Side Story Chapter 28 - Sesha (3)

Before Shin Sung-chan met Sesha, the recording was quite boring.

“Cut! Let’s resume after editing this part out.”

On Producer Kim’s orders, the cameramen and staff moved busily. Shin Sung-chan scratched the back of his head and sidled next to Producer Kim, asking, “It’s not going well, is it?”

“Well, we can cut out the odd bits, and the episode doesn’t need to be too long, so we’ll get a good chunk. Since it’s for Youtube, it can be more raw, but…you seem pretty nervous today.”

“Really? Maybe it’s because it’s been a while since I’ve come to school.”

As Producer Kim said, idol variety shows these days were about ten to fifteen minutes per episode, and no more than thirty. It wasn’t that difficult to film a full-length episode. Also, it wasn’t that worrisome that the filming wasn’t going smoothly because fans actually liked it when their celebrities seemed nervous. It was the type of raw emotion that wasn’t shown on public TV channels.

However, neither Shin Sung-chan nor Producer Kim looked satisfied. Shin Sung-chan had two years of idol experience under his belt, so he knew that there wasn’t much that could really be salvaged from today. Producer Kim had gone freelance after quitting a pretty well-known TV station, so he was anxious not to fail.

Shin Sung-chan and Producer Kim racked their brains to think of a solution. They looked through the script and contemplated whether they should prepare another corner or not. But there wasn’t anything interesting in particular that could be filmed with the school or the store as the background… Or they could ask for permission from the school and film him hanging out with his friends. That might be better. There were many fans who wanted to know about Shin Sung-chan’s school life too.

Just as Producer Kim was wondering what direction they needed to take this in, one scriptwriter came up to him and said something.

“What? Really?”

The scriptwriter nodded, saying it had been confirmed just moments ago, and Producer Kim brightened. Then, he looked toward Shin Sung-chan mischievously, as if asking why he had kept such an item hidden.

Shin Sung-chan got an ominous feeling. All of their group members had suffered whenever Producer Kim made that smile.

“I just heard the ‘Idol’ attends your school? And she’s in the same class as you. Why did you hide something so interesting?”

‘N-No!’ Shin Sung-chan barely stopped himself from shouting. He was an idol too, but he knew too well who the “Idol” Producer Kim was speaking about was: Cha So-yeong. The girl was famous for being the youngest S-class player when there were dungeons and gates. She was well-known internationally, and she had many fans due to her cold and arrogant expression despite her age.

However, after all the dungeons and gates were closed, Cha So-yeong retired and didn’t make any public appearances. The mystery of it all made people curious about how Cha so-yeong was doing these days.

Cha So-yeong recently garnered attention after articles about her entering high school made waves, but to think that it was the school that Shin Sung-chan attended! On top of that, she was his classmate. Producer Kim’s eyes blazed.

On the other hand, Shin Sung-chan had difficulty controlling his expression as the name he wanted to avoid came up. It wasn’t like he could say it was awkward to see her because she rejected him either. He could trust Producer Kim, but if the other staff got wind of this… his face might be on the front page of tomorrow’s newspaper.

These would probably be the main headlines, and as a seventeen year old, Shin Sung-chan didn’t want to be embarrassed on a national level when he had just become an adolescent. ‘I have to stop him!’ Shin Sung-chan was about to say anything but Cha So-yeong, when…

“You’re close, right?” Producer Kim grinned and spoke first.

“The thing is…”

“Goodness, Producer Kim. That’s such an obvious question.”

Shin Sung-chan was about to hint why he couldn’t do it when the scriptwriter jumped into their conversation.

“Right?”

“Of course. They call her an Idol and all that, but our Sung-chan is famous too. Famous people have that connection with each other, don’t they, Sung-chan?”

“U-Uh…”

“Ooh. That’s nice. So how’s the Idol’s personality? Is she really as arrogant as they say? I also heard she’s quite mature for her age.”

“Oh my. Then she must be close to Sung-chan. Sung-chan’s also like that. It must be because they’ve been in society from a young age.”

“That’s true.”

“…”

“So? You’re close, right?”

It was hard to say no since they said that. Shin Sung-chan couldn’t refuse the producer and scriptwriter’s expectant faces. On top of that, the other staff were murmuring excitedly about seeing the Idol, so he couldn’t decline them and say he wasn’t close… He was a people pleaser, and his pride as a young boy didn’t allow him to say he didn’t know the girl.

Shin Sung-chan swallowed and nodded. “O-Of course…!” Shin Sung-chan felt like he was digging his own grave.

* * *

Usually, Sung-chan was right when he received an ominous feeling, and this very moment was no exception. He greeted Sesha when she was pushed to the store by the crowd, but her face looked as if she was asking him what he was doing. It was the expression she made when her classmates or seniors who weren’t close to her spoke to her. Many male students had fallen for that icy gaze.

‘Well, I was among them too.’

Cha So-yeong was very pretty. She was as pretty or even prettier than the female celebrities Sung-chan has met during his career.

