Chapter 91: One Wink Too Many

“Today, there’s an important prop I’ll be using, and I’m most worried about whether I can do it well with that prop.

You’ve all already seen it in the photos, right?

I hope it comes out well so that you can see it prettily – I’ll do my best to shoot it!”

The moment the shoot staff gave the okay signal, the index finger I’d been holding up toward the ceiling drooped down, and a sigh slipped out out of habit.

I was fidgeting with my ears, which had probably turned red again, when my name was called from inside the waiting room.

I went in and sat on the chair the staff pointed to – next to me, Lee Woo-rim, who was getting his makeup done, glanced at me, then wriggled his lips for a bit before apparently unable to hold back and suddenly opening his mouth.

“Hyung, you did another camera interview, right?

Your ears are on fire!”

At Lee Woo-rim’s words, the staff member doing his makeup looked at my bright red ears and laughed, saying they’d need to cover my ears instead of anything else.

A little later, the staff member who came to do my makeup also laughed after hearing that story, and Kwak Jun-sung, who filled the spot Lee Woo-rim vacated, also heard the same story and started giggling and teasing me.

…It seemed I needed some kind of countermeasure by now.

***

By the time my individual cut shoot came around, near the end, my ears had thankfully returned to normal.

With nine members, the long waiting time – for the first time – felt like an advantage rather than a disadvantage.

I walked over to the chair placed in front of the camera and sat down; staff came over to touch up my hair, makeup, and outfit, and then the photo shoot began.

“Move your arm just a little more outward!

Yes, good!”

Since I’d looked over the materials summarizing today’s pictorial concept right before the shoot, I was able to strike poses a bit more easily than usual.

The problem was my facial expressions – I cycled through the few expressions I’d learned during the months on Please Take Care of My Idol and continued the shoot.

“This time, blow a bubble gum bubble.”

Following the photographer’s request, I carefully blew air into the gum I’d been chewing, which had been handed to me in advance.

As the gum began to swell into a round shape, the photographer, who had been yelling “More, more!” soon shouted “Stop!”

“That’s perfect right now!

Keep going.”

Even with the bubble gum bubble in my mouth, I was trying to make do with the poses and expressions from earlier, but apparently he wasn’t satisfied – the photographer started specifying poses and expressions himself.

“Hand on your waist.

Straighten your back!

Lift your chin a bit.

No, too much.

Oh, right there!

Freeze.”

I was breathlessly following the dizzying stream of instructions when a final, thunderbolt-like command came.

“Wink, just like that!”

The moment I pressed one trembling eyelid down, feeling embarrassed, a “Good!” burst out in praise.

After repeating closing and opening one eye and the other, looking left and right several times, my individual cut shoot was finished.

When I walked over to the computer screen to monitor the photos, I saw my face filling the entire screen – and squeezed my eyes shut.

“This is absolutely the A-cut!”

The photographer, who had been rapidly skipping past the ordinary photos, began pressing next occasionally starting from the ones where I had one eye closed – then suddenly yelled out loud at one photo filling the screen and took his hands off the keyboard entirely.

…Staring straight at my face, blowing a bubble gum bubble with my eyes rolled upward, I honestly felt like I might throw up – I couldn’t continue speaking – when behind me, I heard a click of a camera shutter.

Sensing something ominous, I turned my head – Lee Woo-rim was standing there holding up his phone toward the computer screen showing my photo blown up large.

Then our eyes met, and he yelled, “Jae-seo hyung, the photo came out super cute!” and ran into the waiting room as if fleeing.

The photographer, nodding with satisfaction at Lee Woo-rim’s parting words, began preparing for the next shoot.

With the shoot staff’s additional note that they’d continue using the bubble gum for the group cuts as well, my shoot ended completely.

Honestly, I had a lot I wanted to say, but I couldn’t, so I did as before – thanked the staff and shuffled back into the waiting room.

God-talk-

The moment I entered the waiting room, the phones of the ‘NUAVE’ members, all placed on the table inside, let out the same notification sound simultaneously.

…No way?

I hurriedly found my phone and picked it up – there was a notification that a message had arrived in the NUAVE group chat.

The moment I opened the messenger, my winking face appeared large in the center of the screen – I raised a hand to my forehead.

…I can’t do this idol thing anymore, seriously.

***

And that very evening, I immediately changed my mind.

It was because of the news my manager told me as soon as we returned to the company to practice after the shoot.

‘Just so you know, your first live broadcast is scheduled for Jae-seo’s birthday.’

Also because of the edited compilation of other senior idol live broadcasts that Lee Woo-rim immediately found and showed me.

