Chapter 90: When the Spotlight Burns Back

“Hyunjae, you look cool.”

Hayoon exclaimed in admiration as she saw me come out in the outfit.

“I feel a bit awkward…… Is it okay?”

“No, you look totally cool.”

“It suits you so well!”

Wearing only a silk suit on my bare body, I felt extremely embarrassed, but the reactions around me weren’t bad.

“Your shoulders are broad, and your legs are long, so it suits you well? This brand is hard to pull off unless you have exceptional proportions.”

Today was the day for a photoshoot to promote Today’s Fruit Shop.

“Lastly…… done.”

The stylist applied lip balm, and all preparations for the shoot were complete.

“Thank you~”

As I came out of the waiting room and into the studio, the shooting staff were bustling around.

“Mr. Hyunjae, this way.”

“You’ve seen the storyboard in advance, right?”

“Yes, I checked it.”

The concept of today’s shoot was overall to show masculine charm and overflowing charisma, and naturally, my partner was…….

“Hello~!”

It was Taewoon.

“You’re here?”

“Wow~ You look good in that?”

“You look cool too, hyung.”

Seeing him all dressed up like this, after always seeing him casually in t-shirts without much effort, he really gave off a celebrity vibe.

“Well, I’ve always been cool.”

da.

‘This guy still hasn’t cured his celebrity disease.’

I made a displeased expression at his exaggerated shoulder shrug in response to the compliment.

“Puhaha! Ah~ It’s so fun when you make that face, teasing you is really enjoyable?”

“Don’t joke around~ Before I release photos of you lounging at home to the fans.”

“Threatening…… Ah! Anyway, I had something to say when I met you today.”

“What is it?”

“You’re really like a ghost? That kid…….”

“You two, are you both ready?”

Taewoon’s story was cut off by the photographer’s appearance.

“Yes! Please take good care of us today.”

“I’ll do the same.”

“Taewoon is already a pro, and Mr. Hyunjae…… has such a great face. Haha, I have to do well.”

The photographer humbled himself and hyped up me and Taewoon. 

Probably 80% of this attitude was thanks to Taewoon.

“Then, since you’re busy, let’s get started right away.”

The shoot proceeded immediately and went smoothly.

“Now~ Mr. Hyunjae, turn your head slightly to the left.”

I posed according to the photographer’s request, and Taewoon was perfect, as expected from someone with experience shooting dozens of pictorials.

However, if there’s one downside…….

“You two, make eye contact…….”

“Puhup!”

Is it that the serious look of a close friend feels unfamiliar and makes me burst into laughter?

“Ah~ This hyung is really.”

“It’s funny because I’m being serious with you like this. Okay, okay.”

“You two must have gotten really close while filming the drama?”

“Yes.”

Taewoon answered without a second’s hesitation.

“Your chemistry is great, so I’m looking forward to the drama?”

“Please make sure to watch the drama when it airs. It’s really fun.”

I hadn’t seen the drama yet either, but I was confident it would be fun.

“Let’s keep this chemistry going!”

The pictorial shoot proceeded without much difficulty.

“Then, let’s take a short break, change clothes, and go into individual shots.”

“Yes~”

“Ah, it’s hot.”

Taewoon handed his jacket to the stylist nearby and called me.

“Hey! Finish preparing and come to my waiting room.”

“Got it.”

Knowing what he wanted to talk about, I quickly finished preparing and went to Taewoon’s waiting room.

“Hey hey, look at this.”

As soon as I arrived, Taewoon dragged me by the hand to the corner.

“Why.”

“This kid is a total psycho beyond imagination?”

Taewoon showed me his smartphone, and on the screen was a message window from the stalker.

[Happy locking people down with money?]

[You want to show off this much.]

[XXXX, go die.]

[If you don’t want to ruin together since I’ll blow everything up, back off on your own.]

[We’re dating, so break up quickly.]

“After not seeing it for a while, I checked by chance and it was a total mess.”

“Wow…….””

The scroll went down endlessly, and even without replies, dozens of malicious comments were sent every day.

“It’s my mental, so I didn’t think much of it. If a normal person received this, they’d be completely shaken.”

“It’s really a spectacle.”

Unimaginable varieties of creative insults were packed full.

“Right? And here. Here, they even faked conversations with you?”

“It’s a mess.”

“Now I get why Jibin broke up with his girlfriend because of this kid? Coming out like this, of course they’d fight.”

Indeed, if left alone, this person would do anything.

“Are you going to watch more?”

“This seems enough? No need to drag it out further.”

“Then…….”

“Let’s go today.”

I couldn’t let Taewoon keep seeing these eye-rotting malicious comments.

“Call. Anyway, I needed to clean up once lately too.”

“Clean up?”

“If I blow something like this once in a while, it gets quiet and comfortable for a bit.”

As expected, he wouldn’t just help me obediently.

“Pretending to be generous, I knew it’d be like this.”

“Hey, I have to get something out of this too. How big a deal is it for a celebrity to publicly snipe a normal person.”

This was a hundred times right, Taewoon’s words. Experience can’t be ignored; he calculated these things faster than anyone.

“I know. I won’t forget that you helped.”

“Tonight will be long.”

***

“Ha! Let’s see how long you’ll ignore me.”

Miyeon kept sending messages to that account, threatening to break up with Hyunjae, but the account remained silent.

