You're Better Than Me
"You're better than me."
Fans seated nearby murmured among themselves as they turned to stare at the two of them.
Who's the guy next to him?
He's handsome.
Some of the Korean fans recognized Yoon Jay, but the local fans were busy identifying Kwon Min-jae and raising their phone cameras instead.
The two men paid it no mind and kept their focus on the stage.
For a show in Japan, there were quite a lot of Koreans in attendance. Buster's fandom was clearly massive too — the cheers never stopped, and you could feel their popularity in your bones. It wasn't just because it was his younger brother's group; objectively, the production was polished and complete. Wasn't this the kind of show they performed four times a week during promotion seasons? Impressive.
"How old did you say your brother was?"
"Eighteen."
"The other members are around the same age, right?"
Yoon Jay nodded. Kwon Min-jae had come on a whim, half to support a friend, but this was his first time watching from so close to the audience seats. The broadcast cameras were busy capturing the two of them, rapt with attention.
"Is it over?"
"Looks like it. Let's head backstage."
Kwon Min-jae headed back to the waiting room with a promise to catch up later, while Yoon Jay followed a staff member to go see Yoon Do-jun.
Buster's set ended and the MCs took over the stage. In the meantime, the broadcast reaction feeds became completely flooded with talk of Yoon Jay and Kwon Min-jae, who had suddenly appeared on screen.
"Hyung!"
The moment Yoon Do-jun spotted his brother, he beamed brightly and came bounding over. With his hair dyed gold, he looked like a retriever puppy.
"How was the stage?!"
"You were really good. Your fans were no joke either."
"How would you know that from the waiting room?"
"I didn't watch on a monitor."
"Huh?"
Instead of answering, Yoon Jay showed him a photo taken at the venue. It was only one shot, but more than enough as proof he'd been there.
"I asked a staff member for a favor and watched from outside for a bit."
"Seriously?"
"It probably aired too. The cameras were filming you..."
Yoon Do-jun's face grew flushed with excitement by the second. Yoon Jay smiled a little at the sight. He knew how devotedly the twins looked up to him — knew how badly they wanted to be acknowledged and praised — so he'd decided to praise them to his heart's content.
"Min-jae watched with me too, and he said you were great."
"Wait, seriously? I mean, I try."
Min-jae... as in, that Kwon Min-jae? The one who's insanely popular among actors in their thirties?
With his brother watching, Yoon Do-jun forced himself not to react too ecstatically. But Yoon Jay saw right through him anyway.
"Do-jun-ah."
"Yeah?"
"Is it hard? All of this?"
"What do you mean?"
"You've been living a working adult's life since you were a kid too."
"Not as young as you did, though."
Me? I couldn't take it and ran away. Yoon Jay gave a wry smile.
Yoon Do-hwa, who cradled her sadness to its very limits before releasing it later, might have taken after Yoon Jay. But Yoon Do-jun was different. When he was sad, he let himself grieve freely, shook it off, and stood back up without a scratch.
"What's there to be tired about? Everything I do is my own choice."
His younger siblings craved his approval, but they were already brilliant without it. If anything, he felt he had just as much to learn from them.
"You're better than me."
"Huh? At what?"
"Everything. All of it."
He wanted to ruffle his brother's hair, but held back, afraid of ruining the painstakingly styled strands.
I need to work hard too.
Debuting as Yoon Jae-hee had been something he did without knowing anything, simply because his parents wanted it. But debuting as Yoon Jay was unambiguously his choice. He wasn't about to be outdone by his own little brother.
Having watched Yoon Do-hwa's stage from the same seats where he'd watched Buster, he waited backstage to take his turn as a presenter. Apparently, the category he'd be presenting was Favorite Female Artist...
There's a Girl Group Award and a Most Popular Group Award — what makes this one different?
Curiosity flickered, but there was no time to dwell on it. The MC's introduction ended, and he walked out onto the stage.
Yoon Do-jun and Yoon Do-hwa whipped out their phones to record him, and the PD, quick to notice how well-received this sibling pair was, dispatched a VJ to the artists' seats altogether.
"Hello everyone. I'm actor Yoon Jay."
Kyaaaah — a shriek of cheers rippled through the hall. After a beat, he said a few words, then finally opened the envelope. The name written on the card was a familiar one, and he broke into a wide grin.
"Your Favorite Female Artist is... Flava. Congratulations."
