Chapter 125
Chapter 125
Do You Know Who Sent This?
The haggard emperor and Lee Kang screamed in the courtroom. Then, clad in prison uniforms, they were pelted with eggs as they boarded the transport bus. Eunuch Shim, who was thought to be dead, followed behind, bound in ropes. Seong Hyeon-woo hadn’t killed Eunuch Shim after all. He had only shot the floor.
Thus, the emperor and Lee Kang’s crimes were revealed, and Lee Seo-eun was crowned the next empress.
After taking in the sight of Lee Seo-eun wearing the ceremonial crown, Seong Hyeon-woo turned and walked out of the palace. The scene then shifted to the rooftop where they had often met.
“Thank you for keeping your promise.”
Standing beside the seated Seong Hyeon-woo, Lee Seo-eun gazed at the distant sky.
“Our contract is over... What are we now?”
“I wonder...”
“...I have a promise to keep, too.”
Hesitantly, Lee Seo-eun stood before Seong Hyeon-woo. Then, she knelt on one knee. Realizing what she was about to say, Seong Hyeon-woo smiled faintly. He remembered how, as a child, Lee Seo-eun had declared, ‘I’m going to marry Uhyeon!’
“Will you marry me?”
Seeing this, Seong Hyeon-woo let out a breath as if overwhelmed with emotion, then spoke.
“...Yes.”
The drama’s main OST played in the background, and instead of a preview, behind-the-scenes photos were shown.
Shin Ye-won X Yu Yeon-seo’s Incredible Chemistry in ‘The Imperial Seal’ Earns “Jackpot” Ratings
JSTV’s Ambitious Project ‘The Imperial Seal’ Resonates Worldwide
‘The Imperial Seal’ Showcases Korean Beauty, Nation Falls for the HyeonSeo Couple
Yu Yeon-seo Conquers Dramas, Films, and Advertising... An Unrivaled Box Office Guarantee
-So happy The Imperial Seal did well
-Yu Yeon-seo and Shin Ye-won’s chemistry is insane lol It’s crazy that this is real
-When is the last making-of video for The Imperial Seal coming out? I’m refreshing like crazy right nowㅠㅠ
-They say a familiar taste is the scariest. I know it’s cliché, but it’s so good
-I swear I’m not a shipper, but I just can’t take off my shipping goggles for Yu Yeon-seo and Shin Ye-won
-You can really tell The Imperial Seal isn’t just an online thing. At work, everyone only talks about it during lunchㅋㅋ
└Wow, same at my company
└The people next to me are talking about it right now
└Even my department head watches it lol
[Male Actors] What’s up with Yu Yeon-seo? +203
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from The Imperial Seal. I admit Yu Yeon-seo’s acting has improved, but when I think back to his destructive performance in Our Moment, it was so bad it made the super-spicy noodles I’m eating right now taste like nothing.
But since my goddess, Shin Ye-won, was in it, I planned to watch it out of loyalty.
Plus, the writer is Min Ju-gyeong. I know she’s good at handling clichés, but they’re just so predictable. Who even likes Cinderella stories these days? Of course, making Shin Ye-won the empress is an improvement for Min Ju-gyeong, I’ll give her that.
But then, one GIF caught my eye.
(Image)
NoㅋㅋㅋAhㅋㅋ This is ridiculousㅋㅋ Isn’t he crazy? What’s with that angle for the kiss scene? His shoulders are insane.
Wow, what’s with that gaze? Is he nuts?? What did he eat growing up to look like that?
I mean, he could do this all along, so why hasn’t he? Wow, this is driving me crazy.
Hey, Yu Yeon-seo, let’s get married first so we can get divorced.
└What? I thought you said you’d rather die than watch The Imperial Seal lol
└└(OP) After seeing that pic, I binged all the way to the final episodeㅋ
└Are you finally switching from Ahn Hyeon-seong to Yu Yeon-seo?
└[Breaking News] Harabi has fallen for Yu Yeon-seo
└After all that trash talk, even Harabi...
└Ah, crazy, don’t come over hereㅠㅠ
└Thank you, Yu Yeon-seo - From the Ahn Hyeon-seong Fan Club
└Ah, please don’t come
└Love Letter refuses Harabi’s entry into the fandom
└└(OP) Already joinedㅋ
└└└Ah, fuck
“Wow, he’s a real idol.”
