Something Creeping in the Shadows

The filming continued.

The scene was shot smoothly even after adding in the sudden changes.

During a break, Ryeon Jae Hwan inched closer to Yeo Ri to strike up a concersation with her.

"So why do you keep staring at me, Miss Yeo Ri?" Ryeon Jae Hwan straightforwardly asked. His mouth curled up into a slight smirk, as if he already knew in his mind the reason why. How sinful it was, his handsomeness!

"Um..." Yeo Ri lowered her head with a slight blush. "Actually... you look like my Oppa."

"—Huh?" Hearing the unexpected answer, the actor almost slipped.

The word 'Oppa' had two platonic meanings and one romantic meaning—so which one was she referring to?

"Are you hitting on me?" He asked with a wry smile.

"No, no, no!" Yeo Ri denied furiously. Her blush deepened. "I mean—my oldest... brother..." Yeo Ri fumbled around for her phone, but realising that she left it with Secretary Kwon since her costume didn't have any pockets, she hurriedly called out to him and retrieved the gadget.

Ryeon Jae Hwan watched her with confusion, wondering what she was trying to do. Ask for his number?

Yeo Ri unlocked her phone and scrolled through her photo gallery, searching for a picture of Hyuk. Her brother's only two friends happened to have a few photos of him from before they left the old house, and when Yeo Ri started becoming more active on the messaging apps, they generously shared with her the pictures that they had of him. Those pictures were a rarity, and most of them were not good. Hyuk hated being photographed, and in the ones that he was caught in, his expression was oftentimes angry or annoyed and never smiling. Even so, Yeo Ri appreciated them.

Finally finding a satisfactory picture, she zoomed in on Hyuk and showed it to the actor.

"This is my... eldest brother," she explained. Yeo Ri felt weird introducing Hyuk as her brother after all the things that happened between them, but it wasn't like she could just tell people about their true relationship... not that they even had a label for their complicated affair.

"I thought you look a lot like him, sunbaenim. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable."

"Huh." Most people would say that they knew someone who looked like him; it was his first time hearing it the other way around. Raising an eyebrow with curiosity, he shifted his sight to the phone's screen.

The actor observed the image with squinted eyes. The screen was zoomed in on a man with a fierce and unfriendly expression. With his slightly crooked nose and bandages over random parts of his skin, this guy was definitely a wild and unruly thug.

The man in the photo had some resemblance to him, especially the shape of his eyes. However, he did not think that they were all that similar. At the very least, he was much more handsome than the other guy.

—And he wasn't as gangster.

Ryeon Jae Hwan felt that he would probably lose in a fight with this scary-looking guy. What would happen if he starts dating this guy's little sister...

The actor felt a sudden chill run up his spine.

"Well, we do look a little similar, I guess..." He chuckled, hiding his awkwardness.

"Right?!" Yeo Ri brightened at his words of confirmation. Looking affectionately at Hyuk's picture, she sighed, "I haven't seen him in a long time. I miss him a lot."

"Oh? Do you not live together? Is he in the army?"

Yeo Ri hesitated before answering. She flashed him a weak smile, "Well... he's... in prison."

"...Oh." Code Red! Fall back! Retreat!

Ryeon Jae Hwan decided to give up on flirting with her right then and there. There was no way he could survive going against a 'bro' with such a colourful history.

Judging from the way she spoke, they were definitely very close, and in his experience as a brother himself, anyone who dates his little sister needed his seal of approval first, or else. He was already quite critical even when he barely got along with his sister on a normal day, so Yeo Ri's brother was probably more extreme than him.

"I hope he... gets... discharged... soon," he said slowly. His tone could not hide the nervousness he was feeling.

"Thank you. And I'm sorry for bringing up such a personal matter when we've only just met, sunbaenim."

"It's fine. I'm glad you found it easy to open up about such sensitive matters to me. I look forward to working with you in the future."

"Yes, me too, sir."

The two made a few other small talks before breaktime ended.

The filming went on for a few more hours.

While Yeo Ri was busy enacting her scenes with the casts, Kwon Tae Yang was busy with the girl's social media account.

