Peninsula: From a supporting actor to the best actor in Chungmuro

Chapter 265 Miss Yoona's Strategic Alliances

Beijing Courtyard Private Restaurant

On the sandalwood table, the Moutai liquor shimmered with an amber glow in the blue-and-white porcelain cup.

The director of "Go Princess Go" had drunk until his neck was red, and he chuckled as he poked the squirrel-shaped mandarin fish bones in his plate with the tips of his chopsticks.

"President Jiang, please make sure to preserve that scene in your remake—the one where Zhang Peng touches his chest in front of the bronze mirror after his soul travels through time!"

Hannah translated simultaneously without changing her expression, except for a barely perceptible frown when she heard the words "touch the chest":

"The director wanted to preserve the emotional tension of the original work."

Kang Jae-hoon chuckled softly, swirling his wine glass.

"Don't worry, the Korean drama rating system is very tolerant of this kind of dark humor."

He deliberately touched the other person's cup with the rim:

"After all, even zombies can kiss during prime time."

Kang Jae-hoon smiled and took the wet wipe from Han Na to wipe his hands.
"Just like when we were making 'Assassination,' we also had to take into account the sentiments of the Japanese and Korean markets."

He seemed to touch upon the point casually, stopping short of revealing it:

"It's already a miracle that your company could produce a masterpiece like 'Go Princess Go' that defies conventions."

The director's eyes suddenly lit up, and he raised his glass to clink it against the glass:
"My dear friend! You have no idea how many platforms accused us of subverting ethics back then..."

After several rounds of drinks, the topic somehow veered towards "Soulmate".

The assistant director, slurring his words, exclaimed:

"To promote his son, Zeng Zhiwei insisted on editing a film with two female leads into a 'pseudo-male lead' film, and the result? Ha..." He made a collapsing gesture, "The Golden Horse Awards slapped everyone in the face!"

Two female leads

"Holding"

These two keywords pierced Kang Jae-hoon's eardrums like needles.

He listened to Han Na's translation with a smile on his face, but his hand under the table had already opened his phone and started searching for the original novel.

……

On the way to Yoona's hotel.

The rear reading light cast a cool halo around Kang Jae-hoon's profile, while the machine-translated Korean text of "July and Ansheng" on his phone screen pierced his retina like a sharp knife.

"I hate you, but you're all I have."

An Sheng, stepping on July's shadow, said, "We must exchange lives someday."

"Who does Jiaming really love? Perhaps even he himself doesn't know."

The neon lights outside the car window melted into blocks of color as the car bumped along. He suddenly remembered how Kim Ji-won had straddled him a few days ago, imitating Zhang Pengpeng—that androgynous vibrancy strangely overlapped with the torn yet intertwined friendship in the novel.

Even more subtle is...

Jung Soo-jung's face appeared unexpectedly between the lines.

Krystal Jung...?
Kang Jae-hoon paused, then opened the NAVER search bar and typed "Fx Jung Soo-jung's recent situation". The first result was a family dinner photo:

Krystal Jung, wrapped in a beige knitted cardigan, curled up on Jessica Jung's shoulder. Her bare face was made to look fuzzy by the warm yellow light, like a high school student who had skipped class.

"Hanna".

"exist."

Kang Jae-hoon turned off his phone screen.

"Check who owns the copyright to 'Soulmate'."

"Yes."

"in addition--"

Jiang Zaihun suddenly rolled down the car window, and the night breeze carrying the scent of plane tree leaves from Chang'an Avenue rushed in.

"Check Krystal Jung's schedule again."

Hanna: "?"

……

Ding--

The moment the elevator doors slid open, the motion-sensor lights in the suite at the end of the corridor turned on.

Jiang Zai Xun raised his hand to signal Han Na to stop, his fingertips making a slight sound as he rubbed the edge of the room card.

The moment the door lock clicked open—

The image of Yoona wrapped in a bathrobe came into view.

She was bending down, fiddling with the scented candles on the coffee table. Her fair ankles gleamed like pearls in the shadows, accentuated by the silk sash around her waist.

Kang Jae-hoon slammed the door shut.

"Yoona".

The soft call was like pressing a switch.

The wind that blew when Yoona turned around extinguished the candlelight, and their breathing suddenly became clearly audible in the darkness.

