Translated: reireiss, MTLs-nim 

Edited: reireiss, Grammarly ssi 

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Translator Note:

Just wanted to let you know that sometimes I won't translate calls(?) like 'oppa, hyung, eonni, nuna, etc.' and suffixes like '-ssi, -nim, etc.'

So...... Bear with me, please (/▿＼ )

Thank You!

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Chapter 37 – I Knew It Would Be Like This

"......Eh."

Lee Da-hyun scrolled down with a serious face. Kwak Dohyun, who had been talking about this and that with Lee Seowon, felt a sense of emptiness. The king of company dinners, a suppressor named Yoon Jay, is going home and Lee Da-hyun, who would shake her mouth with excitement, is too quiet.

"Da-hyun -ssi, what are you doing?"

"Yes? Uh......"

"What is it?"

"It's...... Something about Jay -ssi comes out."

At Da-hyun's words, each of them grabbed their phone and searched for it. It was easy to find. Yoon Jay was the first person to come up when they typed his last name.

He was the kind of person whose past made you wonder. He came out of nowhere, landed a supporting role, and became a rising star with one work.

Later, it was revealed that he is the half-sibling of famous idol twins, which makes you wonder about his family history. When he revealed in a magazine interview that he had worked in various jobs, people started to pry into his past.

The source of the information was a netizen.

 

— I found Yoon Jay's past;; I have a cousin in LA, so I showed him his picture and asked if he knew him. He knew him right away and said he was a firefighter in the 115 tragedy last year. So, I googled him and his photo came up. Do you think it's him?

└ Heol

└ It looks like him.

└ That's right;;

 

The incident was so big that it was covered on the 8 o'clock news in Korea.

Some students secretly participate in drug gatherings and commit irreversible crimes. The Fire Brigade arrived early because it was nearby, the firefighters secretly infiltrated and did the rescue operation.

 

— Hey, people who have triggers, don't watch the video below.

— That was a very serious incident;;

— Ah, I feel a little weird ㅠㅠㅠ I didn't even realize it, but Yoon Jay must have gotten into it.

 

It was last year's incident, so there was a lot of material, and the local station aired a special on it, which was still on MyTube.

"Uh......"

"Team leader, what should we do?"

The phones of the newly hired marketing team members rang loudly, followed by Lee Da-hyun's work phone.

When she hung up, her phone exploded with messages and rang again, this time from a journalist from another news organization. It was for fact-checking, but some reporters just picked up community posts, so there were already a few articles on the portal.

"Should I call Hyung?"

"Wait."

He didn't do anything wrong, why should he be called? Lee Seowon tried to dissuade Han Jin-woo, who was about to dial Yoon Jay's number right away.

 

[Why didn't you tell me you're a firefighter? No need to worry, we do not use such things to engage in low-level marketing.]

[I know you won't do that. I just...... Didn't feel the need to say that.]

[That's true.]

 

He saw a glimpse of discomfort on Yoon Jay's face. He hid his former job because he didn't want this case to come to light.

Yoon Jay had been a mysterious person since they first met. He's always easy-going, but whenever someone crosses a certain line, he closes his mouth tightly and just smiles.

Still, Lee Seowon was relieved when Yoon Jay opened up about his trauma earlier, it seemed like he slowly opened his heart. Lee Seowon feels like he should do something about it.

'If I just leave it alone, it'll cool down.'

This kind of thing is only talked about on the internet, and people who don't use social media often don't realize it.

The problem is that Yoon Jay suddenly rose too high. It's like he was a celebrity who debuted as the center of Idol Survival, which created a stir in public opinion.

Even though he didn't have a next project yet, he was constantly being asked to do commercials and even offered to star in a drama.

With this kind of news, how could reporters sit still? They'll try everything to get clicks.

"Let's cover it."

"Cover it with what?"

"Wait a minute."

And now that it's out there, it's going to come up in interviews or whatever. But...... Lee Seowon called someone. This kind of thing is directly related to dating rumors, but that's a bit excessive.

