You didn’t tell me Shin Hye was a Lotte model, too,’ Min Ho turned to President Jang, his eyebrows furrowed.
Shin Hye avoided looking at Min Ho, but she could still hear his voice. And it was devoid of warmth. She wasn’t sure if it was because this was a business meeting or not, but something was telling her that he was deliberately trying to sound cold in front of her.
‘That’s because there were several other celebrities including idols, singers, and actors who signed and renewed their contracts. So it wasn’t a big deal if you and Shin Hye were to be part of it,’ he replied sternly. ‘But that was before,’ he sighed. ‘We weren’t expecting this.’
Shin Hye looked up and saw the frustrated look on President Jang’s face. Something told her that he wasn’t frustrated about the scandal, rather, the relationship between her and Min Ho.
‘Last month, we were trying to prevent rumors from circulating,’ President Jang continued. ‘However, after those Chinese articles, this is no longer about prevention, but making sure we don’t add fuel to the fire.’
Shin Hye turned to look at President Kim. ‘Are we terminating our contract?’
‘No, we can’t do that. But there are some details that we can change. In the contract, you and Lee Min Ho-ssi are supposed to star in a love story CF with several mini-episodes,’ he explained. ‘However, we talked to Lotte last week after the news broke out and begged them to reconsider.’
‘They agreed, but only if we push through with the fan meeting,’ President Jang told them. He looked at Min Ho. ‘We had no choice but to agree with the terms they set. We were able to pull you out of the couple CF so you’ll have a solo shoot instead. Shin Hye-ssi will still be doing it, with Jang Geun Suk as your replacement. He renewed his contract with Lotte this year.’
Min Ho let out a sigh. ‘That’s a relief. Good thing Lotte agreed,’ he said nonchalantly before looking at Shin Hye. ‘You’ll be working with Geun Suk again, Shin Hye-ah. I know he’s not me, but you’ll have fun, right?’
If his tone didn’t bother her enough, she knew he was also being sarcastic about the couple CF. His smirk was more mocking than joking. She let it slide and smiled faintly.
‘Anything else?’ Min Ho asked.
Shin Hye watched as President Jang and President Kim looked at each other, exchanging meaningful gazes.
‘Shin Hye-ssi, Min Ho-yah,’ President Jang spoke after clearing his throat. ‘We can’t stress enough that you two need to be very careful. As much as possible, we don’t want to intrude in your personal lives but we also don’t want this to endanger your careers. You’re both at your peaks and we don’t want anything to jeopardize that.’
‘We’ve had this discussion before, sajangnim,’ Min Ho retorted, looking annoyed. He gave Shin Hye a sideway glance. ‘Shin Hye and I get it.’
‘No, you don’t,’ President Jang replied fiercely. Everyone on the table looked surprised by his intense expression. ‘I heard that you two are still being careless. I don’t need to tell you what you’ve been doing because you both know you never took our warning seriously. Now you better listen because I’m not kidding around anymore,’ President Jang reddened, his voice raised a few decibels higher. It was the first time Shin Hye was seeing the man lose his cool. He must be getting really pissed off. But she couldn’t blame him, Min Ho wasn’t acting like himself today.
‘Juseonghaeyo,’ Min Ho replied, looking down.
President Jang took a deep breath before continuing. ‘We heard that most tabloids have taken extra measures to specifically catch you two together. The Herald is keeping quiet because of our deal, but don’t expect the same courtesy from the other news outlets. You know how vicious they can be,’ he explained.
‘It’s become a sport among these media companies,’ Min Ho’s manager told them. ‘Since the rise of celebrity couple outings last year, word is, these companies are just waiting to pounce on the next big celebrity relationship. The more famous they are, the bigger the bragging rights. And I have it on good authority that you two are on top of the list.’
‘I’ve also heard they employed new tactics to follow celebrities around inconspicuously. Like civilian paparazzi. What they do is dress like ordinary people,’ President Kim added. ‘Most of these reporters are very young and even disguise themselves like high school students. And they no longer use fancy cameras but smartphones to take photos. They upload those photos in a blog before splashing those photos in the papers so it’s harder to trace.’
‘Do you know what that means?’ President Jang looked at Min Ho then at her. Shin Hye thought that the question sounded more like a warning. ‘Photos that are taken from private places can wind up on those papers, but it will be hard to sue them because they’re going to argue that those second-hand photos have become public property after being posted online.’
Shin Hye could no longer stay quiet. ‘Chamkamaniyo,’ she spoke. ‘Are you trying to say these newspapers are legally free from publishing private photos now?’
‘Not necessarily,’ President Jang replied. ‘They can still be sued, but it will be harder to prove that they were the ones who took the photos for the purpose of releasing them. Which means they’ve gotten bolder. Nothing’s going to stop them from crossing the line.’
President Kim turned to Shin Hye. ‘And even then, that should be the least of your worries. If photos are leaked, it’s over. It’ll be harder for us to deny the rumors and claim that this relationship doesn’t exist.’
Min Ho threw Shin Hye a furtive look and spoke. ‘So you’re telling us that we should stop seeing each other? Even in private places?’
‘Of course not,’ President Jang exclaimed. ‘We’re just saying that for now, you two should lie low. Especially now. All eyes are on you two. Don’t mess it up.’
Min Ho’s expression hardened. ‘Arasso. We hear you loud and clear,’ he stood up and bowed. ‘I think we’re done here, so if you’ll excuse me, I think Shin Hye and I need to talk. You’re not going to stop us this time, right?’