Chapter 204: Agitation and Fabrication (1)

Kang Ra-Eun had set a principle of sorts when she had first debuted as a celebrity; she would never partake in skinship or skin exposure. She didn’t know what would happen in the future, but she had absolutely zero intention to allow such things to occur at the time.

However, that had changed. Ra-Eun’s face reddened as she looked at the photos of her shameless self on the official Levanche website. Photos of her smiling self in the various swimsuits that had been newly released felt completely unfamiliar to her.

‘It’s definitely me, but it doesn’t feel like me.’

It technically was not wrong since she had originally been a man.

Levanche’s newly released products had sold like hotcakes thanks to the Kang Ra-Eun advertisement effect. There was no need for further discussion since the company had reached a new sales record since its founding. According to Park Seol-Hun, supply had continuously not been able to follow the demand; the products had sold out as soon as they were made available again.

‘I wish I could be as happy as I want to be.’

There were people who visited the website to buy the products, but there were also a considerable number of people who only visited to see Ra-Eun’s very first swimsuit photos. Thanks to this, the website had frozen multiple times.

The fans hadn’t been the only ones who had taken interest in Ra-Eun’s unintentionally provocative move; the reporters were just as interested.

[Top star Kang Ra-Eun’s first swimsuit photo shoot!]

[‘Exposure is OK just for today’. Fans burning with interest in Actress Kang Ra-Eun’s swimsuit photo shoot!]

[The Kang Ra-Eun effect strikes again. Levanche’s sales won’t stop rising.]

There was nothing more newsworthy than a popular celebrity’s every action. Ra-Eun also knew this very well.

‘But why do they have to make such a big deal out of it?’

They could have just let the news quietly fizzle out. Ra-Eun’s rage began to stir. She had sighed for the thirty-second time just today, making her thirsty. She came out of her room and walked to the water purifier with a cup, and came across Seo Yi-Jun on the way.

“Are you here to drink water too?” she asked.

“Huh? Uh, yes,” Yi-Jun answered in panic.

He wasn’t even able to look Ra-Eun in the eyes.

“Did you do something that you’d feel guilty to me about? Why are you acting like a sinner?”

“N-No! I didn’t do anything like that! I swear!”

His reaction lacked believability. Ra-Eun glared at Yi-Jun sharply for a few moments and then sighed while relaxing her expression.

“You saw them, didn’t you?” she asked.

“Saw... What?”

Ra-Eun pointed to herself and blatantly said, “My photos.”

“...”

Yi-Jun swallowed his saliva without realizing it. His face turned redder than it already was. It was obvious to anyone that he had seen them.

“I won’t say that you can’t see them, but don’t imagine anything weird with them.”

“I-I won’t! I promise!”

Ra-Eun wondered if she should warn him a bit more.

‘No, I’d better stop here.’

Ra-Eun had also been a man in the past, so she knew exactly what was on Yi-Jun’s mind. If she rattled on about those things, there was a chance that Yi-Jun would pack his bags and leave, unable to overcome the embarrassment. Not only was she too lazy to deal with the aftermath if something like that were to happen, but it would also be awkward to explain to Seo Yi-Seo why Yi-Jun did something so irrational.

‘I guess it’s okay, as long as we’re both fine.’

There was nothing better than peace.

***

The effects brought about by Ra-Eun’s swimsuit photo shoot were enormous, even in the entertainment industry. Ra-Eun brought her script for the scene involving her, Ji Han-Seok and Min Se-Min. She went up to them first.

“Sunbaes. I’d like to have a script-reading session. Are you two free right now?”

There was no other time but now before the shoot began, hence Ra-Eun’s suggestion. Han-Seok and Se-Min both flinched once they saw Ra-Eun. They quickly exchanged glances with each other.

Han-Seok spoke first, “Y-Yes, of course. Come take a seat.”

His response was suspicious. She could think of one reason why, so she tried asking just in case before they began reading.

“Did you two see them too?”

“See what?”

The time that she asked Yi-Jun automatically popped up in her head.

“My swimsuit photos.”

Han-Seok and Se-Min coughed several times as if they had simultaneously caught something in their throats. As expected of Ra-Eun, she asked them straightforwardly without beating around the bush. The two men smiled awkwardly and nodded to affirm.

Ra-Eun didn’t find their reactions strange anymore.

‘Because the men around me all acted this way.’

It did not only apply to men; although it was in a different way, her female acquaintances also couldn’t stop talking about it. They called first to tell Ra-Eun that her figure was so beautiful; she had lost more weight than before and whatnot without Ra-Eun having even asked.

‘This is exactly why I didn’t want my swimsuit photos taken.’

However, it had already been done; she couldn’t take it back, so she had no choice but to get used to it. Of course, this did not only apply to Ra-Eun; it also applied to Han-Seok, Se-Min, and her male acquaintances that would be meeting her often.

The two men regained their composure.

Se-Min spoke this time to ask, “But what made you take those photos? From what I know, You’re extremely against skin exposure.”

Ra-Eun was fine with skin exposure to some degree, but not swimsuits. That was the exact rule that she had set, so Se-Min couldn’t help but be curious about what had driven her to break that rule. Han-Seok was also curious.

