“I also like this color. It looks like we have the same tastes. How interesting.”

I felt like I was going crazy.

Placing Lee Songha, who was in a good mood, in front of me, I slapped my cheeks.

I had to get it together. It would be troublesome if I let down my guard.

*

I felt like I had become Paul.

The octopus that predicted the World Cup match results.

“Now really, do people in our company have nothing to do? Why are you all spectating someone picking a project they think will do well?”

“Then why are you here?”

“My actor pushed me here, telling me that we should consider the project he picks.”

The lounge was more crowded than ever. From familiar faces to people who I had never seen before, they came and watched me.

Scenarios and synopses were uniformly spread on top of the table in front of me. Someone cheered me on, though I didn’t know what he was cheering me on for. Anyways, he placed three soda cans in front of me like they were some sort of tribute.

In front of me were Kim Hyunjo, the team 3 leader, and the director.

The team 3 leader smiled brightly as he said,

“Just pick one, there’s no pressure.”

“There has never been a more uncomfortable moment in my life.”

“Don’t feel pressured and just choose the one you like! Is there one that you liked that didn’t work out? At this point, you can consider it a skill instead of luck.”

“That puts more pressure on me.”

My mouth was dry. After downing a soda can, I stretched out my hand.

Expectations, disbelief, and interest, various gazes landed on my hand. I took out a scenario and synopsis from the pile of papers. The stack of papers in my hand felt heavy.

It was the final moment. There were no signs of my vision going black this time as well.

Suppressing my disappointment, I placed the two projects down.

One was a supporting role in a 34 billion won^{1}, large-scale movie.

The other was a lead role in a Korean-Chinese joint venture miniseries.

These were the results of agonizing for sleepless nights.

The murmurs grew louder. The two projects I picked were immediately handed to the director. Kim Hyunjo scanned the covers with his sharp eyes, while the team 3 leader asked as if confirming,

“Those? Really? Those two?”

“Yes. I think those two are the best.”

Kim Hyunjo let out a sigh after hearing my words.

“What a relief.”

“What is?”

“Do you know how nervous I was that you would push a ridiculous synopsis and say, ‘this is the one,’ like before? Fortunately, we had selected those two as first and second choices as well.”

Well, objectively speaking, they were projects that were a shame to miss out on.

“I feel like something big will happen.”

“I know, right? That’s good.”

The team 3 leader and Kim Hyunjo said. The director got up and waved the two projects in his hand.

“I’ll closely examine these two projects with the CEO. The CEO is very interested in the projects you chose this time as well.”

He went upstairs with a meaningful smile.

I closely controlled by heart.

The die had already been cast. All that remained now was to make the next project a success no matter what.

***

W&U Management Business Department Team 3. New recruit, Lee Kwanwoo. 26 years old.

He saw something during his first meeting with his superior, Chief Jung Sunwoo, on his first day.

A terrifying thorny path welcomed by the sound of a devil playing a horn.

The moment they met, Jung Sunwoo stared at Lee Kwanwoo’s face for a long while. Then he smiled, saying, ‘Let’s work hard together.’ His smile seemed like he would flop him down and whip him if he made a mistake during work.

For a smooth work life, Lee Kwanwoo gathered information about Jung Sunwoo.

When he visited the PR Team to introduce himself, he was flooded with information.

“So Mr. Sunwoo is your superior. Oh, my. His first impression was scary, right? He looks like he has a bad personality, right?”

“… No.”

The PR Team employees persistently egged him on when he replied late.

“Ehh? If my superior was Mr. Sunwoo, I think I would be very uneasy.”

“I might have thought about quitting. Geez, it’s not good for my heart.”

“You guys are having fun. Stop teasing the recruit.”

The PR Team Leader grinned as she joined in.

“Mr. Sunwoo’s impression is very… intense, but he’s a good person. He’s quick-witted too. Seeing how he treats Neptune, he’s responsible and takes care of his own people. He takes action when necessary. Also, he’s very talented. If you follow him well, your future might be as open as an 8-lane highway.”

Next, Lee Kwanwoo obtained information from the Neptune members.

When Jung Sunwoo had left the waiting room for a bit, Im Seoyoung smiled as she said,

“New recruit oppa and Sunwoo oppa really give off contrasting feelings.”

“Really?”

“Yes. In terms of animals, you are like a large, very docile dog with your big build and drooping eyes.”

“Then what kind of animal is Chief Jung?”

As soon as he asked, the members, who were each doing their own thing, answered at the same time,

“Snake.”

“Snake.”

“Snake.”

“Hamster.”

A commotion erupted in the waiting room. Shocked, Im Seoyoung jumped up and down.

“Lee Songha, don’t lie with such a brazen face! Euu… I got goosebumps!”

“I’m not.”

“What do you mean you’re not! The only thing Sunwoo oppa has in common with a hamster is that they are both mammals!”

Im Seoyoung shouted while rubbing her arms. Lee Taehee and LJ agreed.

