Haeseong, wearing a displeased expression, stepped forward before them. Then the gazes of Jang Yeonguk, who had been clinging excessively to Euiju, and Euiju, who had been silently folding empty boxes, turned toward Haeseong.
“Oh. Jin Haeseong, hello.”
Haeseong raised one eyebrow as if puzzled, seeing what was covering Euiju’s face.
*’Why a mask?’*
For some reason, his manager was wearing a mask. Since he had never worn one before, the sight was a bit unfamiliar.
“Did you rest well?”
As soon as Euiju saw his actor, he bent his waist and greeted him. It was quite courteous for something directed at a teenager younger than himself.
Having already finished neatly organizing the herbal medicine he had brought, Euiju picked up the box he had brought and said to Haeseong.
“Then I’ll be going.”
Having quickly finished tidying up the surroundings, Euiju turned around without hesitation as if he had finished his business and disappeared toward the entrance.
“Fuck. In the end, I couldn’t seduce him.”
Yeonguk, who had only been staring at Euiju’s retreating figure, muttered in dissatisfaction.
“What is it?”
Haeseong asked.
“Huh? What did you say?”
Yeonguk made a stupid expression at Haeseong’s question. He seemed not to know what was being asked.
“What is it that makes you act like such a piece of shit toward that guy?”
He should be acting like shit toward Lee Euiju, but Yeonguk was acting like shit in a different sense.
That day, Haeseong had liked Yeonguk’s attitude of acting as if he would devour Lee Euiju, and even though it was a break period, he had sent him to that bastard to keep away the manager who might show up at any time.
It was problematic if Yeonguk came out like this. The situation was turning strange.
“Ah. You mean Euiju-hyung? Haha.”
Yeonguk, who seemed somehow pleased, smiled and approached Haeseong. It was an uncharacteristically excited-looking expression.
“It just turned out that way somehow… No, anyway, that’s not what’s important. Hey, Haeseong. You don’t like that hyung, right? Then how about passing him to me? It’ll be a month soon anyway.”
At the unexpected proposal, Haeseong looked at his friend with an absurd face.
“What kind of manager when you’re not even a celebrity?”
“I’m not hiring him as a manager but as a tutor. Did you know Euiju-hyung goes to Hankuk University? He took a leave of absence because he needs money. If I ask that old fart to hire him saying I’ll study, he’ll probably pay as much as your company’s salary. No, he might even pay more because he’ll be excited that I said I’d study, right?”
At the sight of Yeonguk chattering excitedly without even realizing he was clinging too close to Haeseong’s side, Haeseong looked at him as if dumbfounded.
“Actually, at first I really tried to treat him like shit, you know? But after spending time with him… well, he turned out to be a pretty decent hyung. So pass him to me. Yeah?”
As if there was no need to respond further, Haeseong coldly turned his back and headed to the living room. Yeonguk followed along obliviously and began to ramble in detail about how he had spent the past four days with Lee Euiju.
“Turns out yesterday was Euiju-hyung’s day off. So I was going to let him rest, but he said he was going to an amusement park with his younger sibling. So I quickly tagged along. Honestly, I could see hyung was a bit troubled when I said I was going. He has twin younger siblings, you know? When I took care of one of them, he was visibly pleased.”
Yeonguk, chattering excitedly by himself, was busy talking with his youthful cheeks flushed red, seemingly very pleased about something.
Haeseong leaned back comfortably against the sofa and gazed at him with indifferent eyes.
Flushed cheeks, lips chattering obliviously, eyes unable to hide his excitement.
Having scanned his friend from corner to corner, Haeseong lowered his head and snickered.
“You’ve got good skills.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
Arrogant and stubborn, an immature person who only knows himself. The conceited, cowardly, and rude Jang Yeonguk.
How did Lee Euiju manage to seduce such a bastard?
It was a far too harsh assessment for someone who had been his friend since childhood, but Haeseong had kept Yeonguk by his side precisely because he had a similar temperament to his own, so he couldn’t help but wonder.
Moreover, since Yeonguk even possessed a foul temper that often flared up, he had thought there was no one better than this bastard to give a big fuck-you to Lee Euiju, who wouldn’t budge at most things.
*’Haha. This is really fucking annoying.’*
A strange emotion boiled up from within. Whether it was disgusting that Lee Euiju pretended to be different from other people, or whether it was displeasing that he had seduced a friend with the same temperament as himself in such a short period. He couldn’t know exactly what this shitty feeling toward him was.
But he could know this much.
He wanted to try breaking Lee Euiju, who wouldn’t break even when he tried to break him.
Haeseong, who had been gazing at the excited Yeonguk, opened his mouth.
