Burning with curiosity about what could have happened there, Jihon climbed to the roof. In the smoking area, in addition to Inyop, there were two more. Judging by their business suits and coats, they were clearly not employees of the television studio.

"Who are they?" thought Jihong as he came closer, but when he saw their faces, he suddenly stopped with a surprised "Oh?!"

They were the two seniors from the student club with whom Inyop often spent time - Dongjin and Wonmyeon. Noticing Jihon, the guys joyfully exclaimed: "Oh, hey, Jeong Jihon!", "Appeared!"

Without stopping to have fun, Wonmyeong added, as if inadvertently, but with the purpose of teasing, "Hey, we heard you're getting married soon.

Because of this, Jihong involuntarily froze, asking again: "... A what?

"Inyeop-hyun said so. That you seem to be getting married soon.

"Oh, here's more. Jihon sighed heavily and, lowering his shoulders, strained, "What nonsense.

At his words, Wonmyeon and Dongjin exchanged glances, and then stared at the gossip with a displeased question, "What does all this mean?" And Inyop only laughed in response, holding a cigarette in his mouth, and it immediately became clear that he was joking. Two of them, realizing that they had been caught, squealed at the same time: "Oh, what is it!

"There's nothing to be surprised about, it's just that you've fallen for another joke again," Jihon snorted.

"As you were a joker, you're still there," Dongjin quipped, and next to him, Wonmyeon asked, "So, Jihong, you don't have anyone right now?"

"Yes, he has someone, he does!" Inyop stammered briskly.

"Oh, really?"

— Of course. When he was alone at all," Dongjin snorted.

Then Inyop, deliberately lowering his voice, added: "No, no, these are not the ones with whom he stirred up before. Now everything is very serious.

Dongjin and Wonmyeon opened their eyes in unison, as if to say, "Wow, really?"

— Yes, it's serious. Jung Ji-heon has nowhere to go now," Inyop persisted.

"Hey, senior, enough already," Jihon frowned, addressing the cheerfully giggling guy.

To be honest, if all of this was a lie, he would have simply ignored his words or played along. But everything he said is true, which caused a storm of emotions in him. Wonmyeon and Dongjin, noticing his reaction, became more interested than before and began to press with even more enthusiasm.

— Really? Has Jung Jihong finally met his soulmate?

"Hey, and who, who?" Let's introduce us already, boy or girl? He must be an impressive man.

Jihon wanted to object, saying that there was no such person, but his tongue did not turn. Instead, he just clicked his tongue and put his hands in his coat pockets, signaling that he was going to remain silent. As suddenly...

"Producer, here's how to use it," a familiar voice rang out, and Jihong turned around abruptly, scared half to death.

And here is the "hero of the occasion" - Jaekyung, who has just entered the roof, opening the door. He seemed a little embarrassed to see Jihon here, as he froze for a few seconds. Even Inyop, shocked by the unexpected situation, froze, forgetting to take a puff.

"Wow, it's Kwon Jaekyung himself," Wonmyeon muttered.

"Wow, his shoulders are just something with something," Dongjin added.

In the meantime, both quickly extinguished their cigarettes and began to adjust their clothes. Jihong wanted to ask what they were doing, but then he noticed a camera in Jaekyung's hands.

"Hey, what do you have?" Jihon asked.

When he asked why Jaekyung was holding her, Inyop answered for him.

"Ah, I asked him to do a short interview with Coach Yu later.

Why should Jaekyung interview Coach Yoo? Jihong did not have time to finish when Inyop, exploding, interrupted:

"Why, you ask?!" Because this is the only way to get at least some worthwhile shots! If everything stays like this, then a real documentary will come out! I am facing a transfer to the educational department!

"Okay, okay, why are you angry?" Jihon said, trying to calm his furious friend.

While Dong-jin pulled out his stylus and walked over to Jaekyung, "Uh... Could you give me an autograph?

"No," he snapped, not even listening to the end.

"Oh... I see..." Dongjin muttered awkwardly and, lowering his head, trudged to his seat.

