Chapter 413 |
“Don’t follow me. I’m going to shower!” “It’s only natural for a butler to assist his young master with his bath.” “Don’t talk nonsense! It’s not like you’ve ever washed someone’s hair or scrubbed someone’s back.” “I can’t do those things. But I can stay with you in this cold world.” “I don’t need that!”
Nagi Zen had gotten so absorbed in his concept that he even tried to follow me into the bathroom. I barely managed to shake him off, took a shower, and when I came out, the doorbell rang.
The moment I opened the door and saw the delicate-looking face standing there, I asked with a slightly uneasy feeling,
“What about your appointment? Is it okay for you to come this early?”
“It ended. It was a business meeting, but since business never came up, I wrapped it up quickly and left.”
Judging by how irritated he looked, it probably hadn’t been a business meeting, but I didn’t feel like nitpicking over it. There wasn’t any reason to. After answering plainly, I left the door open as if to say come in and walked into the house. Choi Jeokhyeon followed behind me with a somewhat subtle expression.
“Ah, hello.”
At the sudden appearance of the employer, all the staff jumped to their feet in shock. Choi Jeokhyeon just smiled and told them not to mind him.
‘As if that’s possible.’
The moment Choi Jeokhyeon walked in, I could feel the staff’s tension spike instantly.
‘What should I do? Should I kick Choi Jeokhyeon out? Although, if I do, dealing with the aftermath will be even worse.’
But in the end, it was their problem, not mine. So I turned away, leaving the staff silently screaming for help.
Then I spoke to Seo Yuseong, who was still sitting there blankly even after Choi Jeokhyeon had entered.
“You should greet him.”
“…….”
He looked away with a sullen expression, subtly avoiding my eyes.
‘Oh?’
When I told him to greet Nagi Zen earlier, he had obediently done it. But this time he clearly showed he wasn’t happy about it.
‘There he goes again.’
Seo Yuseong hardly had any emotional ups and downs and rarely expressed his feelings, so it was difficult to tell what he liked or disliked.
But there was really only one thing he openly disliked.
Choi Jeokhyeon.
‘It seemed like he disliked him from the moment they first met.’
Well, back then I had been a bit careless. From Seo Yuseong’s perspective, it was only natural to be wary when I suddenly brought in some unknown guy and started living with him like family.
But no matter how much time passed, the two of them never became close.
As for Choi Jeokhyeon, he wasn’t the type to keep people close anyway, so that was understandable. But Seo Yuseong had grown somewhat attached to the Prism members, hadn’t he? Yet when it came to Choi Jeokhyeon, he seemed determined never to get close.
‘Sometimes it looks like the two of them exchange a few words with each other, but they absolutely refuse to tell me what they talked about.’
Still, thanks to my years of training, Seo Yuseong usually didn’t show such obvious dislike toward strange people he encountered in society. Seeing how he only acted like this toward Choi Jeokhyeon made me wonder if, in his own way, he actually felt comfortable around him.
…Or maybe that was just my imagination.
“Hurry up. You’re younger.”
I lightly tapped under his chin to urge him. Only then did he finally dip his head slightly.
Choi Jeokhyeon accepted the greeting with a bright smile, in the manner typical of someone in a higher position.
“……”
“……”
‘It feels like something fierce just passed between them … but that must be my imagination.’
When I praised Seo Yuseong and ruffled his curly hair, it felt like the atmosphere between the two of them reversed again.
‘What’s with them?’
To be honest, since this kind of thing between those two wasn’t unusual, I simply sighed and went into the kitchen.
“Anyone want coffee?” I asked.
The staff, who had been staring fixedly at Choi Jeokhyeon, all shook their heads vigorously.
“We grabbed some take-out from the company cafe on our way to work!”
“But still…….”
“We really have enough! Haha! You even gave us cookies earlier, so we’re full!”
