increasing.
And on top of that, wasn't today a weekend?
I'd planned to spend the whole day at home with Lil' One, but we'd ended up doing a photobook shoot for nine hours.
"I'll buy you something delicious, so cheer up. Jeong Hwan-ssi, would you like to come along?"
"Yes, Director."
"Alright, up and at 'em, hurry!"
"Ugh... I'll leave Lil' One with the producer-nims."
"They're on the verge of collapsing right now, so they'll be thrilled."
As I thought...
If even I, a man, was being worked this hard, what must it be like for the women?
They probably wouldn't even be able to go home today...
"First, I should call A-ra Noona..."
"No! Don't do that!"
When I took out my phone, the Director shouted at me, telling me not to.
Why was she telling me not to call?
"I-it was supposed to be a secret, remember."
"Ah, right..."
We had agreed to keep it a secret that she called me in on the weekend to take pictures for the card.
"That was a close call. It could have been my last day seeing the Director."
"Please, seriously be careful... do you know how much she's going to nag me for making her husband work behind her back..."
"Huh? Is that what you're worried about?"
There seemed to be a slight difference in perception between the Director and me.
A-ra didn't get mad at the labor itself.
If A-ra had a reason to be angry, it would be because she was left out of the photo shoot
and that we deliberately kept the card-making a secret from her.
A-ra would have wanted to choose the photo to be used for my card herself.
"In my opinion, won't she be angry because you kept the card thing a secret?"
"Mm... she might get mad about that too."
Even the Director, who always found it fun to tease A-ra, seemed to find A-ra scary nonetheless.
Even though this was all a situation she brought upon herself.
***
The Director took Jeong Hwan-yi and me to an expensive Hanwoo beef restaurant and bought us meat.
Meat that cost over 100,000 won per serving. It was the kind of pricey meat I would never even dream of buying with my own money.
But somehow, knowing the Director was paying for it, I felt like I could inhale it endlessly.
Even I was devouring my food,
so what about Jeong Hwan-yi?
Endlessly pressing the call bell to order more meat, rice, and drinks, Jeong Hwan-yi
was, to put it simply, a person with an appetite that seemed possessed.
She probably ate a million won's worth by herself.
Watching us eat, the Director's expression when she had to foot the bill.......
was completely unfazed.
If anything, she ordered meat and beer at a pace even faster than Jeong Hwan-yi's
and effortlessly polished off twice the amount the two of us ate combined, all by herself.
Right...
I'd momentarily forgotten, but the Director was a big eater who surpassed even A-ra, and she was rich.
She was the kind of person for whom, if you said she'd spent close to ten million won on a single meal, the word "merely" would settle the entire matter.
"Director... you eat really well..."
"I didn't eat less than A-ra, did I?"
"Not at all. A-ra has never gone over three bowls of rice either."
"Hmm... could it be that she's still putting on a demure act?"
A demure act, she said.
What part of A-ra's behavior was a demure act?
A-ra was just showing me her true self.
"No, it's not. That's definitely an act."
"We haven't known each other for just a day or two, you know?"
"Do you know how much A-ra and Hwa-youngi ate the first time I met them?"
Come to think of it, the Director knew A-ra from her middle school days.
Just how much did she eat?
"The two of them ate ten servings of meat alone."
"Hey, that happens at our house, too."
"Right, right."
When I nodded my head at the Director's words, Jeong Hwan-yi also nodded with her eyes closed.
Having witnessed how much A-ra and Hwa-youngi ate at the meat party before, Jeong Hwan-yi
would know very well.
But as if she had already anticipated our reaction,
she let out a sigh and shook her head.
"Two bowls of naengmyeon... three bowls of rice..."
"Excuse me?"
"That was each of their orders, on top of the ten servings of meat."
"Uh..."
I could understand up to ten servings of meat, but they ate even more after that?
Two bowls of naengmyeon. It was a stark contrast, thinking of A-ra, who never eats noodles because they make her feel bloated.
"Still, it's cute. She even cuts down on her eating in front of her husband."
"......Well, it is cute."
"Oh my, but a husband's still a husband, huh."
Of course.
No matter how much of a glutton A-ra might be, wasn't she meticulous about her self-care?
That was enough.
Work out hard, eat a lot... and work out hard again...
As long as she lived healthily, that was all that mattered.
*
"Lil' One!"
"Woof!"
Before I even took off my shoes at the front door, I let Lil' One out of her cage.
And reacting to A-ra's voice, she ran straight toward A-ra the moment she came out, her tail wagging gently.
"Seong-hwan-a, you're back?"
"I'm home."
"Anyway, didn't you say you had no work today?"
"Something suddenly came up."
"What kind of thing?"
Hm...
If I told her now, I'd be breaking my promise with the Director.
But I should still tell her, right?
However close I was with the Director,
it couldn't compare to my wife.
"Actually... the Director asked me to shoot photos for a new card being released, so..."
"...A card?"
The moment she heard the word 'card,' A-ra's complexion changed.
Just moments ago, she'd been cuddling the adorable Lil' One with a warm, kind expression,
but now she wore quite a scary look.
"We ended up taking so many that... we also decided to release one more photobook."
"Is that so...? So that's what happened... Keeping something about a card a secret from me..."
"I-it wasn't a secret... it just seemed like you were busy, Noona..."
"It's okay, Seong-hwan-a. Noona isn't mad."
No, anyone could see she looked angry.
This wasn't good.
I had no choice but to hand my card over to A-ra and beg forgiveness on the Director's behalf.
In exchange, I'd get the Director indebted to me and use that to my advantage later.