[Seoul, 2 years ago]
"You saw nothing and we never came here." A soft smile appeared on Lee Changhyuk's handsome face as he naturally slipped a 20 million won cheque into a guy's chest pocket.
The guy with black suit let out a deep sigh. He just started to work for StarLord Entertainment as the head of GreenEast private bodyguards. Apart from ensuring their safety, he was supposed to update the manager, Mr. Park on their whereabout, at all times.
But this guy in front of him was something else. He always managed to make him follow his order as if it was just a silly game. Money was never involved until this very moment- Lee Changhyuk must not want to waste time. So there he was, spending 20 million won like it was a penny.
A light grin appeared on Lee Changhyuk's face. He could already see the output of this approach. Without waiting for the bodyguard's reply, he playfully peeked sideways, as a subtle order for him to leave.
Eventhough the guy was working for StarLord Entertainment, Lee Changhyuk could easily blacklist him, making him unable to find work for the rest of his life. He might seem like a happy go lucky guy, but after working with Lee Changhyuk for a week, he knew Lee Changhyuk deemed everyone around him like characters in a video game that he could eliminate without batting an eye.
So he bowed his head respectfully to excuse himself then left.
Lee Changhyuk just watched as the guard walked away, the playful smile slowly disappeared from his handsome face. He turned his head to Son Kangyu who was sitting on a couch then strode towards him.
"Whoa, I wouldn't be surprised if it's Yoonjae hyung or Ryeowook hyung. But Woochan? That dude likes someone!?" Son Kangyu was biting a plastic straw as he sat lazily on a couch. His lids lowered as they were following Baek Woochan who was chit chatting with a timid-looking girl on the lower floor.
The Vocal Emperor of GreenEast, Son Kangyu. He was 2 years older than Lee Changhyuk but he looked so much younger than the magnae. A massive dork off stage but a charismatic performer on stage. He took the center position in GreenEast stage performance thanks to his eye-catching energy.
Unlike Lee Changhyuk who gave out a bad boy vibe. Son Kangyu's complexion was youthful and refreshing just like a cotton candy. His lips were thin and pale, his eyes were as bright as honey dew. If you saw him off stage- you would think of him as a highschooler. Standing 180cm tall, he had this addictive gummy smile and contagious dolphin-laugh.
Son Kangyu glanced at Lee Changhyuk who just seated in front of him. He was playing with his soda can, uninterested with the world around him. Clearly, the magnae wasn't listening. Kangyu slammed his drink to the table and reached out to Lee Changhyuk.
"Give me your coke. I feel like drinking soda now." He demanded in an authoritative tone.
Lee Changhyuk glared at the hyung in front of him with full judgmental look. He knew Son Kangyu could not drink carbonated drinks but he was too lazy to argue. So he threw the soda can to Kangyu and slowly slouched back to the sofa.
Son Kangyu caught the cola then put the can right in front of him without giving it a second glance. It was obvious that he only did it to annoy the magnae.
"Well, you are more interested in reading mangas and playing football. No girls can stand you."
"Sssshh... Shut up kiddo you're too loud! What if he found that we're tailing him?"
"I'll just tell him that it was your idea." Lee Changhyuk nonchalantly shrugged and took the soda back. He opened the can and drank up the cola.
"What is wrong with playing football and reading mangas?"
"Exactly. You have no right to lecture me." Lee Changhyuk took the phone out of his pocket and took some pictures of Baek Woochan who was talking to his crush.
Son Kangyu rolled his eyes. This evil magnae would definitely use that photo to blackmail Baek Woochan.
Ignoring the hyung's gaze, Lee Changhyuk was looking at his phone, proud of the new phone he just bought. He could take some HD pictures of Baek Woochan's expression from such a distance.
"You ungrateful punk, Ryeowook hyung always tries to set you up with gorgeous female idols, but you always bail."
"Haish... If he wants to see those girls then he should go alone. He always uses me as an excuse. Anyway, we'll be dead if the company or the fans find out that any of us has a girlfriend. You hyungs should set a good example for me." Lee Changhyuk waved his hand like he was dismissing some irrelevant bugs then gracefully crossed his long legs.
Son Kangyu glanced at his roommate and scoffed. A lot of girls had shown interests to Lee Changhyuk but he was too nonchalant to care. Even now, after privatizing the whole mezanine floor to tail Baek Woochan's secret date, Son Kangyu could tell that a lot of eyes were preying on Lee Changhyuk.
The waiters were walking back and forth to tidy up the perfectly arranged tables. They were moving around aimlessly, pretending to do something as a poor bid to get a closer look on the 2 GreenEeast members. Son Kangyu knew that most of them were drooling over Lee Changhyuk.
It was probably their first time to see Lee Changhyuk in person. It was not their fault, the magnae had the feature that made him look good from any angle on cameras BUT he looked actually so much better in real life.
As a guy, Son Kangyu hated to admit that the magnae possesed complexion that stopped people in their tracks. Even now, Kim Yoonjae the Visual God of GreenEast, was still jealous of Lee Changhyuk's good genes- the older he got, the better looking he became.
"What about Sohee noona(1)?" Son Kangyu teased.
"All of you should use your life to protect me from her." The magnae growled.
Moon Sohee, a notable South Korean diva, worked under the same label as GreenEast. Despite being older than Lee Changhyuk by 3 years, she was extremely obsessed with the magnae.
"Well, she's a scary one." Son Kangyu smirked and crossed his hands on his chest. Again, he looked down to the lower floor where Woochan and his crush were talking. The crush was a newbie singer. She looked timid and did not dress like a star.
"Woochan is playing with fire." Kangyu pointed his finger and Lee Changhyuk took a deep breath.
"Ryeowook hyung said that falling in love makes you the biggest fool in the universe.." Lee Changhyuk glanced at Son Kangyu's curious expression then looked at the picture on his phone.
Son Kangyu was wrong, he didn't take the picture to blackmail Baek Woochan. He took it because his phone was good enough to take a detailed expression of Baek Woochan's happy face. So he was not imagining things. The super rational Baek Woochan was completely smitten with her.
Baek Woochan, the Rap God of GreenEast, was the most simple guy in GreenEast. A pleasant guy with a lot of talents. Despite being good in anything, he was not ambitious and rarely voiced his opinion. Baek Woochan liked watching Son Kangyu and Lee Changhyuk bickering and laughed at their quarell.
Fleeing from their manager and having an afternoon tea with a girl was a bold move. The kpop fans were obsessive and if they ever found out about this secret date....
"He's gonna burn all of us." Son Kangyu continued.
"Should I stop him?"
"Can you?" Son Kangyu's playful and fluffy voice mocked the magnae. Lee Changhyuk knew it wasn't a challenge.
"Will you stop me if I fall in love?"
"You love our fans."
"With. a. girl." Lee Changhyuk rolled his eyes, why did he even bother..
"You don't understand the concept of love."
"Oh? And you do?"
"No." Son Kangyu shrugged his shoulder and raised his drink. Lee Changhyuk scoffed then gave him a toast.
"A flower boy like you should end up with a pretty girl like Sohee noona. Only then, our fans will accept it." Son Kangyu gave a pity look to Lee Changhyuk.
"We'll end up killing each other before the media even cover it." Lee Changhyuk shuddered at the horror. He never imagined going out with a crazy girl like Moon Sohee.
"Just make sure that I'll be the first one to know if you ever fall in love."
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Noona (1)* : Noona is a word used by korean males to address female older than them who they are close to (biological or not).