It seemed the knowledge the reaper had given was not perfect. He put my body back as he pleased and there is not a single thing that’s actually helpful….
Clicking his tongue inwardly, Cheonghyeon hemmed and hawed, then pretended as if he had seen a different comment and started talking.
Do I like strawberries so I wore pink? Absolutely not.
To be honest, this is not my style…
As he chatted gently with the fans, before he knew it the time was racing toward two in the morning. When he began to show signs of wrapping up, the fans, perhaps reluctant to part, kept throwing questions, but he hurried to finish for the sake of the fans who would have schedules tomorrow.
“Everyone, it is late at night, you must be very tired. I had so much fun, and it made me so happy to talk with you like this today. Next time I will come a little earlier and talk longer. Thank you so much for celebrating my birthday today. Sleep well, everyone, bye!”
When he waved at the camera with a beaming smile, the fans sent crying emojis yet also wrote comments telling him to sleep well and really congratulating him on his birthday. They were sharp and a bit rough, but truly warm people.
As soon as he turned off the camera, there was a feeling that everything had gone quiet in an instant.
His heart was pounding, and even when the message saying the stream had ended popped up, he could not move from his seat.
He felt like he understood why Gi Cheonghyeon had wanted so badly to be a celebrity.
Right at the very end before turning off the camera, it felt as if he had received all the love and congratulations he could ever receive in this life all at once. The love that poured down like a waterfall was sweet and sweeter still.
If he had terminated the contract on the first day he came here, he would not have felt this way.
Cheonghyeon’s cheeks were even more flushed than before he started the V App, and his sleek fingers unconsciously gripped his knees tight.
If he did not do at least that, he felt like he would run around freely at this hour of the night. His first true birthday since coming here was full of happiness from the very start.
It felt like sweet air filled his lungs, and his chest tightened to a snug fullness.
Before long, the day of filming for the problematic <My House My Purchase> approached. Knowing how Cheonghyeon had spouted comments bordering on blunt to the point of rudeness when he saw the first listing, the manager was cautious too.
He wished they would gloss over it nicely at least in the studio, but seeing Cheonghyeon with a face even firmer than usual, it did not seem he could be persuaded easily. There was nothing to be done.
After the filming ended, he would simply have to ask them to cut Cheonghyeon out entirely during the segment about the first listing…. The manager let out a small sigh.
Knock, knock.
“Mr. Cheonghyeon, could we talk for a moment?”
“Ah, hello, PD! But what brings you to our Cheonghyeon…?”
No sooner had they entered the waiting room than, as if someone had informed him that Cheonghyeon had arrived, the PD came by.
The manager hid him behind his back like a mother protecting her young, but Cheonghyeon patted the manager as if to say it was fine.
The PD’s eyes were dusky around the edges, as if he had been editing right up to this moment. His slightly hoarse voice, worn out with fatigue, carried an air of pathos that did not match his heavy frame.
“Manager, you can step out for a moment. There is something I need to say one on one.”
At the PD’s firm voice, Changsik had no choice but to leave the waiting room. Worried that Cheonghyeon might get scolded, Changsik fidgeted outside the door, stamping his feet.
“So you are saying the homeowner is going to watch this video together with the production staff?”
Does that guy have nothing better to do? Annoyance filled Cheonghyeon’s eyes.
“So I am asking just this once. I edited out everything you said on site. Please just do not say anything in the studio.”
The PD, whom he had expected to take a threatening tone, instead pleaded, and inwardly, Cheonghyeon was taken aback. Just as he was about to open his mouth, perhaps thinking he was about to refuse, the PD hurried to continue.
“You can shoot a single episode and be done with it, and even if something goes wrong, your fans will protect you, but it is different for the people here. I am not asking you to shield that house. I am just asking that you do not say anything harsh.”
Seeing the PD clutch his hand and speak, he suddenly thought of his mother. His mother when he had been Isaac, not Cheonghyeon.
His mother, who had belonged to the Office of Inspection, often told him various stories. She said that before she belonged to the Office of Inspection, she had a father who was Captain of the Imperial Guard and had been a consort of the Emperor, so even if she carried out public duties according to her convictions, no one could say anything to her.
But later she learned that her colleagues and juniors were receiving the resentment of the other side in her stead.
“If you cannot protect even them, then do not step forward in the first place. No matter how wide a blade is, it cannot replace a shield. As a member of the imperial family, you must always know the weight of your words.”
