🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 17
“Don’t worry, we’ll edit it properly. Please check it with the CEO before uploading the video.”
Bom recalled the words she had just spoken and let her shoulders slump.
It was something Geon’s agency would handle on their own. The risk was greater for Geon than for Bom.
“When we were eating, I filmed from a different angle on my phone. I’ll send it to you soon. I’m not sure if it’ll be usable. I tried to keep it fixed so I wouldn’t appear in it.”
“Oh, as expected of a current manager—you really know your stuff. Thank you so much. The creative team will love it.”
“When will today’s video be uploaded?”
“I heard it’ll go up on Thursday when the drama is released, or the next day. To promote the drama as well.”
After watching Gi-ung’s van leave, Bom headed home.
‘Please at least contact your brother and ask if he’s okay.’
Geon had told her not to contact him until 9 a.m. tomorrow, but Gi-ung’s words kept echoing in her head.
When you’re hesitating like this, the answer is usually to just do it.
She took out her phone, but it was dead—the battery completely drained.
Her work phone didn’t have much battery left either from filming, and just as Bom was about to send a message, the screen went black.
What was the use of having two phones?
“Whatever. He told me not to, so I’ll do it tomorrow. I’m tired too.”
For an office worker, a tense park date after work was just too much.
Without knowing what was happening on social media while her phone was off, Bom simply plugged in the charger and fell asleep the moment she got home.
Around that time, Gi-ung arrived at the studio.
The shoot was already in progress. Since he often worked with this photographer, he recognized the staff and quietly greeted them as he went in.
Under the lights, Geon was lying languidly with his thumb hooked into the waistband of logo-branded underwear.
For today’s shoot, he’d been receiving personal training from a professional trainer for a month and had strictly managed his diet, shedding body fat completely. He’d never had excess fat to begin with, but the effort had made his muscles pump and stand out even more.
The way he looked up lazily, eyes lowered as if tempting the viewer, rivaled that of Western models.
A company representative approached. He greeted Gi-ung, but his gaze was fixed on Geon.
“Hello.”
“Ah, hello. Sorry I’m a bit late.”
“They say people change when they’re in love—I didn’t know that applied to Geon too. He was already outstanding, but today he’s definitely different. He’s even paying attention to details like that.”
“Details?”
News of the date kiss had spread rapidly on SNS.
Smiling awkwardly, Gi-ung looked at Geon.
What kind of details?
Geon was wearing nothing but underwear. There would be clothes and props later, but not now.
The representative tapped his own neck lightly as a hint.
“Ah.”
Gi-ung instinctively covered his mouth.
There was a clear kiss mark on Geon’s neck. Marks like that could easily be created with makeup, of course, but—
“Doesn’t it look sexier because his girlfriend made it?”
It meant Bom, his lover, had left it.
Gi-ung’s ears turned red.
If things were that hot, then why was he sulking?!
“Uh, um, well… I’m sorry.”
He apologized without thinking. Geon’s body was a product. Especially on days like today, when he had to undress, he didn’t even wear socks or a wristwatch so there wouldn’t be any marks.
And yet he’d come in with a kiss mark so openly visible.
Geon wasn’t some clueless rookie—he’d done it on purpose.
The representative smiled, clearly pleased.
“The writer loved how sexy it was too. It’ll be covered as the props change, but it stimulates the imagination, so I like it even more. And the public’s very interested in Geon’s love life, you know. If we upload a teaser photo with the kiss mark on the company SNS, it’ll go viral.”
Real_kiss_mark Sexy_Geon
The hashtags popped into Gi-ung’s head automatically. He smiled stiffly.
“To be honest, there were some concerns internally because of the scandal. We decided to wait and see, but we never expected you to go public. Fortunately, the response has been good, which is a relief. If he were an older actor, fans might even support marriage, but Geon’s young. We were worried about how people would react… but it’s his first love, right?”
“Yes, that’s what he told me.”
“How romantic. I heard his upcoming drama is about a devoted, pure-hearted man too. If it’s already this much of a topic before release, the drama should do well.”
“Let’s change the styling! Short break!”
