Cheng-No Strings Attached

**Hours Ago**

'Cheng sshi, give a smirk,' the photographer instructed. I smirked at the camera.

'Point your watch at the camera,' he said.

'Like this?' I asked, twirling my hand a bit.

'Yes, perfect,' the photographer said and clicked away. 'I have to say, you are a natural model.'

I heard that a lot. I was probably one of the rare idols who did not need plastic surgery. I was a little over six feet tall, with an athletic built. My hazel eyes had natural double eyelids, a rarity among Koreans. My current ash blonde hair was also causing fans to go wild. But people were more attracted to my singing abilities. I was counted as one of the top vocalists in the industry and my innocent yet devilish charm made women swoon. I enjoyed the attention from women. It took me very less effort on my part to charm them.

But at that moment, my charms were replaced with irritation. It was damn chilly. It wasn't winter yet but the cold winds were blowing already. I was posing like an idiot in this chilly weather for hours. Whoever came up with the bright idea of doing an outdoor shoot in this windy weather should be fired. And worse, I was made to wear a thin white shirt and jeans. This was probably Yeonju noona's design. Okay, that one was on me. I did dump her a few days ago and she quit before changing the clothes to suit the concept.

Or maybe she didn't change the concept on purpose. I suspected the latter.

Ugh, military was better than this. No pesky cameras, no one told me to pose and best of all, it was easier to score chicks with an uniform on. The photographer clearly ignored my discomfort. I despised this part of being an idol. What was the point of making fake poses for cameras when the fans are clearly seeing us on music videos and TV?

The photographer clicked more photos. Oh man, I thought. Why doesn't this end already?

'Excuse me,' I said to the photographer. 'Can we end this shoot for today? I have to move on to the next thing on my schedule today.'

That was a lie. The only thing I had on my schedule was tonight's staff dinner and that was from 7 pm. It was just 12 pm on the clock.

'A few more pictures please,' the photographer insisted.

'I'm done for today,' I declared and headed for my trailer, ignoring his protests. He had plenty of good pictures to use anyway.

When I reached the trailer, my phone was ringing. I opened it to see 20 missed calls. All from Oh Re-on. Oh no.

Re-on was a rookie idol. She clearly had her eyes on me and we fooled around a lot. We both knew it was not possible to be in a relationship because of our careers. So it was a no strings attached hookup. But she was getting clingy and serious about us. What she did not understand was that a dating scandal can ruin her career. Rookies were not allowed to date. If her agency found out, she would be kicked off her group.

'Hello,' I answered.

'WHY AREN'T YOU REPLYING TO ME?' she screamed from the other end. 'ARE YOU WITH ANOTHER GIRL?'