Chapter 281: Conspiracy (2)

Je-Woon, who had finished the day off with exercise at the fitness center, dragged his exhausted body back home. Yu-Seok, another member of Bex and the one who had been Je-Woon’s workout partner for the day, pointed at the convenience store before entering his home.

“Why don’t we buy some beer before we head inside? We haven’t had a drink together in a while.”

“I don’t really like drinking alcohol right after a workout.”

“Come on, just one day is fine. It’s not like your figure’s gonna be ruined from just a few sips.”

Yu-Seok wasn’t wrong. Also, Je-Woon was also craving alcohol; he just didn’t say it outright. Hence, he agreed.

“Welcome.”

The convenience store manager was not shocked in the slightest despite two world stars having visited his store. Rather, he greeted them casually.

“Are you coming back from your workout?” the store manager asked.

“Yes.”

He had seen Je-Woon so often that there was no more room for surprise. After all, he owned a convenience store right beside Je-Woon’s house.

Yu-Seok said while pointing back and forth between himself and Je-Woon, “We’re gonna be having beer together tonight.”

“Je-Woon? Drinking alcohol? Something good must have happened. You rarely drink alcohol since it’ll apparently kill your gains. Haha!”

Something good? No, it was the opposite. Je-Woon had invited Kang Ra-Eun to see a musical together, and had been completely turned down. He had said that it was fine at the time, but he had actually been anxious about whether she had refused because she found him to be burdensome. He was filled with uneasiness, but he couldn’t reveal that to Yu-Seok.

No one among the Bex members currently knew that Je-Woon saw Ra-Eun not as a junior, but as a woman. The only one who had somewhat of an idea was Tae-Chan, and he was extremely tight-lipped. There was no way that Tae-Chan would tell the other group members how Je-Woon felt about Ra-Eun, unless Je-Woon himself revealed it first.

The two men entered Je-Woon’s home with a plastic bag filled with beer and dried snacks. They immediately changed clothes and prepared the table.

Pop!

The sound of a can opening never felt more pleasant. Yu-Seok gulped down the can of beer.

“Kaaah! It feels like yesterday when we had to avoid beer because of concert preparations, but thank God we can drink as much as we want nowadays, right?”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Oh, I guess you can’t since you have the film shoots. Sorry.”

“It’s nothing worth apologizing for.”

Yu-Seok was enjoying freedom since there wasn’t much that he did in particular besides things related to their idol group, but not Je-Woon; he was busy all the time because he was both a singer and an actor. Yu-Seok was worried that Je-Woon had too much on his plate.

“You’re gonna collapse at that rate, man. Take it easy.”

“I know.”

“Weren’t you gonna refuse the casting offer for the film you’re working on right now in the beginning? What made you suddenly change your mind?”

“It just happened.”

It was no exaggeration to say that he had only accepted the casting offer because Ra-Eun was the female lead. Like Yu-Seok had mentioned, Je-Woon’s schedule was completely full lately. There were times when he desperately wanted to take a break, but taking on film shoots with Ra-Eun was worth giving up on his break.

Yu-Seok bitterly smiled as he looked at Je-Woon.

“Yeah, I guess being busy is better. We used to be troubled because we had no work at all during the days when barely anyone knew us. Do you remember?”

“Of course I do.”

They had been so broke back then that buying beer and snacks like this had been a luxury. They were having the same beer and snacks as back then, but they were in completely different circumstances now. No alcohol tasted sweeter than the one they drank after success through hardships.

However, there was no end to a person’s greed. Now that Je-Woon had captured the hearts of countless fans, he wanted to make the heart of a single woman his. As if his desire had reached the heavens, Je-Woon suddenly received a call. Yu-Seok tilted his head in wonder after checking the time.

“Who’s calling at this hour?”

It was 11:30 PM, a time far too late to be calling someone. Je-Woon hurriedly got up from his seat as soon as he belatedly checked who it was.

“I’m gonna take this call up on the second floor for a second.”

“Is it an urgent call?” Yu-Seok asked.

“I’d say it’s more important than urgent.”

Je-Woon ran up the stairs and lowered his voice so that Yu-Seok wouldn’t be able to hear him.

“Yeah, Ra-Eun?”

It was the woman that Je-Woon, the world star, had a crush on. His heart beat rapidly after getting a call from Ra-Eun.

- Sunbae. Perhaps...

Ra-Eun hesitated for a short moment, which felt like hours for Je-Woon. She said the words that Je-Woon had wanted to hear.

- Does your offer to go see the musical this week still stand?

Je-Woon felt like the world was changing as soon as he heard that.

***

Kim Han-Gyo was trying to create as large of a conspiracy as possible through the ‘masked woman’, but Ra-Eun was by no means a man... no, a woman that would take something like that lying down. A topic could be buried with an even hotter topic. Hence, Ra-Eun had come up with an idea.

