‘Wow… He’s really beautiful….’
Sungjin found himself staring at Yuwon’s face as if entranced, before finally coming to his senses and naturally heading to the seat beside him while greeting him.
“Hello, I’m Yoon Sungjin. It’s nice to meet you.”
At that moment, that beautiful face scrunched up. Why? He couldn’t understand the reason. However, before Sungjin could react in surprise, Yuwon curved his lovely eyes into a wide smile and responded.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Yuwon.”
Lee Yuwon’s self-introduction was sufficient with just those words. If you search the three characters ‘Lee Yuwon,’ everything comes up, so what more would be needed?
Sungjin thought he must have seen wrong earlier because he was tired, and shook the hand Yuwon extended. The hand he grasped had a strangely forceful grip. He didn’t even let go, for some reason.
Only after Sungjin flinched and wiggled the back of his hand did their clasped hands finally separate. Yuwon, with his angel-like beautiful face and warm hands, enchanted people, then suddenly blurted out an unexpected remark.
“This is my first time appearing on a broadcast like this, so I was both worried and looking forward to it, you know, wondering what kind of people would appear.”
“Ah, yes. Haha….”
The beauty’s voice was perfect too. It was a calm, pleasant voice that was neither too low nor too high. What he brought up next with that pretty voice was even more shocking.
“But I really think I made the right choice coming here. The moment I saw you, Sungjin-ssi, that’s all I could think.”
At those words, Sungjin froze as if caught in a snare. This wasn’t a situation in the scenario he had anticipated. Warning lights went off in his head.
“……”
Why… why is he acting like this? Sungjin was flustered by the red flags filling his mind. If the other person had been ordinary, it would have been a sentence he’d consider flirting, but the person who said it was none other than that ‘Lee Yuwon.’ Not a single appropriate response came to mind. Was this his original personality? Was it just so natural and obvious for him to say nice things to anyone he met for the first time…?
Sungjin had met various people in his life, and he knew that for some people, this kind of lip service was very easy and simple. However, Yuwon’s public image up until now had been far from that type. He had never actively answered interviews or reporters’ questions, and had been a model who maintained a mysterious concept for a long time. There were even reviews saying he appeared more attractive because he didn’t open his mouth and therefore exposed no information about himself.
For that Yuwon to suddenly be spouting out cringeworthy things so smoothly was nothing but confusing from Sungjin’s standpoint.
But Sungjin. You’ve walked into the tiger’s den of your own accord right now. Sungjin hastily grabbed hold of the mental thread he’d let go. I need to answer somehow. What should I say?
Sungjin quickly ran through his prompts. He rapidly searched through the cheat sheet in his mind for an answer on how to react most safely when receiving extreme praise about one’s appearance from someone upon first meeting.
‘Act moderately embarrassed while naturally smiling and complimenting the other person.’
Having finally made his decision, Sungjin smiled with a shy face and answered.
“Haha, I was surprised too. I really never thought someone as famous as Yuwon-ssi would be appearing. You’re so….”
Amazing. Sungjin intended to say that far, but he couldn’t put his thoughts into action. Because Yuwon had cut off Sungjin’s words first.
“Because you thought I wouldn’t be interested in something like this?”
“Uh….”
At the blatant counterattack, Sungjin lost his words again. However, he couldn’t back down here. If he got branded as unlikeable by showing an awkward, stuttering appearance like a loser from the start, it would be the end. Sungjin gritted his teeth inwardly.
“It’s more that… you’ve been someone who was hard to see on broadcasts or interviews, things like that. I’m really glad to meet you like this today.”
This was sincere. The man he thought was the most beautiful existence he’d seen in his life was right before his eyes—how could anyone dislike that? It would have been enjoyable eye candy just watching from far away, but being able to have a conversation right in front of him was in itself a very fascinating experience for Sungjin.
The only problem was… that he had to show a favorable image in this awkward situation one-on-one with that Lee Yuwon. Yuwon’s attitude was unexpectedly somewhat burdensome, so the siren in his head wouldn’t stop.
Yuwon stared intently at Sungjin like a cat, who was gently pulling up the corners of his mouth to maintain as calm an attitude as possible, then asked again.
“You’ve known about me from before, it seems?”
What kind of absurd question is this now? Sungjin tried not to show his bewilderment and answered.
“W-well, of course? You’re so….”
