As Taeseok approached, Ji-hyeok kept cracking jokes, and Yeoreum kept laughing along with him.

Sigh.

How come the laughter that’s so reserved with me flows so easily over there?

“Seo Taeseok!”

Taeseok’s approach was abruptly halted by an assistant director who quickly intervened. Taeseok glanced around the assistant director’s head, trying to spot Yeoreum, who was partly obscured from his view.

“We need to hurry up, you’re a bit late! We’re going straight into checking the movements!”

“Wait a minute.”

“We need to shoot this scene before the sun sets too much! You really need to hurry.”

As Taeseok gritted his teeth, a stylist approached to check his outfit and hair. Hong, the manager, followed Taeseok’s gaze and chuckled to himself.

‘That must sting a bit.’

Meanwhile, a cushion was thrust into Yeoreum’s hand, and Ji-hyeok’s face suddenly came closer.

“Just do it roughly. I’m good-looking anyway.”

Yeoreum laughed awkwardly and glanced around at the somewhat chaotic set. Taeseok was getting his hair checked, his eyes closed, with the assistant director chattering away in front of him.

Yeoreum felt no need to go over and greet him specifically. She turned her attention away.

“Alright, I’ll just do it casually.”

“No! I mean, put some effort into it, seriously.”

Ji-hyeok closed his eyes again as he spoke. Yeoreum dabbed the puff on his face.

‘Wow, actors really do have good-looking faces. His skin might be better than a woman’s.’

She marveled silently, feeling a bit self-conscious about her own skin. Nowadays, there isn’t really a separate standard for men’s and women’s skin. It’s just about who takes better care of it.

If Taeseok was a masculine, sharp-featured handsome man, then Ji-hyeok had the pretty, idol-like looks. Yeoreum thought he would have been successful even if he debuted as a singer.

He must have a lot of female fans.

“What are you thinking about?”

Ji-hyeok asked, eyes still closed.

“Uh, just about how good-looking and nice your skin is.”

Yeoreum replied casually, without much thought. Ji-hyeok’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

“How about a good-looking younger guy for a boyfriend?”

Yeoreum’s hand was busy with the puff. She was focused on carefully applying makeup, determined not to mess up and make his face appear pale on screen.

“What did you say?”

“Ah, I mean, a younger guy…”

“Ah! Close your eyes again. It’s smudged here.”

Yeoreum spoke firmly, and Ji-hyeok obediently closed his eyes again. She warned him not to move. Ji-hyeok couldn’t say anything more.

After a while,

“It’s done.”

Yeoreum examined Ji-hyeok’s face, nodded in satisfaction, and returned the cushion. As she was turning around, she saw Taeseok glaring at her from a distance.

Director Lee had arrived. They quickly checked the script for parts that needed revisions. Due to the change in the shooting environment, some lines couldn’t be used.

The script still said it was late summer, but autumn had arrived early this year, turning the entire set background a deep red.

“Change it like this.”

Yeoreum handed over the hastily revised lines. After checking a few more things, Director Lee disappeared for the shooting. Yeoreum had pretty much accomplished her purpose for the visit and approached Young, who was waiting.

“Fancy a chocolate milk, kiddo?”

“Unni. I have a kiss scene later, so I can’t.”

Young replied earnestly, her face turning red. Yeoreum, who had just made a casual joke, felt awkward herself.

“You become quite sensitive when working, Yu Young.”

“It’s just…”

Just then, Hong, the manager, approached and loudly greeted Yeoreum.

“Choi Yeoreum!”

“You scared me!”

“Did you get home okay that day? How did you get home? I don’t remember anything.”
Despite her best efforts to avoid it, the topic of that night finally came up. Yeoreum felt embarrassingly flustered and unexpectedly snapped at Hong, the manager.

“I wanted to ask that! Why can’t you remember either?”

Hearing this, Young suddenly laughed.

“Hong Manager, you don’t know? Yeoreum unni caused a huge scene that day. Don’t you know? Didn’t Taeseok oppa tell you?”

As Hong appeared clueless, Young briefly explained. After hearing the whole story, Hong looked utterly shocked.

“Wow, Choi Yeoreum. You really have terrible drinking habits. How could you even go to that house? That’s impressive.”

Yeoreum, having no memory of the event, couldn’t find words to argue and remained silent. Just thinking about that day made her want to cry.

“But why hasn’t Taeseok, that guy, said anything to me?”

“Maybe Taeseok oppa is too flabbergasted and wants to forget about it.”

As Young joined in teasing Yeoreum, she stood up, announcing she was going home. But then, Hong quickly grabbed her sleeve.

“Taeseok wants to see you for a moment. About the script. That’s why I came.”

The inevitable had finally arrived. Yeoreum closed her eyes tightly.

They say there’s always a way out, even when the sky falls. Surely there must be a way to escape this.