Chapter 699. Demonstrating (4)
Choi Yeon-Ha pointedly asked, “It would've been so much better if this happened sooner!”
Han Eun-Sol frowned slightly. “...Noona, why do you complain all the time?”
“Tsk, you're saying something dumb again.”
“Dumb? What do you mean by that?”
Choi Yeon-Ha disapprovingly stared at her manager. “Don't you know that people who complain a lot usually succeed in life, Eun-Sol?”
“What kind of logic is that now?”
“Think about it, you dummy. A person who is already content with what they have won't even try to change their situation. And why would they? They are already happy with life, so why go through unnecessary hardship for a chance to improve it by a little bit more? It's not worth the bother.”
“Heol...”
Choi Yeon-Ha shrugged her shoulders. “All those who succeed in life are always full of dissatisfaction, Eun-Sol. Remember how many CEOs and presidents of corporations whip their underlings to make even more money when they are already so rich they can't possibly spend all their wealth in their lifetime. It's not the case of all CEOs are as*holes, but only people like that have the drive to become the bosses.”
“Ohh, really? Then why are you complaining, noona? You want to become a CEO, too?”
“Nope. Just the best actor in the industry,” said Choi Yeon-Ha with conviction in her voice. “Since I'm so dissatisfied with how things are, doesn't that indicate I'm motoring along nicely on the road to success? If I keep changing things one by one... Who knows? Maybe one day, I'll reach the life where everything is up to my standards.”
“I guarantee you this, noona. That day will never come.”
“Wanna die?!”
When Choi Yeon-Ha got ready to start another round of bite-your-manager's-head-off, Han Eun-Sol expertly turned his head away and stared at the distant skies above. “Things are finally going well on the film set, so why are you still so upset, noona?”
“It would’ve been so much nicer if that happened sooner. Isn't that right?”
“Mm...” Han Eun-Sol scratched his cheek. Choi Yeon-Ha had a point.
After Kang Jin-Ho's departure, Choi Yeon-Ha had been going through a relentless shooting schedule, but for some weird reason... Neither she nor Han Eun-Sol found it unreasonable.
Then again, thinking about it made some sense. Film shoots in China should be much easier than in Korea. Korean TV productions were ripe with the practice of hitting the crew in the face with freshly revised last-minute scripts on the day of shooting, while most movie productions were always racing against the deadline to meet the peak holiday season periods. Compared to South Korea and its unreasonable ways, things in China were less hectic.
No matter how quickly the production wrapped up, the completed product still needed to go through the government censors first. As with all things mired in bureaucratic red tape, the censors' approval would always take its sweet, sweet time.
Until now, what made things tough for Choi Yeon-Ha and Han Eun-Sol wasn't filming itself. It was more psychological in nature. Starting from the lead actor with zero acting chops who kept getting on people's nerves to the director who seemed to acknowledge Choi Yeon-Ha only to subtly discriminate against her, and even the unfriendly crew members and the unfamiliar environment...
At first, such things didn't amount to much. However, as the filming continued on and on, the stress factors piled up to the point where dealing with them became almost impossible. Obviously, Choi Yeon-Ha and Han Eun-Sol knew they had to vent steam somehow, but with what exactly? With not many options available, the two of them had to keep their stress bottled up.
But now...
Zhang Xiang angrily yelled, “You dipsh*t! You think I'm your acting coach?! Can't you do this by yourself?!”
Liu Wei desperately defended himself. “It's impossible for me, and that's why I'm begging you, director! Besides, what is the director's job?! Isn't it to direct? If I can't act properly, you can't direct anything, or am I wrong? That's why you gotta help me improve my acting!”
“Hey, you moron! There's a limit to how much I can help you here. You expect me to tell you simple stuff like where to point your bloody hand, too?!”
“It's because you're monitoring my performance! If you don't want to guide me, install a large screen in the front so I can check my performance in real time!”
Han Eun-Sol watched the intense argument between the director and Liu Wei, then slowly shook his head.
'At this rate, people might start to think passion is overflowing in this film set...'
Actually, that wasn't an exaggeration, was it? Passion was indeed overflowing right now, after all! Even if the intent of all that passion wasn't as pure as creating the best possible TV show, no one could deny things were getting rather 'passionate' here.
Liu Wei was behaving like an amateur actor who had bet his entire life on acting. No, wait... Not even an amateur actor who thought this would be his final chance wouldn't be as desperate as Liu Wei!
Even so, the end product of his desperate passion still remained nothing to write home about. Compared to his previous horrible performance, though... Saying he had improved by leaps and bounds wasn't adequate-enough to describe how much better he had become.
Another plus point of Liu Wei clinging to the director like a leech was that... Well, Zhang Xiang was too busy 'coaching' his lead actor to pay much attention to Choi Yeon-Ha.
