# Chapter 37
Living frantically, about two weeks had passed like an arrow before I knew it. Fortunately, today was a day without any schedule. Once he moves agencies, he’ll probably be busy without even time to breathe. I thought I should rest as much as possible during the remaining time and build up my stamina.
Actually, spending these two weeks made me think it was already difficult enough. On days with schedules, there was no time to rest. Picking up and dropping off, bringing things. The remaining time was a continuous series of boring waiting. I suddenly remembered a manager observation variety show I’d seen before. The work looked tough, and indeed it wasn’t easy when I experienced it myself.
But I gritted my teeth and worked to not give Seo Hanryul even the slightest excuse to find fault. When Seo Hanryul told me to come out at 5 AM, I prepared a simple breakfast and waited in front of his house from 4:40 AM, and when we went to locations, I tried to greet everyone nicely and leave a good impression. When schedules were over, I would safely escort Seo Hanryul to his house without complaint.
These were things the original Cha Jaehyun naturally couldn’t even imagine doing. Seo Hanryul seemed quite displeased that his plan was flowing differently than expected. But since I did my work flawlessly without a single error, he couldn’t say much.
‘Serves you right, Seo Hanryul. By the way, that day is coming soon.’
The big event had suddenly approached. Youth Entertainment’s public audition. I hadn’t told Seo Hanryul about this yet, but I was planning to gradually bring up the topic.
In the original work, Seo Hanryul enters the audition venue with his injured face.
‘If I hadn’t stopped the CEO last time, he would have gone to the audition venue with the same face.’
The judges who first encounter his tremendous aura are startled, but soon see the condition of his face and criticize him, saying his qualifications as an actor are questionable since he couldn’t even manage himself properly while coming to an audition.
But the result is naturally a pass. With all judges passing him, he proudly breaks through the 500:1 competition ratio and enters the place that anyone who dreams of being a celebrity would want to enter at least once.
It’s a method where specific keywords are thrown out on site, and you have to immediately show acting that matches those keywords in response. The theme given to Seo Hanryul was ‘anger.’
Seo Hanryul started acting without hesitation. Beginning calmly, then gradually intensifying eyes and gestures. Up to the perfect climax of anger. Everyone present was unconsciously absorbed in his flawless performance.
With that face and that level of acting ability. Where was such a talent hiding before suddenly appearing? After seeing his performance, the judges completely changed their sneering attitude 180 degrees, anxiously worrying he might change his mind and trying to hold onto him by promising the industry’s best treatment.
‘Hmm… So how should I ask about this?’
Anyway, passing was a foregone conclusion, but I needed to know the schedule and there were things to prepare, so I had to ask him as soon as possible. Naturally, since this was an audition he was taking secretly from his current agency, this schedule was an unofficial schedule unknown to the company. I had to make sure there were no disruptions to the schedule.
[Hey, come to OO Gym by 10 o’clock.]
A message suddenly arrived. Why does this guy call me too when he could just go by himself on rest days? His intentions were very malicious, but I rushed out without complaint. It would become tiresome if he started bringing up violation this and that.
* * *
“On days when there’s no schedule like today, can’t you let me rest a bit? Why do I have to follow you to the gym too?”
After arriving at the gym, I asked Seo Hanryul with a timid tone but persistently.
“Hey, are you talking more and more? You’re starting to annoy me. Making me feel uncomfortable is also a violation of requirements.”
As expected was as expected. As soon as his detestable violation of requirements came out of his mouth, I was suppressed like a fire that quickly dies out.
“Water.”
When I kept my mouth tightly shut as if I had lost, the guy stretched his arm toward me and ordered me to fetch water. Ha, that young bastard must have called me to make me run errands today. I was annoyed but didn’t show it and immediately bought water from the store and offered it to him.
As soon as we entered the changing room, Seo Hanryul took off his top. The sculpted body I had seen at the cafe was revealed clearly before my eyes again. But when he took off all his clothes, the scar on his abdomen caught my eye again.
‘Ugh… That must have really hurt.’
I felt stabbed myself for no reason and turned my eyes away.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming out?”
Seo Hanryul, who had changed clothes before I knew it, started exercising as soon as we went out. He was strong because he exercised in all his spare time.
I shouldn’t just be standing around like this either; I should exercise. I picked any equipment and started working out.
“Hey, will that be exercise if you do it so halfheartedly?”
Is he some kind of exercise expert? He picked another fight from the side.
“Please mind your own business and do your own thing. If I put my mind to it, I can knock down someone like you with one hand.”
I suddenly remembered being grabbed by the collar in America and felt a surge of emotion.
