In truth, Seoyeon was quite tolerant.
While she tended to remember things that annoyed her for a long time, she rarely expressed those feelings in the moment.
Especially if the behavior wasn’t directly targeted at her, she’d usually just let it slide.
What truly angered Seoyeon was when harm came to the people around her.
For example, when Cha Nahui was being bullied during Summer Girl, Seoyeon stepped in.
And more recently, she’d been upset about the way Jo Seohui was treated by her father.
Of course, in Seohui’s case, she could at least understand where her father was coming from.
In any case—
"I’ve never been to Korea before. It feels so different from Japan."
"Do you visit Japan often?"
"Huh? No? It’s my first time in Japan too. Honestly, I’m not that interested in Asia."
Even with such an attitude from the golden-haired girl, Seoyeon could let it pass.
After all, she was undeniably beautiful, and somehow, that made her demeanor feel oddly fitting.
‘If ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ she’s not interested in Asia, why did she bother learning the languages?’
From what Seoyeon could tell, Stella wasn’t just fluent in Korean.
She could also speak Japanese and Chinese, making her trilingual.
When Seoyeon asked why, Stella just smiled and offered no real explanation.
Golden bobbed hair, a height just slightly shorter than Seoyeon’s, and an age probably a year or two older.
That summed up what Seoyeon knew about Stella so far.
While Stella chattered away, Seoyeon looked her up on Wikipedia and found her career to be nothing short of extraordinary.
Best Actress at the Berlin International Film Festival at the age of eight.
It was such an unbelievable accomplishment that Seoyeon struggled to wrap her head around it.
Back when Seoyeon was hailed as a child prodigy, all she’d done was star in The Moon that Hides the Sun.
‘Though I was seven at the time.’
Not that an extra year would have made her win Best Actress at Berlin.
Still, she’d won an award in Korea, so she wasn’t dissatisfied with her past.
"Oh~, this is popular, right?"
Stella pointed at a small street stall selling tteokbokki.
With Korean culture spreading worldwide, it seemed Stella had heard of it somewhere.
"So what?"
"Huh? I’m looking at you because I want you to buy it for me."
"You could just buy it yourself."
"Ahaha, what? You’re so cold. I was just joking."
So it was a joke this time.
Regardless, Stella didn’t seem to hesitate to spend money.
It would’ve been strange if a global star was strapped for cash, after all.
Taking a few bites of the tteokbokki she’d bought in a paper cup, Stella frowned.
"Mm~. The texture’s not for me."
With that, she moved to toss the barely touched tteokbokki into a nearby trash can.
Seeing this, Seoyeon stopped her.
"Why?"
"It’s wasteful."
Seoyeon glanced at the face of the stall’s owner, an older woman, who didn’t look pleased.
Stella’s action would’ve seemed rude, so Seoyeon felt compelled to intervene.
"How curious."
"What is?"
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"You're not the type to care about wasting food like this, are you? From what I can see, you’re pretty successful here."
Holding the cup of tteokbokki, Stella glanced around.
At that moment, an advertisement featuring Seoyeon appeared on the screen of a nearby cosmetics store.
It was an ad for Éclat Étoile cosmetics.
Nearby, a large poster of Sky Garden and a commercial for ADZ furniture also caught her eye.
Seoyeon felt a bit embarrassed.
There were far more ads with her face plastered on them than she had realized.
"Anyway, if you’re going to throw it away, just give it to me."
"Nope. I’ll eat it."
"Didn’t you just say you didn’t like it?"
"Still don’t want to give it to you."
What was this?
She was such a self-centered young lady.
Honestly, it reminded Seoyeon of the mindset of a chaebol heiress, like Jo Seohui might have.
‘Though this feels a little different.’
It was hard to understand what Stella was thinking with that constant, playful smile.
Seoyeon even doubted whether Stella had really planned to throw the tteokbokki away.
Maybe she was just testing Seoyeon’s reaction.
‘But seriously, what am I supposed to do with her?’