Although the previous bad blood between the director and Choi Yeon-Ha created from that incident had largely been resolved, and the odds of Zhang Xiang doing something uncool again were pretty low, him not paying attention was still psychologically better.
Even the crew members were too busy trying to assist Liu Wei. Which meant...
“I kinda feel like a third wheel right now...” Choi Yeon-Ha grumbled softly.
“You feel that way, too?” Han Eun-Sol looked back at his talent.
Things were a bit uncomfortable when people were paying attention, but with that attention gone, everything seemed a little empty and hollow. Still, Han Eun-Sol and Choi Yeon-Ha would never deny that their current situation was still preferable compared to before.
Han Eun-Sol slowly nodded when he realized something.
'When I think about it... Mister Jin-Ho really is a superman, isn't he?'
The talent agency and Han Eun-Sol tried everything in their powers to resolve the situation, but it still continued to go sideways... Only for Kang Jin-Ho to swoop in and deal with it in the blink of an eye.
Han Eun-Sol had no idea how on Earth Kang Jin-Ho managed to resolve things so quickly. All he could do was dazedly watch Kang Jin-Ho perform his magic tricks and take care of everything.
Han Eun-Sol quietly muttered, “Now that's some skill.”
“You talking about me?” Choi Yeon-Ha glanced at her manager.
“No, not you! I'm talking about Mister Jin-Ho.”
“Ehehe~, you think so, too?”
“...!” Han Eun-Sol frowned slightly after noticing his slip-up.
Recently, Choi Yeon-Ha seemed happier to listen to others praising Kang Jin-Ho instead of her. What a mystery it was to see Chungmuro's Witch, Choi Yeon-Ha, in this weird state!
'Well, it's not like I can't understand why...'
Han Eun-Sol could only chuckle hollowly. Although he wasn't sure how it was possible, Kang Jin-Ho seemed to know how to move people's hearts. And he wasn't even doing that deliberately, either! Han Eun-Sol was confident about this.
So, how should he describe Kang Jin-Ho's actions, then? Regardless of what he did, he could shake people up through his remarkable timing?
For instance... Soon after seeing Kang Jin-Ho off, Han Eun-Sol and Choi Yeon-Ha received a special international delivery at the filming location. This delivery contained ready-to-eat meals from Korea.
Due to the Chinese government's ban on Korean imports, the inspections had become stricter and importing Korean foods and ingredients was nearly impossible now. So, Han Eun-Sol and Choi Yeon-Ha did the next best thing by searching for local 'Korean' diners, but... Recreating the taste from back home was obviously out of the question. The only option left for Korean food was... ramen.
But now, they received a box large enough to contain a grown man filled to the brim with Korean food!
Han Eun-Sol phoned the sender's number, and to his surprise, the call was connected to the one-and-only Jaegyeong Group's reception. Funnily enough, even the receptionist had no idea why the parcel's sender was Jaegyeong.
'Isn't it obvious, though?'
Only one person in the entire world was connected to both Choi Yeon-Ha and Co. and Jaegyeong. Most likely, Choi Yeon-Ha looking so thin must've pained Kang Jin-Ho, so he ordered food for her to enjoy later on. Despite doing something so thoughtful like this, he left without saying a word to them!
Han Eun-Sol slowly shook his head. He wasn't sure what impressed him more—Kang Jin-Ho's thoughtful nature that took care of Choi Yeon-Ha's meals even when he wasn't here or his ability to import a box full of Korean foods, something Han Eun-Sol failed to do no matter what he tried.
Whatever it was, Han Eun-Sol was definitely impressed.
This was why people were drawn to Kang Jin-Ho, a man who deftly defied any attempt at analyzing him.
He outwardly looked vulnerable against womenfolk, yet still naturally shook Choi Yeon-Ha's heart up. Despite his disinterested attitude, Kang Jin-Ho could be surprisingly caring, too.
'I can't win against him...'
As a man himself, it would've been natural for Han Eun-Sol to feel defeated by Kang Jin-Ho. However, how could he feel that way when the opponent was well out of his league from the start? In fact, the feeling of defeat was the furthest thing in his mind right now.
'I should just focus on enjoying the benefits.'
While inwardly shouting, 'Loyalty, loyalty!' in his head, Han Eun-Sol turned his head to look at his talent. Choi Yeon-Ha was busy munching on a sausage.
“Huh? Was that also inside the box, noona?”
“Nope. I just took it from one of the managers.”
“...Huh? Didn't you say even bottled water from here doesn't suit you?”
“Well, I got my appetite back. Actually, it's back with a vengeance, Eun-Sol! What should I do if I turn into a p-pig? All my remaining scenes are about me looking frail and sick, right? What should I do if I gain too much weight?!”
