Chapter 621. Henpecked (1)

-You're supposed to be a man, aren't you?! A man!

Kang Jin-Ho involuntarily shifted the phone away from his head. His action made a lot of sense since he was a martial artist simply getting ready for the inevitable barrage of a lioness's roar about to come through the phone's speaker!

However, as if to make fun of his expectations, the lioness's roar didn't materialize. It seemed Choi Yeon-Ha was still the rule-breaking genius at defying Kang Jin-Ho's anticipation.

-You said you'd come, so why haven't you yet! Or, or! You could've said you can't come for this and that reason! Is it fair to make someone wait like this?

“I, I'm really sorry,” Kang Jin-Ho blurted out an apology.

He wasn't sure what he had done wrong here. However, he still knew that in moments like this one... He must just apologize. Whether in academics or life, one should simply memorize the stuff one couldn't comprehend, and that was the sure-fire ticket to success!

-When are you coming, then!

“Well, uh, it's a bit tricky to give you a firm answer right now...”

-Listen to yourself! Just listen! You're planning to drag this on and on, then conveniently forget about this whole thing, aren't you! If I finish filming and go back first before you show up... Do you honestly think your shins will be safe from my wrath?

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly reached down and touched his shins. Of course, he'd not feel any pain from Choi Yeon-Ha kicking him down there, but a hunch still warned him that he'd suffer from pain that science could not explain!

“I'm not trying to drag this out, Miss Yeon-Ha.”

As soon as Kang Jin-Ho said that, his sharp hearing picked up a woman softly clicking her tongue on the other side of the line. Cold sweat strands inexplicably trickled down his forehead, so he hurriedly wiped them off.

-Mister. Kang. Jin. Ho.

“Yes, I'm here,” said Kang Jin-Ho while sitting upright in the figure-hugging seat.

-Yes, I know you're busy and that things on your end are hectic right now. I hear you come home late every night and how you don't have any free time whatsoever these days.

'...She must've heard that from Eun-Yeong!'

As it turned out, there was a spy in the Kang residence! Kang Jin-Ho suddenly felt betrayed for some reason.

Just what made 'family' so special? The debut release of this chapter happened at N0v3l_B1n.

The answer was trust. Family members could trust each other the most out of everyone they knew. And family members were supposed to protect each other, too. But, to think that Kang Jin-Ho's personal information had been leaked so freely like this...!

Kang Jin-Ho saw a strong need to increase the severity of his little sister's restrictions!

-Even if that's true, a man should keep his word, wouldn't you say!

“...My apologies.”

-Don't worry, as I'm not going to keep nagging you like this in the future. If you want to come, then come. If you don't, then don't.

“Mm? Does that mean I don't have to go?”

-Yes. Since if you choose not to, I'll come see you personally instead!

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho was too smart to thoughtlessly ask, 'Miss Yeon-Ha, you're in the middle of shooting a TV show in another country, so is it even possible for you to leave at will like that?'

Choi Yeon-Ha was indeed fully capable of doing something like that. Hadn't Kang Jin-Ho learned that painful lesson plenty of times by now?

There was only a paper-thin difference between this woman and a natural disaster. One was a lifeform, while the other was not. That was all! And neither of those two could be stopped by a mere man!

-Don't you have anything else to say?

“I, I'll try to get there as soon as possible.”

-...I'll believe in you for this one last time, okay?

“Thank you, ma'am.”

-I'm hanging up!

Beep!

The sound of the phone line going dead shouldn't be anything special, but it still sounded sharp and shrill to Kang Jin-Ho's hearing. He put the phone away and wiped the sweat off his forehead again.

'Geez, dealing with an uptight Shaolin monk is easier than this...'

Kang Jin-Ho suddenly recalled the previous abbot of Shaolin Temple, who possessed an inhuman level of qi reserve and could freely unleash a golden aura from his body. That aura's nature of destroying evil was the polar opposite of Kang Jin-Ho's demonic qi, and that ancient monk could pour out that damn energy like a burst dam at will.

Just remembering that old baldy sent this creepy tingling sensation all over Kang Jin-Ho's body, yet he still found facing that monk much easier than dealing with Choi Yeon-Ha.

Well, at least Kang Jin-Ho could physically fight back against him!

Even though his combat strength was much higher than his opponent, he couldn't even fight back? This hollow bitterness suddenly washed over Kang Jin-Ho as he stared at the scenery outside the car's window.

A short while later, he picked his phone up again and tapped on a familiar phone number.

“...Hello? Yes, it's me. Chief Jo, I need to travel to China as soon as possible. Mm? Did you say I'm not making sense? Oh, uh, what happened was...”

Kang Jin-Ho began explaining as more cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

***

Beep!

After viciously ending the call, Choi Yeon-Ha unhappily threw the phone on the couch.