Now wandering the streets of Hongdae with Stella, Seoyeon was at a loss.
She called Manager Park Eunha for help.
[Huh? Did I hear you right? You’re with someone?]
[Stella Baldwin. She said she came to Korea alone from Japan.]
[Stella Baldwin? You mean the Stella Baldwin? The actress? With you? Really? This isn’t April Fools’ Day, is it?]
[It’s not a joke. It’s real.]
[Wait a second. Let me look into this. Please keep an eye on her for now!]
Park Eunha disappeared with those words, likely running around to figure out how to handle the situation.
By now, Seoyeon was finding this amusing.
"Hey, come over here with your tteokbokki for a second."
"You’re really bossy, you know that? No thanks."
"That’s fine. I already took the picture."
"...What? No way. Did you really?"
Just as Stella turned with the tteokbokki in hand, Seoyeon snapped a photo with a V-sign, using Stella as the backdrop.
The whole thing happened in the blink of an eye, leaving Stella bewildered.
What just happened?
Ignoring Stella’s flustered chatter, Seoyeon uploaded the photo to the Kyungsung Lady group chat.
(A photo of Seoyeon making a V-sign, with Stella holding tteokbokki in the background.)Then she waited.
Hearing the continuous vibration of her phone, Seoyeon glanced at Stella, suddenly finding the cheeky fairy somewhat endearing.
‘This is why people buy luxury goods.’
Not particularly useful, but perfect for showing off to others—a woman who was like an impulsively purchased designer handbag.
"Excuse me."
Just as Seoyeon was chuckling to herself, someone called out.
It wasn’t directed at her.
After all, she was disguised.
Two men approached Stella, who was eating her tteokbokki with a frown.
"Hey, she’s a foreigner."
"Should we speak in English? Damn, she’s stunning."
They weren’t talking directly to Stella, but muttering to each other in low voices.
Only someone like Seoyeon, close by, would’ve heard them.
"The one next to her has great style too, huh?"
"Why’s her face covered? Anyway, I’ll try talking to her again."
As Stella ignored them and started walking away, one of the men approached her again.
"Excuse me? Hello?"
"Don’t you think it’d be more fun to hang out with us? Two girls together must get boring."
Watching their clumsy attempts, Seoyeon was stunned.
‘Is this what they call hitting on someone?’
This was her first time witnessing it.
And in broad daylight in Hongdae, no less.
‘Don’t guys like this usually show up at night?’
It was strange, but Seoyeon found it oddly fascinating.
After all, when she went out with Jiyeon or Jo Seohui, no one ever approached them.
The three of them had such intimidating auras that people usually avoided them.
But now, she was seeing these men boldly approach Stella.
‘Maybe it’s because of Stella’s aura.’
Stella had a gentler, more approachable vibe.
Her angelic face seemed to draw people in without them realizing it.
The only problem was that hardly anyone seemed to recognize Stella for who she truly was.
‘Well, who’d think the Fairy of the Century would be eating tteokbokki on a Korean street?’
As Seoyeon watched, curious about how Stella would respond, Stella turned to the men with wide eyes.
"What? You guys speak Korean?"
"Uh... yeah? We’re Korean."
"Oh? Really? Ah, sorry. My mistake."
Smiling brightly, she stared up at them.
Her overwhelming beauty made the men take a step back.
"I thought you were foreigners since Korean men are supposed to be handsome."
Though she hadn’t insulted them outright, the men looked as if they’d been slapped.
"Uh, what the hell?"
"Man, we ran into a total nutcase this morning."
Muttering curses, they slinked away.
It seemed the attention from nearby onlookers had deterred them from making more of a scene.
‘Too bad. I was curious to see what Stella would’ve done if things escalated.’
Not that Stella looked like she’d be any good in a fight.
Still, as an actress, maybe she carried some self-defense tools?
"Where’d you hear that Korean men are handsome?"
"Hmm? From other actors. But honestly, I don’t see it."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, all Asians look the same, don’t they?"
The casual racism slipped out so naturally that Seoyeon froze for a second.
