Chapter Text
“I didn’t take this job to make friends. I don’t see why it’s important for me to start making any now.”
“Well, you see, that’s the problem,” Zhang Hao commented as he flipped through his notes. “No one wants to be your friend. No one likes you.”
Ricky looked up from the magazine spreads that were on his desk and frowned at his best friend of five years. “…you like me, don’t you?”
“I tolerate you.”
The two men stared at each other, and Ricky broke the silence first. “Bullshit,” he stated bluntly as he turned his attention back to the magazine spreads in front of him. As he flipped through the images of the stick thin models, Zhang Hao sighed audibly and leaned back into his seat.
“If you ever want to become editor-in-chief, you have to do this,” Zhang Hao urged as he leaned forward. “Come on, you and Jisu are around the same age. Sure she’s a couple of years older than you, but do you seriously think that you can just outlast her or something?”
Ricky turned his eyes upward and eyed Zhang Hao. “I’m younger and– ”
“I love you, I’m your friend, but none of the men funding this magazine have a good image of you Ricky. The thing is, everyone knows that you’re not nice to anyone, and that really–”
“Based off the last time I talked to her, I’m pretty sure Jisu isn’t Mother Teresa–”
Zhang Hao groaned and slapped his forehead. “You’re really not getting it. You’re so stubborn I want to shake y–”
Ricky set down the picture he’d been holding and let out a sigh. He shook his head and stared at Zhang Hao, trying to keep his annoyance to a minimum level, but failing completely.
“I fucking want the editor-in-chief position badly, but what do you want me to do? I can’t just change myself overnight,” Ricky grumbled as he tossed one of the images from the magazine shoot into his wastebasket. “I’d come across as a fake bitch.”
“That’s why I’m setting you up with someone.”
“What? Who?” Ricky snapped, his eyes immediately narrowing onto the man in front of him. His glare intensified, “You didn’t say you were setting me up with someone. All you said was that you were introducing me to someone who could help me–”
“And Gyuvin can help you,” Zhang Hao interrupted as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He toyed with it and continued to speak while doing so, “He’s good looking, friendly and–”
Ricky cut in with a disinterested look on his face, “And I probably haven’t heard of him, at all. If you planned on letting me fake a relationship with someone in order to improve my image, the least you could’ve done was make sure he wasn’t some–”
“It’s not my fault you’re such a hipster.”
The creative director stared at Zhang Hao, completely appalled. “For your information, I am not a hipster. I watched the latest Zhao Lu Si drama, by myself, and I actually enjoyed it.”
“Because Yang Yang was in it,” Zhang Hao shot back as he leaned back into his seat. “Trust me, I saw the trailers, and the billboards. I’m sure you did too.”
“…I definitely got my money’s worth.”
Zhang Hao chuckled and shook his head, “Anyway, for your information, he’s got two movies coming out this summer–”
“But he’s not in the leading role, I’m sure of it,” Ricky mumbled. “How’s he supposed to help me if he’s more famous than me? Shouldn’t I be going out with someone on my level?”
“Just because you don’t know who Kim Gyuvin is, that doesn’t mean he’s not famous, so cut him some slack,” Zhang Hao grumbled as he tried to find a picture of Gyuvin on his phone. “Gyuvin has a good image with the people he’s worked with – from hair stylists to photographers. People always have a good thing to say about him… I can’t really say the same thing for you however–”
“Get to the point.”
“My point is Ricky,” the publicist snapped as he looked up from his phone, “Gyuvin is well liked, and you aren’t. If he starts going out with you, people will start to wonder things like – ‘Hey, I wonder what Kim Gyuvin sees in Ricky. Maybe there’s something beyond that ice bitch exterior of his.' Or at least, that’s how I hope things go.”
Ricky frowned.
“Don’t you go frowning at me. This is the only thing I could think of,” Zhang Hao muttered. “You should be thanking me for trying to help you out. When you participated at some charity event last week, I heard that a lot people think that you only went so that you could show off that new Givenchy coat of yours.”
“Which is not true!” Ricky hissed, “And besides, it was Burberry–”
Zhang Hao rolled his eyes. “Burberry, Prada, Givenchy, I really don’t care. Shouldn’t you care more about what other people are thinking of you?”
“I’ve been raised to not care about what other people think.”
“And that my friend, is why no one likes you.”
“…except you.”
“Which is an unfortunate thing for me honestly,” Zhang Hao chuckled and turned his eyes back to his phone. “Sometimes I wonder why I even bother with you.”
Ricky rolled his eyes then took a sip of his coffee before he held his hand out expectantly. “Come on, show me a picture of Kim Gyuvin already. I’m sure if I attempted to Google him, nothing interesting would come up because that’s how unpopular he is.”