“Huh? I don’t think that’s something the guy who was dragged around by me in America should say.”
To bring all that up – what a persistent bastard.
“Ah, you must not know. I was going easy on you then.”
“I see. Thank you for such tearful consideration.”
Seo Hanryul snickered and tapped my shoulder provocatively.
Ha… That bastard is being really annoying. He didn’t seem like that style in the novel, so I wondered why he kept acting like that.
The guy seemed bored as he didn’t move away from in front of me and kept lingering around. Looking at him staying close continuously, I felt he had subtly grown bigger than when I first saw him. Did he look bigger because he was exercising like crazy?
“Hey, but you seem to have gotten bigger?”
“I thought you were stupid, but you have some eye for detail? Yeah, I grew a bit taller.”
A guy old enough has grown – what height… What I meant was his build.
“Don’t be ridiculous. What more height is left for a fully grown guy to grow?”
“You think everyone’s like you? Some people say they grow taller until their late twenties.”
He won’t give up on a single word.
“Right, how enviable. Grow vigorously until you’re 10 meters tall.”
“Crazy…”
It was such a childish conversation that it was hard to believe it was between two men in their twenties, so I became embarrassed.
Fine, if you won’t move, I’ll go. I avoided Seo Hanryul and went somewhere else to start exercising. Fortunately, the guy didn’t follow me there.
“Hey, let’s go now.”
Had about 40 minutes passed? Seo Hanryul gestured to me to go back into the changing room.
“Aren’t you going to wash?”
As soon as we came to the changing room, he prepared to enter the shower room and asked if I wasn’t going to wash. I had absolutely no intention of going to the shower area naked alongside Seo Hanryul.
“No thanks. I’m a precious body, so I don’t wash together with others in places where others wash.”
It was quite a plausible excuse. It was a story that would be entirely possible for Cha Jaehyun.
“Ugh… Dirty bastard.”
Seo Hanryul gave me one unpleasant look over and immediately went into the shower area.
* * *
Whoosh—
Cool streams of water refreshingly wet his entire body. The short shower time after morning exercise was one of Hanryul’s favorite parts of his daily routine.
Today was somehow different from usual. While showering, that bastard Cha Jaehyun kept coming to mind.
I thought that ridiculous act would last three days at most. But what do you know. It continued for two weeks. Moreover, he did his work skillfully and well. As if he had experience working as a manager somewhere.
Originally, when that guy threw a fit, I was going to tear paper in front of his eyes, give him a kind of warning, and tell him to get lost. Hanryul became displeased when his plan flowed very differently from his thoughts.
Actually, Hanryul had a manager. That person was the only person he could rely on in that trashy agency and a good mentor. But he had to quit due to sudden personal circumstances, and though it was difficult, Hanryul tried to fill that void. After some time passed, it became bearable, but there was no way to prevent the occasional emptiness that visited his heart.
Had there been time to feel emptiness during the past week? Because of chattering Jaehyun who did his work well but had plenty to say, there was no time to feel such emotions. Of course, even before, he said everything he could and couldn’t say with that hellish mouth, but the type of words had changed to a seriously normal level. When he realized this fact, his mood became very strange.
“CEO, from even a mere manager’s perspective, laying hands on the face doesn’t seem like a good method. There’s a schedule this week too.”
He remembered how when he was being dragged around by his scruff of the neck, he fearlessly stood up to a guy twice his size without backing down.
‘What is he, some kind of apostle of justice?’
The reason he endured the CEO’s unreasonable actions was because the contract expiration was approaching. Even if he fought back against that guy, it was obvious he would gleefully escalate things by threatening to sue him or whatever. He had no intention of playing into those obvious and lowly tricks. Even if he got angry and fought back, there was nothing good for his career. Punishing him was something that could be done sufficiently after the contract expired.
Whether he knew this or not, Jaehyun entered the CEO’s office and busily blocked the CEO as if something big had happened. That crazy lunatic bastard was definitely not the type to consider others’ situations. It was inexplicable.
“I was going easy on you then.”
Today, he worked out with clumsy movements as if he had learned something somewhere, acting cocky toward him. Recalling that sight made him burst into laughter at the absurdity.
The short shower had ended before he knew it. Hanryul was inwardly surprised that he had been thinking about that guy the entire time he was washing. And soon he felt disgusted.
‘Get it together, Seo Hanryul.’
Hanryul slapped his own cheeks several times with both hands. He needed to get it together. What was his true nature? It was confusing. Soon, as if he had made up his mind, he ruffled his hair.
‘No, I absolutely must not be bewitched by that snake-like appearance.’
