Chapter 2: Getting Cast as Easily as Breathing (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 2: Getting Cast as Easily as Breathing (2)
“Welcome. You’re Lee Yu-jin, correct? You have an appointment for a root touch-up?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll help you with a shampoo first. Please come this way.”
“I just washed it before coming.”
“Ah, in that case, I’ll show you to your seat right away.”
“Okay.”
Yu-jin took a seat in the furthest corner.
It was a spot where Choi Yoon-seok could see her clearly through the mirror.
Pretending to tidy up his station, he stole glances at Yu-jin’s face through the reflection.
Wow, how can someone actually look like that?
It was the first time he’d felt such a strong urge to get a closer look at a face.
As a hair designer, he had seen countless beautiful women, but this customer was of a different ‘species’ entirely.
He finally understood why the director had called her a VVIP.
With visuals like that, she’d be treated like a VVIP based on her face alone.
He noticed that there were an unusual number of male customers in the shop today.
At the same time, he realized there were almost no female regulars present.
Most of the women were either first-timers or newbies who had only visited a few times.
The female director approached Yu-jin with a bright smile.
“You said you already shampooed?”
“Yes.”
“Should we go with black?”
“Yes.”
“Understood. Let’s get started, then.”
“Okay.”
As the dyeing process began, Yu-jin closed her eyes.
He thought she might be lost in deep thought, but seeing her head nod slightly toward her reflection in the mirror, he realized the truth.
She was dozing off.
Having finished his current task, Choi Yoon-seok quickly approached a female colleague and whispered, “Is she not a regular?”
“She is. It’s been about a year.”
“Really? Based on the service and her reactions, she doesn’t seem like one.”
‘Welcome. You’re Lee Yu-jin, correct? You have an appointment for a root touch-up?’
‘I’ll help you with a shampoo first. Please come this way.’
‘Ah, in that case, I’ll show you to your seat right away.’
Just look at the tone of the service.
Who would think that was how you spoke to a regular?
It was the kind of attitude you’d use for someone visiting for the first time.
Even the director wasn’t making any small talk, focusing solely on the root touch-up.
The female colleague giggled.
“You want to know something? To this day, we don’t know anything about her except her name and phone number.”
“What? Not even her age?”
“She never engages in personal chatter. Not at all.”
Choi Yoon-seok couldn’t believe it.
Wasn’t it natural for female customers to chat about this and that and build a rapport?
It had been a year, and they didn’t even know her age.
Usually, that’s more than enough time for a customer to spill their entire life story without even being asked.
“Just think of it this way. Treat her like a typical male customer.”
“Ah…!”
That one sentence made everything click for Choi Yoon-seok.
“I think I get what you mean.”
“Makes sense now, right?”
“Yeah, yeah. A male customer, a male customer…”
Most male customers don’t do small talk at the shop.
Necessary requests and basic greetings are the extent of it.
“Now that I think about it, she’s been answering almost everything with a simple ‘yes.’”
“Exactly.”
“She’s such an unbelievable beauty that the idea didn’t even cross my mind. A male customer, a male customer…”
Male customers hate it when you try to close the distance.
If they feel someone is getting too close, they’ll just switch shops without a word.
Choi Yoon-seok nodded, but then a strange thought occurred to him.
“But why a root touch-up?”
“Oh, that black hair is dyed. Her natural hair is actually silver.”
“Ah, so she is mixed-race.”
“Seems like it. If you look closely, her eyes have a slight blue tint to them.”
“No wonder. I thought her skin was way too fair. That’s definitely not an East Asian complexion.”
“Take a peek at the counter when she’s paying later. Her skin is absolutely insane.”
“I’ll have to check it out.”
Choi Yoon-seok could feel that the very air in the hall had changed.
Regardless of whether they were staff or customers, everyone’s attention was gravitated toward Yu-jin in the corner.
“No wonder there are so many male customers today. But how did they all know to come?”
It wasn’t like the shop would have leaked her appointment date.