Zhang Hao rolled his eyes and handed Ricky his phone. He watched as Ricky examined the picture, then after a few seconds, he spoke up, “So? Would you be willing to pretend that you’re in love with Gyuvin?”
Ricky shot Zhang Hao a look before he handed him back his phone mutely and then turned his eyes back to his work.
After it was clear that the creative director wasn’t going to say anything, the publicist cleared his throat, “Ricky, you didn’t answer my question.”
“Yeah, whatever, I’m willing.”
Zhang Hao raised an eyebrow, “Why the sudden change of heart?”
“He’s good looking,” Ricky commented idly as he turned back to organizing the photos that were on his desk.
The younger man laughed, “How shallow of you. You only care about looks, don’t you?”
Ricky looked up and blinked at Zhang Hao innocently, a teasing and devilish smile tugging at his lips. “I wouldn’t be in this business if I didn’t.”
-
Ricky buried his face into his pillow.
“Jiji, don’t let me do this.”
As expected, a reply didn’t come. Ricky lifted his head and eyed his cat, who was warily eyeing him from a few meters away. He sighed and sat up, and just as he’d begun to make his way to his cat, the animal quickly darted away as if he’d set its tail on fire.
Ricky groaned and ran a hand through his hair.
Even his cat didn’t like him.
Before Ricky could head over to his walk-in closet, his phone began to ring. He treaded slowly over his carpeted floor and picked it up off his desk.
“Hello?”
“Getting ready for your date?”
Ricky groaned and walked back to his bed. He fell onto its soft surface and didn’t reply for a few seconds.
“Or is your date already over?”
“I’m getting ready,” Ricky mumbled defeatedly.
Chaeyoung chuckled. “Is that defeat I hear in your voice? Come on Ricky, I really doubt it’s going to be that bad. Isn’t this supposed to be fun? It’s a date. God knows the last time you went on one.”
“Hey–“
“You’re about as sexually active as Karl Lagerfeld, and he’s seventy nine! That’s more than thrice your age.“
“Excuse me–“
The actress laughed, “It’ll be fun. I’ve gone on my fair share of fake dates, and they were all endlessly entertaining. You make good friends out of them.”
“…don’t you have kids to bother and mother hen over?”
“As far as I’m concerned, you’re one of them.”
“Okay mom,” Ricky teased as he rolled over to lie down on his back so that he could stare up at the ceiling. “You have a really good plastic surgeon. He took off so many years off that face.“
“Idiot, this beauty is one hundred percent real.“
“Except–“
“The eyelids, I get it.” Chaeyoung muttered lightly, “It’s not my fault. The agency wanted it, and I was just a girl. I hadn’t even finished high school. What was I supposed to do? You know how the industry works.”
“It’s all ironic, seeing as the same harsh industry that makes young girls and boys cry every day wants me to be nice.” Ricky replied irritably as he glared at his pristinely white ceiling. “Jisu is a bitch. Why does she get to be a bitch and I don’t?”
“Because she doesn’t look like one,” Chaeyoung said with a laugh. “Unfortunately for you dear, you’ve got perma-bitch face, and I don’t think a single plastic surgeon in Seoul is ever going to be capable of fixing that for you.”
Ricky sighed loudly then rolled back onto his stomach. “I don’t want to go on this date. What if Kim Gyuvin’s an idiot?“
“What if he’s not?”
“What if he’s stupid?“
“What if he’s not?”
The creative director sighed. “All I want is to be editor-in-chief so that I can do what I want and finally get the opportunity to stop listening to whatever Jisu wants. She’s an oppressive bitch, and she kills my creative juices.”
“Aw, sweetheart–“
“By the way, I wanted to try to get one of those girls from NMIXX for our March issue so that we could have a fresh face, but Jisu wants you to be on the cover instead.”
Chaeyoung laughed, “I knew there was a reason I liked that woman.”
“Old hag.”
The actress ignored his comment. “Have fun on your date,” Chaeyoung said kindly, her amusement with Ricky highly evident. “Play nice, and don’t forget to tell me about everything that happens. I don’t think seeing pictures on tomorrow’s newspaper will be enough.”
-
Ricky glanced at his watch and sighed. His date was late, and if there was one thing he hated more than being forced to do things, it was tardiness. He drummed his fingers onto the tabletop, and just as he was about to consider flagging down a waitress in order to order a glass of wine, someone cleared his throat.
