I Came to Pick You Up

Jeon Seongwon stared blankly at the bouquet for a long while.
The silence was broken—after nearly five minutes had passed.

“Are flowers…… that important to you?”
“Does it seem like flowers are the issue right now? Can’t you read the context?”
“I’m asking if a single bouquet is all it takes to win you over! What’s so special about that!”

At that, I raised my hand to slap Jeon Seongwon’s cheek again, but he caught my wrist.
But I wasn’t the type to give up there.
I raised my other hand and grabbed his hair.

“Ow!”

A scream burst from Jeon Seongwon’s mouth.
The pain of having his scalp pulled must have been a first for him.
Last time I grabbed Kang Chaehee’s hair, he had just politely pushed me away.

“……Ah, fine, let go! I need to go now!”

Only then did I release Jeon Seongwon’s hair.
As I opened my clenched fist, strands of hair fell out—Jeon Seongwon stared at it with his mouth open.
His face was somewhat frightened.

He let out a heavy sigh and disappeared into the bathroom.
Not long after, he came back with his hair perfectly styled and his clothes immaculate, just as he had arrived.

He quietly looked at me.
His expression seemed to want something.
Surely he wasn’t expecting an apology?
Was he crazy?
That was never going to happen.

“Keep that bouquet out of my sight at home.”
“I don’t want to. I’m going to put it in the living room.”

At that, Jeon Seongwon made a disgusted face.
“Do you really intend to go that far?”
“Yeah, I really do intend to go that far.”

He opened his mouth as if to say something more, but eventually replaced his words with a sigh.
“Do whatever you want. It’s your house too.”
“What’s with you? You don’t even come into the house much yourself.”

Jeon Seongwon, who had been heading toward the foyer, stopped.
Then quietly, in a barely audible voice, he muttered.
“Because you…… hate it when I come in.”
“…….”

For a moment I was so flustered that no words came out.
By the time I shouted, “When did I ever say that!”—Jeon Seongwon had already closed the door, left, and gotten into the elevator.

* * * *

“Now, all done, right?”

Elegant Chinese flowed from Weilin’s lips.
He spun the signed contract folder with his fingertip, directing it toward Jeon Seongwon.
The advertising model contract, filled with various complex clauses, already bore Jeon Seongwon’s signature.
Jeon Seongwon quietly looked down at the completed contract and asked in Korean.

Two interpreters were present, but for Weilin and Jeon Seongwon, who were communicating in their respective languages, they were unnecessary.
“Are you sure this is alright? I heard that signing with a foreign car brand could hurt your image.”
“Hm, you chased after me begging me to do it, and now you’re suddenly concerned about that.”

Weilin laughed lightly and shrugged.
“That’s what I said, but Jang Weilin’s image isn’t weak enough to be damaged that much. Besides, I studied abroad in Germany for a long time, and I’m more active overseas than in China anyway. I’m not even in China that often, so……. Actually, I’ve done a lot of foreign product commercials too. So an open-minded image?”

Jeon Seongwon was aware of that fact.
Until now, Weilin had refused contracts under the excuse that shooting foreign sports car commercials could damage his image.
Of course, he’d suspected it was just an excuse, and hearing him say this now confirmed it.
“Then why did you keep refusing? I went through quite a lot of trouble trying to get you.”

Weilin let out a high-pitched “Ahaha” laugh.
His tone was completely different when speaking Korean, but his laughter was the same.
“I just found you interesting. It seemed like Lee Seyeon kept suspecting something between us…….”

With gleaming eyes, Weilin reached out and covered Jeon Seongwon’s hand, which was resting on the desk.
The interpreters’ eyes wavered slightly.
“Want to make that suspicion a reality?”
“Isn’t what you’ve done so far enough?”
“Done so far! How could you use such an expression.”
“I’ve been suspected enough by the person who least deserved to suspect me. Thanks to you. So…….”

But the interpreters’ bewilderment didn’t last long.
Jeon Seongwon pulled his hand away with brutal swiftness.
“Let’s stop the jokes here.”

At that, Weilin put both hands behind his head and made a bored face.
“Ah, how boring. It would be so fun if you countered my cheating with cheating of your own. How entertaining would that be? I’m not asking for much. Just enough to make your jealous husband a little angry. Just a few photos, like before…….”
“What about the alpha you’re dating now?”

Jeon Seongwon cut Weilin off again.
Being led around by the nose—he’d had enough of that.
Thinking about Lee Seyeon’s reaction when he’d tried to butter Weilin up to use him as a model left a bitter taste in his mouth.
“Hm, I’m losing interest in that one, so I’m slowly wrapping things up. But if I were cheating, I wouldn’t wrap it up, would I?”
“Shouldn’t it be the opposite?”
“What are you saying? Cheating is only cheating if you do it behind your lover’s back. For that, you first need a lover, don’t you?”

