BIE 132

Chapter 132:

Yucheon’s Preference?

Park Yucheon stood facing Suhan with an awkward expression.

As Suhan had warned, muttering into the air could make people think he was crazy and call security.
And if it got out that he was an actor, that alone could be a huge problem.

“Uh… Mother?”
“She’s doing well.”

Yucheon responded casually, not flustered.

“Seongho sent me here.”
“Oh.”

He was very conscious of his surroundings. Fortunately, nobody was paying attention to their conversation. After all, most people wouldn’t eavesdrop intentionally. And their voices weren’t that loud.
But as the conversation continued, the nurses started glancing over more frequently.

Please, don’t pay attention…

They even started whispering among themselves.
Yucheon felt his hair stand on end—his sense of danger was triggered.

“It’d be better if you had a bright expression. Healthy, cheerful.”
“Like this? I normally have a bright face.”

He deliberately joked around. It made the conversation seem ordinary. Still, just in case, he spoke cautiously.

“Your voice is a little loud. Let’s lower it.”
“Wow… Seongho really takes after your mom. She must’ve been beautiful.”
“Yeah. I resemble my mom a lot. I also look good in clothes.”
“Then let’s change your outfit too. A floral dress.”
“…Wha… a dress?”

At that moment, someone muttered from the side, loud as thunder.

“A dress?”

Yucheon was speechless. He froze completely.
In front of him, Woo Suhan was bidding farewell to someone with a distant expression. A beautiful farewell, no doubt.

The problem… was that for Yucheon, this moment felt like hell.

“They’re parting.”
“But it didn’t seem like a trans situation.”
“A floral dress?”
“Shh. Your voice is too loud.”

Yucheon lowered his head and pulled up his mask.
This wasn’t something he could cover up with ad-libs.
He had only stood there to throw in a few words so Suhan wouldn’t be treated like a lunatic. Now, he couldn’t even do that.
The floral dress mention had crossed the line. How could he respond to that? If he had, he would’ve been an actor, not a manager.

Even when Suhan’s distant gaze, meant for the ghost, turned toward him, the whispers grew louder.
“Looks like they really love each other…” such things were being said.

“What are you doing? Let’s go.”
“Mm.”
“Why are you so shy? Are you touched?”

In that instant, Yucheon grabbed Suhan and said:

“Please, let’s just go…”

As he pulled Suhan away, someone’s voice shouted behind them: “Oh my, they’re touched!”

Manager Park Yucheon stood in front of CEO Lee Jiyong, hands clasped, head slightly bowed, looking like he’d done something wrong.

CEO Lee spoke.

“…I try not to be prejudiced about people.”
“Yes.”
“Hmm… since when did this happen?”
“…”

Yucheon felt like crying.
A world of smartphones. A world with no secrets.
Even if the faces were pixelated…

-A man who looks good in a floral dress? Haha.

Even if he didn’t hear the full story, he saw a confession while saying “Let’s go on a trip.”
They were being kind, wishing happiness. Was this a love triangle? The other man’s expression was very distant.
At the end, he said “Be happy” in such a distant way.
It genuinely seemed like he wished them happiness.
But the really shocking part—the man who looked good in the floral dress… was the manager who appeared on a recent show.
Yucheon was completely dumbfounded.

Fortunately, his voice hadn’t been recorded.
The footage had been turned into a short video, with subtitles and an animated AI voice, creating a “forbidden love” scenario combining imagination and the words heard at the time.

“Why Suhan?”
“That’s not it!”
“Love isn’t a crime, but this is unacceptable. Understand?”
“No! Stop!”
“What?”

Yucheon exploded, leaving CEO Lee looking flustered.

“No! I like women, not men!”
“Then… Suhan likes men?”
“No, that’s not it either!”

At that moment, actor Kim Daesung entered.

“Why didn’t you answer when I knocked?”
“Ah… well…”
“Why? Because Manager Park is dating Suhan?”
Cough!
“No, no! Why! No!”

CEO Lee coughed as if choking.
Yucheon, meanwhile, shouted with frustration, giving a look that said, “Even you’re making it worse.”
Daesung laughed loudly, finding it funny.

“Puhahaha!”
“Don’t laugh, you!”
“You! What did you do well?”

Yucheon was angry, and CEO Lee scolded him.