“Hey, I’m Gyuvin–“
“And you’re late,” Ricky remarked idly, before he inwardly berated himself for coming off as so
critical. He watched as the younger man’s lips curved into a smile regardless of his comment, then turned his attention away. “Anyway, I’m hungry, so let’s order...”
Gyuvin sat down across from him and a few seconds after he’d browsed through the menu, he immediately set it down. “Should I be worried that I’ll end up looking like a pig in front of you if I order a steak?”
Ricky looked up and blinked, “You can order whatever you want, I don’t care.”
Gyuvin laughed and shook his head. He looked down at his menu and replied, “If you’re going to be my boyfriend, then shouldn’t you care?”
“…I’m not that particular about what people eat,” Ricky said slowly, forcing himself to tone down on his usual snarky replies. “I mean, I know people should… make sure they’re healthy, and…”
The younger man laughed, “Don’t worry about it.” He leaned forward, and when Ricky looked up, he was stunned by how nice Gyuvin’s smile was. “It’s nice to know that my boyfriend won’t force me to stay on a diet.”
Unable to help himself, Ricky shot back a reply. “If you lose those abs of yours, I’ll probably force you to go on a diet and get them back.”
“…so you’ve seen topless pictures of me?”
Ricky blushed and stared back down at his menu, embarrassment radiating throughout his whole body. “Zhang Hao showed me one.” He cleared his throat and refused to look back up. “Besides, I just realized that I’ve seen you in a couple of magazine spreads before, so…I saw your body there too.”
“I see… so you stare at my topless pictures for work purposes only?”
Ricky raised his eyes and looked at Gyuvin, “Of course.”
“Okay.”
Ricky took a deep breath and kept his eyes glued to the menu. “Anyway, what are we supposed to do tonight? It’s not like I go on dates like this every day, so I don’t exactly know what to expect or…”
“I guess we’re just supposed to look like we’re having a good time.”
“Oh.”
“Are you having a good time?”
“…I don’t really know.”
Ricky fell silent after, and unfortunately for them both, things lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. It took a few minutes, and they were both saved by a waitress that came over to take their orders. As soon as she was gone, Ricky proceeded to stare at his fork like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
Gyuvin cleared his throat, and Ricky looked up.
“So… have you seen any of my movies?”
Ricky stared at the younger man blankly then shook his head. “Nope. In fact, I didn’t even know who you were until Zhang Hao told me about you -”
“Ouch.”
The creative director winced at his lack of tact and tried to remedy his mistake. “Uhm… I was just being honest… after all, that’s why you need me right? In order to help you get more famous, and so that more people can recognize your face.”
Ricky took a deep breath and continued calmly, “I’ll help land you on the pages of a few magazines, maybe land an ad campaign or two–“
Gyuvin laughed. “You sound so serious about this.”
“…is it supposed to be a joke? Our careers rest on this.” Ricky’s lips curved into a slightly disapproving frown, “I…”
“I wanted this to be fun.”
The creative director’s frown deepened. “This isn’t a game.”
“But it is,” Gyuvin insisted as he leaned forward. A handsome smile graced his face and he rested his chin upon the palm of his hand. “We’re trying to trick everyone that we’re in love, isn’t that a game?”
“Well–“
Gyuvin’s phone began to ring, and he shot Ricky an apologetic smile before he picked up the call. Ricky bit his lip, slumped into his seat and frowned at his plate. The longer the date proceeded, the more and more he was convinced that things weren’t going to end up well.
It would probably be smarter for him to just call everything off.
If he were to be honest, Gyuvin reminded him of some of the numerous men he’d met over the years. He wasn’t as bad as some of them, but Ricky was still wary of the other man’s good natured personality. It wasn’t unusual for people to pretend to be friendlier than they actually were.
Perhaps it was mean to judge Gyuvin so quickly, but after spending so many years wasting his time on getting to know people who only ended up to be disappointing, Ricky didn’t feel any guilt at all.
“I have to go.”
Ricky’s head jerked up, “What? You just got here.”
Gyuvin sighed then spoke up, “I know, but apparently I got casted for something and they want to take some pictures of me tonight.” He grinned at Ricky, “But I’ll make up for everything, I promise.”
Ricky scowled. “Somehow I doubt that. Besides, are you expecting me to pay for your food?”
“Just cancel the order.”
The creative director glanced to his right, and he saw that their waitress was carrying a tray of orders that he presumed to belong to them. Ricky turned his eyes back to Gyuvin and scowled, “It’s too late to do that.”
“I’ll pay you back.”
“Yes, I’m sure you’re swimming cash,” Ricky muttered sarcastically.
Gyuvin laughed and placed a hand over his chest. “That burns, sweetheart.” He pushed back his chair and then proceeded to walk over to Ricky. He leaned forward, and despite Ricky’s effort to lean away, he cupped the other man’s cheek anyway.
