Chapter 11 : Stepping Into the Act

“By the way, what did you want to talk about?” Yehyun, who had calmed down a bit thanks to Ijeong’s black coat, asked.

Only then did Ijeong remember why he had come here. He clapped his palms together and said, “Ah, right.”

“?”

It could have been said over the phone or text, but since he was coming anyway, he didn’t think he needed to contact him beforehand.

“Do you know Han Myeongah?” Ijeong brought up the name of a manager.

After a moment, Yehyun, who had been racking his brain over the familiar name, tilted his head as if something came to mind and asked, “I do know a Han Myeongah, but why do you ask?”

“Ah, that person. Is this the one?” Ijeong turned on his phone and showed a picture.

In the photo, Ijeong and a beautiful woman with a glamorous face were creating a friendly atmosphere. Why was he showing this? Yehyun said in an uncertain voice, “Isn’t she… an actress? I think I’ve seen her in ads…”

“No, not her.” Ijeong shook his head and pointed to a corner of the photo. What he pointed to was not the main actress in the photo, but her manager passing behind her. “It’s blurry, but I don’t have a picture of Manager Han.”

“…”

Yehyun focused on where Ijeong’s finger was pointing. The woman with her hair tied up in a ponytail, carrying luggage, was definitely familiar to Yehyun. “…She’s my college classmate.”

The person in the photo, Myeongah, was Yehyun’s college classmate. They used to be quite close, but now they didn’t even contact each other.

“Are you still in touch?”

“No. I probably even deleted her number…” Yehyun unconsciously opened his phone’s contact list to check if her number was still there.

“Wait a moment.” At that moment, noticing something, Ijeong slightly frowned and grabbed Yehyun’s phone. “What’s this?”

“What?” Yehyun, still in the same hand position holding the phone, asked back dumbfoundedly.

Then Ijeong showed the screen to Yehyun and said, “I definitely saved it properly, but why is it stiffly ‘Kang Ijeong’, just three characters?”

What Ijeong pointed to was his own contact saved under the name ‘Kang Ijeong’. Come to think of it, he had gotten an earful about it at work too. Yehyun snatched the phone back from Ijeong and said, “I was going to change it anyway. I got scolded at work for it too.”

The reason he saved Ijeong by his full name wasn’t anything significant. At first, because it felt burdensome, he only removed the heart. But there was another person named ‘Jeong’ among Yehyun’s acquaintances, and once he almost mistakenly sent a message meant for Ijeong to that person, so he saved the full name to avoid confusion. Since he usually kept his contact list concise, he didn’t think it was strange, but hearing nagging twice in one day made him feel he should change it.

“But ‘Jeong’ feels a bit off. There’s another Jeong I know, and I keep getting confused. It feels weird.”

“Hmm, then how about ‘Jagi’?” Ijeong tilted his head and said.

Jagi, huh. Even though Ijeong himself had brought up that term, Yehyun didn’t feel like saving him as that. Because his last relationship with someone who was ‘Jagi♡’ for seven years hadn’t ended well.

“Not ‘Jagi’.”

“If you don’t like the name and you don’t like ‘Jagi’, what do we do? You call me that just fine,” Ijeong grumbled.

Then Yehyun, after some thought, came up with his own solution. “…How about just saving it with one heart?”

Having rejected nicknames and the term ‘Jagi’, Yehyun’s final suggestion was to save him with just a symbol and no letters.

“Well, that’s not bad.”

“…So what did you save me as?” Yehyun, feeling slighted, glanced at Ijeong and said.

Then Ijeong, as if proud, held up his phone.

[Hyunie hyung♡]

“The articles all said we’re head over heels in love, so if I saved it stiffly and someone saw it, that’d be a problem.”

Ouch. Suddenly feeling guilty, Yehyun changed the subject. “Anyway, what about Myeongah?”

“She asked me if the person in the video was Shin Yehyun.”

Yehyun recalled Myeongah from college and bit his lip lightly. They hadn’t ended on good terms. But then again, she was always nosy, so it wasn’t surprising. “We know each other, but we’re not close. Just a college classmate I hung out with for a while.”

“I figured as much.” If they were close, she would have asked him directly instead of me, Ijeong thought and said, “I see. She asked, so I got curious about your relationship. And if Manager Han asks about you, I need to answer properly, right?”

Ah, that makes sense. Yehyun nodded and said, “That’s true.”

