Chapter 62: After the Fight

“Today was so much fun! Please come again next time.”

“Of course, I’d be really thankful if you called me again.”

Even during breaks and after the filming ended, the MC kept talking with Hyunjae.

I seriously don’t get what’s so funny about that.

It didn’t even seem that entertaining, yet they laughed so hard — it made no sense to him.

“Mr. Gongjun, you did great too~”

“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”

He couldn’t tell when things had started to go wrong.

Was it when the former CEO showed up at the set?

Or maybe when they met at the script reading?

Or perhaps… when he went to the audition in my place?

Ha, I’m going crazy.

All his life, he had always been the protagonist.

Thanks to his natural looks, he had become an actor without effort, transferred to a major agency, landed good dramas, and his road to success had been smooth…

“Hyung, did I do okay?”

He didn’t even seem particularly special, so why did everyone like that guy so much?

No matter how much he thought about it, he just couldn’t understand.

“You did well.”

Hyunjae received warm praise from his tough-looking manager.

“You know your name’s been mentioned less than Hyunjae’s, right? You’re getting overshadowed by someone who had way less screen time than you. Isn’t that a bit too much…?”

But the one who really made him angry wasn’t Hyunjae — it was his own manager.

For some reason, that guy mocked and ignored him at every opportunity.

“Can you stop already?”

“Oh, you don’t like hearing this, huh? If you’d done better from the start, would I even have to say anything?”

“Haah…”

If he kept listening, he really might lose it, so he sighed deeply and hurried away — but his manager’s mouth didn’t stop even inside the elevator.

“How could you go on a variety show without preparing even one funny story?”

“What could I do? I didn’t have any.”

“If you don’t have one, you make one! You’re good at using that useless brain of yours for other things, but when it comes to this, you just—”

“Aish! I seriously can’t deal with this anymore!”

Then came the ding of the elevator arriving — and Gongjun exploded.

“What?”

“You’re just a damn manager who cleans up after me, so stop ordering me around like you’re somebody. You’re annoying.”

“Ah~ right. That’s more like the you I know.”

The manager nodded, as if he had expected this reaction.

“You think you’re something just because I listen to your whining? You’re nothing special. I can replace you anytime I want.”

“Sorry, but that goes both ways. There are tons of actors who can act as well as you!”

The two faced each other, fists trembling, ready to swing — the tension was about to snap.

“And by the way, you’re so damn obvious.”

“What?”

“It’s obvious you’re a piece of trash. You conned the CEO by acting like you were some poor victim to get that contract, didn’t you? You little punk—”

Unable to hold back any longer, Gongjun, who had been hit right in the nerve, threw the first punch.

“Who’s spreading that kind of bullsh*t!”

“You little bastard… I’ve had enough of you!”

The manager, struck by Gongjun’s punch, immediately lunged forward to return the blow.

At that moment, neither of them remembered being an actor or a manager anymore.

They grabbed each other’s collars and tumbled out of the elevator, brawling across the cold marble floor.

“Hey, you son of a b*tch!”

“Urgh! I should’ve cut ties with you from the start!”

“You think I didn’t know you tried to get me replaced on the first day?”

Too busy fighting, neither of them noticed the elevator arriving.

It wasn’t until they heard a stranger’s voice that they froze.

“Uh… what’s going on here?”

“What are you two doing?”

Hyunjae and Hayoon stood at the elevator entrance, looking utterly stunned.

Of all people, it had to be him who caught me…

Startled, Gongjun quickly released his grip on the manager’s clothes — but the manager didn’t let go.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but let’s talk this out.”

Hayoon pried the manager’s hand off Gongjun.

“Haa…”

The manager couldn’t bring himself to push Hayoon away and simply shook off his hand as he stood up.

“You’ll see, I’ll make sure you regret this.”

“Tch! Don’t worry. I’ll do a hundred times better than you ever expected.”

“You still don’t know why you keep losing roles, do you? The rumors are already all over the industry— Oof!”

Provoked again by the manager’s taunting tone, Gongjun nearly lunged, but Hayoon blocked him.

“That’s enough.”

Neither of them seemed tired — both kept arguing, with Hayoon stuck between them.

“I’ll talk to the CEO and have you replaced right away.”

“Yeah? I quit! You think you’re the only actor out there? I don’t work with two-faced jerks like you!”

With that, the manager stormed off toward the parking lot.

Left alone, Gongjun fumed and turned to Hyunjae, desperate for sympathy.

“Can you believe that guy? He calls himself a manager! You saw that, right?”

“Enough. No matter what happened, how could you start a fight like that in a public place?”

Hyunjae was right.

It was embarrassing to get caught by him — but at least it wasn’t a total stranger.

“So what, was I supposed to just stand there and take it? How can a manager hit his own artist?”

Gongjun completely forgot he had thrown the first punch and only remembered being hit.

“You think I’ll just let that go… Ah, wait— did he actually mess up my face?”

As he spoke frantically, he finally realized his lips were stinging.

“Your lip’s split.”

“Argh! How dare he do this to my face!”

He hurriedly pulled out his phone and used the screen reflection to check himself from every angle.

“Looks fine to me. Let’s go, hyung.”

