Today was my day off.
I was sitting in the living room, having a chat with Jia.
“Hey, Sian.”
“Yeah?”
“Should I get a Brazilian?”
“Please don’t,” I replied. A Brazilian? Isn’t that sort of embarrassing? Besides, Jia is already beautiful just the way she is.
“Why not? I hear getting it waxed is really nice.”
“Yeah, right.”
That’s the first time I’ve heard such a thing.
Just then, Hainan came and joined in on the conversation.
“Should I get one as well?”
“No.”
Seriously, these girls. And then, not long after that, Yoo-jin also came out and sat down on the carpet, leaning her back against my legs.
“I’ve already made reservations.”
“….”
“Hey Sian, did you see the article?” Yoo-jin asked me.
“What article?” I asked back.
“The one about the show ‘We Dated.’”
“Huh? What about it?”
This is the first time I’m hearing about it. To be honest, I don’t really keep up with celebrity news.
“Yeah. There’s going to be a new couple featuring one of the members from our group.”
“Really?!” Jia exclaimed.
“Seriously?!” Hainan exclaimed as well.
“Yep.”
I remained indifferent. I didn’t really care, but wait a second.
“What’s the title?”
“We Dated.”
“What kind of show is it?”
“It’s where celebrities pretend to date.”
“What?”
I frowned. Pretending to date? So that means one of my girls is going to have to pretend to date a guy! The thought of that made me kind of furious. Then again, there was something that made me all the more furious…and that was the suspicious feeling that it was going to be me…
And speak of the devil. Jinwoo called.
“Hello?”
– Hi, Sian.
I suddenly didn’t want to hear from this guy.
“Hi, Mr. Park.”
– What are you doing right now?
“I’m hanging out with the girls.”
– Are you busy?
“Yeah.”
As if hanging out in the living room is busy work, but something told me that I really should not meet with Jinwoo.
– Then, can you come out for a second?
“I just said. I’m busy.”
– That’s why it’ll only take a second.
This bastard.
“Why? What is it?”
– I have something to talk to you about.
“You do?”
My suspicions kept rising.
– Yeah. I’m in front of your dorm, so come out, okay? It will only take just one minute.
“Yes, Sir.”
Well, if he’s already in front of the dorms, I should at least hear him out. I hung up the phone.
“Sian, who is it?” Jia asked.
“Jinwoo.”
“Jinwoo? What did he want?”
“He wants to talk to me about something.”
“Pfft.”
At my answer, everyone smirked. Then, Yoo-jin spoke up.
“I bet you’re the member who’s going to go on the show.”
“No way.”
Though I sounded confident, I had a feeling that she was right. I bet the contract was already signed as well. Damn it all.
***
I came out and headed to a café with Jinwoo, sitting across the table from him.
“What’s that?” I asked, pointing at the two white bags he was holding. Just by looking, I could tell that it was stuffed full of snacks.
“Snacks.”
“Are those for me?”
“Yup.”
“Wow. Thanks!”
I stuck my middle finger up.
“Oh, sorry.”
I brought my middle finger down and gave him a thumbs up.
“I really should meet with the Samaran chief and confirm this myself,” Jinwoo said, staring at my thumb. Not long after, he was looking at me again.
“Sian?”
“Yes?” I snapped. I had a bad feeling as to what Jinwoo was about to say next. My instincts were telling me to cover my ears, or to cut out Jinwoo’s tongue.
“I don’t know if I told you this before…”
“If you don’t know, then don’t say anything.”
“No. I’m going to say it.”
“….”
Fine. Go ahead and say it.
“You know the show ‘We Dat…”
“Am I going to be the member?” I cut in. I knew it the very moment he mentioned the word “show.” After all, the girls and I had just talked about it back in the dorms.
“Huh? How did you know?”
‘As if I couldn’t think in that direction, you asshole.’
Luckily, I’d kept that to myself.
“There was an article about it, saying that the new cast member was from our group,” I answered, remembering what Yoo-jin told me.
“Really?”
“Don’t play dumb. We all know you leaked it.”
“Oh, haha. Yeah,” Jinwoo admitted with a sheepish smile. Of course he leaked it. He’s so chummy with all of the reporters.
“So, is it really me?” I asked, silently praying that it wasn’t.
“Yeah, it’s you,” Jinwoo said like there was nothing wrong with it.
I felt my life crumble around me.
“Why me?”
“You’re the most popular member. Also, the show producers wanted you.”
“Sigh…”
How annoying.
“You’re just pretending to be a couple. It’s not for real. Just think of it as going on a date and then coming back. You’re at that age anyway.”
‘But I’m a guy,’ I said to myself.
“Who’s the guy?” I asked out of curiosity.
“I don’t know that either. They won’t tell me,” Jinwoo answered, shaking his head.
I let out another sigh.
“But they do say that the guy is really handsome. They’re sure you’ll like him.”
“Sigh…”
I should kick him.
“When does filming start?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Fu…”
“Just kidding.”
“Okay.”
Good, because I was about to curse like a sailor.
“It’s this weekend. Okay?”
“Fine. Sure. Whatever.”
