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I felt the illusion that my phone screen had gone damp.
-Ah, fuck, seriously, somebody give me Byeon Juhwa’s address.
˪ Seriously, what the hell is this...? Our girl already has to carry the acting by herself, and now she has to farm attention too? lol
˪ What is Jegal Rok even doing? Somebody hit him.
˪ This is driving me insane. They always go after actresses because they think they’re easy targets; why the hell are they pulling this crap on a female lead? Put those rotten glasses on Seo Eden instead.
It felt like tears were spilling through the screen itself.
Unable to hold back their anger, Han Yeoreum’s fans had switched their accounts to private and were pouring out every ounce of fury they had.
‘I knew this would happen, so I hurried and followed them before they locked their accounts....’
Seeing the fans grieving made a corner of my heart ache too.
Our Baby Melon Bread had always shown everyone a proud, flawless image without a shred of embarrassment, so seeing such a shocking visual must’ve been heartbreaking for them....
‘But who am I?’
Han Yeoreum, the dutiful actress who had never given people any regrets except “I should’ve started liking her sooner.”
‘There’s no way I can keep pushing that visual forever.’
I ripped off the compression glasses that practically induced dizziness. I also blow-dried my flattened hair properly until it bounced back into place.
Starting today, filming would finally begin with the new Nam Pyeonghwa.
We were at L Department Store in Jamsil.
Right now, I was waiting inside the closed department store to film a proper transformation scene.
‘Normally we almost wouldn’t have been able to rent the place at all, but....’
The L Department Store side had kept giving vague responses about cooperating with the shoot.
No matter how much we used the Hwang Boseok card, neither Seo Eden nor I were stars capable of significantly boosting department store sales yet.
The card we used at that moment was this:
“Me? You want my help?”
It was Shin Seojin, the gentleman among gentlemen, model for L Department Store and the new face of its duty-free shops.
“It’s not difficult. I’m ranked number one among men women want to go shopping with now, after all.”
Shin Seojin readily granted my request.
“Of course, tell this heartwarming story later. There’s a certain thing about men whose good deeds become known immediately. Hahaha, you know? You live your life acting like it was nothing, all casual, and then later someone goes, ‘Ah, did I do that? I barely remember... haha.’ That kind of vibe. Okay okay?”
“Okay.”
Thanks to the Shin Seojin card, not only L Department Store but even the connected L Hotel lounge café became fully available for rental.
I silently thanked Shin Seojin, who had sent me today’s Oha Asa color recommendation.
‘Thank you so much....’
As expected of Shin Seojin, gentleman among gentlemen. Fifty million stars. I’ll definitely repay this debt later when I become the new face of L Department Store myself, sunbae.
“Man. I seriously loooove it when you take those glasses off.”
Director Byeon, who had come looking for me, covered his mouth in awe.
“When are we shooting our scene? I’m dying to know!”
Unable to hold himself back, Seo Eden shouted from farther away. To maximize realism, my current appearance was still being kept hidden from him.
Director Byeon’s directing was incredibly detailed. The kind where you could literally watch Seo Eden improve in real time with every shoot.
“Alright! Let’s start filming!”
Excitement seeped into Director Byeon’s voice, after he’d had to body-block countless waves of anger once photos from the 〈Dongdaemun Romance〉 set started circulating.
* * *
After Han Yeoreum entered the VIP room, Seo Eden sat down on the sofa. Thanks to the flashy slapstick he’d performed throughout filming, blotchy bruises had formed all over his knees.
This scene was not Han Yeoreum’s part, but solely Seo Eden’s close-up scene.
So technically Han Yeoreum didn’t need to appear in front of him at all, but for immersion, they decided to capture the first reveal properly.
“Episode 3, Scene 25, Take 1!”
Director Byeon’s directing was always delicate. Fitting for a director who specialized {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} in variations on classics. Thanks to that, Seo Eden had been adapting fairly well, but this particular direction was hard for him to understand.
‘We’ve seen each other’s faces a million times already!’
Seo Eden could say it with confidence. Out of all the male celebrities who had worked with Han Yeoreum, he’d probably seen her face the most.
They met every week on MusicN, and her outfits changed constantly, so a transformation like this shouldn’t have felt particularly new.
Unlike the other actors, Seo Eden had seen Han Yeoreum wearing rabbit-ear headbands, Han Yeoreum in a Santa costume, even Han Yeoreum in a pink Valentine’s Day apron.
So just putting on a pretty outfit shouldn’t have been enough to draw out a one-hundred-percent genuine reaction.
Seo Eden desperately tried to recall the expressions he’d learned during acting lessons.
First, put tension in the corners of your lips. Then tuck your lips inward once. At the same time, swallow once to show the trembling of your Adam’s apple.
Reviewing the sequence in his head, Seo Eden waited for the curtain to open.
It was a scene he’d seen so many times by now that they all blurred together. A cliché among clichés.
One of those scenes every actor in every romantic comedy performs at least once.
The curtain slowly parted, revealing Han Yeoreum in a pale apricot dress.
She looked at Seo Eden quietly with a slightly shy expression.
“...”
Without saying anything, their eyes met.