"Sungho Hyung, are you busy?"

(What's going on? Your voice sounds suspicious.)

"Hyung, let's blow up the news that you're coming to our company."

(What? Isn't it too soon?)

"I'll have a good talk with CEO Shin. Are you fine with that?"

It was a notification, not permission, and fortunately, the other person was notified and told to take care of it. Lee Da-hyun, who was listening next to him, relayed the message to the reporters.

"Hello, Yujin -ssi. I'm sorry for disturbing your day off."

(CEO Lee, what's going on?)

"Why don't you announce that you're coming to our agency now?"

Two leading actors who support their agency suddenly move to a new agency. All we have to do is reveal this fact and ask them to take down the article about Yoon Jay.

"Uh, Minjae. Do you mind if I tell the media about Director Im Sang-hoon’s movie now?"

(I don't mind, but...... Did you talk to our CEO?)

"I'll take care of that. Thanks."

It was a complicated affair, including publicity and advertising schedules, but organizing the traffic was simple. Lee Seowon was an influential investor and a man of connections.

"Reporter -nim, you just wrote an article about Yoon Jay, right."

(Da-hyun -ssi, if you have something like this, why don't you tell us first? We can post it with the right amount of seasoning......)

"No, please take it down."

(What? Why? It's not a bad thing, it's a great opportunity, I've been checking him through social media and he's a hero in LA.)

"He doesn't want to be identified, but I'll give you something else."

After a flurry of messages and calls, Lee Da-hyun and her teammates decided it was time to head back to work and packed their bags.

"It's hard to deal with a demanding actor."

Lee Seowon sighs as he hangs up the phone. But his expression wasn't so bad.

***

The next day, Yoon Jay went about his schedule, unaware of the disruption to their happy dinner.

"Hyung, good morning."

"Did something happen to you?"

"What?"

Han Jin-woo quickly checked his face in the room mirror. What the hell? I thought I was pretty good at keeping a straight face.

"You feel different than usual."

Wow, what kind of animal senses do you have? Han Jin-woo swallowed his saliva.

"Hyung, that...... 115 incident."

"......That's known."

It rained in the middle of the night and he couldn't sleep properly, and his dreams were disorganized. Must be because of this. Yoon Jay sighed.

"I already expected that, so don't worry too much."

Yoon Dojun and Yoon Dohwa, who had been busy with their activities, suddenly sent him a text message. He glanced out the window, and Han Jin-woo kept his mouth shut and focused on driving.

"Anyway, Mr. CEO said we should cover it with something else."

"Really?"

Personally, Yoon Jay doesn't want the case to come to light. Of course, it wouldn't be completely covered up, but he'd have to thank him later.

He came to the studio to do an additional shoot for an ad for a popular fashion platform. A few people, usually sensitive to community reaction, gave him a sideways glance.

 

"Yes, I think that's enough. Thank you for your hard work!"

"Thank you for your hard work."

Just as he was about to head to his next assignment after skillfully completing the shoot, someone approached him cautiously. It was an employee from the advertiser.

"I'm......"

"Yes?"

"Cheer up."

The shoot was already over. What does it mean to cheer up? Yoon Jay absent-mindedly accepted the vitamin drink handed to him by the other person.

In fact, he knew the meaning of the drink. He'd heard from Han Jin-woo that his past had caused a bit of a stir in the community yesterday.

"......Thank you."

He was not very pleased with this goodwill.

He ended up not drinking the vitamin drink and left it in the car.

When all was said and done, he headed to the station.

Yoon Jay is working on two works at the same time, work that Kwak Dohyun calls a "classy makjang drama" and work by a new writer. One was pre-production, so he only needed to coordinate his schedule. It would be a little hectic, but he liked it.

 

"Hello, Writer -nim. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Woo Tae-yoon, the writer of 'Daldongne'."

T/N: I don't know what word in English best describes Daldongne. Basically, Daldongne is a neighborhood on a hill where poor people live together.

