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"It seems like the advertiser wants to include Seong-hwan-ssi as well."
"Hanbok ads, strangely enough, have a lot of couple ads, you know."
A-ra nodded her head, starting to accept it.
Since it was an advertisement that valued a warm image and tradition,
it seemed they frequently used the keyword 'family.'
Come to think of it, the hanbok ad I saw not long ago
was also one featuring a grandmother, mother, and daughter—
a total of three generations.
That kind of ad didn't seem so bad.
"It doesn't seem bad. Since it's a hanbok ad, the image would probably be fine... though it depends on what kind of hanbok it is."
"They already decided on a design and sent it over. Take a look at this."
"It kind of looks like something I've seen a lot in historical dramas. What was it called again, something like a Grand Ceremonial Robe?"
It seemed A-ra didn't think it was bad either.
Setting the image aside, I had also wanted to wear hanbok at least once,
and I nodded, thinking it might create another memory I could cherish for a lifetime.
Then, when I circled around to see the design the two of them were looking at,
it was definitely a design that gave off a strong historical drama vibe.
It was the Grand Ceremonial Robe of a Joseon queen and queen consort.
Maybe because it was a gender-reversed world,
from what I could see, it looked like the king's and queen consort's Grand Ceremonial Robes had been swapped.
It wasn't that the gender of the clothing had changed,
but rather that the colors they wore had been switched.
The queen wore black royal attire and a Myeollyugwan,
while the male queen consort wore a Nine-Symbol Robe mixed with red and blue.
"How is it? I think it would suit the two of you well."
"I'd like to try it on. As long as Seong-hwan is okay with it, I'm okay."
"What about you, Seong-hwan-ssi?"
The two of them began looking at me with expectant faces.
Especially A-ra, who had an expression like a puppy looking at its owner,
her eyes sparkling as if to say, let's do it.
A-ra, who had been struggling with CFs,
wanted to do this one...
What kind of man could refuse that?
"A..alright. I'll do it, so please stop staring at me like that."
"Then I'll contact the advertiser. Cancellation is not possible."
Director picked up her phone and left the office to make a call somewhere.
It seemed she wanted to make it a fait accompli before my mind could change.
"How long does it usually take to film a CF?"
"Hmm... If there's a lot to shoot, it can take up to 8 hours, but for something like hanbok,
it's mostly single ads, so it probably won't even take 2 hours?"
"Really? A single ad?"
"If you look at the ones on TV or YouTube these days, there are multiple models in the ads, right?
Originally, for something like hanbok, rather than shooting centered on one person, it's much more visually appealing
to show multiple people wearing it."
My head nodded automatically.
Indeed...
For something as traditional and beautiful as hanbok,
the best way would be to show it off splendidly with multiple models.
"So it won't take long."
"Hmm..."
I was a little worried, but...
It would be fine, right?
Since I'd be filming it with A-ra.
I was nodding, reassuring myself that it would be okay, when Director
opened the door and came back in.
"You said you'd do it, so you can't cancel."
"I'm not going to cancel. Why do you think I'd cancel?"
"Because rookies filming CFs often go punk."
A-ra nodded in agreement.
From what I heard, rookies make mistakes more often than you'd think when filming ad videos,
so they apparently schedule the filming time to be long from the start.
Veterans understand such rookies and film at a relaxed pace,
but the rookies, it seems, just can't handle it.
It seems there are frequent cases where they can't overcome the pressure, go punk, or cancel the contract.
"So there are a lot of rookies who don't want to film the ads themselves, which is good since it keeps the veterans busy, though."
"Was A-ra Noona okay at first?"
"Seong-hwan-ssi, A-ra is a monster in every aspect. Acting, singing... there's nothing she can't do."
"Would you mind refraining from calling me a monster in front of my husband?"
"I'm just stating a fact?"
The PDs who were sitting with us stopped them just as they were about to start snarling and fighting again.
I was merely letting out a sigh.
***
I had confessed to Director that I couldn't buy a gift and bought it in Korea instead,
but I decided to hide it from Jeong Hwan-yi and Lee Min-ho.
Those two had sent dozens of messages every night telling me to bring back presents,
and if they found out I didn't buy any and bought them in Korea, they might try to kill me.
As soon as we met, we sat on a nearby bench and I handed out the presents.
The two of them thanked me, bowing their heads deeply,
and took one each.
"Oh, myeongran jeot isn't bad... I'll have to review whether the Korean one is tastier or the Japanese one."
"Lee Min-ho, your subscribers have increased quite a bit, huh? Isn't that amount pretty huge?"
"Compared to you, Jeong Hwan-yi, it's just a drop in the bucket, but ahem... you could say it's grown a bit."
Taking his appearance in my video as an opportunity,
Lee Min-ho had opened a channel and started running it. Whether it was because his looks were well-received or his videos were funny, I wasn't sure,
but he was already nearing 100,000 subscribers.
He mainly did instant food reviews or restaurant reviews,
and occasionally filmed and uploaded videos of his hobby, exercise.