Even though Han Yeoreum had worn styles like this countless times before, she brushed over her bare arms as if this were her first time.
As if she felt awkward.
As if this moment were happening for the very first time.
“Does it look bad?”
Nam Pyeonghwa asked.
Jeon Segye couldn’t answer for a moment. It was such a short line it would’ve been strange not to remember it. Just one sentence.
“It looks nice.” That was all he had to say.
But the words wouldn’t come out.
If he spoke now, it felt like he’d choke, cough, or let out some pathetic voice crack. It was just... just like that. The root of his tongue had gone stiff.
He forgot the sequence that had been perfectly clear in his mind moments ago. He couldn’t figure out how he was supposed to act.
Had he swallowed just now? Maybe he had. Or maybe not.
It felt like he was being helplessly pulled somewhere.
“...”
So Jeon Segye simply shook his head silently.
Nam Pyeonghwa’s gaze remained fixed on him, and because of that, he couldn’t look away either.
At that response, Nam Pyeonghwa smiled softly.
“That’s a relief.”
NG. This scene had completely deviated from the script.
Startled, Seo Eden’s neatly crossed leg began trembling uncontrollably.
Half of it was unconscious. Realizing it belatedly, Seo Eden let out a sigh.
Well, it was already an NG anyway. They’d have to shoot it again one more time. So something like this...
“Okay!”
At that moment, Director Byeon shouted a loud okay sign.
Seo Eden shot upright in shock.
It was the first one-shot okay of Seo Eden’s acting career.
* * *
Inside the lounge café overlooking the dazzling nightscape, the two continued spending time together.
With a beautiful steak placed before her, Nam Pyeonghwa awkwardly picked up her knife.
“Wait.”
Jeon Segye immediately stopped the knife and fork she was about to move toward the steak. The relaxed way he raised one hand was completely different from earlier.
“Why aren’t you taking a picture?”
“Huh? Ah....”
Nam Pyeonghwa hurriedly pulled out the phone inside the bag CEO Jeon had bought her. Sitting across from her, Segye gave a short nod.
Click.
Nam Pyeonghwa took several photos of the steak. Very carefully, with utmost concentration.
“Then now....” ƒrēewebnovel.com
“Wait!”
The second she tried to lift her knife again, he interrupted her a second time.
“That’s not the kind of photo I meant.”
True to his born-rich-chaebol nature, CEO Jeon crooked his finger arrogantly.
“Hand me your phone.”
Without much thought, Nam Pyeonghwa simply handed it over when he asked. Just like her easygoing personality.
Taking her phone, Segye immediately opened the camera and photographed her instead. Startled by the sudden shutter sound, Pyeonghwa looked at him in confusion.
“You took a picture of me?”
“Obviously.”
“Why...?”
“I was going to let it slide, but are you aware that Intern Nam has been unusually excited since earlier?”
I pointed at myself with my index finger. No matter how I thought about it, I’d just been in a good mood. Not “unusually excited” like Jeon Segye claimed.
“Me?”
“Don’t even think about fooling my eyes.”
Segye quickly snapped more pictures.
Click, click-click-click.
Then he even smirked as though this was all incredibly easy.
“Judging by the expression you made like you were waiting for me to take your picture, I was right after all.”
“Me...?”
“Didn’t you deliberately widen your eyes to look cute?”
Segye checked the photos seriously before handing the phone back. His attitude radiated total confidence in his photography skills. Truly shamelessly confident.
“...Do I really look like this?”
But on the phone was a ridiculous-looking Nam Pyeonghwa with her eyes closed.
Even as she asked with sunken eyes, Jeon Segye merely curled the corners of his lips upward slightly and nodded. freewebnøvel.coɱ
“Yes. Exactly like that.”
Thanks to Jeon Segye delivering the finishing blow, Nam Pyeonghwa’s eyes darkened.
Completely oblivious, Jeon Segye picked up his knife.
“Eat. Before it gets cold.”
Only then did Pyeonghwa pick up her knife and fork. Sneaking glances at the man who looked perfectly at ease in a place like this, she copied him diligently.
“You seem really used to places like this, CEO.”
“I suppose I am.”
“You’re really good at cutting steak.”
The instant she said that, Jeon Segye’s knife slipped with a screech.
A tiny scraping noise rang out.
Conscious of Nam Pyeonghwa’s gaze, Jeon Segye fixed his eyes on one spot only.
As though this steak alone was his sole purpose in life.
“It’s delicious, right?”
At Nam Pyeonghwa’s question, Jeon Segye silently nodded.
‘As expected of Director Byeon.’
Byeon Juhwa had been right. Seo Eden was the type who evolved on set. Somehow, he’d even figured out how to make the tips of his ears redden slightly.
Filming continued smoothly after that.
Inside the closed department store, I suddenly thought of Do Gyeoul.
Do Gyeoul, who was currently a duty-free model for H Department Store.
‘Someday, maybe I can too....’
Could I become not just a brand model, but the face of an entire corporation? Could my face stay plastered across giant billboards like Do Gyeoul’s?
“Okay! That was fantastic!”
Director Byeon’s repeated okay signs felt like an answer to that question.
Han Yeoreum could do it too.
She could do as much as she wanted.
