Chapter 623. Henpecked (3)
Vroom...
Han Eun-Sol paid utmost attention to the road while driving the car.
'I mustn't let it shake, or else...!'
The Witch's moods were at the pits today. In such a precarious situation, something as simple as the unevenness of the road shaking their car around could set her off.
As they were traveling on unpaved roads, Han Eun-Sol couldn't do much about the rattling and shaking of the car, but Choi Yeon-Ha wasn't the type to be gracious about such things.
In the end, Han Eun-Sol had no choice but to display a superhuman driving skill that kept the car stable even on unpaved roads while maintaining a speed that wouldn't irritate Choi Yeon-Ha.
“What are you doing!” Choi Yeon-Ha suddenly yelled. “Why is the car rattling so much?! Can't you drive properly, Eun-Sol!”
Han Eun-Sol grimaced deeply.
'What the hell? This is still not enough?!'
That was when he realized there was no escape from someone who had already made up their mind to nag the hell out of him!
“Noona, I'm doing my best to keep it as smooth as possible.”
“What? Did you just talk back to me!”
“Holy cow, noona! You really sound like a villainess right now!”
“So what if I am! I'm only stating the truth, anyway!”
“Wow. To think that being honest and cold could sound this villainous...” Han Eun-Sol quietly tutted away. Choi Yeon-Ha was brazenly resorting to the unquestionable logic of, 'I've always been a crappy person, so it's fine to keep acting this way!'
“You know what? I wouldn't have gone through that nonsense if only you had kept your eyes open! I told you to stay close to my side to prevent that slimy bastard from approaching me, didn't I! How could you lose sight of him like that and let him do whatever the hell he wants? You're out, Eun-Sol! Out, I tell ya!”
'Hiiiiieeek!'
Han Eun-Sol, not daring to argue back any further, shrunk into the driver's seat and depressed the accelerator a little harder to escape this horrible situation as soon as possible.
The hotel! As long as he could reach their hotel...!
By reaching the hotel and dumping that Witch in her room, Han Eun-Sol could be liberated from this hell, at least temporarily!
'I must've lost my damn mind! Why did I stupidly choose to tag along?!'
Han Eun-Sol knew things would get so much harder and more torturous for him by coming to China with Choi Yeon-Ha... Primarily due to her hysteria after being isolated by herself in a foreign country!
Even so, he still unhesitantly chose to follow her here because he was fueled by the firm belief of his career reaching untold heights as long as this production wraps up incident-free!
Being able to guide that Choi Yeon-Ha and successfully film a lengthy TV show in a foreign land called China... Now that would become one of the greatest achievements that Han Eun-Sol could proudly boast about for the rest of his time in this bloody industry!
Guiding and navigating through China with a fickle actor was already a feat worthy of a standing ovation. And when that actor was Choi Yeon-Ha... Well, what more could be said about that?
Han Eun-Sol's career, which he had been steadily building up one legend after another for the past two years while working as Choi Yeon-Ha's manager, would receive a massive boost with this production. If Choi Yeon-Ha could become a global star as a result of this adventure, then Han Eun-Sol would have nothing to wish for. Even if the TV show turned out to be a flop, his hard work would still be highly appreciated by everyone.
However, there was one thing he failed to adequately anticipate, and that was...
“Can't you drive more carefully?!” Choi Yeon-Ha unhappily yelled.
“Then, can I drive slower?”
“Slower, my foot! If I lose one second of my break time because of you, Imma chop your head off on the spot!”
'...F*ck! I'd rather re-enlist than go through this sh*t!'
Choi Yeon-Ha was throwing a crazy woman's temper tantrum right now. While enveloped in thick layers of extreme stress and irritation, she acted like a cranky sergeant who got his holiday rescinded for some reason. Han Eun-Sol could proudly say he had a hard time serving in a pretty unforgiving unit back in the army, but the way Choi Yeon-Ha behaved right now was forcing him to seriously reevaluate his options about re-enlisting!
“Aaaaaahk! It's so infuriating!”
As if to make matters worse, Choi Yeon-Ha couldn't keep her anger level in check and began thrashing about in her seat, too!
Even when Choi Yeon-Ha was in her normal (?) state, Han Eun-Sol was treated like an agent of chaos dispatched by the world of talent managers, but now... It felt like he was dealing with an extraterrestrial creature!
'Besides all that, though... Why is this auntie acting up like this, anyway?'
Of course, Liu Wei did his best to rub Choi Yeon-Ha the wrong way earlier. However, today wasn't his first time doing that. And that much shouldn't be enough to trigger Choi Yeon-Ha to this degree, so why...?