“Stop asking me that while stuffing your face, noona! Stop it! How many have you eaten so far, anyway?!” Han Eun-Sol yelled loudly after noticing all the discarded sausage wrappers on the nearby table.
Choi Yeon-Ha suddenly grew depressed. “I'm not supposed to?”
“...N-no, that's not it. You can eat snacks. Besides, no one will notice even if you gain a tiny bit of weight, anyway.”
“You think so?” Choi Yeon-Ha perked up instantly and began biting into the sausage again.
'I'm telling you, she's seriously pretty...!'
With her complexion brighter and more energetic now, Choi Yeon-Ha's looks seemed to come alive. Until recently, it felt like her drop-dead gorgeous beauty lacked this hint of human touch, but that was no longer the case now. She was positively glowing.
“Seriously now... He really sorted everything out before leaving, didn't he? I gotta hand it to him, alright.”
When Han Eun-Sol chuckled hollowly, Choi Yeon-Ha tilted her head.
“Who are you talking about? Mister Jin-Ho?”
“Yup, him,” Han Eun-Sol nodded.
“Haven't I already told you that he's amazing?”
“Now I get why you trust him so much. Still... If I was you, I'd be worried about now.”
“Why?”
“You know. Mister Jin-Ho's so capable, that's why. What if you let him run around by himself, only for some other girl to swoop in and snatch him right up?”
“Nah, that won't happen.”
“How come?”
Choi Yeon-Ha smirked deeply. “Because he doesn't want to die.”
“...”
A bout of chilling silence descended between the two.
Choi Yeon-Ha quickly tried to explain. “I'm joking!”
“...Doesn't sound like it, though?”
“No, I'm serious. Besides, what you worried about won't happen so easily with Mister Jin-Ho.”
“Why not? He's the type to be popular with the opposite sex, no?”
“Yeah, we all know he's the real deal. But with a man as good as he is... Most women will find it difficult to even strike up conversations with him. You know he's gonna reject you, so why waste your time trying?”
Han Eun-Sol tilted his head. “Oh...?”
“Besides, do you think that guy will be interested just because some girl wants to talk to him?”
“...I guess not.”
Han Eun-Sol agreed with that assertion 300%. After all, Kang Jin-Ho didn't display much of a response even after Choi Yeon-Ha aggressively came onto him. Their relationship managed to progress to this stage solely through Choi Yeon-Ha's blood, sweat and tears.
Would Kang Jin-Ho be constantly exposed to the wiles of another woman during his trip? Of course not. Han Eun-Sol understood where Choi Yeon-Ha's confidence was coming from.
“Hang on a minute. Eun-Sol, didn't you say I'm too good for Mister Jin-Ho not too long ago?”
Han Eun-Sol shook his head. “That was when I didn't know much about him.”
“Hnnng? You also said I mustn't associate with someone who doesn't even have a proper job, didn't you?”
“Well, that dude is the type to succeed in life, even if all he does after graduation is running a tteokbokki stand.”
"You aren't too far off, Eun-Sol. He told me to come visit the newly-opened second pizzeria."
“Woah? Mister Jin-Ho owns another pizzeria now?”
“Oh, no. Not that. His friend runs it. Still, he promised me free pizza as long as I show up to the store and hold a fan meeting.”
“...You're not going, right?”
“Of course I will,” Choi Yeon-Ha replied nonchalantly. “Right after going back home, no less. I better build as many bridges as I can, know what I mean? So I can get all the juicy info right away if Mister Jin-Ho even thinks about straying from me!”
“...”
“Yup, I gotta spread my spiderweb as much as I can. That's gonna stop him from escaping through my fingers~. Heeheeheehee!”
Han Eun-Sol shook his head in helplessness. He even began pitying Kang Jin-Ho, too. “...In any case. What do you think Mister Jin-Ho is doing right about now?”
Choi Yeon-Ha shrugged her shoulders. “Who knows? Since I don't know where he's going, I can't tell when he'll reach his destination. Well, I'm sure he can handle himself just fine.”
“Mm? Is it okay for you to be that uninterested?”
“Do I look that way to you?”
“...No, not really.”
“Keep digging into every little thing your partner does is a good way to break up your relationship, okay? You're so clueless about stuff like this, Eun-Sol.”
“Holy cow. I don't want to hear that from you...”
To think he'd hear that directly from the former Lifelong Solo Player! Han Eun-Sol was nearly tempted to kill himself from the shame of it all!
“This noona will take care of everything, so you can just relax, okay? Besides, he's the type to handle his own matters, anyway. Let's not forget that he's surprisingly sensitive and considerate, so he ain't gonna cause trouble for others.”
“You're right, noona. He is a nice guy, after all...”
Choi Yeon-Ha and Han Eun-Sol recalled Kang Jin-Ho's face and chuckled softly.
A case of serious misunderstanding was developing here.
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