“Hey! Should you be practicing that there?”
“Huh?”
“No matter how much Suhan improves through practical training… how public is your face recently?”
“Oh… I should’ve expected this.”
“Pr-practice acting?”

Yucheon got help from Daesung to explain. CEO Lee, who was wondering how to handle Yucheon’s new perspective on life, asked with a cheerful expression:

“Yes. He said he was practicing acting?”
“Oh? So that’s what it was?”

The serious expression on CEO Lee’s face disappeared instantly.
Yucheon wanted to shout, “Suhan can see ghosts!” but nobody would believe that.

He boldly responded:

“Exactly!”
“So what project is it?”
“Huh?”

But the conversation became tense again.

“What project? Who’s the director? Another film?”
“Well… um… it’s just practice, I think?”

Daesung tried to cover it up with a cough, but CEO Lee pressed further.

“Hmm. If it’s just practice, it would’ve been in a room. If it’s realistic acting, there must be something, right?”
“…”

Yucheon sensed danger again.
Daesung, trying to help, glanced at the smartphone lying between them—the shorts video causing the incident.

“I thought we could try making a short video…”
“Shorts?”

CEO Lee frowned, puzzled.

“Shorts are trending… Suhan’s image might be limited, so we thought about cameos too.”
“Right?”
“We thought practicing with shorts would be a way to showcase diverse acting skills, so we tried it.”
“Y-Yes!”
“Oh, shorts.”

CEO Lee’s eyes sparkled.

“Like how singers upload covers.”
“True, it’s gotten attention, and if the channel grows, it generates revenue too, right?”

Yucheon felt the situation escalating.

“Yes… yes, well…”
“Still, we have to consider image management. Manager Park will handle that… and this is a good chance to promote the shorts channel.”
“…Yes.”
“Will Manager Park continue as the co-star? Maybe include our rookies too?”
“Yes! Excellent idea!”
“Right? Then you’ll take responsibility, yes?”
“Of course!”

Not really. He was already swamped with work. But he clenched his fists and agreed, fearing what might happen if he refused.

“Hahaha! That’s our Manager Park!”
“Ha… hahaha!”

Yucheon laughed with tears in his eyes.

“Why do you create so much work?”
“…Why did this happen?”
“Hmm? Are you crying?”

He had just asked out of concern.
The other man, always busy, seemed to have created more work.

“It’s because of the hospital footage!”
“Oh… you’ve become really famous, huh?”
“…”

Earlier, he was tearful; now, he glared with red eyes.

“What should I do?”

At times like this, it’s better to stay quiet. He felt guilty too.
Because of him, the senior had been worried a lot recently.

“Hmm… first, secure this video and start from here.”
“Oh, awesome! Got new content?”
“Need to re-record voice. It’s muffled.”
“Change lines?”
“No, keep the lines from that time.”
“But there’s no context?”
“That way, it won’t be a love triangle. Just say the ad-lib went wrong. I’m not an actor, so it’s fine.”

And so, he ended up making shorts himself.

“What’s this?”

Park Yuna, a self-proclaimed number one fan of Woo Suhan, widened her eyes at the new shorts.

“What is it?”

Her brother, Park Yunseong, the second biggest fan, came over like a fish taking the bait and grabbed her phone.

“Hey! Don’t look at my phone!”
“You threw the bait yourself. What is it?”
“Oppa, Woo Suhan’s shorts channel is open!”
“Is it for promotion?”
“They’re acting practice clips.”

Yunseong’s eyes lit up as he looked at her phone.

“Wait? Isn’t this… the hospital love triangle? That was Suhan?”
“Yeah. Amazing, right?”
“Wow! No-mo version!”
“…”

Even if technically correct, Yuna glared at her pervy brother and replayed the shorts.

“What is this, just a meaningless conversation?”
“Yeah, but his gaze is so distant, isn’t it?”
“How does that expression come from this conversation?”

They marveled at the phone. Then a notification popped up—another new video uploaded.

“Oh? Let’s see.”
“Yeah.”

Yuna played the new video.

-This is so delicious, right? I want to eat like this every day!

“….”
“….”

Suhan was doing a mukbang with a girlish voice.

-Manager oppa, eat some too!
-Uh… okay.

It was creepy. The manager on screen seemed to feel it live, picking up food with a pale face.

“The acting… is creepy good.”
“Yeah. But why is it so good?”
“Right.”

They were baffled by the realistic acting that caused cognitive dissonance.

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