He Was Blacklisted for Saying No

“…….”
The words ‘happy birthday’ felt strange.
The person who should have been the first to congratulate me every year was annoyingly absent every single time.
Every word I heard afterward only felt hollow.

“Hmph.”
I made that sound for no reason, cut a slice of cake, and put it in my mouth.
The bittersweet chocolate flavor spreading through my mouth didn’t feel bad.
Taking a sip of cognac made my eyes narrow even more.
The strong, sweet aroma of the cognac I’d opened fresh for the cake paired with it quite pleasantly.

With the fork still in my mouth, I suddenly looked at Kang Chaehee.
He was just sitting there, not even unwrapping his own fork.
“Why aren’t you eating?”
“Excuse me?”
“You eat too. I can’t finish this whole thing by myself. Or……”
I tilted my head and smiled.
“Do you want me to feed you? Are you already acting cute?”
“Heok……. N-No, that’s not it!”
“Here.”

It wasn’t very difficult to tease someone like this.
I knew perfectly well that wasn’t his intention, but it was fun watching him flinch at everything I said.

I scooped up some cake with the fork I’d been using and held it out.
After a moment’s hesitation, Kang Chaehee gently tucked his hair behind his ear, opened his mouth, and ate the cake.
“And have some alcohol. It goes well together.”

Just as I said, Kang Chaehee also took a sip of the cognac.
The moment it touched his lips, his eyes sparkled—he clearly thought it was delicious.
“Good, right?”
“Yes.”
“Expensive things are worth their price.”
“Yes……”

I put my fork down and stared at Kang Chaehee.
“You’re going to be worth your price too.”

At my words, Kang Chaehee’s face instantly stiffened with tension.
A chuckle escaped me.
With slightly trembling hands, he put down his glass, and then, with just a glass of water, he emptied the entire cake box I’d pushed toward him.

I tilted my head curiously.
“Does the alcohol not suit your taste?”
“Ah, no!”
“Then why aren’t you drinking?”
“Well, I’ve never had such good liquor before, so I’m worried I might drink it and make a mistake……”

Ah.
Cognac has a fairly high alcohol content.
Just as he said—if he came to receive sponsorship, got drunk on high-proof liquor, and caused a scene, there’d be no bigger idiot.
“Still, you ate all the cake……. Isn’t it too rich? Can you really finish all that with just water?”

Rich chocolate cake was honestly cloying after just one bite.
It was hard to get down without something to drink.
But Kang Chaehee’s eyes sparkled.
“No, I like cake. I could eat five of them.”
“…….”
Five? Is he a pig?
Come to think of it, with that soft impression, he did look like someone who’d like sweets.
My interest in Kang Chaehee deepened.

“Is this your first time being sponsored?”
“Yes……. So I, I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do first……”
“First, take that off.”

At my words, I felt Kang Chaehee flinch in surprise.
Hmm, was he really innocent, or was he just pretending?
I giggled and pointed at Kang Chaehee’s suede jacket.
“Your outerwear. Take it off. It looks uncomfortable.”
“Ah, ah……. My jacket. Yes.”
“What were you thinking?”
“Ah, no! Nothing at all!”

With a flushed face, Kang Chaehee quickly took off his suede jacket.
It had no brand and the quality wasn’t good, but on Kang Chaehee, it looked like a picture.
I leaned back and crossed my legs.
Kang Chaehee’s gaze wavered wildly and drifted toward my body.
“Well then, first……”

* * *  *

“Is it good?”
“Ugh, mmhm, yes……”
With his mouth full, Kang Chaehee somehow managed to answer with clear pronunciation.
The way he slowly nodded with his eyes lowered was gentle.
Judging by his gleaming eyes, it didn’t seem like empty praise.

Kang Chaehee swallowed what was in his mouth and asked.
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to eat all this by myself?”

With the visibly nervous Kang Chaehee in front of me, I’d called down and ordered five more assorted cakes and a pot of iced coffee to be brought up.
‘First…… just eat something’—at my words, Kang Chaehee had tilted his head slightly but obediently ate the cakes placed before him.

From the moment we’d waited for the cakes, I’d just been fiddling with my phone.
Kang Chaehee maintained perfect posture, but I could see all sorts of thoughts running through his head.
“……You’re not forcing yourself to eat because you’re full, are you?”

Only belatedly did it occur to me that he might have already eaten a meal.
But Kang Chaehee shook his head.
“I only ate enough so my stomach wouldn’t growl. And even if I’m full, I can eat at least this much.”

So he really was a pig?
But his answer made me laugh.
It was as if Kang Chaehee had been trained somewhere—he only said things I liked.
Especially the fact that he wasn’t drinking not because he disliked alcohol, but because he might make a mistake.
A pretty likable statement.
I hated people—male, female, alpha, omega, beta, all of them—who went crazy on alcohol.

