The only thing he could know for certain was that Yuwon held considerable resentment toward him. When Sungjin couldn’t make any reply, saviors burst in with good timing.
“Oh, the coffee smells good. There’s a machine here? I should drink some too~.”
Three female cast members came flooding into the kitchen all at once, as if they had all come down from the women’s room together. Yuwon, as if displeased with the situation that would soon become noisy, stood up from his seat first.
“Well then. See you later.”
Yuwon tapped Sungjin’s trembling hand, which was on the table, with his fingertips once, then left the kitchen first. It felt like the ground beneath his feet was collapsing into a thousand-foot precipice.
***
A little later, without giving Sungjin any time to escape from his panic, it was soon time to assemble. As Sungjin sat blankly in front of the table watching the ice in his glass melt, several cast members approached him.
“What are you doing, Sungjin?”
“Ah, I was dozing off for a bit.”
Sungjin desperately smiled with a good-natured face. He tried hard not to let shadows fall on his face, but it seemed to be of no use.
“Didn’t you sleep well last night? You look a bit tired.”
“I’m fine. I feel much better after drinking coffee.”
“That’s a relief, but….”
Even though he wasn’t making a sour face, every person passing by added a word of concern. Everything must be being recorded, and I don’t even have time to worry about whether my image will be fixed as a troublesome or tiresome person.
“……”
What on earth is Lee Yuwon planning to do? Does he think it’s disgusting to see him acting like a hetero when he’s someone who not only likes men but kissed him and could go up to a hotel room together? So is he planning to expose him in front of everyone? Just imagining it made the blood drain from his face.
‘……’
COOL&BEAUTY was a globally released variety show. On the day of official release, it was scheduled to open simultaneously in more than 20 countries in more than eight languages.
If his secret was exposed here… he would become a famous gay widely known in more than 20 countries. That was far from the peaceful and comfortable life Sungjin desired. Not only company people but even passersby on the street would stop and look at him, asking if he was the famous gay from that variety show.
He would also get contacted by his parents. In this day and age, parents who would flip out because their son likes men would be old-fashioned people, but… Sungjin’s family was still a conservative household no different from the 90s.
Things like being beaten up and kicked out saying you’re not even their son… wouldn’t happen, but they would openly show their disappointment, saying their already troublesome son had brought shame to the entire family. Just thinking about it made his stomach already start to hurt.
‘…What should I do?’
As if it wasn’t enough that enemies were everywhere, it was a dilemma where he couldn’t escape anywhere. It seemed like he should bow his head to Lee Yuwon first and apologize, but the biggest problem was that he didn’t have time for that. He might have a chance to turn off the mic during a brief break time, but clearing up the misunderstanding with Lee Yuwon in that time seemed too difficult.
Moreover, to be cold about it… it couldn’t even be called a misunderstanding. Because he had acted impulsively while drunk, something he wouldn’t do sober, and as a result, ran away because he was scared to accept the situation he had created. He hadn’t thought about how absurd it would be for the person left behind by his momentary fear.
‘It wasn’t a strange person, but the real Lee Yuwon….’
Setting aside the regret that his life’s greatest achievement might not have been just someone who resembled Lee Yuwon but actually making out with the real Lee Yuwon, the fact that the person he had inconvenienced like that was that Lee Yuwon intensified his pain.
An ordinary person would be reluctant to have the fact that they went up to a hotel room with him known to others, so they wouldn’t try to expose it easily, but unfortunately, Lee Yuwon was a famous bi and a slut. There were plenty of people who exchanged messages with him on SNS and had private meetings. In short, it meant he was a person who had no problem even if it was revealed that he went to a hotel room with a man. The fact that Lee Yuwon did such things was just something anyone could expect, and it wasn’t shocking or surprising.
This… this was a situation too disadvantageous for him. At the very least, if Lee Yuwon wasn’t openly bi or wasn’t a slut, he might be more careful, but the fact that he almost slept with him wasn’t even something for Lee Yuwon to hide. Even though for Sungjin himself, it was a problem he would consider quitting his company the moment it was revealed.
While Sungjin suffered alone until all the ice melted, the other cast members left one by one. In the end, it was Sungjin who headed to the outdoor meeting room last. Fortunately, he wasn’t late for assembly time.
“Ah. That’s a relief. I’m not late yet.”
The moment Sungjin entered the outdoor meeting room with a bitter smile, what caught his eye was the only empty seat remaining. All the male and female cast members were sitting next to comfortable companions, but tragically, the only place Sungjin could sit was next to Yuwon.
“……”
The moment Sungjin froze as if dead while standing, Yuwon boldly tapped the chair next to him with his palm and called him.
“Sit here. I saved the seat for you.”
Then people around looked at Sungjin and Yuwon and spoke up.
“Oh. You two have gotten quite close? Close enough to save seats?”
At the question from a male cast member sitting nearby, Yuwon answered with his characteristic bright smile.
“I’m trying hard because I want to make a good impression on Sungjin.”
“Oh….”
For a moment, a complicated expression appeared on that male cast member’s face and then disappeared. Because everyone here knew that Yuwon was openly bi, it would have felt ambiguous whether the meaning of “want to make a good impression” that Yuwon was talking about was simply friendship and acquaintance, or whether it meant he wanted to seduce him sexually. Of course, Lee Yuwon himself clearly meant the latter.
Sungjin wanted to turn around and run away immediately, but since the camera was capturing him on screen in real time, he headed next to Yuwon as naturally as possible. In fact, he wasn’t even aware of what expression he was wearing. It was fortunate enough if he wasn’t making a face like walking into hell with an expression like he’d seen a ghost.
“Thank, you….”
Sungjin desperately tried to smile and sat down next to Yuwon. Finally, when all personnel gathered in the meeting room, the AI speaker placed in the center of the table lit up.
[Hello, did you have a pleasant time last night?]
Then one of the female cast members answered quite provocatively.
“Not yet.”
At that moment, another female cast member sitting next to her slapped her shoulder and giggled.
“Aren’t you being too honest?”
“Ah, why, it’s true that nothing happened.”
Just as the atmosphere was naturally loosening up, the voice from the speaker conveyed shocking content.
[Don’t let your guard down. Incidents happen even while you’re asleep.]
[Did nothing really happen during last night?]
At that moment, everyone’s expressions froze briefly. There are already people who did something? It’s only the first day?
Everyone had shocked faces. That meant someone was acting nonchalant.
“Wow, really?”
“Who is it?”
“What did they do?”
While everyone laughed in disbelief, the speaker calmly continued the proceedings.
[Night is a good time to create many secrets away from other people’s eyes.]
[But since it’s daytime now. We will provide you with time to publicly show off your charm.]
The murmuring lasted only briefly before what was coming finally came.
[Then from now on, we will move to the beach and start the first date ticket battle.]
[Don’t miss the opportunity to reveal your charm under the hot sun and show your wonderful appearance.]
At the same time, cast members wearing simple shirts or cover-ups over bikinis and trunk pants began to take off their outer clothing. Well-managed wonderful bodies were revealed regardless of gender here and there, and everyone’s eyes could be seen moving busily. Among them, there were those who definitely received the most attention.
“Wow….”
“A model is indeed a model….”
“Wow….”
On the male cast member side, it was naturally Lee Yuwon, and on the female cast member side, Suyeong, who had introduced herself as a clothing shopping mall CEO, caught attention. Suyeong in particular drew more attention as she had a glamorous body type and wore a small-area bikini full of venom and ambition that barely covered the important parts. Except for Sungjin and Yuwon, the other male cast members were at a level where they couldn’t take their eyes off Suyeong.
