I Returned as a High School Girl - Chapter 238: Hottie Designer (3)

Seo Yi-Jun had suddenly become one of the most famous designers in Korea after just one TV appearance. He was happy to be meeting up with his friends after a long time today, but he was also partly worried. Before leaving the house, he made sure to take the disguise set that Kang Ra-Eun had given him as a gift yesterday. The glasses, mask, and…

‘I personally don’t like hats.’

Yi-Jun did not like the feeling of his hair getting pressed down, but wore it anyway because Ra-Eun had put thought into the gift. Ra-Eun was pretty much a cheat code in Yi-Jun’s life; anything involved with her was precious to him.

Yi-Jun drove to an area near his university. He had walked down this road all the time, but he was unfamiliar with the amount of gazes fixed on him.

“Doesn’t that guy look awfully familiar?”

“Maybe he’s a celebrity?”

“You think so?”

Yi-Jun could hear such whispers all around him. Even after meeting up with his friends, he was extremely conscious of people’s gazes. He had no choice but to take his mask off when he was eating and drinking. However, eyes on him increased the moment he took off his mask.

“Excuse me. Are you Mr. Seo Yi-Jun?”

“Would you mind if we take a selfie with you?’

Two women in their early twenties got up from their seats and requested pictures, to which Yi-Jun had no choice but to nod.

“Say cheese!”

Snap!

Yi-Jun made a V-sign with his hand with the two women. His friends that were sitting at the same table were jealous of him.

“You were already popular enough with the ladies before, but now it’s gotten even worse.”

“The world is so unfair. I’d want nothing more in life if I’d been born with Yi-Jun’s face and height.”

“Stop it. You’re only adding to our sense of shame. Enough bullshit and drink.”

“Drinks are on you, Yi-Jun. You’ve been making tons of money lately, haven’t you?”

Yi-Jun’s friends were average university students that earned money through part-time jobs or allowance from their parents. On the other hand, Yi-Jun earned money by outsourcing to many different companies and winning prize money from exhibition contests, so he was naturally more wealthy than them.

“Alright, drinks are on me,” Yi-Jun expressed.

“Nice! This is why I love you, Yi-Jun.”

“Okay! Let’s drink to our hearts’ content since Yi-Jun’s buying!”

“Excuse me! Another bottle of beer, please!’

They were getting in the mood with the help of alcohol. Yi-Jun’s friends showed great interest in his TV appearance.

“How are celebrities up close? Are they different in person?”

“Of course they are. Also, this isn’t my first time meeting a celebrity. You know about Ra-Eun noona.”

“Oh, right. You live together with Lady Ra-Eun.”

Yi-Jun tilted his head in confusion from his friend’s use of honorific. It had been far too excessive of an honorific to use.

One of his other friends pointed at the one that had used the honorific and remarked, “This guy’s a member of Club Allegiance.”

The fan club member raised his voice in embarrassment, “What’s wrong with that?! Sigh… I’m so jealous of you, Yi-Jun. You get to be under the same roof as Lady Ra-Eun. It must be heaven there, right?”

“Heaven, huh…?”

Yi-Jun had thought so at first, but he had certainly experienced some downsides over time. He practically needed permission when using the bathroom, but the greatest danger was when Ra-Eun asked him to give her a massage.

Another one of Yi-Jun’s friends asked him a question once the subject had switched to Ra-Eun.

“Doesn’t Ra-Eun noona practically consider you a little brother? I’d guess that’s why she lets you live with her. There’s no way a woman would let just any guy live with her.”

Most women would not ever suggest to a man that they live together unless they were a family member or something close to that. His friend’s statement caused Yi-Jun’s throat to dry up. He had realized that their relationship was far too close, which could end up being a minus in terms of the possibility of romance between them.

***

“Chairwoman Kang,” Park Seol-Hun called out.

Ra-Eun turned her head and asked, “What?’

“I have something to ask you.”

They moved to Seol-Hun’s office.

Ra-Eun sat down on the couch and asked, “What is it? Is it bad news?”

“Not that. It’s about Yi-Jun. You know that he’s become super famous lately, right?”

“Yeah, more or less.”

Yi-Jun had garnered a significant amount of public attention after just one talk show appearance, and he was even getting appearance offers from other programs as a result.

“I heard he was gonna appear in a variety show next week,” Ra-Eun commented.

“Good for him. No wonder. I also watched the original airing of the talk show episode, and he spoke really well in it. He’s super handsome, too. I honestly thought he was more eye-catching than the male idol they have as a regular panelist.”