Yehyun briefly looked back at his past. Stories about his past that Myeongah would know… “Nothing much. At most, the story of dating Gyujin hyung… Yeah, she only knows things like that, and she’s not rude enough to talk about an ex-boyfriend to the current one.” Recalling an unpleasant past, Yehyun frowned slightly and said, “You don’t need to worry about it.”

With that face, he says not to worry. Ijeong inwardly laughed at Yehyun. But seeing that he wouldn’t tell if pressed right now, Ijeong casually changed the topic.

“More importantly, isn’t that too much? You said we’d do it properly, but saving it as ‘Kang Ijeong’, just three characters?”

“…I was going to change it but forgot. I’ll call you properly in front of others, so it should be fine.”

“Still, it seems like we need to fix the basics first,” Ijeong said with a deliberately serious face. “We need to get revenge, right?”

“Of course,” Yehyun answered without backing down.

How assertive, thought Ijeong, meeting Yehyun’s quietly burning eyes.

“Just acting nice in front of people isn’t enough. Stalkers, sasaengs, and reporters could be watching anytime, anywhere. Being businesslike has its limits.”

For the next three months, Yehyun probably wouldn’t want to extend the contract, so they had to get rid of the persistent stalker within those three months. So his acting had to be perfect enough to fool anyone. Fortunately, his partner, Yehyun, also had a clear goal.

“That’s right. A single slip of the tongue could have consequences.”

“So I was thinking, I want us to meet often, even if it’s mandatory. At my place or yours. Anywhere private,” Ijeong said with a smile in his eyes.

As they say, know yourself and know your enemy, and you’ll win a hundred battles. Of course, the enemy here was not Yehyun but the stalker. “That way, we’ll get comfortable with each other and act naturally in any situation.”

“That makes sense.” Yehyun nodded without much thought. But there seemed to be one concern, as Yehyun looked at Ijeong with a worried face. “But my sister is often at home, so I’m a bit worried.”

“So what? It’s normal for a boyfriend to get close to his partner’s family.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about… No, it’s fine.”

Actually, he was worried about Yeseo, who was a fan of Kang Ijeong, causing a ruckus. But if Ijeong didn’t mind, it should be okay. Yehyun reluctantly nodded.

“Do you have any more schedules today?”

“Well, while filming a drama, I focus mostly on the drama. I have nothing until dawn tomorrow.”

“Then wouldn’t it be better to go in and sleep?”

“This much is fine,” Ijeong said with a bright smile.

Judging by his words, it seemed he wanted to show someone that he was entering his lover’s house. Should he let this pass or not? Yehyun fell into a brief deliberation.

“We have a lot to talk about anyway. Wouldn’t it be better to do it inside the house rather than uncomfortably in the car?” Ijeong coaxed Yehyun with a sweet voice.

The intent was obvious, but there was no harm in letting it slide. “Fine. But I have a condition.” Having finally decided, Yehyun looked straight at Ijeong and said, “You must never reveal that our relationship is a contract dating, especially to my sister.”

“That goes without saying.”

Although it was a relationship that had to be hidden from everyone, even if the whole world found out that his relationship with Ijeong was fake, Yehyun didn’t want Yeseo to know. The relationship started because he didn’t want to look pathetic in front of Gyujin. If Yeseo found out why he started this relationship… Absolutely, no matter what happens, I can’t let it slip. He didn’t want that child to worry. Yehyun always wanted to be a reliable older brother to Yeseo.

After firmly warning Ijeong, Yehyun let out a small sigh. It was just before 8 o’clock. No matter how short they kept the conversation, it was more than enough time to avoid Yeseo, who would return around 8:30.

“Don’t worry. I’ve won Best Actor awards despite how I look. I’m confident I won’t get caught. You better keep your wits about you so you don’t give anything away,” Ijeong said with a shrug.

In researching Ijeong, Yehyun had seen his impressive award history. He nodded. As Ijeong said, compared to a professional actor, Yehyun was more likely to have trouble lying in front of his family.

“I’ll keep my wits about me, so you make sure to follow my lead. And…” Yehyun recalled being scolded for being too stiff around each other despite being in a relationship. Indeed, for lovers, there were certain expected terms of address and speech patterns. Especially in front of Yeseo, he had to be fully prepared.

So there was one thing to handle before going in. Yehyun looked straight at Ijeong and said, “Before we go in, let’s drop the formalities.”

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