Chapter 38: 38

Usually, Kim Jun-Yeol would be shooting photos from a well prepared set. However, this was not the case today. The sudden change in routine had caused Kwon Eun-Mi to feel a little lost. She felt a little embarrassed when she thought back to how she lost control of her emotions in her previous photo shoot with Woo-Jin. It was said that it’s a good sign if the picky Kim Jun-Yeol stayed quiet throughout the whole photo shoot, but Eun-Mi felt that she had been unprofessional throughout.

“Let’s start shooting now.”

Kim Jun-Yeol grabbed the camera and walked towards them. The dazzling reflectors were back in place and the staff members retreated. Even though Kim Jun-Yeol was constantly pressing the shutter button right in front of them, from this moment onwards, Chae Woo-Jin and Kwon Eun-Mi were the only ones who existed in the story created solely by them.

Woo-Jin sat on the bed and began fixing his necktie. The cufflinks that were made of brilliantly cut ruby gems looked particularly cold on his wrists. Kwon Eun-Mi pulled up the sheet from behind her and covered her chest, and got up before leaning her upper body on Woo-Jin. She hugged him from the back, and rested her head on his shoulder. Woo-Jin tried to get up without even turning around to look at Kwon Eun-Mi, whose face was filled with sorrow and longing.

“When will we meet again?”

All Kwon Eun-Mi had gotten after taking the initiative to talk to him was a cold response from Woo-Jin. She was in a rush to grab onto Woo-Jin, who was about to leave without giving her a response. Even though she had begged him, the cold response plus the bad boy vibes which Woo-Jin was giving off made her shudder.

“How can you just leave like that?” asked Kwon Eun-Mi. Only then did Woo-Jin slowly shift his gaze towards her. Kwon Eun-Mi trembled at the sight of his cold gaze that was void of any warmth.

“We had a good time yesterday, no? You said I was pretty.” Kwon Eun-Mi, who was clinging on to the man, became more talkative. She recalled the good memories from last night and forced them upon Woo-Jin, earnestly pleading with him to look at her once again.

“You’re pretty. So?”

“I’m sorry?”

“You have nothing else going for you apart from that, am I wrong?”

The words that finally came out of Woo-Jin's mouth was so insulting that it made Kwon Eun-Mi's face turn red. However, she soon looked at Woo-Jin with a spiteful look in her eyes. Although she knew it was shameful, she also knew that losing Woo-Jin would be the worst case scenario.

“But I fulfill the needs that your wife is unable to fulfill.”

“That’s true.”

Woo-Jin pondered for a second and smiled widely before chuckling. Feeling encouraged, Kwon Eun-Mi slowly got out of bed and got on her knees, skillfully wrapping her long arms around Woo-Jin's legs. Her slim and beautiful fingers ran across his thighs as she smiled seductively.

“My wife wouldn’t be caught dead doing something so nasty like this.”

“Isn’t it good to do nasty things in bed?”

“Yeah, only in bed. You’re useless outside of the bedroom, so I’m wondering if I should just call it quits.”

Woo-Jin was looking at his necktie and the cufflinks on his sleeves while ignoring Kwon Eun-Mi, who was wrapping her hands around his waist. She gently bit her lip and latched herself onto him even more.

“Think about how many hours you spend in that bed every day,” said Kwon Eun-Mi.

She was showing an earnest obsession that was beyond desperation. There was also spite in her gaze that showed she was capable of doing anything Woo-Jin wanted. Kim Jun-Yeol began pressing the shutter button even more rapidly as he watched the interaction between the two of them, who were gradually becoming more and more spiteful towards each other.

“So in addition to being nasty, you have no pride.”

“...”

The shame on her face only lasted for a brief moment; Kwon Eun-Mi smiled sweetly at him despite his harsh words. Woo-Jin clicked his tongue softly and grabbed her with both hands before lifting her up. He adjusted the sheet that was wrapped around her body so that it would not fall off.

Woo-Jin, who was wearing a neat and classy outfit, was dramatically opposed to Kwon Eun-Mi, who looked like a shabby woman with unkempt hair who had only a thin sheet to cover herself with. Woo-Jin placed his arms around her and hugged her, as if he was comforting Kwon Eun-Mi. He then whispered sweetly into her ear, “If you know where you stand, then know your place and act accordingly.”

