SDM 29

However, he couldn’t agree right away just because of that. Even if it wasn’t the main ad and was just going to be shown as a NewTube ad, the public might not pay much attention, but you never know. They might still say that, as expected of the Ryu Shin family, they’ve inserted one of their own into a Ryu Shin ad.

If it only affected Ryu Chae-yoon’s reputation… while he’d prefer to avoid that too, he could somewhat accept it. However he was more reluctant to have Ryu Shin Electronics receive unnecessary criticism.

“Well… I do have about two more days to think about it.”

“Then I’ll think about it a bit more.”

“Do it for me, if nothing else.”

“…Is it okay even though I don’t use a Ryu Shin phone? Besides, everyone knows I use a phone from another company.”

Recently, he hadn’t been taking mirror selfies, so it wasn’t blatantly obvious what phone he was using. But when Ryu Chae-yoon’s soul was using his own body, he took so many mirror selfies that it became a meme that he used a phone from a different company.

“You can start using one from now on. Want me to give you a phone?”

As if he had anticipated Seong-woon’s words, Ryu Hae-yoon handed over a shopping bag.

“Is it the latest model?”

“Yes. It’s already been sent out to tech reviewers, so there’s no problem with Chae-yoon using it.”

As he opened the phone box, Seong-woon let out a deep sigh. It would be a really good opportunity if there were no side effects, but…

“By the way, hyung. Am I shooting this alone?”

“Hm? No. There will be dancers and fashion models too. Other actors as well…”

“…No matter how I think about it, people will criticize it as nepotism.”

“It’s okay.”

“I’m telling you, I’ll be the one getting criticized.”

“Who would criticize you? I won’t let them.”

…Why do these brothers all think and speak the same way? As Seong-woon let out an exaggerated sigh, even deeper than before, Ryu Hae-yoon rolled his eyes and acted like a guilty puppy. Feeling like he might end up chasing away the president of a major company if he didn’t praise him, Seong-woon smiled brightly and commended his efforts.

“Thanks, hyung.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Hae-yoon beamed. Just as he was about to open his mouth to persuade Seong-woon again, the phone started ringing.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Chang-yoon hyung…”

Why did he feel so reluctant to answer the phone? He hesitated for a while, putting off answering, but the ringing didn’t stop. Thinking that Chang-yoon might come over if he didn’t answer, Seong-woon picked up.

“Yeah, hyung…”

─ Chae-yoon, want to do an ad for our apartment complex?

“…”

Seong-woon mouthed a question to Hae-yoon, ‘Did you tell Chang-yoon hyung?’ 

Hae-yoon hastily shook his head, but it was a meaningless response.

─ The current ad model’s contract is about to expire. Let’s have Chae-yoon do it. Okay?

“No thanks.”

─ Why are you doing Hae-yoon hyung’s but not mine?

“I didn’t say I’d do that one either. Not yet.”

─ But you will.

“…I don’t know.”

─ Let’s do the Ryu Shin Construction one too. Hm? Before Mom and Dad brought it up, I wanted to…

Are the chairmen eyeing him too? Wondering if that could be true, he looked at Hae-yoon, who nodded silently. The living room was quiet, so it seemed Hae-yoon could hear everything Ryu Chang-yoon was saying.

Wait a minute, even if we assume that Mother runs the distribution and hotel affiliates and Father only manages the holding company… what on earth are these people trying to do?

“Hyung. Hae-yoon hyung has a clear reason why he needs to use me, but you don’t. Why would I do an apartment ad? Use Baek Sang-hyun instead.”

─ Baek Sang-hyun is the current model. I don’t like him.

“Forget it, I’m hanging up.”

Seong-woon abruptly ended the call and let out a long sigh. He noticed Hae-yoon nervously fidgeting with his fingertips in his peripheral vision.

“I’ll think about your offer, hyung.”

“Okay. Please consider it positively.”

“I don’t think I can do it because my exams are right around the corner.”

