Chapter 35

Chapter 35. A Familiar Voice

"When I'm dressing casually, I usually just buy things on impulse at Dongmyo. If I really want to put effort into a street-fashion outfit, I buy cheaper pieces from Vivian Easter Egg that I can alter myself."

"Ah, right. If you really want to go all out with this kind of style, you have to get out of the department stores."

"But I want to wear lots of other things too. So my goal is to make a lot of money as quickly as possible and wear all the pretty, sparkling clothes I want."

While Hong Eun-hye and Youngchae continued the broadcast, I kept staring at the photograph.

Just like when I'd searched for Takeda Friends, I began investigating the unfamiliar language written inside each of the square compartments.

It used the alphabet, so it was easy enough to search.

I soon discovered that it was Tagalog, a language traditionally used in the Philippines.

The Philippines!

The moment I realized the photo had been taken in the Philippines, I immediately stepped outside the filming set.

Wasn't there someone close to me who had recently gone to the Philippines?

I opened a Tagalog translator and translated the clearest section of the writing line by line.

Now that I looked more carefully, I could see a cross shape on each box.

They were slightly tilted, so I hadn't paid much attention to them before.

[Nicole. Fell asleep along the coast of Manila Bay in autumn, shortly before All Saints' Day.]

I'd already thought the dates looked suspicious.

Normally, didn't gravestones list the dead person's birth and death dates separated by a tilde?

But the birth dates had looked so recent that I'd assumed that couldn't possibly be the case.

After translating the text, however, it became obvious that the place was a columbarium.

I didn't know why it contained so many young children.

And just like always, I had no idea what this photograph had to do with Blue Moon.

Still, I had to investigate it.

Fortunately, I had someone who could do that for me.

I immediately called Oh Su.

"Yes, Mr. Do Jun-hyeok. Is something wrong at the company?"

"No. I need to ask you a favor. What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

Oh Su briefly spoke with another Korean beside him.

It was probably Moon Pil-su.

"I heard there are a lot of apartment-style cemeteries in the Philippines. There's one somewhere along Manila Bay, right?"

Oh Su fell silent at my question.

"Hello?"

"I've only been in the Philippines for two days. Do you think I've already become an expert?"

"I was just asking in case you knew."

Oh Su let out a careful breath.

"Hmm. We did enter through Manila Airport. But 'along Manila Bay' covers an enormous area. If you compare it to Korea, it'd be like saying somewhere along the coast of Gangwon Province. The land curves around the bay almost like a C."

I'd gotten excited because the inscription specifically said someone had fallen asleep "along the coast of Manila Bay."

What a useless clue.

It was no different from saying:

Needle, sleeping somewhere in the desert.

If I were personally in the Philippines, I could carry the photograph around to every apartment-style cemetery and compare the scenery myself.

But I couldn't send this photograph to Oh Su.

And I couldn't exactly fly to the Philippines myself.

"It looks like a cemetery. Most of the dead are children under ten years old. There are concrete barricades blocking cars from entering too. And the structure has ten levels."

"Don't tell me you want me to find it."

"Yes. I absolutely need to know today. Please hurry. If we don't figure this out, today's broadcast is ruined."

That wasn't exactly a lie.

If I couldn't find out what this was, I might become too distracted to properly support Youngchae.

"I was supposed to go to Cebu tomorrow..."

"What? In a situation this serious, you're planning to go sightseeing in Cebu? Isn't that a honeymoon destination?"

"That's just how it sounds. Tomorrow is the day we're entertaining the investors. ...And don't worry, there won't be any sexual entertainment."

Oh Su said they planned to scout the locations today before the actual entertainment schedule tomorrow.

But there was no chance Oh Su would have time to entertain anyone now.

From today until tomorrow, instead of Cebu, he'd be touring cemeteries around Manila Bay until he was sick of them.

"All right, great work, everyone!"

Filming came to an end.

During the 〈Hong's Closet〉 segment, Youngchae had boldly mixed formalwear with casual clothing.

It was thanks to her manager's advice to stop worrying about other people's reactions and simply wear what she believed looked right.

Normally, she would've worried that her choices might not be accepted and played it safe.

I hadn't checked the viewers' reactions yet.

But judging by the staff, it didn't seem bad at all.

Hong Eun-hye spent the entire shoot admiring Youngchae's fashion sense.

Then, the moment the live broadcast ended and only the magazine photo shoot remained, the first person she looked for was Manager Do Jun-hyeok.

"Manager Do~? Where did he go? Youngchae needs to move to the next location."

Do Jun-hyeok hurriedly came back in from outside the set.

She'd acted a little friendly toward him.

Had he run away like a shy kitten?

"Yes! I had an urgent phone call, so I stepped out for a moment. Great work today! It sounds like the reaction was really good."

"Of course. People naturally like pretty and handsome faces. It would've been even better if Manager Do had appeared too. That's the only disappointing part."

Hong Eun-hye's playful side surfaced again when she looked at the handsome younger man.

