Peninsula: From a supporting actor to the best actor in Chungmuro

Chapter 14 Throat Lozenges Urgently Withdrawn

Ten o'clock that night.

The entrance sensor light suddenly lit up due to Jiang Jae-hoon's hurried footsteps.

When he pushed open the door of the shared house, only a warm yellow floor lamp was on in the living room.

Lee Sung-kyung was lying on the yoga mat, tensing her back in a standard plank position. Her sweaty hair was stuck to her neck, and the tips of her ears were slightly red from the exertion.

"I'm going back—"

"shoe."

"Oh"

Jiang Jae-hoon quickly squatted down to straighten his shoes, then moved towards the sofa with the paper handbag in hand.

"Wow--"

"Bible, how do I wash this denim?"

The moment the dark blue denim jacket was pulled out of the paper bag, Lee Sung-kyung noticed out of the corner of her eye that the sleeves were so short that they exposed her wrists, and the narrow waistline.

——Kang Jae-hoon’s broad shoulders make it impossible for him to fit into this exquisite narrow style. It is clearly a women’s style.

Her waist and abdominal muscles twitched violently, and the yoga mat made a harsh friction sound.

"Don't you just throw them in the washing machine?"

"Ah, this dress belongs to Yoona-sunbae."

The air suddenly stagnated for three seconds.

"Sunbae Yoona?"

"Girls' Generation's Im Yoona."

"Oh!"

Li Jingcheng's elbow softened and his waist and abdomen slammed heavily onto the mat.

"She's such a nice person. I had a cough in my leather pants this morning."

Jiang Zaixun suddenly braked the dark history of "opening the crotch" in the morning: "Anyway, I am very gentle."

Li Jingcheng suddenly stood up, stepped barefoot on the floor, took out honey water from the refrigerator and drank it.

The sound of the Adam's apple rolling was particularly clear in the quiet living room.

Jiang Zaixun stared at the amber liquid overflowing from the corner of her mouth:
"That... isn't it for me?"

"Who said it was for you?"

The sound of the bottom of the glass bottle hitting the refrigerator compartment was like a gun being loaded.

"Uh"

Jiang Zaixun scratched his head, completely unaware of the coldness in her voice.

But he suddenly noticed that what Lee Sung-kyung was holding seemed to be his thermos?

Jiang Zaixun shook his head, throwing away the unrealistic thoughts, and tugged at the label of his denim jacket, leaning closer to the light.
"It says 'hand wash' in gothic font, but there's a washing machine symbol over there, so bible, what the hell is going on?"

"Bam—"

The force with which Lee Sung-kyung opened the bathroom door knocked down the painting hanging on the entrance hall.

Jiang Zaixun squinted at the painting hanging on the ground, stroking his chin and thinking:
There seems to be only one explanation for Lee Sung-kyung's irritability - her period.

The sound of a shower came from the bathroom.

Jiang Zaixun sat cross-legged on the floor, his phone screen illuminating his furrowed brows:
How to wash a women's denim jacket?

The reason he brought Yoona's denim jacket home was to save money.

But if it shrinks or gets damaged after washing, it will be more trouble than it is worth.

Therefore, after searching for a long time, Jiang Jae-hoon finally decided to send the clothes to the laundry for cleaning tomorrow.

The next day.

Six o'clock in the morning.

Jiang Zaixun was awakened by the roar of the juicer in the kitchen.

When he walked out of the bedroom with his messy hair, he found that Lee Sung-kyung's lip gloss today was a cool rose color.

——Three degrees sharper than her usual makeup.

"Bible, morning—"

"Ah."

The usual cold response didn't make Jiang Jae-hoon think much.

Half an hour later.

After washing up, Jiang Zaixun moved towards the entrance carrying the laundry bag.

"Hey."

"Ok?"

Jiang Jae-hoon turned around and hurriedly caught the cup of water she threw to him.

"This is?"

He asked doubtfully, looking at the light green liquid in the transparent cup.

"Celery juice lowers blood pressure and reduces internal heat."

"Bible You"

"Shut up and take the trash down with you."

