Survive! Foolish Bottom!

 『Yejun’s favorability has increased by 3!』 

Haeun couldn’t help but find it amusing; Yejun had looked genuinely flustered but still somehow became more fond of him. With a bit of exasperation, Yejun explained, “Obviously, I meant I’d treat you.”

 

“Oh, I see… I was just wondering. Thank you.”

 

“…Let’s go up.”

 

They sat down in one of the private, partitioned seating areas—likely made for celebrities who frequented this café. Haeun expected he’d need to get the drinks from the counter, but a server brought everything over. 

 

Maybe they’d been keeping watch with CCTV, he thought as he took a sip of his caramel macchiato. The thick sweetness filled his mouth.

 

“Mmm~”

 

The happy murmur escaped his lips automatically. Of course, it wasn’t a sound Haeun had consciously made. This body’s instincts had morphed him from Park Haeun, who once drank iced Americanos without a drop of syrup, to someone who couldn’t enjoy any coffee that wasn’t sweet. 

 

A bittersweet memory of the time he’d tried to order an Americano only to be scolded by the system flashed through his mind.

 

As Ha-un sipped contentedly, Yejun, who had ordered an iced Americano, seemed reluctant to even touch his cup. Instead, he fiddled with it for a while before finally speaking.

 

“How’ve you been?”

 

Just a simple greeting, but somehow it sounded unusually awkward coming from him. Was it the tentative tone in his voice? Haeun thought about asking why he’d suddenly switched to speaking informally, but he let it go, not wanting to make things even more awkward.

 

“Yes. It’s thanks to you, sunbaenim, actually. I wanted to say thanks for your help that day.”

 

So, Haeun’s plan to thank him was going smoothly. Yejun, who’d been watching him intently, finally spoke up again.

 

“After that day, it hit me…”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I didn’t get your number.”

 

A senior idol showing some goodwill to a rookie he’d only just met—yeah, that could happen. Maybe he’d wanted to get the number of that rookie he’d met that day, no big deal. Buying him a cup of coffee after running into him again? Sure, why not? 

 

In real life, there’d be nothing strange about any of it. If this were the real world, Haeuun would’ve just laughed, saying, “Haha, why didn’t you ask earlier, hyung!” and shared his contact without a second thought, chalking it up to a solid, if slightly over-the-top, senior-junior camaraderie.

 

But this wasn’t real life. It was a BL game. And in this context, a same-industry senior, showering him with kindness and casually asking for his number, was not just a warmhearted mentor. No, he was a guy making an unmistakable pass.

 

“Ah… haha…” 

 

Haeun chuckled awkwardly, feeling as though he’d malfunctioned. Did Yejun even realize the vibes he was giving off? Yejun extended his phone, as though expecting Haeun’s compliance.

 

“So, about that… Your number?”

 

“….”

 

Unfortunately, Haeun wasn’t in a position to refuse. An up-and-coming idol versus a renowned one? Just that dynamic alone was enough reason. And it wasn’t like Yejun had openly declared any romantic interest. If Haeun refused, he’d come off as an ungrateful jerk with an attitude problem. 

 

Besides, thanks to that one photo Yejun posted, Stone Cherry’s follower count had just surpassed 100,000. Ignoring this simple request for his number? It would almost certainly spark a whole new wave of drama over his “character.”

 

After begrudgingly giving Yejun his number, Haeun thought to himself, “Even if this is a BL game, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s interested in that way. Maybe I’m just full of assumptions.”

 

With that, his nerves settled, and the awkwardness began to fade.

 

“I heard you wrapped up promotions recently. Are you preparing for Nation’s Star now?”

 

As expected, he knew. Then again, since Yejun would be a judge on that very show, they’d inevitably cross paths once filming began. Haeun nodded and added.

 

“But lately, I’ve been more focused on a drama audition I had, so that’s taken priority.”

 

“Were you always interested in acting?” 

 

Yejun asked, sounding genuinely surprised. Haeun hesitated, realizing that “always” might be a stretch, but he was interested now, so he nodded. When he added that he’d already landed the role, Yejun clapped, saying it was impressive and a huge accomplishment.

 

Since acting was his main focus lately, once they started discussing it, the conversation flowed much more easily. Haeun admitted that, despite passing the audition, he still felt unsure. 

 

Yejun shared a story about his own disastrous attempt at acting in a drama where he’d leaned heavily on his group’s name to get by, reassuring Haeun that, no matter what, he’d do better than that.

 

With the lighthearted conversation, Haeun’s earlier worries melted away, replaced by an excitement that made him look forward to his upcoming script reading. His confidence, baseless as it might be, was starting to build.