No pleasantries were exchanged.

Kang Jae-hoon grabbed the back of her neck and kissed her.

The peach flavor of Lin Yoona blended with the lingering Moutai aroma on his lips and teeth, creating a burning sensation that spread from the tip of his tongue throughout his body.

Jingle Bell--

The shrill ringing shattered the enchanting atmosphere of the room.

Kang Jae-hoon frowned and glanced at his phone screen. The name flashing on the screen made his pupils shrink slightly—Park Shin-hye.

The actress, whom I've rarely contacted since "The Heirs," called at a time so precisely it was like she was an undercover agent sent by Dispatch.

Yoona had already slightly propped herself up:
"I'm going to put on a face mask..."

"Need not."

He pulled the person back into his arms and immediately pressed the speakerphone button:

"Hey?"

The sound of Park Shin-hye's sugar intake exceeding the recommended level instantly filled the entire suite—

"Jae-hoon? Long time no see! Did I disturb your rest?"

The ending note was deliberately drawn out in a soft, sticky tone:

"I saw the news that you got the remake rights to 'The Devil Wears Prada'? Amazing! From a rookie in 'The Heirs' to the youngest Best Supporting Actor at the Baeksang Arts Awards..."

Kang Jae-hoon stared at Im Yoon-ah's suddenly tightened lips, cold sweat seeping down his back:
Thank you. Is there anything else?

"Oh, I was just remembering when we were filming, you said I looked like a high school student in a Missha hoodie?"

She giggled:

"Isn't 'Andy' just a story of a country girl transforming into a fashionable witch?"

“My fashion sense has improved a lot over the years, and I even went to three shows in Paris… How about considering an old friend?”

Kang Jae-hoon interrupted the spellcasting directly:
"I'm sorry, Andy has chosen Bae Suzy as her person."

The sound of a glass being placed on a table came from the other end of the phone.

"...Ah, I see."

Park Shin-hye's voice was noticeably off by an octave, yet she forced a light laugh:

"Please congratulate her for me!"

Im Yoona suddenly stood on tiptoe and bit his earlobe.

Kang Jae-hoon grunted and hastily finished speaking into the microphone:

"We'll have the opportunity to collaborate again next time."

"..."

"Om-"

The busy signal echoed hollowly in the suite.

Im Yoona suddenly burst out laughing, her fingertips brushing against Kang Jae-hoon's Adam's apple like feathers:
"President Jiang's midnight hotline... is always so surprising."

Kang Jae-hoon nervously kneaded her lower back:
"The third one."

"Many old friends?"

Yoona tilted her head back, her neck slender and alluring in the neon lights outside the window, her fingertips brushing against his lips with a warning:
"President Jiang is really in high demand these days, with beautiful women coming one after another to beg for roles..."

She suddenly stood on tiptoe and bit his lower lip:
"You're thrilled, aren't you?"

"hiss--"

Kang Jae-hoon gasped in pain and simply tightened his grip on the other person even more:

"Jealous?"

"I can not?"

Lin Yuner raised her eyebrows:
"Or does President Jiang think I should be generous enough to help you organize your contact book?"

You must trust my resolve—

He gently sniffed the top of her hair with the tip of his nose.

"Composure?"

Lim Yoona scoffed:
"Then tell me... how did you spend that 'Night of Liberty' in Paris?"

Kang Jae-hoon froze abruptly.

0.1 seconds.

The extreme speed from righteous indignation to a feeling of unease.

"Well...you know how much help Suzy has given me!"

He quickly changed his tone, his thumb gently stroking her shoulder blades in a soothing manner:
"If I accept this with a clear conscience, am I even human?"

Yoona glanced sideways and poked his chest:
"You have no conscience at all?"

"Of course!"

Kang Jae-hoon lowered his head to kiss her, but the words didn't go out of his head:
"I also prepared something for you..."

The words suddenly caught in my throat—

damn it!
I almost forgot to mention the surprise of the "Crown Princess"!

Yoona's doe eyes suddenly shone like stars.

In the blink of an eye—

Parisian Liberty Night... debts of gratitude... a sudden visit to China... his guilty conscience, hesitant to speak at this moment...

The clues instantly strung together like a galaxy.