The first thing other people would do after witnessing Choi Yeon-Ha in this state was ask her, 'What's the matter, miss? Can we help?' But not Han Eun-Sol. He had 'experienced' this Witch's antics far too many times and knew better.
Obviously, Choi Yeon-Ha wouldn't lose her cool for no reason. Indeed, her reasons for getting angry were usually well-defined. It was just that her reasons tended to be so insignificant and petty that other people might not immediately notice them.
Despite being an expert in Choi Yeon-Ha, though... Han Eun-Sol still failed to figure out the source of her irritation. However...!
Choi Yeon-Ha yelled loudly. “Why didn't he come right away after I told him to?!”
“...Oh.”
Well, then...
Han Eun-Sol finally solved the mystery and could only stare dazedly at the heavens above.
'Why... Why did you have to do that?'
Even though he knew he shouldn't, Han Eun-Sol couldn't help but resent Kang Jin-Ho for what he did!
In this era of globalization, traveling between Korea and China wasn't that hard, so how could Kang Jin-Ho not even drop by once and say hi? Even after all those things Choi Yeon-Ha said?!
If only Kang Jin-Ho bravely made some sacrifices for the good of humanity, Han Eun-Sol's job would've been so much easier!
“Are we there yet!” Choi Yeon-Ha sharply yelled again.
“W-we're almost there.”
Han Eun-Sol sneakily wiped the streams of sweat off his forehead after spotting the hotel's silhouette in the distance.
'The first thing I'm going to do after going home... is find another job!'
***
Bang!
'You're gonna break the door, noona...'
Han Eun-Sol had so many things he wanted to get off his chest. However, keeping them bottled up was the basis of getting along with the world. Especially when the only available person to talk to was Choi Yeon-Ha making a face that screamed, 'Rub me the wrong way, and I'm gonna teach you how Hell can descend to our reality, okay?!'
As Choi Yeon-Ha fearlessly stomped her way through the hotel's lobby, Han Eun-Sol quietly followed behind her and sighed under his breath.
'Just when... will this dang production finally wrap up?!'
It felt like he was stuck in an unending overseas deployment. However, at least he'd only have to worry about enemy fire as a soldier. In his current hellish assignment, he also had to withstand the allied force's friendly fire, too! And he couldn't even complain once about it. How unfair and terrible was that!
Click! Clack!
The noise of Choi Yeon-Ha's high heels smashing down on the granite floor of the hotel's lobby rang clearly in Han Eun-Sol's hearing. He wasn't sure how it sounded to other people, but to him... Those sharp click-clacks sounded like a heavenly hymn sung by a choir of angels.
Well, it indicated that his way-too-long day was about to come to an end, didn't it!
Of course, Han Eun-Sol would still have to perform various sundry chores even after Choi Yeon-Ha slipped inside her hotel room. However, that much was nothing to him. Well, at least when compared to the stress he must withstand on filming locations, that was!
“Argh...! What's wrong with the air in this place!”
...And Choi Yeon-Ha even began criticizing the perfectly-innocuous air, too!
Han Eun-Sol saw an urgent need to come up with a special response now that Choi Yeon-Ha was in that state. And no, his aim wasn't to extricate himself from this Hell. If her stress level was allowed to accumulate even more, Choi Yeon-Ha would eventually erupt with the force of a nuke!
'And that's not something I can allow to happen! Definitely not!'
If Choi Yeon-Ha went ballistic in Korea, things could still be placed under control, somehow. Even though social media was an ever-present force in South Korean society, unfounded and often unsavory rumors of female celebrities hadn't been stamped out yet. However, that also meant any story not published yet as an actual news piece could be dismissed as mere gossip regardless of its contents.
Choi Yeon-Ha's agency had generously peppered the entertainment reporters with gifts and bribes over the years, so any incident could be blocked from becoming the front page news... As long as said incident wasn't a bombshell event, that was!
Unfortunately, this was China, not South Korea. Even if Han Eun-Sol and the talent agency tirelessly worked to contain the situation, gagging every reporter in China would be asking for a miracle.
Reports of Choi Yeon-Ha causing an unsightly scene would flood the entertainment sites practically minutes afterward. And her public image would be utterly crushed in the process.
'Not to forget, this is China, you know!'
A leaky bucket was bound to leak wherever it went. However, if it was going to leak anyway... Wasn't it better for it to leak at home? At least that would save the bucket from international embarrassment!
Surely that Witch had zero awareness of her situation, and some people might scoff at this idea, but... Choi Yeon-Ha was in China as South Korea's representative actor. Cause a scene now, and she wouldn't be the only one losing face.