 『Feeling one step closer to your top idol dreams after talking to your role model! Well done!+｡(ﾉ´∀｀)ﾉ｡+ﾟ』 

He had a good feeling about what lay ahead.

 

***

 

A few days later, Haeun discovered just how meaningless a “good feeling” could be in the face of certain people.

 

It was the day of the script reading. There were no intense action scenes, no physical exertion; it was just a gathering where everyone read through the script together. But for some reason, it had left him feeling utterly drained.

 

As soon as he opened the door to his dorm, Haeun turned on the app, eager to check his relationship scores.

 [Current Affection Levels] Seongjae: 39/100   Ilhyun: 33/100   Junwoo: 16/100   Yejun: 20/100   Gyowon: -12/100   

Seongjae and Ilhyun were comfortably steady while Junwoo’s progress was still sluggish, and despite only seeing Yejun once, his affection had increased significantly. But none of these were the problem. The issue was entirely with Kim Gyowon, whose score left Haeun completely stumped. 

 

Just this morning, Kim Gyowon’s score had been at -2. With so many people gathered, Haeun had thought he might at least be able to chat with Kim Gyowon, maybe even nudge the score to a neutral zero. 

 

Yet, instead of gaining any ground, he had somehow managed to tank his score by an additional ten points. Just staring at the number made Ha-eun’s frustration boil.

 

Seriously, why? What on earth had he done to deserve this level of hostility from Kim Gyowon? Looking back, he felt ridiculous for having looked forward to seeing him again at the reading session.

 

Haeun felt increasingly frustrated as he realized he hadn’t even had a proper conversation with Kim Gyowon. They hadn’t even matched their lines from the scenes they were in together. Without knowing exactly why his affection score had dropped, the situation felt even more maddening. He reflected on when Kim Gyowon’s score had started to decline.

 

First off……..as soon as they had made eye contact and exchanged greetings, his score had dropped by 6 points. 

 

He had simply greeted him with a cheerful “Hello, I’m Park Ha-eun from Stone Cherry!” and hadn’t done anything else. What could possibly have been wrong?

 

He didn’t even seem to recognize Haeun. Considering he had been a mess with tears and snot back then, it wasn’t surprising if Kim Gyowon hadn’t been able to identify him. Moreover, if he had simply made a thoughtless comment, he probably wouldn’t have read too much into it.

 

In fact, Haeun wouldn’t have felt so wronged by the decrease in his score, if he recognized him. He might have thought, “Oh, I must have made a bad first impression, and seeing him again just rubbed him the wrong way.” 

 

But that wasn’t the case. Why was Kim Gyowon judging him solely on his appearance? Sure, “Park Ha” might look a bit frail and weak, but wasn’t that a bit harsh to label him as unlikable?

 

Next, his score had taken a hit during the script reading. It wasn’t that it dropped while he was reading his own lines; rather, it dropped while watching the sub-male lead, Lee Jaewoon from the boy group “Gloomy,” read his lines. 

 

To be honest, Jaewoon’s acting wasn’t great. It was even worse than when he had practiced with Ilhyun. There was a reason people said Ilhyun was perfect for the role of the male lead. Jaewoon had only gotten the role because “Gloomy” was a well-known group; it seemed Jaewoon’s individual talent wasn’t that impressive.

 

But if Jaewoon’s score was what should have dropped, then why was Haeun’s the one falling? Was he being blamed for Jaewoon’s shortcomings? Was it because they were both in the same industry as idols? Beyond that, Haeun and Jaewoon didn’t even share any similarities.

 

‘Did that jerk get scammed by some idol or something?’

 

…………..That seemed plausible. Now that he had said it, it felt almost true. It was unfortunate that Kim Gyowon had gotten swindled, so Haeun decided to hold off on cursing him for the time being.

 

Anyway, Kim Gyowon didn’t just drop his affection score internally; he also made it blatantly obvious on the outside. Whenever the other actors, especially the sub-male lead, messed up their lines or added strange interpretations to their performances, Kim Gyowon didn’t hesitate to point it out.

 

With the lead actor openly showing his disdain, there was no way the script reading could go smoothly. Everyone tried to push through it, but honestly, Haeun couldn’t even remember if he had spoken his lines or if they had come out through his nostrils or toes. At least he was relieved that he had fewer lines to read compared to the other actors. Not receiving any specific criticism from Kim Gyowon felt like a small victory.

 

Haeun thought bitterly to himself.

 

‘Next time, I won’t let it slide like this.’

Hey guys, this is Flo!

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