But now it was time for a somewhat more serious conversation.

She had made a decision while watching Youngchae's styling sense during filming.

"We're about to go shoot the 〈Hong Eun-hye's Fashion People〉 magazine spread, but unfortunately, each celebrity only gets one or two shots. And they'll all be in the same style of clothes."

"Even one or two shots would be an honor."

"But Youngchae has excellent fashion sense and a great attitude. It would feel like such a waste if she only appeared once in an event spread. I'm planning to release 〈HEH Fashion in Journal〉 this year, and I'd like to use Youngchae as one of the models. Would that be possible?"

At Hong Eun-hye's proposal, Youngchae and Do Jun-hyeok both looked shocked.

"What? H... That journal? Does that mean Youngchae would be the main model? With several pages?"

"Not the only main model. More like one of several participating models. I suppose you could say there are multiple main models."

Hong Eun-hye thought of Top Prime, the clothing and accessories brand that frequently sponsored her.

They didn't just provide regular sponsorships.

Next week, they were also supposed to provide suitable clothes for Han Seo-hyung's recycling-themed feature.

Top Prime was quite famous as an environmentally conscious company.

They made things like bags and hats from discarded waterproof tarps.

At the moment, Han Seo-hyung was practically acting as Top Prime's main model.

But it might be a good idea to ask Youngchae to handle some of their viral promotion as well.

She could hold Top Prime products during the Fashion in Journal shoot too.

"That sounds great! Ah, thank you so much for thinking highly of her. But does it absolutely have to be Top Prime?"

Do Jun-hyeok asked carefully.

Hong Eun-hye answered immediately.

"Of course we can change it. But chances to model for a brand like Top Prime don't come often. It feels a little strange to judge only by company size, but still."

"Ah, that's true."

From Eun-hye's perspective, she was confident she could pull off any brand or model concept.

But when she thought specifically about Youngchae, Top Prime was clearly a better opportunity than most brands.

Youngchae was still young.

At her age, it was natural to care more strongly about keeping prior arrangements and business etiquette.

At times like this, it was better for an adult to make the choice for her.

"Let's just go with Top Prime. It'll be better. Manager, you agree, right?"

The handsome Manager Do finally nodded.

"Yes. Every style has advantages and disadvantages, but if we put those aside... a bigger company is probably better."

Youngchae, standing beside him, agreed too.

"Then I'll contact them, coordinate the sponsorship schedule, and get back to you as soon as everything's confirmed. I can DM Youngchae. The problem is Manager Do. Could I get your number?"

"Yes! You can call me directly!"

Do Jun-hyeok immediately held out his phone.

I'd already given Oh Su clear instructions regarding the spam message.

For now, all I could do was wait.

"Unni~!"

When we returned to the practice room after finishing the 〈Hong Eun-hye's Fashion People〉 magazine shoot, the members greeted Youngchae with excited shouts.

"We all watched the live broadcast! There wasn't even one hate comment, and the response was insane! The viewers went up to ten thousand!"

Aran made a huge fuss.

The accumulated views had already passed fifty thousand immediately after the broadcast.

At this rate, it could reach one hundred thousand or even two hundred thousand soon.

The likes had already entered four digits too.

"Really?"

"Yeah! I think people are even going to start calling outfits 'Jin Youngchae looks' and stuff."

After finishing that conversation with Aran, Youngchae walked over to Serin.

Serin smiled excitedly in Youngchae's place and congratulated her.

She was holding the script for 〈Introduction to Unrequited Love〉.

"Practice going well?"

"Yeah. But I don't know whether I'm doing it well."

One of the people who had been happiest after Serin received the script was Yeo Eun-joo.

Until then, she'd only been teaching Serin acting for the music video.

But as soon as she heard the news, she immediately came to me and said she wanted to teach Serin the fundamentals of acting.

She'd already planned to pour effort into Serin because she believed the girl had talent.

And if Yeo Eun-joo, who had acted across many different genres, thought Serin was talented too, then it seemed Serin really did have something special.

Fundamentals were extremely important for an actor.

But fundamentals were exactly that.

Fundamentals.

To become truly good at acting, you needed a personal style beyond those basics.

Serin seemed to already possess that naturally.

According to Yeo Eun-joo, all she really needed to do was give Serin proper fundamentals and confidence.

"Then should we all watch what Serin practiced?"

"What? That's embarrassing..."

"Once you're on set, you'll have to do it in front of way more people with cameras rolling. You can't get embarrassed by this."

Serin slowly nodded as if she understood the point.

"Right. If you practice being embarrassed now, you'll get used to it later."

Anna joined in.

But that wasn't quite why I'd asked Serin to act for us.

I did want to build her confidence.

My approach was simply a little different.

"Then... should I try it?"

"Waaa~!"

Aran dropped down in front of Serin and started cheering.

Serin cleared her throat and began acting.

No one had specifically taught her to do it, yet even the tone of her voice changed.

Of course, Yeo Eun-joo had been teaching her recently.