Wonmyon, who was almost taking out his notebook, was struck by the changed atmosphere. And after a moment's hesitation, he put it back in. Then, to ease the tension, he turned to Inyop and Jihon: "Well, anyway, your dream has come true, Inyop. You wanted to film Jihon so much that you ended up getting him to participate in your program.

And then Jaekyung resolutely approached them and, turning to Dongjin:

"There will be no autograph, but I can take a photo with you."

"What?" Come on?!

In his joy, Dongjin immediately took out his phone again and clumsily stretched out his hand in an attempt to take a selfie. It turned out to be not so easy: the distance was too short, and due to the difference in height of almost 20 centimeters, it was not easy to fit them both into the frame. Kwon Jaekyung, who offered to take the photo first, did not even think of showing a drop of politeness to make the task easier: he did not squat or bend over. As a result, Wonmyeon had to join the process.

"Oh, thank you very much!" Dongjin exclaimed happily.

Inspired, Wonmyeon with a flushed face also took out his mobile phone.

"Uh... Mr. Kwon Jaekyung, can I also take a photo with you?

The bulldozer readily agreed. He was still pretending to be a statue, but the fact that this stubborn man had met strangers twice in a row seemed incredible.

Which made Jihong nervous: "What's wrong with him? Did he really decide to be friendly to all people for the sake of some benefit? Or did you suddenly decide to start your life from scratch? Although no, this is definitely not about him..."

Well, that was what had to be proved.

"They're your seniors, aren't they?" Jaekyung asked suddenly. "You've been to the cinema club, haven't you?" Did you shoot films there? What role did you play?

After taking only two pictures, Jaekyung immediately demanded information about Jihong's past activities in return.

"Hey, hey!" Jihon interrupted him in a panic. He was about to hiss: "What do you care about this? If there are no more things to do, go downstairs," but he didn't have time, because Dongjin and Wonmyeon just handed over everything with their guts.

"Oh, Jihong didn't play. He was a treasurer, a secretary, and a casting manager.

"Inyop wanted to make him an actor, but he refused.

— Exactly. We even specially wrote a script with the main character - a swimmer, but he still resisted, and in the end we did not implement anything.

After hearing all this, Inyop stamped his foot: "Yes, exactly! That scenario was just a bomb! If we had taken it off then, I would have been on Chunmuro now, not here! [1]

- Hardly. You'd better be glad that you stayed here.

At these words, Inyop was embarrassed and, lowering his gaze, lit a cigarette again.

"In general, then we thought that he would agree, but he did not give up. Therefore, Inyop, in order to keep him, appointed Jihon treasurer, then also secretary. Maybe then you will be able to persuade.

"Exactly, exactly. Up until the graduation of the elder, Jihong continued to be stubborn, and as a result, Inyeop began to talk such nonsense... How was it? "If you don't want to, we can't make a movie, so either bring someone who agrees or let's do it yourself!"

— And he really did. Donzhin grinned. "And four people at once. And we had a casting for the first time.

Dong-jin and Wonmyeon, remembering this, laughed.

"He's a true master of persuasion.

At these words, Jaekyung chuckled and gave Jihon a strange, thoughtful look. He stared at him for a few more seconds, and then, as if by chance, lowered his head, checking the camera.

"And I once saw Jihon bargain with someone. After all, he did almost nothing. He just threw a couple of compliments: "You're so handsome, do they often tell you that? They are shooting a film in our club, don't you want to try it?"

To which Jaekyung, without looking up from the process, suddenly frowned and began to tap the lens with his finger.

"That's why it's strange.

"He's really special," Wonmyeon said.

"Maybe it's his fate to be a rake?" Donzhin joked.

"No, rather a boastful [2].

"Exactly.

With each of their words, Jaekyung's movements became sharper, and the tapping sounded brighter. It was obvious that there was something wrong not only with the camera, but also with Kwon Jaekyung himself.

"Each time he had a new partner. We kept wondering: who is he anyway?

"And they're all beautiful, like models.

