Chapter 97: Romantic Management
[Romantic Management Do Seohan Cameo Appearance]
“Tonight at 9, right???”
“Why am I the one feeling nervous?”
“I’ve been trembling like I’m the one going on air since earlier, lol.”
“Still, I believe our Hamjji did well ㅠㅠ”
– “Me too! He always does well at everything.”
└ “Our Hamjji is quietly strong…”
└ “Acting genius Do Seohan”
└ “Not sure about acting genius, but his face is genius-level, so all logic will probably make sense instantly.”
└ “ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋah”
– “You too? Me too, lololol. I was trembling in front of the TV earlier and my mom asked if I was the one on the show ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”
└ “Ah, mom ㅋㅋㅋㅋ”
└ “It feels like the child I raised with my own votes is appearing on TV…”
└ “22222”
└ “I absolutely cannot bear to see our Mam-Seohan get criticized anywhere.”
– “Of course, I'm sincerely rooting for him, but I'm curious about Do Seohan’s acting skills. Even if it's just a cameo, it'll show right away, right?”
└ “To be honest, what he showed on Starf… didn’t really give the vibe of good acting ㅠㅠ”
└ “No!! Our Byo just can't do sexy acting. He’s actually really good at frail acting.”
└ “Frail acting, lolololol”
└ “Whose side are you on? Be honest.”
└ “ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋThat's an eternal dark past.”
└ “Seohan probably wants to erase that by now.”
At the same time, it wasn’t just Dusty who was trembling—so were the members.
Like children left by the water, the hyungs who had been worried since the filming day finally…
…brought out their secret weapon.
Inside the Stardust dorm.
Ha Junseo waved his hand and shouted loudly.
“Line up.”
“Is this kind of like a calming pill or something?”
Zzorrorrorr—
Seo Haim, accepting the Deadly Coffee that Ha Junseo handed over, asked with a bright smile.
Hearing that, Jin Sehyun shook his head vigorously.
“No, I think the idea is to knock you out in one go so you can’t feel any nerves anymore.”
“…Huh? Is this okay to drink?”
Sip.
At the moment she swallowed a mouthful with unease—
Seo Haim shuddered like a fly caught in an electric swatter.
Undoubtedly, it was the most bitter taste in her 19-year life.
“Ueueueegh! This thing… is coffee?”
“Come on, it’s not that bad.”
Ha Junseo brushed it off as an exaggerated reaction, but Seo Ian calmly added,
“Hyung, Haim drinks choco latte.”
“Ah….”
“She still says iced americano is too bitter and can’t drink it…”
Seo Ian looked back at the suffering Seo Haim with sentimental eyes.
“Ueueueegh! Where’s the water?”
Toward her back, Ha Junseo threw out an entirely unhelpful remark.
“It’s the process of becoming an adult.”
“If that’s what being an adult is, then I won’t become one.”
“Mm, one year left~.”
Cha Seongbin hummed a tune as he chimed in.
Despite being only twenty-one, he spoke with a swagger like he knew everything in the world.
“The only kid here is our maknae. The rest of us are all soon~ soon!”
“The only thing that’s coming soon is our Fan Song, not my aging, thank you!”
“That’s coming soon too~.”
Just then, the slyly chattering Cha Seongbin got caught in Ha Junseo’s radar.
With a sly smile, Ha Junseo handed the coffee he personally mixed in a mug to Cha Seongbin.
“You drink too.”
“Me?”
“I lightly added six shots today.”
“This is an assassination attempt!”
“Everyone asked for it strong…”
“We meant moderately strong, not actually send us off!”
Experienced Jin Sehyun took one sip and immediately put down the cup.
It hit even harder than the coffee he had before.
“If I drink more, the chicken won’t taste good.”
He had even ordered chicken specially to watch with the drama—he couldn’t risk losing his tastebuds now.
“Let’s just eat chicken.”
“Should we turn on the TV now?”
After dinner, while they were chatting, time had flown past 8 o’clock.
As the clock hands neared nine, Kang Siwoo gathered the members.
Seohan, who had been trembling since earlier, murmured softly.
“Ah, I’m so nervous.”
It was now time for Live Broadcast Watch.
My first attempt at acting in life.
I was honestly so nervous, I wanted to snatch and drink Ha Junseo’s Deadly Coffee.
‘Uwaaah!’
When the opening scene of Romantic Management appeared, I almost let out a silent scream.
But unlike the first ten minutes when we were all trembling together, we soon calmed down.
“…….”
“Oh.”
Silence hung in the air of the dorm.
Everyone had forgotten they were eating chicken, completely immersed in the drama.
Blank—
Kang Siwoo, who had been spacing out since earlier, put down his chicken leg and spoke.
“Why is this so good?”
“Well… it’s Yoo Wonhee writer-nim, after all.”
“This is insane, seriously.”
Focused on the drama, I wasn’t even nervous anymore.
Ha Junseo gnawed on a stick and asked me,
“So, they were classmates?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“He liked her since back then. Ah, this drama’s a hidden gem.”
The two, who were high school classmates, met again in the entertainment industry ten years later.
Mina (Lee Seohwa) returned as a star drama writer, and Choi Yooseok (Park Minchan) reappeared as the manager of Romantic Management.
And the scene in episode 7 showed Choi Yooseok, who had been dodging Mina’s confession by circling around it, finally changing his mind and actively making a move.
‘Let’s go on a date.’
‘If possible, on a nice day?’
‘No, the earliest day possible. This evening at 7.’
Choi Yooseok opened his mouth cautiously with a serious face. The first promise he made himself.
Mina smiled gently at Choi Yooseok’s sincerity and nodded.
‘Okay, I’ll wait.’