“You’re slightly prickly… but attractive. I think this will go well.”
And before Ricky could get a single word out in protest, Gyuvin had already placed his lips over his.
-
“So how did it go?”
Ricky thought back to the night before and grimaced slightly. “I don’t know.” He turned away from Zhang Hao and watched as one of the assistant stylists helped a model into a towering pair of red high heels, “…anyway, I don’t think–“
“You know I saw the pictures right?”
The creative director blushed then scowled, “I thought you said Gyuvin and I would be meeting at a restaurant with good security in order to prevent people from taking pictures of us–“
“I didn’t know you were the type to kiss on a first date.”
“I’m not!”
Zhang Hao chuckled in amusement and then looked up from his phone, “You won’t mind if Gyuvin comes over to pick you up for some coffee, right?”
“What?” Ricky spluttered, nearly dropping the dress that he had in his hands. He clenched the fabric tightly and blinked. “Are you sure that… that that’s a good idea? I mean really, we just saw each other yesterday.“
“Well, people in love tend to want to see each other every chance they get,” Zhang Hao commented in a hushed tone as he texted Gyuvin, “and seeing as you two are supposed to be people in love, you have to be seen out and about together.”
Ricky shook his head and handed the dress over to a frightened assistant stylist, who quickly darted away. He took hold of Zhang Hao’s sweater and then proceeded to drag him out to the corridor.
“Can’t you find someone else? Someone less…”
Zhang Hao tilted his head and pushed Ricky’s hand away. He raised an eyebrow and then his lips curved into a knowing smirk. “Does Gyuvin annoy you?”
“Yes, but–“
“Then I like him all the more,” Zhang Hao said as he patted Ricky’s shoulder. “You’ll be fine Ricky. Gyuvin’s like a puppy, all you have to do is show him a little love and he’ll be devoted to you.“
“I’d hardly think a man who called me prickly on the first date is a puppy,” Ricky muttered as he pushed Zhang Hao’s hand away. “Seriously? Why couldn’t you have set me up with someone that would take this more seriously?“
The publicist laughed, “There’s no fun in setting you up with someone like that. Anyway, like I told you, Gyuvin’s coming over and–“
Before Zhang Hao could finish his sentence, the sound of elevator doors opening alerted them to someone else’s presence. Ricky turned his head, and his lips immediately contorted into a frown when he saw who had stepped out.
“Are you happy to see me so soon sweetheart?”
Ricky raked his eyes over Gyuvin’s body, and he scowled. “What do you think you’re wearing?” He pointed at Gyuvin’s baggy shirt and the loose fitting jacket he’d draped over it, “Just so you know, mendicant fashion was never in fashion.”
Gyuvin blinked at Ricky then turned his focus to Zhang Hao, “Is he always this particular about fashion?”
“What do you think?” Zhang Hao laughed. “He’s not in the industry for nothing.” He patted Ricky’s shoulder then made his way to the elevator, “Anyway, I have another client to meet, so you two should just play together nicely.”
As soon as Zhang Hao was gone, Ricky reached out and pulled Gyuvin by the lapel of his jacket. Luckily for the two of them, everyone was too pre-occupied with the photoshoot to be out in the corridor. Ricky led him past racks of clothing before proceeding to push him into an empty room.
“Stay here.”
“Just so you know, I’ve been out of the closet for four years now.“
“And have been dressing yourself in the dark, obviously,” Ricky muttered as he walked out of the room. He ignored any of the people that shot him curious glances and headed over to the menswear racks. Ricky picked the clothes he felt would fit Gyuvin off them then headed back to the room where he’d left the young actor.
Gyuvin was seated on the floor, and he looked up when he saw Ricky and the armful of clothes in his arms.
“Here you go.” Ricky then unceremoniously tossed the bunch of clothes onto Gyuvin’s lap. He smirked as Gyuvin pulled a shirt off his head, “It’s about time you started dressing better on your own.”
“I think I dress–“
“Like a train wreck, meaning that you look so disastrous that no one can tear their eyes off of you,” Ricky commented as he picked up a polo shirt that Gyuvin had tossed aside. “You were decently dressed last night, so I presume that means that you didn’t dress yourself.”
“…my manager chose my outfit.”
“I thought so,” the older man murmured as he began to pick through the items he’d selected for Gyuvin. “Well, now that we’re supposed to look like we’re together, you have to dress like you look like you belong at my side. I can’t have you looking like a tragedy–“
“Is that a demand?”
