Do Yeonjae, leaning back against the sofa, turned his head sharply to look at Kwon Isoo.
“I didn’t say much.”
“So what’s this ‘not much’ you’re talking about?”
He said he’d fire me if he didn’t like me… Instead of childishly tattling, Do Yeonjae looked at Kwon Isoo with an indifferent expression. Isn’t he busy? Kwon Isoo’s eyebrows twitched as he stared intently at the face where obvious annoyance had surfaced.
“Hey, aren’t you going to manage your expression?”
“What about my expression?”
“You look annoyed. Am I annoying you?”
“You’re not annoying…”
“Then act more sincere.”
He’d even provided a drink delivery service exclusively for Kwon Isoo—what more sincerity could there be? After making such a fuss about it, he’d gone to the trouble of buying it, but the fact that Kwon Isoo wouldn’t even look at the drink was truly exasperating.
He and Moon Sunwoo had only briefly been trainees together—he should know they had no friendship beyond that, so why was he so curious?
Wondering about this pointless curiosity, he snatched back Kwon Isoo’s bag. He took out the ice cup from inside, removed the lid and plastic, and poured in the Pocari. After tearing off the straw wrapper with his mouth, he stuck it in the cup and held it out to Kwon Isoo.
“Here, sincerity.”
“……”
But Kwon Isoo’s reaction was a bit strange. His mouth slightly open, he quietly stared down at the ice cup, and that dazed face somehow seemed moved, making Do Yeonjae doubt his own eyes for a moment. What’s this?
“…Annoying how you’re only filling it up now.”
Mm, guess I was mistaken. Watching Kwon Isoo mutter as he took the cup, Do Yeonjae smiled cynically. Even when personally bringing and offering him a drink, he was still annoyed—truly an admirable personality, no matter how many times he saw it.
Kwon Isoo, who had been gripping the ice cup tightly with both hands, suddenly asked.
“How did you know I drink it like this?”
…Good question. That habit of Kwon Isoo’s was something you couldn’t know without watching NEOS videos. But after mistakenly saying he was a fan once before and being teased about it endlessly, he couldn’t tell the truth straight out. Do Yeonjae answered shamelessly.
“Prior research.”
At any rate, I did see it beforehand… Just as he was deliberately ignoring his pricking conscience, he faintly heard a snort from somewhere. When he turned his head toward where the sound came from, his eyes met Moon Sunwoo’s.
“……”
The hostility in his eyes was clear. At this point, it was curious enough to wonder. Did I do something wrong?
It was while he was calmly meeting his gaze. A knocking sound was heard at the door.
“NEOS members, we’re going to start filming!”
At the staff’s words, the members began preparing to leave the waiting room one by one. Kwon Isoo, still holding the ice cup in his hand, draped his arm around Do Yeonjae’s shoulder.
“Let’s go.”
“……”
Do Yeonjae casually looked at Kwon Isoo’s arm resting on his shoulder.
Has he gotten a taste for arm-around-shoulder since last time? It is the perfect height for draping an arm. For some reason Kwon Isoo seemed to be in quite a good mood, so Do Yeonjae didn’t say anything and obediently moved his feet.
This special pictorial feature conducted by the famous street magazine ‘VOID’ was planned with the concept of producing various street-based moods.
It was judged that NEOS’s deep artistry and outstanding individuality, having powerfully opened the doors to the music industry with their debut song ‘Desperado’, matched well with the concept.
‘Desperado’ was one of Do Yeonjae’s favorite NEOS songs. The grand sound pleased his ears, and it was good to listen to while exercising too. He also liked the vocal directing.
For the group shot, which was the first shoot of the pictorial, they embodied the currently trending ‘luxury street mood.’ They wore fashion that fused the refined sensibility of high-end with the individuality of streetwear, and the makeup went in with a luxurious and restrained feeling.
Once all the members finished hair and makeup, they really shone, but among them, Kwon Isoo wearing an oversized blazer jacket particularly stood out. The brand identity expressed through high-quality fabric combined with the street element of oversizing… the stylist had explained earlier.
Just before filming started in the studio with its clean white background, Kwon Isoo entrusted him with the ice cup he’d brought.
“Hold this.”
Do Yeonjae absently stared down at the cup that had ended up in his hands.
Why not just leave it… He brought a water bottle too.
The photographer was someone Do Yeonjae had worked with several times before. Perhaps he’d left a good impression when they worked together, as the photographer greeted him warmly.
“Oh, Yeonjae-ssi. I heard about it. You’re NEOS’s manager today?”
“Yes. I look forward to working with you, photographer-nim.”
“Haha, you’ve really become a proper manager. Good. I’ll pay special attention today for Yeonjae-ssi’s sake.”
The cheerfully laughing photographer picked up his camera. Do Yeonjae knew well that while he smiled amiably, once he got into shooting, he was the type to pull cuts mercilessly.
Sure enough, as soon as they entered test shooting, the smile vanished from his face.
“Members, please stand in a row. Juwon-ssi, turn your body slightly to the side, good… Everyone, can we close the distance a bit? Right now you look too unfriendly. Everyone look straight ahead together, let your hands drop naturally.”
