PA 66

Jiyun had been holing up in her dark room for days, sitting blankly. No matter how much she thought, no good ideas came to mind. Leaning against the headboard of her bed, hugging her knees in deep thought, Jiyun suddenly shot up.

“Han Jiyun!”

“……”

Jiyun didn’t even feel annoyed at her mother, who had abruptly entered the room without knocking.

“Close the curtains and open the window. Let’s get some sunlight in our lives, please.”

“Ah, it’s annoying, so get out.”

Jiyun glared at her mother, who was tidying up the room, with an irritated look.

“Is this because of Cha Junhyuk?”

“……”

“No, seriously, even with Ms. Min being so proactive, is Executive Director Cha really not budging an inch?”

“Haa… It’s annoying, so I told you to get out.”

“Two days from now.”

With just that one phrase, her mother completely captured Jiyun’s attention. Jiyun looked at her mother as if she were grasping at straws.

“Two days from now, what?”

“I heard Executive Director Cha will also be attending the movie production press conference hosted by TJ Entertainment.”

It felt as though Jiyun’s eyes lit up at the sliver of hope her mother had thrown her. She shot up from her seat and turned her gaze to her mother, who was opening the window wide.

“Is that all?”

“Han Jiyun, I’m very disappointed in you over this.”

“Mom!”

“Because you couldn’t even get rid of a single measly entertainer.”

Jiyun’s mother clucked her tongue and approached Jiyun again.

“I heard he’s only allowed to have bodyguards with him until he steps on the red carpet.”

“What does that mean?”

“Is your brain still not working? My goodness, I raised my daughter too delicately.”

“Ah…”

That meant they could get rid of the bodyguards attached to Yejun inside the event hall without lifting a finger. A bizarre smile spread across Jiyun’s lips as she realized this. Seeing her daughter’s reaction, as if she understood everything, Jiyun’s mother clucked her tongue one last time and left the room.

“That’s right, if that bastard Lee Yejun just disappears…”

Jiyun had eyes only for Junhyuk since she was twenty, no, even long before that. No other man could ever catch her eye. This situation, to her, was just another obstacle to overcome.

Lee Yejun… Lee Yejun, if it weren’t for him, there’s no way Junhyuk would have made such a strange choice.

Jiyun’s long-unrequited love had morphed into a tenacious and persistent obsession with Junhyuk. She concluded that everything was Yejun’s fault.

I’m the only one who can handle Cha Junhyuk.

A sense of victimization regarding Yejun and her craving for Junhyuk became entangled, driving Jiyun mad. Jiyun took out an old cell phone she had hidden deep inside a drawer.

☂︎

Yeongsik received Jiyun’s call and fell into thought. The moment Yejun would be free from Junhyuk’s influence was when he was at the venue for the movie production press conference. However, only people with permission could enter the event hall.

“You’re telling me we have to get Lee Yejun out of a place with this many eyes on him, with just the two of us?”

Yeongsik was lost in thought, holding the two invitations Jiyun had given him. To kidnap Yejun in a crowded place, they had to make him come of his own accord.

How?

Yeongsik shot up from his seat and paced around his study. No matter how hard he thought, no good ideas came to mind.

To make Yejun come on his own…

He no longer had anything that could be a weakness. Even his sick mother, Yejun’s only hostage, had passed away. Yeongsik was in quite a bind.

What if it’s Yejun’s father?

There was nothing to even think about. Hyungyu was a man who would sell his own son for money. He would be unchanged, even after what had happened.

“A man like that would be haunting the area around a gambling den like a lingering spirit.”

In the early days of his business, Yeongsik, with his low credit score, couldn’t get a loan from a bank and had to resort to private lenders. Having been relentlessly harassed by them, Yeongsik ground his teeth just at the thought of private loans. But he never dreamed that the contact information for a loan shark he had gotten back then would one day be helpful in his life.

“Hello? This is CEO Song Yeongsik.”

☂︎

Two days passed quickly, and the day of the movie production press conference finally arrived. Yejun, riding in a stylish black sedan with a brilliant shine, grew more and more nervous as he neared the venue. He clasped his trembling hands without realizing it.

The production company CEO was in the sedan with him. The CEO spoke to Yejun with a gentle smile.

“You seem to be very nervous.”

“Is it okay for me to attend this event? I’m just…”

“A writer missing the production press conference? That’s absurd.”

“Ah… is that so?”

As they got closer to the venue, the murmur of the crowd grew louder, and the lights raised high were dazzlingly bright. The car carrying Yejun stopped in front of the red carpet that was laid out from the venue entrance, and the rear passenger door opened smoothly.

