Chapter Text
THE AERIAL GAZETTE
Jeon Jeongguk Spotted with Indie Breakout Star
Posted 1 hr ago.
Jeon Jeongguk took a break from his court mandated community service to have a romantic lunch with Kim Seokjin, the actor most known for one of the year’s most exciting films Lotus Grove. The two actors were spotted outside of Fi’s Bistro holding hands. According to sources, they have grown very close over the last few weeks and are reportedly very happy together.
Fans of Jeongguk’s couldn’t be more supportive, taking to social media to praise the new relationship. In light of Jeongguk’s recent run-ins with the law, his fanbase is relieved to see that he’s happy and healthy. “He deserves to be happy after all the b******t the media has put him through,” a devoted fan tweeted.
As for Seokjin, who just recently joined the cast of Choi Hail’s long anticipated sci-fi film, it seems his star is only continuing to rise.
What do you guys think? Will this couple survive?
Fi’s Bistro was abuzz with talk of them.
This was strange for Seokjin who, only a few months ago, had convinced himself that his dream of acting was pointless. He’d given himself somewhat of an ultimatum: either he had a break of some sort — it didn’t have to be big, he didn’t have to star in a critically acclaimed blockbuster — within the next month or he would go home and give it up. To him, the dream had started to fade. He was approaching his thirties and although he knew that there was no age-limit to follow one’s dreams, he was still, unfortunately, brought up in a world that valued youth over everything else.
In the show business especially, youth was a power not so easily wavered. Talent didn’t matter, skill didn’t matter. Youth prevailed. Beauty prevailed. The way he saw it, his dream of “making it” did have a time limit. And the closer he got to his thirtieth birthday, the less likely it seemed that any sort of break would happen. Then, when he’d pretty much given up, Yong Kitaek dropped out of Lotus Grove and the Seokjin gave, one he was so certain he had bombed, was enough for the casting director to set her eyes on him.
It wasn’t a particularly big role. But it, like many things in Seokjin’s life at that point, was big enough. His clothes, though they weren’t designer or inordinately expensive, were nice enough. He, as the many film critics who went to early screenings of Lotus Grove said in their reviews, wasn’t exactly great but he was great enough. His growing fanbase — that alone felt unreal — didn’t share the sentiment. They believed his performance was more than great. Film enclaves on Reddit, Weibo, and Twitter had all believed that his performance was “riveting,” “brilliantly unnerving,” and, for some, “the best part of the film.”
It was difficult for him to believe this no matter how many times his agent Chansung told him. The two of them had pretty much thrown in the towel with his success. Just before shooting Lotus Grove, they shared a drink and exchanged could be considered, to a degree, final goodbyes. They were ready for this film, as well as the many others Seokjin had taken — mostly cheaply written, terribly directed made-for-TV films that no one even bothered to review — to tank. When it didn’t, his agent told him that this was real. This hype, this affection people were started to have for him. It was real. He would show Seokjin the tweets and the YouTube fan edits and he would watch them in disbelief. Every time his agent showed him a good thing, Seokjin would tire himself searching for the bad. Seokjin called it “balance.” Chansung called it “torture.”
Both of them were somewhat right.
Now, however, looking at all the cameras following him and all the Bistro goers pausing to stare, he could see that it was real. They aren’t just calling out to Jeongguk which is what he expected to happen. They’re calling out to him. They want him. By the time they get to Jeongguk’s car, Seokjin feels dizzy and unsure of who is was. He sits down in the passenger seat and, as the car door closes, pays attention to exactly how the sound of the paparazzi and the fans sort of fade. He looks through the tinted window in complete awe.
He hears the driver-side door open, hears Jeongguk when he slides into the seat and smells the cologne that was still agitating his nostrils as it had been when they first met. The scent itself wasn’t the problem, only that Jeongguk didn’t seem to care for subtlety and used way too much of it. Some people were attracted to the chaos of excess.
“…you alright?”
Jeongguk asks. He almost sounds like he doesn’t mean it, like he’s only asking to pretend that this whole thing between them wasn’t bothering him as much as it clearly was. Or maybe it was his way of getting more into character. Their entire relationship was, of course, a performance after all.
Seokjin nods, still looking out of the window. It doesn’t go unnoticed by him how unfazed Jeongguk seems. “How does anybody get used to this?”
