# Chapter 34
‘What the hell?’
Hanryul bringing Jaehyun to his house was quite an impulsive action. Jaehyun’s condition looked so disastrously bad that he headed to his own home instead of the agency. There would be absolutely nothing good for him in showing Jaehyun’s facial condition to the people at the agency.
Just a few months ago, thinking of how that bastard used to act up, he should have felt satisfaction seeing him beaten to a pulp, but actually seeing his battered face made him feel quite uneasy.
Jaehyun was sleeping peacefully on the living room sofa. Taking a quick look at his face, the swelling seemed to have gone down considerably compared to earlier.
He’d thought the disgusting bastard was putting on some pathetic act to get out of the situation he was stuck in. But seeing Jaehyun’s behavior tonight, his thinking couldn’t help but change.
Jaehyun’s default expression was a shit-eating face as if everything annoyed him. But the expressions he’d shown at home today had positive laughter as their foundation. As if he’d become a completely different person.
‘Or maybe he’s desperately acting while cleverly hiding his dirty true nature.’
Until now, he’d known Jaehyun as someone who acted up like an immature puppy with solid backing.
But seeing him mercilessly beaten by someone today, he judged that he’d been wrong. What was that bastard’s true identity? For the first time, he became curious about his background.
Hanryul looked down suspiciously at the peacefully sleeping face. The sight of him brightly smiling and extending his hand first, saying let’s do well together for 6 months. It was an attitude and atmosphere unimaginable from the previous Jaehyun.
‘Can you really do well? We’ll see. Let’s see how far you can go.’
Souls switching was nonsense. Based on today’s situation, Hanryul concluded that Jaehyun was putting on an act for his survival.
‘Well, for me it’s rather a good thing.’
* * *
Beep beep beep- Beep beep beep-
As soon as I heard the alarm, I jumped up and turned it off. The time was 5 AM. As expected, I didn’t oversleep.
‘I said I don’t oversleep. He’s just too suspicious…’
My body wasn’t quite refreshed from sleeping on the sofa. Seeing that Seo Hanryul hadn’t come out of his room, he probably hadn’t woken up yet.
Since I’d decided to work as a manager starting today, I thought I should do something.
‘I should at least prepare something simple to eat.’
I roughly went to the kitchen and looked around, finding bread, milk, eggs, and such. Thinking about what would be good to quickly whip up, I decided to make French toast.
‘Let’s see. Where are the sugar and butter?’
Opening doors here and there to look around, I was able to find sugar and butter. I gathered the ingredients in one place and quickly began preparing.
When I grilled the bread in the frying pan, the bread smell and butter aroma combined to create a savory scent. This would be a decent breakfast.
“What are you doing?”
Just as I was nearly finishing, I heard a blunt voice from behind.
“Can’t you see? I’m making breakfast.”
“You know how to cook too?”
“Who are you taking for an idiot? I’m all grown up, how could I not be able to do something like this.”
“Did you put poison in it or something?”
“Then don’t eat it. I’m going to wash up. According to someone who was making a fuss from dawn yesterday about needing to prepare early, I woke up early, so you better get ready quickly too.”
Not wanting to face that bastard and eat breakfast from the morning, I left only the French toast on the dining table and escaped to the bathroom.
‘Right, let’s just endure 6 months.’
I encouraged myself while looking in the bathroom mirror. As a result of observing Seo Hanryul for one day yesterday, I became confident that if I faithfully fulfilled the contract for 6 months, there wouldn’t be any lingering resentment.
* * *
“What’s this now?”
“Have your eyes been crooked since earlier? You keep going ‘what’s this, what’s that’ with two perfectly good eyes open.”
Seo Hanryul, who came outside the house, seemed quite surprised seeing the large van in front of him. As soon as I returned to Korea, I looked into cars to score some points with Seo Hanryul. I focused on luxury vans with the highest specifications and was able to purchase a suitable model. Seo Hanryul, get a taste of money.
“The car you used to drive is perfectly fine, so why did you bring this thing?”
Stop complaining and just get in, how nice would that be. He nitpicks everything.
“Hey, didn’t I say yesterday let’s do well? Naturally, if you’re a celebrity, shouldn’t you be riding something like this?”
“What are you doing? Won’t you let go of this?”
I forcibly pushed the frowning Seo Hanryul into the new car and slammed the door shut.
“This has been going on since earlier…”
“Now, now, calm down. We’re departing!”
I ignored Seo Hanryul grumbling behind me and started driving. Soon the back became quiet as if he’d given up.
Now I knew for sure. That bastard is weak to smooth talking. Attacking Seo Hanryul seemed easier than expected. I thought I should continue pushing forward with a smooth and slick strategy from now on.
‘Is it possible to shorten the period if I work well?’
