The Genius Actor Who Brings Misfortune

Chapter 224

“Oh my, I completely forgot to go grocery shopping.”

Park Ha-eun’s aunt sighed as she checked the empty refrigerator.

“Should I order delivery instead?”

“Oh, then—”

I was about to suggest that I could just go home.

“Auntie!! Then let’s order tteokbokki!”

Park Ha-eun was quicker.

“Tteokbokki? Since Yeon-jae is here, let’s order something more delicious.”

“Yeon-jae loves tteokbokki too! Right, Yeon-jae? It’s okay, right?”

“……Yeah.”

Who could say no to that face?

I averted my eyes from Park Ha-eun’s tteokbokki-crazed gaze. It was terrifying….

“Alright, let’s order tteokbokki then. Do you have a place in mind?”

“There’s a place with a new menu!”

Excited, Park Ha-eun chatted with her aunt while looking at the delivery app.

I looked desperately at her, hoping she’d remember me.

‘Ha-eun, help me out here.’

Abandoning a friend for tteokbokki—what a shallow friendship.

I sighed internally as I sat on the sofa.

Of course, I wasn’t sitting alone. Someone was there with me, as present as air.

It was Park Ha-eun’s cousin, the girl who asked for my number.

“……”

“……”

This is driving me crazy.

The silence blanketing the sofa was growing heavier.

‘I should have turned around and gone home right then.’

When I saw the girl outside the villa, I froze.

She did the same, staring at me in shock, and just when we were both stammering, Park Ha-eun’s aunt showed up.

She insisted we stay for dinner, and before I could refuse, we were led into the house.

‘Yeon-jae…?’

Park Ha-eun’s aunt seemed to know I was Ha-eun’s friend, but the girl didn’t.

As soon as we stepped inside and I took off my mask, the girl’s face turned pale, and she muttered my name.

Park Ha-eun, realizing what was happening, introduced me belatedly, asking her cousin to keep it a secret.

Although she talked about keeping it a secret, the girl didn’t seem to hear much.

‘Should I say something?’

Feeling the silence was too much, I glanced at the girl beside me.

After confirming her expression, I quickly looked forward again.

‘Better stay quiet.’

The girl looked like she wanted to disappear.

“Um….”

She finally spoke after a long while.

“I’m really sorry about this morning….”

“It’s okay. I should apologize too. I was just so startled.”

“No, please don’t apologize….”

Her face was now beyond pale, almost ghostly.

“I’m really sorry, but can we pretend this never happened? I promise I’ll reflect on this for the rest of my life… Just please keep it a secret from those two….”

It was a bit alarming to hear something that sounded like a criminal confession, but I readily agreed.

‘Besides, I gave the mask to Lee Eun-taek.’

Without the mask she liked, she must have been equally shocked.

Hearing my response, her complexion returned to normal.

“I’ve heard from Ha-eun that she’s friends with actor Lee Yeon-jae, but I didn’t know you were still in touch.”

“You can speak comfortably.”

Being called “actor” was awkward, so I asked her again to speak casually.

With a somewhat embarrassed face, she replied, “Okay, Yeon-jae….”

Her name was Hwang Yeon-joo, a third-year student at a nearby high school.

After exchanging a few words, the awkward atmosphere began to lift.

At that moment, the tteokbokki arrived.

“I feel bad making you eat delivery food after coming all this way. Next time, I’ll cook something nice.”

“No, thank you for inviting me.”

Park Ha-eun’s aunt looked at me fondly.

“What a kind and polite boy. I wish you were my son.”

“Oh, mom. Stop it.”

Hwang Yeon-joo scolded her, and her aunt huffed, saying she couldn’t even speak her mind.

It was comforting that she treated me as Ha-eun’s friend rather than a TV celebrity.

“Thank you so much for bringing Ha-eun here. There have been a lot of delinquents around here lately.”

“Really?”

“Kids in school uniforms smoking and spitting. I’ve reported it a few times, but nothing changes.”

Her aunt sighed.

I put my chopsticks down with a serious face.

‘I’ll make sure Ha-eun gets home safely from now on.’

It would make me feel more at ease.

I assured her aunt that I’d walk Ha-eun home every day for the next week.

“Yeon-jae, I can get home just fine by myself. You don’t have to worry—”

“There’s sweet potato noodles in here. Want some?”

“Yeah!”

Ha-eun happily accepted the sweet potato noodles I handed her from the tteokbokki.

Seeing her eating rice balls soaked in the sauce, it seemed she forgot what she was about to say.

‘Does she really love it that much?’

It was a mystery how such a small body could hold so much tteokbokki.

“With Yeon-jae around, I feel reassured. Thank you so much. As a mother raising a daughter these days, you can’t help but worry. I’m always afraid someone might harass our Yeon-joo on the street.”

“Oh, mom.”

Hwang Yeon-joo’s face turned pale again.

“Whenever someone asks for your number or if you have a boyfriend, refuse them right away. Got it?”

“…I got it, so please stop.”

Hwang Yeon-joo shut her eyes tightly.

I felt embarrassed too and looked away. Thus, only Park Ha-eun enjoyed the dinner.

* * *

Fortunately, the tteokbokki wasn’t the only thing I gained that day.

It turned out that Hwang Yeon-joo had extensive experience as a fan of idols.

She even mentioned having been a ‘Top Seed Homma,’ though I didn’t understand what that meant.

