Chapter 58: Perfection

  The day after the press conference, rumors of Sung Yu-ri and Jang Hyuk's scandal spread rapidly throughout the streets of Seoul, causing a huge stir.

  Some conservative TV stations and newspapers only reported the original words of Sung Yu-ri, but some unscrupulous tabloids exaggerated the story, portraying Jang Hyuk as a pretty boy who relied on women to get ahead. They listed his rise to fame, starting with his early days, then his appearance in a school uniform commercial with Yun Eun-hye, followed by his role as the bad brother of "Nation's Little Sister" Moon Geun-young, and then his co-starring role with actress Ha Ji-won. After being discharged from the military, he was rumored to be dating his company's senior, top commercial star and popular actress Kim Tae-hee. Now, he is starring in the same TV drama as Sung Yu-ri, causing another scandal. Almost every step of his rise to fame has been linked to women, showing that despite his bright appearance, he has a dark and sinister heart... In short, they degraded Jang Hyuk to be worse than dog poop.

  Jang Sung-won was naturally furious after reading it, and even had the idea of setting fire to the newspaper company at night. To think that when he collaborated with Yoon Eun-hye, Moon Geun-young and others, most of them were not yet famous or not very well-known, but now they have all risen rapidly, their fame soaring, leaving him far behind, making it seem like he was clinging to women's legs to get ahead. Damn it, even the fact that Kim Tae-hee joined the company later than him would be distorted, showing that these reporters only knew how to fabricate and spread false information without basis.

  However, what delighted him was that these newspapers did not attack the usually well-received Sung Yu-ri at all, but only advised her in their reports to recognize Zhang Chengyuan's true face as soon as possible and stay away from him. So, seeing that they did not attack or slander Sung Yu-ri, Zhang Chengyuan also didn't bother with those unscrupulous media outlets.

  Jang Sung-yoon felt both grateful and resentful towards Seo Yu-ri's unexpected statement at the press conference. He was grateful for Seo Yu-ri's willingness to help him, but he was also resentful of his own incompetence, which had dragged down Kim Tae-hee and now made his dear sister Seo Yu-ri make such a big sacrifice for him.

  In his frustration, a strong ambition arose in him. He wanted to achieve something big and not have to rely on his sisters' support anymore, but instead be able to protect them with his own strength. Also, when relatives and friends needed help, he could lend a hand in time. However, he also knew that this ideal was still far away, and for now, the most important thing was to play his role well and do his job well.

  At the same time as Zhang Chengyuan and Sung Yu-ri's scandal, filming for "The First Love of a Prince" began. To speed up the shooting schedule, the crew was temporarily divided into two teams: one team mainly filmed scenes related to Cha Tae-hyun's male lead, while the other team mainly filmed scenes with Zhang Chengyuan and other main actors; meanwhile, the female lead often had to shuttle between the two crews because she had many scenes with both the male leads.

  It's been over a week, and on this evening around 8 o'clock, after Zhang Chengyuan finished filming his scenes for the day, he was about to head to the dressing room to change out of his costume when he suddenly heard Cheng Youli calling out to him. He turned his head to see that it was indeed his sister Cheng Youli smiling and waving at him, and he immediately waved back at her with a huge grin on his face.

  Anyway, the entire crew already knew about their close relationship, so they didn't avoid each other anymore. From the first day of filming, whenever they had time, they would wait for each other to go back together. Today, Sung Yu-ri was originally supposed to film with Cha Tae-hyun, but her scenes ended around 6 pm and she didn't have any other schedules, so after quickly packing up, she rushed over to Jang Sung-won's filming location to watch him act and wait for him to finish work. She also brought some drinks and snacks to help Jang Sung-won build a good relationship with the other actors and staff.

  In dealing with interpersonal relationships, especially those with work partners, Jang Sung-won has always been very clumsy. He is used to being serious and solemn in front of people, so it's difficult for him to get along with the crew. On the other hand, Sung-yi is much better at this than Jang Sung-won. Although she can't be said to be a social butterfly, she can handle general social interactions with ease. This time, being able to act alongside Jang Sung-won, as his sister, Sung-yi had the idea of doing something for her brother, and helping him deal with his interpersonal relationships was one of them.

  Chang Sung-won changed into his clothes, and with the help of Chang Sung-won, Seung-yi left together. Along the way, whenever they saw any crew members, she enthusiastically asked how they were doing. Seeing her like this, Chang Sung-won also tried to show a warm smile, learning from Seung-yi's example to greet people.

  Tonight is a bit of a special day, as tomorrow Sung Yuri will be following Cha Tae Hyun's filming crew to Japan for outdoor filming, and it will take a week. So Fin.k.l and Jang Sung Won made an appointment to gather tonight. As soon as she left the filming scene, Sung Yuri tactfully sent away her assistant and got into Jang Sung Won's car, returning to his apartment together.

  On the car, Sung Yu-ri asked, "Sung Won, you've been scolded a lot lately, right?"

  Zhang Chengyuan drove while answering: "It was a scolding that was quite miserable, but I had long since put it out of my mind."

  Seong Yoo-ri said, "It seems that my words at the launch event were indeed too thoughtless, and you ended up being scolded by people. How about I make your favorite kimchi fried rice or canned tuna fried rice tonight to comfort you?" The two of them had a very close relationship, so there was no need for apologies; instead, they preferred to show their regret through actions.

