When Chae Yoono shot back sharply, the filming site froze for an instant. But the CEO didn't bat an eye.
“It's a photoshoot with a formed-type couple concept. If the shoot falls through, there's the penalty fee, the set rental goes down the drain, the staff schedules get tangled, and we'd have to talk the advertiser around, one thing after another. Who's going to shoulder that risk?”
“If money's the problem, then just pay the penalty and be done with it. And it's not like the shoot has to be today.”
Chae Yoono raked back his hair in irritation. At that, the CEO cut him off in one stroke.
“That's your position. What about the advertiser and the staff? Mr. J's schedule especially? We only barely managed to book today because of this collaboration.”
Chae Yoono fell silent for a moment. J was one of the few people he himself had said he wanted to work with. Knowing that, he couldn't easily push the issue.
After exhaling a deep sigh, Chae Yoono opened his mouth again.
“If you're going to use a replacement model, you can just bring in another omega. How many actors and models are signed to CS?”
“And where exactly am I supposed to find an omega right now whose visuals won't be overshadowed standing next to you, and whose height and build match too? Whoever came in, not just me, today's a tall order.”
The CEO snorted, and her gaze naturally turned to Siyeon. She'd had her eye on him for a while. Just the silhouette of the unidentified omega Chae Yoono kept dragging around overflowed with marketability.
“But this one's already here on-site. Right, Hongsi?”
“…Uh, I'm not a model, though.”
“I know. And even so, you stand out.”
The CEO looked Siyeon up and down as if that much was sufficient. It was a gaze hard to distinguish as a compliment or a product appraisal. Probably closer to the latter, though.
She immediately turned her head toward the advertiser and the photographer.
“Let's just shoot a sample first. If Mr. J doesn't like it, we fold it right away. If it's fine, we salvage as much of today's quota as we can with face-free replacement cuts.”
The photographer looked Siyeon over once. He was mostly hidden by the hat and mask, but the man agreed that he was a hidden rough gem.
“Well… I could try a sample shoot at least.”
“See, he says so. Babe, want to go change clothes real quick?”
The CEO smiled with satisfaction. In the midst of it, Siyeon's head was a complete mess at how things were muddling along.
Right now… they're telling me to shoot in his place?
Siyeon looked around the set. The white fabric and lighting, the perfume spilled on the floor. And the scenes from the original story lodged in his head.
A troubled feeling came first. But if he finished today's shoot without incident here, he might be able to prevent one of the accidents to come. At least this one matter had entered the realm of something he could twist with his own hands.
“…All right.”
Siyeon reluctantly nodded. He could see Chae Yoono's expression twisting, so he lowered his gaze at an angle for no particular reason.
“But in exchange, if you'd promise my face absolutely won't appear…”
“Good. Deal's set. I'll pay you for the work you put in.”
“How much?”
The words shot out reflexively, making a mockery of his pitiful act. Just as he was wondering if he'd come across too money-grubbing, the CEO laughed heartily.
“I like it. No wonder I thought I caught the same scent.”
“What scent?”
“The scent of a person who loves money. Here, I'll pay you above market rate, so let's just get the sample shot first.”
As if the decision had already been made the moment consent dropped, the CEO waved her hand.
“Wardrobe team. Find something that fits this friend. In the direction of covering the face as much as possible. Just tidy the hair, and put a mask on him depending on the cut, or if there's no helping it, fix it in post.”
“Don't take it off.”
Chae Yoono's voice rang low across the filming site. Unlike usual, the trace of laughter was entirely gone.
The CEO looked back at him.
“The mask, don't take it off in the first place.”
“If it's needed for a cut, we can shoot it first and adjust after.”
“We can just not shoot the cuts that need it.”
The surroundings went quiet for a moment. His expression was thoroughly hardened. Not the figure of the actor who'd skillfully matched his rhythm with Han Seowoo in front of the camera, but the real Chae Yoono.
For some reason, an undercurrent of anxiety lay beneath his fully bristling face.
“It's fine. They said they'd shoot it so my face doesn't show…”
“Even so, no.”
At the firm answer that came back again, Siyeon caught on to his intent a little.
Chae Yoono didn't want to put him on display. Come to think of it, hadn't he been like that in the CEO's office last time too? The way he'd reacted sensitively to the CEO's request to see his face was no different from now.
He understood the man's feelings. They were tied together in a contractual relationship in the first place, so if his identity got exposed, it could become awkward for both of them.
But if that was the case, he shouldn't have brought Siyeon to the filming site at all.
Wanting to be stuck together but balking at exposure. Just pick one, please. Does he not think about his own position?