“It’s easy when it’s all you know.”
Seokjin looks away from the window, down at his hands and sighs. “Right. This is you in your element. I forget sometimes. You seem so…”
“Normal?”
“…Unsophisticated.”
Jeongguk half laughs and half snorts as he starts the car. “Funny,” he mumbles.
As he drives out of the parking lot, away from the growing crowd of paparazzi and fans, Seokjin checks his phone. A couple of messages from Chansung, both asking about how their first “date” is going. He’ll respond to those later. He goes straight to Twitter, types his name into the search bar and slides to the recently uploaded posts. The first tweet he sees says:
kim seokjin hasn’t been on the scene for two months and he’s already stole my husband. can’t be mad tho, they’re cute or whatever
He smiles and continues to scroll until he comes across an article from the Aerial Gazette. Although he wasn’t alive in the days that it took news at least a day to get around, he kind of misses it. They hadn’t been out of the parking lot to Fi’s Bistro for ten minutes and there was already an article speculating their relationship. Or confirming, depending on how one looked at it.
For Seokjin, it was opportunity. Nothing more.
Chansung and the agency, following the success of Lotus Grove, had suggested to Seokjin that he do some dating in order to keep his name in the press. In order to continue to build the growing intrigue around him. The indie circuit already loved him and that was great but there was a new indie darling every six months. He had to keep his name circulating long enough to stay in the limelight. There wasn’t a film equivalent to a “one-hit wonder,” not really, but Seokjin dreaded the idea of being that. Chansung only had to prod him a little more after the initial suggestion and he to agreed. A relationship, especially a fake one, couldn’t hurt him.
He could look at it as an opportunity to hone his skills for the next big role.
“Is the word out?” Jeongguk asks, not even granting a passing glance at the passenger side. At least, Seokjin doesn’t think he does. It’s hard to tell with Jeongguk’s sunglasses.
Seokjin looks over at him.
When he agreed, the agency presented to him choices. Who did he want to pretend to date?
Daniel Woo was the first name they gave him. Daniel was an established actor. He had done dramas in the early 2000s, transitioning to action-thrillers toward the end of the decade. The first film he made to become a smash hit not only in Korea but internationally was a film that Seokjin hated. He thought it was silly, pandering, and focused too much on plot and not enough on character. Daniel had scandals of his own. His marriage to his first wife Kim Tahee, who was considered to be one of South Korea’s Sweethearts, ended with her accusing him of being verbally abusive. As it stood, Seokjin was on Kim Tahee’s side. He knew all too much about being in verbally abusive relationships and Daniel Woo was the last person he wanted to pretend to like.
Chansung had then presented him with his final two choices: Lee Mintaek and Jeon Jeongguk.
If Seokjin is being honest, he had no interest in dating Jeon Jeongguk. He didn’t know everything about Jeongguk but he knew enough. Child star at the age of seven. Youngest actor to win an Asian Film Award for his heartbreaking role in the war drama Flowers of Smoke (this, he won at the tender age of ten). Impeccable comedic timing as seen in his many roles on TV programs and variety show guest spots. Impressive transition from child actor to teenage heartthrob. Came out when he was nineteen. Went to rehab at twenty-one.
If Seokjin was being more honest, he knew that Jeongguk, in a way, bored him. He thought of Jeongguk as a cliche especially with his recent legal troubles. The whole thing reminded Seokjin of badly made-for-TV after school special on the downsides of fame. He didn’t have anything against Jeongguk, not really, but he wasn’t interested in dating him even if only for pretend. The thing was that Lee Mintaek, who Seokjin ended up choosing, had no interest in dating him. The word around the agency, the word that Chansung and the CEO tried to keep from reaching Seokjin, was that Lee Mintaek absolutely, unfathomably loathed Seokjin.
This was a shock. They hadn’t even met
But apparently, Mintaek saw him as competition. Over one fucking movie. He thought it was ridiculous but Chansung had informed him that this was just the way the industry was. Actors often pretended to like other actors, pretended to be happy for them but deep down they would all jump at the opportunity to throw a fellow actor under the bus if it meant they could get ahead. Mintaek was no different. What he saw in Seokjin, Chansung said, was a threat. To be a threat in show business was to be a star, even if only in the making.