However, this time too, Yuwon didn’t give Sungjin a chance to answer fully.
“Then my face must be familiar to you?”
Sungjin stammered, not understanding the intent behind the question. After all, people who nitpick conventional expressions were rather rare.
“Yes, y-yes…. That’s… right?”
At Sungjin’s answer, Yuwon momentarily frowned sharply. In that instant, Sungjin felt as if his heart was being squeezed tight. It was a face that made people hold their breath even when just expressionless, but when that tremendous beauty furrowed his brow, his chest felt heavy as if he’d become a great criminal.
“…But it’s nice to meet you for the first time?”
It was somehow a sentence that seemed to have a subtle barb in it.
“……?”
Sungjin was once again flustered. But I know you, but you don’t know me. If seeing someone through a monitor also counted as not being a first meeting, then he would be acquainted with the President of the United States too. Was this sound logic?
Though he’d met people similar to Lee Yuwon in his life, today was the first time meeting Lee Yuwon himself. Dumbfounded, his mind went blank again about what to say, but bringing his social butterfly persona to the fore as much as possible, he just blurted out anything.
“Because this is the first time we’ve actually met in person like this?”
Sungjin looked at Yuwon with a good-natured face, wearing a smile that conveyed the meaning of ‘I took your words as a fucking absurd joke.’ If he did this, even in fairly difficult situations, most people would just accept it and move on.
Fortunately, Yuwon seemed similar in this respect at least, as he changed the subject while looking at him with a face that still seemed somewhat dissatisfied.
“I just… sometimes feel a bit lonely too, you know. I thought I might be able to meet a good connection here, so that’s why I came on.”
After suddenly spouting a few words of unclear intention, he switched topics again as he pleased—he was exactly like a capricious cat whose moods changed as quickly as boiling porridge. However, such an attitude couldn’t help but be natural, because Yuwon was the possessor of beauty beyond the general level. There was an aura about his very existence that made people anxiously try to please him on their own.
“Ah, I see.”
Sungjin reflexively responded immediately with understanding and nodded. But what was this? Even that seemed to grate on his nerves somehow, as Yuwon showed a strangely uncomfortable expression and asked.
“What about you, Sungjin-ssi? What made you decide to come here?”
Ah, I have a prepared answer for this! Sungjin felt triumphant inwardly and said confidently.
“It’s the same reason for me too. I’m the type who likes meeting and interacting with new people. I wanted to make friends here and meet good connections….”
Just as he was smoothly spouting out a textbook answer, Yuwon cut off Sungjin’s words again.
“Are you naturally the open type?”
Before he knew it, Yuwon had hidden his displeased expression and was looking at Sungjin with the corners of his mouth pulled up. Those eyes were, how should he put it… blatant enough to be concerning, making Sungjin feel like a mouse just before being hunted.
‘What’s this been about since earlier?’
Because Sungjin had lived his entire childhood being bullied, he was instinctively excellent at detecting aggression toward himself. Of course, he sometimes malfunctioned and made clueless mistakes, but when it was this blatant, fortunately the probability of it working properly was higher.
Lee Yuwon dislikes me. This was the conclusion Sungjin instinctively reached right now. But why? There was no reason for it. The conversation they’d had was just superficial greetings, and they’d literally just met for the first time today. He felt a bit wronged. He had harbored broad goodwill toward him even before meeting him directly, so what had he done to be treated with such hostility?
‘Could it be because I recognized him yesterday but didn’t acknowledge him…?’
They had sat side by side in business class seats right next to each other in a two-seat row, but because he was a celebrity, he didn’t acknowledge recognizing him? Sungjin recalled Yuwon’s appearance yesterday when he’d been moving about busily for a while. But wasn’t that too ridiculous a reason? No matter how much he thought about it, while Yuwon might not like him, there didn’t seem to be a reason to hate him.
‘Or does my very existence just irritate him?’
Because I’m a competitor? Then what was that about thinking he made the right choice coming here when he saw me earlier? I don’t know. In the end, Sungjin gave up on finding a clear answer to this part and gave an answer that fit the concept the production team had set up.
“Um…. I’m not sure what you mean by that, but compared to other people, I’m probably relatively more on the conservative side? Haha….”
At the answer Sungjin returned while forcing a smile, Yuwon immediately burst into laughter.
“Ha.”
It was a reaction as if he’d heard preposterous bragging.
