.  Staring at his phone that just ended a call, Yoo Chun Young soon turned his head toward the voice coming from behind him.

  “What are you doing?”


  “Ha Woon sunbaenim.” Yoo Chun Young got up from his seat and politely bowed. Shortly after, he straightened up, closed his flip phone, and put it deep inside his pocket.

  Watching that sight, Ha Woon’s eyes narrowed like those of a fox.

  “Had a phone call? With whom?” he asked.

  “A friend at school.”


  “Really? You seemed to dash outside so urgently that I thought it was a call from home or so.”


  Instead of a response, Yoo Chun Young just looked at Ha Woon in his eyes.

  Putting his hands in his pockets, Ha Woon was standing still yet with sly laughter. He uttered nonchalantly, “Why? Am I asking something too personal?”


  “No, it isn’t.”


  “But look at you…… it frightens me, haha.”


  Keeping a straight face, Yoo Chun Young slightly turned his head to look somewhere else.

  That was all he reacted; however, in Ha Woon’s eyes, it was obvious that Yoo Chun Young wanted to escape from this spot. Since he was a teenager and had been living a life free from becoming self-conscious, Yoo Chun Young wasn’t surely good at acting this kind of character.

  Anyway, that seemed fine. When the phone rang, Yoo Chun Young quickly left the set and went outside. Ha Woon followed him while considering that it could be a chance to boast some conglomerate news to his friends investing in stocks. However, what came into his view was something utterly unexpected.

  Yoo Chun Young looked somewhat like a regular boy of his age, a soft and naïve teenager, in which he could hardly perform no matter how many times the director urged him to act that way.

  That was what the director demanded Yoo Chun Young to look like during the entire shoot. Playing a role of a young next-door neighbor to the female lead, Yoo Chun Young had to avoid stiffening his face too much, which would just make him look like a model instead of getting along with the actual character.

  But now, there was someone who could pull THAT look on his face! Was it his family member? His girlfriend? Getting close to Yoo Chun Young stealthily, Ha Woon held his breath, hiding in the shadow.

  Thankfully, they were in a resonating space, so Ha Woon could, at least, identify the gender of the voice. It was a girl.

  It might have been better if it was a piece of information on Balhae Group; still, this was fine. Having that thought in mind, Ha Woon showed a grin in the dark.

  Yoo Chun Young dived into the entertainment industry not so long ago; thus, he seemed to have not finished his relationship with his girlfriend. Maybe he didn’t perceive his position clearly too.

  Usually, the agency enforced their would-be stars a no-dating ban before a scandal broke, but in Yoo Chun Young’s case, they could have not become so strict since he had a mighty background.

  ‘Maybe it’s good to hand over this information to a tabloid reporter I know and ask him to write promoting articles about me.’ Taking things into account, Ha Woon stood in front of Yoo Chun Young as soon as he ended the call.

  Indeed, Yoo Chun Young didn’t try to give him the information easily. Instead, he was behaving prickly like a hedgehog. However, Ha Woon thought it was rather better. The more protective and secretive Yoo Chun Young was, the more sensitive information it would be.

  Ha Woon urged, “Come on, you ain’t gonna tell me, huh?”


  “.……”


  “What’s the matter? It’s fine to have a girlfriend outside this industry. You’ve debuted within a month and only did some part-time modeling once in a while before, right?”


  Even at his comforting remark, Yoo Chun Young remained wordless still with a stiffened expression. Standing that way with his usual, frosty cold look, Yoo Chun Young was just like a breathing mannequin. The pure, heartwarming face he had earlier during the phone call was now hardly imaginable.

  Regardless of Yoo Chun Young’s reaction, Ha Woon didn’t give up removing the smile on his lips. He uttered, “Geez, you look too threatening for me to talk, my hoobae. I’m just giving you a piece of advice as a sunbae in this industry.”


  Yoo Chun Young still didn’t say a word.

  “Looking at your face, I guess you’re really in love with her. She seems to be the only one right now, huh? But once you’re on air, things become different you know,” said Ha Woon, moving his hand, which sounded smooth and seamless. “People will gonna line up to see you. That will definitely happen no matter what since you look damn gorgeous. Dude, I mean it.”


  Even at those flattering words, the air between them was still tense. No one had reacted like Yoo Chun Young when Ha Woon exaggerated their appearances or bright futures.