Jeongguk was Seokjin’s last resort and, so far, he wasn’t regretting it. He knew Jeongguk had no interest in pretending to date him but he appreciated that he went along with it without causing a fuss. For someone who’s been in the spotlight since he was a child, Jeongguk was surprisingly well-mannered and threw little to no temper tantrums as far as Seokjin had seen. It was still too soon to say but he wasn’t completely unhappy with having ended up paired with Jeongguk of all people.
“According to sources,” Seokjin says, reading the article aloud, “they have grown close…reportedly, very happy together.”
“Well, that was easy,” Jeongguk mumbles.
Seokjin looks one last time at the article before putting his phone away. He relaxes in his seat and looks out the window again. “I know you didn’t want to do this,” he says. “So, thank you. For doing it anyway.”
Jeongguk scoffs. “I didn’t have much of a choice.”
“But,” he adds after a long pause. “You’re welcome anyway.”
“We won’t have to do this long,” Seokjin responds, a bit miffed. “A few more outings and I’m sure both our agencies will think it’s enough.”
“Uh huh,” Jeongguk says. It’s hard to tell if he’s even really paying attention.
When they first met, Seokjin thought Jeongguk seemed aloof. Barely present. Always bored with the life. The life was still new to Seokjin. He wasn’t used to green rooms and interviews and having to dress for airport paparazzi. He wasn’t used to pre-production meetings, dating schemes or the CEOs of entertainment companies who thought those schemes up. Jeongguk, though, was used to it all and none of it seemed to faze him.
So far, the most excited Seokjin saw Jeongguk get was when he, in the middle of their first meeting between the two of them, their agents, and their companies’ bosses, said he wasn’t going to pretend to date anyone.
“I have morals,” Jeongguk had said and he said it with a little smirk like he knew everyone in the conference room thought it was a bullshit statement. Even so, behind the smirk, Seokjin could tell that he didn’t want to do it.
It didn’t take long for him to be convinced though. His agent had taken him aside to talk to him about it and although it was a private conversation that no one overheard, Seokjin was sure what convinced Jeongguk in the end had all to do with his reputation. See, they both had something on the line, something that made dating each other a requirement. It was basically a trial in the court of public opinion. For Seokjin, he had to make the court recognize him. For Jeongguk, the court had to forgive him.
THE AERIAL GAZETTE
Jeon Jeongguk Spotted with Indie Breakout Star
Posted 1 hr ago.
Comment Section
110nuguee says: their looks compliment each other but they won’t last long. jeongguk is clearly miserable in these pictures. i give it a week
↳yesimabotbitch says: how can u tell? jk looks miserable all the time. have u seen his baby pictures? he was having existential crises at 6 months old
↳1110nuguee says: lmaoooo true
jadethegreat says: i won’t lie, i don’t think they make a good couple. seokjin is really sweet and innocent, i’m afraid jk will corrupt him like he did with taehyung
↳eunheehehehe says: that’s really fuckd up of u to bring taehyung into this
↳69696969sike says: but op is right? jk basically ruined taehyung’s life and now he’s parading his
new relationship around like nothing. would
feel bad for seokjin but how dumb do u
have to be to date this clown??
bimbobaggins666 says: seokjin and jk seem really happy together. i hope nothing horrible ever happens to them.
↳cherryblossombottom: hehehehehehe same tho
“How long until Chansung picks you up?” Jeongguk asks.
They’ve been sitting in his apartment for the better part of an hour. Their agents had told them they had to be spotted holding hands and spotted going into the same place, whether it was Seokjin’s apartment or Jeongguk’s didn’t matter as much as they went in together. Most of the tabloids won’t get this far though, they can’t access Jeongguk’s house nor are they allowed to print pictures of it, at least not legally anymore. This part was for the passers-by, for the casual observer, for the people who might see them go in together and might give that information to any of the many gossip columns.
Seokjin quickly discovered that, although it was easy to hold hands with Jeongguk, to pretend they were absolutely smitten over one another, being alone with him was awkward. They’re sat in the living room where they first settled when they entered the apartment. The TV is on and, thank God for that because otherwise the silence would have been too much to bear.
