[Then when should I start working?]

“Yeees-!”

Fireworks exploded behind both the tiny Jeon Segyes and the real Jeon Segye.

“....”

What was exploding across the screen right now was not celebratory fireworks.

Industry professionals could see it clearly.

Money.

Money was exploding everywhere.

The CG quality was absurdly high.

“No way....”

The ominous feeling the SBC drama director had been sensing slowly began taking shape.

“No... seriously?”

If they kept pouring money into CG like this to emphasize the delicate emotional progression of two people slowly falling for each other, then naturally the audience immersion would become extraordinary.

The magic of love.

The moment someone falls for another person, if the drama can make viewers feel as though they themselves have become the protagonist of the entire world—

then the power of the work becomes overwhelming.

* * *

At last, Nam Pyeonghwa joined B-bly.

“When the purchasing misters upload the stock at dawn, the employees come in at four to inspect and package everything. Before that, we confirm the orders—.”

On her first day, a B-bly employee named Emily explained the workflow.

“You’re joking, right?”

Ever since Nam Pyeonghwa opposed Jeon Segye’s words, Emily hadn’t liked her much.

A startup already demanded its employees burn away their youth together, so it was inevitable she felt resistant toward someone from Dongdaemun with neither impressive credentials nor career experience joining the company.

Emily herself had studied abroad.

And she was the kind of person who practically set her life on fire with passion for fashion.

Just like Jeon Segye, every inch of her styling was flawlessly polished from head to toe.

Her perfectly neat low ponytail without a single stray hair seemed to represent her personality itself.

“These are today’s outgoing products. The employees organize the invoices and separately check how many delayed shipments there are, and afterward we call the suppliers to confirm the incoming stock dates. Since you worked in Dongdaemun, you already know that part, right?”

Emily continued speaking.

“At first we matched the dawn schedules for calls too, but it completely destroyed work-life balance, so now we just contact Diot before closing and call Team 204 or Lux in the evening. Right when they open.”

Bzzzt. Bzzzt.

Emily’s phone rang while she explained the work half-heartedly.

Saying she needed to take the call, she stepped outside briefly.

“....”

Nam Pyeonghwa slowly looked around the storage room filled with hanging clothes before stopping somewhere.

“...Erua.”

The clothes Nam Pyeonghwa herself had designed and created were hanging there.

And there were a lot of them.

Touching the cuffs of one blouse sleeve, Nam Pyeonghwa smiled brightly.

“....”

Outside the door, Jeon Segye happened to be watching her.

Watching Nam Pyeonghwa lovingly handling the clothes she had made.

The music started again.

It was the same music that had played during their café scene.

Jeon Segye’s eyes blinked as he looked at Nam Pyeonghwa’s profile.

To Jeon Segye, clothes had always been a kind of tool.

Like armor worn to keep others from looking down on him.

Rather than choosing clothes he liked, he always reached for the most expensive thing he owned.

Even while preparing for work this morning, Jeon Segye had paused briefly in his dressing room.

Buttoning his shirt while steeling himself had become a sort of routine.

“....”

But watching someone love clothes themselves like that felt strangely unfamiliar.

The ticklish background music seemed to softly brush against Jeon Segye’s cheeks.

-LMAO He looks like THAT and still fell because of genuine love

˪Yeah yeah leveling up from visuals alone is what lesser male leads do our alpha male Segye would still fall for her even if he were blind

-I still can’t get over yesterday’s line T_T Beautiful... beautiful... beautiful...

“Hmm. Weak.”

With elite analytical ability, the SBC drama director evaluated it coldly.

“There’s barely any conflict or emotional tension yet.”

“Hwang Boseok’s work usually isn’t this bland.”

The moment he finished speaking, Emily returned after ending her call and shouted,

“CEO!”

Jeon Segye, who had been standing outside the storage room, startled so hard he nearly jumped.

Afraid he’d been caught secretly watching Nam Pyeonghwa, he instinctively flinched and smacked his back against the wall.

-Holy shit he startled like a cat spotting a cucumber

-Seo Eden is seriously so good at physical comedy T_T LMAO So THAT’S why he trained so hard on <EmBubu>

˪Actors who use their bodies this well are rare and Seo Eden delivering this is insane

-His overreactions fit way too perfectly TT_TT LMAOO

“PinkJoo says she can meet sooner than expected.”

A meeting had been arranged with PinkJoo, the mega influencer with over a million followers.

“When?”

“As soon as possible! ASAP!”

The very next day, PinkJoo came up to Seoul for the meeting.

After personally seeing the scale of B-bly’s office, she photographed the bouquet they had prepared for her.

Click.

“So prettyyy. I didn’t expect you guys to prepare something like this on such short notice~”

With her flashy influencer styling and bright personality, PinkJoo immediately took over the atmosphere of the office.

Then she uploaded the photo straight to her SNS story.

“If you look through the list we prepared and choose the outfits, then we’ll match things accordingly—.”

Emily dealt with PinkJoo confidently.

The meeting proceeded smoothly enough.

But there was no decisive breakthrough.

“Yes. I looked through it well.”

PinkJoo cleanly wrapped up the meeting and stood to leave.

She gently declined Emily’s attempt to escort her out and headed off.

“To really make use of an influencer at her level, you either need to pay an enormous ad fee or perfectly snipe her taste. One or the other....”