Ricky stopped looking over the Rick Owens jacket he had in his hands and turned his eyes to look at Gyuvin. “…well, yes, I guess it is. I’m demanding that you dress better, so let me be in charge of dressing you.”
“You want me to be…a Ken doll.” Gyuvin’s face scrunched up in distaste. “But whatever, fine. I’ll let you dress me. It’s not like I have anything to lose anyway.”
“It’s good that–“
“But since you’re making a demand of me, I have a demand for you too,” Gyuvin said as he stood up, letting the expensive clothes that had been on his lap fall onto the floor. He stepped over the garments and stopped when he was less than a few inches away from Ricky.
Ricky frowned at their closeness and took a wary step back. “What is it?”
“I need you to smile more,” Gyuvin replied. He crossed his arms and made sure he held the shorter man’s gaze. “I was looking at your press photos from the past couple of years last night, and I noticed that you didn’t smile in any of them.”
“…does it matter?” Ricky grumbled as he shoved the leather jacket at Gyuvin and then proceeded to pick up the rest of the clothes off the floor. “I hardly think anyone’s happy with having a camera flash in their face.“
“If you want to look friendlier, more approachable and in love, you have to smile,” Gyuvin answered idly as he took off his jacket. “You know, when people are happy, they tend to smile and–“
Ricky turned around. “I know what smiling is, thank you very much…“ The creative director stopped mid-sentence, and his mouth fell open at the sight of Gyuvin’s revealed upper body. “What, what, why are you half-naked? Put a shirt on!”
“I thought you agreed that I was going to be your Ken doll?” Gyuvin smiled innocently while stretching his arms out. “You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere, imagination, life is your–“
The older of the two scowled, picked an assortment of clothes from his pile, and then shoved them at Gyuvin. “Get dressed. Afterwards, let’s get some coffee, have pictures taken, and then you can leave me alone for the day.”
“Life in plastic, it’s fantastic–“
Ricky walked out and slammed the storage room door shut before Gyuvin could get to the next line.
-
Gyuvin set down a mug of hot chocolate in front of Ricky and smiled. “So, I came up with an idea of what to tell people last night about how you and I met.”
Ricky lifted up his mug to his lip and then paused to reply. “So tell me what this brilliant plan of yours is then.”
“We met at a party…“
“How original–“
“I spilled a drink on you, and I offered to pay for the cleaning of your shirt, but I was too cute, so you denied the offer and opted I pay you back with a date instead.”
The older man scowled. “Bullshit.”
Gyuvin laughed and leaned forward, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. He tilted his head slightly to the side. “Well, the whole ‘we met at party and I spilled a drink on you’ thing is true, since that’s what I’ve told people.”
Ricky’s eyes widened, “What? You’ve already–“
“I had to.” Gyuvin replied easily as his hand crept across the table. “I had a photo shoot earlier this day, and some of the people on set refused to stop bothering me about and how you and I met.”
“If you hadn’t kissed me last night, you wouldn’t have had this problem.“
The actor laughed. “But you looked good last night. I couldn’t resist. Besides, I’ve seen so many pictures of you and those lips of yours. I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to kiss you.”
“…I don’t know whether to be flattered or to be horrified,” Ricky commented after he’d taken a sip of his hot chocolate. “But fine, I’ll keep up your highly cliché and obviously not well thought out story if anyone asks me about us.”
“I’m sure someone will ask you about it.”
“I doubt it,” Ricky replied lightly, seeing as he was well aware of all the people at his office who were terrified of him.
The creative director turned his attention away from Gyuvin’s face, and when he lowered his eyes, he watched as Gyuvin’s hand moved closer. He raised his eyes off the table and looked back at Gyuvin, who was watching him with an innocent expression on his face.
“Are you expecting me to hold your hand?”
“No, I just wanted to try your hot chocolate but you haven’t placed the mug down ever since you lifted it off the table,” Gyuvin replied, his smile widening. “But if you want to hold my hand, you can.”
Ricky rolled his eyes. “No thanks, I’m not your mother.”
“Speaking of mothers, how old are you?”
“Twenty three, why?”
“Just wondering. I forgot to ask last night, but I figured that you were older than me by a bit.” Gyuvin replied as he reached forward to hold Ricky’s mug. He placed his fingers over the other man’s and although Ricky tried to jerk away, he kept his fingers firmly placed over the other man’s. “I’m twenty two.”
“What are you–“
“Can you smile at me?” Gyuvin asked, a smile still playing at the corners of his lips.
“Why?”
“Because there are around two to three guys with cameras standing outside,” Gyuvin replied with a brighter smile. “And it’d look good for you to seem like a man in love. Maybe you don’t know, but people in love smile at–“
Ricky flashed a smile.
