It was late in the evening.
Gyeongho was busy preparing dinner when an unfamiliar voice suddenly cut through the quiet.
“Hey! Hey, you bastard! You’d better get your ass out here right now!”
“Who the hell is yelling at this hour?”
Gyeongho didn’t bother hiding his irritation at the uninvited guest.
‘Hah, he’s later than I expected. If he moves this slow, how’s he supposed to get any real work done? Not that I expected much from that sluggish body, but does he really have to be this bad at keeping time?’
Gyeongho grumbled under his breath, glaring at the door.
He looked ready to storm out, soup ladle still in hand, but I quickly stopped him.
“Let me handle it.”
When I stepped outside, I saw Yongmin glaring at me through the glass door like he wanted me dead.
‘He’s really pissed this time.’
Honestly, if someone told me he was about to blow steam out of his nostrils like a rhinoceros, I might have believed them.
“Hey! Didn’t I tell you to show up on time? And you think you can just blow it off twice like it’s nothing?!”
The moment he spotted me, Yongmin started yelling at the top of his lungs.
“Quiet down. It’s a small village—people can hear you a mile away.”
I walked over, unlocked the clinic door, and Yongmin barged in the second it opened.
“Quiet down? You know who’s to blame for—”
“Let’s talk somewhere else. The person inside gets jumpy and you do not want to see him angry.”
Worried Gyeongho might get dragged into this, I led Yongmin away to a deserted corner nearby.
“Why the hell haven’t you been answering your phone? I texted you the damn audition schedule—are you kidding—”
“Oh, right. The audition. Sorry about that. Slipped my mind.”
I did say sorry, but I didn’t bother faking any sincerity.
“Sorry? Are you insane? Did you take a bullet to the head? How the hell do you just ‘forget’ something like that?!”
“I didn’t take a bullet anywhere. It’s just, you gave me such vague instructions, I figured I’d treat them vaguely too.”
“What?”
At that, Yongmin’s face turned beet red as he pounded his chest in exasperation.
“Ha! So you were playing innocent this whole time, huh? You’re just a complete lunatic.”
“Glad you finally figured it out. One less thing to explain.”
I’d had enough of pretending with people like him.
Hyungcheol was the only one worth the trouble.
“Think you can just walk all over me because I’ve been cutting you slack?”
“That wasn’t my intention, but if that’s how it feels, well… nothing I can do about it.”
Yongmin was just a disposable pawn, a means to screw with Hyungcheol a little more.
“You really don’t know who you’re messing with, do you? If we were having this talk my way—”
“Oh? Were you planning to hit me or something?”
He didn’t exactly look like the type to keep his hands to himself, but he should know better than to try it with me.
“Think you can handle the fallout?”
“What?”
“You do realize there’s an ad shoot in a few days. You gonna be okay with that?”
That’s when Yongmin seemed to catch on.
He finally understood I’d been playing with Hyungcheol this entire time.
‘Dumbass. He thought I was some clueless pushover? Give me a break.’
This was no fool.
He knew exactly what he had and how to use it.
“Little bastard. That’s the thing about people who know they’re good—they’re always insufferable.”
“Glad I didn’t disappoint you, then.”
‘This is what they call “living up to your looks,” right?’
Even now, I was quietly pleased—I’d learned that phrase recently.
Always good to learn new things.
While I was patting myself on the back, Yongmin was studying me with a different suspicion.
‘Look at those eyes. He’s not normal, that one.’
I’d never so much as lifted a dumbbell, but with my bulky frame and a few tattoos, people usually kept their distance.
This kid, though—he didn’t even flinch.
“You don’t really want this job, do you?”
“What?”
“Being ordered around by the ‘boss’ must piss you off. Getting chewed out over the phone all day—it’s gotta suck.”
‘How the hell does he know that?’
These days, Hyungcheol was nitpicking everything I did.
He paid me next to nothing, but worked me like a dog.
“And on top of that, you’ve gotta coddle some brat, drive back and forth to the countryside? Must be a nightmare.”
It was like he was reading my mind. I found myself leaning in.
“So? What do you want from me?”
“Just use me as an excuse. Pretend you’re working when you’re not. Slack off, go gamble on crypto, whatever. I don’t care.”
‘Crypto, huh… and on company time? That doesn’t sound half bad.’
It was tempting—way too tempting.
“And what do you want in return?”
“Nothing special. Just let me do whatever I want. That’s it.”
Why say no? He was basically offering to cover for me while I got paid to do nothing.
“Fine. But don’t go running your mouth, like just now.”
Just as I’d expected.
I’d known what kind of man he was the moment he handed me the script.
“You know, when I first got here, I was gonna beat you half to death to make you behave.”
“Oh? Really?”
Maybe that steam out of his nose wasn’t just my imagination.
“But looking at you now, I realize there’s no point. It’s not like I’d make more money by busting my knuckles.”
He was probably already dreaming about making a killing on crypto.
“Good choice. And don’t bother with the auditions. Just tell the boss I flunked.”
No way was I going to let Hyungcheol stuff me into some cheap project just to line his pockets.
He said every role was precious—part of my growth.
“Fine by me.”
Yongmin didn’t even blink at the suggestion.
“I’ll still go to the ad shoot. Gotta do at least one thing to keep everyone quiet.”
He could lie about the auditions, but turning down an ad would be harder.
Besides, he needed to show he was still useful.
“Oh, and don’t bother driving me. I’ll get there myself.”
“You should’ve said all this from the start. Would’ve saved us both the headache.”