“Instead of squabbling like this, I'll finish quickly. We're just shooting a sample anyway.”
When Siyeon said it deliberately offhand, the CEO gestured as if she'd been waiting. Soon one of the wardrobe team employees approached cautiously.
“You can come this way.”
In the end, Siyeon followed the wardrobe team employee and moved spots.
The whole way to the wardrobe room, his back prickled, but once he arrived in front of the rack, he felt a slight regret over whether he should have just refused all the way through, like Chae Yoono had said.
“…You want me to wear this?”
The garment hanging there was in a similar vein to what Han Seowoo had worn. Given the concept, it was white, in a slightly fluttery material.
Except the fabric's surface area looked a bit smaller. The back in particular was cut wide open.
Layers of light fabric draped down so it wasn't blatant, but since it was his first time ever wearing this kind of outfit, it nagged at him for no reason. And on top of the outfit, even the hair and makeup were going full-scale…
“Weren't we just trying a sample shoot first?”
“We have to shoot even a sample properly. Mr. J's awfully meticulous…”
“Still… my face won't show, so the makeup's fine, but.”
When Siyeon put up even a faint resistance, the makeup team staffer smiled awkwardly.
“We'll just set the overall tone first and cover your lower face with a veil. Your face won't directly appear.”
“A veil?”
“Yes. Then it'll be hidden more naturally.”
He didn't know whether he could trust that. But having come this far, picking petty fights would only chip away at his stamina.
Siyeon reluctantly changed clothes.
When he took off the mask and mussed up his flattened hair, a hair-team staffer came over and swept his bangs back. He'd taken it lightly, figuring snapping a couple of photos would be no big deal, but having someone handle his hair and fix the set of his clothes was itself unfamiliar, so the more time passed, the more burdened he felt.
This is no ordinary job either.
Just as he was reflecting on having secretly thought this work would be easy, his own reflection in the mirror caught his eye.
As expected. He was uselessly too pretty.
He'd known from the start that this body's looks were exceptional, but after receiving an expert's touch on top of it, it didn't feel real. This much and he wouldn't be outdone standing next to Chae Yoono, he was just thinking.
The stylist came over holding a white, semi-transparent veil.
“Shall we try putting this on?”
“It's see-through… this isn't covering anything, is it?”
“It's got jewels and lace attached here, so your gaze will barely go toward the face. Don't worry too much.”
The staffer rattled off nothing but smooth talk.
He was deeply suspicious, but what could he do? He had no other option.
But isn't this less about covering and more about putting it on so people look harder?
When he tilted his head slightly, the silhouette of his lower face remained faintly visible. Like peeking at something forbidden through a thin film, it felt like it only added to the curiosity.
“We'll move to the filming site now.”
When he finished prep and returned to the set, the staff who'd been moving busily moments ago turned to look at Siyeon one by one. Most wore surprised expressions. Understandably so. The guy who'd been no different from an assistant staffer had appeared, at some point, as the figure at the center of the frame.
At the way he blended well into the set, the CEO smiled with satisfaction.
Chae Yoono, on the other hand, gave no particular reaction, and J, who'd be the biggest hurdle today, lifted his camera with a notch more serious gaze.
“Okay, we'll start the sample shoot. Just stand there and turn your head a little.”
Siyeon awkwardly twisted his head.
Click. Click. Click.
The shutter sounds rang out one after another. J checked the screen, then looked at Siyeon again. It was the gaze of someone who'd found a subject to his liking.
“Strange…”
J muttered quietly to himself.
“You're really not a model, right?”
“…No, it's my first time.”
He could feel all the gazes in the filming site converging on him. When Siyeon nodded with a slightly tense expression, J adjusted his grip on the camera and gestured.
“The sample shoot seems enough with this. Let's go straight into the main shoot like this. Yoono, come stand to the side.”
At J's instruction, Chae Yoono came over to Siyeon's side.
“If you can't take it, say so right away.”
A low voice reached him. Keeping his gaze fixed on the camera, Siyeon answered quietly.
“I'm fine. It'll be better than getting more troublesome later.”
“Later?”
“Just… like the schedule getting tangled or something.”
He couldn't bring up the original story, so he had no choice but to mumble it off vaguely. Meanwhile J prepared the next cut and continued his directing.
“This time just overlap your wrists in a hold. We'll take the faces out of the frame.”
Chae Yoono wrapped a hand around Siyeon's wrist. Skinship at this level was familiar now, but maybe because he was nervous in front of the camera, his heart pounded faster than usual.
“Yoono. Look at the camera.”
J's voice cut in sharply. Only then did Siyeon realize. That Chae Yoono was looking only at him, instead of at the lens.
