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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: The Flawless Man
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Seonghyeok noticed Yeongin's eyes widen, realizing this wasn't agreed upon. His gaze returned to Jingyo.
"Don't you need an on-site manager?"
"That's right."
"Team Leader Chae is not an on-site manager."
Without a reply, Jingyo asked Yeongin, who was seated opposite him.
"You *won't* do it, not that you *can't*, right?"
"Yes."
"You know I'm not much trouble, right?"
"I know."
Jingyo's lips curved into a smile.
"Then do it for me."
He added a remark before Yeongin could even reply.
"I'll drive too. You won't have any burden at all."
Seonghyeok, who had been listening silently, interjected.
"Then why do you need Team Leader Chae?"
Jingyo turned his head to Seonghyeok and replied with a gentle smile.
"I'm a bit shy around strangers."
Yeongin chuckled inwardly, listening to him say something she couldn't empathize with at all. If he was shy around strangers, then no one in the world wasn't.
"And it's fun to be with Yeongin. The 'care' I mentioned just now was mental care."
Seonghyeok had no intention of letting Chae Yeongin be Seo Jingyo's mental caretaker. First, he decided to send away the person who wasn't helpful for *his own* mental well-being.
"I need to speak with Team Leader Chae privately. Would you mind stepping out?"
"Understood."
As Jingyo nodded and stood up, Yeongin also sprang up to follow.
"I'll show you to the reception room."
Seonghyeok immediately stopped her.
"That's the secretary's job."
While Yeongin silently screamed, *Why are you treating this godsend so poorly?*, Seonghyeok called his secretary on the key phone. The secretary entered the office immediately.
"Yes, Daepyo-nim."
"Please escort Actor Seo Jingyo to the reception room."
Yeongin knew that if she defied Seonghyeok here, the atmosphere would be ruined. So, she could only watch silently as Jingyo followed the secretary out.
"You'll stare a hole through the door. Look at me, won't you?"
She turned to see his furrowed brows, a clear sign of displeasure.
"Sit down."
Seonghyeok asked Yeongin, who had sat back down.
"Are you really going to be Seo Jingyo's on-site manager too?"
"Yes, what's there that I can't do?"
"If Seo Jingyo doesn't sign with SL Entertainment, you won't be able to even if you want to."
"..."
Yeongin was speechless, dumbfounded by his absurd assumption. She felt utterly lost, wondering how to dissuade him.
"I'm not really keen on it, but do we *have* to sign this contract?"
The fortunate thing was that he hadn't definitively said he wouldn't sign the contract. She could guess he wanted a specific answer, but she had no intention of giving it to him.
"You absolutely must."
His thick eyebrows curved sharply, indicating his displeasure.
"Why?"
"Because there isn't a single company that would refuse Actor Seo Jingyo, especially when he came directly to sign a contract."
"If you look hard enough, you'll probably find one."
When Seonghyeok responded indifferently, Yeongin decided to play hardball. It was all or nothing.
"If you let this contract fall through, I'll quit the company."
Seonghyeok's eyes turned cold.
"Why? Are you going to quit and start your own company just to recruit Seo Jingyo?"
"Yes."
Of course, it was a lie. Pushing so aggressively, even resorting to a lie, was entirely for Seonghyeok's sake.
Yeongin was certain that the fact he had recruited Actor Seo Jingyo after becoming Daepyo would help solidify his position. Even if he himself wasn't interested.
"Don't even dream of it. I'll do whatever it takes to stop you from quitting."
A resigned sigh escaped Yeongin's lips.
"Then just sign the contract. What's the problem?"
"You're the problem."
Seonghyeok irritably crossed his legs and continued.
"I don't like you being in charge of Seo Jingyo, and I certainly can't let you be his on-site manager for a month."
"Please separate your public and private lives."
"I have no intention of doing that. My very decision to come here was full of personal motives, so how can you tell me to separate public and private matters when it concerns you?"
He felt a little unfairly treated, belatedly.
"Did you tell Seo Jingyo?"
"Tell him what?"
"To separate his public and private lives."
"..."
Yeongin realized that Jingyo's actions were, strictly speaking, personal rather than professional, and yet she had only lectured Seonghyeok.
In any case, Cha Seonghyeok was a man who excelled at leaving her speechless in many ways.
"I'm not keen on it, but this time, I'll do as you say."
He was also a man who knew how to back down at crucial moments.
"Really?"
"Don't look so happy. It makes me want to change my mind."
"..."
Yeongin quickly shut her mouth.
Just as Yeongin didn't want to miss the contract with Jingyo for Seonghyeok's sake, Seonghyeok backed down for Yeongin's sake. He knew that recruiting Seo Jingyo would elevate Yeongin's standing within the company.