Of course, in his whole twenty-five years he had never once had to take responsibility for his words. Naturally so. There had not even been anyone to listen. Words from his mother that he had thought he had forgotten suddenly came to mind.
A sword dance that cannot protect one’s own side is nothing but bravado. His mother’s voice of regret lingered in his ears. Perhaps his mother’s juniors or colleagues had wanted to beg her like this PD was doing. Please just let this pass quietly.
Speaking of a sword dance brought to mind his older brother naturally, and in his case, he had no thought of defending.
Was it not said that the best defense is offense? He simply cut down all his opponents with the sword he had drawn. In that way he protected his mother, Her Majesty the Empress.
Then what about me?
If I say bitter truths in the name of upholding justice, can I handle it so that the MCs and the PD and the writers will not be harmed?
If I leave a harsh critique of this house, at first everyone might feel refreshed. But what if the homeowner then pulls all the ads from this program?
If the vengeful advertiser insists to the higher-ups that even after sponsoring they did not get much advertising effect, there will be nothing to say. That would be the pretext, and that would be his revenge.
Watching him sink into deep thought, the PD squeezed Cheonghyeon’s hand once more and quietly left the waiting room.
“I am asking you. My daughter is now in middle school, and there are so many places money needs to go…”
The PD’s somewhat broken smile, flickering past, burned into his eyes. The shame of having to make such a request of a guest as the PD, and yet the pride of hoping not to be judged simply as a bad person, a smile in which servility and humiliation were mixed…
Before that, Cheonghyeon could not keep the same firm expression as earlier. He was neither someone like Crown Prince Jeremy who could vanquish everyone, nor did he have a proper way to protect these people. He was just a guest appearing for a single day.
When filming began, the MCs shouted their slogans heartily. Perhaps they had heard something from the PD, for at first they looked a bit tense, but once it started, one and all showed off their talk skills. If anything, all of them were at a heightened pitch, conscious of the homeowner and advertiser who might be somewhere among the cameras.
“Now then, today we have invited the Strawberry Fairy who makes you press password 486, Mr. Gi Cheonghyeon of The East, who is enjoying a second prime as he sets the internet ablaze! With such a hot guest, the studio atmosphere is sizzling today, is it not?”
“Nice to meet you. I am Gi Cheonghyeon.”
A second prime, they say. Well, you could hardly call the first prime of Mr. Gi Cheonghyeon, who no one even noticed had existed for twenty-five years, right in front of the person concerned.
Professionals being professionals, they all greeted him brightly as if they had never been tense.
When the panel had talked for a while about his nickname and it was about time to bring up the house, they exchanged glances.
When the video came up, he unintentionally let out a small exclamation. It was not a cheer for the house, but praise for the PD’s skill. Is that really the house I went to see?
The PD had apparently gnashed his teeth while editing, as all the flaws of the house and the harsh comments he had made had been deleted.
What is more, filmed with a wide-angle lens, the space looked far more spacious than when he had seen it in person, and the Han River visible through the window—perhaps it had been color-corrected—looked extremely beautiful, like a refreshingly blue summer river even though it was winter.
During the shoot the window had been so dusty that, despite the clear weather, it had looked as if there was fine dust from inside the house, but with post-processing it looked truly wonderful. So he did have editing skills.
Pretending to watch the video, he sneaked a glance, and the client among the production staff was carefully watching the house with her friend.
And right beside the PD there was a middle-aged man who looked like the advertiser, and in a spot invisible to the clients, the writers were holding up sketchbooks with directives like “Exclaim over the Han River view!” It was a truly grand play.
“That is the real dream, right there. After work at night, having a beer with your friend while looking at the night view…. Wow.”
“Really, living there would make you feel like you have made it.”
There was no big attack from the opposing team either. Rather, they only mentioned flaws that could be transformed into strengths. And aside from his self-introduction in the opening, Cheonghyeon did not open his mouth.
Perhaps afraid that he might say something negative, the PD kept glancing at him. He gave a small nod as if to reassure him, and the PD turned his head with an awkward smile.
Suppressing the rising sigh, he kept watching the video.
As she quietly chatted with her friend while watching, the client kept tilting her head. It would be natural to be flustered, since instead of showing the surrounding facilities or the interior details of the house, the panel were just chattering on about how they desperately wanted to live in such a place.
However, when the second and third listings followed, the expressions of the client and her friend brightened distinctly. As good houses appeared that fit the conditions they had stated while also falling within budget, they seemed to grow cheerful.
At one point, their eyes met and the client gave him a thumbs up, and he answered with a smile with his eyes.
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