“Mark Tuan, leave my food alone or you'll regret it!”

“But you're not eating it.”

“I will when I have time,” says his sister, directing a fierce glare at him.

“Jen, look how it dwells there all alone, waiting to be eaten and nothing happens. It's sad.”

“Mark!”

“Listen! Do you hear that? Jen? Jen? Eat me! Or give me to your nice little brother!” Mark pretends to speak as his sisters food. Apparently food has a whiny voice.

“I swear, I'll kill you. You eat all the time anyway.”

“So why stop now?” he retorts, grinning.

“Here, take a chocolate bar but keep a distance from my meal!” she warns and takes the treat out of her desk drawer.

“Yay, chocolate! That's even better,” Mark cheers and leans back into the comfortable armchair in the corner of his sister's office. His sister is the the company founder and therefore occupies an individual office. The publishing company, specialized in manga releases, always had been her dream. And when it came true, Mark witnessed just how capable his older sister was in leading that company. It impresses him every day anew. And he does enjoy seeing his sister happy and active.

“Mark, what are you actually doing here again?” she asks, calmer now as she's not any longer afraid of having her meal robbed of her.

“Hanging out with my great, independent and smart sister?” he answers casually while he slowly savors the melting chocolate.

“I won’t throw you out, even when you’d stop dropping compliments here and there. You know that, right?”

“I know. But I was just stating facts.”

“You’re the most successful actor in your age group these days. Shouldn’t you be out there, conquering the world, throwing parties and buying whole shopping malls just for the fun of it?”

“If I ever start acting like that, please punch me,” he demands dryly.

“It just feels a little off, you sitting here and wasting your time just watching me work.”

“But I love that. I like hanging out here. And I like hanging out with you. Watching you work fascinates me somehow. You created all of this out of nowhere and you handle everything like a real adult-”

“I am a real adult.”

“- like you exactly know what you’re doing-”

“Well, I know pretty much what I am doing.”

“My point is, I am very proud of you. And I like watching you fulfilling your dream more with each day,” he finishes with a fond smile.

“Little brother, how come you’re the sweetest creature on earth?! You do realize all of this wouldn’t have been possible without your financial support, especially in the beginning days, right? Your acting career funded everything here.”

“So? Money is one thing, but you did all the work. You put so much effort in everything, I knew it would be a success right from the start.”

“Thank you. But you’re praising me so much while you have this amazing career going on. Shouldn’t you live a little more on the glamorous side of life? Hanging out with actor friends, taking selfies for your social media, show everyone how awesome you're doing or something?”

“I don’t really have actor friends. It may surprise you but a lot of actors, especially young ones, tend to be obnoxious and cocky. Not the company I feel comfortable with.”

“I’m worried about you, Mark. You’re still so young. You should get out more, experiencing things, and you should have more friends.”

“I have Youngjae and Jackson,” he reasons calmly.

“Your manager and your stylist, really?” she asks and raises a brow.

“Still they are my friends. And where exactly should I go out to?! People recognize me pretty quickly on the streets. It’s fun to talk to fans but it’s not that I can go out just like everybody else can.”

“I know. I know that but you’re supposed to live life to the fullest. But I also see that your half-assed disguise doesn’t provide you nearly enough protection from being recognized.”

“Huh? What do you mean? This is working just fine. Nobody here does know who I am.”

“Are you kidding me? You’re wearing fake glasses and a cap, and you already think you’re an undercover agent? Absurd!”

“It works in manga, doesn’t it?” he questions with a wide grin.

This earns him an excessive eye roll. “Yeah, but manga is manga and real life is real life. And you really think my employees don’t recognize you? They are absolutely fawning over you. They are just too shy to chat you up. But every time you casually walk in here, suddenly all of my staff is temporary useless, just staring with red faces and heart eyes.”

“Ugh....really?…I didn’t know that. Sorry,” he replies, suddenly feeling guilty.

“Typical for my oblivious little brother,” she says, a smile playing on her lips while she's shaking her head. “But nothing to be terribly sorry about. After all I'm really glad I get to see you often. But now you have to leave. I have someone coming for an interview in a few minutes.”

“Who is it?”

“A college student who's applying for an internship during his semester break.”

“Let me stay! I’m going to be all silent, sitting in the corner.”