It felt a bit like everyone suddenly agreeing on the same jjajangmyeon menu1, but since the staff looked like they were practically begging me not to pay them any attention, I just I brewed two cups of hot coffee. I slid one in front of Choi Jeokhyeon and leaned against the wall, holding the other.
“You must be tired.”
“……”
I had only said it offhand because he really looked tired, but the staff around me stared at me like I’d just said something ridiculous. Did our employees see Choi Jeokhyeon as some kind of 24-hour work machine? Seeing their reactions made me wonder if I was the only one overreacting, but when I noticed Choi Jeokhyeon’s expression soften ever so slightly, it seemed that wasn’t the case either.
“Wasn’t there something you wanted to tell me?”
“…No.”
“Really? That’s anticlimactic.”
After hearing Choi Jeokhyeon’s answer, I immediately turned around, took out more cups, and this time heated several cups of milk. Then I mixed in something like the chocolate syrup Lee Chise had bought and handed them to Nagi Zen, Han Seungbeom, and Seo Yuseong.
‘The kids don’t really like coffee.’
Seo Yuseong looked back and forth between the sweet hot chocolate in his hand and the coffee in mine, then quietly took a sip of the hot chocolate without saying anything.
Only after finishing the whole cup did he quietly head into the living room and curl himself onto the armrest of the sofa. That was the only spot on the sofa where sunlight was coming in.
Basking in the warm sunlight, he let out a small yawn and gave his body a little shudder, huddling inward as if trying to shake off some lingering stiffness.
‘Why are they filming that?’
Even then, the camera followed Seo Yuseong like a ghost, determined to keep filming him.
“Wow, it looks like a pictorial shoot.”
“It’s such a shame the camera can’t capture how he really looks.”
The filming crew were shooting Seo Yuseong. who was nodding off, so closely it was like they were about to stick the camera right up to his nose. After murmuring admiration for a while, they suddenly fell quiet again as if by agreement and continued filming him.
“Let’s film from over there. It’ll look prettier from that angle.”
“Hehehe.”
What was the point of filming such an emotional, aesthetic scene for a program that was basically 100% variety, where the host wore seaweed-like bangs and did all sorts of bizarre things? They were probably just trying to smooth over the awkward situation so we wouldn’t feel pressured.
By the time you’ve been in the industry this long, you receive a lot of consideration from the staff around you. But I believed you shouldn’t become too spoiled by it.
“His potential…….”
No matter how much they had hired people who were interested in the celebrities in our company, everyone here was still working to make money.
‘Even if the concept is to show raw daily life as it is, isn’t this too boring?’
Prism was originally a painfully boring group to begin with, and among them Seo Yuseong was the quietest member who usually did nothing at all. The fact that they had come to film on a day he was here made me worry whether we’d even get any usable footage.
‘This is exactly why Seo Yuseong hardly gets any individual schedules.’
Seo Yuseong almost never appeared on variety shows.
Even when he did, it was usually just music programs where he sang. He absolutely never went on talk shows.
The biggest issue was the high possibility of him making a slip of the tongue, but before that, he barely spoke at all.
‘He doesn’t even understand what people see in things or why they’re laughing in the first place…….’
Broadcast shows nitpick over everything. Rather than forcing someone who hated it to appear and risk an incident, it was better for him not to go at all. Thankfully, Prism already had enough recognition that appearing on variety shows wasn’t essential.
[If you’re just going to keep that face hidden away like that, give it to me]
[I know I’m the one who always compares my child to a cat, but I never imagined he’d actually avoid people and cameras this much. I’m seriously reflecting on my selfish, superficial cat-fication, I only focused on the cute parts and ignored the rest]
[┗ It’s exactly like when you visit a friend who has a cat, and the cat doesn’t show its face once until the moment you leave ㅜㅜ]
But if there was a problem, it was that the Seras were crying about wanting to see Yuseong’s face more.
