The Gentleman and the High School Girls
Son Jin-uk had always been deeply into cars. He currently owned three of them, and when it came to Brand P—notorious for its labyrinthine options packages—his knowledge rivaled that of most dealership salesmen.
With a soft whir, the automatic doors of the Brand P showroom slid open, and Son Jin-uk and Ryu Yeon-woo stepped inside.
Branch Manager Lee Myeong-han, who had been waiting for them, hurried forward to greet them.
"Aigoo, Actor Son!"
The valet had already phoned ahead to announce Son Jin-uk's arrival, and the branch manager himself had rushed down to the first floor to personally welcome his VIP client.
"Haha. It's been a while, Manager. Today I'm here to look at a car for this friend of mine."
Son Jin-uk clapped Yeon-woo on the shoulder.
"Hello."
"A pleasure to meet you. I'm Lee Myeong-han, the branch manager."
Manager Lee clasped the hand Yeon-woo offered and bowed politely. The young man looked every bit the celebrity, though Lee Myeong-han honestly had no idea who he was. Judging by the chaos erupting at the reception desk behind them, however, he figured the kid must be some rising young actor or idol.
Son Jin-uk spoke up again.
"Manager, if at all possible I'd like to take delivery today. Do you have any stock set aside?"
"Ah, yes! We do have a few units. Is there a particular model you're looking for?"
"Start by showing us the flagship."
"Minimum financial package, or… cash…"
Trading conditions and specifications back and forth, the three of them moved deeper into the showroom. They launched into a rapid-fire exchange of technical jargon that would have left Yeon-woo completely lost, and before long they were already choosing a car.
The next day Yeon-woo headed down to the parking garage of Son Jin-uk's building to take delivery of the vehicle.
"Ohhh. She's a beauty."
Jin-uk tapped Yeon-woo's shoulder and pointed at the red sports car rolling off the car carrier.
Keeps reminding me of my past life.
In his previous life he had walked out of a used-car lot with a '96 compact. This time around he was taking delivery of an unmistakably expensive sports car, paid for in a single cash lump sum. He was even younger now than he had been when he bought that first car.
Once the paperwork was finished and Jin-uk had seen him off, Yeon-woo climbed behind the wheel.
"I did get behind the wheel when I got my license, but this still feels strange."
After more than twenty years of driving, he had suddenly become a high-school student again and had not touched a steering wheel for two full years.
"Where should I go…"
His phone buzzed.
"Yes, Min-su hyung."
It was his manager.
"Actor Ryu, where are you right now?"
"I was at Jin-uk hyung's place. Just heading out."
"Ah. Have you had lunch yet? The CEO would like to meet with you."
"The CEO? Our company's CEO?"
Yeon-woo was puzzled. He had only met Kim Ju-seong, CEO of LN Entertainment, once—at the contract signing—and never again since.
"I have time. Where should I go?"
"I'll come pick you up."
"It's fine, Min-su hyung. I bought a car yesterday."
"Oh, really? Congratulations. I'll text you the address, then."
The call ended, and a restaurant address appeared on Yeon-woo's phone. It was not far.
His car pulled up in front of the restaurant, and he handed the keys to the valet. Even from the entrance the place radiated quiet luxury. A uniformed staff member greeted him the moment he stepped inside.
"Welcome. This way, please."
The moment the employee saw Yeon-woo's face, he guided him straight inside. Yeon-woo gave a light nod and followed.
A soft knock.
"Your guest has arrived."
"Come in."
At the voice from beyond the sliding door, the staff member opened it with careful deference. Yeon-woo stepped inside.
Seated alone in the private room was Kim Ju-seong, CEO of LN Entertainment, his hair neatly slicked back with pomade.
"It's been a while, CEO."
"Ah, Yeon-woo. Good to see you."
Kim Ju-seong rose and extended his hand. Yeon-woo took it.
"Haha, please, sit."
Once the CEO had settled, Yeon-woo followed suit.
"Nothing particularly urgent. I simply wanted to have a meal with one of our actors."
"I see."
Kim Ju-seong smiled faintly as he looked at Ryu Yeon-woo.
"I truly love acting."
The sudden remark left Yeon-woo simply listening in silence.
"At the very least, I do not think of the actors under our company as mere sources of money. I despise that kind of behavior."
"Yes. LN Entertainment has an excellent reputation among both actors and managers. I'm satisfied as well."
It was not empty flattery. The agency genuinely enjoyed a good name, and Yeon-woo himself was content.
Kim Ju-seong chuckled softly at the reply.
"Haha. I wasn't fishing for compliments… It's just that the entertainment industry is such a rough, dirty world. I worry that an actor like you, who has only just become an adult, might find yourself in a tight spot or face some ugly temptation."
Drug-related scandals had been cropping up more and more often in the industry lately. Kim Ju-seong's words carried genuine concern for the young actor who had captivated him ever since the Summer's Closet auditions—he wanted Ryu Yeon-woo to grow up clean. Yeon-woo quietly nodded.
"I'll keep that in mind, sir."
Unlike the CEO's worries, Ryu Yeon-woo had already walked through hell in his previous life. Still, he simply answered that he understood, accepting the sincere concern for what it was.
