Idol of the Heavenly One - Chapter 16.2
I fumbled around, trying to figure out how to open the door, when—
Creak—thud.
It must have been a one-touch door because it suddenly swung open and hit my suitcase.
Swoosh.
Without thinking, I glanced over at Baek Jae-heon. I was worried the loud sound might have bothered him.
“……”
Fortunately, Baek Jae-heon still had his eyes closed and didn’t react at all. Relieved, I opened my suitcase and started putting my clothes into the closet, careful not to make any more noise.
Some might wonder why a man who’s lived over fifty years is tiptoeing around, worried about bothering someone younger.
Well, it’s probably just a habit I never managed to shake from my previous life. Whenever I felt that someone might be uncomfortable because of me, I always ended up watching their mood and adjusting myself.
There hadn’t been a single day in my life when I wasn’t mindful of others.
I spent nineteen years in the orphanage and thirty-one years in school. Nineteen years worrying about survival, and for twenty of those thirty-one years, I was mindful about refusing things.
For someone like me, who never had the confidence to start a family, rejecting matchmaking offers or blind dates was exhausting. It would be one thing if it was just tiring, but I was always met with looks that seemed to say, “Who do you think you are to refuse this?” I spent a lot of time trying not to be disliked.
The remaining eleven years were spent being mindful simply because I was alone. Whenever coworkers had to take time off for family reasons, I was the one who covered for them. Naturally, I was the one who could do it, since I had no one waiting for me at home. No one ever said I had to, but maybe that was why I felt even more obligated to step in.
I had never been loved, but I didn’t want to be hated either.
Since Baek Jae-heon was someone I might have to work with for years to come, I didn’t want to risk creating even the smallest conflict. He already seemed to find me bothersome—yesterday, when we picked rooms, and even today—so I decided to just avoid making things uncomfortable for him.
Ugh. I quietly finished tidying up and stood up, planning to leave the room so Baek Jae-heon, who looked like he’d fallen asleep, could rest comfortably.
♬♪♪♩~
But then my phone suddenly started ringing loudly from my pocket.
“Yes, Mother…!”
Startled, I hurried to answer in a whisper and quickly stepped out of the room.
Baek Jae-heon… he didn’t wake up, right?
It was embarrassing enough that he’d caught me staring at his face earlier. From now on, I’d have to make sure our paths crossed as little as possible.
But that resolution was completely pointless because, just a few days later, I found out I had a shoot scheduled with Baek Jae-heon—just the two of us.
“After debut, there’ll be a behind-the-scenes video from the shoot, and the cameras will be rolling, so make sure to greet everyone properly and speak nicely on set.”
“Oh, uh, yes.”
It was still early morning, and I was already on edge, having gotten my hair and makeup done at the salon before heading to the studio. Hearing from the team leader that there’d be behind-the-scenes footage being filmed made my head feel strangely blank.
I’d been preparing for the debut teaser shoot for a while now, practicing facial expressions. I thought it would be like practicing stage expressions, just run through it a few times and I’d be fine, but I was dead wrong.
Melancholy, helplessness, hesitation, hope. Expressing emotions like these was harder than I expected. I’d lived a long life, so I figured I could manage if I just tried a few times, but apparently, anything I’d never experienced before was just as difficult in this life. Which meant I was more nervous than I expected to be.
Baek Jae-heon, on the other hand, looked completely at ease. Maybe he was born with that superstar aura, or maybe filming the first teaser a few days ago had loosened him up. Either way, he showed no signs of nerves. He didn’t even reply to the team leader’s reminders—just sat next to me with his eyes closed.
I knew he wasn’t actually sleeping.
But since neither the team leader nor the manager said anything about it, I just focused on myself.
Still, I worried for a moment. What if he later got caught in some controversy over his attitude and got completely dragged by the public? But then I glanced at his face. With that face, any controversy would be forgotten in no time.
I should just focus on myself. A scandal for someone with a face like that would just be living up to his looks. A scandal for me, on the other hand, would just be pathetic.
“Is this the last teaser model?”
After arriving at the studio and making the rounds to greet everyone, the director I had greeted first came over and asked the team leader standing next to me.
“Yes, this is him.”
“Ah, now I see why you saved him for last.”
The director scanned me from head to toe, then smiled and gave me a thumbs-up.
“That’s it. You’ve got the face that reels them in.”
“…Sorry?”
“The type that draws in fans.”
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