As soon as we sat down, an uncomfortable situation similar to the last lunch continued.
I didn’t know Seo Hanryul’s inner thoughts, but Lee Dojun clearly had interest in Seo Hanryul, so why were they dying to devour each other? Both bastards had ridiculously high pride, so only the innocent person caught in the middle was getting his back blown out.
“Seo Jiwon, you said earlier you’d explain everything. Now tell me.”
As soon as Seo Hanryul sat down, he started putting on airs, demanding an explanation from me. This bastard must not even see Lee Dojun sitting in front of him.
“First, I’m sorry. CEO-nim asked to have a meal together, just the two of us. Since it was a sudden appointment, I was going to eat dinner tonight first and then tell you tomorrow.”
Now only the frontal approach remained. Judging it better to take the beating first, I confessed the truth to Seo Hanryul, and seeing Seo Hanryul’s unusual attitude, Lee Dojun quietly began staring at him.
“What? That’s not even funny.”
Seo Hanryul was looking at me with his back completely turned to Lee Dojun. Openly maintaining the delinquent attitude he only showed when alone with me.
“Seo Hanryul-ssi, you’re more shameless than I thought. Does Jiwon-ssi have to report every single daily task to Seo Hanryul-ssi? If this is true, Jiwon-ssi is no different from a modern-day slave. That kind of behavior looking down on a manager is unacceptable even from Youth’s side.”
What is this about now? Lee Dojun also wasn’t in his right mind. This was a golden opportunity to score points with Seo Hanryul, but Lee Dojun was still picking a fight with Seo Hanryul, as if his petty pride was more important than his favorable feelings toward Seo Hanryul.
“Haha, CEO-nim. That’s really a misunderstanding. Our Hanryul is affectionate, so he’s paying attention to take care of me.”
“Jiwon-ssi, I know you haven’t been working with Seo Hanryul-ssi for that long. It hasn’t even been a few months, yet how close are you to understand such behavior? …You must really be close.”
This was a trap question. If I said Seo Hanryul and I were close, Lee Dojun would obviously be jealous of me, who had gotten close to Seo Hanryul before him, without even realizing it.
“No, we’re not that close. It’s just that Hanryul is a good person, so he tries to take care of this and that for me.”
A sad situation where I had to praise Seo Hanryul with my own mouth. While holding back tears inside, I started praising Seo Hanryul in front of Lee Dojun.
“Jiwon-ah. You should speak properly. We’re close, aren’t we?”
Seo Hanryul smiled and gently placed his hand on my shoulder. That bastard would be helpful if he just stayed still in this situation, but he absolutely wouldn’t stay still.
“Why are you doing this?”
I smiled awkwardly and grabbed his hand to put it down.
“CEO-nim, I understood what you’re saying. However, I don’t treat my manager carelessly as much as you’re worried. I’m more suspicious of CEO-nim. Is there a reason to separately call out a manager you don’t even know and have a meal alone?”
‘Of course it’s because he’s interested in you, you stupid bastard.’
Seo Hanryul was scratching Lee Dojun’s insides.
“Seo Hanryul-ssi. Didn’t you clearly apologize earlier? Is that the attitude of someone apologizing? I very much hate saying the same thing multiple times. Even though Hanryul-ssi hasn’t been meeting with me for long, you have an outstanding talent for making me say the same thing repeatedly. I hope this will be the last time I say this. …If you want to do well as a celebrity, it would be beneficial to kill that temper.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. Because I’m doing very well.”
The two were growling at each other disgustingly. Like two wolves entangled fighting in a muddy field.
‘These guys really… in front of the dinner table…’
“Seo Hanryul-ssi, it seems you’re taking me lightly. That’s the thinker’s freedom, so it doesn’t matter, but you should be careful. Because I extremely detest people who cross the line.”
The atmosphere instantly turned cold at Lee Dojun’s words.
That line isn’t unfamiliar. It was a warning line Lee Dojun threw at Cha Jaehyun, who wouldn’t stop clinging to Seo Hanryul in the original work, so why is he sitting here saying this line to Seo Hanryul?
“That’s not it.”
“Jiwon-ssi, what do you mean it’s not?”
Damn it. Lee Dojun was saying strange lines to an innocent person, so I was thinking to myself that this wasn’t it, but I also must have lost my mind due to the situation flowing on its own, and ended up blurting out my inner thoughts.
“Haha, I’m sorry. I misspoke.”
In addition to Lee Dojun’s attack, I also unexpectedly spouted nonsense, and the situation was running toward a complete mess.
“CEO-nim, now that I see it, there’s pretense in your words. To succeed in the entertainment industry, some pretense is necessary, but CEO-nim’s pretense is so excessive it makes me laugh. Don’t you feel any emotion while saying such things?”
“Pretense, you say. That’s interesting. What are you trying to say?”
“Crossing the line… That’s really a scary expression. …CEO-nim, so what happens if I cross the line? Are you planning to bury me somewhere in the ground?”
