Chapter 115: Winter After Spring? (4)

Chapter 115: Winter After Spring? (4)

At the filming location of Blue Sky, Yoo-Jin successfully wrapped up her first kiss scene in just one take.

"Okay~! Let's take a short break and then we'll go straight to scene 326."

Clap, clap, clap!

Though all actors tend to tense up during kiss scenes, today's scene went one smoothly without any rush.

This was because Hoop Entertainment had requested for the kiss scene to be faked just before the shoot.

"Good work, sunbae."

After the shoot, Yoo-Jin smiled at Choi Jong-Hyuk and returned to the waiting chair.

"Uh, y-yeah. You too..."

The more Yoo-Jin distanced herself, the more obsessed Choi Jong-Hyuk's heart became.

Choi Jong-Hyuk returned to his StarCraft van and spat out a curse. "Is she playing hard to get with me right now?"

Reclining on the chair, Choi Jong-Hyuk started to get annoyed with Jung Yoo-Jin, who appeared tantalizingly close yet remained out of reach. He was no different than a boy in elementary school lashing out at the girl he liked.

Initially, everything was just an act to create a scandal under the orders of Director Ma Dong-Pal. But Choi Jong-Hyuk had ended up developing true feelings for Jung Yoo-Jin.

"Could it be that she really has no feelings for me?" questioned Choi Jong-Hyuk.

But he soon shook his head and said, "Nah. No way. That can't be."

He believed that no woman could resist him if he were to set his mind to it.

"Why are you muttering to yourself?" asked Yoo Han-Seok.

"Ugh, forget it. I'm in a bad mood so don't talk to me," Choi Jong-Hyuk replied.

Yoo Han-Seok smiled at Choi Jong-Hyuk's annoyance. Then, he gave a sly smile as he handed his phone over to Choi Jong-Hyuk and said, "Jong-Hyuk, check out this photo. The angle is a killer, don't you think?"

"What is it?"

On Yoo Han-Seok's phone was a photo that made it look like Choi Jong-Hyuk and Jung Yoo-Jin were kissing.

"What's this? When did you take this photo?"

"Just a moment ago."

At that moment, a sudden thought passed Choi Jong-Hyuk's mind.

"Hyung, pass that photo to me."

"Huh? Why? Do you want to save it on your phone?"

When Choi Jong-Hyuk smirked silently, Yoo Han-Seok quickly turned around. "Wait, you're not thinking of doing something with this photo, are you? No way, man."

Choi Jong-Hyuk reached out his hand. "Just give it to me."

"Don't you remember the time you were blackmailed over a woman and had to pull down the article?"

But Choi Jong-Hyuk only made a sinister smile in response to Yoo Han-Seok's concern.

"Mr. Cheon Yi-Sang took care of that issue."

"What?"

"All the hush money has been paid, so there's no need to worry."

Choi Jong-Hyuk laughed wickedly with a nasty expression. With no more vulnerabilities, this photo could catapult him to the top of the live search rankings by riding on Jung Yoo-Jin's popularity—and it could also be a perfect opportunity to get officially entangled with Jung Yoo-Jin, whom he couldn't win over.

Of course, he had planned to eventually step in and resolve everything for Jung Yoo-Jin to appear like a savior. After all, what Choi Jong-Hyuk ultimately wanted was to steal Jung Yoo-Jin's heart.

Having received the photo from Yoo Han-Seok, Choi Jong-Hyuk immediately called Cheon Yi-Sang. "Yes, sir. I've got a great photo here."

***

We keep Yoo-Jin's variety show appearances to a minimum as each time there was a pre-interview for any broadcast, we would end up clashing with writers who tried to mention the dating rumor between Choi Jong-Hyuk and Yoo-Jin for viewership ratings.

As a result, we ended up canceling one of the SBC broadcast appearances after today's pre-interview. This had Gu Seong-Cheol looking like he had indigestion all morning.

"Yung-Hoon, give me some digestive pills if you have any. My stomach feels bloated...I think I'm really going to die," Gu Seong-Cheol groaned.

***

After Yoo-Jin's schedule ended, I was having a late dinner with Oh Duk-Gu. As I sliced the large pork cutlet and hummed a tune, Oh Duk-Gu quietly watched me and then asked, "Come to think of it, you always eat pork cutlets, don't you?"

Foods that I once dismissed without a second thought before the regression now appeared surprisingly delicious for some inexplicable reason. When the crispy batter and the warm juices of the pork loin filled my mouth, it made me feel like I was in heaven.

Although it wasn't a pork cutlet specialty restaurant, the owner's cooking was so good that I never thought of going anywhere else.

"I plan to eat it until I get sick of it."

"Alright. Eat as much as you want. I can buy you pork cutlets until I die."

"Is that a promise? Wait, I should record this."

When I jokingly reached for my phone, Oh Duk-Gu chuckled and said, "Kid, you take jokes too seriously. Man, I need to save up for marriage!"

He shook his head, saying he was saving up for his wedding fund due to his nagging of his parents who lived in the countryside.

'Marriage? Been there, done that. But it was nothing special.'

At that moment, a shriek erupted from the high school girls sitting behind us. Curious about what was going on, I listened in and my heart immediately sank at what I heard.

"Hey! Apparently, Jung Yoo-Jin and Choi Jong-Hyuk are dating!"

"Really? Where did you see that, unnie?"

"Look at this. There's even a photo taken at the scene!"

"Oh my goodness! Jung Yoo-Jin confessed to Choi Jong-Hyuk this week!"

"So the rumor that was going around before wasn't fake but real?"

To figure out what was going on, I quickly checked the articles on my smartphone.

[(Breaking News) Love blossomed on the set of Blue Sky. A passionate kiss not even in the script!]

[(Exclusive) SBC Speak Up! Unaired footage. Jung Yoo-Jin publicly admits to having a crush on someone at the scene!]

-SBC Speak Up! On-set confession recording leaked. (Link to the recording)

I found myself grinding my teeth the moment I checked the articles.

'Is this an article or a novel? None of these are true!'

The newspapers featured a photo taken at an angle that made it look like Choi Jong-Hyuk and Yoo-Jin were kissing. It was a photo of the fake kiss taken on set, but the articles misled people to believe it was real.

However, the real issue was something else—a recording had been released of Yoo-Jin confessing her feelings for Choi Jong-Hyuk. The recording had Yoo-Jin's voice saying she liked Choi Jong-Hyuk.

Oh Duk-Gu stood up with a stern face. "Assistant Manager Jung, we need to head back to the company."

"Yes, sir."

This scandal was not something to be taken lightly. Unlike the brief scandal photo with Choi Jong-Hyuk from before, this time there was a legitimate photo and voice recording. The fact that so many articles had been published meant someone was pulling strings from behind.

'It must be that guy, Cheon Yi-Sang.'

If that were the case, the issue wouldn't just blow over. We left our food and headed straight to the company. Even on the way to the company, my phone was bombarded with calls from entertainment reporters asking about the truth.

"Don't answer the phone."

"I won't."

But I borrowed Oh Duk-Gu's phone to reassure Yoo-Jin.

-The person you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. Please try again later.

When Yoo-Jin didn't answer the call, I immediately called Miso's phone. Yoo-Jin, who answered the phone as soon as it rang, replied with a voice full of injustice.

-Oppa! I never said such things! Really!

Yoo-Jin's voice was trembling continuously, seemingly perplexed after hearing the recording.

"I know. I was at the filming location that day, so how could I not know? Don't worry. I think I understand what's happening."

-Huh?

I started to explain the situation to the surprised Yoo-Jin. After all, this was one of the methods Cheon Yi-Sang commonly used in my past life.