Chapter 172: Role Model (2)

In a certain entertainment agency’s dance practice room, Choi Yul-Hwi was sweating bullets while practicing her dance moves despite the sun having long since set. The only time that she could rest was when the song was over.

“Haa, haa...”

Yul-Hwi panted heavily. Her body was fired up. She loved practicing dances because her dream ever since she was young had been to become an idol singer. However, that dream changed after her group Twinkle Leash had disbanded due to unfortunate events, and that was to become an actress acknowledged by everyone.

However, that dream was far more difficult than she had thought. She had honed her acting skills by participating in not just dramas or films, but even musicals and little theater. However, the public only saw what was on camera; they were not aware of the hard work that was put underneath.

She sometimes felt sad about it and the fact that she was being devalued just because she used to be an idol. Hence, a certain thought had recently taken place in her head.

“Maybe I should go back to singing...”

Hearing Yul-Hwi mumbling to herself, Yul-Hwi’s manager, who had just come to the dance practice room, softly sighed.

“You were looking at online comments again, weren’t you?”

“Unnie! How long have you been there for?” Yul-Hwi asked in surprise.

She had been in the dance practice room all by herself until just a while ago. Her manager shrugged.

“I just got here.”

She had arrived at a bad time. She also knew that Yul-Hwi was thinking about returning to her singing career, and had listened to her concerns several times. However, there was only one thing that the manager was able to tell Yul-Hwi.

“It’s your decision. Just let me know if you really want to quit acting and become a singer again. I’ll put in a good word with the agency.”

“Okay, unnie. Thank you.”

“No problem. And...” the manager slurred, but then shook her head.

There was always something that she wanted to tell Yul-Hwi whenever she was pondering over her career path, but had never managed to tell her because it felt like she would be meddling too much with her thoughts. Yul-Hwi had also noticed many times that her manager had been stopping herself from telling her something for a while now.

“You can tell me, unnie.”

“No, it's fine. I’ll tell you when the time is right. Oh, and you were offered a job. I came here to tell you that.”

“What job is it?” n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“A modeling job for a sportswear company, but they wanted to confirm if it could fit into your schedule.”

“When’s the shoot?”

“In two days. The shoot begins in the morning, so there isn’t even 48 hours left.”

“Whoa...”

Yul-Hwi was lost for words. She had once appeared on a program as a quick replacement for someone, but not even that had been this sudden. Not only that, it wasn’t like she wasn’t busy; she had been a member of a fairly popular idol group, so she received more offers than one would think.

“It’s a bit too sudden. I think it’s best to refuse,” Yul-Hwi expressed.

However, her opinion completely changed once she found out which company the offer had come from.

“It’s from Levanche, though,” her manager mentioned.

“Levanche... No way!”

“Yeah. It’s the company owned by your beloved Miss Kang Ra-Eun.”

Yul-Hwi’s ears perked up at the mention of Kang Ra-Eun.

“Why didn’t you lead with that?!” she exclaimed.

“Because I was curious about how much your reaction would change.”

“You’re such a tease, unnie!”

Yul-Hwi’s manager asked the ecstatic Yul-Hwi again, “Are you gonna do it?”

There were not even two full days to prepare for it, but her manager felt like she could already tell what her answer would be.

“Of course I will!”

Like she had expected, the answer was obvious.

***

Choi Yul-Hwi and her manager headed to the studio for the photo shoot early in the morning. Yul-Hwi didn’t look too well.

“Do you feel sick?”

Yul-Hwi replied, “No, it’s just because I didn’t get enough sleep last night.”

“Why?”

“Because I felt like my heart would burst all night from the thought of working with Ra-Eun sunbae.”

Her manager tilted her head in confusion.

“Weren’t you fine during the film shoot?”

“It was even worse that time. I just didn’t let it show.”

“Oh, really?”

Her manager strongly felt like Ra-Eun and Yul-Hwi were like a celebrity and her passionate fan instead of two celebrities.

“Miss Kang is apparently already there, so the photo shoot will begin once we arrive.”

Yul-Hwi nodded with a face full of anxiety. Twenty minutes later, the staff members greeted Yul-Hwi with bright smiles. She quickly exchanged greetings with everyone and went up to Ra-Eun, who had been cooling herself off with a mini fan. Ra-Eun exuded an aura of a goddess as her hair fluttered in the wind with one of her legs over the other.

“Good morning, sunbae!” Yul-Hwi exclaimed.

“Oh, hi, Yul-Hwi.”

Ra-Eun had decided to speak casually to Yul-Hwi during their film shoot, so she greeted her comfortably.

“Thanks for coming to help when you must already be busy enough,” Ra-Eun expressed.

“Not at all, sunbae. It’s my greatest pleasure! Please leave everything to me except the swimsuit!”

“Why not the swimsuit?”

“Oh... The thing is...” Yul-Hwi answered while wrapping her arms around her stomach as if covering it. “I kind of let myself go during my off-season, so... I’m a bit worried.”

She would have worked hard on her figure if she had some time until the photo shoot, but there was nothing that she could have done in just two days. However, after scanning Yul-Hwi’s body, Ra-Eun did not seem very worried.