Woo-Jin’s voice was sweet and alluring, but the meaning behind his words was anything but sweet. As soon as he stopped talking, he immediately threw Kwon Eun-Mi on the bed. The red sheet fluttered in the air as she was being thrown onto the bed. Woo-Jin looked on coldly as Kwon Eun-Mi tried to prop her upper body up by using both her hands for support. He turned around and walked away with no hesitation.

Behind him, Kwon Eun-Mi was looking at him pointlessly as the red sheet fluttered around her. The sheet that was wrapped around her body was like a red dress fluttering in the wind, but it could not cover the spite and desperation in her eyes. In contrast, Woo-Jin’s face, which was void of all emotion, and his neat outfit was so perfect that it made Kwon Eun-Mi look even more miserable.

If the lovers’ version was filled with love and happiness, this version was filled with spitefulness and sorrow. Although both versions appealed to different tastes and preferences, none of the photos were bad.

“Good!”

At long last, Kim Jun-Yeol had announced that the photo shoot was over. Woo-Jin, who had been suppressing his true self the entire time, had finally returned to normal, as one could tell from the look in his eyes. The subtle pressure and charisma that had filled the studio throughout the shoot had also quietly disappeared. Woo-Jin had reverted to a Korean young man in his 20s, politely and respectfully expressed his gratitude towards Kim Jun-Yeol as they wrapped up the photo shoot.

“Thank you.”

Dumbfounded, Kim Jun-Yeol laughed as he looked at Chae Woo-Jin, who had become a fine young man. He wondered what kind of person Chae Woo-Jin was, and also wondered if the other actors did this too. Kim Jun-Yeol had seen several actors who assumed different personalities at every photo shoot, so he did not think much of it. Meanwhile, Woo-Jin approached Kwon Eun-Mi and bowed to her as well.

“I am sorry for what I did earlier today. Did I injure you when I threw you onto the bed without warning?”

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There were several things that caused Woo-Jin to feel apologetic towards Kwon Eun-Mi. As he was acting out the different concepts for the photo shoot, he was so rough with her that she unintentionally ended up having to bare her chest. No amount of apologies would be enough for what he did in the last scene where he threw her onto the bed.

“Ah, I was a little surprised but it’s okay. Things that are worse than that do happen from time to time during my other photo shoots.” Kwon Eun-Mi suddenly felt a sense of shame that she had not felt during the photo shoot. She told him it was okay, while wrapping the sheet around her body tightly.

“This is my first time doing a photo shoot, so I might have overdone it in various ways. Thank you for being so accommodating to everything. Thanks to that, I’ve learned a lot today.”

“I’ve also learned a lot while working with you today. It’s also my first time doing a photo shoot in this manner so it was rather unfamiliar, but we ended up getting absorbed into our roles, and thanks to that, I think we’ve taken some good photos. Thank you too.” Both of them thanked each other sincerely as they looked at one another.

For the first time, Kwon Eun-Mi felt that acting was fun, and she had learned how to express her emotions more accurately for future photo shoots. Additionally, even though she had revealed so much skin, it was her first time working with a male model who was respectful, and whose actions were refreshingly new to her, so naturally, she felt good about it.

Kwon Eun-Mi reached her hand out for a handshake. She had gained a vague sense of confidence. Up until now, she had only been using her body to create images that highlighted sex appeal. Her self-esteem had gradually decreased as she unknowingly felt a sense of inferiority complex every time she had to do photo shoots with repetitive themes.

The male models whom she had worked with only saw her as a sexual object, and not as a fellow co-worker. Regardless of how hard she had tried to break out of it, the image that both her clients and the public wanted from her had already been fixed. Today’s photo shoot was also an extension of those expectations. Chae Woo-Jin had presented to her a different approach in which she could present herself even though she was showing a lot of skin.

After completing the first round of the photo shoot, Kwon Eun-Mi was taking a break after getting her makeup fixed. During that time, she looked at a couple of photos on the monitor and saw that the woman in those photos was different from the risqué Kwon Eun-Mi that she had always known. In those photos that told a story, she was no longer just an object or trophy.

Even though she was playing a supporting role, Kwon Eun-Mi was a model who filled the contents of the story within the photos. Realizing the direction she should work towards in the future, Kwon Eun-Mi wore a very beautiful smile on her face. Woo-Jin smiled back at her, not knowing her backstory, and felt relieved as he told her that he was fortunate to be able to work with such a kind partner.