“Yeon-joo unnie said to stream the music as soon as it comes out. If we have extra phones, we should use those too, but since we don’t, we can skip that part.”

“Okay.”

Thanks to Hwang Yeon-joo’s meticulously prepared fangirling list, our uncertainty faded.

Neither Park Ha-eun nor I knew much about being an idol fan, so we planned to learn step by step. Her help made things much easier.

“What’s a toploader?”

“It’s for decorating photo cards, I think.”

What’s a photo card now?

My head spun.

“It’s short for photo card. But do they sell just Bi-hyuk’s cards separately? Where can we buy them?”

Park Ha-eun asked cheerfully, but I had no answer.

‘I need Lee Eun-taek’s cards too.’

After searching the terms listed, I learned that each album typically includes one.

“Wow, they’re sent randomly. Clever.”

“Well, it encourages people to buy more albums.”

“What should we do? Should we ask Bi-hyuk for them? He wouldn’t give them to me if I asked, so you try being cute and ask.”

“Ha-eun, focus.”

After some deliberation, we decided to each buy one album.

We agreed to discuss the rest tomorrow and I left her house.

A large figure stood in front of the villa, making me flinch.

“Actor.”

“Hyung, why are you outside?”

It’s cold; stay in the car.

Jin-bae hyung, with a slightly red nose, smiled.

“It’s dangerous.”

Maybe for someone like Park Ha-eun, but this seemed like a safe enough street for me.

I almost asked if he saw the big streetlight over there, but I held back.

“Shall we go to the car?”

“Yes. Thank you for coming.”

Jin-bae hyung smiled, saying it was no trouble.

The warm presence next to me was reassuring.

* * *

After that, Park Ha-eun and I prepared thoroughly for our fangirling.

Whenever we hit a snag, we contacted Hwang Yeon-joo, who answered our questions without hesitation. I found it impressive.

The more I learned about how fans supported celebrities, the more I admired them.

“Everyone is really amazing….”

“Indeed.”

“I never realized there was so much to take care of. I think reading anatomy books would be easier.”

Park Ha-eun looked like she wanted to study, pouting.

I also wanted to read scripts, but I calmed her down gently.

“No matter how much we try, there will be limits. Let’s just do our best. We’re doing this to support Bi-hyuk.”

“Do you think Bi-hyuk will feel supported by what we’re doing…?”

I couldn’t bring myself to say yes to her mumbling.

Watching videos on decorating toploaders and studying fangirling methods made me doubt if we were doing it right.

So, I decided to seek more help.

[Space Kang Se-hyun Hyung]

I called Se-hyun hyung and explained the situation, asking for advice.

There was a brief silence before he burst into laughter.

—Ha ha! This is hilarious. Who studies fangirling? You’re something else. I knew you were unique, but this is just ridiculous.

“Stop laughing and give me some advice, hyung.”

—Just liking someone is enough. Don’t overthink it.

Se-hyun hyung said true fangirling comes from a joyful heart.

—I knew you weren’t ordinary, but your friend seems pretty extraordinary too.

His comment about like-minded people made me pout.

Park Ha-eun, who had been listening quietly, frowned.

“Excuse me, but don’t you think that’s a bit rude to say?”

—Oh, is that Yeon-jae’s friend?

“Yes! Hello! I’m Park Ha-eun.”

After brightly introducing herself, Park Ha-eun continued to scold him.

“So please don’t treat me like Yeon-jae!”

“…”

Is that what made her upset?

My sense of solidarity with her crumbled.

Oblivious to my gaze, Se-hyun hyung laughed and apologized.

—Alright, I’m sorry. But both of you need to relax. Just knowing you’re thinking about him will make Bi-hyuk happy.

“We just want to support him properly.”

Park Ha-eun mumbled sadly.

“Yeon-jae and I promised to be Bi-hyuk’s first fans since elementary school. As his first fans, we want to do everything other fans do….”

—Oh, really?

Se-hyun hyung spoke gently, as if comforting a child.

—I understand your feelings, but I’ve been in Bi-hyuk’s position before. Right now, he’s probably so nervous he doesn’t even know if food’s going into his mouth or his nose. The other members are probably the same. They’ve been working towards their debut for at least a few years.

I knew that. That’s why Park Ha-eun and I were preparing.

We wanted Noh Bi-hyuk and Lee Eun-taek to feel all the more fulfilled from their years of hard work.

We wanted them to know we genuinely supported them, not just with words.

Se-hyun hyung, after hearing us out, was silent for a moment before speaking again.

—Then how about doing it like this?

* * *

The night before the much-anticipated debut showcase.

Noh Bi-hyuk and his members were trembling in the practice room.

“Are we really debuting tomorrow?”

“I feel like I’m going to throw up….”

“If you’re going to puke, do it now. Don’t throw up on stage tomorrow.”

After the reassuring words from their leader, a brief silence followed.

At that moment, their manager approached Noh Bi-hyuk with a gift.

“Who’s it from?”

“Your friends from last time. I invited them in, but they said to just pass the gift along.”

Images of Lee Yeon-jae and Park Ha-eun popped into Noh Bi-hyuk’s mind.

‘Those cute rascals, what are they up to now?’

Noh Bi-hyuk chuckled as he accepted the box.

“What is it? Something to eat?”

“Ah, I’ll open it first!”

Without even using a knife, Noh Bi-hyuk tore open the box at the urging of his members.

Moments later, the contents of the box left the members wide-eyed.

“…What is all this?”