At the sound of the passenger door opening with a bang, Do Yeonjae turned his head. Kwon Isoo stood at the door, looking down at him crookedly. He came with his hair down. He waved his hand loosely.
“Hi.”
Today he was the manager. To think their positions had switched in just one day—it was a strange feeling. Perhaps Kwon Isoo felt similar sentiments, as his gaze was particularly intense.
No, maybe that wasn’t the reason? The stare was so intense it felt like his face would be pierced through. As if wanting him to notice something… Do Yeonjae blinked a few times before speaking belatedly.
“Uh… your hair looks good on you.”
Only then did Kwon Isoo turn his gaze away indifferently and answered.
“You’re not bad either.”
There wasn’t much change in his expression, but Yeonjae could tell those were the words he’d wanted. Good thing he got it half right.
“Ah, hold this for me.”
“……”
In the passenger seat was a carrier containing cafe drinks matching each NEOS member’s preferences. As expected, his expression immediately soured.
“You really went and bought all of these?”
“I can’t get on their bad side by showing favoritism from the start. This one’s yours so just take it out and drink it.”
Kwon Isoo, who had been grumbling, got into the passenger seat holding the carrier. As if the space was cramped, he pushed the seat back and immediately pounced with another question.
“How did you know their preferences?”
“I asked my manager hyung this morning to find out for me. And later I’ll also get snacks…”
“Hey.”
As soon as he brought up snacks, Kwon Isoo let out a low, growling voice.
“Make it clear. You’re not NEOS’s manager, you’re my manager.”
What kind of absurd thing is that to say.
“…Aren’t you part of NEOS?”
Since he was participating as a one-day manager for NEOS’s group schedule, he naturally thought he should take care of all the members. He didn’t remember the PD specifically asking him to only look after Kwon Isoo either…
But Kwon Isoo seemed to have completely different thoughts.
“A newbie who’s never done manager work before, where do you get off being so greedy. You don’t even have the ability to properly take care of one person anyway.”
Kwon Isoo continued expounding his opinion, saying do you know how much my market value is, and by that measure it’s like taking care of several people simultaneously. I see… Your market value is amazing. He nodded his head indifferently.
“Got it. We’re leaving so put on your seatbelt.”
“You weren’t really listening, were you.”
“No? Hurry and put on your seatbelt.”
“The manager should put it on for me directly.”
“……”
“I’m holding this. Because you told me to.”
His words blocked, he looked at Kwon Isoo with an absurd expression. Arrogantly tilting up his chin, Kwon Isoo showed no intention of moving his arms. The hand swaying the carrier was quite irritating.
What’s your other hand doing? Have you been making your manager do this kind of thing all along? Questions he wanted to ask rose up to his uvula then sank back down.
At times like this, it was less bothersome to just give him what he wanted. Just put it on quickly and let’s get going… We’ll be late at this rate. Swallowing a sigh, he bent deeply at the waist.
The moment their bodies got close, he could see Kwon Isoo’s chest area stiffen. If he hates being touched this much, why did he insist. Then his short breath grazed his ear. The sound of him inhaling softly seemed strange, so when he turned his head, he could see Kwon Isoo’s face right in front of his nose.
After staring for a moment at his somewhat rigid eyes, he lowered his gaze. The veins bulging on the hand gripping the drink carrier were vivid. Looking down at that hand indifferently, he reached out his arm.
Click. As soon as the seatbelt was fastened, he pulled back his body.
“Done.”
“……”
Kwon Isoo, who had fiercely scrunched his face, covered his face with the back of his hand. From his crooked lips flowed a prickly command.
“Now turn on the AC.”
Put on the seatbelt. Turn on the AC. The commands were quite natural. It’s still May… is it hot? Seeing how red his ears were, the inside of the car must feel stuffy.
As he pressed the AC button, an ominous premonition ran down Do Yeonjae’s spine.
Am I Kwon Isoo’s personal lackey today?
* * *
A lackey.
This was definitely a lackey situation.
Do Yeonjae realized his predicament as he inserted the card into the terminal.
“Do you need a bag?”
“It’s okay.”
“I’ll just give it to you for free.”
“Ah… thank you.”
The convenience store owner gave him a bag containing Pocari, an ice cup, and a straw with a face full of smiles. The bag is a service? He probably noticed they were celebrities because the <My Favorite! Chemistry> filming director was next to him.
Do Yeonjae bowed his head and came out opening the convenience store door. Ding-a-ling— Unlike the refreshing bell sound, his steps returning to the filming studio were only heavy and plodding.
He clearly knew that more than half of the choco chip frappuccino he’d bought in the morning was left, but he said his mouth felt chalky and he wanted a refreshing drink. Since the studio didn’t have a separate vending machine, he had to walk 10 minutes to the convenience store.