The photo shoot might be over, but Woo-Jin was not done with work. On top of the photo shoot, Woo-Jin also had to do an interview with the magazine. The photo shoot was intended for a project that was already meant to be published in the magazine. Since they changed the model, they had to reshoot the entire thing. However, Woo-Jin’s interview was not in the original plan. When they had decided to replace the model with Woo-Jin, the magazine company quickly suggested doing an additional interview with him as they did not want to miss this opportunity.

With only ten days before the new issue gets published, even though Woo-Jin’s agency did not know the details of the magazine company’s circumstances, it was certainly not easy for the company magazine to decide to hold this interview. As such, this also meant that the first exclusive interview with Woo-Jin was a major thing that could not be missed.

“Hello, I am Lee Yoo-Jung from Biltman.”

Woo-Jin greeted the journalist who had introduced herself. Woo-Jin was dressed comfortably in a dark blue casual suit that was paired with a white T-shirt with black stripes. This was in contrast with what he wore during the photo shoot.

Since they had aimed at portraying him as a full-fledged adult in the photo shoot, they wanted to highlight his bright and cheerful image during the interview. The surprising thing was that Kim Jun-Yeol was standing next to Lee Yoo-Jung with a camera, instead of the photographer of the magazine.

“Do you have any complaints about me taking photos of an interview that is conducted in my studio?” asked Kim Jun-Yeol arrogantly.

Seeing how arrogant he was, nobody could not raise any objections. Instead, they were grateful that he had stepped up to do it. Hwang Yi-Young was the only one who was quietly grumbling in the corner.

“Who says he can butt in and take photos of Genie as and when he pleases?”

“It’s not disadvantageous to Woo-Jin though, so what’s wrong?”

“Of course there’s nothing bad about it, I just can’t stand the sight of him.”

As she was conscious of the staff of the magazine company who were hanging around, Hwang Yi-Young expressed her dissatisfaction by pouting. Even though everything had turned out well in the end, she was offended by Kim Jun-Yeol’s attitude in the beginning, when he was harsh to Woo-Jin. Even though she did not expect people to respect and be considerate towards rookies in this field, people should still treat others with basic respect. Putting it bluntly, Woo-Jin’s agency was not the one who begged them to let Woo-Jin be the model for this photo shoot, so she wondered why Kim Jun-Yeol was being so arrogant.

“It’s all about gaining experience. Things don’t always go according to your wishes – you can’t always do what you want with the people you want.” Kang Ho-Soo shared the same sentiment as Hwang Yi-Young, but he could not openly express it.

“But somehow Woo-Jin doesn’t look too happy, no?” asked Hwang Yi-Young.

“You felt that too? Strangely, it seems like he has been that way ever since the photo shoot ended.”

Both of them had focused all their attention on Chae Woo-Jin to observe him. They were more sensitive to how Woo-Jin was feeling compared to anybody else. Although he was clearly smiling, they could tell that Woo-Jin was feeling more gloomy and crestfallen than ever.

“Death Hill is your debut film, so you must be very happy that it has been breaking box office records day after day.”

“It’s just so amazing. It’s like that children’s song we sang when we were little – ‘How Great It Would Be to Be On TV’. Up until now, it’s been very emotional for me, so I haven’t had the time to process it.”

“If you walk down the streets these days, there must be a lot of people who recognize you. Whenever that happens, doesn’t it feel real?”

Movie or entertainment industry-related TV programs often played scenes of the movie where Woo-Jin appeared in, and characters imitating loan shark A in variety TV shows started to surface too. Hence, there were quite a number of people who knew of Chae Woo-Jin even if they did not watch the movie.

“Some people would occasionally recognize me when I take the subway or the bus. It hasn’t really sunk in yet.”

“There aren't a lot of people who recognize you? That shouldn’t be the case, though. Even if they don’t know that you’re an actor, your good looks will still make you stand out.”

Upon hearing the journalist’s words, Woo-Jin secretly rolled his eyes as he tried his best to understand her thoughts. He contemplated for a moment about whether or not it was good to have looks that stood out. He thought that it was one of those trick questions that he had come across when he was training for how to handle interviews. It was an interview where he was uncertain how he would be counterattacked if he was quick to show off.

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