[Laws of the Universe] was already racing toward the midpoint. It started with high viewer ratings from the first episode, but as the episodes continued, the ratings rose even further, easily earning the title of ‘Number One Monday-Tuesday Drama in Viewer Ratings.’ Due to the drama’s explosive popularity, the filming schedule proceeded very tightly, but filming was conducted in a warm atmosphere.
‘Compared to Kim Jinha’s time, the atmosphere is perfect….’
Seo Hanryul was confidently taking steps toward the entrance from rising star to top star. After the drama aired, Seo Hanryul’s buzz showed no signs of falling, and advertisement offers poured in like a flood. Already, over 20 advertisement offers had come in, and deciding whether to proceed with the incoming advertisements was also work, if you could call it that.
‘I’m looking forward to seeing how well he’ll shoot it.’
Today was the day to go to an advertisement shoot. A cosmetics advertisement targeting women in their teens and twenties. Even in the original work, there was mention of this advertisement, so it wasn’t surprising, but since this was my first advertisement site, I felt considerable anticipation. Also, the advertisement was very successful, greatly contributing to the brand’s sales increase, and Seo Hanryul also secured a large number of girl fans through this opportunity.
‘What is this?’
A studio in Nonhyeon-dong. As soon as I entered, the flashily decorated pink-toned filming site caught my eye. It was no exaggeration to say that pink was everywhere. As soon as Seo Hanryul arrived, he immediately went into the dressing room to change clothes, and I started looking around the filming site.
‘This isn’t some fairy land.’
Will this kind of concept work? The somewhat excessive pink sensibility felt burdensome. I didn’t know about teenagers, but thinking about girls in their twenties, I wondered if this concept would fit. I was thinking about the advertisement concept when Seo Hanryul, who had finished changing clothes, came out. Seo Hanryul also came out wearing pink-colored clothes to match the concept.
When Seo Hanryul came out, all the staff’s eyes simultaneously focused on him. By now, this kind of reaction from people wasn’t even surprising. Seo Hanryul wearing pink clothes and pink-toned makeup, and when that Seo Hanryul entered the set, the bastard became a living fairy itself. Once the bastard entered the set, now the advertisement concept was understood all at once.
‘That was intense. It’s enough to make girls’ hearts ache.’
“Seo Hanryul-ssi, please take care of us today.”
After briefly greeting the cinematographer and staff, filming started right away. Seo Hanryul was definitely capable. No matter what pose was requested, he smoothly accepted the request and immediately took the pose.
“Hanryul-ssi is really amazing. Usually, unless actors come from modeling backgrounds, when you request a specific pose, awkward cuts come out, but Hanryul-ssi doesn’t have a single cut to throw away.”
Hearing the staff’s praise, I headed toward the monitor where the photos taken were uploaded in real-time. Every time the shutter sound was heard, Seo Hanryul’s photos appeared on the large screen. As the staff said, there wasn’t a single photo to throw away.
‘There are no B-cuts. Won’t this be troublesome when selecting photos?’
The photo shoot didn’t stop, and new photos kept appearing on the screen.
‘Ah, this is it.’
Just moments ago, I was worried that photo selection would be difficult, but I changed my mind after seeing the newly posted cut on the monitor. A photo that struck a chord had appeared. This bastard has a bad temper but his face is a cheat key. Even with a bad temper, his face alone is enough to captivate people’s hearts….
“He is pretty handsome.”
Without realizing it, I praised the bastard out loud.
“Hey, what did you say? Say it again.”
Indeed, people should always watch their mouths whether asleep or awake. The bastard was somehow behind me, looking at his own photos together.
‘This narcissist bastard.’
“Well, what did I say?”
Naturally, I didn’t want to say those words to him again. If we had been alone, he would have made me say it again even if he had to hit me, but because there were many people around, the bastard couldn’t treat me carelessly. When I avoided answering, he could only send me a piercing glare.
‘Stick your tongue out at you, bastard.’
But the joy didn’t last long. As soon as we got into the car after finishing the advertisement shoot, the bastard’s scary true nature returned.
“So what did you say earlier?”
Persistent bastard. We had filmed for a few more hours since then, but he still hadn’t forgotten about that situation.
“What are you talking about? I talked so much today I forgot.”
I also played coy because I didn’t want to tell him.
“Cha Jaehyun, don’t make me irritated and tell me quickly.”
Seo Hanryul was slowly starting up his personality issues. I didn’t want to throw a spark onto the bastard’s temper.
“Ha…. That’s a sickness you have. You’re handsome, okay? Is that enough?”
“Good to know.”
Seo Hanryul, having obtained the answer he wanted from me, smirked.
‘Crazy bastard….’
If Cha Jaehyun had known Seo Hanryul’s real personality, that bastard would have also given up long ago. Although Cha Jaehyun’s criminal record toward Seo Hanryul was also considerable, I felt a bit of pity for Cha Jaehyun who hadn’t noticed Seo Hanryul’s personality. If he had quickly realized Seo Hanryul’s personality, he wouldn’t have screwed up his own life.
Seo Hanryul’s strange behavior seems to be getting worse day by day. Moreover, not only personality issues but also inexplicable cheekiness was added, making people even more exhausted. At first, I thought it was simple celebrity disease. But looking closely, it was madness directed only at me, and he wore a mask and behaved politely toward other people. In the end, I was the only one rotting inside.
The reason I could endure was only the D-day decreasing on the calendar. Waiting only for that day, I smoothly accepted the bastard’s strange temper and all sorts of behaviors.
* * *
Busy days continued as always, and before I knew it, January arrived.