Yoon Do-hwa and her members sprang up from the artists' seats and hurried onto the stage. Yoon Jay handed over the flowers and the trophy, then stepped aside.
Oblivious to what his own face was doing, Yoon Jay watched Yoon Do-hwa deliver her acceptance speech. Then he applauded.
Once the presentation was over, he leaned in close and whispered to Yoon Do-hwa's back as she made her way off the stage.
"Do-hwa-yah."
"Yeah?"
"That stage of yours earlier — it was incredible."
When he threw in a thumbs-up on top of it, Yoon Do-hwa giggled with delight.
"Mr. Jay."
"CEO Lee."
After the show ended, Yoon Jay was on his way to the after-party when he spotted Lee Seo-won standing by the entrance and walked over.
Han Jin-woo looked at Lee Seo-won with undisguised surprise. The man famously avoided chaotic events like this, preferring to grill meat over cola with people he actually knew at intimate little gatherings. And here he was, of all places — in Japan, no less.
Is it because of Jay hyung?
Han Jin-woo glanced up at Yoon Jay, and his whole body flinched as he remembered being pinned down by him. Back then, a mere look from the man had made him feel like he was about to die... but the gaze on his face now was as calm as ever.
"Nobody told me you were coming..."
"I was bored. And the timing worked out. You'll be sharing a pot of rice with me soon enough, so come, say hello."
Yoon Jay looked at the two seniors standing behind Lee Seo-won. This was the first time all three of them — Ko Yu-jin and Im Seong-ho, who had once anchored a different agency together — had gathered under one roof since moving to Astra.
"Hello, sunbae-nim."
"Lovely to meet you. Even better-looking in person."
Ko Yu-jin, an actress of thirty-six, gave Yoon Jay a subtle once-over. Handsome, indeed. Should I strike up a conversation later when it's just the two of us? The moment the thought crossed her mind, Im Seong-ho cut in.
"So this is the one? The kid you're raising..."
"Yes. I'm Yoon Jay."
"Oh, welcome."
Looking at Im Seong-ho's warm, amiable smile, Yoon Jay was reminded of Moon Chang-min. Seems like a good senior.
"You know, I think this is genuinely the first time Seo-won has come all the way out to one of these. What wind blew him here..."
"Alright! Let's head in, everyone!"
Lee Seo-won cut Im Seong-ho off and strode ahead. Yoon Jay followed. They had rented out an entire hotel hall — spacious and comfortable, but packed with people.
"Have you been to events like this before, sunbae-nim?"
"A few times, but today might be the biggest. And stop calling me sunbae-nim. It makes my skin crawl."
Im Seong-ho had fully expected to run into Yoon Jay at Lee Seo-won's gathering — the one everyone called the Cola Club — so he'd made a point of breaking the ice in advance.
"Jay-ah!"
"Hyung. It's been a while."
"You've been well? Oh, Seong-ho's here too?"
Moon Chang-min spotted Yoon Jay and came over with a delighted face.
"How do you two know each other?"
"He appeared in my film."
"Oh, right?"
"The kid can genuinely act. Wow, he had me on my knees."
"He overpowered you?"
Im Seong-ho's eyes gleamed. He loved talented juniors too. For the notoriously exacting Moon Chang-min to praise someone this lavishly... So Lee Seo-won hadn't simply dragged him along to this party to make an impression on investors.
"Hearing that to my face is a little embarrassing, hyung."
"You'll be hearing plenty more of it down the road, won't you? Consider this a preemptive strike."
With a Ten-Million Actor of Moon Chang-min's caliber — now a de facto grand senior in the industry — plus Im Seong-ho in attendance, a steady stream of people came by to pay their respects. Junior actors, directors, and even prominent figures like investors mingled among the crowd.
"And the gentleman beside you...?"
"A junior I've been keeping a close eye on lately. He's a truly remarkable actor."
Moon Chang-min held Yoon Jay back as he tried to slip away, introducing him to everyone he knew. Naturally, the eyes of the room drifted toward Yoon Jay as well.
He's doing this on purpose.
What a thoughtful senior. Films and dramas — content of any kind — couldn't be made without capital, and he'd heard that actors sometimes cultivated their own relationships with investors to land roles in good projects.
Plenty of actors took investor relations seriously, but for Moon Chang-min to so generously introduce even his own connections...