But Serin's normally quiet voice now rang out clearly.

She sounded almost like a professional stage actress who had spent years in theater.

It really felt as if we'd entered a theater.

"If you like Gyeong-a that much, then go date Gyeong-a! How many times has this happened already? Why are you always so desperate to talk about Gyeong-a?"

To briefly explain the story of 〈Introduction to Unrequited Love〉, the couple consisted of a man named Hyun-su and a woman named Su-hyeon.

The protagonist and narrator, who had an unrequited love for Hyun-su, was Gyeong-a.

Gyeong-a and Hyun-su had known each other since they were very young.

They had bathed together as children and seen practically every embarrassing side of each other.

In modern terms, they were childhood friends so close that they were practically family.

Gyeong-a and Su-hyeon had attended the same girls' middle school as well.

By the beginning of the story, during their senior year of high school, they'd been best friends for five years.

On the day of their high-school graduation, while Gyeong-a hesitated, the oblivious Su-hyeon confessed to Hyun-su first.

The two became a couple.

For Gyeong-a, who had secretly loved Hyun-su for years, it had been like a bolt from the blue.

For Su-hyeon, however, it was simply the beginning of an ordinary romance.

The scene Serin was currently acting came from around Episode 8.

Su-hyeon and Hyun-su, who had entered an arts college and a sports college respectively, were having an argument.

"Get a grip. Your girlfriend isn't Gyeong-a. It's me. Me. Make your position clear. If you keep acting vague, you'll only get dumped by me. But for me, that's not the end of it. I'll lose my boyfriend and my best friend at the same time."

Serin's fine, refreshing features began to shift.

Why weren't my eyes high-speed cameras?

I wanted to break down every tiny movement in her expression.

Every second felt precious.

When Serin pronounced certain sounds, the corners of her mouth stretched slightly farther than most people's.

Her eyes moved slowly.

Just before delivering a line, the area around her eyes twitched almost imperceptibly.

Every movement looked like a unique and attractive acting habit belonging only to Serin.

And then there was her voice.

It was light, yet firm.

A strangely addictive voice that I could listen to forever without getting tired of it.

Even judging only her acting ability, there wasn't much to criticize.

I could feel deep anger and hurt in Serin's performance.

The script didn't usually focus heavily on Su-hyeon's psychology.

But Su-hyeon was also in a frightening situation.

She was dating someone while standing between two childhood friends with an extremely deep bond.

This scene was one of the only moments when all that anxiety and resentment finally exploded.

"Fine. Do whatever you want. But if you're going to date Gyeong-a, then first... get out of my life. That would be better. Gyeong-a is just as precious to me as you are."

"..."

The anger slowly drained out of Serin's eyes as she stared into empty space.

The performance was over.

"...After they break up like this, I barely have any lines for the next one or two episodes."

The moment Serin announced the end of the scene, the members burst into cheers and applause.

"Whoa! I don't even know the full story, but I already hate Hyun-su!"

"Make up your mind, Kim Hyun-su~! If you make unni cry, I'll beat you up!"

"That was really good, unni."

Her skill was impressive.

After that, Serin performed the same scene in several different ways.

The first version had been full of pent-up resentment.

The second was calm, as if she'd already given up on everything.

The third was careful and fragile, because she was too hurt to explode openly.

She changed the emotional direction each time.

"If you can do all of that, you seriously have to become an actress, unni."

"R-Really? It doesn't look awkward? Like bad acting or anything?"

"No. Not at all."

Youngchae answered firmly.

Because she was naturally cynical, Youngchae's opinion felt especially objective.

That seemed to reassure Serin.

She let out a breath and smiled.

If Youngchae thought something was bad, she'd simply stay quiet.

She was absolutely not the kind of person who handed out empty compliments.

And just like that, Serin gained confidence.

I hadn't expected her serious acting to already be this good.

If her anxiety about filming came only from the fact that this would be her first acting job, then all she needed was proof of how good she actually was.

Once she saw that for herself, the problem would disappear.

After finishing our little acting showcase, Youngchae and I went onto the Top Prime website and began browsing clothes that looked worth buying.

Then a call from Hong Eun-hye suddenly covered my phone screen.

"Oh? Looks like they've already finished discussing everything!"

"Seriously. That was incredibly fast."

I was about to press the answer button when Youngchae spoke.

"Ah, no. I'm getting a call too."

Youngchae pulled her phone from her back pocket.

The caller ID read:

[CEO Oh Deok-su]

Oh Su.

The man currently in the Philippines.

Youngchae and I looked at each other for a moment.

Then, as if we'd already agreed on it, we exchanged phones.

Youngchae answered Hong Eun-hye's call.

I answered Oh Su's.

"Yes, CEO. This is Do Jun-hyeok. Why did you call Youngchae instead of me..."

Oh Su's voice came through immediately.

He sounded breathless and desperate, as if a murderer were chasing him.

"Do Jun-hyeok! What the hell are you?"

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