After getting the card, I took the members of Lovely Girlz out to eat. We picked a sushi restaurant. There were tons of jinds of sushi, but my favorite was the fish egg sushi. Of course, this was just the first stop. I planned to hit at least five. But why did Manager Lee come with us?
Anyways, he began talking to me.
“Hey, Sian.”
“What? I mean…yes?”
“Since you have Mr. Park’s card, I’m assuming that means you’ve agreed to be on the show?”
“Yeah,” I answered.
Ugh, why is he talking to me while I’m eating? I just want to concentrate on my food.
“Who else is going to be on the show, Manager Lee?” Jia asked. She was taking small bites of her sushi, saying she’s on a diet.
“I don’t know myself. All I know is that one idol dropped out, which is why they requested someone from us.”
“Oh~ Hey, you said that it was an idol special, right? Does that mean that there will be more celebrities?” Jia asked again.
She must be really interested. Then again, she does nothing but watch TV on the weekends.
“Probably. Hey, Sian, think you’ll do a good job?”
Manager Lee was suddenly looking at me. I answered with a simple jerk of the head. I currently had about five pieces of sushi stuck in my mouth so…
“I think she will,” Jia answered.
As usual, she linked her arm with mine. Every time she does that, I can feel my desire flare up like water coming out of a fountain.
“You can do it, Sian.”
Yoo-in added from the other side, linking her arm with my other one. With her voluminous chest pressed right against my arm, I was once again reminded that I am most certainly a man.
But I just remembered…
“When am I filming?”
“Jumping Man, Flying Man?”
“Yeah.”
“Tomorrow.”
“Fuck.”
***
The next morning came quickly and it was time for me to go to the set of ‘Jumping Man, Flying Man’. Why is the title so tacky? And it’s long on top of that. Whoever came up with it really wasn’t thinking at the time.
“Am I too early?”
They told me to come by 8 AM and I showed up 30 minutes early just in case. I can see now that that was a waste of time. There were some staff members setting up the equipment and I slowly approached them. The producer of the show immediately saw me and walked over to me.
“Good morning. Sian, right?”
“Yes. Hello, Sir.”
“No need for that. I’m just the writer.”
“Oh.”
He’s the writer. Usually, the writers are female…well, that might just be me being biased.
“Have you eaten breakfast?” he asked.
He looked to be in his early 30’s and he looked like one of those eager-to-please types.
“No, not yet.”
Okay, so I lied. I had eaten my fill of breakfast this morning, but I wasn’t full. If I wanted to be…well, that’s just impossible.
“Oh here, have some of the bentos. You see the female staff member over there? You can just ask her for one.”
“Oh, am I only allowed to have one?” I asked because I’ll most likely eat a lot more.
“You must be really hungry. You can eat as much as you want,” he said cheerfully. It’s probably because he had no idea how much I actually eat. This is why they say ignorance is a shortcut to ruin.
“Thank you. Oh, also, what time are we going to start filming?”
“Probably around nine.”
“Then why did you say eight?”
Seriously, why did they tell me to come a whole hour earlier? Who does that?
“Oh, you know, that’s Korea time. If we say 8 AM, there’s always people who show up an hour or two late. That’s why we told them 8 AM.”
“Oh, right.”
And this is why nice people always get the short end of the stick.
“I had no idea you would come so early.”
“It’s important to be on time.”
“Oh, I guess I should have told you to come at nine then. Haha.”
“Well, too late now.”
I gave a quick bow then walked over to the refreshment table. Bentos. There’s nothing I love more than to eat. There are four pleasures in life. Eating, Pooping, Sleeping, and, um, doing…others. Eat, Poop, Sleep, Do. But since I can’t really, well, do anyone…I just have to make up for it by eating more. This is not an excuse. This is fact.
“Hello.”
I approached the staff member.
“Oh hello! Sian, right? I hope I can get an autograph later.”
“Of course. I’m here to pick up a bento…”
“Oh, yes. Here you go.”
The woman handed me a bento, but it didn’t seem really filling.
“Can I have some more?”
“Oh, are you eating with someone?”
Then without asking anymore questions, she handed me four more.
“Thank you.”
Five didn’t seem enough either, but I do have a conscience, so I refrained from asking for more.
I carried the bentos and looked around, wondering where I could eat. Then off in the distance, I saw a bench a few meters away from the set. There was another person already sitting there, eating her bento. Skinny jeans and a white T-shirt. Her body looked amazing. But her hair was covering her face so I couldn’t get a good look. I approached her as she continued to eat.
“Hi,” I said.
At that, she looked up at me. She wasn’t very pretty. Actually, no. It’s not that. It’s just that she looked…cold. The kind that takes no bullshit. A face of someone you didn’t want to mess with. She looked really tough. She continued to look at me with a blank expression as she greeted me back.
“Hello.”
“May I sit next to you?”
“I don’t care,” she said quickly. Well, that was rude. Normally, people are at least a little polite when meeting others for the first time.
