Sociopath
Chu Ga-eul blinked at Myeong Je-ha's words, then echoed them back.
“…My acting?”
When I turned to look at her, she covered her mouth with both hands as if deeply moved.
“Of… course. You're going to be a leading lady under my personal guarantee.”
“Hey! Han Yeo-reum!”
Well, that landed well. That's our Yeo-reum for you. Her quick wit is no joke. Delighted, Chu Ga-eul launched into bragging about her own role.
“I'm Royal Noble Consort Suk, Choe. I'll probably show up in the latter half of Dohwaseon, so the day you two come visit the set—”
Royal Noble Consort Suk, Choe. The character who rises to power after Jang Hee-bin's downfall. Call her the underdog gunning for Jang Hee-bin's throne.
And in Dohwaseon, Consort Suk is written as pure-hearted.
Unlike Jang Hee-bin, who was wounded at every turn by her obsession with rank even in the moments she loved King Sukjong, Consort Suk is a woman content simply to have entered the palace and been given a concubine's title.
Which makes her the kind of person who makes the protagonist Jang Hee-bin's life even more miserable.
If Jang Hee-bin had loved Sukjong just a little less, she wouldn't have been hurt nearly so much.
She's the perfect character to become a lightning rod for hate the moment she slips…. But Ga-eul, apparently unaware of this yet, was busy scheduling our visit to the set.
“Second or third week of the month should work?”
“Yep. Will do.”
Myeong Je-ha spoke while looking at a calendar on his phone screen.
“Looking forward to it.”
At some point, the birthday party atmosphere had grown mellow and warm. Off-the-record talk drifted back and forth across the table.
“Ki Joo-ye? She won't be able to sleep tonight after failing to win Best Dressed. When will she learn you don't just waltz up to a genius like me.”
When Ryu Risa brought up Ki Joo-ye's atrocity, Ju Jun-seo, who had been quietly nursing his drink, finally spoke up.
“She pulled the matching-outfits thing on me last time too. I think she wanted to upstage Yeo-reum back then and couldn't pull it off, so it all blew up this time.”
At that, Chu Ga-eul exploded.
“Is she insane? How can an actress do that? Huh? An actress is supposed to fight fair—with acting skill!”
Ju Jun-seo and I stared at her, stone-faced.
“Fair…and…square….”
Chu Ga-eul's voice dwindled into a squeak.
“Jun-seo sunbae. How's your scalp holding up?”
“It stings on rainy days sometimes, but it's bearable.”
“Oh no…. The aftereffects of bleaching twice in a row….”
“Right. Sometimes I get headaches out of nowhere, and the moment I walk into a styling meeting for a project my chest tightens, the back of my neck stiffens up, and I get dizzy spells. But it's bearable.”
For Chu Ga-eul, who had briefly forgotten her own past, we took a nostalgic trip down memory lane on her behalf.
“You're exaggerating way too much! Anyone listening would think you'd been in a car accident!”
Chu Ga-eul grabbed Ju Jun-seo and shook him. But Ju Jun-seo had bulked up since Top Class ended, and he barely budged. Only his shirt got wrinkled.
“That's a sponsorship! Ga-eul! If a button pops off, you're dead! There's exactly one of this in the whole country!”
“Ju Jun-seo's brain is broken! Just hit me instead! With your fists!”
Amid all this, Ryu Risa and Dokgo Gyeol worried about the clothes and the hair instead of the man wearing them. Yoon Hyeon-jo delivered a brief verdict.
“So Ga-eul is the drill-sergeant type.”
“Sunbae… not a drill sergeant, exactly…. Honestly, I just wanted to stand out really badly….”
“I like how honest you are! And what's wrong with that anyway? First time I ever heard of you was with that pink hair in Pachehi! If you couldn't act and only bothered with your looks, maybe! But you can act fine. Aigoo. Drink up and loosen those shoulders!”
With Gwak Cheol-sik taking her side, Chu Ga-eul's face turned red. Poking fun at her really was satisfying.
“That's right. Styling—the people obsessed with that, their acting was always lacking…. Even if you dress all scruffy in men's clothes, if you act well, people look at you kindly, look at you kindly anyway…. Most of our famous scenes, Yeo-reum does them all unwashed, you know? Like that grubby vibe… and they don't even know the meaning of blood, sweat, and tears….”