‘I should try having him do something like a vlog instead. Those are allowed to be a little boring anyway.’
I even started thinking that, but that was one thing and this was another. When I hurried over to the sofa to wake Seo Yuseong, the staff suddenly panicked and blocked my way.
Then they kept mouthing, “It’s really okay!”
“…Really? I’m pretty sure there won’t be any footage worth using at all…….”
At my muttered words, Nagi Zen replied in a tone that sounded genuinely sympathetic.
“Hyung, forcing things to get footage … that feels like something people from the old days do…….”
Ah.
“Nowadays the trend is filming naturally. Besides, as long as your face is interesting, it doesn’t really matter. Trying too hard to be funny or being overly conscious of the camera is just outdated.”
…You, have you forgotten what you look like right now?
Are you seriously telling me you aren’t being conscious of the camera?
Maybe he noticed the dull look in my eyes, because Nagi Zen gave a thumbs-up and said,
“Do not worry. Hyung’s steamy waking-up scene scheduled to be milked for ten minutes. Even if more interesting moments appear later, I’ll just edit them out and put in your hot body instead.”
“What on earth are you talking about, Nagi Zen?”
Kids these days are terrifying.
‘There’s really no point in raising children.’
He pretended not to hear my question, quickly turned his head, then downed his hot chocolate in one go and ran over to Choi Jeokhyeon like an excited puppy. Then he plopped himself down at Choi Jeokhyeon’s feet, wagging an imaginary tail, and reported,
“I was stopping Hyung from smoking. Did I do well?”
Then he shoved his head insistently under that guy’s hand, squeezing it in, and slowly opened and closed his eyes.
He was asking to be doted on.
“……”
Choi Jeokhyeon just looked down at Nagi Zen, seemingly unable to figure out what he wanted. When Zen didn’t back off, he turned to look at me next.
In other words … it was a distress signal.
‘He’s like, I don’t know why he’s acting like this, and you told me not to be harsh, so I don’t want to be, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, so help me.’
It was like watching someone encounter an unknown creature for the first time, which made it kind of amusing.
So I grinned and made a gesture of patting my head with my palm.
“Mm.”
At that, Choi Jeokhyeon froze as if something had glitched, staring at me blankly.
“Hurry. The kid is waiting.”
When I urged him while holding back laughter, he finally raised his hand slowly. He moved to place his palm on Zen’s head, but then hesitated, flipped his hand so the back faced down, and lightly brushed Nagi Zen’s bangs with his fingers.
‘He barely even touched him.’
It’s not like he was touching some kind of dangerous animal; it was barely even a graze.
But our little puppy seemed satisfied with just that, because his eyes crinkled into long, narrow crescents as he beamed.
“Hehe.”
Honestly, I think Nagi Zen is the scariest one here.
In all my life, I’ve never seen anyone cling to Choi Jeokhyeon like that.
Even Do Yuda, when he tries to act cute and stick close, is secretly trembling in fear. But Nagi Zen showed none of that. Even if he were rejected, that guy probably wouldn’t back down.
If he’d been born an actual dog, he definitely would’ve become a service dog2…….
‘Just how on earth did his mother raise him?’
I kind of wanted to learn that miraculous parenting method.
At this point, I even started worrying about Seo Yuseong—the only person Nagi Zen actually avoids.
‘…I raised him well, didn’t I?’
Seo Yuseong, apparently no longer interested in the two of them, was quietly fiddling with Han Seungbeom’s blond hair beside him.
As for Choi Jeokhyeon, it was hard to tell; he seemed to dislike it, but also seemed more okay with it than I expected.
Looking at his complicated expression, I playfully poked his side and said, “Cute, right?”
I asked with some anticipation, but Choi Jeokhyeon didn’t give the answer I wanted right away. Instead, he just rolled his eyes toward the ceiling with a subtle flick that hinted at his underlying irritation.
Then he lowered his gaze again, glanced at me, who was grinning brightly, and shortly replied,
“Yeah.”
