Chapter 1317. Working Together (2)

‘Wow, it’s really Choi Yeon-Ha.’

‘Yeah, it’s her!’

‘Look how beautiful she is! That’s insane.’

‘Isn’t she too skinny, though? And I heard all TV stars are skin and bones in real life.’

‘Are you blind? You think that’s too skinny?’

‘Looks like your idea of skinny is vastly different from everybody else’s!’

The flight attendants whispered among themselves. As they exclusively served the first-class cabin passengers, they should have had plenty of opportunities to encounter famous people until now. But seeing someone on the level of Choi Yeon-Ha was still a novel experience, even for them.

‘She must be going to China for new contracts.’

‘Yeah. Her last Chinese show was a massive hit, wasn’t it? I heard it broke all sorts of records or something.’

‘But I thought Korean actors couldn’t get roles in China anymore?’

‘Who knows? Maybe it’s different for someone on Choi Yeon-Ha’s level.’

Choi Yeon-Ha silently leaned against the plane’s seat.

I can hear you, okay!

Thanks to her unnecessarily sharp hearing, she could hear all those hushed whispers rather too clearly for her liking. If it hadn’t been for her thick skin that didn’t care much about other people’s gazes, Choi Yeon-Ha might have keeled over from all the accumulated stress by now!

Her phone suddenly went off, and she frowned deeply after confirming who the caller was.

“Eun-Sol? Why are you calling me from your seat?”

-Well, it’s because I’m not next to you. But I wanted to make sure you’re okay.

Han Eun-Sol was sitting in the economy section of the same plane. Choi Yeon-Ha insistently nagged him to ride in the same first-class cabin as her, but he remained steadfast in his refusal.

While saying something about not wasting the funds of a company that still didn’t have a lot of income source yet, Han Eun-Sol resolutely got himself a seat somewhere in the economy section on the other side of the plane.

Choi Yeon-Ha grumbled inwardly.

Acting like he’s the president of the operations or something!

Which employee worried about their company’s expenses like that? Yes, it was nice for an employee to have this sense of ownership over the company, but still! Choi Yeon-Ha couldn’t help but think Han Eun-Sol was going a bit overboard here.

...Then again, he’s practically the president of the company, isn’t he?

Although the boss of the agency was supposed to be Choi Yeon-Ha, she couldn’t help out much with the administrative side of things, since her knowledge of such matters was pretty much non-existent. Han Eun-Sol handled most of the day-to-day operations, and he was doing a far better job than Choi Yeon-Ha had thought.

That’s why this trip is so important, isn’t it?

She wouldn’t have cared much if her agency existed only for herself, but that wasn’t the case. She and Han Eun-Sol had signed on quite a few up-and-coming and mid-tier talents in a bid to grow MK Entertainment into a force to be reckoned with in the industry.

This was the proper route to making good money, after all.

What about finding another top star beside Choi Yeon-Ha, you ask? The profit margins wouldn’t be good at all.

A top superstar didn’t exactly need their agency to run around looking for work for them. As one could imagine, folks categorized as superstars would still receive plenty of offers even if their agencies were random nobodies. As such, there wasn’t much a talent agency could do for people like that.

Superstars also knew this, so whenever they looked for new agencies to sign up with, they selected those offering them the highest-possible percentage of revenue sharing. Add on extra expenses, like hiring competent managers, and the agency wouldn’t have a lot of money left to take home at the end of the day.

Even then, big talent agencies still persisted with going after stars with a lot of recognition, since having such people in their roster would be beneficial to their image and overall business. That was the accepted norm, but Choi Yeon-Ha chose to go the other way and not sign on any of the top stars.

Well, they won’t bring me much money, anyway.

Choi Yeon-Ha obviously knew how maintenance-intensive superstars were. Superstars all came equipped with an elitist mindset of being “superior” to ordinary people. Worse still, they would throw hissy fits and act like unreasonable as*holes whenever they felt it.

How would she know?

Because I’m like that.

Choi Yeon-Ha’s personality was so bad that she might as well be the End Boss of South Korea’s top stars with terrible personalities. However, at least she had learned to consider other people’s feelings recently. Also, she was aware of how un-amazing she actually was compared to everyone else, which helped tremendously!

Of course, it wasn’t as if her personality had changed. But compared to her old self? It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she had become a proper human being now.

She briefly wondered how she ended up this way.

-We should arrive at our destination in around two hours, noona. In other words, please hold it in for two hours. Just two! Don’t bully the flight attendants, okay? If there’s a problem, just tell them to call me first.

