"We shine the brightest because we are surrounded by shitloads of darkness. I hope you will never have to experience it."
He answered carefreely without giving it a lot of thoughts. Shizu stayed quiet as she watched Lee Changhyuk studied himself in front of the mirror.
She had heard rumors about the dark side of the Korean entertainment industry. The Korean entertainment was notoriously high pressure. It included a gladiator-like work environment where only the strongest survived.
The Korean public set high standards of behaviour and physical appearance, and used existing social media to pass instant judgment. A lot of artists suffered from depression and numbers of them had committed suicide due to the inability to cope with the brutal depression.
It made her wonder, did Lee Changhyuk go through the painful journey as well? Shizu knew almost everything about Han Ryeowook but she knew nothing about the evil magnae apart from his signature powerful voice.
"But I'm glad that you think we are the brightest stars. Thank you. I'll work even harder." He sat himself on the sofa beside her. His eyes softened as they met her beautiful ones, he removed the beanie, fake beard and glasses then shook his head to fix his hair.
"People pray to the stars because they bring hope. Your existence brings hope to the people. You should never forget that." A smile appeared on her lovely face. Lee Changhyuk might not realize how much power and influence he had on people but Shizu knew it and she was sincerely grateful for it. As public figure, GreenEast always tried their best to cheer their fans, encouraged them to do better and they were the goals that people looked up to.
Changhyuk turned his head and threw her a smile. He leaned his back comfortably to the sofa and crossed his arms on his chest.
"Has anyone told you that you are beautiful?" Those wet lips curled ap as he let himself enjoy the beauty of her light brown eyes.
Shizu's face reddened from the embarassment. How could he say that to her face? But this time Shizu would not show her awkwardness, she had been chanting mantras in her head eversince he walked back and forth doing that unfair catwalk, showing off his demigod profile!
"Why? Do you think I should be a model?"
"You can never enter the entertainment industry. Unless you hire me as your manager, ok?"
"Why?"
"Because you are too precious, Miruku - chan.. haven't you heard stories about it?" Putting his elbow on the back cushion, he leaned his head lazily on his hand.
Shizu didn't answer immediately as her mind wandered.
She read articles about scandals in the entertainment industry. If you're not strong enough you'd be treated as an object. A lot of women sold their body to the directors to secure a role and photoshoot.
The last scandal that was exposed on the media was a veteran actress who was forced to sleep with CEOs to get sponsored in a drama. The girl committed suicide because her label kept telling her to sleep around to keep her career on track.
"Is it really that bad?"
"Not always, but still.. You cannot enter it unless you hire me."
"What about you? How did you end up in the entertainment industry?"
"I got scouted when I was walking to school. They actually wanted me to be a model since I am tall. And look at this face.. This did not undergo any plastic surgery. Well, I did something to my teeth but let's not count that!" A mischievous smile broke out on that nonchalant face. He was tilting his head to the right and left with full confidence, showing off his sharp jawline and perfect nose.
Shizu giggled. Whoaa.. was she really having an interview with Lee Changhyuk? Her eyes were staring at him with excitement.
"Then how did you join GreenEast?"
"I heard Yoonjae hyung singing with Kangyu hyung in the practice room. You know how mesmerizing their voices are, right? Once you hear them sing, it would get stuck in your head. I started to sing with them and the vocal teacher heard me. The next thing I knew they wanted me to join as the last member in GreenEast." He was grinning from ear to ear as he remembered the past.
It was an honor for him to get invited to GreenEast. When he was still a trainee for model: he had always been envious whenever the other 4 members were training. They were so talented and spectacular on stage!
"Last member, no wonder you're the magnae. And who's the first member of GreenEast?"
"It is Yoonjae hyung. As the last member I only trained for 1 year. But Yoonjae hyung, as the first one to join StarLord, trained for 4 years. He went to StarLord Entertainment for an audition. You know what they told him?
'You have a very beautiful voice but you're ugly.'
They told him that everyday so Yoonjae hyung would practice 20 hours per day just so that he wouldn't get kicked out for his face. That stupid hyung, isn't he amazing?" Changhyuk's face remained neutral but if you paid a closer look on his nonchalant face, you could hint a slight uneasiness.
Did she hear him right? Kim Yoonjae? The Visual God of GreenEast was ugly? The one labelled as the sexiest man alive and the most fantasized man on the planet? That Kim Yoonjae who won #1 for the 100 most handsome face 3 years in a row!!?
"Kim Yoonjae, THE Visual God?"
"In Seoul, we have the best plastic surgeons in the world." He nodded his head then winked at her.
"Then?" She looked at him with her faithful big eyes.
"GreenEast was formed only when they recruited Son Kangyu. StarLord Entertainment were overwhelmed when they found someone who could sing even better than Kim Yoonjae. They decided to recruit more people that can spare with their vocal ability. They recruited Baek Woochan, Han Ryeowook and then me." He pointed his thumb at himself, his face was beaming proud.
"Whoa, you must be very happy. StarLord Entertainment is amazing they are really big!"
"If there's one thing I would never forgive them is for the fact that they made Yoonjae hyung suffer for years during his training time. Jang Jiseok, our first manager, would beat Yoonjae hyung whenever he made a mistake or was in a bad mood."
His face remained calm but suddenly he relived the bad memories that happened 7 years ago all over again. There's no way he could forget about it.