Secrets with the Crown Prince 10
“Mouse Bell, what are you…”
“I think we our meeting is over. Sir Roadbelt, should we continue our conversation at a later date?”
I tried to quickly wrap up the meeting, but the madman followed me and glanced at me and Argon.
“You guys are planning to meet again?”
The madman stared at Argon with discomfort.
“Lady Lubiche is my fianceé, Sir Reynold.”
I wasn’t his fiancé—yet.
Argon stressed his words intensely with emotion, surprising both the madman and me. It was my first time seeing him so angry. I had always thought he was a creature without any emotion.
“When did you guys begin your engagement?”
The madman looked back and forth between me and Argon again. I was also shocked and looked at Argon, whose face had reddened in embarrassment.
“You still make assumptions about people without knowing anything about them.”
The madman looked at Argon like he was looking at a pitiful soul.
“Let’s go Mouse Bell.”
The madman stretched out his hand at me, and of course, I didn’t grab it.
“Lady Lubiche.”
From behind, Argon, who stood up at the same time as me, tried to stop me.
“Please don’t forget what I told you.”
I nodded.
“I think there are some misunderstandings…but I will think about it.”
“Then, I will send you a letter.”
At his words, I smiled politely and got out of the café. The madman followed me from behind. Since I still had a lot of time before my engagement with Argon, I thought it was better to think about the matter for a bit longer.
* * *
When I first met Cha Do-Hyuk, he was already someone in a high position. He was the youngest PD to ever become the ‘main PD’ of a broadcast company’s signature variety program. Not only was he skilled, but his appearance was like that of a celebrity; so, he became quite of a sensation after he became the main PD, and there were many articles written about him.
Many people said that he would also become the youngest person to ever become the company’s director. And in reality, he was treading an elite course to become one; in addition to that, I heard rumors about him being the youngest son of a big company’s chairman. He was a man who didn’t lack in any way. However, my first impression of Cha Do-Hyuk wasn’t great to say the least.
“Nice to meet you. I am Ji Bell.”
Even though I had greeted him many times in the conference room, Cha Do-Hyuk didn’t even glance at my direction and just read the shooting schedule. Other assistant directors and writers greeted me instead. I stole glances at the center of the room where Cha Do-Hyuk was sitting. He was pressing his temples to relieve his stress, and he slowly lifted his head.
After all that time, he seemed to have finally realized that there was someone new in the room and glanced at my face.
“…Your name is Mouse Bell?”
“No, I am Ji Bell.”
“It’s a cute name, Mouse Bell.”
“No, not Mouse Bell but Ji Bell.”
“Ok, then, Ms. Ji Bell.”
When I saw the slight smile on his lips, I realized that he had been joking; and I had responded to his joke seriously without meaning to. I hung my head in embarrassment and took my seat. Everyone burst out in laughter, and from then on, my nickname became Mouse Bell. However, because I made a great fuss about it, nobody called me Mouse Bell in front of my face except one person.
“Mouse Bell, answer me. What will you do if the cast members choose Course B instead of Course A? Even if we guide them into choosing Course A, just in case they choose Course B, shouldn’t we prepare the missions and benefits for that course too? We don’t have any fallbacks with this current plan.”
Cha Do-Hyuk folded his knitted sleeve and asked me. He pointed at the Configuration Plan and nitpicked about every little detail, and I couldn’t say anything in response. The Conference room became silent as a mouse.
“You have to consider all the number of cases to configure a plan!”
Cha Do-Hyuk’s sharp criticisms continued, and everyone shuddered in fear. There was nothing that people could really say to retort. Everything he said was right, and Cha Do-Hyuk was an undeniably but regretfully perfect man. Even I, who had always heard that I was good at my job wherever I went, became nothing in front of Cha Do-Hyuk.
My sun-bae, scriptwriter, Yeon-Suh sat next to me and stared at Cha Do-Hyuk with an uncomfortable look.
“PD Do-Hyuk, what are you doing in front of everyone? The one who made the Configuration plan is me. Just talk to me.” Yeon-Suh sun-bae came forward.
“Even if writer Yeon-Suh came up with the Configuration, the one in charge of this part is you, Mouse Bell. Shouldn’t you take responsibility over this?”
“PD Cha Do-Hyuk! I told you to stop.”
Cha Do-Hyuk looked at me with a displeased look and in the end, Yeon-Suh sun-bae dragged Cha Do-Hyuk out of the room.
“I don’t know why PD Do-Hyuk is always so sensitive about Bell’s parts.”
After Cha Do-Hyuk and the main scriptwriter left, the atmosphere loosened, and another script-writer sun-bae said in annoyance.
“Yes, it’s true. It’s actually my first time seeing someone with so many ideas and sense like you, Ji Bell”
A casting director spoke this time. And at his words, the team’s youngest scriptwriter, Ji-Woo, nodded his head and asked me.
“Sun-bae, did you do something to make Do-Hyuk PD hate you?”
