Chapter 35: The Birth of “Subtly Handsome Eun-chan”

“Hmm, you’re right.”
“Now that I’m looking up close, they are gray.”

“…Yeah.”

Eun-chan nodded as though he was finally convinced and stepped back.

Watching the two of them, Ryu Seo-oh suddenly spoke up.

“Looks like Eun-chan developed immunity to good looks after spending so much time around actors.”

He said something fairly outrageous in a perfectly casual tone.

Then he looked toward Moon Se-byeol as if seeking agreement.

Se-byeol immediately nodded.

“You’re right.”
“…Wow.”
“I knew Woo-young was handsome, but wow.”
“I didn’t realize he was this handsome.”
“I was staring without even realizing it.”

“Same.”

Do Jun-seo chimed in honestly.

“Seriously.”
“That’s insane.”
“He’s unbelievable.”

Well, they weren’t wrong.

Hyun Woo-young’s face practically didn’t belong to this world.

He really was blessed by fate.

Whether it was choreography practice or recording sessions, there wasn’t a single thing he lacked.

And now his appearance was at this level too.

At this point, Eun-chan found himself genuinely curious how easy life must feel for someone like Woo-young.

With a face like that, a single appearance on a public music show would probably bring in a flood of new fans.

Honestly, Eun-chan didn’t care whose fans they became.

His fans.

Woo-young’s fans.

Anyone’s fans.

As long as B the 1’s recognition increased and they could win a Daesang, what difference did it make?

“…It’s not that much.”

At last, Woo-young finally spoke up.

Being praised nonstop right in front of him was apparently becoming embarrassing.

“Sorry for making everyone wait.”
“It took a while to find the right contact lens color.”

It seemed he was trying to change the subject.

“I think it’d look good if you switched between different lens colors too.”

Eun-chan, who was still looking at him, offered his opinion.

“Really?”

“Why not?”

“Anyway, shouldn’t we get going?”

“Min-yu hyung, should I call Manager hyung?”

“Ah, no.”
“I’ll do it.”

Jung Min-yu immediately pulled out his phone and made a call.

“While he’s calling, let’s take some pictures.”
“We can upload them later.”

When Moon Se-byeol suggested it, Woo-young nodded obediently.

He stared at the phone and tried posing.

But there was still something awkward about it.

People always said handsome people lacked desperation.

Maybe Woo-young belonged to that category too.

Watching the scene, Eun-chan quietly took a picture of Se-byeol taking pictures of Woo-young.

“Oh?”
“What was that?”

Se-byeol reacted to the shutter sound.

“I took a picture.”

“You should’ve warned me first.”

“If I warned you beforehand, how would I get a natural shot of you taking pictures?”

“Well…”
“There are poses for that too.”

“You pose while taking pictures?”

Eun-chan burst out laughing as Se-byeol demonstrated several ridiculous poses.

After wrapping up the conversation, they started preparing to leave.

But Eun-chan noticed Woo-young staring at him.

‘Do you have something to say?’

He conveyed the question with his eyes.

Woo-young finally spoke.

“Weren’t you originally lighter-skinned?”

“Ah.”

So that was what he’d been looking at.

Eun-chan shrugged.

“I’m wearing tone-down makeup.”

“Look.”

Eun-chan naturally had very fair skin.

Because of that, he almost always wore makeup that darkened his complexion.

Since only the visible areas—his face and neck—were adjusted, removing everything later was a hassle.

He had even considered tanning before.

But instead of getting darker, his skin simply turned red and then went back to being pale.

Eventually he’d given up.

Sometimes it felt unfair being the only one who needed tone-down makeup.

But there was nothing he could do about it.

Even during bright, refreshing concepts, he had looked like he was glowing white all by himself.

With a uniform concept like this one, it was practically mandatory.

To demonstrate the difference, Eun-chan pulled open his shirt collar and revealed the skin normally hidden beneath his clothes.

Woo-young let out a short sound.

“Ah.”

“Right?”
“You can see the difference.”

“Yeah.”
“I can.”

“At least look properly before answering.”

“…I did.”

Sure, he talked well.

Even though he was looking everywhere except at the place Eun-chan was showing him.

Eun-chan was just about to call him out on it.

“Hyungs already went downstairs.”

“Huh?”
“They did.”

Just as Woo-young said, the others had already left while they were talking.

Apparently Min-yu had received a message from the manager, who was waiting at the café one floor below, telling them to come to the parking lot.

Realizing they needed to hurry, Eun-chan waved for Woo-young to follow.

The two of them joined the others slightly later than everyone else.

Naturally, they ended up sitting in the back row of the van.

Then they headed straight to the filming location.

Even after settling into his seat, Eun-chan kept glancing at Woo-young.

The more he looked, the more unbelievable the guy seemed.

Afraid Woo-young might misunderstand again, he quickly clarified.

“I’m looking because you’re ridiculously handsome.”

“…Okay.”

Woo-young replied with an awkward expression.