"Do you remember when he dated that model girl?"

— Exactly. And then someone else from our club... This one, who aimed at idols.

"Sejin, right?"

"yes, Choi Se-jin. Inyop planned to give him a role in the film, but when they parted, he immediately left the club.

"And he is not the only one. A lot of people came to us because of Jihon, but they also left for the same reason.

Jaekyung, meanwhile, was almost banging his fist on the cell. Worried that she might not survive such pressure, Inyop hurried to intervene.

"It's a common thing for students: romantic liaisons, breakups... But true feeling comes with the years, with the acquisition of maturity. Look at Cho Won-myung – a vivid example of this!

— Oh, yes, exactly. Fortunately, Wonmyeon agreed with a smile.

"Jihon, are you serious with your partner now?" Planning a wedding?

The conversation seemed to be in the right direction, but it was only the calm before the storm. Wonmyeong asked a question that Jihong couldn't answer in Jaekyung's presence. And he, feigning indifference, clearly perked up his ears.

"Well, with his character?" It's better to live like this alone. Don't even dream of a wedding," Donzhin interjected, not deciding which side he was on in this situation.

"No, no," Wonmyeon waved his hands. "People like him usually do a great job when they get married. So, Jihon...

And then, taking an envelope from the inner pocket of his coat, he handed it to Jihon: "Here, come to eat and just congratulate him with money.

"So that's the reason for your visit?" Jihon asked, opening the envelope. Now everything is clear: they started talking about marriage, because Wonmyeon himself is about to get married.

— Yes. You can take your boyfriend with you. Introduce us to him.

"He's standing right next to you. You even took pictures together." Jihong thought, looking at the invitation, and Inyeop, lighting a new cigarette, suddenly asked:

"Hey, did you quit smoking?" I didn't take a single one in my mouth.

Offering him a cigarette, Inyop heard a quick refusal.

— No, I'm trying to smoke less now.

But before Jihong could finish speaking, Dong-jin and Wonmyeong exclaimed, "Hey, he's definitely going to get married!"

"What, did your wife forbid smoking?"

Hearing the words about the wedding and his wife, Jaekyung shuddered again imperceptibly. In the end, he even stopped fiddling with the camera and began to give Jihon dumb hopeful looks, "Really? Are you quitting smoking because of me? Because you want to be my spouse?"

"No, not at all," Jihon said hurriedly. "It's just that there is such an atmosphere at work now. Smokers are being condemned more and more, so I decided to quit.

In fact, the drugs discouraged cravings for nicotine and food, but Jihong preferred to make do with this explanation.

"Yes, it's strict now," someone agreed.

— Exactly. In our office, many people also decided to quit for this reason.

Fortunately, his fellow smokers supported him, and they smoothly moved away from the exciting topic. Ji-hong was a little annoyed that Jaekyung was banging on the innocent cell again, but he decided not to pay attention: "Well, let it be, it's not mine."

"Listen, when I quit smoking, I began to have a wild craving for sweets, and I gained a lot of weight. Don't you have that? Wonmyeon asked.

— No, not really. In principle, I don't like sweets.

But I was more attracted to alcohol. He had never really liked drinking, but lately, due to sudden mood swings, he wanted to have a couple of drinks more and more often.

p.p. <A drinking wife is a grief in the family>

"I think you've even lost weight," Inyop remarked, blowing out a wisp of smoke. "We haven't seen each other for about three weeks, have we?" You're definitely slimmer than last time. Although, to be honest, you look even better in the frame this way.

"Very well," Jihong tried to answer calmly, as if it meant nothing. But still, he stole an eye on Jaekyung's reaction, who was still focused on the camera, and his face did not express any emotion.

[1] Jungmuro (충무로) is a district in Seoul that is historically considered the center of the South Korean film industry. Up until the 2000s, Jungmuro was home to major film studios, offices of producers, distributors, and other key players in Korean cinema.

[2] Dohwasal indicates a person who has exceptional attractiveness and charisma, capable of attracting attention and making others fall in love with him.