“Yeah, that absolutely wouldn’t freak him out, if I'd conduct an interview with him in front of a famous actor. Sure,” she says, her words dripping with sarcasm.

“I can just use my disguise,” he offers enthusiastically.

“Mark, I love you but get out now!”

(*^▽^*)

Jinyoung practically skips the way back home. He is so happy, his heart is almost bursting. He just finished his job interview for an internship in his favorite manga publishing company. And he actually scored it. Not only will he be able to gather experience for his future work life during his semester break, he also learned that his boss is a very nice woman, who truly seems to care about manga and also about the well being of her employees. His dream came true with this recent success. He will be surrounded by artists and editors and proofreaders the whole day while he'll learn how the processes in a publishing company are functioning. His passion for manga and everything that has anything to do with it was the driving force for his choice of employment. He was worried about meeting the criteria to get an internship in such a popular publishing house at all. But he lucked out today and now everything will run smoothly.

He bounces up the driveway to his family's spacious urban villa. When he swings open the front door he's greeted by Mrs. Jung, the head housekeeper, who is part of the household since Jinyoung can remember. Despite her age she's still very lively and spirited. Plus if you'd ask Jinyoung, she's the kindest person in the whole house by far.

“Jinyoung, I'm glad you're back already. Your parents wish to speak to you,” she says, her expression reveals a hint of nervousness.

“They are here?” he asks in utter confusion.

“Yes.”

“Both?”

“Yes.”

“And they want to talk to ME?”

“Yes, as I said.”

“That can't be good. Oh no, what's going to happen to me?” he whines.

“Jinyoung, it might be not a bad thing which they want to discuss with you.....maybe?”

“Yeah right,” he snorts. “Thank you for trying Mrs. Jung but we both know something's up with that,” he sighs.

“Whatever it is, please try to make the best out of it,” she advises and offers him a pitying smile. “They await you in the parlor.”

“Even the parlor....oh boy.....what have I done to deserve this?” he mutters under his breath as he sets down his backpack and makes his way to the said room.

When he pushes the double doors open, both his parents are looking up from their devices. They are seated in their favorite plushy arm chairs. His last information about their whereabouts stated that his mom was in Shanghai, promoting her upcoming musical tour and his dad should be in Singapore, filming for his next movie. Of course they both would act as the leads in their respective projects, they always are. But now here they are, sitting in front of him like it would be an entirely common situation that they would greet him after coming home.

His mom beams at him, standing up and crossing the room to pull him into a hug. “There is my cute nerd. I missed you so much.”

Jinyoung flinches, not because of the hug but the new nickname. “Mom, why are you calling me nerd?”

“Your sister told me you liked to be addressed like that. She said it's a cool way to call out to suave boys nowadays,” his mom explains.

His sister, of course it was her, is telling their parents trash like that just to make fun of him. That figures!

“Mom, it is not. It's an insult,” he corrects, trying his best to stay calm.

“What? No, that can't be. Your sister wouldn't say something like this. You must be wrong,” his mother marvels.

“Yeah, of course it's ME who is wrong,” Jinyoung mumbles, every word drenched in sarcasm. His mother isn't listening to him anymore anyway. Instead she grabs him by the arm and gently pulls him across the room. He takes a seat on the huge leather couch, feeling a little lost there, all alone.

“Father,” he says and nods as a greeting and acknowledgment.

“Jinyoung, good to see you well and healthy,” his father says and offers one of his typical actor smiles.

Small talk is his father's hobby, he isn't good at it but he loves to do it. Jinyoung on the other hand wants to find out about what's going on. “I didn't know you two planned to come back here so soon. Is something up?”

“Oh it's good to be home once in a while,” his dad replies vague. “How are you, son? How was your day?”

“Great actually. I applied for an internship in that very awesome publishing company and they really recruited me. So now I have something useful to do during my semester break,” Jinyoung explains very excited.

“Good, that's very good, son,” his father utters absentmindedly. “We have something to discuss with you, Jinyoung.”

Of course his father wasn't really interested in what he told him. He just asked to fulfill his hobby of doing small talk. Jinyoung should have known. He isn't terribly hurt by it, he is more than used to it actually. He just sits there now and waits for the bomb they surely will drop on him.

“Jinyoung, your sister needs your help with something,” his mother starts.

“And she can't ask me herself?” Jinyoung's expression turns into a frown while his parents remain unfazed.