"Well, to us, all Westerners look the same too."
"Huh, really? I guess that makes sense. But I’m different, right?"
Stella shrugged, radiating a self-confidence that bordered on absurd.
"And you’re different too. In a lot of ways."
Her next words carried a strange weight.
"Actually, it’s not just Asians. To be honest, I can’t tell most people apart. Everyone looks the same to me."
Pointing at Seoyeon with the toothpick she’d been using for the tteokbokki, Stella added:
"But you’re definitely different. I can see why my dad’s interested in you."
Of all the things she’d said so far, that might have been the most genuine.
But her ever-present smile made it impossible to read her true intentions.
Even Seoyeon, usually good at deciphering people’s emotions, couldn’t figure her out.
Most of Stella’s behavior felt like a performance.
After spending the rest of their time in Hongdae, Manager Park Eunha finally got back to Seoyeon.
[Could you stay with Stella until she heads back to Japan?]
Apparently, leaving her alone at the hotel was too worrisome, and trying to take her anywhere else had been met with resistance.
It seemed Stella had decided she was fine staying with Seoyeon for now.
"Oh, did they just call you?"
When Seoyeon finished her call, Stella spoke with a knowing grin, making Seoyeon want to smack her over the head.
+++++
Stella's trip to Korea had been purely impulsive.
She left a message at the hotel desk where she was staying with her father, Asher Baldwin, saying she was heading to Korea. Then, without hesitation, she boarded a flight.
Her reason for coming wasn’t particularly grand.
It was simply because this was the second time Asher Baldwin had taken such a keen interest in an actor.
The first had been her.
And the second was Ju Seoyeon.
Stella had seen Seoyeon’s cameo performance in a Japanese production that had caught Asher’s attention.
‘Hmm, she really is different.’
There was a faint sense of boredom in her reaction, but that didn’t diminish her acknowledgment of Seoyeon’s talent.
Perhaps Seoyeon had tailored her acting to suit Japanese sensibilities.
Every culture has its own expectations for acting styles, and Japan’s preferences often lean toward performances that feel more fantastical than grounded in reality.
Japanese movies and dramas often feature acting reminiscent of live-action anime, an evolution shaped by what their audience seeks.
While Stella understood this cultural aspect, she personally didn’t enjoy Japan’s characteristic acting style.
It wasn’t just that it felt emotionally immature to her; she’d simply never encountered an actor who could execute it in a way that resonated with her.
"But this... this definitely strikes a chord."
That was how she felt.
And when she met Seoyeon in person, she was everything Stella had anticipated.
Her inability to distinguish most faces wasn’t a lie.
Stella couldn’t perceive ordinary people clearly—they all appeared as dull, monochrome figures.
Seoyeon, however, stood out like a vivid crimson flame amidst that sea of gray.
Naturally, Stella had planned a little event for her.
She’d come to Korea impulsively, all to meet Seoyeon, but her trip wasn’t solely about that.
There was something else she needed to do in Korea, something also related to Seoyeon.
"But isn’t this a bit much?"
Stella grumbled as she glanced at Seoyeon, who was sound asleep on the bed.
She’d been relegated to sleeping on the floor while Seoyeon claimed the bed.
Wasn’t it customary to let the guest sleep on the bed?
And she wasn’t even allowed to wear shoes indoors.
Muttering her complaints internally, Stella stared at the sleeping Seoyeon.
"......."
As if sensing Stella’s gaze, Seoyeon’s crimson eyes suddenly opened, staring directly at her.
‘W-when did she wake up?’
The piercing look startled Stella, sending a chill down her spine.
Feeling spooked, she slowly slid under the blanket on the floor, deciding to pretend she hadn’t seen anything.
The next day.
Before leaving Korea, Stella met with Lee Jiyeon and Jo Seohui.
Looking at the three women, including Ju Seoyeon, Stella remarked casually:
"What the heck, all Asians really do look alike. If this were Puyo Puyo, you’d all have popped by now."