“We’ll adjust all the schedules for you.”

“The unpacking date has already been announced, what can you adjust… Besides, I’m not the only one shooting this, right?”

“We’ll make the schedule work somehow, so think about it. Okay?”

Unable to push too hard, Hae-yoon gently coaxed him. Then, as if pulling out a secret weapon, he said, “Ah!”

“You know… Baek Sang-hyun is shooting this too? Chae-yoon, you like that actor, don’t you?”

It’s embarrassing that family members know about his fandom interests. This must be another coincidence that feels like fate, created by Yoon Gwan-wi’s karma, right? Seong-woon couldn’t firmly refuse and left some room for consideration.

“Let’s talk after my midterms are over.”

After Hae-yoon left, even manager Hyeong-seok contacted him about the advertisement. When told that he had received the offer directly from Ryu Hae-yoon, the other end of the line went quiet for a while.

* * *

The day finally arrived. Seong-woon quietly opened the back door of the lecture hall and sat down, barely managing to gather his completely frazzled mind. Perhaps due to lack of sleep, he was so out of it that he came without his cap, mask, and sunglasses. He was so unaware that he didn’t even notice people taking pictures.

What Seong-woon didn’t know was that there was an archive on the school’s Everytime app where real-time photos of Ryu Chae-yoon were being uploaded. New photos were piling up there every moment of every day.

At first, some people complained that it was too invasive of privacy, but when neither Seong-woon nor his bodyguards particularly prevented the photo-taking, and he even occasionally made eye contact, people tacitly agreed that it must be okay.

With a haggard look, Seong-woon mumbled as he took out his notebook and read it. Even though he had memorized the textbook content to the point where he could recite it all if prompted, he couldn’t shake off his anxiety.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. Rolling his eyes upward, he saw it was Baek Sang-hyun, looking as calm as ever.

“…Hello.”

In his highly sensitive state, he almost snapped at him but managed to just utter a greeting.

“You changed your phone?”

“…My brother gave it to me.”

“Did you get an ad offer?”

Ah, right. Baek Sang-hyun was supposed to have gotten an ad offer too. But there was no time to think about that now. Seong-woon turned his attention back to the practice problems.

“I heard they can’t set the schedule because one person hasn’t been confirmed yet.”

“…Who said that?”

“The manager.”

Looking at the script, it’s all individual cuts. We could just shoot separately according to our schedules. Surely the wealthy Ryu family isn’t trying to save money by renting the studio for one day to shoot everything? Seong-woon buried his head, grappling with another boundless, wandering thought.

Soon it was time for the exam to start. Seong-woon sighed deeply as he packed his books and notes into his bag. He buried his face in his dry palms, then quickly glanced around. If he doesn’t score at least 80 points, this might be the last time.

The teaching assistant, carrying a stack of exam papers, entered the lecture hall and gave instructions about the test.

“The midterm results will be individually notified by tomorrow.”

Why are they notifying so quickly? 

Seong-woon inwardly cursed as he received his exam paper. The Accounting Principles midterm was the last exam in Seong-woon’s courses. In fact, Seong-woon had filled most of his courses with electives, many of which were graded based on regular reports rather than midterms, so he had devoted all his time to Accounting Principles.

If he can’t score over 80 points after all this effort, he’ll have to admit the limitations of his intellect. Seong-woon stayed almost until the end, solving problems and reviewing before submitting. He then trudged out of the lecture hall.

Walking with his head down and eyes empty, Seong-woon was startled when someone suddenly grabbed his arm. As he jumped back in surprise, an alarm sounded from the watch on his wrist. It was set to go off when his pulse exceeded 120.

“…You startled me.”

Stopping the bodyguard from approaching, Seong-woon checked his watch. His pulse, which had spiked suddenly, had quickly dropped back to the 80s.

“You set it to give a warning when your heart beats fast?”

“…What do you need?”

“After-exam party.”

“What?”

“They’re saying there’s an after-exam party.”

