Tick-Tock

"What? What's the matter?"

Lee Do-jin — the actor she'd been seeing — asked with a show of concern and raised a hand toward the server.

"I'll have that replaced for you right away."

The server hurried over and laid down a fresh steak knife. But even with the new blade sitting before her, Baek Ga-yoon did nothing but glower at her phone, clucking her tongue.

"Give it here. Oppa will cut it for you."

Lee Do-jin took Baek Ga-yoon's plate and sliced through the steak with smooth, even strokes. Bright-red juices welled up between the cleanly cut slices.

"Ha... forget it. I'm not eating."

The mouth that had been sawing away at her meat twisted in irritation, and Lee Do-jin set the knife down with a clack.

"Suit yourself."

Baek Ga-yoon heaved a sigh and gazed out over the city through the restaurant's floor-to-ceiling windows. She had come out here because Lee Do-jin — whom she hadn't laid eyes on in an age — had finally gotten in touch.

"Ugh, for fuck's sake. This is such shit."

Whatever she was muttering, Lee Do-jin turned the plate back toward himself, speared the thoroughly carved meat deep with his fork, and brought it to his mouth. The way he went gnawing away at it, really... It takes real talent, killing the mood stone dead with a face that handsome.

"Why is everything pissing me off these days?"

Baek Ga-yoon raked her hair back with an irritated hand and rose from her seat, the napkin sliding off her lap and dropping carelessly to the floor.

"I'm leaving. Don't call me."

Whether or not the napkin got trampled underfoot, Baek Ga-yoon swept out without so much as a backward glance.

Lee Do-jin studied her retreating figure with quiet, careful attention, then put another piece of steak in his mouth.

"Mm."

He made short work of the rest of the plate, leaving it spotless. Then, wiping his mouth with evident satisfaction, he gave a slow, lazy round of applause — and wrapping his hand around his water glass, said:

"Wow. She hasn't got much time left, has she?"

Smiling a low smile with eyes full of interest, Lee Do-jin rose, settled the bill, and stepped out of the restaurant. And then—

"Tick-tock! Tick-tock! Tick-tock!"

He clicked his tongue in imitation of a ticking clock, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack—! The sound of heels in a full-blown fury came tearing through the halls of High-Top, the nation's premier entertainment agency, at a merciless pace.

Staff who caught sight of the heels' owner bowed hastily here and there. Ignoring every single greeting, Baek Ga-yoon arrived at her destination and—

"What the hell have you been doing all this time?!"

The moment she laid eyes on Lee Jeong-han, she brought her palm cracking down across his cheek. Smack—! The eyes of the staff nearby went perfectly round, and in an instant, everything around them fell silent.

A heavy, pitch-dark mass of evil spirit hung clamped over every inch of Baek Ga-yoon's body like a burr — but there was no one in this place who could see it.

Lee Jeong-han's face, whipped to the side, burned scarlet and trembled. A silence heavy enough to smother the breath followed, but mercifully it was short. The door to the CEO's office swung open, and Geum Sa-ra emerged.

"Baek Ga-yoon. Get in here. You too, Director Lee."

With a sigh, CEO Geum summoned the two culprits in a voice laden with charisma. Baek Ga-yoon, who had been glaring holes into Lee Jeong-han, wheeled around without a shred of ceremony and marched into the office.

"Ha... fucking hell..."

Still wrestling his emotions down, Lee Jeong-han was too mortified to look a single person in the eye; he only kept dragging a hand down his face, over and over, before shuffling in after her.

Inside the office, Geum Sa-ra was brewing tea with unhurried calm. When Lee Jeong-han stepped in, she gestured him to a seat — and then turned to chide Baek Ga-yoon.

"Ga-yoon. You went too far this time. Director Lee has given you years of loyal service."

"Ha...! Mom. If he's got all those loyal years behind him, then shouldn't he be doing a better job than this?"

Geum Sa-ra let out a soft tsk and shot her a discreet warning glance. "Sweetheart. Even so, you don't say such things in front of the staff. Director Lee has his pride to think of, too."

She handed the fragrantly brewed tea to Lee Jeong-han, and passed Baek Ga-yoon hers poured over ice, good and cold. Sitting bolt-straight, Geum Sa-ra took a sip of her tea and murmured:

"Was there anything Seong Jin-ung had done that might have rubbed the reporters the wrong way?"

That man loved his liquor and drove drunk often enough — anyone who needed to know, knew. His side had fed money to the right mouths, and so it had always stayed quiet.

"No, ma'am. A witness spread it across an online community first, and it was picked up by the press from there."

"Mm."

Geum Sa-ra nodded at Lee Jeong-han's report and set down her cup. At the jut of her chin telling him to go on, he opened his mouth.

"As you know, public opinion on drunk driving is already poison, so it was judged there was no way to keep it buried any longer."

And he meant it literally. If someone had simply tipped off a reporter, the greedy bastards who'd been lapping up Seong Jin-ung's hush money would have buried it. But once it had spread through the community first, there would have been no reining it in.

"Bad luck, then."

This time even Baek Ga-yoon agreed with Geum Sa-ra's verdict. Gulping down her now-cooled tea in one go, she asked:

"So then. Who's going in for Seong Jin-ung?"

"An image like Seong Jin-ung's isn't easy to come by. This is going to be a headache."

While Geum Sa-ra and Baek Ga-yoon — both of whom had skimmed the script for Whistle — ran candidate faces through their heads, Lee Jeong-han spoke up after a moment's hesitation.

