The Cutting Edge

033

Ask any girl on the street and she would probably tell you that attending the Seoul Entertainment Awards gala dinner would be a dream come true—to be surrounded by all the big names from the entertainment industry that you would otherwise only be able to admire silently from afar. But for Hyejin, the four hour (yes, it was that long) dinner was possibly the most painful four hours that she had ever sat through in her entire life.

There were plenty of speeches delivered, prizes given away, performances put on to entertain the hundreds of guests, but she couldn't focus on anything because she was too uncomfortable with the way people were turning her way and staring at her from time to time as if she were a zoo exhibit. Whenever she caught someone looking this way and then leaning over to whisper something into the ear of the person sitting next to them, she was almost certain that they were talking about her. She even caught a couple of unfriendly and condescending glares sent her way from some of the girl group members who were clearly upset that Ares was supposedly off the shelf.

Thankfully, the people seated at her table were civil enough, some of whom even tried to engage her in polite conversation about the latest music and television trends, none of which she was particularly interested in or had much knowledge of.

"Minho has improved tremendously in his acting, don't you think?" one of the girls at her table said with a bright smile as they watched the clips from this year's most popular dramas play on the big screens. "He'll be giving you a run for your money soon, Ares."

Ares chuckled. "Then maybe I can retire," he joked.

"I don't think Gina will let you retire even if you wanted to," someone else chimed in. "Look at her, she's working overtime." True enough, Gina had just walked over to one of the broadcasting stations managing directors and was now whispering something into his ear rather purposefully. "If only my manager was like Gina, then perhaps I'd be the one whose face is on almost every billboard in Gangnam."

"Lee, I'll give you half my billboards if you'd like," Ares laughed, "and all of Gina."

Hyejin just sat quietly listening to all this chatter and stuffing food into her mouth, her eyes constantly flicking towards the screen of her phone to check on the time. It was passing way too slowly. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Hyunwon sitting stiffly in his seat, hand resting on the stem of his wine glass.

"Ares, could I borrow you for a second?" Gina's voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Lowering her voice so that the others round the table wouldn't be able to hear her, she said, "Come and say hello to Mr Kim. He says that the station is planning to start casting for the summer dramas and there might be some roles that he would be keen to offer to you." Smiling at the rest of the guests at the table, she took Ares by the arm and said, "Excuse us for a minute, will you?"

"But..." Ares turned to look at Hyejin with concern.

"Hyejin is a big girl. She'll be fine on her own, isn't that right?" Gina said, patting Hyejin patronisingly on the shoulder. "Let's not keep Mr Kim waiting."Before Ares could protest, Gina had already expertly steered him away from the table and towards where the managing director was seated.

Hyejin sighed, reaching for her wine glass. This will be over soon, she kept telling herself. With Ares gone, everyone else at the table began engaging in their own small talk, promptly treating her as if she was invisible. She stood up and excused herself to go to the bathroom—no one even batted an eyelid.

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, she stared at her own reflection, wondering who the stranger staring back at her was. It was her face, yet it wasn't at the same time.

Make-up works wonders, she thought to herself, and we haven't even talked about the plastic surgery yet. I wonder what all of them look like underneath... She snuck a sideways glance at the girl who had just exited the toilet stall and was applying even more lipstick to her already blood red lips.