Kingdom Entertainment.
“Wow…….”
“Kuh, I knew it would be like this.”
Hyungkyu burst into laughter as he watched me exclaim in admiration.
“Isn’t it amazing?”
I had finally received the script for episode 5 of ‘Love Some,’ and this pure reaction jumped out the moment I read it.
“The writer must have been grinding her teeth, huh? We saw it right.”
“It’s much, much~ better than before!”
Previously, it felt like they were forcibly fitting in clichés no matter what, but now, even while following the clichés, they twisted them here and there to add more fun.
“She had talent from the beginning but couldn’t spread her wings, and now that the stage is properly set, she’s soaring.”
I agreed 100% with Hyungkyu’s words. It was just that I discovered her early; Hyerim had this talent all along.
“Ah~ I want to see the next episode soon.”
“It’ll come out step by step. Did you quit the academy?”
The male protagonist, Kang Ha, was an aspiring composer. Naturally, there were scenes in the drama where he played the piano, so I hurriedly looked for a piano academy.
“There’s a teacher in our neighborhood who majored in piano, so I decided to learn there.”
“There is?”
“Of course~”
Hyungkyu, who had been sitting at the desk, stood up and sat on the sofa next to me.
“Why don’t you just come to Seoul and live here?”
“Huh?”
“As I said last time, commuting back and forth is also work, and if you act in the future, there will be more than one or two things you need to learn and master, but there’s nothing in that neighborhood.”
Hyungkyu recommended that I move to Seoul again. But my answer was the same as before.
“No, I don’t want to.”
“Why not!”
“Seoul is complicated.”
“What’s complicated about it? It’s not like you’re going to wander around anywhere.”
“Rent is expensive too……..”
“The company will pay the entire deposit, and I’ll cover half the monthly rent!”
It was clearly an unprecedented offer with no reason to refuse.
“Still, no.”
“Why! Other kids go crazy trying to leave home once they become adults, but why are you so anxious that you can’t stay there?”
Because everything I cherish is here. There was no reason to leave all this and come to Seoul.
For me, protecting the people I cherish is the most important.
“Come on~ think about it. We filmed ‘Three Meals in the Countryside’ not long ago, right?”
“Yeah.”
“How did we film that?”
“That was…….”
“Because I live there, that’s how we could film it!”
This was a clear fact, so Hyungkyu couldn’t refute it.
“W-Well, that’s true.”
“And the neighborhood supermarket! We got a lot of rural life footage from there too.”
“That’s true too…….”
“But if I suddenly move to Seoul, what will people think?”
At my logical words, Hyungkyu finally gave up.
“Alright, alright! You talk dirtily well at times like this. Still, if you ever want to move, just say so.”
“Okay.”
That wouldn’t happen.
“Excuse me~”
While talking with Hyungkyu, a company employee knocked and entered.
“Drink this while you work!”
They placed coffee and a strawberry latte on the table.
“What’s with the drinks?”
“A part-timer from the cafe in front gave them and left.”
“A part-timer? Why?”
Hyungkyu felt puzzled that a cafe part-timer came all the way to the company to give drinks, and I felt the same.
‘That part-timer was a bit weird…….’
She was kind, but constantly prying into things made me uncomfortable.
“I heard you’re acquaintances with Hyunjae?”
“Me?”
“This kid?”
The employee said, and Hyungkyu and I answered simultaneously.
“Oh, no?”
The employee was equally flustered by that answer.
“Not at all!”
I had just gone to pick up a cake and greeted her; saying we’re acquaintances was nonsense.
“Hey, have you been working here just a day or two? Is this the first time you’ve seen weird people approaching celebrities?”
Hyungkyu immediately sensed something off and scolded the employee.
“No, that’s…… Hyunjae had bought drinks from that cafe a few times, and since they knew each other’s contacts, I thought they became close.”
“Ah! I did tell the cafe when ordering a cake as a gift for Taeun hyung.”
“Don’t drink this; throw it away right now. If you accept something like this one more time.”
“I’m sorry!”
The employee immediately collected the drinks and left.
“What a total nutcase.”
“When I went there, she kept talking a lot, so it was a bit uncomfortable.”
“Watch yourself. You have to be careful from now on.”
Hyungkyu earnestly warned me.
“Yes, I understand.”
“Coming openly to the company and even giving coffee—it’s totally creepy.”
“But I haven’t gotten any separate contacts or anything.”
Usually, they contact first via phone, KakaoTalk, or DM, but there was none of that.
“Don’t come to the company for a while. No, don’t even come near this area!”
“Huh?”
“I’ll have Hayoon deliver the script too. Until filming starts, just hole up in the countryside, study the script, and play the piano.”
He said this with his brows deeply furrowed, as if in deep thought.
“I was planning to do that anyway…….”
“Anyway, filming starts soon, and then you won’t be able to come out, so just do that for the time being.”
“Okay.”
“What are you doing? Aren’t you leaving quickly?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Hyungkyu tried to send me away quickly.
“R-Right now?”
“Disappear quickly.”
He waved his hand signaling me to go, and I put the script in my bag and left the company.