Ra-Eun fixed her disheveled hair and recalled her memories at the time to explain her circumstances to the two men.

“I lost a bet.”

“A bet?”

“To go into more detail...”

Ra-Eun shared with the two men the details of her bet with Seol-Hun. After finding out the whole truth, Han-Seok expressed surprise.

“I never expected Jung Hun-Seong to like you that much.”

“Me neither,” Ra-Eun answered.

If she knew, she would have never made such a bet. Even if she possessed knowledge of the future, she would never have predicted this. After all, a star named ‘Kang Ra-Eun’ never existed in the future that she knew. The fact that she herself was that star aside, the bet that she had made had far too many variables.

The bet had been the worst kind of misfortune for Ra-Eun, but that had not been the case for Han-Seok and Se-Min.

“His name was Mr. Park Seol-Hun, right? He has such keen insight.”

“I agree. I think he did well to make a bet like that.”

Ra-Eun narrowed her eyes at both Han-Seok and Se-Min nodding simultaneously.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.

“N-Nothing!”

“L-Let’s start with the script reading! We don’t have much time!”

Their true thoughts had unintentionally come out after forgetting the fact that Ra-Eun was right in front of them. The shoot today might have been canceled if their conversation had kept going.

***

Ra-Eun had faced something that was a bit lacking to call trouble after her swimsuit photo shoot. As she got in the van after the shoot had finished, she noticed that the one in the driver seat was her stylist, Ryu Ha-Yeon.

.

Ra-Eun asked, “Where’s Miss Manager?”

Shin Yu-Bin always handled the driving, but she was nowhere to be found. Hence, she couldn’t help but be curious about why Ha-Yeon was in the driver seat instead.

“Yu-Bin unnie went out to take a quick call, and she’ll be right back. She expected that she’d be taking tons of calls today, so I’ll be the one to drive today.”

“She’s not in any sort of trouble, is she?”

“Trouble isn’t really the word I would use... Oh, there she comes.”

Yu-Bin got in the passenger seat next to Ha-Yeon with an exhausted face. Ra-Eun could hear the fatigue from her deep sigh. She asked Yu-Bin to hear what she had missed from Ha-Yeon.

“I heard you’ll be taking tons of calls today.”

Ha-Yeon looked at Yu-Bin with a face expressing that she had told Ra-Eun. Yu-Bin sighed once again.

“It’s because of the swimsuit photos posted on the Levanche website.”

“What about them?”

“I’m getting tons of calls from advertisers asking if you’d be willing to be a swimsuit model for them as well.”

Ra-Eun was getting offers through Yu-Bin not only from swimsuit brands, but a considerable number of businesses with swimsuit products. Now that she had modeled for swimsuits after being strictly against it, companies were calling with the misunderstanding that she had decided to be okay with swimsuits.

“Refusing them one by one is a hassle in and of itself. Sigh,” Yu-Bin expressed while pounding on her shoulders with her hands.

Ra-Eun didn’t feel very good either.

‘Why’s everyone losing their minds over just a few photos?’

She couldn’t for the life of her understand what the fuss was about.

***

Ra-Eun returned to her home after finishing her business, only to be greeted by a familiar face.

“You’re back late, lil’ sis.”

Ra-Eun glared at Kang Ra-Hyuk, who was chewing on an apple slice that Yi-Seo had cut for him.

“Why are you here?” she asked.

“Because it’s been a while since we’ve had a meal together.”

“You can eat by yourself, can’t you?”

Not a hint of welcome could be seen on Ra-Eun’s face. Yi-Seo softly laughed.

“I called him. I made too much curry this morning. It was a bit too much for the two of us to eat, so I asked Ra-Hyuk oppa to take some.”

“What about Yi-Jun?”

“He’s gonna be at our parents’ place to help out at the cafe this week.”

It was not clear whether he had really gone to help out his parents, or if he had simply run away from Ra-Eun for a short while. Only the person in question would know the truth.

Ra-Eun sighed and said, “Do whatever you want.”

Going to her room and resting was a higher priority than chatting with her older brother.

Fwump.

Ra-Eun threw herself on her bed. However, she could hear her smartphone vibrating on her desk.

‘Such terrible timing...’

It would have been amazing if she had gotten the call before she had lied down. She barely managed to lift herself back up and reached for her smartphone to check who had called her with such terrible timing.

“Miss Manager?”

They had been in the same car until just a while ago, but she had called her in that short time.

“Hello?”

Ra-Eun wondered if it was about swimsuit modeling again, but Yu-Bin’s voice sounded far too urgent for that to be the case.

- Ra-Eun! You’re at home right now, right?

“Yes.”

- Then search your name on the internet. Hurry!

“Why? Did something happen?”

Ra-Eun decided to do as Yu-Bin said for now and searched her name on her computer. Once she did, a few articles caught her attention.

[Actress Kang Ra-Eun turned out to be a perpetrator of school violence?]

[‘I was bullied by Kang Ra-Eun.’ A confession from a high school classmate.]

Ra-Eun’s face instantly froze.