“The gall on that guy!”

It felt like lava was boiling inside her!

“Just how much more understanding am I supposed to be!”

Did that man think everyone else had no pride? Just who was she, anyway?

She was none other than Choi Yeon-Ha! THE Choi Yeon-Ha! One of the most famous actors who couldn't step outside her home without a face mask and sunglasses to hide her identity!

Of course, no one knew for sure if Kang Jin-Ho cared about such things, but still!

“Shouldn't he be the one to say he's gonna come see me first?! So why!”

Choi Yeon-Ha gripped a cushion as hard as she could. She oh-so wanted to throw whatever she could get her hands on, not just this bloody cushion, to vent her steam, but... There were too many eyes watching right now!

Choi Yeon-Ha's face grew flushed.

Just how many times had she been patient with him? How many times did she tell him that he was too dull to get the subtle hints? Just how many more times must she say he was like a broken machine that had flushed his get-the-bloody-hint sensor down the toilet!

Since they weren't an official item or anything like that, Choi Yeon-Ha had to be more subtle and humble in her approach, and that was taking a lot out of her, yet...! How could he utterly trample on her efforts and pretend he was deeply flustered by this development!

“Gimme a freaking break already!”

However, what could she realistically do about it? After all, this must be fate's cruel trick to make her pay for her plentiful sins!

Her impulse nearly prompted her to immediately sever all contact with a man as uncaring as Kang Jin-Ho, but...! She simply couldn't do that, and that was a big problem for her. If only Kang Jin-Ho could behave like a somewhat-normal man...!

“So heavy...!” Choi Yeon-Ha groaned while gripping the tiara sitting pretty on her head. If only she was allowed to take this thing off during her breaks, it'd be much easier to get some rest...

But then, those bloody makeup artists...! What could be so difficult about attaching or removing this headpiece that they wanted her to keep it on even during the breaks? How could any human being realistically rest with something like this on their heads?! Only a bloody Hulk might do that!

That wasn't the only thing she felt unhappy about. Actually, Choi Yeon-Ha's dissatisfaction knew no bounds. Especially when it came to her resting place!

'I mean, look at this place! It's not like I'm asking for a van or a bloody motorhome!'

In most Hollywood productions, trailers were provided by the production company to help the actors rest comfortably between scenes. Their interiors were usually as nice as expensive houses, too.

The director could only shoot a certain number of scenes in a day, which meant actors not involved in a scene had no choice but to wait for their turn before the camera. So, the production companies would do their utmost to cater to the actors and their well-being.

Even in South Korean productions with comparatively tiny budgets, they would at least try to organize luxury vans for the lead actors and a rest area for supporting casts to mill about and take a break.

But this place Choi Yeon-Ha was in...

'How could you just dump a single couch here? How is this even allowed?'

Despite her displeasure, Choi Yeon-Ha knew she needed to understand the 'why' of this situation.

This TV production she was involved in had a sky-high budget. The amount of money invested in this project was something South Korean production companies couldn't even dream of. In that sense, the finished product should be seen as a shining beacon that elevated the status of all Asian TV productions.

So, a monumental project like that would never treat its main cast members poorly. Besides, top-paid actors would never take bad treatment lying down, anyway.

The wrinkle in this situation, though, was that this massive project was a historical drama.

If this was a South Korean production, the filming would've been done in both soundstages as well as on location. However, this was China. With how vast the country was, it unsurprisingly boasted a number of well-preserved ancient castles.

As if to utilize this fact, all shooting was done on location. These impressive castles were being used as actual film sets! And to reflect the vastness of the country they were in, these castles were also massive inside!

As they were historical sites, no vehicles were allowed inside, even though various filming equipment was fine. A trailer? Obviously, such a thing was forbidden from entering the castle grounds.

With all these restrictions in place, Choi Yeon-Ha and other actors had to enter the castle grounds by forming an orderly queue at the entrance like some kind of a tour group. At least Choi Yeon-Ha was a part of the main cast, so she got a couch to sit on. Other supporting cast members were forced to sit outside under the blazing sun without the benefit of something as simple as artificial shades!

“Uh-whew...”

To those who knew her, Choi Yeon-Ha was seen as 'matchless.' Not because she was a virtuous person or anything like that, but more to indicate that no one could win against her temper and character.

She was confident of not losing to anyone as far as her temper was concerned. That didn't mean she was senseless enough to complain about an uncomfortable couch when others were sitting on the baking-hot hard ground.

Complaining about the lack of rest area wasn't about whether she was a nice person or not. No, that was not something a living, breathing human being should do!

Unfortunately, there was a problem with this arrangement, and that was...!

“How are you doing, Miss Yeon-Ha?”

Choi Yeon-Ha's expression distorted when that voice entered her hearing.

'This slimy bastard...!'