"Oh." Kang Jae-hoon got off at Apgujeong Station.

I walked around two alleys before I found a husband-and-wife shop with a sign that said "24-hour emergency cleaning."

"Boss, how much does it cost to clean this pair of jeans?"

The lady boss picked up her denim jacket while chewing gum:
"Yo, Bean Pole is this year's show model!"

She tapped the gold-stamped logo on the collar with her fingernails. "Basic cleaning is 20,000, women's model with softener is 3,000, and expedited service is another 10,000."

The roller glass reflected Jiang Zaixun's troubled face.

His hand touching his wallet paused:
"can it be cheaper?"

The lady boss poked at the price list with her nail polish tip:
"Top up 50,000 yuan for a membership card and get 5,000 yuan free, so it only costs 28,000 yuan per trip."

He counted the money quickly and decisively:

"Thank you, no thanks. I'll pick it up tonight."

"..."

Because he was seven minutes late for clocking in at the recording studio, Assistant Director Li deducted one cup of coffee from Kang Jae-hoon's quota.

Fortunately, Lee Sung-kyung squeezed celery juice for him.

Work went smoothly in the morning.

Kang Jae-hoon and Lucy's voice actor work very well together.

One tenth of the interaction between Gru and Lucy was recorded in just three hours.

During lunch break.

He munched on his seaweed rice roll while watching his phone buzz with a bank message—

【Balance 127,500 KRW】

There are still 4 days left until SEM payday. I can still get through it if I grit my teeth.

The profit sharing ratio of Kang Jae-hoon's contract is 50-50 after tax. There is no signing fee, but there is a guaranteed basic salary of 1 million won/month.

The remuneration for three performances of "International Market" is 80 won; the remuneration for one performance of "Macbeth" is 20 won.

After deducting taxes, he will receive a salary of 150 million won on payday.

A monthly salary of 150 million won is midway between the minimum and average monthly salaries in South Korea in 2013 – enough to live on.

"Jiang Jaehoonxi——"

Jiang Zaixun was staring at his mobile phone and calculating the rent and utility bills when he was suddenly tapped on the shoulder. He turned around - there was no one in his sight.

"Look down!"

Jiang Jae-hoon lowered his head suddenly——

Kim Taeyeon was glaring at him with her head tilted up, her baseball cap tilted on her long golden hair, making her look like a Chihuahua with frizzy fur.

"Do I have to lower my head to see you, Senior?"

"Feel sorry."

The thick soles of her Converse shoes barely reached Kang Jae-hoon's chest.

The official height of 158cm seems to be inflated.

"Number."

"what?"

"The fried chicken shop called yesterday."

"oh oh."

Jiang Zaixun took out his phone and looked through the address book: "010"

"Yoona flew to Jeju Island this morning to film a commercial."

After memorizing the number, Kim Taeyeon suddenly said something.

"Ah?" Jiang Jae-hoon was stunned.

"Didn't you just ask why you didn't see her?"

“I didn’t ask.”

"You want to ask."

"So Taeyeon-sama doesn't have any plans today?"

"Yes, I recorded two hours of extra material during lunch break."

She suddenly caught sight of the light green liquid in Jiang Zaixun's thermos and asked, "What kind of new health product is this green water?"

"Celery juice, it reduces internal heat and refreshes the mind."

"Give me some, I've been getting acne from the stress of my schedule lately."

Hearing this, Jiang Jae-hoon unscrewed the lid of the cup and poured one third of it into her cup.

"Thanks."

Kim Taeyeon took out two throat lozenges from her pocket and gave them to him as a return gift.

She tilted her head back and drank half a mouthful, her face instantly twisted into a pickled cabbage dumpling:
"Ugh Jiang Zaixun, is your sense of taste impaired? This is clearly bitter melon juice!"

Kim Taeyeon took out a tissue and stuck out her tongue, then took back the throat lozenge she had just given to Kang Jae-hoon.

"...?"

Jiang Zaixun stared at the green residue at the bottom of the water bottle and suddenly remembered the melon peel crumbs in the trash can this morning.

(End of this chapter)