“Oh, that. An appointment at 5:30 PM on the last Thursday of every month. That’s her routine. So the regulars all know.”
“Ah, I see…”
“That’s why the female regulars tend to avoid that time if they can, while the male regulars swarm the bookings. The competition is incredibly fierce.”
“I can see why. I’d probably try to break through that reservation wall too. Her visuals are enough to crush any celebrity… no, even a top-star actress.”
“If she were a celebrity with that face, there’s no way we wouldn’t know. I think she’s just a civilian.”
“I guess she doesn’t participate in those SNS verification discount events either?”
“The director suggested it during her first visit, but she just said, ‘I’m fine.’ When the director pushed a bit more, do you know what she said?”
“What did she say?”
“She said she doesn’t even take visit-discount coupons. That’s when the director realized what type of person she was and gave us strict instructions. Don’t push anything on her, and just treat her like a male customer.”
Discerning a customer’s personality in just a few words was a necessary talent for a director.
If she hadn’t grasped Yu-jin’s personality after two questions, Yu-jin probably would have vanished to another shop.
“Shall I apply some hair oil?”
“No.”
“All done. Thank you for your patience.”
“Okay.”
After the final shampoo and blow-dry, Yu-jin stood up.
Choi Yoon-seok quickly moved to the counter, lingering as if he had business there.
The moment he caught a glimpse of Yu-jin’s face as she pulled out her card, he froze.
Wow, this is actually ridiculous.
Seeing her face up close, the expression ‘radiant’ felt insufficient.
Her fair, clear skin didn’t have a single blemish.
Her face was so small and slender it could be covered by a single palm, and her eyelashes were long.
Only by looking at the color of her eyebrows and lashes could he tell that her hair was originally silver.
“That will be 80,000 won.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you. Have a nice day.”
“Goodbye.”
With that, Yu-jin opened the glass door and left.
Her walk looked slightly like a swaggering gait, but to Choi Yoon-seok, even that seemed charming.
“Well? Isn’t she something else?”
“Really… wow, she’s incredible.”
Choi Yoon-seok, staring blankly at the entrance, suddenly tilted his head.
“But why does she always book for Thursday at 5:30 PM? Does she not have a job?”
“Maybe she’s a Golden Spoon? Her looks alone scream upper class.”
“A Golden Spoon wouldn’t live in this neighborhood.”
“Why not? She could be the daughter of a building owner.”
Choi Yoon-seok tried to estimate her age by recalling her face.
But it was difficult to guess.
In some ways, she looked like she was in her teens; in others, she looked like she was in her early twenties.
She exuded a mature aura, but her skin was as transparent and clear as a baby’s, making it confusing.
Her tall height and mature figure only added to the ambiguity.
“I envy her boyfriend.”
“Do you think she has one?”
“No.”
Choi Yoon-seok shook his head firmly.
“To get a girlfriend like that, you’d have to have been at least a Turtle Ship Rower in your past life.”
*
Perhaps because it was February, the streets were filled with people in padded coats.
I was the only one in autumn fashion.
But wearing a padded coat makes me too hot.
While I’m sensitive to heat, I don’t really feel the cold.
“One large iced Americano to go, please.”
“Yes, coming right up.”
I took the buzzer and moved to a corner of the cafe.
I’ve grown used to the lingering glances, but I can’t get used to the sensation of eyes stinging my face.
Should I consider myself unaccustomed to it?
If you combine all my past lives, I’ve lived as a man for over several hundred years…
As someone with experience in past lives, there’s one thing I can say for certain.
Just because you’ve lived a long time doesn’t mean you automatically accumulate experience or become wise.
Mental age follows physical age.
The body and mind cannot be thought of separately.
Fortunately, my mind still maintains a perfect sense of masculinity.
If my mental gender had followed my body, it would have been truly horrific.
It’s bad enough that my body is female; if my heart were female too…
Where else in the world could such a tragedy exist?
