“Grandfather.”
“Go wash your hands first, then come sit down. Let’s eat and talk.”
Before Seoan could say anything, Chairman Kim cut him off.
Having just heard the whole story from his sister, he had steeled himself for this meeting, yet he was barely given a proper greeting before being seated.
After washing his hands and returning to the table, steam was rising from the rice cake soup. The milky broth looked quite appetizing.
Chairman Kim remained silent until Seoan had emptied his bowl.
Seoan wondered if the reason for being summoned was unrelated to that incident, but when he saw the chairman naturally head to the living room, take a seat in front of the TV, and pull out whiskey, he steeled his resolve even more.
When Chairman Kim brought out whiskey instead of soju, he had to be handled carefully. It meant he was in a subdued mood and his heart was troubled.
“Grandfather, it is Lunar New Year, so I will offer you a drink.”
Chairman Kim silently pushed his glass forward. A somber atmosphere hung over the gathering, hardly what one would call a joyful holiday.
He had called Seoan over, but he did not know how to broach the subject.
The grandson he had always assumed would eventually take over the family business, even if he took a detour through academia or other paths, was actually chasing after a young entertainer five years his junior.
And a man at that.
He wanted to ask about it in detail, but he feared hearing the direct hit from his grandson’s mouth would be even harder to bear.
So he drowned his frustration in alcohol, swallowing the words he wanted to say.
Unable to stand the silence broken only by their breathing and the clinking of glasses, Chairman Kim turned on the TV.
That damn kid. He knows why I called him, yet he would rather die than tell his grandfather “no.”
Uyounri happened to be airing. When Cheonghyeon appeared on screen, Chairman Kim’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
That brat. That hateful face he had seen hundreds of times over the past few days. He had ridden Manager Park day and night, demanding he find girls who looked like that brat.
But he could not find anyone better than that brat.
The boy had even served in the military, yet his face was so smooth and glossy, his skin firmer and fresher than Chairman Kang’s youngest granddaughter, who, they said, smeared money on her skin instead of cosmetics.
No matter how many times he looked at the lists Manager Park brought him, there was not a single young lady who stood out as clearly superior to that boy.
Not even today, the day he was supposed to meet Seoan.
His chest pounded fiercely inside his boiling gut, and that devilish brat was on TV again the moment he turned it on.
When Chairman Kim saw Cheonghyeon showing off his clothes to Yeonhee, he immediately tore him down.
“That, that socially inept brat. Manager Park.”
“Yes? Ah, yes.”
“There is nothing more pathetic than a man showing off his clothes in front of a woman. Why on earth is he showing off his outfit there. Is that not right?”
“Yes, that is right.”
Seoan stifled a laugh watching his grandfather and Manager Park.
“But that coat, those shoes, that cardigan—aren’t they all pretty?”
Chairman Kim raised his eyebrows when Seoan, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke out of the blue.
“I bought them all for him. Seeing him wear them like that makes me so happy. I want to shower him with even more gifts.”
A moment later, Chairman Kim changed his approach.
“Seoan. What good is it if only you like him? Look there. Men, you know, if it is not in their heart, do not offer their backs like that. What good is it if you like him? That boy would drop to one knee to look good for a woman even with cameras everywhere. Look at him tying your cardigan around that girl’s waist.”
“How can our Cheonghyeon be so tender? If it were me, I would just walk right past someone bleeding or with a twisted ankle. With a heart that tender, maybe he would offer his back to me too, after I have watched him for six years.”
Seeing Seoan smile shyly, almost bashfully, and speak softly, Chairman Kim was completely speechless.
His grandson was in no state to be reasoned with. As the grandfather swallowed hard and turned his head, Seoan suppressed a burst of laughter with superhuman effort.
If his sister had seen this scene, she might have given him a thumbs up. Or laughed so hard she would have given the act away.
“Complaining about how heavy that skinny girl is. What a rotten little brat.”
“Such cool, curt words. Could there be a chance for me. Cheonghyeon does not seem interested in pretty girl idols like that.”
“Look at him, freely massaging that girl’s foot. A lecher. I have seen plenty of perverts like that.”
“What a warm heart, so pleasant to see. If someone cold like me met him, together we would be pleasantly lukewarm.”
Manager Park felt like he might go mad listening to their unyielding monologues aimed squarely at each other.
There was a phrase kids used these days for this sort of thing.
Was it self-strong versus self-strong?