“The train time still has a bit left…….
“
Since I came out earlier than expected, I was walking while checking the train time on my smartphone when someone tapped my back.
“Excuse me.”
And as soon as I turned around, I was startled.
“Yes?”
It was that part-timer.
“Are you on your way home?”
She spoke friendly, as if we knew each other.
‘No way she was waiting for me outside?’
A cafe part-timer should be at the cafe, but meeting her in casual clothes in front of the company felt like she was waiting for me. I racked my brain on how to handle this situation.
‘Should I just pass by pretending I don’t know her? Or avoid provoking her and just brush it off?”
And my choice was.
To ignore her and go my way. Since she was like this over one encounter, if I responded, it might get worse.
“Hyunjae-ssi!”
As I pretended not to know her and passed by, she called my name again and stuck to my side.
“Hyunjae, you came to the company today?”
“Did you drink the drink I gave you?”
Even though I ignored her twice, she kept following my steps.
“I gave the cake to Taeun-ssi back then~”
How did she know that?
Goosebumps rose on my arms at that story.
Because Taeun hadn’t posted any certification photo of the cake anywhere.
‘Definitely a nutcase.’
With clear conviction, I only looked ahead and walked quickly.
Since our stride lengths differed, she fell behind while calling my name.
“Hyunjae-ssi? Hyunjae-ssi!”
But I pretended not to hear until the end and got right into a taxi where someone was just getting out.
“To the station, please.”
***
“Ha~ I knew this would happen.”
As Hyunjae took the taxi and disappeared, Miyeon spat out a curse and said.
“That’s why it’s a problem when someone gets famous.”
Last time, he smiled brightly, but now that he got the male lead role, look at him pretending not to know and running away.
“We were even flirting, and now he’s acting like this?”
She opened her smartphone and posted on V.
[I told you the guy I was flirting with is an actor. But he got a pretty important role this time, and right after that, he pretends not to know me ㅠㅠㅠㅠ So upset.]
Using anonymity, she had been steadily posting her love story with Hyunjae.
And below, her followers commented.
What kind of guy does that? Totally absurd.
└Total loser.
└Hasn’t the flirting been going on for a while? You were almost dating.
└Delusional disorder crazy ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Is she still at it?
She happily looked at the comments agreeing with her and immediately reported the hate comment below.
“Delusional? Who are you calling delusional without knowing properly.”
And she posted another one.
[I really thought it was fate and liked him…… I feel like dying ㅠㅠ]
No ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Don’t think bad thoughts.
└Dying over a guy like that is too wasteful.
└If anyone’s dying, it should be the guy who backstabbed you, why you?
└From what I heard last time, he seemed like a rookie; can you at least give initials? I’ll avoid his works.
The comment she had been waiting for was posted, and she replied that she’d tell only that person.
***
And as soon as that comment was posted, comments asking to tell them too poured in.
“Hahaha! Yes, this is how it should be.”
She predicted that if she told one person, others would get curious and believe her words.
“I’ll make Jung Hyunjae beg on his knees in front of me.”
She planned revenge on Hyunjae, who dared ignore her.
“You have to press with the fingertip raised to make the sound clear.”
“Ah~ L-Like this?”
As Hyungkyu said, I was holing up in the countryside until filming, studying the script and only learning piano.
“No. Try curling your finger like this.”
“Haa…… It’s hard.”
I could learn and follow things like exercise or action quickly, but piano required delicacy, so it was difficult.
“It’s okay. It’s hard at first, but you’ll improve as you do it.”
“Will I improve?”
From what I saw, it didn’t seem to be getting better at all, so I was worried.
“Of course~ The sound is much better than when you first came. And once you master the basics, the next will be quick.”
“Huu…… I’ll really trust only you, teacher.”
“Then shall we end here for today?”
I stood up holding the book ‘Jazz Pieces for Beginners.’
“Don’t forget to practice at home. You know to practice each piece ten times, right?”
“Yes~”
I greeted the piano teacher and was heading home.
“Re Mi Fa Sol La ᄂ”
While walking, moving my hands in the air practicing the piece I learned earlier, a vibration rang from my pocket.
“Yes, CEO~”
– Hey! That bitch is a total nutcase!
As soon as I answered the phone, Hyungkyu’s excited voice rang in my ears.
“You startled me! I know.”
I knew she was a weird person since I met her last time. But Hyungkyu being this excited meant something had happened.
– Wow~ Really, this is the first nutcase I’ve seen in my life.
“Calm down and tell me. What happened?”
I’m so dumbfounded I can’t even speak properly. I’ll send you a link, look at it. When you see it, you’ll totally-
faint.
“A link?”
– Just read it first. Read it and call me back.
As soon as the call ended, a link came from Hyungkyu, and clicking it connected directly to Byeolstar.
‘mimi486486?’
It was a weird nickname, but the follower count was 3,000, quite a lot.
Looking at the flow, it seemed this was that person’s account, and I started reading from the bottom post one by one.
“Ha, isn’t this a total nutcase?”
And there were posts that surpassed my common sense.