“…I couldn’t sleep last night, so I want to go home and rest.”

Since the whole family knew he had stayed up all night, and there was a strict order to come home and sleep right after the exam, Seong-woon couldn’t go to the after-party. Of course, he didn’t want to go either. Being the only sober one while everyone else is drunk is an experience he only needs once.

“Is that so? Alright then.”

“Yes. Take care.”

Seong-woon twisted his arm free and slowly descended the stairs. A bodyguard in plain clothes followed closely, immediately checking his condition. Although Seong-woon waved him off saying he was fine, the guard only stepped away after accurately verifying the numbers.

After spending a day and a half in this anxious state, around 6 PM, a text message arrived.

02-xxxx-xxxx

[Web sent]

Business Administration student Ryu Chae-yoon’s (Student ID 2x) midterm score is 82 points.

Unbelievable. The moment he saw the score, Seong-woon almost screamed. The emotions welling up as he recalled his struggles over the past 40 days were no small matter. He clenched his fist holding the chopsticks, rejoicing in his extended life.

“Why, why are you like that?”

Ho-yoon, who had come to have dinner with him since both parents were out today, asked in surprise.

“The exam results came out.”

“Did you do well?”

“Yes.”

“I knew from the start that Chae-yoon would get a good score!”

It feels good to hear such nice words.

“I wanted to ask yesterday if everyone did well on their exams, but I held back.”

Come to think of it, was it a preemptive consolation when both father and mother patted his shoulder and hugged him before leaving for work today? Telling him not to be disappointed even if the score wasn’t good?

No… they shouldn’t do that. If the quest fails, whether it’s Ryu Chae-yoon or Jin Seong-woon, we’ll all just return to the branch point where everyone died. As he sighed softly and reached for the braised meat, a hologram suddenly enveloped his vision, with fireworks effects overlaying it.

[Congratulations!

You have successfully completed the quest.

Reward: Partial revelation of Ryu Chae-yoon’s wish – See below

ㅁㅁㅁㅁ ㅁㅁㅁㅁ ㅁㅁ ㅁㅁ ㅁㅁ

→ Want to see Baek Sang-hyun ㅁㅁㅁㅁ entangled]

No… I already know that!

Seong-woon picked up the braised meat he had inadvertently dropped, placed it back on his rice, and rested his chin on his hand. Although he had been uncertain before, having it confirmed now does put his mind at ease. It really was a wish related to Baek Sang-hyun.

“Hyung.”

“Yes?”

“I used to be a fan of Baek Sang-hyun.”

“Oh… right? You don’t like him anymore?”

“Well, no…”

If asked whether he liked him or not… When he was Jin Seong-woon, he probably liked him quite a bit as a kind and friendly junior from a senior’s perspective. But now, isn’t it strange to like him? Always picking fights, mocking, and sneering… Although he is grateful for helping him score well on the Accounting Principles exam. And recently, it seems like he’s treating him normally.

“If it were before I lost my memory… what kind of wish would I have made about Baek Sang-hyun?”

“A wish? Well… what great wish could there be? You could do anything you wanted.”

“…I guess so, right?”

“Yeah. Besides, Baek Sang-hyun is with RBS, right? If you just told Aunt, you could have met him personally, and of course, going to filming locations would have been possible too.”

In wealthy families, calling actors or idol singers for personal reasons is so common it’s countless. They invite them to perform at birthday parties, or sometimes even cross the line by offering to become sponsors…

“Hmm…”

Surely not? Did Ryu Chae-yoon make a sponsorship offer to Baek Sang-hyun? And in a not-so-wholesome direction?

After briefly imagining something unwarranted, Seong-woon shook his head vigorously. Looking at Ryu Chae-yoon’s records about Baek Sang-hyun, such a thing would be impossible.

“Why suddenly ask about that?”

“No, just… various thoughts suddenly came to mind.”

“You’re being silly. Here, the braised meat is good.”