Chapter 25:
Even while they were having a meal together, Choi Yoojin kept glancing at Yoo Yeon Seo. Whenever their eyes met, he smiled so brightly that it seemed like petals were fluttering around him.
‘So, she’s happy, right?’
Just because he called her mother?
Yoo Yeon Seo was dumbfounded, but he pretended to be calm on the outside. In fact, he had thought of all kinds of things while riding Yoo Eunho’s car.
She seemed to treat him well in front of him, but who knows what she did behind his back? The chaebols he knew in this era were either fighting over shares with their blood relatives, covering up corruption for someone, or having illegitimate children.
But Choi Yoojin now… she showed a different side from what she had suspected. Is that all fake? If that’s fake, she deserves an acting award…
<Master, it’s not good to blindly trust the media you saw in the past.>
‘Isn’t that based on some reality?’
<Well, I don’t think it’s appropriate for the current situation.>
He even got scolded by Beta. He felt like an old lady who couldn’t distinguish between reality and drama and cursed at the villain actor.
He felt humiliated by a machine. I’m a future person from 2207, and the only thing I could refer to in this era was that.
“So, how was France?”
“I went there too often, so I got a little bored. But the weather was nice.”
The family seemed to get along well. Chairman Yoo Changho seemed to like Choi Yoojin more than Yoo Gunmin, and Yoo Gunmin and Yoo Eunho also showed respect for him.
When they were talking about work for a while, the one who cared for the left out Yoo Yeon Seo was Choi Yoojin.
“By the way, Yeon Seo, you’re in a movie, right? How is it?”
“It seems like the shooting will end this week.”
“Really? I wanted to take care of the production too… Please let me do it for the next movie.”
Oh, Choi Yoojin is a media chaebol. She distributes ‘White Tiger’ through JSENM. Come to think of it, there was a movie that got criticized for monopolizing the screen before, and that was also starring Yoo Yeon Seo.
They said they broke even with the long-term screen monopoly… It was a talent to waste such a born background.
“It’s okay, mother. Thank you for your concern.”
“My goodness… Did you hear that?”
Choi Yoojin covered her mouth again. She patted Yoo Gunmin’s shoulder with her other hand and made a fuss.
She was technically his mother, but it would be weird to say this, but she honestly looked a bit… cheap.
Chairman Yoo, who seemed to be strict, also smiled warmly at his beloved daughter-in-law. Hmm, this atmosphere is unfamiliar. Yoo Yeon Seo decided to focus on eating.
“So, what are you going to do after the shooting is over?”
“I have to rest and prepare for going back to school.”
He promised anyway. The mood of the whole family sitting at the table looked good at the casual words.
He had only seen his grandson being rebellious, but seeing him become so obedient, Chairman Yoo’s mouth reached his ears.
“Good. Make sure you attend all the family events. Your brother always attends, but what if you miss it?”
“Yes, well…”
“Good.”
Yoo Yeon Seo made an awkward expression. I can’t keep up with this warm atmosphere.
“By the way, my nephew is getting engaged.”
“Really? I heard it from Chairman Park.”
“It would be nice to go together!”
“Did you hear that? Stay by your mother’s side then.”
How bad was his relationship with Choi Yoojin that they all tried to push them together? Yoo Yeon Seo nodded vaguely. The family smiled gently.
‘Hehe…’
Yoo Yeon Seo decided to give up thinking.
“Then I’ll go. Grandfather.”
“You still have a long way to go before you go back to school, so come often.”
“If I have time.”
He finished the meal in a suffocating atmosphere and followed Yoo Eunho out. At least the food went down well, so he didn’t think he would get sick.
“Um… Yeon Seo.”
“Yes, mother.”
She’s happy again. I can’t get used to it.
“Well… Do you want to go to JMA with me this time?”
“JMA?”
JMA was an end-of-year music awards show hosted by JSENM, a cable channel under JSENM. The recipients were singers, but the presenters were always actors or influential people. Yoo Yeon Seo, an actor, also participated as a presenter sometimes.
He had plenty of time anyway, since he was going to rest and take acting lessons and memory synchronization after the movie shooting was over. He was also curious about the awards show.
“Yes, sure. I’ll go with you.”
“Good. Both of you, be careful.”
Choi Yoojin’s expression brightened even more and she hugged Yoo Eunho lightly and went inside. He could hear the laughter of his grandfather and father from outside.
“Um… brother.”
Yoo Yeon Seo, who got in Yoo Eunho’s car and fastened his seat belt, asked casually.
“Is she always like that?”
“No. She must be in a good mood because you changed.”
Yoo Eunho chuckled. He found it amusing to watch his brother, who couldn’t adapt and fidgeted. Did the adults not know? They almost teased Yoo Yeon Seo on purpose by being overly friendly.
“How was I before?”
“Um, you were very uncooperative.”
“Don’t say that, but tell me.”
“I think this is the first time you called her mother properly.”
Ah, he could feel that when he had dinner before. Yoo Yeon Seo sighed. It seemed like it would take a lot of time to adapt to this atmosphere.
“You’ve seen her a few times since our father remarried, but you didn’t have enough time to adjust to our stepmother.”
“Really?”
Yoo Eunho nodded. At that time, Yoo Yeon Seo was going through puberty, and he avoided meeting his stepmother by coming home late.