“Good boy.”
The older man kicked Gyuvin underneath the table, the gesture hidden by a table cloth and Gyuvin’s ability to mask his pain. “If anyone is going to be anyone’s bitch in this relationship, that bitch is going to be you.” Ricky spoke, a smile still on his lips. “I have to go back to work, so I’ll see you–“
“Tomorrow?”
“That’s too soon. I don’t want to look like a clingy fool.”
“What about next Friday?”
“I have plans.”
“With whom?”
“It’s none of your concern.“
“As your boyfriend, I think I have the right to know who you’re with,” Gyuvin shot back as he managed to steal the mug of hot chocolate out of Ricky’s grasp. He took a sip then continued to speak, “You can’t cheat on me.”
“I won’t be cheating on you.” Ricky said with a forced smile as he stood up. “Don’t you trust me?”
Gyuvin laughed, “Fine, whatever. Do what you want.” He licked his lips then looked up at Ricky expectantly. “Do I get a goodbye kiss?”
“After you drooled on me last night? No way,” Ricky replied before he made his way out of the café and ignored the group of curious photographers that trailed after him hurling questions about his relationship with Gyuvin.
-
Ricky stared at the images that were spread throughout the board for the February issue. His eyes meticulously raked over every image, and when he noticed that several were missing, he felt his blood rise.
Before anyone could say a word, Ricky left the room and immediately headed for Jisu’s office. He stepped inside, interrupting what was going on at the office at that moment, and Jisu turned her head.
“What is it?”
“You cut four out of my ten pages.”
“I wasn’t keen on it in the first place,” Jisu replied as she picked up a lime green dress off the rack. She examined it against her body, “I told you, nobody’s going to bother looking through that spread with such an–“
“But you added more pages to that idol star’s spread,” Ricky countered. “Yihyun is an established actress and she’s on the cover of our issue–“
“And she’s boring right now,” Jisu shot back. “The spread was uninteresting. I didn’t like it. I don’t need to see more of it in the magazine. I know you have some kind of unusual love for flapper style, but it wasn’t working, and we can’t reshoot it.”
“If you think she’s boring, why did you even want her on the cover?” Ricky questioned.
The older woman handed the dress she’d been holding to an assistant. “I never thought she was boring before, I just feel like the way you handled her spread made her seem boring.”
“So rather than going for a re-shoot, you’d prefer if we filled more pages of our magazine with just another young, pretty, idol star that can’t sing?”
“I’d prefer if we kept the magazine with a fresh, youthful, and pretty image, rather than forcing something that just doesn’t work. Frankly Ricky, your shoot with Haeri just doesn’t work, and others have agreed.”
Ricky’s jaw clenched, and he shook his head. He wasn’t surprised that other people had agreed with her – pretty much everyone followed whatever Jisu said like blind lambs. He sat down on one of the sofas and watched as Jisu looked through the clothes rack. She began setting garments out, and just as she was about to place away a red gown, Ricky cleared his throat.
“I like that one, keep it in.”
The older woman turned around, and she shot Ricky a look before she placed it back where it had been originally. Ricky watched as the skittish assistants in the room flocked to Jisu like bees, and he rolled his eyes when one of them immediately ran to pick up a fur coat that had accidentally fallen onto the floor.
“For the March issue, I was thinking we should let Chaeyoung share the front cover with that new friend of yours.”
Ricky looked up from his phone and tilted his head, “Who?”
Jisu turned around, a dress in hand, and raised an eyebrow. “Your boyfriend, the up and coming actor, Kim Gyuvin – I want him on the front cover.” The editor-in-chief returned to browsing through the rack.
“Wouldn’t that be a little…”
“He has a nice look. I like his face,” Jisu replied. She turned to look at one of the editors who were in the room. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes, very masculine. He would look good next to Chaeyoung.”
“If you think it’s a good idea, I can’t really protest,” Ricky said slowly and suspiciously. “But it would seem kind of random to just place him on the magazine – even more so the cover. He doesn’t have any projects right now, unlike Chaeyoung, so…”
“Well, you should encourage him to take more projects then,” Jisu suggested as she walked over to her desk and sat down. She took a sip of her coffee then set it back down. “I want him on the cover. As his boyfriend, you should make sure he belongs there.”
“What do you suggest I do then?” Ricky questioned. “It’s not like I’m going to start knocking on the doors of–“
“Bring him to our New Year party. Introduce him to me there, and I’ll see if I can pull some strings for him. Get him talked about, and eventually on the pages of my magazine.”
“You’d honestly do that much for him?”
