30 Seung-ho is shameless

The competition had come to an end but Sun Young-mi's rise had only begun. There was still some confusion about how much freedom she had under her new contract with S.S. so her Koka inbox was inundated with messages from different agencies who wanted her to sing in their projects. Somewhere in the middle of the long list of messages, she saw one from manager Choi.

*Sun Young-mi, I'm very happy to see you succeed. Lee Tae-Hyun must be treating you well, right. But why didn't you tell us you could sing? It was quite dishonest of you to hide your talent from us since we were there for you when you were still a nobody. Our CEO has been very good to you, so much so that the contract severance didn't incur you any penalty. You were given money to take care of yourself because he cared about you. I hope you remember that and consider coming back to company Y in the future. S.S. is great but they have many good artists. They can't focus on your solo career in the way we can.*

Ji-ho rolled her eyes at the message and took a screenshot so she could share it with Lee Tae-Hyun. Trying to poach off an artist already contracted to another company was unethical behaviour, not that she expected any less from the employees of company Y. And as she scrolled down further, she was surprised to see messages from Yu-ri and Sky.

*Hey Jessica, how are you? I was so amazed to see your performance. Wow. Didn't know you could sing so well. Wish you told us about it, you know. I thought we were like family..*

Ji-ho was amazed at the audacity that Yu-ri had. After how much bullshit she had caused for Sun Young-mi, where did she get the guts to act so high and mighty? Sky's message was less accusatory in its tone but the content was more or less the same. She had a suspicion that company Y and the failed members of Genesis were making a hilariously cringey attempt at winning her back through their passive-aggressive messages. It was a good thing then that she'd blocked them all on her phone.

Ji-ho opted to ignore them since company Y was destined to go bankrupt under its unprofessional management. She turned on her laptop and decided to watch something while also going through her messages. She logged into her account on the popular streaming service that she used. And right at the top of the trending videos was a live stream of an interview with Seung-ho and Dan-bi.

"Wah, they look like such a power couple," Ji-ho commented while clicking on the video. As soon as she hit play, Ji-ho heard the delicate laughter that Dan-bi let out through the hands cupping her mouth.

"No, no, you're wrong," she said through her cute laughter. "It was an accident! I hadn't intended to eat Seung-ho's lunch but I was so hungry!"

"Oh? Oh?" The female interviewer teased. "I'm sure it was forgiven since you two are so close."

Dan-bi shyly smiled as she dimpled and blushed, the camera zooming in on her expression.

"Aigooooo," Ji-ho complained as she saw how Seung-ho was silently staring off into the distance like he was bored out of his mind. The wife was serving rice but the husband wasn't home. Without giving it much thought, she fired off a message to his number.

(I'm watching an interview right now. Dan-bi is sitting beside a very realistic cardboard cut-out of her co-star. They can't fool me, Seung-ho. 20/20 vision.)

She kept her phone away to pay attention to the interview and was surprised to see Seung-ho checking his phone in the middle of the interview. Only he would have the guts to do such a thing on live tv. Even more surprising, he smiled as he looked at whatever was on his phone screen. It couldn't be her message, right? Ji-ho thought. Surely she hadn't just disturbed his interview by texting him. He was supposed to see it after, not during. Dan-bi also curiously glanced at his screen but Seung-ho placed it back in his pocket before she was able to take a good look at it.

"Ah, Seung-ho, what were you smiling at just now?" The interviewer teased. "You have to tell us since you weren't trying to hide your actions!"

The handsome actor raised his head to look at the interviewer whose heart did a sudden ba-dump. That was the effect he had when he gave his undivided attention to his fans.

"Someone special texted me," he replied without reserve. "That's all."

Dan-bi's curious smile turned into something plastic. But since she was a good actress, the young woman recovered and was able to wear a more genuine expression without appearing upset.

"Some-some one special?!" The interviewer practically shouted into her mic. Seung-ho had never ever been seen with his girlfriend if he had one. The internet was rife with the suspicions that he and Dan-bi were a secret couple, but the actress wasn't texting him right now, so who was this special person?

"Don't read too deeply into it," he smoothly told the interviewer. "When I begin dating, I'll introduce that person to the world."

The interviewer was disappointed but Dan-bi was deeply relieved. Seung-ho still wasn't dating anyone then. But what did he mean by special someone? She had to find out.

~ Seung-ho has a partner. I can tell by the way he's crossing his legs and occasionally looking at his watch. He wants to go home to his special someone!!! Seung-bi shippers go die!

~ special someone doesn't have to be a girlfriend right?

~ Seung-bi is still alive <3

~ Yep! It doesn't have to be gf. It can also be a..... boyfriend. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

~ Do not awaken the rotten girls!

Ji-ho was laughing at the comments that were shipping him with other popular actors. The poor audience didn't know that Seung-ho was messing with them. It was her text that he had smiled at.

"Then what's your type?" The interviewer asked. "The ladies are dying to know!" Seung-ho had never given a proper answer when asked the same by other interviewers.

"Someone fun," he answered.

Dan-bi glanced at him, wondering what he meant by fun. She was fun, right?

"Thats it?" The interviewer asked.

"Yes."

~ Does that mean I too have a chance?!

~ FUN?! FUN?!

~ What a shitty response

~ Fun rhymes with bun. He likes butts.

~ What else were you people expecting to hear from Seung-ho? I'm actually surprised he's being so... open for once.

~ Oppa is so hot I'm melting. Please take off your jacket and let me see your chest muscles!

"Alright, one day we'll get an answer out of you, Seung-ho!" The interviewer narrowed her eyes at the actor but was smiling. She then turned to Dan-bi and asked the same question. "Dandan, I heard you like tall and handsome actors who don't talk a lot. Has your type changed since then?"

"No," the actress answered while smiling shyly. "That will never happen."

Ji-ho slapped the bed as she understood the situation between them. How could Seung-ho be so blind? Dan-bi was practically handing him a confession. She hurriedly started typing out a new message. Would he look at it this time?

(Ya! Aren't you tall, handsome, and silent?)

Ji-ho held her breath and watched the screen. On cue, Seung-ho took his phone out like the mad man he was. Who did that during an interview?

This time, he spent a second typing out a reply. Since Dan-bi was answering the interviewer's question, neither noticed his discreet action.

(Your words, not mine.)

Ji-ho would have thrown the phone at the wall if she wasn't so lazy to buy a new one.

"Shameless!" She declared.