CEO Han clicked his tongue as he looked at the pile of gifts filling one side of his office. He’d always had many fans, but the drama’s success brought in a flood of new ones, keeping the agency busy.
The number of followers on the agency’s social media, where they posted photos of their actors as fan service, had also exploded.
“What’s this?”
He picked up a white envelope lying on the desk. Sealed with a silver sticker, it looked like a wedding invitation. Did one of the employees leave this for me? CEO Han wondered as he opened it, only to let out a dry laugh.
“Heh heh...”
The invitation bore the names of Yu Yeon-seo and Shin Ye-won, not any of his employees. It was so elaborate that anyone who didn’t know better would think the two were actually getting married.
There were people who shipped the main couple of a hit drama. Known as ‘delusional shippers,‘ some extreme couple fans would reminisce for years after the show ended, insisting that the actors, not just their characters, were dating.
Manager Park, who had just come in with more gifts from outside, saw what was in CEO Han’s hand and laughed.
“Funny, right? Did you fall for it too, sir?”
“Sang-tae. What are we supposed to do in a situation like this?”
“I don’t know either. We’ve always kept a low profile.”
Although things got noisy ever since we signed Yu Yeon-seo.
Manager Park was just as bewildered. Halo Media had always focused on production; as a talent agency, it was a small company that managed a few seasoned film actors and some rookies. This was the first time they’d had an actor with idol-like popularity.
And I never thought it would be Yu Yeon-seo...
Thinking this, CEO Han smiled pleasantly. He was confident in his ability to handle criticism, but this kind of popularity... Still, being popular was a good thing. Judging by the impact of The Imperial Seal, this phenomenon didn’t seem like a one-time thing; it looked like it would continue.
“Hello, CEO, Manager.”
“Oh, Tae-gyeom, you’re here? What’s that?”
“Some foreigners outside gave them to me. How did they know I was his manager?”
It wasn’t that hard to understand. If people could recognize his secretary, Im Seung-hyeon, it would be even easier to recognize the manager who was always with him. Lee Tae-gyeom placed the paper bags and dolls he was carrying onto the pile of gifts.
“Honestly, I tell them not to send things, but they keep sending them... I can’t just throw them away.”
“Sir, if we throw them out carelessly and someone takes a picture, it could become a big issue, don’t you think? I’ll pass them on to him.”
“He doesn’t usually accept this stuff, does he?”
“He seems to secretly like it. Fan letters and small gifts should be fine, right?”
“Really? Then let’s open everything to check for anything strange.”
The three of them plopped down on the floor and started going through the gifts. For safety, they had to check for anything dangerous. The same went for the fan letters. It would be a problem if they contained strange content.
“Wow... what language is this?”
“Should we toss it?”
“Hmm, I feel bad just throwing it away... He wouldn’t be able to read this too, would he?”
“Manager, he’s good at reading, too. Should I run it through a translator?”
“Just put it aside for now.”
They set aside the ambiguous items and tossed the strange ones straight into the trash without hesitation. There were so many gifts that it didn’t seem like they would finish today.
“Did you know the café out front gave our employees free coffee?”
“Why? Ah, don’t tell me it’s because of the people who came to see him?”
Manager Park nodded. Once word got out that Yu Yeon-seo frequently visited the agency, sales at the nearby café had skyrocketed.
“No wonder they were selling sandwiches they don’t usually carry.”
“Manager.”
“Huh?”
Manager Park looked at Lee Tae-gyeom’s serious expression. Lee Tae-gyeom was carefully examining a letter. Looking at the envelope, it had no markings, suggesting it had been delivered to the agency in person.
“...Do you know who sent this?”
“How would I know? One of our employees received it.”
“It must have been caught on CCTV, right?”
“Probably? But why? Is there something weird in it? Throw it away.”
Lee Tae-gyeom mumbled a vague reply and stuffed the letter into his pocket. The content was suspicious; it seemed like something Yu Yeon-seo needed to see for himself. Yu Yeon-seo was questioning Lee Hui-seo’s death, and it was also strange that Im Seung-hyeon, who was normally always behind Yeon-seo, kept disappearing.
Manager Park thought nothing of it and focused on opening the gifts.
“Right, how should we adjust his schedule? What does he want to do first?”
“Ah, I think he’s going to take a break for a while.”
“What?”