Woo Tae-yoon pushed up his glasses, which kept sliding down, and observed Yoon Jay. He was nervous because he was famous these days, but his demeanor made a good first impression.

"I know you're busy, but thank you for coming."

"No, I was just passing by."

As a rookie writer, he couldn't afford to ask Yoon Jay, who is now famous, to come and visit him. But when he reached out to Yoon Jay, he was quick to ask when would be a good time.

"Actually, the reason I asked to meet with you is because I want to talk about my work."

"That's great."

It's not empty words, it's real. The writer in front of him is the creator of the character he's about to ink. The more information he could get, the better.

"Why...... You choose my work? I don't think Sanghyun is a cool character."

To sum it up in one line, Kim Sanghyun, who will be portrayed by Yoon Jay in <Daldongne>, is a bully with a golden spoon. In the first scene, he appears whining at his father, asking why he is not exempted from military service and given public service.

The writer thought a rising star like Yoon Jay would care about his image and only take on cool characters. So, it is true that there was quite a bit of prejudice.

"I think it was the character that the writer cared about the most. It was good to be sensitized by people who share warm feelings even if they don't have prejudices."

"That's...... Right."

But the more the writer talked with him, the more the writer liked his seriousness. Woo Tae-yoon's expression relaxed.

"I think Sanghyun will be rehabilitated later."

"That's right. That's why I liked seeing Jay -ssi's acting in 'Fluttering'."

"Thank you for the compliment."

The meeting ended cordially. The writer had a lot of affection for each character, and Yoon Jay was no different.

When Han Jin-woo left to get the car, Yoon Jay, who was alone, felt someone standing next to him and turned his head.

'Is it Im Siwoo?'

It was the actor that Kim Juhwan had introduced to Cho Yoo-kyung, who had blatantly pushed Yoon Jay out of the way and shot him an uncomfortable glare as he became the center of attention.

"Are you happy to be in the spotlight like that?"

"......I don't know what you're talking about."

"Pretending not to know? Well, you're a good actor."

He didn't feel the need to respond to someone who just spoke to the point without even saying hello. He didn't even look at him, and his dismissive demeanor made Im Siwoo gritted his teeth.

"You finally made me say this. You're just trying to make a name for yourself with your story."

He continued to provoke Yoon Jay. Inside Im Siwoo's mind, who had an inferiority complex, the image of Yoon Jay was not good.

He believes all sorts of rumors about him are his way of trying to woo sponsors with his good looks, that he was working as a bodyguard before his debut to get ahead, and that he was trying to gain fame by revealing his prosperous past one by one.

"As it turns out, your half-sibling is also an idol, so you're going to take advantage of the buzz, and you're going to secretly reveal your past to gain fame. It's something like that, and it won't hurt your pride if you take advantage of it......"

Im Siwoo couldn't finish his sentence. Yoon Jay turned his head and looked at him.

'Wha-What kind of eyes does he have......'

The thing is, Yoon Jay's mood was not unusual. Even though Im Siwoo was clueless -his eyes were full of life. But, Yoon Jay looked like he had killed one or two people for fun......

With a sneer, Yoon Jay approached him. He couldn't breathe properly under the increasingly oppressive atmosphere and the moment Yoon Jay raised his arm.

"Ugh!"

Squeezing his eyes shut tightly, Im Siwoo stumbled backward in surprise at the touch on his shoulder.

"......You've got dust on your right shoulder."

"......"

"That shouldn't cause you to fall."

Yoon Jay didn't reach out to help him up. Han Jin-woo, who had just driven up, stood in front of him.

"Did something happen with him?"

"It was nothing."

"If we don't have any other plans, I'll go home."

"Okay."

On the way home, Yoon Jay looked out the window and let out a small gasp.

'I knew it would be like this.'

He knew that the moment he appeared in the media, his entire path would be revealed.

That some people would misunderstand him was something he had already experienced when he was younger. If he felt uncomfortable now, it meant he was less prepared.

He picked up the vitamin drink lying on the seat beside him, uncapped it, and drank every last drop.

'It's delicious.'


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