Seo Hanryul was probably preparing for the interview, as he’d already taken out some paper and was continuously reading it. Gone was his earlier wildcat-like appearance, and only a serious look of concentration on something remained, so I didn’t speak to him.
“We’ve arrived at the shop. Get out. I’ll be waiting here continuously, so come down when you’re finished.”
Seo Hanryul didn’t even answer me and just walked off.
‘Hopeless bastard.’
If he’s getting makeup done, it’ll easily take an hour, right? I should close my eyes for a bit.
[Knock knock]
I opened my eyes. I’d just closed my eyes for a moment, but when I woke up, about an hour and 30 minutes had already passed. Outside, Seo Hanryul, who had finished preparing, was tapping on the car window. I immediately unlocked the car and went outside to personally open the door for him.
‘Crazy.’
This was the first time I saw Seo Hanryul’s appearance after getting dolled up. Even when I saw him in his natural state, I couldn’t get used to his looks, but seeing him seriously dressed up left me speechless. Is that really a person?
When I was in college and female classmates would occasionally mention certain celebrities and heap novel praise on them, I used to think they were just being ridiculous. Seeing Seo Hanryul’s dazzlingly bright appearance up close, I finally understood those friends’ feelings.
‘Sorry for badmouthing you guys when I didn’t know anything.’
“What are you doing? You get in quickly too.”
While I hesitated looking at his appearance, Seo Hanryul was already in the car.
“Uh.”
‘He didn’t notice that I was surprised looking at him, did he?’
A belated worry arose. I gave a dry answer as if I hadn’t been thinking anything and quickly took the driver’s seat.
“Then let’s head to the interview location now.”
* * *
“Hello! I’m Do Hajin, an editor from [Cosmo]. Today, we’ll be conducting a vibrant interview with rookie actor Seo Hanryul-ssi, who recently appeared like a comet with terrifying skills.”
“Dear [Cosmo] subscribers. It’s an honor to meet you all. I’m rookie actor Seo Hanryul.”
I thought that since it was a magazine interview, it would just be two people talking simply and ending. But that wasn’t the case. This interview was a schedule for filming a special interview that would be uploaded to that magazine’s official channel.
I thought it was just a simple interview to fill one page of a magazine. Seeing the elaborately decorated studio and multiple cameras was somewhat awkward. Watching Seo Hanryul skillfully answer the host’s questions made me realize that he really was a celebrity.
“Hanryul-ssi, it’s so wonderful to meet you in person~ Actually seeing you makes me feel like my eyes might go blind.”
“Hajin-ssi. Aren’t you being too mischievous from our first meeting?”
“I only speak the truth. Actually, Hanryul-ssi is already famous online as a face genius. Having the opportunity to interview such a beautiful person makes me feel like I’m already floating. Let’s start this happy time together right now!”
Both of them had wings on their tongues, smoothly flowing through their conversation back and forth. For me, seeing this kind of filming scene on location for the first time, it was an interesting scene.
The interview content was quite interesting. From stories related to Seo Hanryul’s first starring work, the short film [Spring of Time], to stories about his role model Woo Juhan. After answering various questions, the interview time had reached its final stages.
“Hanryul-ssi, thank you so much for generously sharing many stories today. Now only the last question remains. The final question is one prepared by request from our subscribers! Hanryul-ssi, what was your motivation for becoming a celebrity?”
“Haha. It’s a little embarrassing to say. It might be a somewhat predictable story. Since I was young, I loved watching TV so much that I wanted to become someone who appeared on TV someday.”
“Hanryul-ssi knew his talent from a young age.”
“Does the story go that way? And… my mother also really loves watching TV. Even if we can’t meet often, I thought that if my mother saw me appearing on TV, she would be happy. So… I want to continue meeting my precious fans and my mother through more works in the future.”
“Hanryul-ssi, you even have such a warm heart. Isn’t this against the rules? As a fan of Hanryul-ssi myself, those final words were really touching.”
His eyes looked somewhat sad when answering the last question.
“Everyone worked hard! With that, we’ll conclude the interview.”
The interview ended smoothly and well, and Seo Hanryul and I returned to the car.
“Hey, you can actually talk?”
“Stop the nonsense and get ready to depart.”
Gone was the angelic smile he’d been flashing in front of the host earlier, and he was sitting there throwing a tantrum again. They say there are many celebrities who act differently in front and behind. I wish other people could know this bastard’s true nature too.
I was about to start the engine when Seo Hanryul’s phone rang. I glanced at Seo Hanryul’s appearance through the rearview mirror, and his expression was not normal.
“You crazy bastard, come to the agency right now!”
When Seo Hanryul answered the phone, some man’s shouting voice could be heard vividly from the other end. Who was that man? As if he’d boiled and eaten a megaphone, his angry voice echoed thunderously throughout the entire car.
Seo Hanryul, conscious of me, immediately opened the car door and went outside.