“Yeah.”

“Wait, wait! You’re just gonna leave me here?”

Hyunjae and Hayoon turned around.

“Of course we are.”

His tone implied, Why would we not?

“All I’ve got is my phone!”

His belongings were still in the car, and he knew his manager wouldn’t be waiting there.

He basically had nothing but his phone.

“In this day and age, having a smartphone means you’ve got everything you need. See ya.”

“Hold on!”

Gongjun desperately grabbed Hyunjae’s sleeve.

“What now~”

Hyunjae turned back with an annoyed look, and Gongjun gave him a pitiful, catlike expression.

“Give me a ride.”

“We’re not close enough for that, are we?”

Hyunjae still remembered how Gongjun had trashed Jaehyeon earlier, so he had no intention of helping.

“Then at least lend me some money. We’re friends, right?”

“Haah…”

Shaking his head, Hyunjae reluctantly dug through his bag, pulled out his wallet, and took out a 10,000 won bill.

“Here. Happy now?”

“Hey, how do you even take a taxi with just 10,000 won these days? Do you know what the base fare is?”

“Take the bus. Or the subway.”

“How can a celebrity take public transportation?”

Hearing that question  as if the idea were absurd, Hyunjae thought, This guy still has a lot of growing up to do.

He was about to put the money back into his wallet when Gongjun grabbed his hand.

“Ah, fine! Just give it to me.”

“Get your face treated properly, and try talking things out next time.”

“If he were someone I could talk to, I would’ve done that already.”

“You worked hard today. I’m going.”

Hyunjae walked away with Hayoon toward the parking lot.

“That guy’s so damn annoying.”

He found Hyunjae irritating and detestable, but remembering how he had helped him into a taxi when he was drunk before  and now even gave him money again  made it impossible to truly hate him, which only made him more frustrated.

“Are you ready?”

“Woof! Woof!”

“One~ two~ three!”

Hyunjae sprinted across the wide lawn, followed by Jayden and a large Samoyed dog.

“Hey, you guys! Maybe look out for the two-legged human trying to keep up!”

These mutts have no manners. 

Having four legs and two legs are completely different, you know!

“Woof!”

There’s no such rule in the dog world.

“Woof! Woof!”

Snack! Snack!

The two dogs ignored him and ran in circles around him, playfully teasing him as they went.

“Haha, you’ve got great stamina. We usually get tired after a few minutes with him.”

“We’ve barely started! I’m totally fine!”

Thanks to his recent training at the action school, his stamina had improved a lot.

And knowing that these two still had plenty of energy left, he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

“Chae-Chae!”

“Woof!”

Hearing her name, the Samoyed running beside him turned and sprinted toward her owner.

“Oh my, my white baby’s going to turn black at this rate!”

“Pant pant~”

This was the home of one of their clinic’s VIP clients a couple who had recently moved from Seoul to the countryside.

The Samoyed, Chae-Chae, was their dog.

“You don’t look much like your uncle, but you’re really handsome.”

“Ah~ thank you.”

He had come to deliver some dog treats and toys that Gyeongho had asked him to drop off.

Feeling bored going alone, he brought Jayden along, and when the couple invited them for tea, they ended up staying to play for a while.

“Alright, let’s give the dogs a break and sit down for a bit.”

“Okay!”

“Honey, here.”

“Mm.”

They were a young couple.

When he first heard they had moved to the countryside, he thought, Oh, they must be an older couple.

But surprisingly, they were in their thirties.

“Wow~ you’re really handsome.”

“Thank you.”

“Honey, don’t sit next to him. You’ll just look worse by comparison.”

“Oh please. Hmph! I know what I’ve got, okay?”

Why are you two being so extra in front of me?

Still, watching the two look at each other with such affection warmed his heart.

“Ah, I can tell you’re a celebrity. You said you don’t drink coffee, right?”

“Huh? How did you know that?”

How do they know I don’t drink coffee?

Apparently, even though his dog days were over, his body still couldn’t handle caffeine.

“We got some as a gift and wanted to share, but you said there’s no one at home who drinks coffee, so it’s fine.”

“Ah~”

He knew Gyeongho visited this house often, but he hadn’t realized they were this close.

“The cameras don’t make you uncomfortable, right?”

A few small cameras were placed on the table.

There was a reason for that.

“No, it’s fine. My face won’t be shown, only my voice, right?”

The couple’s job was that of YouTubers.

“Of course~ we just record everything first, but it might not even get uploaded.”

“What kind of channel did you say you ran again?”

“Just simple daily vlogs.”

“Ah, I see.”

“I heard your nephew travels between Seoul and here for work — what do you do?”

“Right now, I’m unemployed.”

He had received a temporary break from Hyunggyu, saying it would take some time to sort through the new scripts that had been piling up.

“That’s the perfect age to take it easy and have fun.”

“Yeah, I used to stay out all night drinking too, and skip class on my own terms.”

They seemed like genuinely kind people.

He could easily understand why they had become VIP clients so quickly and why Gyeongho visited their house so often.

“But… didn’t you originally have two dogs?”

It was just a casual question but both of them suddenly froze, and the atmosphere turned heavy.

Wait… did I say something wrong?