“What the...? Did you call me because you thought I wouldn’t sit still for two hours and cause a scene?!”

-I’m worried about you being uncomfortable during the trip, noona.

“Yeah, right. I’m sure you do,” Choi Yeon-Ha chuckled softly. “It’ll be fine. I won’t cause a scene, okay?”

-I’m being serious, noona.

“Well, if something pisses me off, I’ll run to where you are and smack you in the head.”

-...Thanks, noona.

“I’m hanging up now.”

After ending the call, Choi Yeon-Ha smirked to herself. It seemed she couldn’t escape people worrying about her.

“Miss?”

Choi Yeon-Ha raised her head when someone called out to her. She discovered a flight attendant smiling brightly at her.

“Miss Choi, is everything alright? Is there anything you’d like us to do?”

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

“

Oh

, no. Everything’s fine.”

Choi Yeon-Ha smiled back at the flight attendant.

Was everything alright...? Her old self would’ve probably started complaining about a few things, like this subtly uncomfortable seat, or her location within the cabin. However, the current self could easily hold her dissatisfaction back.

That was because she now knew others would become inconvenienced by her childish complaints.

Wow, you really have grown up a lot, Choi Yeon-Ha, haven’t you?

She couldn’t help but chuckle at herself.

If she was being honest, this wasn’t the case of her growing up. She wasn’t even sure if she was capable of doing so. To her, the idea of her personality maturing or improving sounded like a passing daydream.

What happened here was that... She merely learned how to think a bit more before acting out, that was all. Maybe because...

“Excuse me. Coming through.”

Choi Yeon-Ha turned her head slightly when she heard that familiar voice. A man with a familiar face was slipping into the empty seat next to hers. Although, that face made her feel an emotion that was

slightly

different from “familiarity” every time she saw it.

Nope, I gotta pretend I don’t know him.

Kang Jin-Ho told her that he’d be using an alias because of his work this time. Since that was the case, Choi Yeon-Ha must act as if they were total strangers.

Kang Jin-Ho settled on the empty seat. Although their seats were next to each other, it being first class meant a screen obscured the view. However...

Whiiiirrr...

The screen between the seats slowly wound down. As he sat down, Kang Jin-Ho turned to look, an expression of flabbergast on his face.

Choi Yeon-Ha grinned brightly while taking her finger off the button. “Well, hello there.”

“

Oh

, hello, miss...?”

“We’ll be neighbors for a while, so I thought we should at least say hello to each other. I’m Choi Yeon-Ha. You probably recognize me.”

Kang Jin-Ho faltered slightly. “

Ah

, yes...”

“And if you don’t mind me asking, your name is...?”

“...”

“I’m sorry? I didn’t catch that.”

Kang Jin-Ho’s lips trembled pitifully. “It’s Kim... Kim Cheol-Su.”

Choi Yeon-Ha’s figure froze still for a brief moment just then.

Twitch!

The corners of her lips began quaking subtly.

“

Aha

, Mister Kim Cheol-Su. I see, I see. It’s a nice name. And also very

average

.”

“...Thank you.”

Kang Jin-Ho swore he’d have a word with Yi Jong-Wuk after this trip to China was over.

Choi Yeon-Ha smirked softly. “Do you mind if I keep the screen lowered like this? I feel a little claustrophobic, you see?”

“...”

“Do. You. Mind?”

“No, not at all. Please go ahead.”

“Thank you. Consider it

customer service

from me. Looking at a pretty face will surely improve your mood, after all.”

Kang Jin-Ho’s cheeks twitched ever so slightly.

Choi Yeon-Ha subtly cocked an eyebrow. “Is there a problem?”

“No... Of course not.”

Choi Yeon-Ha giggled while reclining into her luxurious seat. “Then, let’s have a safe journey.”

“Of course.”

The corners of her lips kept trying to curl up as she stared at Kang Jin-Ho groaning softly.

Yeah, it’s because of this guy, isn’t it?

The reason for her change, that was.

Of course, she had no desire to change herself completely to match Kang Jin-Ho. Choi Yeon-Ha was Choi Yeon-Ha, after all. She’d no longer be herself if she lost her brazenness, that special thing that made her who she was.

Choi Yeon-Ha kept staring at Kang Jin-Ho while smiling brightly.

Kang Jin-Ho fake-coughed several times as her gaze burrowed deep into his skin. He eventually asked her in a quiet voice. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Because you’re handsome?”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho sneakily scanned the seats behind his. He couldn’t see any flight attendants, but passengers occupied other seats nearby. He whispered even more quietly to Choi Yeon-Ha.