CEO Han, who had been eavesdropping, shot to his feet. With the massive success of The Imperial Seal, almost every company was seeking out Yu Yeon-seo. The agency’s phone lines had been ringing off the hook, and some people had even called CEO Han directly, begging him to have Yeon-seo model their products.
“Are you telling me he’s taking a break when we should be striking while the iron is hot? No, we should be launching an aircraft carrier right now!”
Lee Tae-gyeom nodded and mechanically unwrapped a gift. He seemed somewhat out of it. CEO Han shouted. Tae-gyeom’s unusual behavior wasn’t important right now.
“Just with the commercial offers coming in, huh? We could make a fortune! Isn’t he desperate at all?”
“...He’s not exactly someone who desperately needs money.”
CEO Han shut his mouth. He couldn’t argue with that.
Not just any company, but the third-generation heir of Juseong Group. He could live off his stock dividends for the rest of his life just by breathing, yet he also ran a private investment firm that was rumored to be generating profits so large they were the talk of the industry. On top of that, there was news that a film he had invested in had made a killing.
“That’s, well...”
Furthermore, articles frequently appeared stating that Chairman Yu was stepping down and in the process of gifting his shares to his children and grandchildren. As the son of the next chairman, how much would he receive?
After stammering for a moment, CEO Han took a deep breath.
“He needs money! Who would turn down money, even a chaebol! He needs to start worrying about inheritance tax now, you know?”
Why are you asking me that? Lee Tae-gyeom’s expression turned serious.
“He said he’s not interested.”
“No!”
Frustrated, CEO Han pounded his chest. Of course, they couldn’t accept every offer due to image management, but his asking price was so high that the more commercials he shot, the more money the agency made. Just a few major deals would bring in so much money... CEO Han’s face fell.
“Can’t you try to persuade him?”
“Sir, do you really think that would work?”
“It worked before.”
“That’s because he has an ambition for acting. He doesn’t have an ambition for commercials.”
CEO Han was speechless again. In the quiet office, only the rustling sound of them unwrapping gifts could be heard.
After a long silence, CEO Han suddenly looked up.
“Then let’s just shoot three! Just three!”
“I’ll talk to him.”
Lee Tae-gyeom let the desperate plea go in one ear and out the other. It’s not like talking to him would make him accept anyway.
“Here’s what we’ve investigated so far.”
“What’s this? You’ve found more than I have.”
Baek Seo-jun’s jaw dropped at the thickness of the stack of papers. Even though his hands were tied, how could they dig up more information than the police?
“First, we looked into the deceased... found nothing suspicious. The driver in the car accident was clean, too.”
“Really?”
I thought we’d find a clue... Does this mean we have to investigate everyone who’s still alive? Yu Yeon-seo clicked his tongue. Lately, more and more people were getting in his way. He stood out too much to investigate on his own. Should I not have done ‘The Imperial Seal’...
“Young Master.”
“You’re here? Did you two come together?”
“We met in the elevator. Hello.”
“This is my brother’s friend.”
When Lee Tae-gyeom glanced nervously at Baek Seo-jun, Yu Yeon-seo gave a brief explanation. Lee Tae-gyeom set down the load of things he’d brought next to the sofa.
“What’s all this?”
“Letters and small gifts for you. I already checked them, there’s nothing weird, so just take them.”
“Why is there so much?”
Yu Yeon-seo grumbled but didn’t tell him to take them back. It was unfamiliar to have strangers pour out their affection for him, but it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.
When he looked at the fan letters written in clumsy language, it reminded him of the drawing he’d received from Raul, the child from Welcome to the Guest House.
“I told you I’m taking a break for a while, right?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think the CEO will give up that easily.”
CEO Han is so stubborn... Yu Yeon-seo clicked his tongue and shook his head. The popularity of The Imperial Seal would likely last until the end of the year anyway, so it would be fine to take a short break.
“Alright, I get it. I’ll think about it. You can go.”
“Wait a minute...”
“Why?”
Lee Tae-gyeom quickly grabbed Yu Yeon-seo as he was about to turn away. He hesitated, pulling a crumpled letter from his pocket.
“I think you need to see this.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a letter addressed to you... The contents are suspicious.”
What is it? For him to give it to me separately like this... Yu Yeon-seo pulled out the letter, glanced at its contents, and his eyes widened.