“I think you’re fine, though?”

“Not at all. Rather, I was worried that I might be a nuisance to you. It might be more effective for you to handle the swimsuit portion, sunbae...”

Yul-Hwi was curious as to why Ra-Eun, who was top tier in looks, figure, and all other aspects, wasn’t willing to model for the swimsuit. She still was not aware that Ra-Eun absolutely despised showing off her skin.

“I’m fine. Anyway, your figure’s more than good enough, so you don’t have to worry in the slightest,” Ra-Eun remarked.

“Okay, sunbae.”

Yul-Hwi was planning on doing her absolute best on her duo photo shoot with Ra-Eun.

***

The two women changed and stood in front of the camera. Yul-Hwi already had a considerable level of presence, but she was no match for Ra-Eun.

Ra-Eun was wearing a sports t-shirt short enough for her belly button to show, shorts short enough to expose her bare legs, and her hair was untied. She was showing off her superiority even as a fashion model.

The camera director was also ecstatic over Ra-Eun, the manifestation of beauty itself.

“Okay! Let’s move on to the next shot!”

The photoshoot would be over once they took one more two-shot of them, and then Yul-Hwi’s solo bikini shot. Ra-Eun and Yul-Hwi headed to the changing room to change. A myriad of Levanche’s clothing products were laid out inside.

“Wow! This is so pretty, sunbae!”

An outfit of Yul-Hwi’s preference caught her eyes. It was the summer sportswear that had been released in the first half of the year.

“I’m sure wearing this to the fitness center would motivate you to exercise,” she expressed.

“Really? Then you can have it.”

“Huh? But isn’t this a brand new product?”

It had not even been removed from its packaging.

Ra-Eun replied while shrugging, “I’m this company’s chairwoman. Who would dare tell me otherwise when I’m giving it to you?”

“Thank you very much, sunbae! I’ll cherish it!”

“You don’t have to. Sportswear is meant to be used, after all.”

Yul-Hwi’s expression brightened even more because of the surprise gift. Ra-Eun also felt better from seeing it.

“You look much better like this than during our film shoot last time,” she remarked.

“R-Really?”

“You looked like you had something on your mind back then.”

Back when Ra-Eun had first met Yul-Hwi, she vividly remembered noticing that Yul-Hwi was smiling with her mouth, but not with her eyes.

“To be honest... I was thinking about quitting acting. That’s what’s been on my mind.”

“You’re going to leave the entertainment industry entirely?” Ra-Eun asked.

“No. I’m thinking about going back to my singing career.”

Ra-Eun finally understood what had been on Yul-Hwi’s mind. Yul-Hwi was not confident in fighting against and overcoming the bias that came with actors that were formerly idols.

Ra-Eun said, “Running away isn’t the answer.”

“Sorry...?” Yul-Hwi stared at Ra-Eun dumbfoundedly.

Ra-Eun’s remark stabbed her right in the heart.

“From what I can see, I think you want to be an actor more than a singer. I’m 100% certain that you’ll regret it if you quit acting with lingering attachments.”

It was likely that Yul-Hwi would be shouldering that attachment and regret for the rest of her life.

“Don’t let the public’s hate control you. Even a saint gets hate online, so why wouldn’t you? Even I have tons of people giving me hate.”

Albeit very few, haters of Ra-Eun definitely existed. However, Ra-Eun did not ever want to give them the attention.

“They’re bound to hate me even if I donate billions of trillions of won, or whatever act of kindness I might do. So, you simply need to ignore them and walk the path you want to walk. And you quitting acting would only fulfill their wishes, so keep at it, whatever it takes.”

“And what if... I fail even after keeping at it?”

“Then you can just quit. However, only quit after you think you’ve done everything that you could have possibly done. That way, you’ll have no more attachments.”

In short, Ra-Eun was advising Yul-Hwi to continue challenging it without regrets. Her words continued to swirl around Yul-Hwi’s head. Then, her smile returned.

“Thank you very much, sunbae.”

Ra-Eun felt strangely happy from doing something sunbae-like after a long time.

***

Yul-Hwi got back into her manager’s car after the shoot was over.

“Unnie. I’m gonna keep trying at my acting career.”

“Just like that?” her manager asked.

“Yes. Ra-Eun told me not to run away and to throw everything that I possibly can at it.”

Hearing that, her manager muttered to herself, “Miss Kang said what I wanted to tell her.”

She decided to thank Ra-Eun later.

***

Ra-Eun’s advice bore fruit. Yul-Hwi had passed a closed audition held by a famous overseas film director, and had appeared on a certain talk show. Ra-Eun heard something that she had never thought she would hear as she was watching the show.

[I would never have been able to pass the audition if it wasn’t for Ra-Eun sunbae.]

[It sounds like Miss Kang Ra-Eun helped you quite a lot.]

[Yes. Ra-Eun sunbae will be my role model for the rest of my life.]

Seo Yi-Seo turned her gaze from the TV to Ra-Eun and gave her a meaningful smile.

“You know what I want to tell you right now, don’t you?” she asked.

Ra-Eun blushed from the embarrassment and warned Yi-Seo, “I do, so don’t.”

She wanted to avoid any more embarrassment.