Life is Easier If You're Handsome novel Chapter 181

The trigger was insignificant.

Right after returning from Japan, I went straight to filming as usual.

It was nearing the final shoot of Our Fake Wedding. With the drama breaking past the 40% viewership barrier and soaring, the entire cast and crew were caught up in a celebratory mood.

We successfully wrapped up the final scenes.

We celebrated with drinks.

And, somewhere in the haze of alcohol, Sujin and I made a promise.

—"Let’s watch the kiss scene together."

—"The kiss scene?"

—"Yeah, I want to watch it with you."

—"Alright, then."

Who suggested it first?

I didn’t really care, so I let it go.

Mid-June.

That’s how we ended up glued to the couch, watching Our Fake Wedding together.

“I actually like the whole ‘run away first’ part of the story.”

“Huh?”

I turned my head at Sujin’s comment.

“You know how when you play something like Go, the third-party observer sees the game more clearly? It’s like that. Running away makes sense when you look at it from the outside.”

So she liked it.

I had the complete opposite opinion.

“I think it’s better not to run away. In the end, that’s still running away.”

“Come on, it’s just one step back to take two steps forward.”

“If it were me, I’d just say it straight up—I'm serious about this marriage.”

Things that are bound to happen will happen.

Things that need to be done will have to be done eventually.

In that case, might as well do them now.

But then—

“You’re a third-generation chaebol. You didn’t even bring that up in the first place, so what are you talking about?”

“...Did my personal opinion and the drama script just get mixed up?”

“It just kind of happened when I thought about it. If you look at it a certain way, Han Doyun was being deceitful.”

“Deceitful? Oh... because he was a chaebol but pretended to be broke when he got married?”

“Exactly. If you think about it, everything escalated to this point because of Han Doyun.”

Sujin suddenly got really invested in the drama.

Was this why she wanted to watch it together?

So we could discuss our thoughts on it while watching?

“But in the end, she still ends up marrying a chaebol, so isn’t that a win for her?”

“...What?”

Sujin’s eyes widened at my blunt truth.

She looked at me like she couldn’t believe I’d just said that.

“She studied accounting because she wanted to make a lot of money. And now she’s married to a chaebol, so she kind of achieved her goal.”

“...Are you saying that money is the ultimate goal of marriage?”

“Well, they got married just to get the full scholarship grant, didn’t they?”

Strictly speaking, Sujin was an F-type, and I was 100% T.

So our conversation kept going slightly off track.

For example—

When the characters on-screen were wandering around looking for a place to stay after eloping—

“We filmed this in May, but why does it look so cold? Maybe it was psychological—like the pressure of the scene?”

“No, it was actually cold. It was May, but it was like 8°C or something—”

“Kim Donghu, shut up.”

“...Okay.”

We were exchanging completely different perspectives.

Anyway, as we kept talking, we finally got to the scene where we kissed.

More precisely, the moment right before it.

And, almost like we had agreed on it beforehand, Sujin suddenly went silent.

Then—

“...Honestly, I don’t even remember what I was thinking back then.”

“Huh?”

“It was my first on-screen kiss, but it wasn’t our first kiss, right? So I couldn’t really focus....”

That comment slipped out right as our lips met on-screen.

“So what about now?”

Without thinking, I asked the question.

Now that I thought about it, the situation itself was strangely... charged.

A girl who had kissed me deeply before was now sitting in my apartment, watching a drama we had filmed together.

It wasn’t something I could just take lightly.

“R-Right now?”

“Yeah.”

That was when I started wondering—why had Sujin suddenly brought this up?

What did it really mean to suggest watching our kiss scene together?

We weren’t five-year-olds anymore.

We had already shared a kiss—

Not just in private, but in front of the entire world.

So why did she insist on watching it together?

The answer came out of my mouth before I even had time to think.

"Did you match your underwear today?"

"What, what, what?! Why would you ask something like that out of the blue, Kim Donghu?! Are you crazy?!"

"It’s not about that, we didn’t get to finish last time, remember?" "..."

That was the end of the conversation. As Sujin nodded, I immediately moved into action.

What we originally had to do. To finish what was strangely interrupted last time.

"...Our kiss scene is coming up, do we need to watch it?"

"What does it matter. We’re doing it too."

With that trivial banter over. Tongues intertwined, clothes fell to the floor with a thud.

Thud.

Before either of us could feel embarrassed, I turned off the lights. We kissed again, tongues intertwining, sharing breaths, Our bodies tightly overlapped, blocking out every trace of light.

And then,

"Wait, just a... I, I’m not ready yet... Ah, aah... Ah!"

Sobbing.

Sujin cried.

"It, it hurts too much... What's, what’s this... Why is it so big?"

"There’s nothing I can do about that..."

"Kim Donghu, if it’s this big... Ah, aah...! Don’t, don’t move!"

"I’m not moving... It’s your pain making your waist twitch."

"I like your hair like that."

"Like it, my foot! You’re just saying that because you're too lazy to tie it up, right?"

"No, and if that were the case, why would I say your underwear matches well?"

"That's because you're a pervert, Kim Donghu!"

Thump.

Another pillow flew my way.

"Today your schedule is to make me meals, bathe me, dress me, and other personal care! Remember that!"

"Feels like you missed something?"

"I’m not doing anything naughty anymore!"

Thump.

Another pillow came flying.

I had no idea I had so many pillows in my bed. Just found out now.

"Not that, I meant like playing games or watching TV together...."

"...Not doing that either!"

As I heard her cute reply, I casually checked my phone. A news article reported that our kissing scene had boosted the viewership ratings to an impressive 43%. It seemed 45% wasn’t far off.

'This drama is so unrealistically good.'

Is it because it’s too smooth for a lead role? Or is it because a more intense reality is unfolding right in front of me?

It’s definitely the latter.

'Or maybe I should go out and experience it firsthand.'

After all that happened, I naturally asked that no one come to my house.

Even if Sujin were to leave now, The state of the house was such that I couldn’t show it to anyone.

First, I needed to wash the sheets. The pillow covers needed laundering as well.

My desk was a mess, and the bathroom strewn about needed thorough cleaning.

"...Kim Donghu, are you going to keep doing housework while I'm here?"

"Huh? Weren't you hungry? I was going to clean up and then make some food."

"I’m cold rather than hungry."

Sujin said that as she flung off the blanket and stretched her arms wide towards me. I didn't bother saying that she could just cover herself with the blanket.

"It's bad if you’re cold."

Saying so, I walked towards Sujin.

"Wait, just a second! I said just to hold me! What are you doing? Where are you touching?!"

"This is also a way of holding, isn’t it?"

"Wait, that's... tickli...sh...!"

Of course, that was a bonus.

***

Time flew by, and it was the end of June. The last day of shooting for True Hero.

Just as I was about to board the van to head to the set, Seokho hyung looked at my face and was visibly startled.

"Donghu!"

"Yes, yes?"

"You, your face... it's glowing?"

Seokho hyung was quick to notice things.

"Glowing?"

"Yes... no, I mean... I know why it’s glowing, I do... but let’s just keep quiet for now."

He was just as quick with his actions as he was with his observations.

'Seokho hyung really is the best.'

That’s how a manager should be.