Jeongguk’s apartment is nice to the eye. His furniture looks expensive. The entire place looks expensive but it’s a bit cold. As if he never spends anytime here at all. This idea was confirmed when, just after they walked in, Jeongguk asked him if he wanted a drink and was surprised to find that there was Pellegrino in his refrigerator.
“Eager for me to leave?” Seokjin asks. He tries for it to come out playful and teasing but it sounds like he’s wounded. He’s not. Really. But it sounds like he is and that’s even worse. He looks at his phone. “He got held up at a meeting. Look, I can just leave alone if it’s a problem.”
“No, it’s fine,” Jeongguk says although his expression screams the exact opposite. “I have somewhere to be but…you can’t leave alone.”
“…I’m a grown man on the ‘good’ side of town, I’ll be fine.”
Scoffing, Jeongguk shakes his head. “No. My agent said you can’t leave alone. Either I leave with you or you leave with Chansung. Otherwise, it looks like I fucked you and kicked you out.”
Perhaps Seokjin should be miffed by that as well. By the idea that he would be so easy. He admittedly is when he really likes someone (no matter if that feeling fades within an hour or two or however long it takes for him to get his rocks off) but it should still bother him. It doesn’t though. What bothers him is the unlikelihood that such a thing would occur—
“In the middle of the day?” He asks, skeptical.
“You’d be surprised,” Jeongguk says, looking at the TV with the same disinterest that he looks at everything with. “Anyway, I’ll wait for him to get here.”
“Afraid I’m going to steal something if you leave me alone here?”
“I don’t even know what, if anything, there is to steal here. And no. But if you’re here alone, it might cause problems for me later.”
“More celebrity stuff?”
“No.”
He should probably drop it but watching TV, especially daytime talk shows, has always bored Seokjin to bits and he’s happy to be talking about something — anything — so long as he doesn’t have to deal with grining talk show hosts with false teeth and even falser manners. He looks to Jeongguk who narrowly escapes catching sight of Seokjin’s puppy dog eyes.
He shakes his head in disbelief. “Does that work on people?”
Still pouting, Seokjin answers, “Well, no. Not really.”
“I didn’t think so. But since you’re so desperate…” Jeongguk turns the TV down and looks at Seokjin. It’s one of the few times he’s looked at him directly. Looking at him this way, Seokjin thinks that, yes, were they different people in different worlds where they weren’t pretending, he could easily fall for Jeongguk. At least, fall for his looks. His wide, expressive eyes gave away a lot when he wasn’t keeping a guard up. The way his hair, slightly wavy and slightly too long, framed face made him look almost cherubic. He was a good-looking guy, no doubt.
Too bad good looks weren’t all a person needed to be interesting.
“I guess I’m going to be transparent with you,” Jeongguk says, “because if we’re going to be pretending to, you know, be in love and all that shit, you should know that I’m kind of already in a relationship. Like a real one.”
“Ah,” Seokjin says, turning slightly toward Jeongguk. “Yes, that’s pretty important to know, I agree. Don’t want some jilted lover coming at me with a bat or anything.”
“Well, he’s very dramatic so I don’t think a bat would have enough flair for him.”
Seokjin laughs. “Okay. Thanks for telling me…Are you supposed to be meeting him soon?”
Jeongguk looks at his watch and shrugs although his eyebrows do bunch together in concern. “Yeah, but…”
“Jeongguk, I can go. It’s not that serious, you should meet with him.”
He’s already shaking his head before Seokjin even finishes his sentence. “You can’t leave. If you leave, it would look terrible.”
Seokjin rolls his eyes. “I didn’t realize actors were so concerned about the look of things even when the cameras weren’t rolling.”
“Not all of them are. Just me.”
“And why is that?” A pause between them, Jeongguk looking to him with a bit of confusion. Seokjin sighs as if he doesn’t really want to say what he’s about to say, but he’s never been one to mince words so he says it anyway. “I mean, I know why I’m here. Why my agency wants me here. But what do you get out of it? Don’t get me wrong, I like myself and I’m proud of myself but even I know, especially in the eyes of the world, that I’m no one next to you. So, what’s in it for you?”
Jeongguk nods, looking almost pleased as if he’d been expecting this question. “I’m impressed you held off on asking for so long.”