Jeon Seongwon sighed.
Weilin’s lifestyle wasn’t exactly healthy.
Under the guise of being a free love advocate, he dated both alphas and omegas indiscriminately, and had plenty of affairs too.
“You should clean up your private life. Before something really goes wrong.”
“Wrong? I don’t care about any of that, even if I lose everything I have now. It’s just a matter of whether people buy my paintings or not, isn’t it? As long as I can paint, I don’t care if they don’t sell. I already have more money than I can spend anyway.”

Saying that, Weilin rose from his seat and walked toward Jeon Seongwon with the sound of his leather shoes.
“Jeon Seongwon, you’d better watch out. You might lose your husband to a cute puppy.”
“……I won’t let that happen.”
“Ahaha.”

Weilin seemed like he was just passing by, but then he suddenly turned and planted a loud kiss on Jeon Seongwon’s cheek before spinning around and walking out.
Jeon Seongwon sighed, pulled out a handkerchief, and rubbed the spot where Weilin’s lips had touched with a look of displeasure.

* * * *

It was the day of Kang Chaehee’s filming.
A full month earlier than originally expected.
I quietly entered the studio when the shoot was about halfway through.

The busy staff were all focused on their own work, so they had no time to pay attention to me.
Though I was wearing sunglasses, at least…….
The areas without lighting were dark too, so everyone seemed to just think, ‘He looks like a crazy guy, but he must be staff,’ and let it pass.

The shoot progressed quickly.
Since Kang Chaehee’s scenes as a minor role were few, they were said to be finishing all of them today.

Han Youngjun, standing behind me, checked his wristwatch.
It was almost time for Kang Chaehee to appear.
Cameras, lights, sound equipment, and such moved busily as the setup changed.

And then filming began.
The first scene started with Kang Chaehee’s character, Moon Jongwon, opening the front door.
After a few cut scenes—one where he paints in the second-floor studio, another where he serves meals to people…….
For a minor role, he had quite a lot of seemingly important scenes.

Moon Jongwon was a kind of MacGuffin—someone who made you suspect he was the culprit—so there were many meaningful close-ups and appearances as part of the scene.
And finally, even after he was murdered.

Kang Chaehee pulled off all those scenes without a single NG.
The staff whispered among themselves—Who is that guy? You know, the actor the director gave a bouquet to on set before.
There were a lot of murmuring reactions too.
Is he a theater actor? No, apparently not. A rookie. In his twenties, they said……. But why is he so good?

Hm. It wasn’t my compliment, but it still made me feel good—my shoulders lifted involuntarily.
Moreover, Kang Chaehee’s scenes had been extended slightly from the last script I’d seen.
They’d even revised the script to shoot more of Kang Chaehee without harming the story.

Honestly, when I’d seen him in just underwear on a late-night home shopping show, I never imagined…….
I’d thought that as long as he did decently enough to save face, that would be fine—but I hadn’t expected this level.

Just then, the cut sign came, and loud calls of “Great work, everyone!” flew around from all directions.
One of those voices was, of course, Kang Chaehee’s.
I was watching him get surrounded by people in an instant when the writer and director came up to me without my noticing.
“It’s so good, Director. I think I should send you some beef or something.”
“For just a minor role, isn’t that a bit much?”
“He’s starting from a minor role. I think it’s going to be quite hard to snatch that kid up later.”

I laughed, “Haha,” and lowered my sunglasses slightly.
Through my now-clear vision, I could see Kang Chaehee.
He was politely greeting the people around him while subtly slipping away.
“Have you decided on his next project?”
“Yes.”

As I whispered the next project, both the director and the writer nodded approvingly.
“That’ll suit him well. Really good.”
“Right?”

We exchanged a few more words with smiles, and then I spotted Kang Chaehee leaving the studio—so I hurried out as well.

I took a shortcut to the roadside, got in the car, and waited for a moment.
I could see Kang Chaehee and his manager coming out to the curb, probably trying to catch a taxi.
Han Youngjun moved the car toward them.

Kang Chaehee gave the car a curious look, but the moment the window rolled down, his face lit up.
He called out in a hushed voice.
“Director!”

His manager bowed beside him as well.
I pulled a few 50,000-won bills from my wallet and handed them over, telling him to use it for taxi fare, then turned my gaze to Kang Chaehee.
“What are you doing? Get in quickly.”