A Smile With a Blade in It

“Not really.”

With that one parting remark, Ju Jun-seo walked out of the waiting room with his manager in tow. For a moment, I thought I heard Myeong Je-ha's voice drifting through from Beyond the Closed Door.

“…His personality has really changed.”

Thirty minutes until the red carpet wrapped up. Once it ended, the sponsor brand's commercials would roll, and then the curtain would rise on the opening remarks from the two MCs — me and Seo I-deun.

“Looking great, Cutie!”

Manager Ma had his camera glued to me again today. He seemed even more famous than I'd realized.

Since yesterday, half the people who saw his face have been whispering about him….

From what I'd heard, he was the ultimate hermit — a hikikomori among hikikomoris who never, ever left the office. And I was the one who'd dragged a person like that all the way to Osaka?

So this is… the power of… a celebrity….

“The audio's been a little patchy since yesterday, and I can't keep using my voice for everything, so just look at the camera and chatter away at me.”

“You got it!”

No time to get swept up in the mood, though. I dug back through my memory of all those videos I'd binged in my past life, sorted by type.

Okay. The lines came together neatly in my head.

“It's forty-five minutes until the MNAA goes live right now. I memorized the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cue cards ages ago, but I'm still so nervous…. I honestly don't know if I'll do a good job.”

Not that there was any doubt I would. But this was exactly the kind of thing you had to show people — the more vulnerable you looked, the more endearing you became. Real pros had to hide a little of their strength.

“Coming to Osaka and seeing how popular K-pop is all over again, I guess my heart can't help racing a little extra….”

Let's add a spoonful of national pride while I'm at it.

“So everyone can have a wonderful time today, I'm going to work extra hard introducing all the amazing singers on tonight's stage!”

I wanted to say something about being happy to meet the Japanese fans too, but… would any of my fans actually be out there? No. Definitely not. Being brutally honest with myself, better to cap it off with something safe instead.

“See you all when the show kicks off~!”

“Okay, cut. Great work, Cutie!”

Manager Ma powered down the camera and flipped the screen around so I could review the footage. The clips he'd shot since arriving at Kyocera Dome flickered past one by one, and I could already picture how the finished vlog would come together.

Someday, I want to say something like, 'I love getting to see all my fans here.'

Manager Ma, checking the camera battery, took off first. Then it was my turn — back to the MC backstage to drink some water, rest up, and get ready for the live broadcast.

“Unnie! Let's go~”

“….”

I called out to Coordinator Hwang beside me. But there was something uneasy in her gaze. Come to think of it, she'd been strangely quiet since yesterday's rehearsal too. That wasn't like her at all….

“…Unnie?”

“Oh, oh. Sorry. I'm sorry….”

Sorry for what? Out of nowhere, she'd gone into an excessively deferential crouch. Was she feeling unwell?

“Unnie, is something wrong with you right now—”

“Hello there.”

And that's when it happened. Someone offered me a greeting. Reflexively, I bowed back.

“Yes! Hello.”

But when I lifted my head and got a proper look at the person standing so close, an unexpected face was smiling down at me.

“Oh? It's you, unnie? You've changed so much I honestly couldn't tell~. I almost walked right past you!”

It was Ki Ju-ye. She returned my greeting, then immediately turned to Coordinator Hwang beside me with a display of warm familiarity — as if they'd known each other for years.

“Oh, um. Hello… there.”

“Aigoo, unnie! What's with the sudden formality~? Talk to me like you used to, casually! Casual! I was wondering where you'd gone after quitting, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠turns out you became an actor's coordinator?”

Something was off. The way Ki Ju-ye behaved, you'd think they were the closest of friends — but watching Coordinator Hwang, you'd never guess it.

“Oh, uh, yeah….”

“I thought you'd quit styling altogether. Good for you! Seeing you like this makes me so happy~. Yeo-reum, sunbaenim? Or Yeo-reum-ssi? What should I call you? I watched Pachehi!”

While I was still studying Coordinator Hwang's face, Ki Ju-ye's arrows were already swinging toward me. I answered smoothly.

“Whatever's comfortable for you, sunbaenim.”

“Hehe. Then I'll call you Yeo-reum, sunbaenim! Yeo-reum, sunbaenim — is our coordinator unnie doing her job well these days?”

“Of course. She's incredibly good at it. I couldn't be happier.”

“What a relief, honestly. Unnie was always such a scatterbrain back in the day — I used to worry about her so much. Oh wait, no — maybe you're still not comfortable with her yet?”

