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Joo Junseo, you did well. You really are a man with one killer shot....
Quietly smiling, I recalled the atmosphere at the dinner earlier.
‘The villain is Joo Junseo.’
The investors must have picked up on it even more sharply—the potential Junseo had.
‘And there was something he clearly showed them, too.’
People in this industry are unbelievably weak to visual stimulation. No matter how much Goo Minho tries to appeal with words, it can never beat actually showing them once right in front of their eyes.
‘Even thinking about it again, that was the best possible move in such a limited space.’
Unable to suppress the laughter slipping out, I bent over, gripping the sink.
‘Goo Minho’s face....’
It had been worth seeing. A face I never wanted to forget.
Even after dinner ended, Joo Junseo was still being held back by the investors. I leisurely washed my hands and was about to leave the restroom... when—
“Can we talk?”
Goo Minho was waiting for me.
“Yes? About what?”
I softened my eyes as much as possible and quickly checked whether there was CCTV nearby.
‘If he hits me again this time, I’m not letting it slide.’
First thing, I’ll drop straight to the floor. Do you even know how much I’m worth now? And this is my turf—Taiwan. Just try laying a hand on Han Yeoreum, Taiwan’s next super rookie and first love.
“Yeoreum, this isn’t right. Why are you mixing personal feelings into a project?”
As expected, there really was CCTV. Guess expensive places are different. In that case, I could poke at him with complete peace of mind.
“Me...?”
I tilted my head as if I had no idea what he meant. It felt like only yesterday I was tearing Gi Juye apart, and now you walked right into it.
“One look and ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ I can tell. You two are dating, right? Fuck, you really do the most. You already like men that much?”
In the past, I would’ve crawled before someone as famous as Goo Minho, but things were different now.
The moment you step outside, people go, “Who’s that NUGU?”
If I go outside right now, I can’t even count the fans asking for autographs. You saw the streets of Taiwan plastered with my face, didn’t you? Huh? Do you know who I am?
“Sunbae, you seem way too ex?cit?ed. You’re scaring me.”
= You’re the only one angry. I’m perfectly fine.
Goo Minho bent down until his face was close to mine.
“Scared? You’re scared?”
No. Honestly, not even a little.
“I don’t know why you’re this angry, but....”
“You don’t get to pretend you don’t know. You pulled that whole insane circus act just to plant your boyfriend into the role.”
“Did I do anything...?”
I blinked up at him directly.
“It was just dinner between people who know each other. And from what I heard, sunbae likes this kind of atmosphere too.”
= This is literally what you always do, so why are you bitching at me?
Goo Minho had always pushed his way in through connections. He’d been like that even before my regression, so of course he was still the same now. He’d build relationships over drinks first, then snatch the role afterward.
“You’re being way too sensitive.”
= You’re the only one angry.
Maybe my words landed like a counterpunch, because Goo Minho started trembling. His hand lifted threateningly.
“Hey, over there!”
A booming voice rang out from the far end of the hallway.
“What are you doing?”
It was Kwak Cheolsik.
“Ah, sunbae....”
“Why are you lurking in front of the women’s restroom? You trying to go in? You a woman?”
“No, sir.”
“The men’s restroom is that way, punk.”
Kwak Cheolsik strode over, grabbed Goo Minho by the shoulder, and physically turned him around. Goo Minho still looked unwilling to give up, as if he wanted to complain to Kwak Cheolsik about some injustice.
“Don’t waste your energy on useless things. Go inside~.”
Yun Hyeonjo drew the line cleanly. He didn’t leave even the slightest opening for more argument.
Goo Minho glared at the three of us, huffing angrily, then finally seemed to realize he couldn’t mouth off to those two and stomped away. The loud, deliberate pounding of his footsteps echoed noisily.
“Hey, and don’t go raising your hand anywhere you like! I’ll kill you!”
Kwak Cheolsik shouted after him. freēwebnovel.com
The moment Goo Minho disappeared, the area became quiet again.
“Don’t you have anything to say to us?”
Yun Hyeonjo crossed his arms and looked down at me.
Something to say, huh....
‘Well, it’s not like two veteran sunbaes wouldn’t notice a junior trying to swap out a role however she wanted.’
I’d been in a hurry and crossed the line a little. Kwak Cheolsik and Yun Hyeonjo probably had one or two people they wanted to plug in through their own industry connections too, yet I had practically broken the rules in the open.
“I’m sorry.”
No excuses. Clean and simple. I clasped my hands behind my back and lowered my head. I was already prepared to hear some harsh words. I’d had my discipline checked plenty of times before.
“No~ not that.”
Yun Hyeonjo let out a small sigh.
“Hey! Do you like Joo Junseo?”