Meanwhile, Do Jun-seo and Ryu Seo-oh were busy talking in the front seats and paid no attention to the conversation happening behind them.

“Is this your first time dyeing your hair?”

“First time going this light.”

Woo-young looked at him.

“Don’t you ever bleach your hair, Eun-chan hyung?”

“Mm.”

“No.”

“Black hair suits me best.”

“If I’m going to experiment with something else, I think it’s better not to do anything at all.”

“That’s true.”

“Right?”

“Sometimes it’s better not to take unnecessary risks.”

Woo-young nodded readily.

“No.”

“My point was that black hair suits you best, Eun-chan hyung.”

“Oh.”

Eun-chan blinked.

“Ah.”
“Really?”

“Yeah.”

The answer came so naturally that he was caught completely off guard.

Woo-young, meanwhile, looked entirely unaffected.

“Mm.”
“You’re right.”

“Black hair does suit me.”

“It’s a basic hairstyle.”

“It matches my face well.”

“I’m the subtle, understated type after all.”

“You’ve got a good eye.”

“Ah—.”
“Eun-chan…”

Do Jun-seo suddenly groaned from the front seat and turned around.

“I’ve been listening this whole time.”

“Isn’t this a little too much?”

“Seriously.”

“Wow.”

“Hyungs, did you hear that?”

“Jun-seo.”

Ryu Seo-oh gently scolded him.

“Sometimes you’re supposed to pretend you didn’t hear things.”

Only then did Eun-chan realize the two of them hadn’t actually been ignoring the conversation.

They’d just been pretending not to listen.

His face immediately grew hot.

Why doesn’t my SS-rank Mental stat work at times like this?

He quickly checked his status window.

Nothing was wrong.

The trait was still active.

“Eun-chan hyung really does suit black hair.”

Stop talking.

Please stop talking.

Hearing Woo-young casually add fuel to the fire made Eun-chan want to crawl into a hole and disappear.

Honestly, it would’ve been easier if someone had just told him to shut up.

At least then he’d know how to respond.

Instead, everyone kept agreeing with him.

Which somehow made things infinitely more embarrassing.

At this point, Eun-chan gave up.

“See, Woo-young?”

“Hyungs, look at him.”

“He’s speaking nothing but the truth.”

“Wow.”

Jun-seo stared at him in disbelief.

“Shim Eun-chan.”

“When did your skin become this thick?”

“Unbelievable.”

Beside him, Ryu Seo-oh glanced over and dramatically shook his head.

Just as Eun-chan was desperately trying to think of a way out—

“…Well.”

Jung Min-yu finally spoke from the front.

“Eun-chan is…”
“Pretty handsome.”

Eun-chan’s soul left his body.

He couldn’t even lie down in the grave he’d dug for himself.

“…Ah, Min-yu hyung.”

Even he had joined in.

“Min-yu hyung, you too?”

At last, Eun-chan raised the white flag.

There was no surviving this.

Surrender was the only option left.

Hearing the resentment in his voice, Min-yu looked confused.

“No, Eun-chan.”

“It’s true.”

“A guy like you is definitely handsome.”

“Please stop.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I can’t take this anymore.”

Covering his face with both hands, Eun-chan let out a miserable groan.

The moment he did, everyone finally burst into laughter.

And from that day onward, Eun-chan’s nickname around the dorm became:

“Subtly Handsome Eun-chan.”

Their destination was a massive bakery café located on the outskirts of the city.

It covered nearly 600 pyeong.

Hearing the number had sounded impressive enough.

Seeing it in person left them speechless.

When Eun-chan had spoken on the phone, he’d been told construction was still ongoing.

Apparently that had already been completed.

From the outside, the building looked spotless.

It seemed ready to open immediately.

After getting out of the van, Eun-chan spotted a man standing near the entrance.

He immediately recognized him as Jung Jin-wook, Kim Hyuin’s cousin and the person who had agreed to lend them the venue.

“Hello.”
“I’m Shim Eun-chan.”

“Oh!”

Jung Jin-wook smiled warmly.

“Nice to meet you.”

“You’re even more handsome in person.”

Just like during their phone conversation, he gave off an incredibly refreshing and approachable impression.

“I already gave the access key to your manager.”

“And I mentioned this earlier, but you’re free to use the annex building in the back as much as you’d like.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“Have a good shoot.”

“I have another appointment, so I’ll be heading out now.”

After exchanging farewells, the members entered the café.

Immediately, exclamations erupted from all directions.

Eun-chan wasn’t any different.

They’d called it a bakery café.

But it felt more like a botanical garden.

The real thing looked nothing like the photos.

The ceilings were high.

Plants filled every corner.

Even the air felt fresher.

And the annex Jung Jin-wook had mentioned?

It was a separate 200-pyeong building decorated with stained glass.

Its atmosphere was completely different from the main structure.

It felt like they’d stumbled upon an unexpected treasure.

For the first time that day, excitement began bubbling up inside Eun-chan.

This comeback shoot was going to turn out far better than he’d expected.