“Right? Didn’t think we’d see eye-to-eye so easily.”
Part of me felt grateful Hyungcheol hadn’t given me a proper manager.
If I’d gotten stuck with some earnest workaholic, this would’ve been a pain.
“Anyway, it’s dinner time for me. Oh—and make sure you toss your cigarette butts in the trash.”
As I turned to head back inside, Yongmin muttered behind my back.
“Son of a… you’re impossible to like.”
Not that I cared anymore.
I’d just handed him his excuse to waste time while he turned crypto into a money printer.
**
Meeting room.
“You’re even more handsome in person than on TV.”
“Really? Thank you.”
The ad meeting went smoothly, the atmosphere warm and cheerful.
“As you know, we’re just getting started, so your fresh image is a perfect match for us.”
“I hope we can keep moving forward together.”
“Yes! I’ll do my best.”
It was just a mid-tier cosmetics company, so there was no agency—just me and the brand, face-to-face.
“Oh! By the way, do you have any social media accounts? We’d like to promote there too.”
“Sorry… I don’t really use social media.”
I only had a ghost account to track missing animals, and even that I hadn’t logged into in ages.
“Really? But people your age usually can’t live without it.”
Was that so?
I knew it was popular, but no one around me used it.
“I did make one for the shop, but I have no idea how to use it.”
“That’s fine! It’s really easy.”
“We’ll teach you!”
I didn’t really plan to start posting, but they were so eager I couldn’t say no.
“Oh~ so that’s how you do it.”
“Yep! Just tap here and upload whatever you want.”
“Thank you.”
I gave them a bright smile as I thanked them, and the PR team member flushed pink as they handed my phone back.
“Since the contract includes promoting our products on SNS, we’ll send you hashtags and photos.”
“But… is it okay to post them on an empty account?”
Didn’t you need a bunch of followers for this to work?
“Just post a few photos—it’ll grow fast. We’ll release an article when we announce you as our model.”
“Ah, I see. I’ll make sure the photos are pretty.”
“But, um… those pretty photos…”
“My town’s got great scenery! Fields, rice paddies—whatever you want.”
“Uh, no, no!”
The staff frantically waved their hands and glanced at Yongmin for help.
“I’ll explain later.”
“Don’t worry. Just think of it as an extension of the teaser video you shot. You saw the storyboard, right?”
“It was beautiful.”
The concept looked like something out of a fairytale.
“We worked really hard to match your image.”
I didn’t think I was anything special, but they sure made me sound like I was.
“The moment our PR team saw that video, they said, ‘That’s the one!’”
“Really?”
“Of course! After that video blew up, everyone wanted to know who you were.”
I had no idea.
I’d barely looked at my phone back then because I was sick of all the pointless calls.
“I didn’t know at all. Thank you for seeing something in me.”
“No, we’re the ones who should thank you.”
The meeting ended on a warm note.
“See you on shoot day.”
“Yes, thank you for your time.”
I said my goodbyes and left the company building with Yongmin.
“With acting like that, you’d pass every audition. Why won’t you go?”
Yongmin grumbled, annoyed by how different my demeanor was from before.
He couldn’t help wondering if this was what real entertainers were like.
“I wasn’t acting, though.”
I blinked at him, genuinely confused by his comment.
“You weren’t acting? So who was that staring daggers at me the other day?”
“Oh, that? That was just my ‘eye-eye’ thing.”
‘Nice. That came out pretty naturally.’
Dogs always know who likes them and who doesn’t. So did I.
‘When someone’s that fond of me, why would I hate them?’
“Eye-eye… what the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Judging by his reaction, he clearly didn’t get it.
“Wait. You do know what ‘eye-eye’ means, right?”
“Of… of course! It’s, uh… a proverb!”
A proverb? People really aren’t that bright sometimes.
“It’s just an abbreviation.”
“I know! I just got mixed up.”
His face flushed red with embarrassment.
‘Seriously, people care way too much about how they look to others.’
“Anyway, I’ll take it from here. You go on ahead. I’ll find my own way to the shoot, so you won’t have to see me for a while.”
“Yeah, fine. Suit yourself.”
Once Yongmin was gone, I didn’t head to the station.
Instead, I went somewhere else entirely.
“How can I help you?”
“I just wanted to ask you something.”
I’d come back to the apartment where my owner and I used to live.
‘Huh. This guy’s still on the clock, huh?’
The security guard, whose face I knew well, stepped in front of me.
“I used to live here with Jung Jaehyun.”
“Pardon?”
“Jung Jaehyun.”
Lots of celebrities lived in this building, but my owner was the biggest star of them all—there was no way he’d forgotten.
“Are you a reporter?”
“What? No.”
“Sorry, but you can’t just show up like this and expect us to talk.”
“I’m not a reporter. I really lived here.”
“We’re not idiots. Please leave.”
He’d been kind before, but now he was cold as ice.
“Seriously. I just want to know who took the stuff that was left behind—”
“You think you’re the first one to come up with that? Leave before I call the police.”
Who else would come looking for him besides me? There shouldn’t be anyone.
“Has someone else been here?”
“You think you’re the only one? And why are you digging this up now, after all this time?”
It felt like just yesterday, but for them, it was ancient history.
“Hey! Stop chit-chatting and get back to patrol.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Wait, hold on—!”
But the guard didn’t even glance back as he walked away.
‘I figured it wouldn’t be easy, but this is a fortress.’
“Woof!”
Just then, as I stood there, reluctant to leave, I felt something soft brush against my foot.