Kwak Cheolsik suddenly blurted out.
“...What?”
“Come on, you little colt, isn’t that why you brought him in to push Goo Minho out? Did you think we wouldn’t notice? Huh? Right?”
“...Yes.”
“See? Wasn’t I right? Huh?”
I looked up.
Instead of scolding me, Kwak Cheolsik threw an arm around my shoulders and pulled me along.
“The garden here looked flashy as hell, so let’s walk it off and lower your blood sugar, huh? Come on.”
Uh... so I’m not getting scolded.... But my feet aren’t touching the ground, sunbae.... Why are you carrying me....
* * *
“Are you alright?”
“Ah, yes....”
“Do you have anemia? Shall I call a staff member to help support you?”
“I don’t know what this is, but I’m fine for now.”
Joo Junseo, who had been sitting collapsed against the corner wall, staggered to his feet.
But the moment he replayed the conversation from just now, he slid helplessly back down the wall.
After politely collecting every investor’s business card and finishing the final greetings, he had gone looking for Han Yeoreum.
“Hey! Do you like Joo Junseo?”
Kwak Cheolsik’s thunderous voice had carried down the wall, making Junseo freeze.
“...Yes.”
The moment he heard Han Yeoreum’s answer, he clamped a hand over his mouth.
By then the footsteps had already faded far away, but Joo Junseo still couldn’t move from where he stood.
‘So that’s what it was.’
All of Han Yeoreum’s strange behavior suddenly made sense.
It wasn’t simply that she wanted to film a movie with him.
‘Come to think of it... Han Yeoreum did have a slightly materialistic side to her....’
No, not slightly.
She was materialism itself.
Every time she only contacted him when she needed something and extorted coffee trucks out of him, every time she called him the greatest sunbae and then arbitrarily adjusted her star rating depending on the scale of the snacks he sent.
Joo Junseo had been forced to taste the emotions of a small business owner he was never fated to become, anxiously living and dying by Han Yeoreum’s star ratings.
‘So until my level matches yours, I’m still not enough?’
From the moment they stepped out of the Taiwan airport, he had already realized how popular Han Yeoreum truly was. It wasn’t a lie that she had conquered countless commercials.
While he was building a core overseas fanbase through fan meetings, Han Yeoreum had captured the general public all at once.
‘So that’s why she pushed Goo Minho out and chose me?’
That calculating little materialist Han Yeoreum was obviously trying to raise Joo Junseo up so their levels would match.
After all, her pride would never let her like a man less successful than herself.
Even the chopsticks slamming down earlier had all gone according to Han Yeoreum’s plan.
* * *
Before they entered the restaurant, she had grabbed him and said—
“Sunbae. Your nasty temper’s still the same, right?”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Then later, when you get one perfect chance to snap, do it properly. Got it? I’ll create some kind of opening no matter what, so stab the chopsticks down. Make the most irritated face you can. Think of it like these are people you’ll never see again after today.”
“Are you insane?”
“You twirled those drumsticks just fine, didn’t you? Spin this! Hurry! No, show the action!”
“What kind of action is this crap?”
“What do you know? I know! Just do what I tell you!”
Just as if Goo Minho’s action scene had been brought up specifically so Joo Junseo would be the next topic, the moment Han Yeoreum had prepared suddenly arrived in front of him.
As if it absolutely had to be seized right then.
So Joo Junseo had no choice but to do exactly as Han Yeoreum told him.
Half of it had been instinct.
The other half had come from the impulsive desire to film a movie with her.
‘So that’s why....’
If Han Yeoreum had already scored ten million viewers with her screen debut, then another ten million after that, then yes—Joo Junseo was still far from enough.
‘So that’s why....’
His face flushed bright red.
Maybe it was because his screen debut was now decided, but his heart pounded violently.
* * *
A few days later, 〈The Great Garland〉 began airing in Hong Kong and Singapore.
[Hong Kong welcomes a new Korean wave... 〈The Great Garland〉 moves the entire region]
[Even the Korean content ban can’t stop Hong Kong? The public falls into “Yeon Huijae fever”]
[K-drama success, 〈The Great Garland〉 continues setting new records?]
Following the shocking Episode 1 ending, the actors’ passionate performances and the heartbreaking story captivated all of Hong Kong.
And with that unprecedented surge in popularity, one more thing rose alongside it—
INTUBE
[Huijae 〈The Great Garland〉 OST | official MV] 04:20
Views 11,123,224
One was the music video uploaded to Intube.
INTUBE
[〈The Cherry on the Parfait Belongs to the Heroine〉 Ep 1. A New Semester with Cherry Blossoms Scattering] 16:15
And the other was 〈ParCheHi〉 starring Han Yeoreum and Joo Junseo.