All sorts of requests – by my standards, embarrassing beyond belief – poured out, and most idols granted their fans’ requests without any hesitation.

…Even if I can’t voluntarily take the lead, at least I should be able to do what I’m told.

“So you want me to film you and tell you to do various things?

As if it’s a real live broadcast?”

I corrected his “while filming you” to “while pretending to film you” and nodded.

If you ask why I asked Seo Jun-jae for this favor, the reason was very simple.

Out of the two people – Seo Jun-jae and Yeo Hyun-tae – who had already seen all my worst sides and with whom I’d be relatively less embarrassed, the one currently in the room with me was Seo Jun-jae.

“If I help you, what will you give me in return?”

…Ah, I picked the wrong person.

I regretted it belatedly – I should have just asked Yeo Hyun-tae later – but it was too late.

Since I’d brought it up to Seo Jun-jae first, he would definitely demand that I give him something in return for helping me.

“…What do you want me to do?”

“Well, I’ll think about that gradually.

Okay, let’s do it.”

“Seo Jun-jae!

Wait a minute – “

Cutting me off and stubbornly raising his own phone, Seo Jun-jae naturally said, “Jae-seo oppa, first please wink,” and ended up granting my request.

After letting out a deep sigh, I stared at the phone camera Seo Jun-jae was holding and reluctantly pressed one eyelid shut.

“While winking, please do a heart with your hands too.”

At this plausible request, I raised my hands and awkwardly brought them to the sides of my face – Seo Jun-jae shook his head, then reached out with his free hand and gently tilted my head slightly inward.

The mere imagining of my own cringey appearance made me shudder, but I barely suppressed it – and a low laugh burst out from Seo Jun-jae.

“Next, please do bunny ears.”

“What’s bunny ears?”

At my question, Seo Jun-jae spread his empty palm and pressed it flat next to his own head.

Thinking, ‘How can he pull off that pose naturally even with hands as big as a pot lid?’

I followed Seo Jun-jae and moved my hands.

After copying the bunny ears, next he gestured with his hands above his head, saying cat ears, then dog ears.

The moment I brought my fingers up in a V shape to the top of my head and Seo Jun-jae nodded in approval –

Ddiring-

The phone Seo Jun-jae was holding slipped down slightly, and at the same time, I heard the sound of fingers tapping the phone screen.

Meaning – all the various ridiculous things I’d been doing since earlier – he’d been continuously recording them on video.

“Seo Jun-jae, you…!”

“Haha, sorry.”

…I knew this would happen.

I should have asked Yeo Hyun-tae for this, not Seo Jun-jae.

Flustered by the sudden news of the live broadcast, I’d lost my mind and done something insane instead.

“Okay.

I’ll give you my phone, you delete it yourself.”

For some reason I was suspicious, but the fact that he was putting it directly into my hand made me take the phone for now.

And immediately, I regretted what I’d just done.

“Hey!”

The moment I grabbed the phone, Seo Jun-jae pulled it back toward himself.

Caught off guard by the sudden tug, my body lurched forward, lost its balance, and finally crumpled on top of Seo Jun-jae’s upper body.

My wrist, which I’d quickly braced on the floor, tingled.

“Jae-seo.”

The voice whispered right into my ear brought me back to my senses – my body had somehow ended up sitting down on Seo Jun-jae’s lap.

Horrified at the unbearably shameful position, I tried to get up, but my waist was immediately pulled back to its original place.

The feeling of our lower bodies subtly touching made me swallow, gulp, without meaning to.

“…Seo Jun-jae, this is the dorm.”

Glancing at the door, where faint sounds of chatting from outside could be heard, I lowered my voice as much as I could – Seo Jun-jae likewise lowered his and continued.

“Then, please kiss me.”

What?!

I barely managed to cover my mouth with my palm to stop the loud shout that reflexively tried to burst out.

How can he say something like that in the same tone as ‘please wink’ and ‘please do bunny ears’?

I looked down at Seo Jun-jae with a dumbfounded expression – he was looking up at me, his head tilted just like the poses he’d made me do earlier.

“Just a kiss, okay?”

At the coaxing addition, the waistband of my pants and underwear was grabbed in an instant.

Immediately, the elastic band was pulled taut with force – air flowed over the sensitive area below my waist, and goosebumps rose all over.

…Ha, how on earth could I ever win against this crazy bastard.

“…Fine, so close your eyes.”

Before I even finished speaking, Seo Jun-jae obediently lowered his eyelids as if he’d been waiting.

I looked down at his shameless face, dumbfounded – then slowly brought my lips down onto his.

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