Was that why a lot of women watched him?
"Review my ass... you just stuff your face saying everything's delicious and end with 'Both are tasty so try them!' That's a review?
If you were a woman, you'd be a hakko with 300 subscribers."
"I told them it was delicious, so it's a review. And... I admit that if I were a woman, I'd be a hakko."
Jeong Hwan-yi laughed in disbelief.
Indeed, Lee Min-ho's channel was basically just him eating and saying it was tasty, and that was it.
In the community, there seemed to be praise posts calling him a pioneer creating a new genre,
but from Jeong Hwan-yi's perspective, who didn't have much interest in that sort of thing, it must have just looked funny.
"Anyway, I'll enjoy the myeongran jeot. Was Japan fun?"
"Aside from A-ra getting her handbag stolen, it was all fun."
"Stolen? That thief has some nerve... how do they plan to deal with the consequences..."
Lee Min-ho began to shiver.
Because our agency offers absolutely no forgiveness to perpetrators.
Even among A-ra's fans,
knowing that a few who crossed the line had their souls completely stripped,
Lee Min-ho knew how terrifying our agency's lawyers were.
"I should go on a trip to Japan too. Maybe I'll quickly go next week..."
"Then I can come along."
"Get lost. If I bring you, you'll 100% drink and be annoying, right?"
"I told you I don't do that anymore? It's been quite a while since I stopped drinking."
Lee Min-ho looked at him with a serious expression, as if feeling wronged.
But Lee Min-ho didn't even blink and rejected him.
"If you're going to follow me, swear an oath that you won't drink and then come."
"Ugh... that's..."
Unable to swear the oath, Jeong Hwan-yi hung his head low.
It seemed he didn't even trust himself.
"Impossible, right. So I'm going alone."
Lee Min-ho said firmly.
It seemed he didn't want to go on a trip and end up looking after Lee Min-ho.
That made sense.
A trip is meant for playing and resting, after all.
"Are you really going? Then I have some yen I haven't exchanged, want to swap it for won?"
"How much do you have?"
"About 150,000 yen?"
I rummaged through my pockets and took out my wallet.
In the space where the bills should have been,
there wasn't a single won, only some yen and a few dollars.
"A Korean with no won, only yen and dollars."
"You're not Seong-hwan."
As we chatted, we entered the cafe.
Going into a cafe just an hour after we met.
Well, it wasn't even surprising anymore.
***
"Hah... hah... Noona... could you please bring me some water?"
"Ju..just wait a moment."
After the couple's wrestling ended, I gasped for breath and asked A-ra to bring me water.
You might wonder what water a guy who was just lying still underneath needs,
but wrestling actually consumes a considerable amount of stamina.
"Seong-hwan-a, can you get up?"
"You help me up, Noona."
Perhaps feeling very sorry for me, A-ra reached her hand behind my back,
propped me up, then pulled me into her arms and began bringing the cup of water to my lips.
The cold water slid down my throat, and I felt a sensation as if it were being absorbed and spreading throughout my whole body.
Water truly might be the elixir of life.
"Did Noona... go too hard on you?"
"No, it's not that, so you don't need to worry.
More importantly, when are we filming the ad? Come to think of it, I didn't know that either."
"Hmm.. from what I heard, they said they're still short on ad models?
It'll probably take longer."
After saying that, she coolly gulped down the cold water from the plastic bottle.
Even though we had a water purifier, this was one of the biggest reasons to keep bottled water on hand.
You never know when you might cross the River Jordan due to dehydration,
so you have to have something you can drink immediately.
"You're unexpectedly looking forward to it, aren't you?"
"You said you wanted to try it on, didn't you, Noona?"
I took the water bottle A-ra was holding,
brought it to my lips, and drank it down refreshingly.
When I looked at A-ra, who had suddenly gone quiet, her face was bright red.
"Th...that is, we haven't even had our wedding ceremony yet, right?
So maybe because of that, I wanted to at least try on a ceremonial robe..."
A-ra was embarrassed, tracing circles on my thigh with her finger.
It seemed she still felt regret about not having had a wedding ceremony right away.
For someone of A-ra's stature,
even a private wedding ceremony was truly difficult to conduct privately,
so I understood that for now, we had only registered our marriage.
"You're more regretful about it than me, aren't you, Seong-hwan?
I heard that men think deeply about the once-in-a-lifetime wedding ceremony."
"Well, that's the same for women and men, isn't it? And we can take our time with the wedding ceremony later."
"Hearing you say that makes me both grateful... and sorry..."
Seeing A-ra's bittersweet smile,
it felt like my heart was going to ache.
That smile, thinking she was doing something wrong,
was nothing but sad to me.
"Noona, don't say things like that."
"Seong-hwan-a? Mmmmph..... Chureup..."
To prevent her from saying such things any further,
I sealed her lips by pressing my lips to hers.
Because I wanted those lips
to bring me joy, rather than sad stories.