(—This guy's got something big up his sleeve! A birthday present? A special project?)
Her mind was perfectly clear, yet she withdrew all her offensive tactics, gently smoothing his furrowed brow with her fingertips:

"You reek of smoke and alcohol..." She pushed his chest in disgust.
"Go take a shower."

Kang Jae-hoon breathed a sigh of relief, but his heart was also in suspense—did he believe it or not?
But his survival instinct made him immediately seize the opportunity:
"Together?"

His hand was already hooking towards her belt.

Im Yoona slapped his thieving hand away:

"Don't think about it."

Point your finger to the direction of the frosted bathroom door:
"If you keep nagging... I'll sleep in the bathtub tonight."

……

The fog on the frosted glass door blurred Jiang Zai Xun's figure, and the sound of hot water flowing became a perfect soundproof barrier.

The tender expression on Lim Yoona's face vanished like the receding tide, and a sharp, cold glint flashed in her eyes—

He's already done the third one right in front of her?

What about when you carried her on your back?

Slender fingers tapped lightly on her arm, the rhythm so distinct it was as if she were calculating something.

Di-

The call is connected.

The background noise over there was so loud it sounded like a battlefield—

Amidst the sounds of barbell plates clattering and treadmills humming, one could faintly hear Lee Sung-kyung's cold and hard voice saying, "Don't block my way."

"Yo~"

Bae Suzy's voice was filled with the panting of someone who had just finished strenuous exercise:

"What a rare guest!"

“Some people are so envious of Andy’s character that they’re practically going crazy.”

Im Yoona cut her off abruptly.

A sneer came from the other end of the phone:
"What, you want to steal the role too?"

"I'm not as thirsty as you."

Lim Yoona's fingertips twirled the ribbon of her bathrobe:

"Park Shin-hye just called Kang Jae-hoon to ask if he should help an old friend."

"so?"

"Even she's started, so... how about we guess how many late-night audition videos Kang Jae-hoon has in his inbox right now? — You know, those girls who just graduated from acting school are much more willing to go all out than you."

A sharp, metallic scraping sound came from the other end of the phone, followed by the complete disappearance of background machinery noises—Bae Soo-ji had most likely covered the microphone tightly.

"what do you want to say in the end?"

"If a younger girl were to flirt with him right in front of you," she said, a slight smile playing on her red lips in the darkness, "should I sit and watch the show, or... lie down and watch?"

Bae Suzy understood.

Once upon a time, when Kang Jae-hoon was just an unknown actor, his face alone was enough to make several of them fight fiercely.

now……

—The youngest Best Supporting Actor in Baeksang Arts Awards history!

—Founder of Next Scene!
With just a casual glance from those eyes, countless newcomers would be willing to "sacrifice themselves for art."

No matter how arrogant Bae Suzy is, she can't be with him 24/7. Wait!

Bae Suzy suddenly narrowed her eyes:

Why didn't I provoke you first?

On the other end of the phone, Lim Yoona chuckled softly.

The laughter was as elegant as the gentle rustling of a beaded curtain falling in the main hall of a royal palace.
"Just because"

She looked at the blurry, tall figure reflected in the bathroom glass:

"You can even ask that question."

Bae Suzy: "?!"

The sound of the bathroom doorknob turning suddenly rang out.

Im Yoona immediately smiled:
"Okay, I just wanted to remind you to be careful of injuries during training."

He then promptly hung up the phone.

When Kang Jae-hoon came out, drying his hair.

What you see is Yoona leaning against a velvet pillow, flipping through a magazine, but the pages she's holding remain untouched.

It looks like a classic oil painting.

"Who are you talking to on the phone?"

"Consult about skin management."

Yoona looked up, her eyes sparkling like shattered diamonds scattered into an inkwell:
"after all--"

Her slender fingers lightly traced the line of her jawline:

"Some people always think that collagen is immortal."

Kang Jae-hoon's Adam's apple bobbed.

This woman always uses the gentlest tone to stab the sharpest knife.

He bent down, grabbed her ankle, and pulled her into his arms. The hem of his silk nightgown slipped down, revealing her bare calves that looked like ivory carvings in the dim light.

