novellhall Chapter 17 Ji-eun VS Soo-jung
Chapter 17 Ji-eun VS Soo-jung
The next evening, Longshan District, Longshan CGV Cinema.
As South Korea's first disaster blockbuster with a budget exceeding 10 billion won, "Haeundae" held a very large-scale VIP screening.
The official start time was set for 8 p.m., but the invited celebrities began arriving at the venue around 7 p.m.
The cinema lobby was covered with a red carpet, and at the end of the lobby was a "photo wall" with huge posters printed on it.
The celebrities walked the red carpet one by one, signed their names and posed for photos in front of the photo wall, endured the flashes of the media's cameras, and said a few brief words of congratulations to the camera.
After the ceremony, the celebrities, guided by staff, entered the VIP lounge to wait for the movie to start.
The lounge was already filled with people from the industry.
As one of the main creators tonight, Li Zhixing, along with the director and several senior actors, greeted the guests on set.
Lee Ji-eun, who had finished her schedule early, had already arrived. She was sitting in the corner of the lounge eating snacks, her eyes constantly following her oppa.
When Lee Ji-haeng finally had a moment to spare and came over, Ji-eun casually asked, "Oppa, when is Jessica unnie coming over?"
Li Zhixing curled his lip: "She said she couldn't be bothered to come to a preview screening of a minor character like me, thinking it would lower her status."
Ji-eun gave her a helpless look, as if to say, "I knew it." She replied, "You two had another fight, didn't you?"
Li Zhixing shrugged: "What are you talking about? Do we ever not argue?"
Just then, a commotion broke out at the entrance to the lounge.
Looking up, I saw several beautiful figures walking into the lounge; it was Girls' Generation.
Besides Lee Soon-kyu, Seohyun also came along, as well as... Jessica, who was walking at the very back with a cold expression and wearing large sunglasses.
Lee Ji-haeng greeted Soon-kyu with a smile, then paused slightly as his gaze swept over the three of them: "Why are there three of you?"
He remembered that he had only given Lee Soon-kyu two invitations before.
Xu Xian's heart tightened, thinking that Li Zhixing was displeased with her uninvited arrival. She bowed somewhat nervously and said, "Senior, I'm very sorry, it was me..."
Unexpectedly, Li Zhixing looked at Jessica behind him and asked, "Didn't you say you weren't coming?"
Seohyun was a little confused, and her body, which was halfway bent over, froze.
So... the senior wasn't talking about her.
Jessica adjusted her sunglasses, a slight smirk playing on her lips: "Don't flatter yourself, it was Ji-won unnie who invited me!"
Li Zhixing snorted coldly and ignored the stubborn woman.
Turning to look at Seohyun, he instantly switched to a polite and gentle smile: "Thank you for coming to the screening, Seohyun-ssi. Please forgive any shortcomings in our hospitality."
Xu Xian looked at Li Zhixing with some surprise, carefully observing his expression.
What do you mean by that, senior?
The shift from politeness and distance, as if dealing with a stranger, was all too natural.
No wonder Yoona unnie said her senior's acting was good; the speed at which she changed her expression was truly flawless.
Lee Ji-hyeong pulled Ji-eun aside and introduced her, "Sun-kyu, this is my sister. You should have met her on music shows, right?"
Lee Ji-eun bowed politely: "Hello, seniors, I'm a rookie singer, IU."
Lee Soon-kyu covered her mouth in surprise: "IU from LOEN Company? You're actually Zhixing oppa's sister?! Wow! How come oppa never mentioned you before!"
Seohyun, standing next to him, was completely shocked.
Her eyes widened, and she blurted out, somewhat flustered, "Sister?"
Seohyun was inwardly churning with shock: Where did this senior get a sister? He's clearly an only child!
Li Zhixing gave her a strange look.
I don't know why, but this maknae of Girls' Generation always reacts very strongly whenever she sees him. I noticed that she was always startled when we were in the waiting room that day. Is this just her personality?
After Lee Ji-eun greeted the two seniors, Jessica waved to her from the side.
"Ji-eun, come here, stay away from your annoying oppa."
Although Jessica's tone was still as haughty as ever, Lee Ji-eun didn't stand on ceremony at all, walking over to hug her affectionately: "Unnie! I haven't seen you for days!"
The two chatted warmly, like sisters.
Lee Ji-eun turned around and looked, asking curiously, "Unnie, why didn't Jung Soo-jung come?"
Jessica explained helplessly, "Krystal is about to debut, and the company has been keeping a close eye on her lately, so it's difficult for her to take leave."
However, as soon as she finished speaking, Li Zhixing looked towards the door, and beckoned her over with a mixture of amusement and exasperation: "Stop hiding, come here!"
Everyone followed his gaze.
Jung Soo-jung was peeking out from behind the door, and after noticing Lee Ji-hsing's gaze, she grinned and sidled in.