“Let’s go.”

“Ah… yes.”

Yejun, who managed to calm his pounding heart, was briefly flustered by the burst of camera flashes, but he smiled naturally, just as he had when he was twenty. The hands of the reporters pressing their shutters moved even faster, and for a very brief moment, a bewildered silence fell over the gathered crowd. After the short silence, people pointed at Yejun and began to whisper again.

“Oh, oh! He looks so familiar!”

“But he’s more handsome and prettier than the lead actor?”

“Wow, is he a rookie actor then?”

Yejun pretended not to hear the people’s voices and walked down the red carpet.

“Ah, Sirius!”

“That’s right! No way… is that Lee Yejun from back then?”

Among the people packed behind the guidelines, quite a few recognized Yejun. The reporters, too, recalled their old memories and captured Yejun’s image on camera more passionately than ever.

“But he hasn’t aged at all.”

“Ah… you’re right.”

Yejun’s appearance had preserved the fresh-faced youth of his twenty-year-old self from seven years ago. It was only a matter of time before his image spread like wildfire through social media.

“Phew…”

Only after passing the red carpet and safely entering the event hall could Yejun finally let out a big breath, as if relieved. Thanks to Yejun, a former idol who had debuted as a screenwriter, it was a clear fact that the movie would get a lot more promotion. The production company CEO couldn’t hide the smile that was escaping his lips.

The production company CEO stopped in front of a room with Yejun’s name on it. He opened the door for Yejun and spoke cheerfully.

“This is your waiting room, Writer.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“I’m telling you, I’m Mr. Yejun’s personal bodyguard for today.”

Yejun answered the ceaselessly chattering CEO’s words perfunctorily and looked around the waiting room.

Back then, if we got a single waiting room like this, all our members would be so happy…

A faint smile spread across Yejun’s face as he recalled the old days with his members, who were bound together by pure passion. Just then, a person who looked like an event staff member spoke to the CEO from outside the open door, unable to even step into the waiting room.

“Mr. CEO, Director Jang is looking for you?”

“Is that so?”

“I’ll stay here, so you should hurry and go.”

“Thank you. I’ll be right back.”

Another staff member who came in after him handed Yejun the event schedule and said,

“The event will proceed according to the cue sheet.”

“Ah… but this.”

The cue sheet included a schedule that Yejun had not been told about. Yejun pointed to a spot on the cue sheet and continued.

“A talk with the writer?”

“Ah… this was a schedule that was added suddenly, but it’s very simple. You just have to take a few questions from the reporters.”

“B-but…”

“The event is starting soon. A staff member will come here in about fifteen minutes. When they do, please follow them backstage.”

“Ah… okay.”

A monitoring TV was set up in the waiting room. Instead of the plush sofa, Yejun pulled a plastic chair in front of the TV and sat down. As exciting music played and the host appeared, someone knocked on the waiting room door.

“We’ll be moving to the stage now.”

As Yejun moved toward the stage, he felt his nervousness ease instead.

Well… I just have to answer the questions honestly.

“When your name is called on stage, you can go up.”

“Okay.”

[Now! Next, we will welcome Director Jang Sanghu and Writer Lee Yejun.]

At the host’s powerful introduction that overwhelmed the audience, Yejun stepped forward onto the stage.

☂︎

Even after arriving in front of his waiting room, Yejun’s legs were still trembling. More people than he expected had recognized him, and he had to take more questions than the actors who starred in the movie.

“Mr. Yejun, you’re a writer now.”

“The title of writer still feels unfamiliar.”

His colleague, with whom he had been active as an idol seven years ago, had become an actor.

“For now, go rest in the waiting room, and if you can come to the after-party later, make sure you do.”

“We’ll see. You worked hard today.”

Yejun quickly entered the waiting room, afraid he would be caught by someone else. But in the waiting room, which he had expected to be empty, he saw the shiny tip of someone’s dress shoe.

“Hello. I am Department Head Song Changeol of the Seil Group Strategic Secretarial Office.”

“……”

In that moment, Yejun felt his entire body freeze so coldly that he couldn’t say a word. As he slowly raised his head, the sight of Sanghyeon sitting comfortably came into his view. Yejun, who had been speechless for a long while, barely managed to squeeze out his voice and gave Sanghyeon a firm order to leave.

“…Get out.”

“Have you been well?”

Sanghyeon hadn’t changed at all. Then and now, Yejun’s opinion was completely ignored. The fear that crept over his whole body prevented his anger from boiling over any further.