Kwon Jun-hyeok must have a low tolerance. Either he couldn't follow the conversation or he just decided to, but he cornered the Chu Ga-eul that Gwak Cheol-sik had barely rescued and went in for the kill.
“Jun-hyeok, that's enough drinking for you.”
Martial arts director Kang Han-seong helped introduce Kwon Jun-hyeok's forehead to the table.
There was a loud thud for a second there, but he seems to be asleep, so I'll pretend I didn't see it.
With this many people, the drinking table was loud and rowdy. Still, I turned to Ga-eul and said it once more.
“I'll add churros to the coffee truck.”
“…With the way I'm feeling right now, even a full meal truck wouldn't cover it….”
Seeing the look on Ga-eul's face, Dami shot up from her seat.
“Then it's present time, everyone!”
That's our rom-com queen for you. Nobody changes the mood faster. Gifts prepared for me were thrust forward from every direction, everyone racing to be first.
“A ring you can actually wear out. Should fit your index or middle finger.”
“Jun-seo sunbae, how do you know my ring size?”
“You can tell just by looking.”
A ring, from Ju Jun-seo. This is gorgeous. Model-turned-actor indeed. His eye for aesthetics is on another level.
“I picked it up at a photo wall event a while back because it was so pretty.”
“I saw when you posted it on your socials. That's the exact same one, right?”
“Han Yeo-reum, seriously! You've seen every single Youstagram photo of mine, haven't you? …Yes. Same one I have. Just a different color.”
“Just say you wanted to do couple bags with me.”
A designer-brand bag, from Chu Ga-eul. Perfect timing—I didn't own one in this color.
“I, um, made this cake…. I'll make you an even better one next time.”
“Your very existence is a gift to me, Dami.”
“Hey! Han Yeo-reum! Then what about me?!”
“Oh, so you rank people by how close you are now?”
A cute lettering cake, from Dami. Chu Ga-eul and Ju Jun-seo both shot to their feet, but I let it slide.
“Health comes first! Mine's a set of supplements! And relayed on Jun-hyeok's behalf—also supplements!”
Martial arts director Kang Han-seong and Kwon Jun-hyeok, supplements.
“I pressed all my heart into this—!”
“Sunbae… how did you write so much of one letter? The envelope's thickness….”
“It's not a letter, it's cash. Once you get old, you express affection in money.”
A generous cash envelope, from Gwak Cheol-sik.
“For me, a diffuser, along with a free pass to appear on any variety show our network ever produces…. I'll rotate the schedule around you, Ms. Yeo-reum, of course….”
Director So is sneakily tenacious. Not much of a healing director after all.
“I went in on this with Director Gong. We don't know what young people like these days….”
“Exactly, right! Two old men picking a gift, what could possibly come out of it? Just buy yourself whatever catches your eye!”
Director Jjang and Director Gong handed over department store gift cards. Since when did you two get so close?
“I'll send a dress to your office soon. The alterations aren't quite finished.”
A gown, from Ryu Risa.
“Now then. Mine's this.”
Dokgo Min held out a truly enormous shopping bag. Inside, along with a bouquet, was a single book.
“WHAAAAT!”
“What's in it for that kind of react— whoa, WHAAAT!”
“Seriously, what on earth is inside that book— AHHH, WHAAAT!”
An absurdly high-resolution photobook. Page after page of photos Dokgo Min had taken of me over the months. Everyone crowded in close around me.
“When was this even? Taken at a bus stop—how does it look this….”
“That's from Totally Uninterested.”
“This flash shot from the countryside shoot has great mood too.”
With every page turned, the table erupted in screams of awe.
“Unnieee….”
“You're my muse, that's why….”
“But if you appeared on our MBS, Ms. Yeo-reum, I could show you what a muse really means on national television. To your fans, through variety….”
“Why are you pitching this right now, at this exact moment?!”
Director So and Dokgo Min were at each other's throats again. Dokgo Gyeol grabbed Dokgo Min by the scruff of the neck and shoved her aside.
“Ah, of course mine has to come right after the most dramatic one of the night…. Still, I prepared it with all my heart.”
