The First Follower
Shin Iseol had opened her own wallet and bought me a suit tailored to the hairstyle she'd given me, a matching shirt, and even a pair of shoes. Even so, it was hard to spend a full million won no matter how much we bought. Only when we finally managed to pick out a single pair of shoes did we cross the million-won mark.
"Hmm. That should cover the basics. Now we just need one killer coat you can wear all winter."
"..."
Shopping. Shopping with a woman, no less. It was a first for me. The whole situation was a brand-new world.
Shin Iseol dragged me toward the luxury wing. Clothes I'd only ever imagined celebrities wearing — brands like Gucci and Hermès among them.
"Someone who makes twenty million won a week, not even a month, has to own at least one luxury piece. And for men, the items that get the most attention are shoes and coats."
"...You seem pretty into this kind of thing, Manager."
"Heh. I may not look it, but I majored in fashion design. A friend and I even ran an online shop for a while — went under, though. We specialized in men's wear, and, well... it didn't go as well as we'd hoped."
"You sold men's clothing, Manager? Why?"
I'd always figured women sold women's clothes and men sold men's. Same logic as a men's salon — a guy cutting a guy's hair just felt right.
"Male masseurs at women-only aesthetic shops do pretty well for themselves, you know~"
Ah.
She was obviously talking about me.
But I could tell Shin Iseol was fidgeting. She always got fidgety whenever there was something she didn't want found out. I thought for a second, then said it.
"Was the friend you ran the shop with your boyfriend?"
"W-what? No!"
"Then... a crush?"
"Pfft! Oh my god, just—! Forget it. Try this on."
I set the shopping bags piled in both hands on the floor and let Shin Iseol put the coat on me. Luxury really was different — the texture alone was on another level. The me in the mirror looked even more awkward than I had at the salon.
But clothes really did make the man.
I'd never dressed like this before, and the moment I put on a suit, shoes, and a luxury coat, I looked like a completely different person.
This was exactly the picture Shin Iseol had wanted.
Being the face of Meobal S wasn't something you only had to worry about while you were in the shop.
So when you had money and the freedom to spend it, it was smarter to buy clothes and stock up. Clothes might be consumables, but once you owned them you could wear them for years — and they were still one of the three essentials of life.
Shin Iseol stood facing me, smoothing the front of the coat, and studied my face with a quiet intensity.
"See how good you look when you're dressed this nicely?"
"Ah... still feels weird..."
"Come to think of it, Junhyun, you used to mess with me all the time. Why'd you stop lately?"
"Huh?"
For a second her eyes looked mischievous and warm at the same time. A strange, layered look. The smile crinkled the corners of her eyes, soft and cozy, while something playful flickered in her gaze and made her look almost cute.
Dangerous. My heart started hammering way too hard.
No. I could not fall for a sharp-tongued yellow-sprout of a woman like this. Still, of all the women I'd met so far, it felt like Shin Iseol's stats needed a slight upgrade.
The thought hit me, and the urge to tease her flared up out of nowhere.
"Want me to mess with you?"
"Huh? Hmm... well, a little teasing now and then wouldn't kill me."
She said it, then spun on her heel. She asked a male clerk who looked twice as stylish as I did how much the coat was, and without missing a beat pulled a card from her own wallet.
"There. Being generous! Consider it a first-paycheck gift from your manager."
"Uh... y-you really don't have to..."
It genuinely caught me off guard. Even if it was the customary thing to do, like she'd said, receiving a luxury coat as a gift was a heavy burden. Getting one from Shin Iseol made it heavier still.
"So from now on, do as I say without arguing. Show up on time and make a good impression."
"Ah... yes..."
It hadn't been awkward at all before. Now it suddenly was.
Even the rare brush of skin that hadn't registered a moment ago now made me flinch.
We finished shopping and dropped into the chairs in the lobby. Shin Iseol stretched her arms over her head and even yawned.
"Aahh~ Shopping really is exhausting. Spent the whole day buying someone else's clothes and I'm wiped."
Hey — who asked you to do that in the first place...
All I'd said was that I was stuck on how to spend the money. I had never asked her to help me shop.
Shin Iseol glared at me. She was definitely a tsundere.
When I sat down beside her, she turned toward me with a cute little twist of her body and held out her hand. I stared, clueless, and she snapped at me sharply.
"Phone."
"Why?"
"What do you mean, why. I'm going to manage your SNS. A manager should at least handle the shop ace's social media. Don't you think?"