"If any filthy schemes come your way while you're working in this industry, don't hesitate—contact me immediately. I have zero tolerance for that sort of thing. And our company has the power to back that up."
There was a lonely, story-laden look on Kim Ju-seong's face as he delivered the warning.
A knock.
"Excuse me."
Right as he finished speaking, a staff member entered and began setting out the food.
"Ah, I ordered ahead. If you don't care for raw fish, we can change the menu."
"No need. I'll eat anything."
Yeon-woo smiled gently at Kim Ju-seong.
"Haha. Good. Let's eat."
The CEO picked up his chopsticks, and Yeon-woo followed.
Throughout the meal Kim Ju-seong asked about the film set—how things were going, whether anything was inconvenient, what kinds of roles Yeon-woo hoped to play next. He nodded along to Yeon-woo's answers and occasionally offered suggestions of his own.
Yeon-woo found the man even more decent than he had expected, and the conversation flowed so easily that the meal ended more comfortably than he had anticipated.
When Yeon-woo mentioned he had driven himself, Kim Ju-seong cautioned him to drive carefully and left first in the car his chauffeur had brought. Shortly afterward Yeon-woo climbed into the car the valet returned to him and picked up his phone.
"Oh my, my son."
"Mom, I've got a few days off. I thought I'd come home."
His mother sounded delighted.
"Really? Then what should I make… Is there anything you want to eat?"
"How about grilled beef? I'll buy some on the way."
"You. Mom will buy it. Don't get out of the car carelessly—you'll get swarmed."
She continued.
"Oh, and your father twisted his ankle a little while hiking. Could you pick So-hyun up on the way? You know her school, right?"
She clearly assumed Manager Kim Min-su would be driving him.
"Yes, Mom. Seona Girls' High, right?"
And so Yeon-woo gripped the steering wheel that felt both awkward and familiar and set off for Daejeon.
Because of the high-school equalization lottery, Ryu So-hyun had been assigned to the farthest school among her listed preferences, and almost none of her middle-school friends had followed her there. As a result, the father who had once driven her older brother every day now found himself locked into three more years of chauffeur duty.
She had arrived without friends, but her natural sociability quickly won over her classmates. The one difference from middle school was that word about her brother had not yet spread very far. She was not particularly special herself—only her brother was famous—and the thought of riding on that coattail made her feel pretentious, so she never mentioned it. Still, celebrities were high-school students' greatest obsession, so rumors had trickled out; most of her grade knew to some degree.
At dismissal time So-hyun was heading toward the parking lot just outside the school gate where her father always waited.
"Yo, what kind of car is that? Looks expensive."
"That's Brand P, you idiot. Pfft."
"Why'd they park it here? Someone sponsoring our school?"
A cluster of girls squatted in the corner of the gate, fixing their makeup and snickering. From inside the heavily tinted car, Yeon-woo watched them and thought they were textbook juvenile delinquents.
"How do kids like that still sit the exact same way they did in my day?"
He shook his head, recalling his own high-school graduation in the late nineties.
Beyond the gate he spotted his little sister So-hyun coming down with her friends, laughing brightly.
Just then the squatting girls pointed at someone and spoke.
"Isn't that her? That first-year?"
"Ah, the pretty-faced bitch who bewitched Hyeon-jun oppa?"
"She didn't really bewitch him, though. Heh. She got shot down right at the gate, remember?"
"Maybe we ought to teach her a lesson."
The fingers were almost certainly pointing at his sister.
Yeon-woo opened the car door with a solid click.
The high-school girls who had been squatting right beside what they thought was an empty parked car jumped in fright when the door swung open.
"Ah, shit, you scared me."
"Huh? What the…?"
They scrambled to their feet and then saw the face of the young man stepping out of the car.
"Kyaaah! Ryu—Ryu Yeon-woo!"
"Holy crap… is this real?"
At the familiar name shrieked from the corner of the entrance parking lot, So-hyun's head whipped around.
"Huh? Oppa!"
"So-hyun, let's go. Mom said she already bought the beef."
For a moment the high-school girls stood frozen, their brains short-circuiting between "Ryu Yeon-woo" and "the pretty first-year."
"How come you're here, Oppa?"
"I've got the day off. Dad hurt his foot, right?"
"Ehh, it's just a tiny little ligament strain."
She answered with a snort of laughter and then walked over with the friends beside her.
"I—I'm a huge fan, for real? Ahhh, I'm losing it."
"Hello, Yeon-woo oppa. I'm Kim Min-ji, So-hyun's friend."
One fiery, one calm—they reminded him exactly of Seong-sik and Jun-su. Yeon-woo smiled at them.
"Is that so? Thanks for being good friends to our So-hyun."
"Hup—"
Both the fiery friend and the calm one clamped their mouths shut at the same time, stunned by the sudden smile right in front of their faces.
"Oppa, let's go before people start swarming. Where's the car?"
Remembering how quickly they had been surrounded at the rest stop last time, So-hyun urged him to hurry. Still smiling, Yeon-woo simply opened the passenger door of the car parked right beside them.