‘So do you like it or not?’
Still, it was a relief that he seemed to get along decently with the Pantheion members. And it was even more more of a relief that, right now while Choi Jeokhyeon is visiting, Seo Yuseong was the only Prism member here.
‘Seo Yuseong gets annoyed quickly, so he usually avoids dealing with people altogether…….’
If the other Prism members had been here … no, if Yoo Jay had been here, I couldn’t guarantee how things would’ve turned out.
ust as I was thinking that, my phone screen suddenly lit up.
Normally I would’ve checked it much later, but for some reason a sense of unease crept over me. When I opened the messenger, I saw several messages piled up.
[(20 minutes ago) Youngest: Just finished my schedule! How many people are at the dorm? Should I grab something to eat?]
[(10 minutes ago) Youngest: Why aren’t you checking your messages?ㅜ (sulky fox emoji)]
[(5 seconds ago) Youngest: I just got out of the car~ I bought donuts (running fox emoji)]
Is there some kind of YT Entertainment company dinner being held at the Prism dorm today?
Hahahaha.
Haha.
…Emergency.
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Translator’s Corner:
- This is a cultural metaphor. In Korea, when a large group goes to a Chinese restaurant, they often unify the order to just Jajangmyeon to make it faster/easier for the kitchen or the person paying. Here, it implies that the situation (or the drinks brought) feels forced or simplified for the sake of avoiding trouble. ↩︎
- This refers to service or assistance dogs (like guide dogs for the blind or therapy dogs) ↩︎
WAARGH EVERYONE, I MISS YOUUUU T_T IT’S BEEN ALMOST THREE WEEKS SINCE THE LAST UPDATE T_T
Happy Eid Mubarak for everyone who celebrated! I just got two days off (21 and 22) for this Eid … but I have to go to my grandma’s house in another city tomorrow, so the updates T_T I still haven’t updated Gaon’s too … I’m so sorry if your favorite series suddenly got held as hostage by a busy translator like me T_T Moral value don’t just take any jobs just because you’re desperate … some business owner out there are real evil ….
But hopefully I’ll get one day off per week starting from April … I’ll do at least one update per week, and I’ll try to do more. Hope everyone has a nice holiday, and hope everyone is safe and sound too.
Oh, there’s a new reader who just started reading and they left comments in every chapters. It’s so fun reading every single of them. Please know that even though I don’t reply, I’ll always appreciate the thoughts you shared. Thank you, anon-nim. Hope you, and the other new readers, enjoying the stay. Everyone is so nice here, let’s step out of the Anon shadow sometimes~
Thank you Yusha for supporting my resignation! ♡
(I actually felt really bad because this one coffee was sent almost two weeks before I made a post announcing the hiatus, sorry for the long wait for a new chapter T_T) (It’s supporting my resignation #real because I have to pay outrageous penalty fee if I quit before the contract ends and my contract ends in September ahahaha … not funny … why is this slave contract even legal…..) (actually I dont think it’s completely legal since they paid me under the minimum wage standarized by the government????)
Wow but guys, I kind of hoping they would fire me for underperforming so I don’t have to pay the penalty (there’s a lot of thing I can’t do + this job requires you to meet the beauty standard which I don’t), but somehow I always sold more phones daily than my senior coworkers …… I don’t even tried hard to promote the phones to customers to make them buy it since I won’t even get bonus for it anyway (since they only gave you bonus for each sold if you already worked for 6 months), so I seriously felt disillusioned by this situation … like wdym I sold 10 expensive phones every day, I live in a rural city with a very low average wage ??? Is something just wrong with my personality that people somehow trusted I won’t sell bad quality phone to them … When I’m on shift alone, I even secretly told them please don’t buy the accesories since the high price is basically a scam….. this job is really eating my conscience asdfghjkl I don’t enjoy shamelessly lying to people T_T