“You’re here early,” I said as I opened my bento.
“My schedule ended early.”
“Oh~ I guess you had one until the early morning hours.”
“Yeah, and I’m really tired. So I’d appreciate it if you don’t talk to me.”
“Oh.”
I nodded. She’s more sensitive than I thought. So I decided to respect her wishes and not talk to her. After pulling out Sniper’s hair, I wasn’t allowed to fight with anyone else. No more fighting, that was Jinwoo’s orders. Still, he is the president of my agency. I know when I should or should not listen.
While I was eating one bento, the person next to me got up. She just went back to her van without a goodbye. Wow, she really is something. But who is she? I don’t remember ever seeing her before. Was she a non-famous person? Well, whatever. That’s not important right now. I opened my second bento. It was already past 8. The notice said 8 AM. It was already past 8 and the only other person was the girl in the van. Oh, the official members of the show were apparently already here and filming their segment. The celebrity guests were all supposed to meet later and go to where the cast members are, but why weren’t any of them here yet?
“Let’s just eat.”
It wasn’t my problem anyway, so I just focused on my second bento. But in the distance, I saw another van arrive, and I saw a guy step out. He was tall but skinny. He looked incredibly feminine and wore a thick layer of makeup. He swaggered around the set with an air of arrogance as he went off to greet the show producer. Wait, when did the show producer get here? Well anyways, he was suddenly heading towards me. Giving me the greasiest looking smile on top of that.
He was soon standing in front of me.
“Hi. You’re Sian, right?”
His voice just oozed with confidence. As a guy, it really bothered me.
“Yes, hello.”
Since I still had my image to worry about, I gave him a small smile. Suddenly, he gave a wide grin.
“May I sit next to you?”
“Yeah, sure.”
At that, the guy took the spot next to me on the bench. And he started talking.
“They told us to come at 8 and then make us wait until nine. Ugh. They should’ve just told us to come at nine then. Don’t you think?”
“It’s 8:30 now.”
Who was he to talk after coming 30 minutes later? I had a sudden desire to reach in and tear his tongue out.
“Half an hour is normal. You don’t know Korean time? That’s 30 minutes.”
He kept chuckling as he said that. Now I know where he’s from. He was from Wonder Boys, one of the most popular boy groups in Korea. And this guy was Jin-hyuk Kim, the main dancer. That’s all I remember, anyway.
“Oh, right.”
I nodded. Talking to guys like him was what I considered a huge waste of time. Plus, I’m eating right now. I hope he stops soon. I didn’t want to hurt him.
“Hey, Sian.”
“Yeah?” I said, finishing up my second bento.
I started to open up my third. I wish they had more of a variety with these bentos. The ones I had were all the same. Still, they were pretty good. But…why is this guy still talking to me?
“Now that I see you in person, I have to say you’re really pretty.”
“I know.”
Finally, I looked at him. The asshole was practically leering at me and I could see those eyes sneaking peeks at my chest. I know his type. The type that look at girls like a piece of meat. I wanted nothing more than to get up from my seat and give him a flying knee kick to his face, but I held back. Though I wasn’t sure how much longer I could at this point.
“Oh, so you do know. Well, you must be pretty happy about it.”
“Not really.”
Oh yeah, I’m so happy. It’s so great to be constantly reminded that I’m a girl every time I look in a mirror. Every morning, I keep praying that this is just a bad dream. Especially when Jia clings herself to me. That’s when I really, truly, hate being a girl.
“Hey Sian, can I have your number?”
This bastard is really asking me for my phone number?
“Sorry,” I said immediately. I had no interest in guys, whatsoever.
“Oh, does your agency have a dating ban?”
“No.”
“Then why can’t I have it?”
“Because,” I said with a bright smile. But that simply distracted him even more.
‘Shit.’
Being pretty is really not for the weak-hearted.
“Because, huh? You must be shy around strangers.”
His smile slipped a notch. Did I dent his ego because I didn’t want his number? Then again, I hear he has a pretty active dating life. He’s pretty loose with himself. And it’s not just him either. A lot of celebrities sleep around and date each other. Some even date their friend’s girlfriends and then get together with her friend. They just keep circling each other and take their turns. They just let their primal instincts take over, like animals.
“I’m not shy around strangers.”
“Oh, then do you not like me?” he asked. Though by the sound of his voice, he was pretty confident that wasn’t it.
“Is that any of your business?” I said.
A dark look came over his face. Then suddenly, he burst out laughing.
“Hahaha!”
‘Crazy bastard.’
Since I couldn’t just say it out loud, I kept it to myself.
“You don’t like me? You have weird standards then,” he said, his eyes looking furious.
Without thinking, I blurted out, “It’s your face that’s weird, you fucking weirdo.”
That only made him angrier. Finally he got up from the bench with a huff! Then he turned around and said to me, “Fucking pig like you think you’re all that since you’re so pretty? I’ve really seen them all at this point.”
Suddenly, the bento in my hands flew up.