‘But what should I do now…?’ Sung-chan’s heart raced when she didn’t answer him. Thump, thump, thump. He got chills running down his back, because he thought that the lie he told would be revealed. Producer Kim and the scriptwriter seemed to notice something was off too. His heart pumped faster as if he ran straight for two hundred meters.

“Yeah. Hi.” Sesha waved and walked back up the stairs. Her best friend Park Yoo-min smiled awkwardly and followed her.

“Wow… I heard even adults have a hard time speaking to her, so it was true! Yoon-hu, did you get that just now?”

“Yes, I got it clear and well. She really is different.”

Fortunately, Producer Kim didn’t think it was strange. He was more interested in how much of Sesha was recorded.

Haaa! Shin Sung-chan breathed out in relief. Thump, thump, thump. His heart slowed down, but it was still beating fast. However, the reason for this thumping was different from before.

“…” Shin Sung-chan stared at the stairs where Sesha had just been.

* * *

“You know that?”

“What?”

“They say you’re indifferent, but I think you’re just super cynical.”

“Nonsense.”

Sesha chatted with Park Yoo-min as she walked back to class.

“I’m right. Only you could treat Sung-chan so coldly.”

“I don’t care.”

“See? But you’re really not interested in boys?”

“Not really.”

“Strange.”

Didn’t girls usually dream of having boyfriends at this age? At this age, girls had lots of dreams and things they liked. They would gossip with their friends about who was good-looking, who was cute, and who was their ideal type.

The same went for Park Yoo-min. She was determined to get a boyfriend this spring and go to the cherry flower festival with him. If that didn’t happen, she would get a boyfriend before June and go to the Yeouido Festival then. If she couldn’t do either before she graduated high school, her high school life would be too sad.

But thinking about it, Park Yoo-min didn’t remember Sesha ever talking about boys. When they were talking about it with their friend group on the way home, she was just listening. She only spoke up to give advice.

That was why Yoo-min was curious as to whether or not Sesha was interested in boys or not. She never looked at the boys who were always chasing her around. It couldn’t hurt to take a slight peek, could it?

And the Bad Boys were one of the top three boy bands these days, with Shin Sung-chan being the most popular and youngest. He probably had many individual fans. And the way he looked at Sesha… From a third-party’s point of view, he looked like he still cared very much.

“Sure, very strange.” Sesha just responded with an uncaring face. To be honest, she wanted to say “if you went through those things in the Tower, you wouldn’t be interested in boys either.” She spent a childhood most people couldn’t even imagine, and she had matured psychologically unwittingly. Of course the boys her age wouldn’t meet her standards. They just seemed like immature little children to her.

Sesha’s surroundings didn’t do any good for her either. Kronos, Cha Jeong-woo, and Yeon-woo… All of them were men who were at the top of what they did. Moreover, they were lookers too.

“Still, our So-yeong’s grown up, huh? You responded to him since there was a camera rolling?”

“Stop hugging me. It’s hot.”

“That only makes me wanna do it more!”

“Hey!”

* * *

Class began, and they were on their second break period.

Growl. Sesha hugged her starved stomach. ‘So hungry…’ She should’ve eaten the breakfast her mom prepared for her. Strangely, she was feeling even hungrier today. She rested her head on her desk, not wanting to do anything in particular.

Plop! Suddenly, something fell next to her. Sesha opened her eyes and saw a plastic bag filled with bread sitting on her desk.

Park Yoo-min looked at Sesha like she was pathetic. “You should go to the store if you’re hungry. What are you doing lying over your desk like that?”

“I’m too lazy.”

“You’re sure you’re not too lazy to breathe too?”

“I am. But not anymore!” Sesha jumped up and dug through the bag. Yoo-min had brought many kinds of bread, even the bean jam buns Sesha enjoyed.

“Sheesh. And they call you Idol.” Park Yoo-min shook her head from side to side. Starving out of laziness? Yoo-min detested being hungry more than anything, so she didn’t understand. But Sesha still enjoyed eating what Yoo-min brought her. She looked like a squirrel eating an acorn as she carefully tore open the cover and chewed the bun.

“Be neater when you eat, geez.” Park Yoo-min pulled out a wet tissue and wiped the jam and sugar that was on Sesha’s face. Sesha squeezed her eyes together and began to eat her bread again when Yoo-min removed the tissue. Yoo-min muttered, “How did you become the Idol when you require so much care?”

“Humph. I can take care of myself.”

“Yes, yes. Sure.” Park Yoo-min shook her head and spoke as she pulled a bun out of the bag for herself. “Oh right. You know the filming from this morning.”

“Chan-sung? That thing he was filming?”

“…it’s Sung-chan.”

“Same thing.”

“Don’t ever say that in front of his fans. They’re gonna crush your head in.”

“Sheesh. Anyway, what about it? They’re still filming it?”

“Yeah. They’re probably filming until the after-school study session is done.”

“What’s there to film?”

“They said they’re going to film our school’s mystery.”

Hearing about the school’s mystery, Sesha had an odd feeling and tilted her head inquiringly.