Chapter 36: Recommending an Actor

Yoon Nam-hyuk walked ahead.

Qi Huai followed behind.

Yoon Nam-hyuk quickened his pace.

Qi Huai lengthened his stride.

Fortunately, there weren’t many people in the hallway. Otherwise, this strange sight would have surely become the joke of the day on Woosan’s internal forum.

Yoon Nam-hyuk rushed into the restroom and tried to slam the door shut. But Qi Huai was faster. Not only did he brace his hand against the door, but he also stuck his entire foot in.

Yoon Nam-hyuk stared at the foot. Logic told him he should slam the door and pinch it. The other would feel the pain and pull back. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it, as if some invisible force was stopping him.

And so, Qi Huai was able to lean in close and observe Yoon Nam-hyuk’s ever-changing expressions. He tilted his head, puzzled. “Are you avoiding me? Why? Are you angry? Because of last night?”

The words “last night” were like red-hot coals, instantly searing Yoon Nam-hyuk’s sensitive nerves. He shot his head up, embarrassed. “Shut up! Do you want everyone to know!”

“Oh.” Qi Huai leaned closer to Yoon Nam-hyuk. “Why is your face so red?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk: “It’s not!”

Qi Huai’s lips curved into a smile. “Your ears are red too.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk: “You’re talking nonsense!”

Qi Huai smiled and glanced downwards. “Want it again?”

“Hey!!!” Yoon Nam-hyuk turned completely red, his face about to explode.

President Yoon’s shout was a bit loud. Not only did people in the hallway look over, but even the people from the conference room started peeking out.

Qi Huai smiled. “Are you sure you don’t want to let me in? What should I say when I go back to the conference room? That President Yoon won’t let me use the restroom?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk gritted his teeth. “You… bastard!”

After spitting out those two words, he turned to wash his hands at the sink. Qi Huai easily gained entry, closed the door, and then slowly sauntered over to Yoon Nam-hyuk’s side.

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s face was cold. “Didn’t you say you had to use the restroom? What are you wandering around for? You’re the first actor who dares to waste company time in front of the president.”

Qi Huai said slowly, “I’d like to ask the president to clear up some confusion for me.”

“Ha?” Yoon Nam-hyuk sneered.

Qi Huai looked at Yoon Nam-hyuk in the mirror, his gaze tracing from the small mole on his nose to the sharp corners of his eyebrows and eyes. “Why are you angry? Did I hurt you last night?”

Wh-what hurt?

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s eyes widened. “Hey! I told you to shut up, you bastard! Aren’t you being a little too insolent to your boss?!”

The culprit being so close reawakened Yoon Nam-hyuk’s lingering shame. The addictive, sinking feeling from last night resurfaced. Yoon Nam-hyuk took a deep breath, pulled out a paper towel, and vigorously wiped his hands. “I’m going out first.”

He turned to leave, but Qi Huai grabbed his wrist. “I don’t understand. Didn’t we clear things up last night? I was indeed in the wrong, too impulsive. I did those things without your consent. But you were in the wrong too. You knew I was drugged, yet you kept touching me, teasing me, saying provocative things. It’s impossible for me not to react…”

Yoon Nam-hyuk was so ashamed he could have died. “I told you to shut up, you bastard! I’m not angry! Which of your eyes saw me being angry? Stop talking about it! Let go of my hand!”

Not angry?

“Then why won’t you look at me, ignore me, or talk to me?” Qi Huai asked.

“I…” Yoon Nam-hyuk felt a lump in his throat. “Did you want me to smile warmly at you and ask how you are in a conference room with twenty people?”

But as soon as he said it, he felt something was wrong.

He often smiled warmly and asked after people in conference rooms. Not just in a room with twenty people, but even in a room with hundreds or thousands.

He often made polite remarks and did polite things. This was perfectly normal for Koreans, who valued reading the room. Why was it that when it came to Qi Huai, he couldn’t do it?

Was the other person that special? Had he already fallen that deep? It was absurd!

Qi Huai thought about it.

He actually thought it made sense.

As a rookie actor, his resources were already very good. Not only had he become an artist directly managed by the president’s assistant, but he also had a 24-hour assistant. He was more of a connection than an actual connection.

If Yoon Nam-hyuk were to smile at him every day, it would probably attract a lot of attention and investigation, which wouldn’t be good.

Qi Huai nodded, accepting this explanation.

Yoon Nam-hyuk secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

However, Qi Huai asked again, “Did you drug me?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s heart stopped again.

“Does it matter who drugged you? Are you going to call the police?” Yoon Nam-hyuk turned his head away and said sullenly. “If you call the police, I’ll tell them I was just a passerby who happened to save you! You’re just ungrateful.”

The boomerangs of “happened to” and “passerby” came flying back at Qi Huai.

Liar, Qi Huai thought. With your temper, if you hadn’t done anything wrong, you would have been cursing up a storm, and it would have been very nasty.