At his question, I thought hard, but there was nothing that I could think of. I admired his skills, and most people thought the same about him. However, Cha Do-Hyuk was someone who had no emotions and only thought about work. Thus, even after this time, the same situation continued to repeat.
“Mouse Bell, attach the microphones on the cast members again.”
I was so frustrated with the sudden connection loss that I was pulling my hair. Right beside the madman, there was the sound director, a cast member, and even the maknae scriptwriter. If he needed something, he should’ve asked them instead of me.
But he still called me, who was so, so busy that I was dying. Because of the unstable nature of variety shows, where situations changed often, the entire production team had a radio, but the madman always used the item to call me. Thus, the madman gained another nickname: ‘Mouse Bell’s Personal Radio’.
“Ah, seriously, why does the madman only look for me? He always calls out Mouse Bell, Mouse Bell!! If I could just end his head flying with a bell, I won’t have any more wishes.”
I muttered to myself and realized that I had accidentally clicked the button on my radio. The whole production team heard me call Cha Do-Hyuk, the madman. The mood in the shooting area flipped. Everyone could sympathize with the nickname I had given Cha Do-Hyuk, and the shooting area filled with a sea of laughter. And thanks to my comment, Cha Do-Hyuk’s nickname became fixed into ‘the madman’.
I also got called by the main scriptwriter and heard a scolding. It was my first time wailing and crying so much ever since I was born. If there was a mouse hole that I could crawl into, I would’ve done it. And from then on, people began to talk about ‘the Mouse Bell’ and ‘the madman’ like they were a set.
“Ok, then, let’s make our team leader Bell!”
One time—the production team members had to participate in the show in place of the cast members. They had a mission to verse each other, and Cha Do-Hyuk guided the cast members to choose me as the team leader. And one corner of the show was dedicated to Mouse Bell.
“Mouse Bell is going to decide the mission this time?”
The madman mentioned my name so many times that there were even some celebrities, who said that they had come to the show to see me.
“I came to the show today to see you, Ms. Bell. I heard that you were the beautiful writer.”
Although I knew that staffs often appeared in the program we were running, I got too much exposure. I even got some hate comments, saying that I must have thought I was a celebrity because I came out on the show so much. And one time, when I came to work early, Cha Do-Hyuk approached me in the office and asked me.
“Do you really hate me?”
I was surprised by his straight-forward, sudden question for a moment but quickly answered.
“Of course, I hate you. What else can I feel when you bully me so much?”
Cha Do-Hyuk stared at me in shock for a while. He seemed to have been taken back by my words like he hadn’t expected me to be so blunt. He murmured that he didn’t bully me with a look like he was falsely accused. Then, he stared at me in silence and let out a sigh.
“Sorry, I didn’t think hate comments would follow you like that.”
His response was unexpected, and I became a loss for words. Cha Do-Hyuk’s face looked tired, like he had just come back from the editing office since early in the morning. Then, he hung his face with a look of shame.
“You know how to apologize?”
“I feel sorrier now that you say that.”
While lost in thought, Cha Do-Hyuk placed his finger on his chin and stared at me. I became uncomfortable by his gaze.
“Do you have any thoughts about doing another program with me? I will like you to be the main writer. I don’t think it would be hard for you since we worked well together so far, and you have gained enough experience.”
I recalled how Cha Do-Hyuk had criticized me in the past. I wondered if he had fussed over me so much, because he wanted me to be the main scriptwriter; but I quickly regained my senses.
“What kind of crazy PD would make a scriptwriter with only four years of experience into the main one? Also, I don’t like you.”
Although Cha Do-Hyuk was skilled at his job, our personalities didn’t match. In general, I hated aggressive, blunt, bulldozer-like guys like him. What did it matter if he was handsome? I liked sweet, nice people.
“I will give you a higher pay than Yeon-suh.”
I ignored him and opened my computer screen and felt his eyes on my hands.
“Continue working with Yeon-Suh sunbae. She is very famous in our field and has many younger writers following her too.”
“No, I like you though. Since the beginning.”
“And what part of me do you like?”
“Your tenacity?”
Well, it was almost impossible to endure working under Cha Do-Hyuk unless you had a steel heart. Thankfully, I had a strong heart. Cha Do-Hyuk leaned his body next to my desk and arched his torso towards me. I smelled a faint smell of Citrus from him. It was a calming and soothing smell.
“I don’t want to go into a team without you. Let’s be together.”
He pressed on for my response like a coy cat.
“I don’t want to.”
I responded firmly, but truthfully; my heart was thumping. A main writer position—it was my dream. What kind of script-writer’s heart wouldn’t pound hearing those words?
* * *
A month after that, my bad impression on PD Cha Do-Hyuk completely flipped due to an incident. There was a time when I went to do a field survey for a shooting with just Cha Do-Hyuk. Because the day of the field survey was on a weekend, we used a draw to choose who would go, and to our unluckiness, assistant director and I were picked out.
I prepared for the field survey and gathered my materials without thinking much and got into the white Starex car in front of my house. Then, when I saw the madman inside the car, I stiffened.
Why was the madman here instead of the assistant director?
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