He is the agency president, so I guess he can do whatever he wants. But…ugh. Pretending to be a couple with a guy? This is probably the hardest thing I’ve done since being reborn in this body.
“Should I bring my gloves?”
You never know if I might need to use my fists…it would hurt more if I was wearing my gloves.
“Huh? Why do you need your gloves?” Jinwoo asked, looking a bit surprised.
“Nothing.”
***
Time passed quickly and soon enough, it was finally the day of filming. During that time, the article revealing the couple was released. The girl would be me and the boy would be boy group Cowboy vocalist Kyun Park. Cowboy was one of the hottest groups in Korea. It’s only been two years since they debuted, but they’ve already made a huge impact in the industry. Not only that, Kyun was really popular for his great visuals as well. Then again, I thought he was rather skinny.
“Sian, what about this?” the stylist asked, holding up a pink mini skirt.
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Why not? It’s pretty,” the stylist said, holding the skirt against me. I’ll admit. It did seem to look good on me, but I hated it.
“It’s so short.”
“You can wear safety shorts under it.”
“Still. I don’t want to.”
There’s no way I’m wearing a mini skirt.
“That’s so weird. Other female idols would love to wear something like this,” the stylist said, giving me a confused look. Then, she added, “Should I wear it then?”
‘Oh, no…’
Please no. Our stylist is…well…chubby. And that’s putting it kindly. She…no. If I tell her that, she’ll just get her feelings hurt.
“Try it,” I said, making sure my face hid my true thoughts.
“Should I?”
‘No.’
“Yeah.”
Again, I lied. Nonetheless, to my dismay, the stylist actually started to try the skirt on, so I stopped her.
“No, not that. You look better in black.”
“Yeah? Hm…we don’t have black…”
“I’ll buy you one.”
“Aw, really?”
“Sure…”
What’s with the cooing? It really didn’t suit her.
“I’ll just wear this,” I said, holding up a pair of skinny jeans.
“Skinny jeans again? You always wear the same thing. I’m always getting criticized because of you,” the stylist said, making a face. That’s true. She does get criticized a lot because I always wear the same thing.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
“Sigh…fine. But you’re wearing a different style top.”
“Like what?”
“This.”
The stylist took out a shirt with a deep, plunging V-neck. I almost slapped her. Was this girl okay? She knows extremely well how I feel about shirts like this.
“It’s too revealing.”
“This is exactly what you need. The guy is Kyun Park! Kyun. Park! You need to seduce him at all costs!”
“….”
This girl was definitely not right in the head. Anyways, after a few more minutes of arguing, I finally won in the end. After that, the stylist brought out some padding for my butt. And then, after a few more rounds of arguing about that, I won as well. This stylist is acting really weird today. I usually liked this girl, but after this day, I was feeling less fond of her. Was it because of this Kyun Park guy? Kyun Park. Yeah, okay. He was good-looking. There was no denying it, but that was it. What’s so great about a handsome face? I’m a guy as well. Anyways, after I got ready, I headed to the film set.
***
“Hi. You’re the producer, aren’t you?”
“Yes…Hello…haha.”
The producer greeted me with a smile and a quick scan of my body. Men. They were all the same. I look at girls the same way too. But why were the writers giggling next to him?
“Wow. Sian…you look amazing…”
“Thank you,” I said to one of the show writers with a bow. Then, I asked, “So the guy is Kyun Bark?”
“Kyun Park…” the producer corrected, seemingly confused as to how I could make such a mistake.
“Oh. Right.”
“If you wait at the bridge over on that side, we’ll have Kyun Bark…I mean, Kyun Park come up from the other. Then, you two just have to say hi to each other and introduce yourself. After that, you’ll get a quest you have to complete.”
“Oh, okay,” I replied.
“But can I just say, you look very beautiful today,” the producer said, unable to take his eyes off my body. I could practically see the hearts in his eyes.
“I was always beautiful.”
“Oh, haha. Right,” the producer said, giving me a nod of acknowledgment. So did the writers.
“But it’s not like a real date, right?”
“Oh. I mean…we wouldn’t mind if you treated it like a real date. After all…it could turn into the real thing…”
“What?” I glared at him.
“Both of you are very attractive. I’m sure you’ll end up liking each other.”
“Bullshit,” I spat out without thinking.
“Huh?” the producer said, an appalled expression on his face. But just then, a dog barked in the distance.
Woof woof! Woof woof!
“I mean…there’s a dog barking.”
“Oh…right.”
And soon, we started filming. I started to walk towards the bridge in the distance. I thought it was only me walking up to the bridge, but…
“Sian. I bet a lot of boys will be jealous of your date today,” the VJ following me said.
Looks to me like you’re the one who’s jealous.
“Well, it’s for the show, so it can’t be helped. Are you a fan?”
“Yes!”
“I’ll give you an autograph later.”
“Can I get a photo as well?”
“Sure,” I said with a smile. And just like that, I was on the bridge.
‘Oh, shoot. I didn’t put on my gloves.’
That’s concerning. I don’t want to get marks on my hands…what if this guy tries something? I may just have to rip him into pieces.