  Xiang Chengyuan said, "Yu Li sister, don't take this to heart. In fact, I should be thanking you instead. Nowadays, my name is mentioned on various TV programs every day, and those hosts and guests are all envious of me for being so lucky to have met you all. Maybe it's true that in my past life, I did something great that saved the world, which allowed me to meet you when I was struck by lightning. If not for you, there wouldn't be a me today."

  Seong Yu-ri was initially delighted, but as soon as she heard Jang Seung-won's last sentence, she scolded him, "Why bring up past painful memories? If you dare to mention it again, I won't talk to you anymore." In Seong Yu-ri's view, the story of Jang Seung-won's attempted suicide was definitely the most heartbreaking and difficult thing in his heart, best forgotten and never mentioned again. However, she didn't know that Jang Seung-won had no sadness about it, only gratitude. Because this was the beginning of his new life, and also the start of meeting the four most important women in his life.

  After arriving at Jang Sung-won's apartment, the two soon received a text message from Lee Hyo-ri, Lee Jin and Yoo Chae-young saying that they had something else to do tonight, so they couldn't make it for Seung-yoon's farewell party, telling them to have fun on their own.

  Cheng Youli glanced at Zhang Chengyuan, suddenly feeling a bit awkward. Thinking that tonight only the two of them would be alone in the house, her heart started racing wildly.

  Jang Sung-yuan's auditory and visual senses were extremely sharp, and he immediately detected the abnormality of Seung-yi. Although his face only smiled lightly, seemingly indifferent, in his heart he thought: "Could it be that I didn't guess wrong, and Seung-yi really has a good impression of me? So tonight am I... But what if I'm wrong? Will Seung-yi get angry with me? And where did Hye-ri, Joo-hyun, and Jin-ah go? Yesterday they clearly said they would come to celebrate Seung-yi's birthday with me?"

  At this time, in a luxurious bar in Cheongdam-dong, Lee Hyori, Yoo Joo-hyun and Lee Jin were all somewhat intoxicated. Yoo Joo-hyun swayed her glass and said: "I don't know how Yoohwi is doing with Sungwon now? Is there any breakthrough progress?"

  Lee Hyori said: "If Yoo Ji-tae doesn't seize this opportunity, I'll kick her butt."

  Li Zhen said: "Don't worry, this kid Cheng Yuan is very bold. Since we're not around, he'll definitely make a move on Yu Li."

  Lee Hyori said: "The guts are big, what's the biggest, at most taking a little advantage is purely having a colored heart and no colored courage. After so many years, I haven't seen him have the courage to eat any of our sisters."

  Yu Zhuang said: "However, the heart of lust is really big, and wants to package all four sisters together. Don't even look at what era it is now."

  Lee Hyori said: "That's right, we just want to help him and Yoo Lee, after he has a girlfriend, his heart will be at peace and he won't think wildly anymore."

  Li Zhen said: "I don't know why, but my heart is aching vaguely. I'm really afraid that after Cheng Yuan has gained benefits, he will forget about us."

  "He dares? I'm afraid that if Yoo-ri and he establish a formal relationship, she'll think we're in the way. You know how it is when women get jealous over men - they don't care about anything else."

  The three of them fell silent for a moment. Then, Ok-joo spoke up, "Maybe we should let Sung-won and Hye-ri be together. After all, anyone can see that the members care about Hye-ri the most. And you and Sung-won... sigh, never mind."

  Lee Jindao said: "Why don't you say it, not saying it is unfair to Hyori sister. You won't say it, I'll say it. Hyori sister, let me tell you, as early as '99, soon after our second album ended, there was a time when we were drunk, and in your sleep, you 'ate' Seungyeon. Yes, you didn't hear wrong, at that time you did something with the underage Seungyeon, at that time Seungyeon was unconscious and had no idea about this matter, but I, Jiwon sister, and Yoonri saw it very clearly."

  Then Li Zhen went on to recount the whole story in detail, causing Lee Hyori's face to turn red and her ears to become hot with embarrassment, making her want to crawl under the table. After a long while, Lee Hyori finally managed to calm down and said, "This kind of confusing thing doesn't count as anything, let's just forget about it from now on." The more she spoke, the more despondent her tone became, and in the end, she let out a faint sigh.

  Yu Zhuohui and Li Zhenya also felt a pang in their hearts at the same time and let out a sigh. The three of them stared blankly at their wine cups, speechless.

  After a few more minutes, Lee Hyo-ri said: "Forget it, Sung-yuan is four years older than me, but only two years older than Yoo-ri. In terms of personality, lively Yoo-ri and Sung-yuan are also more suitable for each other. Let's sincerely bless them!"

  That night, Zhang Chengyuan, who couldn't hold back his lust, used his internal force to shake open the door of the room next door, which had been locked for the first time. He slipped onto the bed of Cheng Youli, kissing and touching her, satisfying his desires. When he wanted to go further, he was kicked off the bed by an angry and humiliated Cheng Youli. From then on, he didn't dare to be too presumptuous again. However, he still shamelessly hugged the beautiful sister's delicate body, wanting to sleep with her for a night. Cheng Youli couldn't resist his brute force and saw that he wasn't being too excessive, so she let him have his way.