“Hey, come out.”
But it was quiet.
With that, I came up with a theory.
“Good job!”
“Good job~ Wow, Min Jiheon’s acting is daeeeabak.”
“It’s going to be even more amazing on set.”
“Huh, even more??”
Everyone, from the actors to the staff, seemed to have a good hunch after finishing the script reading for Episode 1, as they all had bright smiles on their faces. People started getting up one by one, with some flocking to the director, some to Yu Jia, and the majority swarming around Min Jiheon, practically forming a barrier with their bodies.
As I quietly tidied up my script and got up, my manager standing behind me, grabbed my shoulder. When I turned my head, he was crying.
“Ho-Hoyun… sniffle.”
“…Yes?”
“If I had known that you loved acting so much, I would have let you try it sooner…”
“You think I like acting?”
What was this…?
As I incredulously asked him, my manager nodded, and tears dropped from the corners of his eyes. His sensitivity was crazily at its peak.
“If not, how could you be so good at it! You haven’t even had an acting lesson, so you must have practiced by yourself all those times, right?”
“Sometimes, I can’t help but be amazed by you, Manager.”
How could he have such a misunderstanding?
As I let out an exclamation close to a lament, my manager had already convinced himself and wiped his tears with his sleeves as he nodded.
Did that come out after watching Min Jiheon’s acting just now?
Director Yu was startled by that nonsense when he happened to pass by us.
“What? Seo Hoyun is crazy about acting?”
“Yes, Director… Just look at our Hoyun’s script. It’s all worn out. This part is practically torn.”
That’s because Jeong Dajun spilled coffee on the edge. The director looked at the worn-out script and sighed deeply.
“I didn’t even know! I really thought you had no interest. My goodness, I was so prejudiced.”
“Seo Hoyun, you’re amazing~.”
Even Yu Jia chimed in. She had come closer without me noticing, and her reaction instantly created a warm atmosphere.
I hurriedly opened my mouth, not wanting to earn a title like “An Idol Crazy about Acting.”
“No, no! Compared to the passion of others, I’m really lacking.”
But when they heard my words, the gazes looking at me seemed even more dangerously adoring.
“How can this be, even being modest…!”
“I’m really sorry, Hoyun…”
Director Yu suddenly said as he wiped away the teardrops the size of beans with his sleeve,
“It reminds me of when I first started…”
Stop it. I came to catch Min Jiheon.
Everyone was forming an iron wall around me, cooing and echoing my words, making me wonder what to do. Min Jiheon, meanwhile, was trying to slip away through the crowd.
Fortunately, the conversation shifted to Yu Jia’s debut days just in time.
“I’ll be right back; I need to use the restroom.”
“Ah, sure, go ahead!”
No matter what I said now, they would just look at me fondly.
Leaving the awkwardness behind, I quickly stepped out and caught up with Min Jiheon. He already got so far in such a short time.
“Min Jiheon, just a moment.”
“Huh?”
Min Jiheon, who had just demonstrated divine acting, smiled sheepishly back at me.
“Hello?”
“I’m not in the mood for hellos.”
I wasn’t in the mood to exchange greetings with someone who made me want to puke blood. Since there were many people around, I lowered my voice and asked,
“Do you have some time right now?”
“Even if I don’t, I’ll make some.”
“Could we chat, just the two of us, without the managers?”
Instead of answering, Min Jiheon stared at me intently. I couldn’t read what he was thinking, only that he was slightly perplexed.
“…Did we agree to use polite language again?”
“…”
“I can’t remember well….”
“Let’s speak politely to each other.”
“…Yes.”
Sigh…
Oddly, every time I dealt with Min Jiheon, I lost my patience, so I dragged him to a cafe on the first floor of the building. As it was an awkward time, there were no people except the staff. It was perfect for having a talk with this suspicious guy.
We ordered drinks, and as I tried to clear my mind, Jiheon seemed rather relaxed. No, rather than relaxed, he appeared to be thoughtless.
“Why did you call me?”
“Why? Are you asking for a reason?”
“Um.”
Jiheon chuckled. Then our drinks arrived.
The staff smiled at Jiheon as they placed our drinks on the table. However, Jiheon’s focus was entirely on his drink.
“…Huh.”
He tilted his head as he looked at the Americano before him.
“…Did I order an Americano?”
“You ordered a latte.”
“Did I? Never mind, I’ll just drink it anyway.”
Well, that wasn’t the important thing. I glanced at Jiheon with a skeptical look and asked,
“Who are you?”
“I’m Min Jiheon.”
Sometimes, I was proud to say I hadn’t killed Jiheon yet.
“Not your name. What do you do?”
“An actor… Oh, that’s not the answer you want.”
Finally, Jiheon laughed awkwardly.
“What did you do that time? How did you know I was in a car accident? How did you know that I’m stuck in this shitty world….”
“Uh, wait, wait.”
Jiheon raised his hand to stop my words and gulped down the Americano. Then he sighed softly, scratched his head, and smiled at me after a moment of thought.
“Hyung… Don’t get mad after hearing this, okay?”
“Let me hear it.”
Jiheon muttered something under his breath, then blurted it out.
“To be honest, I don’t really know!!”
I clenched my fist tightly to suppress the urge to hit the table. Gritting my teeth, I quietly called Jiheon.