“Unless President Yoon likes to pull down people’s pants when he’s being a passerby,” Qi Huai couldn’t help but laugh.

Aish… I was really possessed last night, causing so much trouble! Yoon Nam-hyuk gritted his teeth. “You punk! Be more polite when you speak to your elders. You want a beating?”

Qi Huai smiled without saying a word, not letting go of Yoon Nam-hyuk’s wrist. Yoon Nam-hyuk struggled. “Let go. Have you asked enough? I’m leaving.”

Qi Huai didn’t let go.

Yoon Nam-hyuk frowned and struggled. “Hey… are you crazy? I said let go. Are you deaf?”

The next second, Qi Huai let go, but not before giving a hard tug, pulling Yoon Nam-hyuk into his arms and trapping him against the sink.

That devastatingly handsome face was suddenly up close. Yoon Nam-hyuk felt his breath catch in his throat. He pressed his lips together, his eyelashes trembling as he stared at Qi Huai. “What are you doing now?”

Because Qi Huai was too close.

Those deep, dark green eyes were like those of a wolf king in the jungle, sizing him up with great interest, staring intently, searching for prey, waiting patiently. No one could guess when he would pounce.

“You drugged me,” Qi Huai said with a smile. “I guessed it. But I’m not angry.”

Because he wasn’t angry, he wanted to analyze why Yoon Nam-hyuk had drugged him, and also why he wasn’t repulsed by what he had done to Yoon Nam-hyuk.

Very curious. I’ve never been this curious about anyone before.

Since he started his missions, he had never felt this way about any of his targets, including Baek Soo-kyung and Choi Min-jun. He had no desire to explore any of them. Only Yoon Nam-hyuk was different.

He found Yoon Nam-hyuk pleasing to the eye no matter how he looked at him. Everything he did was interesting. He was interesting when he cursed, interesting when he was angry, interesting when he kicked him. In short, very interesting.

Yoon Nam-hyuk kicked him. “…What are you staring at me for? Stand back. Don’t do anything weird in the restroom!”

See, he’s very interesting.

Qi Huai laughed out loud.

Yoon Nam-hyuk was incredulous. “Are you crazy?”

What are you laughing at?

Are you crazy?

Alphas are crazy. They’re not like ordinary humans. They do whatever they want, rarely considering the consequences.

Qi Huai smiled and hooked Yoon Nam-hyuk’s chin, rubbing his lower lip with his thumb. “A kiss?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s face turned bright red, and he was speechless. “What did you say?”

Qi Huai slowly leaned in. “We didn’t get to kiss last night. It was a bit of a regret.”

His tongue was very slick. I did touch that.

Crazy, this madman!

Yoon Nam-hyuk thought. Does he know where we are? Someone could come in at any moment! What if an employee sees? What if it’s the media visiting the company? What if it’s a corporate partner who is very concerned about their partner’s image? What if…

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He stared, thinking. He was worried about so many things in that instant, but he wasn’t worried about being forcefully kissed.

Reason screamed: Run! Run!

But his body wouldn’t listen. He couldn’t move.

Qi Huai began to play with his prey.

He kneaded Yoon Nam-hyuk’s earlobe, watching the soft flesh slowly turn red. He brushed his fingers over the corner of his eye, feeling his soft, long eyelashes. He forcefully pried open Yoon Nam-hyuk’s jaw with his thumb, stared at the soft, red tip of his tongue, and leaned in, wanting to try a lingering French kiss that was said to ignite the soul.

Their lips hadn’t even touched, just their noses brushing against each other, and it was enough to make Yoon Nam-hyuk let out a tense, unbearable gasp.

He resignedly closed his eyes. But the next moment, the restroom door let out a creak, as if it was being pushed by too many people and was about to give way.

Qi Huai’s expression became guarded, and he instantly looked at the door. Yoon Nam-hyuk, flushed and overly startled, pushed him away.

The push was very sudden. The restroom floor was slippery. Qi Huai stumbled back two steps before steadying himself against the sink. But the flowerpot on the edge of the sink was knocked over by him.

Crash!

The flowerpot fell to the floor and shattered with a loud noise. At the same time, a series of gasps and whispers came from outside the door.

“Omo! Did the president break something again?”

“How did they get into a fight? Weren’t they fine during the meeting?”

“Didn’t you hear the president shout ‘Hey!’ so loudly just now? Oh my God, he must be so angry…”

Your President Yoon may or may not have been angry before, Qi Huai thought, but he is one hundred percent angry now.

Yoon Nam-hyuk, still standing in the corner, had a face that was changing colors, at one moment red, the next black, his fists clenching and unclenching.

The System was extremely nervous: [Host Oppa, is he going to hit you?]

If he wanted to hit me, Qi Huai thought, he would have hit me long ago. There’s no reason for him to close his eyes before I kiss him. And this time, I was very polite. I asked if he wanted to kiss first.

Qi Huai took a step forward. “Yoon…”

“Don’t come near me!”