Even as he stood to leave, Seoan was still rubbing salt in his grandfather’s wounds.
He said he could not understand why someone so pretty and handsome had to settle for appearing on a mere pilot variety show, and begged that all of Yeonggyeong’s advertising models be replaced with Cheonghyeon.
Just as the chairman was about to bring the whiskey bottle down on him, Manager Park dragged the young master out, saying he seemed quite drunk.
Only now did he feel he understood what his second sister Seogyeong had meant.
“Grandfather really gets on my nerves, you know. But when you needle him, he takes damage, so it is kind of fun.”
Before, he had thought, that sister really has a temper, and shaken his head, but now he roughly grasped what she meant. So that is how she felt.
But setting aside all these trivial details, no matter how he thought about it, there were too many unsettling aspects. The broadcast he had seen earlier lingered in his mind.
“He often had to go to important places when he was young.”
What on earth did that mean?
From his own experience, Professor Gi Mujin was absolutely not the type to take his son by the hand to important events.
The professor’s wife was the same. What kind of important occasion would a child whose parents did not pay attention have to attend?
The research subject had changed.
Definitely.
Now it was time to find evidence.
The new research subject that had appeared in his idle moment was most welcome. Seoan intended to thoroughly investigate him from now on.
At that moment, Gideon’s heart was also tangled as she watched the broadcast.
Cheonghyeon had not contacted her even once since waking. She had expected the kid to chatter at her as usual, but even after looking into her camera, even after the support gifts were delivered, there was no sign of contact at all.
On the day the support notice went up, Gideon thought Cheonghyeon, who knew her financial situation, would surely react.
Normally, he would have asked what money she had to do this with, then choked up and said he was truly moved.
But there was no reaction.
Of course, she had not done the support expecting that, but it felt too strange. It felt like she had become a complete stranger.
Among the photos on Cheonghyeon’s Instagram were some Gideon herself had taken.
But at some point, all of those were deleted, and only the selfie he had posted from the hospital after waking remained.
“Nothing really happened to him, right? Did he maybe change his phone number?”
Cheonghyeon’s profile picture on messenger remained unchanged. Seeing that the name he had set was still Gi Cheonghyeon, it did not seem his number had changed.
Just then, Ihwa’s messenger notification chimed.
“Ihwa unnie ㅠㅠ this is huge. You said you like Cheonghyeon, right? My friend’s younger sibling works at Cheongsansu and they picked Cheonghyeon as their advertising model lol crazy right? Amazing right? All the models before were middle-aged actors, and Cheonghyeon is the first young model ever lol unnie congrats congrats.”
Reading the message snapped her back to reality. This was not the time to be lost in such sentiment.
Since he was just starting to rise, the company might have blocked things, and the fact that the relationship between a fan and a celebrity had been too close, like friends, was also a mistake.
Feeling hurt over this was actually ridiculous.
Ihwa hurried onto SNS and posted a message alongside a Cheongsansu composite image of Cheonghyeon.
20xx0206
(photo)
HQ = ♥
I have always only drunk Cheongsansu~♡ >_< ♡
Cheonghyeon fidgeted with his clothes, clearly uncomfortable.
The breathable basketball uniform felt strange. It was slick like plastic and fell with a rustle, making him keep touching it.
The indoor court, with the heater blasting, was not cold, but he inexplicably wanted to put on more layers.
This ad had three concepts.
Cheonghyeon as a teenager playing basketball with friends and gulping water.
Cheonghyeon as a college student strolling campus and drinking water.
Cheonghyeon as an office worker who, after being scolded by his boss, hands a water bottle to a junior colleague.
Cheongsansu’s intention was clear: capture the young demographic from teens to thirties.
In everyday life, everyone encounters at least one striking person. If you are a student, the good-looking, popular friends.
If you are a college student, the handsome top-of-the-class senior everyone has liked at least once.
If you are a working adult, the supervisor who is not only handsome but also competent.
Even if such people hardly exist, people yearn for these unicorn-like types and want to emulate them.
Viewers instinctively feel something when watching commercials.
That is an ad, that person is a celebrity, so in real life they probably use something better.
That is why Cheongsansu’s concept this time was “the water that the person you want to resemble in everyday life, or the person you like, drinks.”
By featuring Cheonghyeon, who had only just started to rise, felt less like a celebrity, and carried a fresh image, they would guide viewers to empathize and target the young age group similar to his.
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