Choi Yoojin tried to get along with her sons, but she was busy growing JSENM, which had just launched. Then, when Yoo Changho and Yoo Gunmin went on a long overseas business trip for an important matter, Yoo Yeon Seo suddenly joined an agency and debuted.
“About seven years ago… You had a big fight with your grandfather and went astray, and we never saw each other again. You never came.”
“Well, that’s…”
“I’m not blaming you. I just hope you keep doing what you’re doing now.”
Choi Yoojin cared for Yoo Yeon Seo as well as Yoo Eunho. Was it not that he did something behind his back, but that he couldn’t approach him because Yoo Yeon Seo put up a wall?
Wait, seven years ago, was that during the OneSeven era? It seemed like he was talking about the time when he quit because of his grandfather.
‘Anyway, family is too hard.’
His thoughts became tangled and his head became complicated. He still felt burdened by the unconditional love that poured out to him.
***
“Cut! Hankyul, that was good.”
Lee Hankyul, who had been spacing out and making a lot of NGs, finally returned to his original calm state on the last day of shooting.
‘He was out of it for a while. He’s better now.’
Did the fans coming into the set shock him that much? Even though they were rude enough to barge into the shooting area, the buffet food was delicious.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve never seen my fans.’
Let alone Park Minwoo’s fans, who sent a coffee truck and took pictures with him, calling him ‘actor-nim’.
He took out his phone and searched for his name. He wasn’t sorry for not getting any support, but he wondered if he had any fans with such a rude personality.
-Have you seen the buffet support review?
I want to send support to the gallery owner too
└2222
└I don’t know much about Twitter, but why can’t we send support?
└└The gallery owner said he only accepts support from people who have more money than him
└└└Oh, that’s;; not easy
-But what’s the gallery owner doing these days?
I know he’s filming a movie?? But he hasn’t posted anything on SNS since the accident??
└I miss his face??
└I miss the gallery???
└I’m having withdrawal symptoms since he suddenly stopped posting on SNS;;
The fan community posts were lively. But SNS? What’s SNS? As he opened the search window, someone suddenly approached him from behind.
“What are you looking at, hyung?”
Geez. He flinched and tensed his shoulders. Park Minwoo, who had finished shooting, was waiting for the last group photo.
“Just, the fans’ reactions?”
“You look at the fans’ reactions too, hyung? Your fans love you so much.”
“Yeah? They’re crying because I didn’t post anything on SNS?”
“SNS? Oh, social media. You used to post a lot, hyung.”
The reporters made articles out of anything he posted on social media, so even Park Minwoo, who wasn’t interested in Yoo Yeon Seo, knew that.
Yoo Yeon Seo posted at least five times a day, but most of them were showing off his face and his new luxury goods.
“How about taking a selfie with me and posting it, hyung? It’ll be good for promoting the movie.”
“Should I?”
“Give me your phone, hyung.”
Yoo Yeon Seo obediently handed over his phone. He took a close-up selfie with Park Minwoo and entered his social media account.
“Please follow my account too, hyung.”
Park Minwoo didn’t say it with a pure heart. Yoo Yeon Seo had one of the top five follower counts in Korea, so he wanted to promote himself too.
‘And… he’s not as bad as the director said.’
Park Minwoo wanted to work with Yoo Yeon Seo in the next project if possible. The production budget was abundant because of Yoo Yeon Seo, so the shooting site was comfortable, and his acting was surprisingly good.
“What’s this, let me in too.”
As they were seriously choosing a picture, Lee Hankyul squeezed in between them. In the end, Yoo Yeon Seo posted a picture of the three of them together on his social media and closed the app.
“Good job, everyone!”
After a few minor shootings, the filming of ‘White Tiger’ was finally over. The actors, writers, and directors gathered in the middle and took a group photo with all the staff.
“Our Yeon Seo prepared a gift for the staff, so please get it over there.”
“Thank you!”
“We’ll use it well!”
Lee Taegyeom suggested giving gifts to all the staff to make up for his previous dog excuse, and it was accepted because it was a reasonable proposal.
The staff cheered and Yoo Yeon Seo smiled slightly and nodded. The gifts were some essentials for shooting and a card wallet from a luxury brand he was an ambassador for.
“Yeon Seo.”
“Director.”
Park Hojin, who had tears in his eyes, had a lot to say to Yoo Yeon Seo. He wanted to thank him for choosing his work and making him debut, but he felt like Yoo Yeon Seo wouldn’t like to hear that.
He thought he would say, ‘Why is that my merit?’ with a rough face. That’s how much his impression of Yoo Yeon Seo had changed in his mind.
Yoo Yeon Seo had returned to being a diligent actor after skipping the shooting without notice. His changed acting and sincere attitude also improved his image among the staff.
“Will you work with me again in the next project?”
“Well, if it’s a good project.”
Yoo Yeon Seo didn’t think ‘White Tiger’ was bad. First of all, the situation was similar to his Kang Jinho era, and it was meaningful because it was the first work he participated in since he came to this era.
“Yes, I’ll definitely bring you a good script. See you next year for the promotion.”
Yoo Yeon Seo nodded at Park Hojin’s words.
The staff of ‘White Tiger’ would work as the staff of other works. And they would talk about Yoo Yeon Seo’s changed personality.
But Yoo Yeon Seo was a bit different, right?
They would say.
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