Chapter 26: A Polite Interrogation

[Did you pack everything? I heard they’re sending someone at 8. 11:04 AM]

“Kang Ijeong, you’ve become a completely different person since you started dating.”

Hari teased him from her folding chair, watching him fiddle relentlessly with his phone.

“I’m in the honeymoon phase,” Ijeong replied with a smooth smile, naturally turning off the screen. Today was a rare treat—the first time in days they were filming under the bright daylight instead of during the freezing dawn or dead of night.

“Lucky you. I want to date someone too.”

“You probably have a long line of people waiting, so just pick someone you like.”

“I’m not desperate enough to date just anyone. Anyway, I’m jealous. So jealous.” Hari shook her head dramatically.

Though she could be occasionally too blunt and prone to stirring up minor controversies, Hari wasn’t the type to actively harass others.

“So, are you still keeping all your boyfriend stories strictly to yourself?” Even though she grumbled about his privacy, she respected personal boundaries. Still, she seemed genuinely curious about Yaehyun, frequently bringing him up between takes.

“Haha. Honestly, your manager probably knows more about him than I do,” Ijeong deflected easily. “We’re still early in our relationship, and with our brutal filming schedule, we’ve only had quiet dates at home. I don’t have many grand stories to share yet.”

“So that means you want to wrap up filming as soon as possible, right? Honestly, same here. I’d love just a month—no, even a week of rest would be heaven.” Hari chuckled. “By the way, Myeonga absolutely refuses to talk about him. You think I didn’t ask her? She just said her college stories aren’t interesting and clammed right up. That’s why I’m asking you.”

Hari glanced over at Myeonga, who was diligently helping the production crew carry heavy equipment a little way off.

Han Myeonga—Yaehyun’s former college classmate. They weren’t close friends and had never shared a deep, private conversation, but she was someone Ijeong found deeply intriguing for a variety of strategic reasons.

“I’d love to hear stories about Yaehyun’s college days too… but Myeonga is always so busy on set that it’s hard to find a moment to talk to her.”

“That’s because she’s entirely too nice, like a total pushover,” Hari clicked her tongue. “Who is going to appreciate her helping everyone else out? She should be taking care of me instead.”

As Hari noted, Myeonga spent every single second of her free time assisting the overworked crew. “Sometimes I can’t tell if she’s my personal manager or a member of the grip truck.”

To Ijeong, Myeonga was a classic double-edged sword. He had to maintain a careful distance to avoid exposing how little he actually knew about his fake boyfriend’s past, but she was also a goldmine who could drop unexpected pieces of information.

“She’s just a genuinely good person.”

“Well, I wish she were only good to me.”

Ijeong stood up, brushing off his wardrobe. Now that he understood the volatile situation surrounding Yaehyun’s safety, he wanted to slowly piece together the boy’s past through Myeonga.

“Where are you going?” Hari asked.

“To help out too.”

“Wow, look at everyone being so nice. Leave it to me to be the only mean one on this set,” Hari grumbled playfully, taking a slow sip of her iced drink.

Ijeong slipped on his flawless business smile and approached the bustling crew members. “Let me help you with that.”

“Oh, no, Ijeong-ssi! You’re about to film your close-ups.”

“I have plenty of time to move a few things. Hari’s shoot is scheduled first anyway.”

“But it’s my job…” Myeonga stammered, looking up at him with wide eyes. “I’d feel terrible letting you carry this.”

Strictly speaking, Myeonga was volunteering her own labor to the staff, so there was no logical reason for her to feel guilty. But Ijeong smoothly took the heavy plastic crate right out of her hands and offered a warm, dazzling smile.

“If you really feel bad about it… I heard a rumor that you were actually Yaehyun’s college classmate. Why don’t you tell me a bit about his university days while we walk?”

“…Does he still remember me?” Myeonga looked visibly startled, her posture stiffening.

“Yeah. He mentioned to me that you two were in the same class.”

“Ah… yes. That’s right. Classmates.” Myeonga awkwardly scratched the back of her neck, avoiding his eyes. “But we really weren’t that close back then… so I honestly don’t have much to tell you.”

“Even the smallest, most ordinary stories about him are fine by me.” Ijeong walked slowly alongside her, matching her pace as he carried the load. “I’m just curious because I like him so much. Don’t feel pressured at all.”

“No, it’s not pressure… I really just don’t know much about his private life. Gyujin o…” Myeonga bit her tongue, cutting herself off instantly before the syllables ‘Gyujin oppa’ could fully escape her mouth.