It seemed like a proper date would finally happen by episode 7—
Then the scene changed, and the shabby signboard of Romantic Management was shown in close-up.
“…!”
“Huh?”
A familiar face appeared on screen.
With a cellphone in one hand, standing in a cocky pose while looking up at the signboard….
“Seohan-ak!”
“Wow, Do Seohan!”
“Did I get filmed like that?”
The self-absorbed idol, Jun, appeared.
I hadn’t realized I had one leg out and a full-of-attitude expression like that, and my face turned bright red.
Ha Junseo shook my shoulder and gave a thumbs-up.
“Wow, you nailed it!”
“The drama lighting is insane. You look better than you do on music shows.”
That wasn’t the problem.
My role was to unintentionally sabotage the perfectly set-up date between the two.
On screen, I was smiling as I clutched my phone.
‘Hyung, I just arrived.’
‘What? Out of nowhere? At this hour?’
‘Come to the office quickly. I’ve got something to say.’
With that one line, Park Minchan’s face turned pale.
‘Why now, of all times.’
It wasn’t enough to rush over barefoot.
A mere manager from a small management company couldn’t just blow off a visit from a rising star idol.
Already over-immersed in the drama, Ha Junseo’s jaw dropped.
“Seohan, are you trash?”
“M-Me? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Why’d you break up a couple that was doing well!”
At Ha Junseo’s scolding, Jin Sehyun quietly murmured,
“Seohan might be the entertainment industry’s dating patrol.”
“Huh?”
I flinched a bit, remembering I had actually broken up a couple before.
Kang Siwoo nodded seriously and added,
“Well done. That needed to be shut down.”
Of course it did.
I was mentally agreeing with the leader’s righteous philosophy, and now the scene where I properly appeared began.
The scene where Choi Yooseok, giving up on the date, returned to the office to finalize a contract negotiation with Jun.
I sat with my legs crossed on the spacious sofa and slightly lifted my head.
‘Hyung.’
From the angle of that slight lift alone, I was already getting pissed.
Why though?
“Do Seohan’s so good at making people mad with his acting~.”
At Cha Seongbin’s comment, Seo Haim coughed awkwardly.
“Ah, I almost spat out my soda.”
“But you can’t deny it, right?”
“This has been proven since Dusty Corp. days.”
Well, this is where it gets serious.
Shrugging my shoulders, I started hamming it up just as the script demanded.
These were lines I’d never be able to say in my right mind as the real Do Seohan.
‘No matter which company I join, I’m really going to do hip-hop. Can’t you tell just by looking at my face? It says it right there. Ah, hip.’
Claiming I was hip from head to toe, I even raised my foot slightly for that added detail.
“Ah, so hip~.”
“Hip, Do Seohan!”
Cha Seongbin murmured in awe and leaned forward.
And then—
Park Minchan’s legendary line followed.
It was the line that caught me off guard even when I first got the script.
‘What are you talking about, Jun-ah. The only thing written on your face is how handsome you are.’
But Jun wasn’t flustered.
In response to Park Minchan’s subtle compliment, he casually replied.
My lips curled on screen.
‘Well… yeah, I guess so.’
As the camera zoomed in on my shamelessly proud face, the hyungs all collapsed to the floor.
“Pfft.”
“Puhuhuhu….”
Seo Haim clutched her stomach and doubled over.
“Ahahakhak!”
“The only thing written on Do Seohan’s face is how handsome he is?”
No wonder I had a bad feeling.
“Our maknae, whose face says nothing but handsomeness~.”
“…It’s not true!”
Ah, life.
They’re going to tease me with this for at least a week.
[Do Seohan is f***ing cute]
My mind changed after watching Romantic Management today.
Do Seohan’s MBTI wasn’t SEXY, it was CUTE.
I really don’t know how a lifeform born on Earth can be this cute.
My heart is racing….
The heart that had been dead for a million years just started beating again.
– Sorry, but Seohan’s MBTI was never SEXY.
└Ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ So firm
└Sorry but I don’t think it was ever SEXY either ㅎㅎ
└Look at the Dusty members refusing to back down ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Just say it was BEOUNGYAK instead
└I read it because I was curious and it’s 병 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ약 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└You’re so mean, seriously ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└I was reading this like “Wait, was he ever sexy?”
– Also, third line is wrong. Do Seohan’s an alien. He wasn’t born on Earth ㅜㅜ
└Stop nitpicking weird stuff ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└For real, they bash Doubles’ concept but they’re the most serious about it ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Our Hamjji was born on Dusty-Dust Star-1204 ㅠㅠ
– So what’s Do Seohan’s real MBTI?
└Cute
└SEXY~
└Ffs not that stuff!!!!
└Probably ISFJ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Thank you, teacher
At first, many Dusty members were against the cameo appearance.
There were always controversies about idols’ acting, and it was also just a month into debut—early for solo activities.
There was more than enough to be worried about….
But once the episode aired, the response was great.
Dusty murmured with a satisfied smile on their lips.
“Our Seohan’s good at acting.”
Even though the character was meant to be annoying, Seohan’s personality came through, making it the most lovable role ever.
Comments flooded in begging for him to appear again—not just as a cameo.
The realism of the acting was so natural, there was no way anyone could question his skills.
It was great that I managed to leave an impression on the public through this opportunity.
But for Dusty, the biggest takeaway was something else.
Office Worker Dusty hummed a tune as they spoke.
“So the only thing written on Do Seohan’s face is how handsome he is, right?”
Ah, I got one.
‘Can’t wait to see how Do Seohan reacts.’
After experiencing Starf days, everyone’s grasp of the members’ character interpretations got sharper.
“I’m definitely using that line.”
Knowing better than anyone that I’d be the type most embarrassed by this kind of thing,
I was already looking forward to teasing him at the next fan signing event.