Dokgo Gyeol's gift was a curated collection of the best lip products for me, distilled from all the months she'd done my makeup.
“By the way, you'll notice from the brands—these are expensive.”
The original money-crazed queen, as expected. The mood was warm and festive. Kwon Jun-hyeok was still passed out and Dokgo Min was still fighting with Director So, but let's call it festive anyway.
Only Yoon Hyeon-jo had gone rigid in his seat.
“…This was a birthday party?”
Come to think of it, I hadn't bothered telling Yoon Hyeon-jo it was in honor of my birthday. Because it wasn't technically on the day itself.
Just joining the Han Yeo-reum Fam is a gift in itself, honestly.
For the record, Yoon Hyeon-jo's consent is irrelevant here. He'd been the best sunbae imaginable ever since the day he helped me monitor Gimyodam's ASMR video climbing the trending charts. He was always going to be a Han Yeo-reum pick.
“What do I do….”
Uncharacteristically, Yoon Hyeon-jo stayed frozen.
“Oh, Sunbae! Just having you here is a gift in itself!”
At those words, Gwak Cheol-sik made a show of sobbing.
“So I don't count? I'm the only one who has to pay a subscription fee for sunbae treatment?”
“That's exactly why I respect you even more, sunbae….”
“Foal, you really know how to work a room, don't you.”
Gwak Cheol-sik snickered and one-shotted his beer. Yoon Hyeon-jo hastily opened his banking app.
“I don't have cash on me right now, but my account—”
Myeong Je-ha's hand shot out and stopped Yoon Hyeon-jo's mid-transfer.
“How about instead of that, you grant Yeo-reum one favor later, and call it your birthday present?”
Myeong Je-ha's signature courteous smile spread naturally across his lips.
“Like a wish coupon?”
“Yes. Exactly that.”
“…Cash seems more efficient, honestly. In fact, let me just cover the bill here.”
“My card is already with the staff. Also, we agreed to drop the formalities last time—why are you speaking formally again?”
“A matter of emotional distance.”
Still holding Yoon Hyeon-jo's wrist as he tried to pull his hand free, Myeong Je-ha flashed his usual impeccable smile.
“Please, do it out of the kindness of a senior for his junior. After all, you two have Faster Than the Law 2 to shoot together.”
Well done, elder. You're being so useful right now…. I nodded with great fervor. The Snob Scales of Han Yeo-reum are in motion.
A favor Yoon Hyeon-jo has to grant? That's not even comparable to cash.
Yoon Hyeon-jo had a great public image, but his reputation among reporters and within the industry was even better. He was one of the rare sane, decent people in this business.
There will absolutely come a time when I cash this in….
Perhaps my expression was too desperate, because Yoon Hyeon-jo spoke in a small voice.
“It's a bit of pressure, but… it's partly my fault for not knowing. Fine. One wish.”
At that, Gwak Cheol-sik laughed so hard his Adam's apple was on full display.
“Hey! Ask for something impossible! AHAHAHA! You got played, man!”
While we waited for our managers to come pick us up, Myeong Je-ha and I stayed behind together.
“…Why did you do that back there?”
“Hm?”
Myeong Je-ha raised his wrist to check the time. His voice as he echoed my question was laced with amusement. There's definitely something behind this.
“Suggesting we go visit Do Gyeo-ul's set. That wasn't a throwaway comment.”
“Ahh, that….”
Myeong Je-ha looked down at me, letting the end of his sentence trail off lazily. This guy has a real gift for making people uneasy even when he's being gentle. Is this what they call an elder's cultivation?
“There will be a moment when you need Do Gyeo-ul's acting. I'm certain of it.”
Somewhere along the way, Myeong Je-ha's manager arrived. Checking the approaching car, Myeong Je-ha stepped away from my side. For a moment, the hem of his coat brushed against mine. He smelled wonderful, as always.
“Because you'll be taking on a role just like that.”
Myeong Je-ha turned his head, casual and light. The car's headlights swept across the line of his profile. It felt exactly like a pinpoint spotlight hitting center stage.
That distinctive glow granted only to a lead.
Myeong Je-ha, who monopolized the light as naturally as breathing, was dazzling for an instant.
“Sociopath.”
Then he smiled at me, sweetly—maddeningly out of step with the words he'd just let fall.