Due to Yeo Ri's young age, President Park was worried that having a social media account would impact her growth negatively, thus she appointed Manager Kwon as Yeo Ri's account administrator who would supervise her online interactions and moderate the account in her stead. In this way, they could be more careful in minimising content that could cause the young girl to be attacked by vicious netizens.

The man meticulously chose a picture from the array in the photo gallery, then moved on to add a suitable caption to match the picture. He silently drew his breath, ready to channel his inner teenage girl.

[@lyrnhyr: Pretty hanbok today <3 <3 I feel like a princess hehehe *blushing emoji*]

Kwon Tae Yang stared at his handiwork for a hot minute, tilting his head with a clouded gaze before closing his eyes for several seconds. Sighing deeply, he muttered, "F*ck it," then tapped on the 'publish post' button.

Within seconds of the picture being published online, the notifications began to ring, signalling the flood of 'likes' and comments quickly gathering on the post.

[MyAngelLeeYeoRi: gorgeous <3 <3 <3]

[Cheonsa'sFirstLove: filming a historical drama? The visuals~~~~~ <33333 I can't~~~~ <333333]

[rrrrr: this girl can step on me and I'll thank her kekekeke totally not licking the screen rn kekeke]

[ajh22: you're so pretty~~~ let's be friends~~~]

[ajh22: I sent you a DM ^w^ commenting just in case you didn't see it]

[ajh22: Miss Yeo Ri, please look at your DMs >w<]

[ajh22: I love you pleeeeaaaaaase let me get to know you better]

[ajh22: Miss Lee!!! Please!!! I'm begging you reply to my DM please]

Kwon Tae Yang furrowed his eyebrows as he saw the spam comments by the user [ajh22]. This person kept commenting on every single post, demanding to get acquainted with Yeo Ri. While nothing was currently happening, Kwon Tae Yang had an inkling that this might develop into something dangerous if he didn't nip it at the bud. After all, crimes involving social media influencers were on the rise as of late; he was not going to allow such a risk to come close to the girl he was in charge of protecting.

Frowning with irritation, he opened up the account's direct messages and tapped on the incessant user's message. He began to compose a message:

[Greetings, Mr. ajh22. This is the official account of Hope Entertainment's new artist Miss Lee Yeo Ri and it is managed by the company's staff. The artist has little involvement in the usage of this account and thus would be unable to respond to your inquiries. Have a good day.]

After ending the note politely, he checked for misspellings and sent it to the other party. Of course, while his words held some truth, the other parts were nonsense. Yeo Ri had enough control over the account that he would not usually breach into her DMs, but figuring that it might bother the poor girl, he decided to deal with him personally.

[You're lying! You definitely just want to get rid of me, don't you? Don't be like that~ let's be friends, okay?]

Kwon Tae Yang heaved a deeper sigh after reading his response. He copied his earlier wall of text, then sent it again as if to demonstrate how little his interest was in dealing with the persistent follower.

[Answer me properly, you b*tch! I was being nice and this is how you treat me? Fugly b*tch! You think you're all that?! F*ck you! I'll f*cking find where you are and f*ck you up big time you arrogant b*tch!]

Kwon Tae Yang was taken aback by the sudden change of attitude. "F*cking... fugly b*tch?" He repeated the words with narrowed eyes. "Ha!"

He sneered at his phone screen. "Oh, so we're gonna go there, huh?"

He typed another reply: [Sir, please refrain from using profanities. If you continue to engage in such behaviours, our company will not hesitate to take legal actions against you.]

[F*ck you! Stupid b*tch thinks I'm scared? F*ck off your high horse b*tch you're nothing without people like me!!!]

"How immature," the sunglasses-wearing man remarked. He did not bother replying to the man, simply taking screenshots of all the messages as evidence and sent it to several people; to the company's PR team, and to his real boss, Heo Woo Seung. They would know how to proceed, he thought.

Without spending another moment, he immediately reported and blocked the user.

With the threat now dealt with, the secretary-cum-bodyguard turned his focus back to the young actress who was in the middle of another scene.

Beautiful as always, he thought.