Thanks to him, Yoon Jay was able to make a lasting impression on the investors without lifting a finger. Of course, not everyone was pleased about it.
"Who's that guy? A rookie?"
"Seems like it."
"Those two did one drama and got a bit famous."
"Oh, so he's a drama actor?"
Behind him, a few actors whispered among themselves. But Yoon Jay's senses were unusually sharp, and their conversation drifted faintly into his ears. Among them was an actor who'd once thrown a tantrum in the venue corridor — why the hell should I be smiling at an idol awards show?
"I heard he got famous off some unusual backstory."
"How does a drama rookie end up in here?"
"Who knows. Maybe he's got connections."
"If he had real connections, he'd be doing films, not dramas."
None of them looked particularly seasoned. Unlike the idols from the awards show, they seemed intoxicated by the fact that they were here at all — shoulders stiff with self-importance, pride in being film actors thrown in for good measure.
Ah. This is the entertainment industry.
He'd been surrounded by good people lately, and wondered for a moment whether his circumstances had simply improved. But no — it was exactly as he'd predicted. Taking advantage of a moment when his group was chattering with acquaintances, Yoon Jay turned and walked straight over to them.
"Hello."
"Oh, hello there."
"You're all seniors in the industry, right? I'm Yoon Jay."
The same people who'd been snickering behind his back wiped their expressions clean and returned the greeting — the industry was small, after all, and they might cross paths again someday. Yoon Jay played oblivious, exchanging pleasantries and introductions with each of them.
Have they heard about us?
Damn it. Sounds like it.
So what if they did. What are they going to do?
The men received him with dry courtesy while cursing inwardly, yet they had no choice but to freeze, mouths agape, at the appearance of a powerhouse they'd never anticipated.
"Jay-ah!"
"...Vice Chairwoman. Hello."
"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Auntie? You were doing it just fine before..."
Cho You-kyeong had heard from her secretary that the actors mingling around Yoon Jay were the cheap, petty sort — so she had stepped in personally to pull him out of that crowd.
Telling him she had someone she wanted him to meet and asking what he was even doing here, she steered him off in another direction.
"Did I hear that right?"
"D-did she say Auntie?"
Cho You-kyeong, the host of this very party, was an absolute power — capital and distribution rights clenched in one hand. The faces of the actors who had looked down on and dismissed Yoon Jay turned grave.
"Did I stick my nose in where it didn't belong?"
"No, not at all."
"You're too kind for your own good, you know that? Don't let them latch onto you. Just ignore people like that."
Actually, I walked over on my own two feet... but he let the misunderstanding stand.
Cho You-kyeong had distanced herself from him for a while, wary of the rumors that had once circulated.
"Well, I should be going."
"No, please stay."
"You're sure?"
"Every rumor that could spread about me already has, so really, it's fine."
Lee Young-chang was the same way — even Cho You-kyeong still seemed to see him as an eleven-year-old kid. At his easy permission, she broke into a radiant smile and drew close again.
"We can bring Min-jae in later, too. That's fine with you, right?"
"Of course. He's the one who introduced me to CEO Lee, after all."
"CEO Lee? Oh — Seo-won. That's odd, he hates events like this. I wondered what got into him."
"You know CEO Lee well, then?"
"He's a distant cousin of mine."
"I see."
No wonder he's suspiciously rich with suspiciously good connections... he's chaebol. Yoon Jay sipped his champagne without giving it much thought.
But there was no such thing as quiet around him. Lee Seo-won, Moon Chang-min, and Im Seong-ho gathered at his side. And a flood of executives and investors converged on the group to greet Cho You-kyeong.
"You-kyeong-ssi."
"Kazuma-ssi."
"Could you introduce me to the gentleman beside you?"
"Hello. I'm actor Yoon Jay."
"My, you speak Japanese too?"
Every single person who approached was a titan of their field. No harm in being known, I suppose. Yoon Jay made a solid impression on each introduction Cho You-kyeong offered.
They can't afford to underestimate me.
Maybe I should start getting friendly now, while I can.
I'll have to go say something to him later.
Taking stock of the room, he realized the true center of attention wasn't Cho You-kyeong or Moon Chang-min at all — it was Yoon Jay. People lingering nearby, angling for a chance to join the conversation, kept stealing glances at him, nursing mixtures of envy and jealousy and everything in between.