Jisu looked up. “Shouldn’t you be thanking me rather than questioning my motives for helping him?” She smiled in amusement and turned back to her work, and Ricky felt himself grow more and more irritated with her. “Besides, I like to be the first one to have discovered things. You may have discovered Kim Gyuvin’s romantic potential, but I want to be the one who reveals his star potential.”
Ricky was silent, and Jisu turned her eyes up.
“You’re dismissed.”
-
Ricky watched as one of the models on the shoot eyed some of the bagels that were on set. He glanced at the bagels then turned his eyes back to the model.
“You can eat one you know. You don’t have to feel nervous about eating around me. I really don’t care.”
The girl laughed nervously. “No, it’s okay. I have to wear a corset later. It might not fit if I have one now. I can eat it later…”
“It’s not going to make a difference,” Ricky said with a shrug as he waved her comment off. “Someone might eat that bagel later, and then you’ll have to buy one yourself.”
“I’d rather not, but thank you for caring.” the young girl said with a faint smile. “I got retouched a lot on my last shoot… so my agency told me I should lessen how much I eat.”
Before Ricky could get another word out, he heard someone call his name. He turned around, and his eyes narrowed at the sight of Gyuvin approaching. He sighed and put down his phone to walk up to the younger man.
“Why are you here?”
Gyuvin ignored his comment and kissed his cheek. When he pulled away, he handed Ricky a box. “I brought you some blueberry cream cheese tarts. I thought you might and the other people here might like them.”
“…this is a photo shoot, no one’s going to eat.”
“But babe, I’d like you with some more meat on those bones,” Gyuvin said jokingly, a smile playing at the corners of his lips. He placed his hands on Ricky’s waist teasingly and held him close. “You need to be softer to touch.”
“If you didn’t have such mammoth sized hands, then maybe I’d feel softer underneath your hands,” Ricky shot back as he wriggled out of Gyuvin’s grasp. He turned around, and when he saw that Gyuvin was following him, he spoke, “Why are you here? It’s unprofessional for you to be here right now.”
“Oh, I’m filming something on a different floor. We’re on break right now. I just wanted to stop by to say hi to my baby boo.”
Ricky placed the box of tarts onto a table and turned around with an expression of disgust on his face. “You do know I’m older than you, right?”
“By three months. I still think you’re cute.”
“Excuse me while I throw up in the bathroom,” Ricky said as he pushed past Gyuvin and began to make his way to where everyone was shooting. He turned around just as he was a few steps from the set, “Go to work!”
“I’ll see you later, boo!”
Ricky froze, and his face turned a bright shade of red when he realized that everyone had heard Gyuvin. Completely incapable of producing some kind of reply, he simply turned around and ignored Gyuvin’s laughter as he made his way off the set. Everyone’s eyes were on him, and after a few seconds, Ricky cleared his throat and tried to salvage his image.
“What are you all looking at? We have work to do.”
-
“…since you have a boyfriend now, aren’t you supposed to be hanging out with him rather than hanging around here?”
Ricky looked up from the copy of Harper’s Bazaar he’d been flipping through and blinked at the older woman. “I thought you asked me to babysit.”
Chaeyoung leaned forward and met Ricky’s eyes through her full body mirror. “No Ricky, it’s more like you volunteered to babysit. I didn’t ask.” She turned away from her mirror, halfway done with putting on her earring. “Besides, doesn’t Gyuvin have a red carpet event today? You should’ve gone with him.”
“How did you know?”
“I saw him on the television awhile ago,” Chaeyoung replied. “By the way, Yoonhee thinks he’s very handsome, just like her daddy.”
Ricky rolled his eyes. “Where is your husband anyway?”
“He’s getting flowers for me.”
“Why?” Ricky questioned a puzzled look on his face. “Is it your anniversary today?”
“No, I just told him I wanted flowers,” Chaeyoung said with a laugh as she walked into her closet to get her dress. She slipped it on, and when she came back out, she turned her back to Ricky. “Care to zip me up?”
Ricky set the magazine he’d been going through onto the nightstand and walked up to Chaeyoung. “You flirt.”
“You’re gay. I hardly think this counts as flirting.” Chaeyoung said with a laugh as she turned around and smiled at Ricky. “I may have tried to kiss you once or twice, but that was before I met my husband and before I knew you were gay.”
“I think it was pretty clear I was gay, you were just too desperate and single –“
The older woman rolled her eyes and walked away to pick up her clutch. “Who’s the desperate and single one now?” she teased. “While I’m happily married and with two children… where have you ended up? With a fake boyfriend?”
“At least his abs are real,” Ricky muttered.