“Yeah, a hamster is a bit…”

“Hey, Songha, do something about your eyes. Try taking them out and washing them. It’s bad. It’s not enough that you follow him around like a puppy, now you want to make him into a hamster and bring him around in your pocket?”

Sitting quietly, Lee Kwanwoo blinked.

Lee Songha was the hardest to talk to amongst the Neptune members. Compared to Im Seoyoung, whose friendliness rivaled that of the women’s society president, Lee Taehee and LJ weren’t on the friendly side either, but Lee Songha stood out.

She already didn’t look human, yet her expression barely changed as well. She didn’t talk much and gave off a cool, calm feeling. Rather than feeling a gap between them, it felt like Lee Songha was in a different world.

Yet, when they talked about Jung Sunwoo, her expression changed multiple times in a moment. She would even smile.

A dramatic suspicion crossed his mind.

A suspicion that maybe they were in that sort of relationship.

However, his suspicion crumbled like a deflating balloon the next day.

They were driving to a different film shoot. Instead of Jung Sunwoo, who had other things to do, Kim Hyunjo sat in the passenger’s seat. While it wasn’t on the same level as Jung Sunwoo, Kim Hyunjo’s impression was quite bad as well. Kim Hyunjo told him,

“There are occasionally people who can’t differentiate reality and drama, but don’t even think about dating your assigned celebrities. If you’re caught, you’re fired. Even if you’re really lucky, you’ll be moved to another team.”

Kim Hyunjo made a throat-cutting gesture.

Then he turned around and added,

“You girls don’t forget either.”

“We know, we know! Stop talking about it! You say it every time our manager changes!”

When Im Seoyoung shouted noisily, Kim Hyunjo smiled like the devil as he said,

“It’s not enough even if I say it a hundred times. Succeed if you find it unfair.”

“How successful do we have to be?! How successful?!”

“When you can tell the CEO to stop concerning himself with your personal life.”

“Are you trying to keep us single forever?!”

During this commotion, the other girls joined in as well. Only Lee Songha was quiet. Lee Kwanwoo glanced at Lee Songha. She had her chin propped up on her arm, which was on the windowsill, as she looked outside. She was eating almonds.

If there was something going on between her and Jung Sunwoo, then there should have been some sort of reaction, yet she was calm. Same as usual. She didn’t look even slightly interested in the dating discussion.

Lee Kwanwoo erased the various dramas between a celebrity and her manager that he had come up with last night. Then he thought,

‘Like Kim Hyunjo said, dramas were dramas, and reality was reality.’

His thoughts shook once more the next morning.

The Neptune members, who finished their morning workout in the gym attached to the company, were spread out, exhausted. When Lee Kwanwoo was handing each of them a sports drink, an unfamiliar voice approached from the locker room.

“That Jung Sunwoo from Team 3. Apparently, he’s close with Son Chaeyoung.”

“Where did you hear that nonsense? I heard something happened to them and now they’re practically enemies.”

“I thought the same, but they saved each other’s phone numbers on their phone and call each other casually. For Son Chaeyoung, that’s really close.”

“Really? Who told you?”

“It’s not one or two people who witnessed their call. That’s why Team 2 is trying to assign Son Chaeyoung to Jung Sunwoo…”

The chatting men swallowed their words when they discovered Neptune. When they left to changing room with quick steps, silence hung in the air where the members were. A silence, which prickled as though they were rubbing their skin on broken china.

The moment Lee Kwanwoo added Son Chaeyoung’s name to his information on Chief Jung Sunwoo, Im Seoyoung glanced at Lee Songha as she said,

“Really, that is the most baseless rumor amongst all the nonsensical rumors I’ve heard. Sunwoo oppa hates Son Chaeyoung so much. I bet he hates her more than we, no, Songha, you do.”

“That’s true.”

The other girls supported her, but the mood was gradually becoming odder.

“Ahh, how annoying! Let’s just ask Sunwoo oppa out right!”

With Im Seoyoung’s lead, the other members got up and left. Lee Songha also trailed along behind them. They didn’t need to search for long. Jung Sunwoo was on the phone, standing on the stairs outside the gym.

“Ah, did you just wake up? There’s food in the fridge, so eat some before you leave. There’s only going to be lunchboxes or kimbap on set anyways, right?”

The Neptune members stood rigidly.

Their faces, as they looked at Jung Sunwoo, turned strange. Discovering them after, Jung Sunwoo immediately hung up. A troubled expression flashed on his cold face. Frowning, he approached them.

“I understand what you might be thinking, but it’s not my girlfriend. While I don’t know why I’m explaining myself, it’s not. Just an actor. After reading scenarios together last night, we ended up sleeping at my house.”

At those words, the girls’ expressions became odder.

As if there was no other alternative, Jung Sunwoo clicked his tongue and said,

“Because I thought you, especially Songha, would be concerned about this, I wanted to tell you when the time was right. To be honest, I’ve been assigned to another actor.”

Lee Kwanwoo unconsciously looked at Lee Songha. Then he saw it.

The intense change in her expression that looked like a tornado had been tossed onto a calm lake.

^{1} ~$31.8 million USD