At that moment, the photographer called for a break.
Geon started to get up from the fur rug, spotted Gi-ung, and beckoned him over. Wearing plastic shoe covers to keep the white backdrop clean, Gi-ung approached.
“Take some pictures.”
“To post on SNS?”
“Send them to Bom. Make sure this—my neck—comes out well.”
Gi-ung almost dropped his phone as he raised it to take the photo.
Geon tilted his head and made an openly seductive expression.
The photographer, checking the monitor, laughed when he saw it.
“Geon, you’ve definitely got a different look now that you’re dating.”
The company was closely watching how public opinion might change with the scandal and the public relationship. Related companies were doing the same.
There had been concerns that issues like this could lead to canceled shoots or contracts, but the studio atmosphere was good.
“You told Bom not to contact you until tomorrow because you were mad, right? But you’re having me send her photos?”
“When she sees them, she’ll jump and message me asking why I didn’t cover up the kiss mark.”
“Bom said she wants you to be honest if there’s anything you’re upset about.”
At that moment, the playful look on Geon’s face vanished. Gi-ung, still taking photos, tensed up.
“How much have you seen her to say something like that? You two must’ve gotten pretty close?”
“Close? Not really. I was walking her home and we ended up talking about you…”
“Oh, talking about me.”
Only then did his stiff expression relax.
Geon was an easy person to work with. He didn’t throw his weight around as a star, and he didn’t vent all his emotions either.
He knew how to keep distance and had good manners.
That’s why this side of him surprised Gi-ung.
“Gi-ung, relationships need a bit of tension.”
After sending the photos to his own phone, Geon stood up from the rug.
Even though everyone had already seen him during the shoot, admiration could still be heard from somewhere. With so many staff around, he wore only underwear yet remained completely confident.
“That way, Bom will think about me just a little more. Don’t you think?”
“…I’ve never seen you like this before. You’re serious about Bom.”
“Does it look that way to you too?”
The stylist and makeup artist were waiting to prepare for the next shoot.
As Geon walked toward them, he murmured,
“When will my Bom finally notice?”
Geon_kiss_video.mp4
Fortress Park
Geon romantic kiss, night-view kiss, public relationship
A video of a couple kissing against the backdrop of a fortress at night set Friday night and the entire weekend ablaze.
“Something’s off.”
Oh Gyeong-eun, a first-year entertainment reporter and a member of Geon’s fan club Jerona, was at home with a friend, drinking beer with fried chicken while diligently writing an article on her laptop.
Whether it was a weekday or weekend, all she needed was a laptop and Wi-Fi to work.
Her friend beside her, tilting a beer can back, was also a Jerona member.
Sitting on the floor of a studio apartment, leaning against the bed frame, they had already replayed the videos uploaded from different angles more than thirty times.
Watching the video, the friend muttered,
“Suspicious.”
“Stop watching other people’s kissing scenes.”
“Aren’t they being way too obvious about dating?”
“That’s why it’s a public relationship.”
“Sure, but even for that, it feels like they’re shouting, ‘We’re dating!’ way too loudly.”
“You sound like a reporter.”
The friend, who worked as a designer at an ad agency and had twenty years of hardcore fandom experience—from idols to actors—looked at Gyeong-eun as if she were ridiculous.
“The drama’s coming out soon. It’s probably just viral marketing.”
“That too, but… I don’t feel any affection from the woman.”
“From her, not Geon?”
“From the girlfriend.”
“She’s a civilian—she’s probably nervous. It’s in front of cameras.”
“Look.”
The friend held out her phone. A video they’d already seen several times played again.
She paused at one scene and pointed to where the couple’s hands were as they hugged.
“Look at this. Don’t you feel it? When they kiss, or when Geon hugs her, doesn’t it feel like the woman’s hesitating, kind of awkward? Like a couple that just started flirting and suddenly kissed?”
“They said they started seeing each other the day before they were filmed by that fake YouTuber. If they just started dating, that makes sense.”
“No, it’s not that kind of feeling. It’s suspicious.”
Half-listening, Gyeong-eun finished typing her article. Then her hand suddenly stopped.