Yoon Nam-hyuk stumbled back. He turned to avoid Qi Huai’s gaze, but exposed the tips of his ears, which were so red they looked like they were about to bleed. “I have something to do. I don’t have time to fool around with you.”

He turned and walked away. His steps were so messy he nearly tripped over the cleaning bucket by the door, making a clattering sound. The sound was so close that the crowd of gossips eavesdropping at the door instantly scattered.

By the time Yoon Nam-hyuk walked out of the restroom with an expressionless face, the entire hallway was empty.

Qi Huai stood in the restroom for a little while, the warmth of the other’s lips still lingering on his thumb. He hadn’t gotten to kiss him, but since he had permission, he could just kiss him directly next time. That was good too.

He let out a small laugh, washed his hands, and dried them.

On the way to the elevator, he even nodded at the colleagues in the conference room who were pretending to be serious.

And so, both big shots left.

The conference room was silent.

Everyone rushed to the door, and after confirming that there were no signs of the two big shots in the hallway, they contentedly continued to gossip.

“Wow… daebak, did they really get into a fight? President Yoon even kicked the cleaning bucket on his way out! Bang!”

“Actor Qi is a true warrior, daring to argue with the president. A warrior among warriors.”

“They must have been arguing for a while, right? Their expressions were off today. The atmosphere was very mysterious.”

“What do you mean, mysterious?”

“That love-hate feeling. Didn’t you feel it?”

“I only saw the hate part. Is the love part your imagination, Director Oh?”

“You’re still young. You need to learn to read the boss’s expression, read the air, understand? If there was no love part, who would let Assistant Yoo be his manager? Is Assistant Yoo some idle person? Hmm?”

“I don’t know if I’m an idle person, but if Director Oh continues to speculate like this, you will become an idle person.”

Director Oh: !!!

Director Oh turned and immediately fell to his knees. “I’m sorry, Assistant Yoo!”

He slapped himself on the mouth. “I… I drank too much soju last night. My head was full of Han River water. I just… hahaha, cough, please don’t mind me. Please.”

Assistant Yoo pushed up his glasses. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep it a secret for you. Director Oh can organize this meeting’s minutes. I’ll have a hazelnut latte for afternoon tea, double hazelnut syrup. Thank you for your hard work.”

Director Oh: “…Ne.”

The meeting minutes? Didn’t the president ask Assistant Yoo to organize them? Aish… so unlucky. I’ll definitely keep my mouth shut next time. Director Oh, with tears streaming down his face, angrily ordered thirty cream-filled taiyaki and devoured ten himself.

---

In the chairman’s office at RC Entertainment.

Qi Huai’s few film and television works and all his activities since arriving in Korea were condensed onto a few sheets of paper.

Eun Chul-woo, dressed in a suit, leaned back on the sofa with his eyes closed, tapping his knee with the rolled-up documents as he listened to his subordinate’s report.

“You’re saying… Qi Huai and Yoon Nam-hyuk don’t have a good relationship?” Eun Chul-woo raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“Yes,” his subordinate said, his eyes lowered respectfully. “I heard that a couple of days ago, they had a huge fight in the company restroom, and even broke a flowerpot. Yoon Nam-hyuk left with a cold face, and seemed very angry.”

Eun Chul-woo snorted. “Is that so? I thought he was head over heels for Qi Huai… Did they have a falling out that night? Mmm, that’s possible. Being drugged with something strange, taken to a secret room, and then having strange things done to you—a normal person would be angry… Min-kyung’s stupid idea doesn’t seem so bad after all?”

“Do we need to do a more detailed investigation on him?” his subordinate asked. “After all, he’s a foreigner and has only been in Korea for a short time. We only know that he’s changed houses, rented cars and luxury goods. If we want to know more, we’ll need time to investigate overseas.”

“No need,” Eun Chul-woo said, shaking his head with a smile. “A vain young man who is obsessed with luxury cars and goods, who owes a foreign debt for losing a high-end watch, and most importantly, Yoon Nam-hyuk likes him. That’s enough. As for the rest, I’ll find out myself.”

“By the way, Director Baek’s new film is about to hold public auditions, right?” Eun Chul-woo asked his subordinate.

“Yes, next week.”

Eun Chul-woo nodded. “You can go now.”

“Yes, sir.”

After his subordinate left, Eun Chul-woo fed Qi Huai’s file into the shredder, one sheet at a time, then curled his lips into a smile.

Yoon Nam-hyuk, the person you like, I’m also very interested in him. Why don’t we compete and see who can get him?

He took out his phone and made a call. “Hello, Director Baek. It’s Chul-woo. It’s confirmed that Min-kyung will be in your new film. His schedule is completely free.”

The person on the other end of the line seemed very happy and spoke for a long time. Eun Chul-woo listened patiently, then replied with a smile, “Although Min-kyung is very lazy, it is Director Baek’s film, after all. Min-kyung will definitely not refuse.”

“Also, I have another small favor to ask. I hope you can help me out,” he said. “For your new film, I’d like to recommend an actor.”