Ra-Eun thought so as well. Even while thinking about it objectively instead of as his older sister’s friend, Yi-Jun had a charm that pulled people toward him. As if to prove that, his fame was skyrocketing.

“But what about him?” Ra-Eun asked.

She found it weird that Seol-Hun had called her to his office for Yi-Jun and not something related to the company.

“You remember what you told me back then, don’t you?”

“We’ve spoken countless times. You have no idea how little that narrows it down.”

“You said you were going to bring Yi-Jun to our company.”

“Oh, that I did.”

Ra-Eun had already decided on bringing Yi-Jun to Levanche ever since he had been a high schooler. Although they were already giving him work, Seol-Hun was talking about making him an official employee of Levanche.

“I think it’s the perfect time to hire Yi-Jun,” Seol-Hun expressed as he brought out several pieces of paper. “All you have to do is get him to sign this.”

“And this is?”

“An employment contract.”

“Aha.”

Ra-Eun could feel Seol-Hun’s strong desire to hire Yi-Jun. Having no choice, she softly sighed and nodded.

“Fine. I just have to get his signature, right?”

“Yeah. I set his salary to one that he wouldn’t be disappointed with, so make sure to let him know to think about it.”

“Got it.”

Ra-Eun exited the office with the contract. She seemed to strongly believe that Yi-Jun would sign the contract no matter what, but…

“I wonder how it’ll go.”

Seol-Hun did not see it that way.

***

Yi-Jun arrived at the broadcasting station yet again for a program recording. He had come here with Ra-Eun for his first TV appearance, but he had gotten sufficiently used to the place to come and go by himself.

“Studio B is… Oh, over there.”

The program director and writers that Yi-Jun had met in a previous meeting greeted him as soon as he entered the studio.

“We’ll be in your care for today’s recording,” they said.

“Likewise. I will do my best.”

As Yi-Jun was about to head to his waiting room after greeting the staff members, a woman, who had been chatting with another woman assumed to be her manager, walked toward him with rushed steps.

“My, my, hello!”

Yi-Jun knew who the woman was despite it being his first time meeting her. She was Hye-Ryeong, the leader of the popular girl group T.O.I., whose fame had gone beyond Korea to Japan. The way she looked at Yi-Jun while stroking down her long blonde hair was enough to swoon any man.

Yi-Jun did not remember Hye-Ryeong simply because she was an idol; it was because she had been showing off that she was a fan of Yi-Jun through her social media account, and had even mentioned that she wanted to meet him at least once. And at last, that dream of hers had come true.

“Hello. I saw your posts. It was an honor to know that you wanted to meet me,” Yi-Jun said.

“The honor is all mine! I’ve collected almost every womenswear that you’ve designed and released. They’re all stored in a separate area of my dressing room. Would you like to see?”

Hye-Ryeong excitedly took out her smartphone and showed Yi-Jun the photo of the dressing room that she had taken. It included womenswear that he had designed for other companies besides Levanche.

“I especially like this one. I wore it today because I heard that we would be on the same show together!”

She was wearing a yellow cardigan with just the right number of white lines on it. It was the special collaboration product that had been released after Yi-Jun had won last year’s fashion design competition.

“I’d heard that it was hard to get this.”

Not only had much time passed, it was also a limited edition product that had only been made available at the contest venue at the time. Hence, Yi-Jun found it even more amazing that Hye-Ryeong was wearing it.

“I barely managed to buy it after three hours of waiting in line. I bought the very last one.”

“You went to buy it yourself?”

“Yes!”

Her passion was impressive. Yi-Jun couldn’t help but be happy that someone held this much love for something that he had designed, inexplicably so since that someone was a member of a famous idol group.

“Thank you very much Hye-Ryeong. Oh, may I call you that?”

“Yes, of course! We’re the same age, so feel free.”

Hye-Ryeong even knew his age. Yi-Jun was embarrassed by how devoted of a fan she was.

***

Ra-Eun handed Yi-Jun the contract as soon as he came back home after the recording.

“What’s this, Noona?”

“An employment contract. Mr. Park was talking about how he wants to work together with you officially now, so he asked me to get your signature.”

Seol-Hun had recognized Yi-Jun’s talent for design before Yi-Jun had enlisted in the army, and so had Ra-Eun.

“No matter how close we are, we should at least officially sign a contract,” Ra-Eun mentioned.

“That’s true.”

“You don’t have a pen, right? Just a sec, I’ll bring you one.”

Ra-Eun went in and back out of her room and handed Yi-Jun a ballpoint pen, which Yi-Jun took as he carefully read through the contract. He had reached the final page, and all he had to do now was sign.

“…”

However, his hand did not seem to have any intention of moving.