  ‘What else should I say……?’ Although he couldn’t figure out how to loosen up the strained atmosphere, Ha Woon kept on speaking. “Ah, if you like someone outside this industry, of course, you can see her, why not? Dude, there are some folks out there who want to keep his relationship a secret and date multiple girls simultaneously. However, this isn’t the right time for that, so you should break up…… Come on, what type of girl is she? I’ll let you know how to end up a relationship without any hassle.”


  Speaking that way, Ha Woon stretched out his hand furtively to Yoo Chun Young’s phone. That was when a response returned.

  “I’ll take care of it.”


  It was such a cold refusal that had no appreciation for long advice or respect for the experienced in the industry.

  Feeling annoyed, Ha Woon lifted his head and opened his mouth, but as soon as Yoo Chun Young’s cold blue eyes came into sight, he closed his mouth again. He remained silent, blinking swiftly in surprise. Shortly after, Ha Woon clenched his fist and teeth at the same time.

  ‘How dare can that young bastard wear his feelings on his sleeve?!’ The moment when Ha Woon grumbled only in his thoughts, a ringing voice pierced through the noise behind them and reached the two.

  “Mr. Chun Young! We’re gonna shoot!”


  “I’ll be right there.”


  As if it was the perfect timing, Yoo Chun Young lightly bowed at Ha Woon and quickly walk past him.

  Standing still on the spot, Ha Woon soon touched his shoulder that Yoo Chun Young’s sleeve grazed just now. With a grimace, he switched his gaze to Yoo Chun Young who was walking toward the light.

  At that very moment, the assistant director shouted again, “Mr. Ha Woon! You should be here too! It’s the scene where you two put arms around each other’s shoulders!”


  “Oh, yeah! Coming!”


  Ha Woon ran to the set in a hurry. There was Yoo Chun Young standing in front of the electric sign. Looking at his nice and fair face in the light, Ha Woon felt uncomfortable putting arms around each other’s shoulder since Yoo Chun Young just threw him aside and walked away from him in a flash. Besides, Yoo Chun Young was even five years younger than him.

  In the drama, Ha Woon was Lee Nara’s little brother. The scene they were shooting was Yoo Chun Young helping drunk Ha Woon to walk home then coming across Lee Nara. All Ha Woon had to do was to just shove his nose onto Yoo Chun Young’s shoulder as if he was almost zonked out. Thus, it didn’t require any difficult acting skills.

  As the director called, ‘Action!’ Ha Woon leaned himself on Yoo Chun Young’s shoulder and walked with tottering steps. Within five seconds, the director commanded, “Mr. Ha Woon, let’s do it one more time! That ain’t the right look.”


  “Oh, okay!” Raising his head up in bewilderment, Ha Woon swept his disheveled hair back hurriedly. He took a deep breath to calm down; however, he squinted his eyes at the director’s following words.

  “What happened to Chun Young? You look great today. That annoyed and irritated face…… just keep going that way.”


  ‘Did he just say annoyed and irritated face? There’s a reason for a good performance, sun of a b*tch!’ Ha Woon frowned again.

  When Ha Woon’s acting finally satisfied the director to some degree, Lee Nara stepped into the scene, turning around the alley. In the drama, she had found a clue of an incident just now. Her light footsteps changed as soon as she saw her drunk brother, Ha Woon.

  Yelling Ha Woon’s character name in the drama, she dashed toward the two guys. “Hey! Cho Minsuk!”


  The moment she tried to quickly get Ha Woon from Yoo Chun Young, her face revealed frustration upon the heaviness of a drunk man.

  Yoo Chun Young gently uttered, “It’s fine, noona. I can handle it.”


  There was a buzz behind the camera. Yoo Chun Young’s performance was unusual today, smoothly and beautifully fitting into the scene. Only Lee Nara stayed focus amid the situation.

  Going alongside the parenthetical of ‘she realizes that her young next-door neighbor is now a grownup man,’ describing the action in the dialogue, Lee Nara opened her eyes round in surprise then spoke while looking embarrassed.

  “Sorry, help me till you reach the shoe rack. No, should we just throw him under the streetlamp in front of the door and leave? He really needs to put himself together.”


  “I feel the same, but you know a lot of bad things are going around us these days.”


  “Ah, right……”


  “You might be having a hard time too, noona.” Yoo Chun Young added, “Be careful.” His tender words reddened Lee Nara’s face in perplexity.

  She soon disheveled Yoo Chun Young’s hair with her hand and shouted, ‘My little boy is all grown up!’ And that was the end of the scene.

  “Cut!”


  As soon as the director dropped the word, Ha Woon took himself off from Yoo Chun Young’s shoulder then headed outside, gasping.