SDM 32

How can his image be good? He probably thought he was a psychopath. Asking for a sponsorship relationship, then suddenly cancelling, and then acting as if nothing had happened when they actually met later – what must Baek Sang-hyun have thought after seeing Ryu Chae-yoon behave like this?

“Wait, the day I collapsed…”

Wasn’t that the day of Jin Seong-woon’s funeral? When he regained consciousness in Ryu Chae-yoon’s body, it was three days after his own death…

Recalling Baek Sang-hyun in the news photo of his funeral, Seong-woon felt like his insides were turning over. As he rushed to the bathroom and retched, Hyeong-seok followed him, patting his back and checking the smartwatch that was sounding an alarm.

“Hospital, we need to go to the hospital right now.”

“…It’s fine.”

“Your pulse rate is now…”

Suddenly, an enormous pain struck his heart. Letting out a silent gasp, Seong-woon shuddered, and Hyeong-seok immediately picked him up on his back. Seong-woon, who had momentarily lost consciousness from the pain that felt like someone was punching his heart once more, opened his eyes on a hospital bed.

* * *

This time, there were seven heads in total. Parents, older siblings, and even the manager were all crowded near the bed. As soon as he opened his eyes, Seong-woon clutched his head at the flood of worried words. The pain was unbearable.

“Chae-yoon.”

The room fell silent as his father gently gripped Seong-woon’s shoulder like a feather and called his name. But Seong-woon had no energy to care about Ryu Chae-yoon’s family right now.

Even if it stemmed from a misunderstanding, hadn’t he committed a terrible act against Baek Sang-hyun? One that couldn’t be described with such a dry word as “harm”? A sexually suggestive sponsorship offer, followed by threats when rejected, and on the day of a fellow actor’s funeral no less?

Would they have even considered postponing? …Probably not, being from such a prestigious family. Did they even contact Baek Sang-hyun’s side after Ryu Chae-yoon collapsed? …Likely not, as he wasn’t someone they’d consider worth the trouble.

After the doctor’s vital check, Seong-woon looked at his family members and asked them to leave.

“My head hurts… I want to be alone for a while.”

“O-okay. Are you in pain anywhere else?”

“No.”

Unable to muster a kind tone, he responded coldly. As Seong-woon was about to lie down, he noticed Hyeong-seok’s back.

“Hyeong-seok hyung, stay for a moment.”

“…Understood.”

Thankfully, being the all-powerful youngest child had its perks. Seong-woon leaned back on two stacked pillows and quietly observed Hyeong-seok’s gloomy expression as if he had committed a crime.

Though he felt Hyeong-seok was blameless, he was the only one Seong-woon could resent right now.

“This is why I didn’t tell you. It was going to be as if it never happened anyway…”

“…How can it be as if it never happened?”

“Because you never met with Baek Sang-hyun, young master.”

“What about Baek Sang-hyun?”

“Pardon?”

“For Baek Sang-hyun, it’s not like it never happened. He faced unreasonable demands and threats…”

“Young master, you mustn’t get excited. Your ventricular fibrillation earlier…”

“Did you even inform Baek Sang-hyun after I collapsed?”

His voice came out shrill, though he wasn’t sure why his throat was hoarse. As he rubbed his scratchy throat, Hyeong-seok handed him a glass of water with a stern expression. While Seong-woon drank the lukewarm water, Hyeong-seok maintained his rigid demeanour.

“…We didn’t inform him. But Baek Sang-hyun didn’t show up at the location anyway.”

“Is that what’s important right now?”

A bitter laugh escaped him, incredulous. How could they be so Ryu Chae-yoon-centric? No, come to think of it, they weren’t even acting in Ryu Chae-yoon’s interest. Was Ryu Shin the only thing that mattered to them, not Ryu Chae-yoon?

“…We didn’t have time to contact his side.”

“Right, I’m sure you didn’t.”

Sarcasm dripped from his words. Seong-woon wondered if this was how Baek Sang-hyun felt when he spoke bitterly upon seeing Ryu Chae-yoon’s face.

Isn’t he practically a living Buddha? Seong-woon marvelled, recalling Baek Sang-hyun’s attitude towards him so far. He deserves praise just for not cursing him out on sight. A living Buddha, a sage indeed. To still treat him like a person when he probably wanted nothing to do with him.