“What are you doing, Miss Yeon-Ha?”

“What do you mean?”

“I told you, we must act like strangers.”

“That’s what I did, though?”

“...”

Choi Yeon-Ha casually shrugged. “Acting like strangers doesn’t mean I can’t even strike up a conversation, right? Isn’t it obvious that you’d want to talk to a handsome stranger sitting next to you in an airplane?”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho sighed deeply. That was when Choi Yeon-Ha’s eyes opened slightly wider, and she urgently whispered to him.

“

Ah

, wait. Please don’t get angry because of what I said. I’m not the type to talk to any random stranger I run into, you see?”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly facepalmed. He began wondering if he had made the right choice here.

He chose to do things this way because of his worries over Choi Yeon-Ha’s safety, but things were already going out of whack from the get-go. Maybe it would’ve been better for his sanity to have Lee Hyeon-Su as his neighbor during the flight instead?

Choi Yeon-Ha continued to stare at Kang Jin-Ho. “Still, it feels great, doesn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s my first time going on a trip with you, after all.”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho clamped his mouth shut after his head failed to think of something clever to say.

“Even though we’re both going there for business, and the destination is that one country I don’t want to set foot in again, plus we must act like strangers, and we can’t even hang out together because of how busy we are, and to top it off, we can’t even do whatever we want... But still!”

Kang Jin-Ho felt the silent... Nay,

vocal

pressure from his next-seat neighbor and had to wipe the cold sweat away from his brow using his sleeve.

“W-why don’t we go on a proper trip together next time?”

“Really?”

“...”

“You better think twice if you said that to survive this tricky situation. Because I never forget stuff like this, you see?”

“Y-yes, I’m being serious.”

“

Hnnng

~?”

Choi Yeon-Ha suspiciously gazed at Kang Jin-Ho, although her lips twitched in mischievousness.

“Very well. It’s fine. I know it’s mere lip service, but being able to do that on the fly shows how much you’ve progressed, so I’m happy with it.”

Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t help but chuckle.

What would Yi Jong-Wuk think if he had witnessed this scene? Would he have shed tears of blood or chuckle hollowly at Kang Jin-Ho, a man he couldn’t even speak casually to due to the difference in status, sweating buckets because of a woman’s antics?

Kang Jin-Ho certainly couldn’t tell.

Choi Yeon-Ha whispered quietly. “By the way, both of our overseas trips have been to China, so let’s go the other direction next time.”

“Yes, I’d like that,” said Kang Jin-Ho with a wry smirk.

He had no idea that China would still play a large and constant role in his life in the modern era, too. Maybe he had some kind of unbreakable connection to China throughout his past lives or something.

The only problem was that the events entangling him with China were not what he’d call

amiable

.

Kang Jin-Ho closed his eyes. Although he looked nonchalant on the surface, deep inside? Taut tension ruled his senses. But that was what China was like to him.

He didn’t feel this way because of the task waiting for him at his destination. No, simply knowing that he was heading to China was enough to make his blood circulate faster and hotter. That was because China was a land where he had fought endless battles.

Looks like nothing has changed, then.

Even though eras had changed, and so did his physical body and life itself... The emotions he felt toward China had not.

What he felt was a hint of tension, maybe a dash of anxiety, and also...

Choi Yeon-Ha cocked an eyebrow. “Why are you grinning?”

“Sorry?”

“You’ve been grinning weirdly for a little while now.”

“...?”

Grinning weirdly? Kang Jin-Ho got flustered a little and hurriedly touched his mouth. Even though he didn’t think of anything funny just now...?

“You probably were thinking of something suspicious just now,” Choi Yeon-Ha tutted before reclining against her seat. However, her gaze never left Kang Jin-Ho’s face.

He fake-coughed again. “Are you going to stare at me like that throughout the trip?”

“Is there a problem with me staring at the face of my man?”

“...No, there isn’t.”

Kang Jin-Ho squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t win verbally, so why extend his torment by talking some more?

“I hope...” Choi Yeon-Ha sighed deeply. “Nothing strange happens this time.”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho furrowed his brow slightly. He shared her sentiments, but...

Well... I have a hunch that things won’t be that easy.

He sensed the plane move and glanced outside the window, his eyes subtly withdrawn.

China, was it...? Although he believed they wouldn’t run into each other, the name of “Crimson King” didn’t want to leave his thoughts alone.

While suppressing the fighting spirit boiling from somewhere deep within his chest, Kang Jin-Ho finished putting on his seat belt.

For now, he told himself to focus on the mission. Although, it was still unknown if he’d get to stick to his resolution.