She realized a second too late that it would be highly inappropriate and insensitive to mention Yaehyun’s ex-boyfriend of seven years directly in front of his glamorous new lover.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Myeonga rambled rapidly, her face flushing as she tried desperately to pivot the conversation. “We were briefly friendly during our freshman year, but you know how college life is. You become quick friends over the smallest things, and then you drift apart just as easily over small things… I don’t have any grand anecdotes. He was just very diligent, incredibly kind…”

“He was quite popular back then too, right?” Ijeong guided the conversation smoothly.

“Yes.”

Ah, damn it. Caught entirely off guard by the natural flow of his questioning, Myeonga answered honestly and then clamped her mouth shut in sheer panic. Ijeong let out a soft, amused laugh.

“Haha. It’s nothing serious, why are you suddenly so tense?”

“I’m sorry. I made a slip of the tongue.”

“I really don’t care about his past popularity. Yaehyun is absolutely adorable. Who in their right mind wouldn’t like someone like him?” Ijeong smiled warmly, the image of Yaehyun naturally surfacing in his mind. The boy was, objectively speaking, quite charming. He was a person who could fiercely yell and break down in tears out of sheer frustration, only to immediately clench his fists the next second and vow to endure it all as if nothing had happened.

“I’m incredibly proud to have him as my boyfriend,” Ijeong continued, layering his voice with effortless affection. “The past is just the past. After all, I’m the one standing by his side right now.”

Ijeong set down the heavy crate at the designated equipment station. Myeonga stared at him, completely lost in her own thoughts, completely forgetting to put down the box she was holding.

“Do you need a hand with that?”

“Oh, no!” Only when Ijeong pointed directly at her hands did she snap out of her daze and hurriedly set the box down on the table.

“You really love Yaehyun a lot, don’t you?” Myeonga said hesitantly. The thick wall of wariness she usually maintained around celebrities seemed to soften slightly. She spoke slowly, watching Ijeong’s expressions with gentle eyes. “He’s such a good person. I know it’s entirely none of my business, but… he seemed so incredibly fragile and exhausted before this. I truly hope things go well for him this time around.”

So his previous relationship with Park Gyujin must have been absolute hell for him, Ijeong analyzed internally, his sharp mind connecting the dots while his exterior remained perfectly calm.

“Of course. If anything, he’s entirely too good for someone like me,” Ijeong countered smoothly. “I know he isn’t just kind to me, so I’ll make sure to be extra careful with his heart.”

Though Ijeong’s internal motivations were far from pure or clean, he had absolutely no intention of letting Yaehyun see the calculated, messy side of his personality.

“Seeing how much a former classmate still worries about him, I can easily deduce what a wonderful person he was in college.”

“Ah, please, you can’t tell him I said any of this!” Myeonga suddenly snapped her head up, panic flaring in her eyes again. “He’d be so upset with me. We really aren’t close at all, and this comes off as so incredibly nosy… Anyway, please promise me you won’t mention that I said anything.”

Myeonga knew firsthand what a pure soul Yaehyun was. But she also understood how the real world operated. Sadly, just because two inherently good people crossed paths didn’t guarantee they would enjoy a good relationship.

“He probably forgot I even existed. It would be so deeply awkward if he found out someone like me was commenting on his personal life.”

Ijeong found it highly peculiar that Myeonga repeatedly and desperately begged him to keep their conversation a secret from Yaehyun, but he chose not to press the matter any further today. He had already extracted more than enough valuable context out of this timid, gentle manager for one afternoon.

“I won’t say a single word to him. Don’t worry about it.”

“Thank you so much…”

“Just share stories with me whenever you feel comfortable doing so. And if you don’t want to, that’s completely fine too. It’s not like I’ll blame you for guarding his privacy.” Ijeong, wearing a flawless mask of innocent benevolence, smiled brightly.

Myeonga was momentarily dazed by the sheer, sunshine-like quality of his celebrity smile, but she quickly shook herself out of it. “Oh, look at the time! Hari-unnie is about to start her take…!”

“Ah, I’ll clean up the rest of these cables. Go ahead.”

Ijeong waved off her concern, and Myeonga bowed repeatedly in deep gratitude. “Thank you so much, Ijeong-ssi! I’ll go now.”

“Take care, Manager Han.”

Ijeong watched her retreating back as she hurried toward the main set. It seemed the web of relationships surrounding Yaehyun was far more complicated than he had initially assumed. Which thread should I pull next to unravel the rest?

“Park Gyujin. Park Gyujin…”

The pathetic ex-boyfriend who had single-handedly driven Yaehyun straight into this high-risk contract relationship. Without that man’s betrayal, Yaehyun would have never accepted his arrangement, and Ijeong himself would have lost a critical shield against the press.

Logically, he should be deeply grateful for Park Gyujin’s existence. So why did simply hearing the man’s name leave such a bitter, irritating taste in his mouth?

“I don’t like it,” Ijeong muttered quietly to himself, his expression turning cold as he tidied up the final box Myeonga had left behind.