Kang Chaehee took a big bite of strawberry tart.
Eating heartily yet neatly.
This too was a style I liked.
Jeon Seongwon picked at everything he ate.
Since I’d given him coffee instead of alcohol, he drank it down smoothly.
“I’m glad it suits your taste.”
“……Aren’t you going to have any, Director? Even if it’s late, it’s your birthday.”
“My birthday was a few days ago. Today is just another day. Hmm……. Still, thank you for bringing the cake.”

When I smiled and said that, Kang Chaehee’s face turned red.
Then suddenly, looking at the total of six cakes in front of him, I remembered his profession.
I asked, slightly flustered.
“Did I order too many? You’re not on a diet, are you? It’s fine if you leave some.”
“No……. I exercise a lot, so this much is fine.”
“Just exercising a lot is enough?”
“Yes. More than three hours a day, and as long as I watch my diet only when necessary, I can maintain it.”

The kind where he burns off whatever he eats, I suppose.
I don’t gain weight easily either, but I wasn’t sure what would happen if I ate all that cake so calmly.
Maybe that’s why just watching Kang Chaehee eat well was satisfying.

‘Hmm…….’
Maybe it was because he was still unknown.
There were so many guys who thought they were all that just because they had decent looks, but Kang Chaehee passed in that regard at least.
Unpretentious and well-mannered.
That’s right. That made it easier to take him around.
“Don’t force yourself if you’re full. Eat if you want to finish it all. Make yourself comfortable.”

Of course, he probably couldn’t be comfortable……
Even as I’d told him to send up five cakes, I’d assumed he’d leave some, but it looked like he was going to clean them all out.

Kang Chaehee easily polished off the cakes.
As I watched him like I was watching a streaming broadcast, I opened my mouth when he put down his fork.
“I did some research on you.”

Kang Chaehee, who had been drinking his coffee, quickly set down his cup and answered, “Yes.”
“Age twenty-five. No parents. You live with your grandmother and younger sibling……. Your sibling is still a student. Your grandmother is quite ill and in the hospital, so naturally you’re the head of the household, right?”
“Yes.”
“Can you make a living just from modeling work?”
“No. It’s hard, so I take whatever work I can get.”

I nodded and continued reading the report Han Youngjun had submitted.
“You have some debt. 78.8 million won.”

As of today, that was the exact amount.
It was increasing every day, but……
It probably hadn’t started at that amount.
It had grown due to interest.
In the first place, no legitimate financial institution would lend someone unemployed like Kang Chaehee a sum in the tens of millions.

“And yet…… the private lender you used isn’t completely vicious?”
“I looked around really carefully……”
Private lenders were all the same.
They only differed between places that obeyed the law and places that trampled on it.
The lender Kang Chaehee had ‘looked around carefully’ for was relatively large-scale and had a conscience……
It was ridiculous to even talk about conscience when it came to loan sharks, but anyway, it wasn’t gang-style loan sharking.
Still, a weed was a weed—he seemed to be suffering from debt collection anyway.

“School: Korea Arts Academy. Hmm……. Why did you drop out? Especially in your final year, fourth year.”
“……I withdrew. Some circumstances came up.”

His school was considered one of the best art colleges in Korea.
Supposedly a free pass anywhere after graduation.
But he dropped out.
In his fourth and final year.
“There was trouble at school. You had a problem with a professor and left quite dramatically?”
“Yes……”
Kang Chaehee’s face darkened.

When it came to Korea Arts Academy, it was all about connections.
Having connections to pull strings everywhere meant, in other words, ruining the livelihood of a student who didn’t graduate was as easy as making up one’s mind.
So Kang Chaehee had dropped out, and despite that face, that body, and even that prestigious educational background, he hadn’t landed a single decent job.
He’d only been able to show his face—well, more his body—on late-night home shopping channels, where the professor’s influence couldn’t reach.

“It seems the professor is quite aggressively blocking your path……”
“It’s because I lacked ability.”

I glanced at Kang Chaehee.
He had his fists clenched on his knees, looking troubled.
Interesting.
It seemed he was embarrassed that he hadn’t been able to overcome the professor’s interference.
I knew very well how persistent the professor was—how he would cause a scene whenever Kang Chaehee got cast, effectively preventing him from even setting foot in the industry.

He drank his coffee quietly, with no clinking of ice, as if parched.
In an instant, half the cup was gone.
“What happened at school exactly?”
“……Excuse me?”
“Who was it that kept you from graduating?”
“I just…… withdrew.”
“If you withdrew because of external pressure, that’s the same as being prevented from graduating.”
“That’s true……” Kang Chaehee gave an awkward smile.
After a moment, he hesitantly opened his mouth.
“Well, actually, I received a sponsorship offer from the professor. When I refused……”

Realizing he might have overstepped after saying it, Kang Chaehee glanced at me.
I chuckled.
“Hmm, so this time you bit?”
“No, ah……. Hmm. You’re right. I also thought, who was I to refuse an opportunity like this……”
He averted his gaze and spoke self-mockingly.
I stared at him and then asked.
“Do you think Park Seonjun would see it that way?”

At my words, Kang Chaehee’s eyes widened.