Han Eun-Sol couldn't call himself a patriot overflowing with national pride. However! He still wanted to avoid international embarrassment if he could.
“Oh...? Oh, my goodness!?!?”
'...! Argh, gimme a break! Why now?!'
Han Eun-Sol grimaced deeply at this sudden development.
The number one requirement in avoiding international embarrassment was shutting out any potential threats before they could materialize. Threats like... encountering fans from your own country in a hotel lobby in another country!
The group of people staggering toward Choi Yeon-Ha in shock and awe was obviously Korean. It seemed they were here as tourists.
“Oh, my goodness! Aren't you Miss Choi Yeon-Ha?”
Han Eun-Sol had to ponder his options seriously. Since Choi Yeon-Ha's moods were at the pits, should he block the tourists from closing the distance? Or...
He sneaked a quick glance at Choi Yeon-Ha's face, then sighed in relief.
“Oh! Yes, I am. Hello, everyone!” Choi Yeon-Ha greeted her fans with a bright smile.
“I knew it! I knew you were Miss Choi Yeon-Ha! It's a huge honor to meet you like this, miss! I'm sorry, but, uh... Can we bother you for an autograph?”
“Of course! Oh! Would you like to take selfies together as well?”
Choi Yeon-Ha had already switched to her professional mode and was smiling brightly while walking up to her fans. She even offered to take selfies with them, too.
'She can be such an enigma...'
Han Eun-Sol could only chuckle hollowly at this sight. Here was the stark demonstration of how Choi Yeon-Ha, despite her witch-like personality, could maintain the country's top actress position without too much trouble until now. And that was her going out of her way to offer service to her fans!
Even if rumors of her personality being rotten spread online, fans meeting her in real life would see how over-the-top friendly and engaging Choi Yeon-Ha was. And they would act as natural neutralizers to any bad rumors online by saying those things were all nonsense.
This wasn't a calculated move on Choi Yeon-Ha's part to create a protective shield around her using her fans. The way she dealt with people in her profession and how she spoke to her fans were so different that those two 'Choi Yeon-Has' might as well be totally different people altogether.
As proof, just take a look at her!
It'd be fine to simply give her fans one or two autographs and send them on their way. However, look at how Choi Yeon-Ha went out of her way to take several selfies with them! She was even changing the phone's angles as if she wasn't satisfied with the resulting images. She wasn't doing that to ensure the selfies would be perfect, though.
No, she was actually trying to find an angle where the poor 'squids' getting punished by being in the same frame as Choi Yeon-Ha could at least be presentable as human beings!
So many celebrities couldn't be bothered to take one photo with their fans. So, it was rather amazing to see a top celeb on the level of Choi Yeon-Ha go out of her way like this. Han Eun-Sol had witnessed every facet of Choi Yeon-Ha's facades she employed during all business-related matters, yet moments like this one still impressed him to no end.
'And what's more impressive is that she's not pretending or being a hypocrite, either...'
Impressive, in both the good and bad sense!
Once upon a time, Han Eun-Sol asked Choi Yeon-Ha if it wasn't difficult dealing with her fans like this. And what she said back then stayed with him even to this day.
“Is it difficult? Of course it is, you dummy. Do you have any idea how annoying and bothersome it is to smile brightly at fans when they rush up to you, totally oblivious about how tired you are? Let me tell you, I've thought about walking away without saying anything so many times before.”
“At least it's more tolerable when that happens after you finish your work for the day. Imagine when you're going somewhere on your much-deserved off day. Even after you cover up your face, people still somehow recognize who you are and come running for autographs. Whenever that happens, it feels like every CCTV camera in the world is watching only you. It's not for nothing that some celebs suffer from panic attacks.”
When Han Eun-Sol asked why she was going out of her way to treat her fans well, this was Choi Yeon-Ha's answer.
“Come on, now. Let's be honest here, okay? Am I a nice person? Or am I a super genius? I have nothing going for me other than my face. That's it. I only get to put food on my table because other people view me in a favorable light, okay?”
“You don't get what I'm saying? Okay, let me simplify it, then. Without my fans wanting to take selfies with me and get my autographs, I'll starve to death. It's all thanks to my fans that I get to shoot commercials and star in TV shows and movies. Humans obviously would act nice to those who give them money, right? Isn't that obvious?”
Han Eun-Sol chuckled softly while glancing at Choi Yeon-Ha busy changing her pose several times to take selfies with her fans.
What an amazing person she was. In various meanings, too.
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