“You heard my request, hyung. Did you think I would make such demands of Baek Sang-hyun?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You said you didn’t even explain the purpose. So you weren’t even sure if that was the intent, right?”

“There’s no way that could have been the case. You only… said once that you wanted to see him in person. That’s all you said.”

“…”

“It’s true.”

“…Does the family know?”

“…They probably don’t know much. Only I and a few people in the secretary’s office know about your request… and the secretary’s office now knows it was all a mistake.”

“…Why didn’t you just make sure I never ran into Baek Sang-hyun at all?”

“…”

They probably never even considered it. To them, Baek Sang-hyun’s existence truly didn’t matter, and they never thought he could harm Ryu Chae-yoon or Ryu Shin in any way. Even if strange rumors spread, they had both the ability and will to make it all disappear.

“I’m sorry, young master.”

For what? 

As Seong-woon raised an eyebrow, Hyeong-seok continued with a genuinely apologetic face.

“I should have never told you anything in the end…”

Is that what you’re sorry for? 

With a somewhat disgusted look, Seong-woon dismissed Hyeong-seok with a wave of his hand. He absently stared at Ryu Chae-yoon’s wish displayed on a hologram at the edge of his vision.

I want to see Baek Sang-hyun and [redacted] entangled.

…Wow, it’s become an incredibly difficult wish to fulfil, hasn’t it? How on earth do I untangle this mess that’s been completely tangled from the start?

Seong-woon clutched his throbbing forehead and banged his head against the pillow several times.

* * *

Sang-hyun changed his phone to Universe

Could it be one of the models?

10 comments

The unpacking is coming soon

Don’t celebrities rarely use Ryushin these days?

➥A few use sub-models, but they don’t do TV commercials

If he does this too, Baek Sang-hyun is really sweeping everything. Doesn’t he also do cars, department stores, telecom, and apartments?

➥If you count print ads, it’s probably uncountable lol

➥He must do at least three clothing lines! Sports, formal, casual lololol

➥➥I think Alpha watches are the best. Every time I go to the department store, the photos are totally eye-catching

Since what he’s doing now was all shot before “Human Justice”, he’ll probably appear in even more ads lol

Baek Sang-hyun fans were overreacting. If he shoots an ad, of course, he’ll use the new phone model. What does using an old model have to do with ads?

➥Wait until the hype dies down

Hey, you who said Baek Sang-hyun would shoot a Universe ad

(NewTube video)

Roll out the mat lololol

112 comments

Wow, it’s true

Is it a TV commercial?

➥No, it’s a NewTube ad

They’re trying to lower the target age demographic

➥They should at least do that. No one around me uses Ryushin

The ad is shot quite stylishly, what’s going on?

Baek Sang-hyun is good at CF acting too. Some people never improve at CF acting no matter how hard they try

➥Here comes another insensitive jerk comparing him to others

➥➥What’s wrong with saying what I want to say?

➥➥➥Doesn’t seem like a Baek Sang-hyun fan lol

➥➥➥➥Probably not a muggle either lol What would a muggle be doing here? Everyone here is just a fan of someone else^^

Ryu Chae-yoon shot one too? Universe

(NewTube video)

Who’s the stylist? Damn… Seriously. When taking selfies, the cuteness is insane

288 comments

The work photo uploaded last week was this one www.☆gram.com/cherryR

➥Why are you showing this photo only now?

➥➥Why are you complaining when you didn’t see it yourself?

Wow.. wow…

What’s with the lip kiss?

To think that such a deep royal blue suits him well. If Yeokul were born as a person, it would be Ryu Chae-yoon

I’m speechless

Why is his acting so good? It’s not awkward at all. There’s no stiffness

➥For real. Many people act well in movies but can’t do CFs, but he’s so good at this…

➥➥Look how natural the narration is. You can hear all the pronunciation even without subtitles

➥➥➥He hasn’t acted in anything yet lol Maybe he’s just good at CFs?

➥➥➥➥Stop spewing nonsense and get lost

Are they using Ryu Chae-yoon to try and capture MZ?

