# Chapter 53
At that moment, Tae Igyeol, who had been silently listening beside Mo Eunje, lightly tapped his arm. When Mo Eunje glanced up with a questioning look, Tae Igyeol motioned with his eyes toward the studio door. Writer Kwon Jiyeon was entering with just five minutes left until standby call.
“Teacher!”
Mo Eunje smiled brightly and rushed over to give Writer Kwon a light hug. Soon after, the producer and script writer approached to greet her as well. Mo Eunje, who had been waiting for the staff to finish their greetings, naturally guided Writer Kwon to the waiting area with chairs. He first introduced Manager Yoon, then Tae Igyeol.
“Teacher, this is Tae Igyeol, my friend since we were in our mothers’ wombs, whom I’ve mentioned before. I brought him along today to introduce him to you.”
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Tae Igyeol.”
“It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you from Eunje. I’ve been wondering when I’d get to see Eunje’s soulmate in person, and now here we are.”
Writer Kwon Jiyeon extended her hand to Tae Igyeol with a gentle smile. Watching them shake hands, Mo Eunje couldn’t hide his delight.
Mo Eunje had personally requested Writer Kwon’s evaluation during the revision process of “Castella and Gumbo,” which was his contest-winning work that got him published and became the title piece of his first short story collection. At that time, what Mo Eunje talked about most with Writer Kwon wasn’t about sentences, context, metaphors, or expressions with implied meanings, but stories about Tae Igyeol. Because that was the true subject of “Castella and Gumbo.”
“Teacher, you’ll treat us to lunch after the live broadcast, right? I thought you’d want to treat me to the most delicious food in the world, so I even skipped breakfast.”
“I actually reserved a restaurant because I thought you might do that. Ah, I’ll need to change the reservation number since your friend and your manager should join us too.”
“No, I need to head back to the company right away. Thank you for the kind thought though.”
Manager Yoon Hyesu declined with a smile, waving her hand. Even if she went back to the company, it would still be lunchtime and she’d need to eat, but she seemed to want to excuse herself, probably considering it a private gathering. As expected, Manager Yoon clearly distinguished between work and personal matters, knowing when to join and when to step back.
From the changed seating arrangement for the host to everything else, Manager Yoon Hyesu was someone without a single flaw. She did her job so perfectly that Mo Eunje sometimes wondered how a person could be so flawless.
“If you’re treating, I’ll gratefully accept. If you tell me which restaurant, I’ll change the reservation number. The reservation is under your name, right?”
A rare display of sociability emerged from Tae Igyeol, something that might happen once every five years. Mo Eunje’s face showed surprise, as he had been preparing to shield Tae Igyeol in case his usual blunt response came across as rude. But his surprise was overshadowed by a feeling of pride and gratitude, causing him to grin.
“How can your friend call me teacher too? Just call me writer. Eunje calls me teacher because he’s my student, but I’m still a long way from deserving that title. I’m younger than you think.”
At Writer Kwon Jiyeon’s gentle request, Tae Igyeol glanced at Mo Eunje for guidance. Mo Eunje gave him a subtle nod that only Tae Igyeol would notice, indicating he should comply.
“Yes, Writer.”
“Thank you. Then please help with changing the reservation number.”
Writer Kwon Jiyeon told him the restaurant name. It was a famous traditional Korean restaurant about 20 minutes away by car. Mo Eunje remembered it as the place Writer Kwon had reserved when he wanted to treat her to celebrate his contest win, and he recalled the food being exceptionally neat and refined.
“MC! Writer Kwon Jiyeon! Please standby!”
At the staff’s call, Mo Eunje escorted Writer Kwon Jiyeon to the set, which was decorated with a café concept.
“You really haven’t changed. I’ve never met another writer as normal as you.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“It means you lack charm.”
“Thank you for the kind words, Teacher.”
“Look at your nerve. But these days it’s hard to find normal kids, so that’s become charming in its own way.”
Mo Eunje laughed loudly. Unlike last month, today’s live broadcast promised to be very cheerful and enjoyable.
&
Tae Igyeol, who had briefly stepped outside the studio, confirmed the reservation under Writer Kwon Jiyeon’s name and changed it to three people. Though he absolutely hated eating with strangers, if his temporary discomfort could make Mo Eunje happy, he could certainly pretend to be fine with it.
He’d been pretending to be just friends for over ten years—what couldn’t he do? A meal was nothing.
Tae Igyeol briefly reflected on events since this morning. Instead of checking economic and stock news immediately after waking up, he had looked up information about makeup and lighting. When he monitored the live broadcast from the studio last month, he hadn’t noticed, but when he checked the edited video later, he realized that the studio lighting wasn’t strong enough, making Mo Eunje’s makeup look somewhat unnatural.