Jessica asked curiously, "Krystal? Didn't you say you weren't coming?"
Krystal puffed out her chest: "I absolutely have to come to Oppa's preview screening!"
As she spoke, she bumped her little fist with Li Zhixing's, winking at him: "Oppa, weren't you surprised? Were you touched? Did I fool you?"
Li Zhixing used his hand to push her head away as she leaned in, squinting at her as he looked at her: "So, you skipped class to come here, right?"
"Aigoo oppa, don't worry about the details~"
The moment Lee Ji-eun saw Soo-jung appear, her face clearly showed her disgust.
After Krystal and Lee Ji-hyung finished interacting, she said unhappily, "Since you're about to debut, you should just stay in the practice room. Why do you have to come and join in the fun?"
Krystal, not to be outdone, grabbed Lee Ji-hyung's arm and provocatively said, "I want to! Oppa needs me to come and cheer him on, so what? Is it any of your business, Lee Ji-eun?"
"You rude brat! You should call me unnie!"
"Keep dreaming! Lee Ji-eun! Lee Ji-eun! Lee Ji-eun!"
"Hey! Krystal Jung! I'll be waiting for the day you debut, when you'll obediently bow and call me 'senior'!"
Krystal Jung gave a mocking laugh: "Don't worry, I'll definitely pretend I don't know you. You're not exactly famous anyway!"
"Hey! Krystal Jung, do you want to die?" Ji-eun exclaimed angrily.
"What? You're not happy? Go ahead and hit me!"
"Hey! You two, shut up!" Jessica used her older sister's authority to take control of the situation.
Then, she glared at Li Zhixing: "Aren't you going to stop me at all?"
Li Zhixing crossed his arms and watched the show with a smile: "Why are you stopping us? It's so interesting."
Lee Soon-kyu was dumbfounded.
These two pairs of eccentric siblings seem like they could argue eight hundred times a day if they got together!
Seohyun whispered to Lee Soon-kyu, "It seems like Ji-hyung and Jessica have a very good relationship?"
Lee Soon-kyu also remarked, "Yeah, I thought they had some deep-seated grudge in the waiting room that day. But now it seems that although they still argue as soon as they meet, they actually get along quite well."
Just then, a slightly teasing male voice suddenly came from behind.
"Aigoo! I knew it! Wherever Zhixing is, beauties will always flock to him immediately."
Everyone turned around and saw a man with a round face and a very friendly smile walking over.
The visitor was none other than Cha Tae-hyun, a national-level comedian in South Korea.
Li Zhixing touched his face helplessly: "Sigh, Tae-hyun-ge, this is probably a side effect of my face. Actually, I'm quite troubled by it."
Cha Tae-hyun was amused by his shameless reply and laughed, scolding, "Hey, you little rascal!"
The members of Girls' Generation and Lee Ji-eun quickly and respectfully greeted Cha Tae-hyun.
Krystal, however, raised her hand familiarly: "Uncle Tae-hyun!"
Cha Tae-hyun was displeased and said sternly, "Soo-jung, why do you always call me 'uncle'?"
Li Zhixing chimed in, "Yeah, Xiujing, you should call Tae-hyun grandpa. After all, he already played a grandpa in a movie last year."
"Hey! You little brat, you're asking for it!" Cha Tae-hyun pretended to kick him, but Lee Ji-haeng dodged it with a grin.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the lounge, more and more veteran actors and industry bigwigs had arrived and were chatting together.
Xue Jingqiu beckoned Li Zhixing over.
Lee Ji-haeng glanced at the time, then turned to Ji-eun and Soon-kyu and said, "Kyung-gu hyung called me, I'll go over there first, you guys can just go straight to the screening room later."
After saying that, he and Cha Tae-hyun walked toward the area where the actors were gathered.
Along the way, Li Zhixing greeted the seniors from Chungmuro with great familiarity.
"Aigoo, Jungmin-hyung, why did you bring over red wine?"
"How has Senior Shengji been feeling lately?"
......
On the other side, Jessica, pulling her younger sister along, asked in confusion, "What's going on? How do you know Cha Tae-hyun?"
Krystal said matter-of-factly, "I met Oppa when he took me to the film set."
Jessica was speechless. Just how many times had this guy taken Krystal to the film set?
Lee Soon-kyu and Seohyun also looked in the direction where the big shots were gathered.
They were shocked to discover that Li Zhixing was actually just a junior who had not yet "officially debuted".
But when he entered that small circle that can be called the pinnacle of the Korean film industry, he chatted enthusiastically with national-level seniors such as Ahn Sung-ki, Hwang Jung-min, and Sol Kyung-gu, who have absolute status, without the slightest hint of timidity.
Actor Hwang Jung-min even warmly put his arm around Lee Ji-hyung's shoulder and joked with him without any airs.
Lee Soon-kyu exclaimed incredulously, "This...is this really the kind of network a newcomer could have?"
"What did Oppa do before?"
......