“Oh Ricky, you’re adorable,” Chaeyoung said with another laugh as she opened the door of her bedroom and called for her children. As she waited for them to come, she turned around. “Are you sure you don’t want to invite anyone to stay here with you in order to make things more interesting? Isn’t this going to be your fourth or fifth viewing of Cars 2? I’m sure Jungmin wouldn’t mind if you invited a friend.”
Ricky shook his head, “I’ll survive.”
“You sure?”
“Of course,” Ricky said as he flashed the older woman a lovely smile. “You know much I love Lightning McQueen.”
-
Ricky hated Lightning McQueen.
Despite his attempts to get the kids to switch movie, they’d insisted upon viewing Cars 2 for the second time that night. Ricky wanted to scream and just force in another Blu-ray, but he knew that if he attempted to do that, he’d be pelted with multiple action figurines and toy cars.
His only other option of escape was to sleep, but seeing as the last time he’d fallen asleep, Hyunsoo had spilled red paint all over the white carpeting, there was no way Ricky would trust the children by themselves. Someone rang the doorbell, and both kids’ heads turned at the sound. “Mommy says we can’t open the door for strangers.” Hyunsoo chorused on purpose, well aware that Ricky already knew that rule.
Ricky rolled his eyes at the kid’s attempt to piss him off further and grumbled, “I know. I’ll get it.” He got up off the sofa, gently nudging Yoonhee off his lap, and made his way to the front door.
He didn’t bother to check who was out in the corridor and simply swung the door open.
“Hey.”
Ricky blinked and immediately blurted out the first words that had come to mind.
“Are you a stalker?”
Gyuvin laughed then pushed the box of pizza in his hands at Ricky. He nudged the other man with it several times. “No, I just happen to know where you are.”
“…I think that would be the definition of a stalker.” Ricky said as he stepped aside so that Gyuvin could come in. He took notice of the formalwear the other man was in, but as he shut the door, he didn’t bother to comment on it.
Gyuvin took off his shoes then looked around. “This is a nice place. Is it–“
“Who are you?”
Hyunsoo peeked out from the living room, and his younger sister peeped from behind him. At the sight of them, Gyuvin shot a confused look at Ricky.
“They’re not my kids,” Ricky said in explanation. He called out for the kids to come closer. “They’re my friend’s kids. I just babysit them sometimes.” As the two children came closer, he gestured to them, “This is Hyunsoo, and this is his sister Yoonhee. Yoonhee, Hyunsoo, this is my… my boyfriend, Gyuvin.”
“Hi,” the children greeted cheerfully, but before Hyunsoo could bring up Cars 2, Ricky beat him to it.
“Why don’t you two continue watching the movie? Gyuvin and I will prepare the food, and then we’ll bring it to you guys.”
“Okay!”
As soon as the children were gone, Ricky turned back to Gyuvin. “Why are you here?” he asked, before he proceeded to gesture to the kind of clothes that Gyuvin was wearing at that moment. “Don’t you have some after-party to go to?”
“No point in going if you’re not there,” Gyuvin said with a shrug.
“You could’ve talked to some people though,” Ricky replied. “You know, build connections… social networking and all that stuff. I’ve managed to convince someone to shoot you for a magazine, but you’ll have to do some stuff on your own too.”
“…right.” Gyuvin laughed, “I’m really inexperienced, aren’t I? Damn. But oh well, I’m here, so it’s okay if I stay here, right? I kind of wanted to get to know you better, since I heard you and I have to go to some party together. It’s easier to look comfortable with one another if we’re friends.”
“Right.”
The two men stared at each other, and Ricky awkwardly looked away first. He licked his lips anxiously then turned back to Gyuvin. “Well, you can stay tonight, provided that…”
“Provided what?”
“Please stay with the kids and watch Cars 2 while I sleep,” Ricky said finally, as he tried to avoid sounding desperate. “I can’t stand that movie anymore. Just keep the kids happy for thirty minutes, and then I promise I’ll be back.”
Gyuvin laughed, “Fine.” His lips curved into a confident smirk. “Aren’t you happy that you have such a nice, lovely, and wonderful boyfriend? Please admit it. You’re happy to have been paired up with me.”
Ricky scowled. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m not going to go to the kids until you admit that you’re happy with me,” Gyuvin teased before he proceeded to nudge Ricky with the pizza box. “You think I’m cute, don’t you?”
“Yes, I’m happy to have you, and yes, you’re cute… like a puppy with rabies,” Ricky admitted before he pushed Gyuvin in the direction of the living room and made his way to the guest room so that he could finally sleep away the sound of Lighting McQueen’s voice actor in his head.