The NEOS members did test shoots in various compositions according to the poses the photographer directed. After meticulously adjusting the lighting and composition, they soon entered the actual shoot.
Observing through the monitor the members who had been face-to-face until just moments ago was quite a novel experience. To Do Yeonjae’s eyes, there were members whose poses were still immature, but for rookies this was pretty decent. I was like that when I was a rookie too…
It made sense that pictorial shoots were still difficult. Moving your body constantly and dancing on stage was completely different work from expressing a mood with a single pose.
Setting aside his impressions as a senior, he focused on being able to give appropriate feedback as a manager.
He did monitoring during the shoot and made simple hair and makeup adjustments. The photographer checking the monitor couldn’t hide his amazement seeing Kwon Isoo captured on screen.
“I thought from the planning stage that Isoo-ssi would pull this off best, but as expected. What a coveted talent. If he’d debuted as a model, I would’ve taken him under my wing and raised him myself.”
“I wonder about that. Model work doesn’t suit his aptitude.”
“For someone saying that, he’s overflowing with too much talent?”
“It’s because you captured it well.”
From a listening standpoint, his networking comments were delivered quite perfunctorily, but the photographer seemed pleased enough with just that and showed a bright smile.
That photographer-nim is really not an easy person, but as expected, with Kwon Isoo’s face, he just melts everyone.
Thinking such thoughts, he watched the monitor intently. Looking at them together, he noticed something—there were many compositions that seemed to emphasize Kwon Isoo overall. Like in the shot where they stood in a row, Kwon Isoo was positioned most forward, or in the pose sitting and leaning against the wall, Kwon Isoo was highlighted the most.
RAYEON didn’t establish an official center and had whichever member suited the song’s mood or concept stand in the middle each time. Compared to that, NEOS seemed to have a definite center. Since they were a group that gained popularity centered around Kwon Isoo, it couldn’t be helped, but honestly it was somewhat blatant.
Because the visual holds it together right in the middle, the atmosphere definitely comes alive, but still… While he was lost in thought watching the cuts appearing on the monitor, a huge frame approached.
“What are you staring at so hard?”
Startled by the sudden presence, he turned his head. At the same time, he felt a hand grab and lift his arm. Kwon Isoo, who had lowered his head, put his mouth to the straw of the ice cup he’d been holding.
“……”
Do Yeonjae blinked looking down at the soft golden hair. Kwon Isoo, who had been sucking up the drink, suddenly raised his gaze. Looking at Do Yeonjae’s flustered expression, he twisted up the corner of his mouth playfully.
“Pretty useful, this manager.”
Then he raised his head exactly to Do Yeonjae’s height and traced the monitor with his gaze. As if trying to find the cut Do Yeonjae had been watching intently.
Unable to figure out the answer even after tenaciously looking at the screen, he wiggled his eyebrows at Do Yeonjae. It was as if asking which of these he liked.
Hmm… Well, Kwon Isoo looks good in all of them. As he was looking at the numerous cuts again, Kwon Isoo put his lips to his ear. A giggling laugh poured into Do Yeonjae’s ear.
“You can’t choose because they all came out insanely well, right?”
“……”
Just when he was thinking it was annoying but true, clapping sounds echoed in the studio.
“Alright, we’re going again.”
The members who had been in front of the monitor moved away one by one. While watching Kwon Isoo’s retreating figure and shifting his gaze, Do Yeonjae suddenly saw Moon Sunwoo with a stiff expression.
Because he passed by fleetingly, he wasn’t certain… Did I see wrong? Moon Sunwoo’s expression standing in front of the camera wasn’t much different from before. After briefly pondering, Do Yeonjae shook his head.
The continuing shoot was mostly compositions centered on Kwon Isoo similar to before, and the NEOS members seemed already accustomed to this situation.
However, there’s a limit to everything.
During filming, a moment came when one member’s expression nearly crumbled.
“Sunwoo-ssi, can you take one step back? Um… from there, just a bit more to the left.”
“…Like this?”
“Yes, in that position, try putting your hand on Isoo-ssi’s shoulder.”
It was Moon Sunwoo. He was a member whose body seemed awkward somehow in the full shot, and perhaps the photographer-nim felt the same, as he was moving Moon Sunwoo behind Kwon Isoo. But that… was a composition where his body was almost completely hidden behind Kwon Isoo, showing only his face. The position was all the way in back, so even his face wasn’t clearly visible.
Perhaps this was the first time being hidden to this extent, as Do Yeonjae could see the flustered Moon Sunwoo biting his lip hard. His pride must be hurt. It seemed the stiff expression he’d glimpsed during break time wasn’t a mistake.
The more rookie an idol is, the more absolute a photographer’s words feel on a shoot. If they filmed like this, this cut might end up being published in the magazine.
And coordinating such situations was precisely the manager’s role. Do Yeonjae took one step forward.
“Photographer-nim.”
At the calm voice, the photographer turned around.
“What’s wrong? Yeonjae-ssi.”
“It looks great right now, but could we try changing the composition slightly?”