Yes, this was the problem! It was impossible to evade the surrounding gazes with something as flimsy as a beach parasol masquerading as an awning screen around the couch. And it certainly was inadequate to deter the brazen punk from invading her private space.

If she had been inside a trailer, all she had to do was slam the door shut in the face of this slimy bastard. But in an exposed space like this? Nothing she could do to stop that bastard from shoving his slimy face in hers.

“Please go away,” Choi Yeon-Ha curtly replied to her co-star.

The confident actor smirked. “Goodness. Still feeling feisty, aren't we?”

'...Aaaaahk! I so wanna kick his butt!'

Every word coming out of this man's mouth got on Choi Yeon-Ha's nerves. As if he learned all his pick-up lines from cheesy '70s movies, all the cringe things he uttered were overflowing with sliminess. She was even terrified that this man might utter the 'Fufufu, you're a very alluring lady' line!

'Just where did a... thing like him come from?!'

Choi Yeon-Ha desperately tried to stop her eyelashes from trembling in indignation while glaring at the man before her eyes. At a casual glance, he looked handsome enough. Then again, he was an actor, so that was a given.

China's entertainment industry had a proud (?) tradition of picking someone with outstanding looks out of its vast populace and dumping them in front of a camera. So, a Chinese actor without good looks would be a rarity. And Choi Yeon-Ha's co-star was definitely not a rarity.

The issue with this man's good looks was that... It felt a bit peculiar to her.

'Urgh... So annoying...!'

This man's way-too-prominent double eyelids and snake-like thin lips roused this deep annoyance in Choi Yeon-Ha. She was fully prepared to admit that her co-star was good-looking. There was no questioning that.

But to think that a man's good looks could be this ill-matched to a woman's tastes... Now that was something Choi Yeon-Ha had never experienced before joining this production!

“It seems that we'll have to wait a little longer than usual for our next scene. Since that's the case, how about I treat you to some simple drinks? Buying you a cup of refreshment will be the greatest honor of my life, you see?”

“What the hell are you even talking about?” Choi Yeon-Ha's expression distorted again.

Not just his slimy looks, even his lines were slimy, too! Chinese men were supposed to be more macho than their Korean counterparts, but that must've been a bloody lie.

'No, hang on. This bastard studied abroad, so that might be the reason!'

In any case!

The phrase, 'Can't even stand the sight' must've been invented precisely for this moment.

“I'm sorry, but... No, I'm not sorry for saying this, but can you go away now? I'd like to get some rest, thank you.”

“Mm! Your thorns are as sharp as ever, Miss Yeon-Ha!”

“What the bloody hell is wrong with you?!” Choi Yeon-Ha blurted out a swear word without even meaning to.

'Argh! I should've learned more Chinese curse words!'

With her meager Chinese language skill, insulting someone to her heart's content was a mere pipe dream. Choi Yeon-Ha could swear in Korean, sure, but this slimy bastard would obviously not understand a word coming out of her mouth!

With her personality, Choi Yeon-Ha would've resorted to throwing stuff at her target if hurling insults wasn't an option. However, she was exercising a superhuman level of patience right now.

'Yup, I guess I'm a proper grown-up now...'

Before encountering Kang Jin-Ho, Choi Yeon-Ha would've shoved a taser to the side of a slimy bastard like this actor first before he had a chance to act up in front of her presence. However, she couldn't do that.

Unfortunately for her, this slimy bastard was the male lead of this grand production. In other words... He was her opposite lead! If Choi Yeon-Ha unwisely beat up someone like that, then never mind Korea and China, her face should be plastered on the front page of every news website's entertainment section in the world!

Choi Yeon-Ha just couldn't comprehend how someone as slimy as this man was the most popular actor in the Greater China region.

Was it because he was handsome? That couldn't be it. China had scores of actors much better looking than this slimy bastard. The Chinese entertainment industry was famous for overproducing handsome male actors since time immemorial, after all!

But this slimy bastard... His acting was subpar, and his looks were only middle-of-the-road, yet he was lucky enough to find the perfect role, which elevated his popularity among the public. Worse still, that role was from his previous production, so the push he was getting was ginormous, to say the least.

With a situation like this, impulsively beating the slimy bastard up could potentially flip the whole of China on its head. Knowing this, Choi Yeon-Ha had no choice but to tightly clench her fists and endure.

'Patience, Choi Yeon-Ha...! Patience...!'

The wise old they said patience was a virtue, so...

“Don't be like that now, Miss Yeon-Ha~... I have a villa nearby and would love to invite you over for the night. After the filming is done for the day, how about I take you there for a well-earned rest...?"

“Hey, you b*tch! Do I look like a bloody pushover?!”

This was the moment of Choi Yeon-Ha getting a fresh reminder that a human being couldn't easily change their nature.