Today especially, since Mo Eunje was meeting someone he respected and wanted to impress, Tae Igyeol hoped he would look his best. If Writer Kwon had been their peer, he absolutely wouldn’t have done this, but since she was old enough to be at least an aunt if not a mother, there was no need to be wary or competitive. Opportunities like this were rare, and if he just squeezed out a bit of sociability, Mo Eunje would shower him with affection.
“Igyeol-ssi, I’m sorry, but could we talk for a moment?”
Manager Yoon Hyesu had emerged at some point and was looking up at him with a troubled expression. Though there was no reason they should need to have a private conversation, her expression suggested it wasn’t a trivial matter, so he waited silently.
“Um… I’m not sure how to say this without causing a misunderstanding.”
“I’ll filter what I hear, so just say it.”
“This might sound like I’m trying to drive a wedge, so I’m being cautious. But if I don’t start with this, what follows won’t be convincing.”
As the introduction dragged on, Tae Igyeol was already bored less than a minute into the conversation. This was usually the case with most conversations that didn’t involve Mo Eunje. Looking down at her with a disinterested gaze, Manager Yoon took a deep breath and began speaking in a deliberate tone, as if she’d made up her mind.
“At the farewell party I attended two months ago, after taking over from the previous manager, some strange comments came up.”
“What kind of comments?”
“That our writer and you, Igyeol-ssi… might be dating.”
Tae Igyeol briefly recalled Mo Eunje’s previous manager. He couldn’t remember her face, but he did remember her outgoing personality and how she got along comfortably with Mo Eunje. He didn’t know she would backstab like this, though he did recall she had once confessed to Mo Eunje. In any case, the conversation had turned unpleasant from the start, so he wasn’t going to just listen stupidly.
“Do you think it’s appropriate for an agent who supports a writer to gossip about their client at a drinking party? That could be grounds for contract termination.”
“No, it absolutely wasn’t gossip. She brought it up with difficulty because she was concerned. If there’s been any misunderstanding about the previous manager, it’s my fault for not explaining properly.”
Manager Yoon Hyesu waved her hands, showing a rare sign of fluster.
“After hearing about it, I also suspected you two might be dating, but even after meeting you just once, I could tell that wasn’t the case.”
“If you know it’s not true, then what’s the problem?”
“Well, that’s… um, I’d like to cautiously suggest that you… make it less obvious.”
“…”
Tae Igyeol stared at Manager Yoon, as if telling her to continue. He had an inkling of what she meant, but needed precise information to deal with it properly.
“Our writer seems to take it naturally because he’s so used to it, but by social norms, most people would consider it unusual.”
“Sigh… What exactly are you trying to say?”
“Even as an outsider, I can’t help but notice where your eyes are directed, and what that look means.”
He had thought she was quite perceptive when they met last month, but this level of awareness was beyond his expectation. But considering it, while he hadn’t openly shown his feelings in front of Manager Yoon, he hadn’t particularly tried to hide them either.
“I know it’s not my place to interfere, and this might sound presumptuous, but I don’t want my writer to be caught up in strange rumors. Our CEO also advised me to ask for your discretion as a preventive measure before any gossip starts.”
It seemed the agency CEO had been at the farewell party too. Though maintaining a poker face, Tae Igyeol’s anger was boiling just knowing that Mo Eunje had been put on the chopping block at that gathering.
“There’s a clause in the contract stating that if actions damaging to reputation occur, the contract can be terminated with compensation required. Since our position is that we want to continue working with our writer, I’ve had to bring this up.”
So ultimately it was a warning that while they had suspicions, they didn’t want to terminate the contract, so he should behave modestly.
While keeping his eyes on Manager Yoon, Tae Igyeol thought about the writers belonging to Mo Eunje’s agency. The only profitable writer was SF novelist “Lee Choyoung,” who had debuted the same year as Mo Eunje and continued to be actively productive until recently. Still, she couldn’t compare to Mo Eunje, who had formed a fandom almost at the level of a minor celebrity. There’s no such thing as kindness or generosity without reason.
“I apologize for my rude comments. But please, I ask that you be a little more careful.”
While the content of her message could be considered rude, Manager Yoon Hyesu’s attitude couldn’t be called disrespectful no matter how negatively one looked at it. Though they hadn’t worked together long, he could feel her genuine concern for Mo Eunje, which made him annoyed and unpleasant.
Tae Igyeol didn’t care what others thought of him. From the beginning, other people’s thoughts were not something he considered worth considering in his life. However, Mo Eunje wasn’t someone who staked his life on his image as a novelist. At this rate, he might end up destroying the precious things Mo Eunje had built up with his own hands, causing him harm.