Ki Ju-ye looped her arm through Coordinator Hwang's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as naturally as breathing and looked at me.

“That outfit — your coordinator unnie didn't pick that for you, did she?”

“…No. Stylist Ryu put it together.”

“I thought so — it's just tooooo gorgeous. You win Best Dresser at every single recording!”

I am an actress. It's my job to analyze not only every single word a person says, but every nonverbal move they make.

This girl, right now….

Which is exactly why I could tell immediately.

She's freeloading off me, isn't she?

Whether I wanted it or not, the other person's intent decoded itself on contact. According to the Han Yeo-reum Translator, the true meaning of Ki Ju-ye's words was as follows:

=You were so bad at your job I figured you'd been kicked out of the industry entirely, but you latched onto some rookie actress? And judging by how she acts around you, she doesn't like you much either, lol. Honestly what do you even do — Ryu Risa picks the clothes and you just iron them, right? right?

Is this girl a little slow or something?

Insulting someone this openly to their face…? No wait — maybe she was actually smart for doing it this way.

'Because if you call her out directly, she can't properly fight back.'

Celebrities were the ones holding the power, and popular celebrities were the power among powers. Considering the stories I'd heard from Dokgo Min, this barely even counted as gapjil.

Besides, if Coordinator Hwang or I snapped back, the story circulating through the industry would be, 'I was just trying to be friendly with my junior and she got all touchy about it.' That's how it would spin.

When I didn't respond, Ki Ju-ye apparently decided I was simply tongue-tied in the presence of a senior, and launched her next line.

“And congratulations on becoming Brand N's model! I can't do it anymore anyway because of my schedule… so I'd been worrying so much about who'd take over. Such a relief a junior whose image fits so perfectly stepped in!”

=You were happy about getting Brand N, weren't you? Feel good? I was about to throw it away and you picked up my trash.

Translation rendered itself automatically again. So what about it? 'I'm the model now, and what exactly can you do about it? Kicked to the curb, and still so chatty.' I condensed all of that into a brief reply.

“Yes. Thank you.”

I said it with a smile, as though I understood absolutely nothing. Expression management is Acting 101. Sensing she hadn't landed a blow, Ki Ju-ye immediately fired off her next attack.

“Weren't you going into a drama next year anyway? When I first saw that ASMR video I thought, is she a kids' YouTuber? The kind that reviews toys!”

=I had no idea who you even were. Your little… acting career?

“Well, you'll be wearing hanbok in your next project, so that works out nicely for you, in more ways than one~. Being a Brand N model means wearing their stuff over and over, and that gets a little, you know, much, doesn't it? My own contract just ended anyway, and my character's a chaebol heiress, so I'll be dressing in high-end pieces. Look at that — unnie changing jobs really was the best move. When clothes get damaged, someone has to pay for them…. She covered so many of my damaged outfits back in the day. It broke my heart ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠every time. You'd better treat our unnie right.”

=Keep wearing your cheap clothes, I'll be wearing the expensive ones. And your coordinator is too incompetent to deserve touching anything expensive anyway.

Maybe take a breath between sentences…? Her breathing control is a disaster from the ground up.

If she delivered lines like that in Professor Geum Bit-gang's lecture, a cursing would come flying at her head within three seconds.

Having spoken at breakneck speed, Ki Ju-ye leaned playfully on Coordinator Hwang's shoulder. I could feel Hwang going rigid as a board. She was smiling awkwardly, but that was absolutely not a smile.

So is it my turn now?

The attack turn had come around to me. I answered with the faintest of smiles, using the diction Professor Geum had drilled into me — pitched precisely so that the message underneath could not be missed.

“I suppose she must have been a bit overwhelmed back then. That's just how idol work is, isn't it? Rushed from one place to another — hours of waiting on set, minutes of prep time. Honestly, our coordinator should have moved to actors long ago.”

=Oh dear…. Are idols… and actors… the same… thing? Also, our glorious estate, JC ENM, provides the very best working conditions. Unlike your day-rate-of-80,000-won world.

“This being your first acting challenge, I'm sure you're nervous…. I'll look forward to some beautiful styling!”

=No one is looking forward to your acting.

“Oh right, and I was honestly amazed at how, how good our coordinator is at her job. I kept wondering, who was she with before? And when I found out it was you, Ju-ye sunbaenim, everything suddenly made sense!”

=Don't touch my coordinator. And your rumors…. Sigh, never mind, forget it, lol, live your life.

At my words, I felt Ki Ju-ye's expression freeze over in an instant.