.

“I’d like you to publish a dating scandal about me.”

“...I beg your pardon?”

Reporter Ahn Su-Jin could not understand what Ra-Eun was talking about in the slightest. There had been many stars that had been unintentionally swept into a dating scandal, but none had ever approached Su-Jin herself to ask her to release a dating scandal about themselves.

“Did you ask to see me... for that?” Su-Jin asked.

“Yes.”

Su-Jin did not know how to react to Ra-Eun’s prideful affirmation. The public would be turned upside down if a dating scandal regarding a top star like Ra-Eun was released. But even so...

“Are you sure?”

Su-Jin needed to make sure that this was truly what Ra-Eun wanted. It showed how unprecedented her actions were.

Ra-Eun nodded and replied, “Yes.”

“But why... Actually, forget that. With who?”

“With Je-Woon sunbae.”

“Je-Woon, huh? The internet would be covered with nothing but you and him for a while if the scandal article is released.”

Ra-Eun simply smiled in response since it was exactly as Su-Jin said. The two of them were top stars that were receiving extreme amounts of public attention.

“Je-Woon sunbae and I will be going to see a musical this Saturday. After that, we’re going to have dinner and grab some coffee. I’d like you to take photos of us to give off the feeling that we’re on a date and then post them along with an article.”

It was not difficult since Su-Jin’s job was to take photos and publish articles. She just needed to do as she had always done; nothing was out of the ordinary. But that aside...

“I’d like to know why you’re doing this.”

Su-Jin had been working as a reporter for a very long time, but she had never seen an actress forge a scandal like this. However, she felt like she knew how Ra-Eun would answer.

“It’s a secret,” Ra-Eun said while smiling.

She was full of secrets, as always.

***

Je-Woon had not been able to sleep the day before, since he would be going on a non-work-related date with Ra-Eun after a long time. Since they were worried about the eyes of the public, they couldn’t choose a meeting place like ordinary couples. People would immediately recognize them and swarm like flies, causing mass chaos.

Hence, Je-Woon decided to pick Ra-Eun up at her house in his car. After getting in the car, he spent a considerable amount of time checking his appearance in the mirror. He made sure every single strand of hair was perfect.

“Okay, this should be fine.”

Only after approving of his appearance did he finally start the car. Je-Woon arrived at Ra-Eun’s house in a heartbeat. Ra-Eun, who had been waiting for him at the driveway, recognized Je-Woon’s car and approached it.

“Good evening, sunbae.”

“G-Good evening,” Je-Woon stuttered out of anxiety.

Despite meeting her often on the film set, her beauty felt new to him every time he saw her.

“You look amazing tonight,” Je-Woon praised as Ra-Eun got in the car.

Ra-Eun softly laughed while covering her mouth with one hand.

“You won’t get anything out of complimenting me, sunbae.”

“It wasn’t because I wanted anything in particular. I just said exactly what I felt.”

Je-Woon wanted to make sure that Ra-Eun knew he had not sugarcoated his words in any way. Before they departed, Je-Woon punched in the address of where they would be heading on the GPS. Their first destination was the venue of the musical that Tae-Chan would be appearing in, as well as the main objective of their date.

“Here we go, then,” Je-Woon said.

“Okay.”

While they were on the move, Ra-Eun checked the side mirror.

Noticing that, Je-Woon asked, “Is something on that mirror?”

“No, I was just spacing out.”

Unlike Je-Woon, who was trying to be as truthful as possible, Ra-Eun’s words were full of lies.

‘I wonder if Reporter Ahn is following us properly?’

There was an SUV right behind Je-Woon’s car. Ra-Eun secretly sighed in relief as soon as she checked the license plate.

‘Okay. Make sure you don’t lose us.’

If something like that were to happen, this date would have been for nothing.

***

Possibly due to Tae-Chan’s appearance in the musical, the venue was already crowded with people. Adding the appearance of Je-Woon and Ra-Eun on top of that, attention grew even more. The two of them lightly greeted the fans by waving at them. As they were about to climb up the stairs to the auditorium...

“Sunbae. I’m sorry, but...”

“Hm? What’s wrong, Ra-Eun?”

Wondering if something was wrong, Je-Woon got closer to Ra-Eun. Just then, Ra-Eun casually extended her hand and linked arms with him. The softness that he could feel on his arm and the sweet scent momentarily shocked him.

“R-Ra-Eun?”

“I’m so sorry, sunbae. The floor is too dark.”

“R-Really? Yeah. Y-You should be careful.”

At that moment, Je-Woon’s heart beat as hard and fast as... no, even harder and faster than how it would beat after a five-hour concert.