NOVEL NEXT Chapter 228
Actually, Seo-yeon is quite generous.
She may hold onto things that she doesn’t like for a while, but generally, she doesn’t say much about them in the moment.
Most importantly, if someone’s actions seem targeted at her, she tends to overlook a lot.
Seo-yeon gets angry mostly when it affects the people close to her.
For example, when Cha Na-hee was bullied in ‘Summer Girl’, she was quite upset about it.
Most recently, she felt a bit angry about the way Jo Seo-hee was treated by her father.
Of course, in Jo Seo-hee’s case, the reasons were pretty understandable from her father’s perspective.
Anyway.
“I’m in Korea for the first time, you know? But it feels different from Japan.”
“You’ve been to Japan often?”
“Huh? No? This is my first time in Japan too! Honestly, I’m not really interested in Asia.”
Even when the blonde girl shows such an attitude, it’s easy to be forgiving.
Plus, she’s pretty enough that it somehow fits.
‘If you’re not interested in Asia, why did you learn the language?’
It turns out she doesn’t only speak Korean.
She seems capable of speaking three languages: Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.
When asked about it, she only smiles without giving a proper answer.
She has blonde hair in a short cut.
She’s just a bit shorter than Seo-yeon.
Is she a year or two older than Seo-yeon?
That’s about the extent of the information on Stella.
While Stella babbled, I searched for her on Wiki and found that her career is nothing short of impressive.
She won a leading role award at the Berlin Film Festival when she was eight.
Honestly, it’s a career that’s hard to grasp.
At the time, she’d only filmed ‘The Moon That Hid the Sun’ as a child prodigy.
‘Of course, I was seven then.’
But even if she had one more year of experience, I doubt she would have won that leading role at the Berlin Film Festival.
Well, at least Seo-yeon won a domestic award around that same time, so she has no complaints.
“Ah~, this is really popular, right?”
She pointed at a small tteokbokki stand on the street.
Recently, as Korean culture has spread worldwide, it seems Stella has heard of it somewhere.
“But?”
“Huh? I was hoping you’d buy it for me?”
“Can’t you just buy it with your own money?”
“Ahaha, what? You’re too cold. I was joking.”
Was that a joke this time?
Anyway, it looked like she had brought some money with her and wasn’t shy about buying something.
After all, it would be silly for a global star to be broke.
After Stella tried a few bites of the tteokbokki in a paper cup, she said,
“Uh~. The texture isn’t to my taste.”
She said that and attempted to toss it into a nearby trash can.
Since there was still quite a bit left, Seo-yeon stopped Stella from doing that.
“Why?”
“It’d be a waste.”
Then, Seo-yeon looked at the face of the lady who had just served the tteokbokki.
Seeing Stella about to toss it, the lady’s expression had soured, and Seo-yeon naturally had to intervene.
“That’s amazing.”
“Yeah?”
“You can’t be that careless to toss it away, right? I can see you seem to be doing pretty well here.”
Holding the cup containing the tteokbokki, Stella looked around for a moment.
Then, an advertisement featuring Seo-yeon appeared in a nearby cosmetics store.
It was an ad for ‘Éclat Étoile’.
Additionally, there was a prominent sign for the ‘Sky Garden’ poster along with an advertisement for Aids chairs.
Seeing that, Seo-yeon felt a bit embarrassed.
No, it turns out her photo appears on more advertisements than she expected.
“Anyway, if you’re going to throw it away, just give it to me.”
“Nope, I don’t want to. I’m going to eat it.”
“But you said it’s not your taste?”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to give it away.”
What’s that?
She’s a completely willful young lady.
Honestly, isn’t that the mindset of a wealthy heiress that Jo Seo-hee would have?
‘No, it might be a bit different than that.’
Seeing her chat so cheerfully, I honestly couldn’t tell what she was really thinking.
I even wondered if she was actually intending to throw it away or if she was testing how Seo-yeon would react.
‘What should I do with her?’
At this point, Seo-yeon and Stella had made their way to Hongdae.
I had no clue how to handle Stella, so I contacted Manager Park Eun-ha.
[Huh? Did I hear that wrong? Who are you with?]
[Stella Baldwin. She said she came to Korea alone from Japan.]
[Stella Baldwin? That Stella Baldwin I know? Seriously, she’s with Seo-yeon right now? No way! It’s not April Fool’s Day today, right?]
[I’m not lying; it’s true.]
With that, Park Eun-ha left another message before disappearing.
She was probably busy running around trying to resolve this situation.
By now, Seo-yeon seemed to be having a bit of fun as well.