➥Well, they’ve captured me first. I’ve pre-ordered

➥Maybe they used him because he’s younger lol

➥➥If I had a younger sister like that, I’d use her too. Ryu Shin Electronics hit the jackpot

The hand kiss doesn’t look cheesy at all

➥What do you mean cheesy, teacher? It’s freshness itself

My heart flutters when she smiles with his eyes. What do I do? I’ve only been an idol fan for 15 years, is this what it’s like to be an actor fan?

➥Ryu Chae-yoon as an idol… Crazy. Make her the visual center. I want to see him with stage makeup and colored contacts

➥➥Don’t you think blonde would suit him well?

➥➥➥I made an edit (photo) I thought it would look unnatural, but it suits him better than expected?

➥➥➥➥➥Wow, amazing lololololololololololololol

➥➥➥➥➥He looks like he was born with blonde hair

➥➥➥➥➥Real-life elf

I wonder if Ryu Shin pushed for this or if RBS did…

➥It wouldn’t be strange no matter who pushed for it lol

➥➥Baek Sang-hyun shot one too, maybe RBS pushed them both in as a set?

➥➥➥In this case, wouldn’t it be the opposite.. It’s more likely that Baek Sang-hyun got in because Ryu Chae-yoon shot it lol

➥➥➥➥Huh? What’s Ryu Chae-yoon lol Fan’s excessive consciousness is severe lol

➥➥➥➥➥No.. The CEO of Ryu Shin Electronics is Ryu Chae-yoon’s older brother

After the sudden quest success notification appeared, my stamina did increase. You might think I’d reach the level of an average person after receiving two stamina enhancement rewards for completing the quest? Absolutely not.

“Your stamina has really improved a lot!”

“…You’re joking, right?”

“No! It’s true!”

Saying that for cardio exercise, it’s better to walk with difficulty than to walk quickly – who says that? – the exercise therapist set the treadmill at a steep incline and made Seong-woon walk.

When told to do something, you just have to do it. Seong-woon, who had been criticized by directors, writers, producers, and directors all his life, closed his mouth and walked silently on the treadmill.

He thought about exercising a bit more today since he wanted to go home later. That’s because the NewTube ad was released at 2 PM today. No matter if it was Ryu Chae-yoon’s face, he didn’t want to see her acting cute on a 120-inch TV. He had done the acting himself after all!

Striking while the iron is hot, RBS was heavily promoting him with Baek Sang-hyun – even though they were told not to, they just wouldn’t listen – and the Universe official channel even released all the behind-the-scenes footage at once.

The reactions to that were…

Comments:

Why are Baek Sang-hyun and Ryu Chae-yoon so close?

What’s this, first time seeing Baek Sang-hyun like this. Why is he sticking so cutely to Ryu Chae-yoon? LOL

Came after watching the ad, but they’re completely opposite from the ad. Ryu Chae-yoon is more nonchalant than I thought, and Baek Sang-hyun seems more of an aegyo master than expected.

03:53 No… Mr. Baek Sang-hyun, don’t squeeze the baby, the baby’s getting crushed

Chae-yoon does his interview very calmly and beautifully. At 05:55, he’s like a prim cat. He says it’s his first time acting in front of a chroma key but he worked hard. She asks us to watch him kindly. Chae-yoon-ah, you’re pretty just as you are, don’t worry.

When I asked them to cut out all the strange-sounding parts… The conversation we had at that time seemed quite fierce, but since they didn’t show the content, it came out as if Baek Sang-hyun was being very friendly to Ryu Chae-yoon and sticking close to him.

***

Considering how Baek Sang-hyun treated Ryu Chae-yoon even after experiencing such treatment… He’s really no different from a living Buddha. Seong-woon sighed deeply and watched the behind-the-scenes video.

As he quietly watched that video, Seong-woon realized what Baek Sang-hyun had meant by his ‘strangeness’ and ‘problem’. He tried not to react to Baek Sang-hyun’s weird comments for fear of looking strange if he was surprised, but that made him look even stranger. Not being surprised at things that should be surprising.

Realizing his mistake, Seong-woon rechecked the actions and reactions that Ryu Chae-yoon would likely do and decided to exaggerate his emotional expressions a bit more.

Rather, the worry was how to treat Sang-hyun when they meet in the future…

If he had heard that story without meeting Baek Sang-hyun, he could have either avoided him completely or decided how to treat him when they met.