"I believe they have Min Seok-jae and Woo Byeong-geon in mind."

"Well. Not bad."

As fallback options went, it was a fairly sound call; Geum Sa-ra had thought of the same two men herself. Baek Ga-yoon clicked her tongue in irritation.

"I hate seeing him do well. Isn't there some way we can wreck his casting?"

Geum Sa-ra's gaze rested on Baek Ga-yoon, and from there drifted to Jung Ga-yoon. The thought slid on until it reached Director Hwang of Until. She had disliked it from the very start — seven years ago, when he had taken a girl who looked just like Baek Ga-yoon into his agency. She'd told him flat-out, again and again, that it wasn't true, and still the man seemed convinced that Baek Ga-yoon was his own flesh and blood.

"No, Mom, you have no idea how shameless that girl is!"

"She claims she's the real one. That she was the original Baek Ga-yoon! That girl drove me out of my mind for the entire shoot of this drama, I'm telling you!"

Come to think of it, the girl was even more unhinged than I'd thought. It wasn't just her own delusion, either — had she gone and brainwashed other people into the bargain? A scornful laugh escaped Geum Sa-ra before she could stop it.

Indignation climbing up her chest, Geum Sa-ra pressed her creased brow flat and said:

"This won't do. Leave it to Mom."

She would ruin not just the drama, but the people as well. Jung Ga-yoon, naturally — and Director Hwang right along with her. Geum Sa-ra's eyes glinted with a chill as she lifted her teacup.

"A commercial! I swear I could take off flying right now myself!"

Minji, practically bouncing with excitement, whispered as she helped Jung Ga-yoon into her outfit. "Let's climb one step at a time until nobody can lay a finger on you. Okay?"

Her personal stylist, So-hee, asked as she put the finishing touches on the overall silhouette:

"Why? Is somebody giving you trouble?"

"Oh, uh...? No, no. It's nothing. Just talking." Minji deflected vaguely.

Only Minji and Director Hwang knew the truth about High-Top and Baek Ga-yoon; for safety and security, everyone else had been sworn to silence.

Fortunately, So-hee hadn't really been probing out of nosiness. She stepped back a pace to give Ga-yoon's look one final inspection.

"There. Just the hair left to finish."

She cleared away the makeshift screen they'd rigged up and went out to get the curling iron ready.

"You look gorgeous, Ga-yoon."

The black dress falling beautifully along the lines of her body suited Ga-yoon — with her alluring makeup — to perfection.

The offer that had come in to Jung Ga-yoon was for a newly upgraded game. The advertiser, having seen her villainess turn in The Terms of Inheritance, had come forward with the proposal on the grounds that she was the spitting image of a character from the game. The character being added in this latest update was, after all, a glamorous villainess through and through.

Knock, knock— She was just finishing up the hair when someone rapped at the door. It was still a long while before the call time they'd been given. Had the shoot been moved up? Minji answered a quick "Yes, coming!" and dashed for the door.

"One, two! Hello, everyone! Dreams Come True! I'm Hyun I-tae, leader of DCT!"

"Oh, uh... Yes. Hello there."

Minji flustered and stumbled back a step. With that much energy pouring out of him, she'd half wondered if he was filming some in-house content of his own — but there was no camera to be seen. No manager, either.

At the mirror, where she'd left her hair in So-hee's hands, Ga-yoon's eyes went wide and round. Hyun I-tae? Why on earth was he here?

She had known he was one of the faces of this game ad, but as far as she'd been told, there were no scenes of them shooting together. Hadn't they said the time slots didn't even line up? She had long since folded away any hope of getting to see him in person.

"Hello, sunbae. I just wrapped my shoot and was heading home... Someone said you were still here, so I came to pay my respects."

Hyun I-tae, armed with a bright smile and a full toolkit of social graces, approached with easy warmth. So his shoot time must have been changed, after all that talk about schedules not matching up.

"Ah, hello. I'm in the middle of getting set up right now, so—"

She had started to rise, and the greeting came out awkwardly mid-motion. Hyun I-tae thrust out both hands and waved them.

"Oh no, no. Please, don't get up. Stay seated."

She exchanged a nod with him through the mirror as she settled back into the chair, and Hyun I-tae held something out to her.

"Um, this. We just released a new song. I'd be grateful if you'd give it a listen."

Set down on the table was DCT's single album.

"Oh — yes, of course!"

After all, she had looked into Hyun I-tae quite thoroughly — this new release included, and every promotion he'd ever done before it. Ga-yoon skimmed the track titles printed on the case while quietly studying the man himself. What was it that made Writer Yang name him as her second choice?

"Um... sunbae? Could I — could I possibly get your autograph?"

Hemming and hawing, he stood there with a blank sheet of paper and a pen in his hands.

"I'm — I'm a fan."

An autograph? For a woman who had spent seven years shuttling between supporting roles, this was the first time a celebrity had ever asked for her signature.

"Ah... o-oh, of course I will!"

Ga-yoon, frozen solid, hastily reached out and took the paper. There, on the narrow table before the mirror, she lovingly etched out the signature she had first dreamed up with a fluttering heart, back when she'd just debuted.

"Please put my name on it too. Hyun I-tae."

At some point, he had crouched down at her side, gazing up at her face. That round, smiling face of his — how could it look so young?

They were going to take this boy and cast him as Ha Ji-hyeok — the very role Seong Jin-ung had been set to play? She couldn't quite see it working. How old was he again?