“Hey, come over here with that tteokbokki and stand by me.”
“You command me very naturally. Not cool.”
“It’s fine; I already took the picture.”
“……What? Are you kidding? Really?”
Just as Stella was turning around holding the tteokbokki, Seo-yeon took a picture with her in the background, giving a peace sign.
That moment was literally the blink of an eye, leaving Stella startled.
Wait, how did she just do that?
Anyway, Seo-yeon ignored Stella’s queries about how she did it and uploaded the photo just taken to the ‘Gyeongseong Young Lady’ chat.
– Hanging out with Stella Baldwin in Hongdae ( ᎔˘꒳˘᎔)
(Photos of Stella holding tteokbokki and Seo-yeon making a peace sign)
After posting on KakaoTalk, she quietly waited.
– What? Joo Seo-yeon? Is that photoshopped?
– Seo-yeon, is the person next to you really the actress Stella Baldwin?
– Yup.
– Don’t just respond with ‘yup’. If it’s real, why is Stella in Korea? I heard she was in Japan!
– Hold on. I can’t go to Hongdae because of filming… Ah, this is so frustrating.
– ᕕ( ⁰ ▽ ⁰ )ᕗ
Leaving behind that emoji, Seo-yeon turned off KakaoTalk.
Looking at Stella with delight while feeling the vibrations of her phone repeatedly, she suddenly found that this sassy fairy seemed a bit more okay than she first thought.
‘So this is why people buy luxury goods.’
Even though they’re not particularly useful, they serve that role of showing off to others, like a luxury handbag impulsively bought by a woman.
“Excuse me.”
While Seo-yeon was chatting on KakaoTalk, she perked up at someone calling out to her.
For the record, it wasn’t someone calling her.
After all, Seo-yeon was currently in disguise.
Stella, who was eating tteokbokki with an unhappy expression, had two men approach her to chat.
“Whoa? She’s a foreigner?”
“What? Should I speak in English? But wow, she’s seriously crazy beautiful.”
That comment wasn’t directly aimed at Stella.
It was a small conversation shared quietly between the two men.
It was probably at a volume only Seo-yeon could hear.
“The one next to her looks good too, just by the glance?”
“Why’s her face covered? Anyway, I’ll go talk to her again.”
When Stella ignored them and walked away, one man approached her again.
“Hey? Hello?”
“Are you girls bored? Want to hang out with us? It’s no fun for two girls to just hang out.”
Seeing their flirty approach, Seo-yeon was quite surprised.
This was.
‘Is this hunting?’
It was something she had never experienced before.
Especially not in broad daylight in Hongdae.
Not that such things usually happen anyway.
‘Typically, these kinds of crowds pop up at night, don’t they?’
Though the thought flashed through her mind, Seo-yeon felt deeply intrigued.
Because normally when she visits such places, she comes with Ji-yeon or Jo Seo-hee.
Of course, when she’s with the two of them, most guys.
No, most people avoid approaching.
It’s simply the impression the three of them give off, and people tend to steer clear even while walking by.
Hunting?
There are hardly any who would dare approach when Ji-yeon or Jo Seo-hee are glaring at them.
If someone were to, they would have to be at least as bold as Ro, who shamelessly spoke to Jo Seo-hee.
When the three of them are together, there’s really no need to disguise themselves.
After all, no one dares to approach anyway.
For this reason, Seo-yeon found the hunting boys before her engrossing.
So they were real living creatures.
‘Is it because of Stella’s presence?’
Stella exuded a relatively innocent vibe.
Just looking at her face, she’s as beautiful as an angel, naturally causing people to stop and stare.
‘The problem is that hardly anyone knows who she is.’
The guys seemed to be completely unaware that the blonde girl munching tteokbokki was a globally renowned actress, Stella.
Though she’s called the fairy of the century, it seems she’s less famous in Korea than expected.
‘Well, they’d never expect that the fairy of the century would be eating tteokbokki on a Korean street.’
Nodding in agreement, Seo-yeon looked at Stella with curious eyes.
She was genuinely interested in how she would respond.
Then, Stella said,
“What? You guys speak Korean pretty well?”
“Uh?”
“Well, that’s because we’re Korean?”
“Huh? Really? Oh, sorry, my mistake.”
She smiled brightly and looked up at them.
Seeing her overwhelming beauty, the guys took a few steps back.
“Korean guys are said to be handsome, so I thought you must be from another country.”
Hearing her words, the men paused for a moment.
There were no curses exchanged, but it felt like they had received a barrage of insults.