‘Still, it seems their relationship has cracked.’

It had been several days since the regular posts stopped, and Miyeon thought the day she would meet Hyunjae was not far off.

Lying on the goshiwon bed, continuously leaving malicious comments, someone knocked on her door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s the goshiwon manager!”

At the mention of the goshiwon manager, she opened the door.

“Isn’t coming this late a nuisance? What’s the matter?”

“It’s about last month’s rent not coming in.”

“What?”

Her dad must have paid it? 

She came up to Seoul under the excuse of preparing for the civil service exam, so the rent had never been late.

“As you know, goshiwons have no deposit, so if the monthly rent doesn’t come in, you have to vacate immediately.”

“Ha, isn’t it too much for just one missed payment?”

The manager was preparing for her to come out brazenly, knowing her usual personality.

‘I didn’t expect a normal reaction from this psycho.’

There are all kinds of people in a cramped goshiwon, but this kind of psycho was a first.

The guy upstairs likes her and sends eye signals, she’s a famous celebrity’s girlfriend, she’s from a rich family but wants to live independently. 

Her delusions were extreme.

“So, pay it right now?”

“Wait! I can pay that little money right away.”

Having never seen someone who talks big and pays immediately, the manager sneered.

“Then pay two months’ rent by today, and if not, we’ll consider vacating this month!”

“Wait, why two months?”

“Goshiwons are prepaid originally. I’ve waited a lot already!”

The manager closed the door and left, expecting this room to be vacated soon.

“Annoying.”

Miyeon was in a bad mood because the rundown goshiwon manager, who wasn’t even the landlord, was talking down to her.

“Why suddenly not paying the goshiwon fee!”

Fuming, the moment she picked up her smartphone to call her dad, Miyeon doubted her eyes.

“What…… is this?”

The Byulstar notification window was popping up madly in real-time, to the point where she couldn’t see properly. 

It had only been a short conversation with the manager, but her smartphone was already hot.

“Why is this happening?”

She had always craved attention, but this sudden surge overwhelmed even her.

To grasp the situation, she quickly entered her Byulstar, and there were insults in various languages.

[Shameless after leaving all those malicious comments.]

[I hope you realize that harming others comes back to you.]

[If writing novels is your hobby, do it alone at home.]

[Stalking is a crime.]

[Sleep instead of leaving malicious comments.]

The notifications were uploading in real-time, too fast to read properly, filled with insults. 

And the many people leaving insults had one thing in common: they were fans of one person.

“Taewoon?”

She had never touched Taewoon, why this? 

Her rule was to never touch famous people. 

Entering Taewoon’s Byulstar, a circle was floating around the profile picture.

‘Story?’

Clicking the profile picture, a photo appeared.

“Th-this, why is it here…….”

And that photo was a capture of the messages she sent to the private account.

“Crazy!”

Why does Taewoon have this.

[I was running a private account for the upcoming drama promotion.However, these messages kept coming, and I can no longer tolerate it, so I’m revealing it. I hope you understand that a lighthearted comment can deeply hurt someone. I’m sorry to the fans for leaving a bad post, and I’ll come back with good news next time!]

“That was Taewoon?”

She was dumbfounded realizing the person she had been lovestagram-ing with Hyunjae was Taewoon. 

And at that moment, someone appeared to snap Miyeon to her senses.

“Hey! Open up quick?”

A familiar voice, but one she should never hear in this place.

“Why, why are you here…….”

“You little bitch. Open when I say nicely.”

She could feel the suppressed anger even through the door. 

Her heart thumped down, but maintaining composure, she slightly opened the door.

“Why all the way here…….”

“Why? Why? Asking because you don’t know?”

The person who came to Miyeon was a middle-aged man with darkly tanned skin and dirt on his clothes everywhere.

“D-dad.”

“You said you’d study, so your father worked his body to the bone to get you a room, but studying what…… living as you please.”

Seeing the desk full of cosmetics and clothes without a single book, he let out a hollow laugh.

“No, that’s not it, I am studying! Going to academy and working hard…….”

“You like academies. Used academy fees to chase celebrities?”

“Huh?”

How does dad know that?

“This flew to the house!”

The man threw paper at Miyeon, and she quickly picked up the paper that fell to the floor.

“L-lawsuit?”

A lawsuit for malicious comments in Taewoon’s name had arrived.

“Got nothing better to do than leave malicious comments to a celebrity?”

“No, that’s not…….”

“Pack your bags now!”

“It’s a misunderstanding! It’s all a misunderstanding? I’m really wronged!”

Malicious comments like this are normal for celebrities, suing over this. 

Miyeon felt so wronged.

“Wronged? You like being wronged. Everything you wrote was there, it was a spectacle?”

“I had someone I was flirting with, and there was a brief misunderstanding with that person……..”

“Still that bullshit? You got kicked out of high school for that and haven’t come to your senses?”

“Why don’t you believe me! It’s true?”

Clearly, she and Hyunjae were flirting, and it was just a small happening from mistaking Taewoon for another woman.

***

“When your mom said to get proper treatment, we should have then…… Let’s go.”

“D-dad!”

“Whether to a mental hospital or lock you at home, you and I will see the end.”

Miyeon was dragged away by her dad’s hand like that.

“Now~ Kang Ha, ready?”

“Yes!”

And finally, the filming of Love Some began.