“You little bastard.”
“…So you did get mad, huh?”
“Tell me quickly. Before I lose my patience.”
Actually, my patience was already at rock bottom.
Jiheon definitely knew something, as it was clear that he saw something I didn’t know about at that time.
But Jiheon just swirled the ice in his drink with a straw and grumbled indifferently.
“I’d like to tell you, but honestly, there’s nothing to say. I really don’t know.”
As Jiheon held his drink, a bracelet jingled on his wrist. I figured that the power he had that day originated from the bracelet. As my gaze focused on it, Jiheon turned his eyes to follow mine, then touched the bracelet.
… I rubbed my tired eyes and then blurted out.
“Jiheon, you’re right. I was originally 33 years old, and of course, I wasn’t an idol. As you know, I’m not from here… I don’t even know if I’m a ghost or a human. It’s complete bullshit.”
“Hmm…?”
Jiheon slightly tilted his head. His reaction was strangely uncomfortable, but I moved on.
“Listen well: To return to my original world, I have to clear this scenario, this quest.”
It hadn’t been a problem until now, yet it was undoubtedly strange from the start. Why did I have to come here? What was going on with me?
“So, if you can explain what this system is—”
“What do you mean by ‘returning to your original word’?”
Jiheon interrupted my words and asked an unexpected question. I furrowed my brows, taken aback.
“The world I was in, of course.”
“…Ah~.”
Jiheon let out a belated exclamation. Then he closed his mouth and looked me up and down for a moment.
What was he on about?
“…Anyway, your explanation—”
“Hyung.”
As I was about to continue, Min Jiheon interrupted me again. I was slightly pissed off but held my tongue as Min Jiheon cautiously laughed.
“Well, I’d like to help too. It’s just that…”
“…”
“This is a bit too strange for me to help with…”
This guy…
I stared blankly for a moment, then closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
Calm down, Seo Hoyun.
Right now, I felt like I had met a top-notch, complete creature for the first time in a long while. No, it was also because Joo Woosung and Lim Hyeonsu were such pushovers.
Min Jiheon seemed to be no pushover, so I kept wavering…
I am Seo Hoyun. I’m telling you, I am Seo Hoyun.
Let’s just do what I’ve been doing until now, just like that.
I took a break for a beat and looked straight at Min Jiheon.
“Huh, Min Jiheon. Don’t you want to continue being a celebrity?”
I laid out the card of threat.
Of course, I knew nothing about Min Jiheon, but…
Let’s just throw it out and see.
“Are you going to be able to hide it forever…?”
Honestly, it was a long shot, but I thought it was worth a try.
“Will you be able to hide it forever?”
“…!”
That’s right.
There was a reaction when I threw it out.
Well, of course, there was no one in this world without a single speck of dust when you shook them enough.
Min Jiheon stroked his chin with a troubled expression.
“Damn it…”
“I can keep quiet if you just tell me the answer I want to hear.”
Min Jiheon looked straight at me and sighed.
“Well, I guess I can’t hide it forever.”
Finally, a response came. With a gloomy expression, Min Jiheon noisily sipped his straw.
“Actually…”
“…”
“I eat a lot. Minimum 10 servings.”
Ah…
As I glared at Min Jiheon with my clenched hands trembling, he wore a distant gaze and started to list other TMI. (Though none of them were damaging, they were actually elements that would ignite a fan’s heart.)
“My mom thought I had a parasite in my stomach, so we went to every hospital we could find. But there was nothing. They said I was just fine.”
“Hey.”
“I was just a pig….”
The pig rested his chin on his hand-made flower stand and grinned.
“But hyung… um, you’re threatening me now, right?”
“Do you want me to threaten you in reverse?”
I looked at him with an expression that said, “Go ahead and fucking try, you think you can do anything?” but Min Jiheon shook his head.
“What? No, I like hyung quite a bit. I really hope it goes well. I enjoyed watching the Shining Star rerun… I support The Dawn and like Hyung’s subtly slippery personality too.”
…Slippery?
If the system window could appear right now, it would have frantically displayed question marks. Thanks to that, my plan to “spread false rumors about Min Jiheon by manipulating data” flew right out the window.
“Anyway…. I was just asking because…”
Min Jiheon mumbled, making crunching noises with the ice in his straw.
“If you want to hear the answer, isn’t asking for a favor more normal than threatening….”
“…”
“I just thought that was the sensible thing to do…”
He was talking about the standard, common-sense thing one would hear, not something a crazy person would go for.
…After racking my brain, I realized that was the case. If I had nothing to threaten him with, it was best to just give him something to hold onto.
But it was shocking to be pointed out in such a common-sense way by someone who looked like they had no common sense.
Should I give up on Min Jiheon and look for another, another… more fascinating person?
No, no. Where’s the guarantee that they’ll know something if I do that?
Min Jiheon really does have some skills.
That damn bracelet and those eyes that occasionally grazed me strangely were proof.
An item? He was someone who could even make the system window malfunction, so it wouldn’t work. And given his intuition, the chances of it being blocked if I tried now were even higher.
In other words, he was someone immune to all the strategies I had at my disposal.
I glared at him and asked,
“What do you want?”
Then, let’s try persuasion.
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