“What are you talking about?”
“Ugh, damn, I can’t believe I’m running into a crazy girl this early in the day.”
Saying that, they slowly backed away and disappeared.
Maybe it was because there were so many eyes on them around.
‘I was curious how they’d react if they were challenged.’
Though Stella obviously didn’t seem like she could fight, so Seo-yeon would have to protect her.
Still, being an actress, wouldn’t she at least carry a couple of self-defense items?
“Where did you hear that there were many handsome men in Korea?”
“Huh? I heard it from other actors around me, but honestly, I’m not so sure.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, all Asians look pretty much the same, right?”
That was pretty much racism uttered like it was a breath.
“From our perspective, Westerners mostly look the same too.”
“Hm, really? I guess that might be the case? But I look different, right?”
Her disdainful shrug felt like an example of remarkable self-esteem.
“And you definitely look different too. You stand out in various aspects.”
However, her next words rammed home a significant point.
“Honestly, it’s not just Asians. To be truthful, I can’t tell people apart at all. They all look pretty much the same to me.”
As Stella said that, she pointed at Seo-yeon with the toothpick she had just used to eat the tteokbokki.
“But you definitely look different. I can understand why your dad is interested in you.”
That was probably the most sincere comment she made throughout their encounter.
The sweet smile on her face obscured the true meaning behind her words.
Even Seo-yeon, who’s good at picking up on others’ emotions, couldn’t quite grasp it.
Probably, most of her actions were an act.
After that last conversation, Seo-yeon spent time in Hongdae with Stella.
Later, she received a delayed call from Manager Park Eun-ha.
[Could you keep Stella with you until she heads back to Japan?]
It was somewhat of a request.
Leaving her alone at the hotel seemed concerning, and taking her somewhere else appeared to be rejected by Stella.
It seemed she had no issue remaining with Seo-yeon.
“Ah, you finally got the message?”
Hearing this from Stella as she wrapped up her call, Seo-yeon felt an urge to smack her.
***
Stella’s trip to Korea was, in truth, a spur-of-the-moment decision.
She had left a message with the hotel desk where she was staying with her father, Asher Baldwin, that she was going to Korea and then immediately boarded a flight.
The reason she came to Korea wasn’t particularly significant.
It was simply because Asher Baldwin took an interest in another actress for the second time.
The first was herself.
And the second was Joo Seo-yeon.
Stella had seen Asher’s interest in Seo-yeon’s cameo role.
“Hm, clearly different.”
She felt an oddly dull sensation.
Separate from that, Seo-yeon’s acting was definitely worth watching.
Could it be tailored to suit Japanese sensibilities?
The demands of acting differ by culture.
Japanese films and dramas often focus more on the virtual than the real.
Many performances seem as if they are live adaptations of animations.
However, that’s likely evolved that way because that’s what Japanese audiences want.
That’s probably a form of cultural identity.
While she understood that, Stella honestly wasn’t fond of the unique Japanese way of acting.
It’s not simply that she found their emotional expressions juvenile; she had never seen an actor capable of conveying that feeling in a relatable manner.
“But this is definitely striking a chord.”
That underlying feeling.
The Seo-yeon she actually met was indeed what she had anticipated.
The fact that she struggles to differentiate ordinary faces wasn’t a lie.
Stella couldn’t truly see regular people.
Just monochromatic humans.
Among them, it was natural for Seo-yeon, imbued with vibrant red, to stand out.
So Stella planned a little event for Seo-yeon.
Though she impulsively came to Korea and her main purpose was to see Seo-yeon, there were other things she intended to do here.
Well, those too, ultimately pertained to Seo-yeon.
“Am I being a bit too much?”
Looking at Seo-yeon sleeping in bed, Stella muttered to herself.
She had put Seo-yeon on the bed while she slept on the floor.
Don’t you usually let your guests sleep on the bed?
You even don’t allow them in with shoes on.
Thinking that, she gazed at the sleeping Seo-yeon.
“…….”
Somehow, Seo-yeon seemed to have sensed her presence and turned to look at her.
Those slender, red eyes stared directly at her.
‘Huh, when did she wake up?’
At that moment, even Stella flinched at the chilling gaze, and she cautiously slid onto the mat on the floor where she had laid out her own bedding, deciding to pretend she hadn’t seen anything.
And the next day.
Before departing, Stella met Lee Ji-yeon and Jo Seo-hee.
“Wow, as expected, all Asians look alike. If it were Puyo Puyo, I’d have popped.”
She said that while glancing back and forth at the three of them, including Seo-yeon.