"Who messed with our beautiful Lin?" His palm lingered suggestively along her leg. "I'll help you—"

"Ban?"

Yoona suddenly bent her knee and pressed it against his chest, her toes barely touching the spot where his heart was pounding:
"President Jiang wields immense power now... he even dares to issue a blacklist order so casually?"

Jiang Zaixun seized the jade-white ankle, his canine teeth grinding lightly against the protruding ankle bone.
You know perfectly well—

Her wet bangs brushed against the back of her knees.

"I just want to shut some people up for being jealous out of nowhere."

Who's jealous?

With a sudden twist of her waist, Lin Yoona exerted force—using the force to push him back into the depths of the bed!
Stray hairs brushed against his eyelids, and the sweet scent of peaches after his shower filled the air.

"I was just curious..."

Her fingertips slowly traced his collarbone:

"Was it Park Shin-hye's 'old friend' that made my bones melt?"

Kang Jae-hoon's breathing suddenly tightened.

This is hardly a matter of questioning and reprimanding.
It was clearly torture disguised as interrogation!
He abruptly rolled over, pinning her beneath him, but his kiss landed on her eyelids—an almost reverent touch:

Do you want me to lay bare my heart as proof?

Im Yoona suddenly fell silent.

The only sound in the air was the crackling of the burning candle wick, and the warm light stretched the shadows cast by her eyelashes long and thin.

Those tentative, witty, and subtly sarcastic words of love... were suddenly put on pause.

Her fingertips gently brushed across the faint dark circles under his eyes:

"If you're tired, take a nap."

Her voice was as soft as a sigh:

"Do you think you're made of iron?"

In the instant Jiang Zai Xun was stunned, she had already sat up and picked up the hairdryer, running her fingers along the comb teeth:
"come over."

A warm breeze hummed as it swept across the top of his head. Yoona's fingertips moved through the damp hair, the pressure neither too light nor too heavy, like taming some restless wild beast.

—If you ignore the fact that her phone was lit up with the title of an email Hanna had just sent: "Jung Soo-jung's Schedule Analysis Report for the Whole Year".

……

Private gym in Hannam-dong, Seoul.

Bae Suzy ripped off the boxing bandages.

Sweat trickled down my collarbone and into my sports bra.

"Lin Yuna?"

Lee Sung-kyung had just finished arm wrestling, and her forearm muscles were still twitching.
"She called to check up on you?"

Bae Suzy scooped up a bottle of mineral water and gulped it down, her Adam's apple bobbing as she swallowed the icy liquid.

"Stop the civil war."

Water droplets dripped from his chin.

"Unite against external forces."

Lee Sung-kyung frowned: "Externally?"

Bae Suzy suddenly pointed sharply at the floor-to-ceiling glass—

The LED screen below the street was reflecting the "PRODUCE 101" talent show advertisement, which was playing on a loop. Dozens of bright, smiling girls' faces bloomed like fireworks.

"See that?" she sneered. "Those newly-adult little vixens, a random clip of their hot dance video can easily crush the click rate of our new drama trailer!"

Lee Sung-kyung looked blankly in the direction she pointed:
"……so?"

Bae Suzy's gaze swept over Lee Sung-kyung's superior waist-to-hip ratio.

Suddenly feeling deflated.

She should have thought of this sooner—

This woman's thought process in the realm of emotions is comparable to that of a single-celled organism; otherwise, how could she have been overtaken by Lin Yoona and herself when they were roommates back then?
The food is authentic.

"it means……"

Bae Suzy sighed:
"We are now in the same boat."

Lee Sung-kyung frowned:
"speak English."

"Tsk."

Bae Suzy grabbed her phone and started typing rapidly.

He then shoved his phone in front of Lee Sung-kyung, the screen displaying a new actress's Instagram story—

The girl wore the same military uniform as Seo Dae-young from "Descendants of the Sun," and captioned the post with the tag #KangJaeHoon#.

"Do you understand now?" Bae Suzy raised an eyebrow.

Lee Sung-kyung didn't say anything, but silently untied the boxing bandages—a gift from Kang Jae-hoon last year.

The way she was unraveling the white cotton cloth circle by circle made it look like she was unsealing some murder weapon.

Bae Suzy smiled with satisfaction.

That's more like it!
(End of this chapter)