"I don't do SNS."
I'd been taught that online social networks were for the so-called popular crowd. Pretty people and handsome guys posting body shots and selfies wherever they went to show off to the world.
Like I would ever do that.
Shin Iseol must have thought I was being dense, because she clicked her tongue and shook her outstretched hand again.
"Just hand it over. What kind of star doesn't even have SNS? These days, if you want to make it, you have to do personal broadcasting or social media. Think about it. What do successful people do when they want to show off how well they're doing?"
"SNS...?"
"Exactly! And where do those successful people end up spending their money? Clothes! Beauty! Cars! Self-care!"
"Ah..."
Like I'd been put under a spell, I placed my smartphone in Shin Iseol's hand.
"Heh-heh. First we make an account. Then we post what you're wearing today. After that, photos with the shop sign, shots of the VIP room. If any of the VIPs are famous, we take verification pics with them and post those too. Just thinking about it is thrilling."
Even with the explanation, I still didn't get it. I had no idea how that world even worked.
Until now I'd written the whole thing off as another dimension.
I had to watch over her shoulder while Shin Iseol worked. She friend-requested her own account first, then used her network to get people to follow me.
"All right~ Player entering the field~"
Shin Iseol rolled up her sleeves, ready to get serious.
She typed out a single block of text with ruthless efficiency, then copied it and blasted it to a whole list of people.
She finished the whole operation at blistering speed and sent out dozens of messages.
Whether the event was working or not, the follows started climbing almost immediately.
Shin Iseol rested her busy fingertips, then stretched her arms out again with a long sigh.
"Hoo... Player exiting the field... Leave it like this and just wait a bit. You're not a star because of anyone else — I made you one. Always remember that. I am your first follower, and your first following."
Then she handed the phone back to me.
Even after I'd taken it, her hand was still out.
"Hand."
I was genuinely thrown. Hand? What am I, a dog?
I just sat there staring blankly, and Shin Iseol shook her head like she'd read my mind.
"Hand!"
I had no interest in becoming a trained dog, so I held out my hand, took hers, and laced our fingers together.
The second we did, her face went scarlet — as if she was the one who'd asked for it and now she was embarrassed.
"No — I meant massage my hand because I worked hard..."
"Ah."
I caught on fast and started working her hand, but the strange atmosphere showed no sign of fading.
Every time our skin touched, pulled apart, and touched again, little sparks ran through every corner of my body.
Is it because I haven't had sex lately? Why am I feeling this way about Shin Iseol?
Honestly, my contacts already had plenty of women with better bodies and prettier faces than hers.
Was it because of everything that had happened today? What even was this feeling?
"Hey, focus a little more on the massage."
This little brat... why...
"Um... so... Junhyun?"
"Yes?"
In the middle of massaging her hand, our eyes met, and I felt it.
Before long, Shin Iseol and I were going to be rolling around in bed. Instinct. The instinct of a man who'd been having a lot of sex lately!
"That... promise I made before? About introducing you to a VIP idol..."
Huh?
Why bring that up all of a sudden.
"Sorry, but I don't have any clients like that."
"..."
"So, about that..."
After a long pause, Shin Iseol leaned in and spoke almost in a whisper.
"I... want to be your VIP... No. I have to."
"W-what are you talking about?"
"I have to keep my promise, right?"
"No. How am I supposed to make my manager my VIP. That's a joke."
"I'm not joking? I'm completely serious right now? I'm actually an idol, you know."
"Pfft!"
"You're laughing?"
"N-no, how am I supposed to hear that and not laugh?"
"Oh, come on. This is a secret from everyone else. I was an idol trainee in high school. I even debuted."
I studied her face, half-convinced she was lying.
No. What would she even gain by lying to me about something like that?
"You debuted?"
"Mm-hmm. So yeah, I've got a few idol friends and all. But no! I'm not introducing my friends to you."
"Why not? You'd make a ton of money that way."
"Hmph, who knows? Why do you think?"
Her face still burning bright red, Shin Iseol looked away the moment I stared at her.
Then she said, quietly,
"I heard what you do with Park Yuyoung."
"!"
"So how am I supposed to introduce my friends..."
Shit... she found out. Not that it would have been easy to hide. If Shin Iseol had even a little suspicion, she could have put her ear to the door anytime she wanted.
Wait a second.
But she was saying she wanted to be the VIP herself.
In Shin Iseol's flushed face, I could see a sticky, unmistakable heat.