‘Please… shut up.’
If he had shown this appearance at the audition, he might have passed in one shot. Seo Hanryul was spouting such words while radiating heat from his eyes. I wanted to put strong tape on the bastard’s mouth that was running without any sign of stopping.
Lee Dojun is real. If you cross his line, he’s a bastard who could bury others under the ground without asking questions. Of course, he likes Seo Hanryul so he won’t bury him, but even considering that, Seo Hanryul’s words and actions were walking a precarious tightrope.
“Hanryul-ah, CEO-nim is right. What are you doing acting like this after apologizing earlier? Burying? Say something that makes sense. Didn’t you say you wanted to clear up misunderstandings first and eat dinner? Calm down and let’s just eat delicious food.”
I soothed the bastard by gently stroking his thigh under the table. I wanted to stab his thigh with a fork, but when I saw the bastard’s fierce eyes, if I did such a thing now, all of the bastard’s anger would be directed at me.
“CEO-nim, please don’t be upset either. Hanryul isn’t usually like this, but it seems something difficult happened today.”
I tried to connect the two bastards somehow today, but it completely failed. The atmosphere was already ruined beyond repair, and I thought it would be a success if we just quietly ate and parted ways. These bastards, they’re doing a spectacular job of screwing up before falling in love.
Even after the food came out, the atmosphere didn’t lighten. Every time the two bastards made eye contact, they spat sharp words at each other, and it was my job to clean up. As befitting a high-class restaurant, dishes came out that would make both the eyes and mouth happy, but I couldn’t eat properly because of the bastards who fought with their mouths at any time without reason.
“Haha, thanks to CEO-nim, I had a pleasant time today. Shall we get up now?”
In the end, I took the initiative to wrap up the situation, and the two bastards, perhaps exhausted from fighting, obediently got up from their seats.
“Jiwon-ssi, because of a sudden uninvited guest today, you couldn’t eat properly. Let’s eat again next time.”
‘What do you mean do it again next time?’
Lee Dojun, being a chaebol and the CEO of a solid agency, wouldn’t care about the aftermath, but my case was completely different. I got completely heated up because of Lee Dojun unnecessarily adding annoying words. For me, who had to face Seo Hanryul alone tomorrow, each of Lee Dojun’s actions was nothing but a bolt from the blue.
“And I’ll drive Jiwon-ssi home.”
That absolutely cannot happen. First of all, I live in too good a place. If he knew my home location, the perceptive Lee Dojun would definitely suspect my identity right away.
“It’s okay, CEO-nim. I have a place to briefly stop by on my way. I’ll see you next time. Thank you so much for buying me expensive food today.”
Before Lee Dojun could stop me, I gave him a full bow and left like lightning. However, not long after, the misfortune of being caught by Seo Hanryul also occurred.
“Our Jiwon, you do a lot of fun things behind my back when I’m not around? See you tomorrow. Look forward to it.”
Seo Hanryul left a scary word in my ear and departed. Somehow it didn’t seem like it would end with just getting beaten up by the bastard tomorrow. Could it be that bastard is also starting to become interested in Lee Dojun?
* * *
After last night’s terrible commotion, I rushed home and first ate a hearty meal. This was because I reached the conclusion that I needed to solidly strengthen my stamina to receive Seo Hanryul’s temper with a sound mind the next day.
Also, to punish my ignorant self who hadn’t even thought about GPS, I showered with ice-cold water and lay down on the bed.
“Ah, shit, I’m going crazy. What is this now?”
When I opened my eyes in the morning, some beggar-like incident jolted my mind awake. An event incomparably larger than last night was greeting me. Seo Hanryul and Lee Dojun were plastered all over the internet real-time search terms.
1st place: Seo Hanryul physical fight
2nd place: Seo Hanryul
3rd place: Lee Dojun
4th place: Youth Entertainment
5th place: Yuseong Group
With a bewildered heart, I clicked on the first place keyword and countless articles poured out.
[That’s Patch Exclusive Report] Rookie actor Seo Hanryul, physical fight with agency CEO? Absurd behavior unbecoming of a rookie
On January XX around 7 PM, an unexpected commotion occurred in front of the entrance of famous restaurant G in Cheongdam-dong.
The protagonists of the commotion were actor Seo Hanryul (25), who is currently rising in stock with the drama [Laws of the Universe], and Youth Entertainment CEO Lee Dojun (29).
What on earth happened between these two?….
“Ha…. They really do all sorts of things.”
The time Seo Hanryul and Lee Dojun physically collided yesterday was less than 10 seconds. Wherever they were hiding, they captured well that fleeting moment that passed quickly in a photo. The photo prominently displayed the moment Seo Hanryul strongly pushed Lee Dojun toward the wall.
I could confirm the netizens’ feelings from the sad reaction icon exceeding 10,000. The internet reaction seemed unusual, so I went to a place where I could see comments, and the comment section was already in chaos.
“Seo Hanryul, this damned bastard….”