Picky bastard…
Do Yeonjae rolled his stiff shoulders to loosen his muscles. From Kwon Isoo’s house to the studio was 20 minutes by car. It wasn’t long distance, but as he said, carefully driving someone with such a high market value seemed to have stiffened his body.
Right before departure, Do Yeonjae, who had taken several deep breaths, said this with a determined expression:
‘Sorry but… don’t talk to me from now on.’
At those words, Kwon Isoo just scoffed as if it was absurd. He was already someone who slept a lot, and since filming was early in the morning, he thought he’d sleep at least a little during the drive, but he was busy watching him tense up with his chin propped up the entire drive.
Occasionally when the route was confusing he’d give directions from the side, but that relaxed gaze was somehow annoying so he just wanted to arrive at the site quickly…
He didn’t know then. That it would have been better when he was sitting still in the car.
At the filming site, Kwon Isoo acted like a tyrant prepared specifically for Do Yeonjae.
As soon as they parked, he grabbed the drink carrier and took off, making him greet the members empty-handed with nothing. He even scrunched his face the entire time they were greeting, making the atmosphere strange. And that wasn’t all.
‘Do Yeonjae, clean up over there. It’s messy and driving me crazy.’
Suddenly making him clean the waiting room.
‘What is this. Tell them to take out this question.’
Reading the interview script and nitpicking for no reason…
He had to familiarize himself with the studio layout, memorize the schedule, and do various other things, but thanks to Kwon Isoo he lost track of time. The strange thing was, whenever he tried to talk with the members, he’d butt in and make him do unnecessary tasks.
No, it wasn’t just ‘seemed like’—that was exactly it. Earlier too, as soon as he tried to have a conversation with the members to ease the cold atmosphere, he sent him to the convenience store with a flimsy excuse. He even got suddenly angry when Yeonjae asked if the other members needed any snacks while he was going to the convenience store.
‘Why would you run errands for those bastards.’
But running errands for you is okay…? Unable to watch the waiting room atmosphere that had turned cold because of Kwon Isoo’s temper, Choi Taeon stepped in to mediate. He was the maknae who had greeted him most warmly since they met in the morning.
‘The waiting room snacks are enough for us, sunbae-nim.’
From observing the atmosphere, the relationship between NEOS members was definitely not good. The only one who exchanged a few words with Kwon Isoo was Choi Taeon, and with Ha Juwon and Moon Sunwoo, communication seemed almost completely cut off.
This is more serious than I thought…
He’d occasionally seen groups around him who were distant, but it wasn’t to this degree. Unless they were openly fighting and brawling, there would be limits to what the company could do.
Did something happen? Do Yeonjae, who had been pondering with an expressionless face, soon shook off the thought.
For today, since I came as a manager, let’s focus on my work. My work… meaning this kind of thing. As he halfheartedly swung his arm, the black bag caught on his fingers swayed back and forth.
He’d been curious why Kwon Isoo accepted this program casting, but he thought he vaguely knew the answer.
Not long ago, Kwon Isoo scoffed at his words about wanting to become close. He firmly established that he didn’t want to. The reason for doing a program together with someone he disliked so much was actually obvious.
Probably to torment and boss him around… that’s it. Like this.
“……”
Do Yeonjae’s expression darkened at the premonition that future filming would become even more rough.
Kwon Isoo only mentioned Pocari, but just in case, he bought an ice cup too. He was hot in the morning, and he remembered often seeing scenes in NEOS videos of Kwon Isoo pouring drinks into a large ice cup.
I hope he at least likes this.
When he returned to the studio, preparations for group cut filming were in full swing. In the corridor heading to the waiting room, he met Moon Sunwoo who was just coming out through the emergency exit door.
“You went to the convenience store.”
“Ah, yes. It’s 10 minutes away.”
He bowed silently and headed to the waiting room, and Moon Sunwoo naturally followed. As they walked together, he suddenly smelled cigarettes from the side. Did he smoke on the rooftop… He already learned to smoke at twenty. For a main vocalist, vocal care should be vital.
“Speak casually, sunbae-nim.”
“Today I came as NEOS’s manager. Sunwoo-ssi should treat me comfortably too.”
“…Is that so?”
Moon Sunwoo playfully narrowed his eyes.
“Then if I don’t like you, can I fire you right away?”
Do Yeonjae hesitated slightly. Because they were in front of the camera, he was using a friendly tone pretending to joke, but there was a barb in his words. That means he doesn’t like me.
I guess he hates me…
“I’ll work hard so I don’t get fired.”
After answering roughly, he opened the waiting room door without much emotion. Moon Sunwoo looked momentarily flustered. It seemed he stiffened because he’d subtly dealt damage but the other person had no reaction. Being twenty, his transparency was a bit cute.
Kwon Isoo, who had already finished costume fitting, checked in this direction and glared.
“What. Why did you come together.”
“We met in the hallway. Here, this.”
He handed over the bag and went to sit on the waiting room sofa. Kwon Isoo followed closely behind.
“What did you talk about?”