“Look for someone else. I’m not so bad about it this time either.”
His relaxed voice was mixed with blatant irritation. At that voice, Yeonguk only blinked and made a puzzled expression.
***
Team Leader Kim Jaeho was really troubled.
“Right now you’re telling me… to do this?”
“Aigo, Haeseong-ah. Don’t take it so strangely. You’re a pro now, aren’t you? The director wants it and your fans want it, so isn’t this much a piece of cake for you?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. What the hell kind of thing did you go and get? Don’t make me do this kind of crap and you do it a lot yourself. Fuck!”
The script that Haeseong threw in irritation scattered here and there on the floor. Euiju, who had been waiting nearby, quickly picked up the script.
Having been assigned as the one-day MC for a music program in an event format, as soon as Haeseong received the script, he began to throw a tantrum at Kim Jaeho who had scheduled it. He had already come to the filming location, but whatever his dissatisfaction was, he looked ready to set the script on fire.
At Haeseong’s intense reaction, Euiju skimmed through the script he had picked up. Then he narrowed his eyes, discovering a peculiar part.
「Jin Haeseong-nim. Please wink your left eye toward camera 2. As cutely and freshly as possible, please~!」
His sudden tantrum had a reason. It seemed he absolutely couldn’t tolerate being told to act cutely to the point of being embarrassing even to others watching, like performing tricks in front of the camera.
“Aigo. Do you know how much this has been reduced and reduced? I really begged and pleaded with the director to reduce it. Just endure this once and do it once. Okay? Haeseong-ah. Please save this team leader just once.”
Originally, the lines of music program MCs were full of characteristic cuteness. As the team leader said, his efforts to reduce all that cuteness to a single wink were indeed impressive.
At Team Leader Kim Jaeho’s pleading request, Haeseong only frowned more deeply and said nothing further. He only snatched the script Euiju was holding and read through it again.
“…Fine, so I won’t do it next time. Once is enough for this kind of crap.”
“Yes, yes. Let’s just endure today. Do you know how much effort this PD put into our company to get you once? I’m asking just for today, Haeseong-ah.”
Without answering, Haeseong just frowned and began memorizing the script. Euiju gazed at him doing so.
From what Euiju had observed of Haeseong so far, Haeseong liked this profession of being loved by the public even without expressing it. Although he knew his appearance appealed to the public and was obsessed with his height and looks, this also proved that he was sensitively accepting the public’s gaze.
Given Haeseong’s temperament, he was the type who wouldn’t even touch what he disliked. Euiju was confident that even if he threw a tantrum like this now, when his turn came, he would work hard at it.
Bzzzz—.
While Euiju was gazing at Haeseong memorizing the script, a call came from Euiyeon. Having confirmed the caller, Euiju tilted his head slightly with curiosity.
*’That’s strange. She doesn’t call often when I’m working.’*
Since she was a noona who knew he was too busy to answer calls well and didn’t contact him unless necessary, Euiju turned around with curiosity.
He walked toward the waiting room entrance to go outside and answer the call. However, he couldn’t approach the door due to employees blocking one side of the entrance while working. Having no choice, he turned around again and went to one corner to answer the call.
“Hell…”
[Hyung-ah—! Waaaaah……!]
“…Roun? Why are you crying? What happened?”
[Hyung-ah… Euiseong-noona and Euiho-hyung stole and ate all my cake… Hyung-ah told me to eat it alone, so I took one bite and hid it, but they ate it all. Sniff……]
Lately, the youngest hadn’t been eating much, so yesterday he had secretly bought Roun’s favorite cheesecake without the twins knowing. Since the twins normally ate too many sweets, he had left it for noona to give to the youngest secretly from the twins, but they had clearly been caught.
Even though he was on duty, Euiju’s face relaxed languidly upon hearing the youngest’s voice. With the corners of his lips slightly raised and his eyes curved, Euiju burst into a very pretty and charming smile, and the noisy waiting room became quiet in an instant. Though hidden by the mask, they had noticed the warm energy he exuded.
Euiju didn’t notice the strange atmosphere around him and began to soothe his younger sibling.
“Hyung is really sorry. When I come home later, I’ll buy only Roun’s, so can you wait just a little and not cry?”
[Mmm…… Sniff. Roun will eat two!]
“Haha. Okay. I’ll buy two just for Roun, so wait. Got it?”
[Got it. I miss you, hyung-ah…….]
“I miss you too. Then I’ll see you later, Roun-ah.”
With a smile fully formed at the corners of his mouth, Euiju hung up. Soon, having put his phone back in his pocket, Euiju finally noticed the gazes from around him focused on him.
Everyone in the waiting room was looking at Euiju.
Even Jin Haeseong.