When I opened my eyes in this world was June, the day I departed for America was July, and it’s been four months since I worked as that bastard’s manager. Living while being pushed around here and there, I had already welcomed the new year. When I first opened my eyes, I only wanted to just evaporate, but living diligently, I was able to survive until here.
‘That’s right. Don’t worry, just endure like now.’
Despite making such a big disgrace to Cha Taehan last time, there was no particular contact from Cha Taehan’s side afterward. Cha Taehan being quiet was also a problem if it was a problem, but right now, just being Seo Hanryul’s slave was burdensome enough, so I decided not to think about it for the time being.
However, one new problem arose. No, rather than a problem, it might be right to call this a strange point. From some point on, I feel like I’m running into Lee Dojun frequently. At first, I thought it was a coincidence and just politely greeted him and passed by, but as the coincidence continued, it was strange. The CEO would have a lot of outside work, but it was strange to run into the CEO every time I came to the agency. I also didn’t come to the agency often, so running into Lee Dojun every time I went to the agency shouldn’t be easy at all.
“Seo Jiwon-ssi, do you have time for dinner tonight? Let’s have a meal with me.”
Moreover, a more bizarre situation occurred now. Lee Dojun, whom I happened to run into, stopped me and suddenly asked to have dinner tonight. Until now, when we ran into each other, we just greeted and passed by, but this was the first time he initiated conversation like this.
When the CEO asks to have a meal, can a mere manager avoid it? But I also didn’t particularly like Lee Dojun. I was only behaving politely because he was the company CEO, and I didn’t want to have a meal alone with the cold-blooded person openly depicted in the novel.
Moreover, Lee Dojun was the number one contributor who sent Cha Jaehyun to the bottom. For me, his proposal was naturally something to avoid.
“CEO-nim, did you have a good new year? Today, Hanryul-ssi has a dinner schedule, so it seems difficult.”
I lied first and foremost. Even if I ate with him next time, I didn’t want to face Lee Dojun and eat a meal starting from tonight.
“Jiwon-ssi, lying is not good. I know there’s no schedule.”
How did he know? There are over a hundred celebrities belonging to Youth, so it didn’t make sense that he would know every single celebrity’s schedule one by one.
‘No, Seo Hanryul!’
Lee Dojun and Seo Hanryul. I thought I was too stupid. Lee Dojun would only know Seo Hanryul’s schedule. Therefore, I had told Lee Dojun a lie that was obviously transparent.
“Haha, CEO-nim, I’m sorry. I must have made an error in organizing the schedule.”
“Now you’re finally being accurate. Jiwon-ssi, you’re really a difficult person to have a meal with.”
“For me, it would be an honor anytime if CEO-nim calls. But for a mere manager, why would CEO-nim…?”
“Because Jiwon-ssi’s appearance at the audition was so interesting. Since it’s the new year, I asked to have a meal.”
‘What old story are you bringing up?’
Interesting. I couldn’t grasp the true intention of whether it was sarcasm or sincerity. Since it came to this, Seo Hanryul is joining too. Seo Hanryul and Lee Dojun weren’t progressing as much as expected. At dinner time today, I thought I should also seat Seo Hanryul and connect the two myself.
“CEO-nim, that’s fine. Then how about eating with Hanryul-ssi together tonight?”
“No. I want to have a meal alone with Seo Jiwon-ssi.”
Lee Dojun firmly refused my request. Why does he have to eat with only me?
‘Ah, now I get it.’
Lee Dojun must have feelings for Seo Hanryul. It’s just the early stages so he hasn’t realized those feelings yet. So while having a meal alone with me, he’ll subtly tell me in a roundabout way ‘don’t touch my man.’ As expected, Lee Dojun is a bastard crazy about love only for Seo Hanryul. Once my thoughts were organized in my own way, I thought I should eat with Lee Dojun.
Today, while having a meal alone with Lee Dojun, I’ll reduce Lee Dojun’s worries, and I’ll generously praise Seo Hanryul to him. Originally, when you praise the person in question in their absence, favorable feelings toward them increase even more.
In the original work, Lee Dojun falls for Seo Hanryul from the moment he first sees him. However, the prideful Lee Dojun absolutely doesn’t acknowledge his feelings in the early stages and even makes remarks that hurt Seo Hanryul. So I’m helping to skip this process as much as possible.
‘From manager to cupid role…. There’s a hell of a lot of work.’
“Yes, CEO-nim, that’s fine. Then I’ll see you at dinner.”
“Good. I’ll text you later.”
Lee Dojun smiled brightly at me. Seo Hanryul and Lee Dojun. These protagonists in this novel were probably created by the author with great effort, so every time they smiled, it was harmful to the heart.
After making a strange appointment with the CEO, I went back to Seo Hanryul. But the perceptive bastard threw a question related to Lee Dojun as soon as he saw me.
“You met the CEO earlier, right? What did he say?”
“You’re doing well these days. The CEO asked if you were living well. Send the CEO a greeting text too. What kind of kid has so little social skills?”
Since having a meal alone with Lee Dojun would be behavior that could cause misunderstanding with Seo Hanryul, I lied.
“Why should I do that shit? I told you repeatedly last time too. Don’t grovel to the CEO.”
Seo Hanryul glared at me with fierce eyes.
‘No matter how much of a fuss you make, he’s your future boyfriend, you bastard.’
To me, who knew the future, Seo Hanryul’s reaction was only amusing. Coughing, poverty, and love. Wasn’t it said that these three things can’t be hidden no matter how hard you try? Thinking of the bastard who would someday fall completely for Lee Dojun, I could only laugh.
“Why are you grinning? Is this situation funny?”
“Hey, what groveling. Live life a bit more positively. Stop grumbling and let’s go down.”
The bastard looked at me with suspicion as I laughed heartily, then obediently followed me and got on the elevator.