Neither of them had any idea that their choices were for each other.
"Tell the legal team to prepare the contract."
Seonghyeok stood up, hoping that Seo Jingyo wouldn't have any significant schedules for the next month.
***
Seo Jingyo and SL Entertainment smoothly signed an exclusive contract.
The status of Management Team 5 rapidly rose, and some of the credit went to Seonghyeok as well.
As Seonghyeok had hoped, Jingyo's schedule wasn't very busy. Since wrapping up filming late last year, he had only been doing occasional commercial and photoshoot work.
The commercial shoot, where Yeongin was acting as an on-site manager for the first time in a while, was near the Yangsuri riverside.
When a problem with the camera settings delayed the shoot, Jingyo, who was waiting in the car, suggested a walk around the area to Yeongin and the stylist.
The stylist flatly refused, saying it was too much trouble, and only Yeongin followed him. She was tired, having only slept two hours while reviewing the script Seonghyeok had given her access to, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him to go alone.
The two got out of the car and walked side by side.
"I'll drive on the way back, Seonbae."
Jingyo had truly insisted on driving himself this morning, and Yeongin ultimately couldn't stop him.
"I told Daepyo-nim I'd drive. Are you trying to make me out to be unreliable?"
"What does that matter?"
"Why wouldn't it matter? I'm a man of my word."
The two stood a little distance from where the shoot preparations were in full swing, gazing at the calm river.
As Yeongin was deeply immersed in the quiet and peaceful scenery, Jingyo asked her.
"Cha Seonghyeok Daepyo, he's *that* person, isn't he?"
Yeongin turned her head towards him.
"Your ex-boyfriend."
For a fleeting moment, Yeongin's pupils trembled. But she quickly regained her composure. Seeing the certainty in his eyes, rather than a probing look, strangely put her at ease.
"That's right."
Yeongin readily admitted it and returned the question to Jingyo.
"How did you know?"
"You said it yourself, a while ago. That I had a similar vibe to him."
On the day they first met, Jingyo had felt a similar vibe from Seonghyeok. While their appearances were completely different, their way of speaking and overall atmosphere had a subtle resemblance.
"I said that to Seonbae?"
"You might not remember. You said it casually while we were drinking."
He remembered Yeongin's answer to his question about what kind of man he was.
"He was a truly wonderful person. Someone I could never dare to aspire to..."
The self-deprecating smile he saw that day was still unforgettable.
"I don't know why seeing Seonbae makes me think of him."
"Do I resemble him?"
"Our faces are different, our personalities are different, but there's a subtly similar feeling about you."
The look in her eyes as she gazed at his face while saying that was etched into his heart.
Ever since that day, every time he met Yeongin, he wondered. Just how incredible was that man?
It wasn't just simple curiosity or interest. In fact, his dissatisfaction was greater. How great must that man be for Yeongin to still not be able to forget him?
He was jealous of the man whose name and face he didn't even know, and he resented him. *Because of you, whom I don't even know, I haven't been able to confess even once.*
This was because he knew that confessing his feelings to a woman who held another man in her heart would only result in rejection.
"It's an honor to be told I'm similar to such a great person, isn't it?"
The first time he saw Cha Seonghyeok, he had a hunch, and the second time, he was certain. Though he hated to admit it, he had to nod, thinking that for Chae Yeongin to say "someone I could never dare to aspire to," this man had to be *this* remarkable.
"I'm sorry, Seonbae. I don't remember saying it, but I didn't mean it in a bad way."
"I know you didn't. I wasn't offended."
Only bitter.
Perhaps it was because he now understood why Chae Yeongin, who drew clear lines and built walls with most people to the point of seeming cold, was a little more lenient with him.
"Cha Daepyo, what did you like about him?"
Yeongin pondered for a moment before answering.
"Because he was a man without flaws?"
When she first saw Cha Seonghyeok in her first year of middle school, he seemed like someone living in a different world from her. She was surprised by his appearance, and then surprised again when she heard about his family background.
When she learned he was good at both academics and sports, it was almost astonishing. But that was all. She didn't admire him like her older sister, nor did she look up to him like her older brother.
But one autumn, when she was twenty-three, he asked her to date him. She didn't start because she liked him, but over time, she grew to like him. So much so that it sometimes made her afraid.
"Does that mean he's perfect?"
Yeongin simply nodded silently.
Perhaps it was because she felt incomplete herself. She liked being loved by a man who was perfect in everyone's eyes. Of course, it wasn't *only* good.
"That's why I also disliked it. Because it made me feel even more inadequate."
It was at that moment a low voice came from behind her.
"I've developed a flaw because of you, so what do I do?"
Startled, Yeongin quickly spun around.
The man standing there casually, hands in his pockets, was Cha Seonghyeok.