“Um, excuse me. I’ve been watching you for a while, and you’re exactly my style.”
Another event triggered… How tedious.
I looked up and flinched.
The guy was way too handsome.
Damn, I wish I could swap my face and body with his.
It was an enviable appearance.
He looked a bit like the ‘kept man’ type, but he was surely enjoying a much better life than I was in this body.
Usually, I just brush them off politely by saying, “I have two kids.” For a rejection, that’s the most concise.
In my experience, boring and sophisticated rejections like “You’re not my style,” “I’m not interested,” or “I have a boyfriend” often lead to the other person being more persistent.
But if I say I have kids, they usually stutter and run away on their own. It’s clean.
However, those who rely on their looks are uncannily good at spotting a lie.
It’s not that my acting skills are lacking; it’s more that they only believe what they want to believe.
It seems to be a habit formed from living as if they were the center of the universe since birth.
That’s why I find guys like this even more detestable.
Because I’m jealous.
Because he has what I don’t.
Because he has what I’ve lost forever.
I wanted to live like that in this life, too.
“…”
I locked eyes with him intently.
Thinking it was a green light, the man gave a bright smile.
“…”
Without a word, I just kept staring at him intensely.
Without even blinking, my expression remained blank.
As the silence stretched on, the man’s gaze began to waver.
“Y-your eyes are very beautiful. Ahaha.”
“…”
No answer. No reaction.
I just continued to stare holes through him.
Bzzzzzt. Bzzzzzt.
The buzzer went off, but I ignored it, remaining motionless as I stared straight into the man’s eyes.
“E-excuse me.”
His face pale, the man left a short apology and fled as if he were being chased.
Well, that guy lasted over two minutes.
I stood up from my seat.
The gazes from the tables that had been watching me since the ‘hunting’ began were hastily averted.
Being constantly pursued by men…
This is the absolute worst part of living as a woman.
*
I stuck a straw into my coffee and sipped as I left the cafe.
As expected, an iced Americano is the best in winter.
If I had been a Turtle Ship Rower instead of a Panokseon Rower, could I have been born like that and gotten a wife who looks like this?
It was a long-standing thought that filled me with a sense of futility every time I dealt with men who approached me based on my looks.
I wondered if, because my merit was insufficient, the divine being couldn’t fully grant my wish, and ‘living with a pretty woman’ got glitched into ‘living as a pretty woman.’
Guys like that must have been on the Turtle Ship, right? Damn it, I should have applied for the Turtle Ship back then…
Maybe it was because I’d taken off my hat right after dyeing my hair, but the stares on the street felt even more intense.
I need to get home quickly.
“Excuse me! Just a moment! You there!”
Another event?
I ignored it and kept walking, but someone rushed up from behind and blocked my path.
“Um, could we talk for a moment? I’m absolutely not a suspicious or strange person.”
Of all things, a crappy event had to trigger.
A man who looked to be in his 50s or older.
In street hunting, if someone that age is dressed neatly, it’s a celebrity casting; if they look scruffy, it’s a ‘sponsor’ proposal.
And this man was the scruffiest I’d encountered so far.
He even had a thick, unkempt beard.
Your Honor, I’m sending another one up to you.
I turned on my smartphone’s recording function.
Proposing sexual services to a minor is a criminal offense in itself.
If they insist until the end that they thought I was an adult, they might get off, but I can at least torment them with court appearances.
This was also miscellaneous knowledge gained through practical experience…
“Can you give me your agency’s contact information?”
“What?”
I reacted reflexively out of surprise.
The man gave a wide grin and held out a business card.
“If it’s difficult, just pass this to your agency. I’m really not a strange person, so please give my card to your manager. I’m counting on you!”
As I took the card in a daze, the man left without any further lingering.
As if he were certain that I would naturally contact him once I saw his card.
[PD Jang Hyun-soo]
[Contact: 010-XXXX-XXXX]
The card only had his name and phone number—two lines in total.
Seeing a trash can nearby, I tossed it in.