“It’s only been three days, don’t give me so much credit.”
“…You know about everything that happened like…a little over a year ago, right?”
Seokjin knows.
Drunken disorderly conduct. Disturbing the peace (Jeongguk got into an argument with a convenience store clerk over a pack of gum. It must be noted that he was under the influence then, too). Then, lastly, possession of narcotics. The possession part was mostly rumor. Tabloids and gossip columns could write about it but none of them could confirm it as it was kept under tight wraps by law enforcement and Jeongguk’s company.
But Seokjin shrugs, looking away and feigning ignorance. “Not a lot,” he says.
Jeongguk tilts his head and narrows his eyes, seeing right through him. “You know enough then.”
“Fine, alright.”
“Well, if I don’t do this, my company’s going to drop me.”
Seokjin blinks, not knowing what to say. “They…they can do that?”
“Of course they can do that, it’s their company—”
“Let me rephrase: they can do that to you?”
It goes without saying that Seokjin knows how valuable Jeongguk is to not only the company but to the country’s growing film industry. He was a movie star. He brought in numbers at the box office, big numbers. And he’d been doing this since he was seven years old.
Jeongguk shrugs, leaning back into the couch and looking back to the TV. “I’ve caused them a lot of trouble recently. It’d be easier to cut me out.”
“…So, how would dating me help?”
“You might think you’re no one but, believe me, you’re not. You’re handsome, you’re talented,” Jeongguk counts the traits off on his fingers. “You’re polite and, most importantly, you’re real. People are sick of bullshit. They’re sick of cookie-cutter ‘we’re just thankful to be here’ answers, you know? They want honesty, charm, and true grit. You have all of that.”
It’s the nicest thing, also longest thing, Jeongguk has ever said to him. Seokjin reaches over to punch at the other’s shoulder softly. “Thank you.”
“Yeah, yeah…Also, you’re a search term on porn sites now so, trust me, people like you.”
For a second, Seokin is stunned silent. “…How do you know that even?”
“What? I watch porn, that shouldn’t be shocking. And the last time I went to a site and started typing into the search engine, your name came up. I didn’t look at any of the videos so don’t ask.”
Seokjin smiles, pleased. He reminds himself to make check all of his favorite sites later to see what kind of material people are putting his name under. It better be high quality stuff, too. He almost wants to ask Jeongguk what he did look up but he knows that’s too invasive. They’re having a moment and that’s nice but they aren’t there yet. Maybe, before this dating thing is over, they will be.
Instead, he asks: “Have you watched anything that has my name attached? Like…my actual movies, maybe?”
Jeongguk is surprisingly sheepish when he answers honestly. “Nope.”
“…Not even Lotus Grove?”
“Not even the movie no one will shut up about, no. I’m sure I’ll see it come awards season though. They always send out those ‘For Your Consideration’ packages to me. I’m one of the voting members, you know?”
“Oh,” Seokjin looks at his wrist where he, unlike Jeongguk, doesn’t have a wristwatch. “Is it bragging hour already?”
“Ha-ha. So funny. I’m dying,” Jeongguk deadpans.
Seokjin goes to hit him again but stops when he feels his phone vibrate on his lap. A message from Chansung. A big part of him is relieved. But a tiny, tiny part doesn’t want the moment to be over. He knows it isn’t sentimental by any means. It has more to do with the fact that, well, he and Jeongguk are meant to be in love. It would be easier for him to fall into character if he had a better idea of who Jeongguk was and he was just starting to get a glimpse. They’ll have more time though. After all, they have to be seen having lunch again tomorrow and going to an art exhibit Friday night. There was time to get into character.
Seokjin extends his hand to Jeongguk and shakes it. “He’s downstairs so I’ll get going. Thank you again.”
“…Thank you.”
“Have a good night with your boyfriend. Tell him I need you back tomorrow for Sushi and Moscato.”
Jeongguk shakes his hand back, smiles for what may well be the first time and says easily: “I’ll tell him no such thing.”
THE AERIAL GAZETTE
Jeon Jeongguk Spotted with Indie Breakout Star
Posted 1 hr ago.
Comment Section
ratatwoees says: they’re the real deal, i can feel it. i believe in love again
↳bambinogoblin2x2 says: what you high on, i want some