“It’s difficult. Honestly, it feels like she isn’t even that interested in collaborating with us?”

Listening to the employees talk, Jeon Segye crossed his arms thoughtfully.

“Huh? She left this behind.”

Nam Pyeonghwa picked up the lip balm PinkJoo had forgotten and hurried after her.

PinkJoo happened to be standing in front of the elevator, typing rapidly into her phone with a slight frown as though messaging someone.

Nam Pyeonghwa waited briefly before speaking.

“Excuse me, you left your lip balm.”

“Oh my, thank you....”

Before she could finish speaking, the bouquet B-bly had prepared slipped from the shopping bag hanging crookedly from PinkJoo’s arm.

Nam Pyeonghwa picked it up for her.

“I’ll carry it for you to the parking lot.”

PinkJoo had rejected Emily’s offer earlier, but at Pyeonghwa she simply smiled and nodded.

“How old are you? You look young.”

“I’m twenty-four.”

“Young. So young. Seriously the best age. Have you thought about marriage?”

“Not really... I’ve never seriously considered it....”

“Ooh, smart. Seriously, marriage is something you have to think very carefully about.”

As they walked toward the parking lot, PinkJoo passionately continued talking.

“It’s not enough for just two people to love each other. Having a family means suddenly your partner’s family becomes your family too, you know?”

Beep.

Opening her car door, PinkJoo muttered,

“And honestly, being stuck together all day isn’t always a good thing. Sometimes you need time for yourself.”

Right as PinkJoo drove away, a flashy supercar entered the parking garage.

“Eugh. What kind of tiny company is this?”

“Even the parking lot sucks.”

The people who stepped out of the car were Jeon Segye’s stepbrothers.

Like Jeon Segye, they were dressed in full immaculate styling.

“Anyway... hyung, did you hear?”

“What?”

“Apparently Segye got shot in the head. Heard he picked up some random girl from Dongdaemun. Not even a designer either, just one of those girls who stuffs clothes into bags and wraps them up with tape for the purchasing misters.”

Without even caring that Nam Pyeonghwa was riding the elevator with them, they spoke freely.

“She’s the perfect level for Segye though.”

“Puhahaha! True.”

-Holy shit Pyeonghwa’s gonna get hurt T_T

-What’s with their trash attitude..

-Ah I’m getting mad too just punch them Pyeonghwa T_T stop living up to your name

Ding.

The elevator doors opened and Nam Pyeonghwa stepped out first.

The stepbrothers laughing behind her suddenly stopped walking.

Then they realized the office the woman had just entered was the exact office they were looking for.

“Wow.”

“No way.”

Seeing Pyeonghwa enter the office labeled B-bly, the two exchanged looks and shrugged.

Judging by how she couldn’t say anything back after hearing those insults, her personality was obvious enough.

“What’s supposed to happen in a tiny office like this?”

“Segye-ah. What do you think people are gonna say?”

As the two began openly causing trouble in the office, Jeon Segye answered calmly.

“Get out before I call security.”

Jeon Segye didn’t even stand up, merely continuing to review files.

The two started targeting the employees instead.

“Don’t you feel guilty making overseas graduates rot in a place like this?”

At those words, Emily pressed her lips shut.

“The employees are all working hard because they trust you... or maybe they don’t?”

Daniel, the male employee wearing glasses, sighed heavily.

“Maybe we should call the police instead of security. The rumors would be hilarious.”

Jeon Segye still kept his eyes fixed on the file.

“Worry more about rumors of your employee benefits being garbage.”

“Yeah. Even if you picked her up from Dongdaemun, this is too much.”

Their arrows turned toward Nam Pyeonghwa.

Toward her appearance that looked nothing like someone working at a fashion company.

“Excuse me, what exactly—”

Jeon Segye abruptly shot to his feet.

And then—

“? You can see me too?”

=What the hell

Nam Pyeonghwa spoke.

With a perfectly businesslike smile.

“Most people are too busy staring at our CEO’s face to even realize I exist. So I naturally assumed I was invisible too....”

=Our CEO really is handsome LOLOL

-???

-Holy shit [N O V E L I G H T] Pyeonghwa

-No f*cking way

“You two must be used to that kind of thing too... ‘background props’ like us tend to understand each other, right?”

=You guys are basically Jeon Segye’s background props too, am I wrong? You and me both

“Oh wait, maybe that’s exactly why you notice your surroundings more? I mean, when I heard L&E, I only knew our CEO too. Even in the newspapers, he was the only one I ever saw.”

=You’re children of a mistress so honestly I didn’t even know you existed. Your father never talked about you publicly either. If I’m wrong, answer me.

“So please don’t worry too much. We all work here trusting only our CEO anyway.”

=So stop acting cocky now

“Understood?”

=Leave

Silence fell briefly.

Two speechless people.

Two horrified people.

“....”

And one deeply moved person.

- LMAOO Ah I’m losing my mind

-Pyeonghwa was secretly strong-minded all along

-Righttt she’s from Dongdaemun no way she’d just sit there and take it

˪Oh true I forgot because she’s always so deadpan LMAO

˪LOLOLOLOL Thinking about the Migliore unnies right now is terrifying.. Pyeonghwa survived among them... seriously...

The live reaction thread burned hotter and hotter.