“Well, she thought it would be better, if we would convince you of her request's importance,” his mother says, still smiling. His mother always smiles. It's her thing. She would bravely smile through everything. But if she could support her daughter, she would always smile truly and genuinely during it. But the thought that his parents came flying back from other countries just to convince him to help his sister gives him chills. The request they will make is definitely greater than usual.

His father speaks up again,”Jinyoung, there's an audition for a commercial. Your sister would like to participate in.”

“Then she should feel free to do that?”

“There's more of course. They are looking for two girls for this particular commercial, sisters to be exact. She is talented but of course she alone can't be two people,” he states and laughs a very fake actor laugh.

“Uh-huh” is the only thing Jinyoung manages to reply. His insides are already twisting in disagreement of what will follow.

“Since you're her only sibling, she needs your help.”

“I'm not a girl,” Jinyoung blurts out the obvious.

“No, my angel,” his mother chips in, “of course not. But you are her brother with a very pretty face. So pretty, with a little makeup here and there, you would look just as pretty as Sohee.”

“You can't be for real,” Jinyoung splutters, completely bewildered.

“Jinyoung, just be open minded about it,” his father tries again. “You would help your sister a great deal, if you both would be able to get this commercial deal. You know her career could use a little boost and representing such a famous brand will be doing wonders.”

Of course he knows that. His sister did a few commercials and had a role in a fairly successful movie. Her career started promising but then she did an advertisement for a new cosmetics line based on cucumber. And what else is there to say, it epically flopped due to some medical issues with the products. After that she was mainly known as Cucumber Girl. She desperately tried to get rid of her past but was only semi successful. Through their parents' influence she got some smaller parts in dramas. But nothing was big enough to wipe out her cucumber history so far. And now, of all people, he should help her out.

“No, I can't. Absolutely not. It's impossible. It's not only that I am not a girl, even though that should be reason enough not to get into this. But can we talk about the other obvious problem here? You're all into show business, so of course for you it wouldn't be a problem. But I never did even something remotely similar to acting. I have zero experience. So even if some miracle would make me look like a girl, how would I be able to pull that acting stuff off?”

“We think you would do good. And we are professionals so we can judge this, Jinyoung. Besides you're part of this family and that means acting talent is in your genes. Believe me angel, there is no need to fuss about that,” his mother chirps.

“Besides, we think it would be good for your brother-sister bond to do something like this together. It will be a nice experience for both of you,” his father reasons.

Jinyoung thinks that the best thing for their brother-sister bond would be, if one of them would move to the other side of the world. Of course he can't say that. His parents would think he's the universe's worst brother. He might be, he's not sure about that. But for some reason he doesn't want his parents to think that. He knows he shouldn't care about what they think. Since he can remember, he wasn't more than his older sister's accessory, her minion, her toy when she was bored. Their parents focused all their attention on her. She did commercials and acting jobs from a very young age on. She loved it and their parents loved watching her doing it. They were proud she follows in their footsteps. It's a character thing, Jinyoung always thought that. Sohee needs all the attention and encouragement, while Jinyoung does not so much. He always was the calmer, more reserved sibling. And so it happened that his sister grew up to be a little star while he grew up to be just another commoner. But he loves his commoner life. He doesn't have any regrets about it. He just wishes for a little bit more acceptance from his family for it.

But instead of acceptance they throw this ridiculous request at him.

“I really don't think that's a good idea. I'm not a girl, I am inexperienced and I have my internship to attend to. I won't even have the time,” Jinyoung explains in a desperate attempt to make his parents understand.

His father sits up and straightens his back before he retorts. “Jinyoung, to make this clear, you will help your sister with this. She needs you so you will support her as good as you can. We are a family and that's what family members do for each other. We do understand very well that this is an inconvenience to you but for the sake of family, you have to do it,” his father claims with a crushing finality.

Jinyoung only gapes at him, not able to answer anything.

“My angel, you will be so good. I know you will give it your all to secure this commercial together with your sister, right?” His mom is smiling, still.

“But I-”

“Jinyoung,” his father adds, ”you will do this and you will try very hard. Otherwise we really have to overthink, if the fees for your literature degree are truly well invested or if we should look for other career choices for you.”

Jinyoung understands. It's modern blackmailing. So much for what family members are supposed to do for each other. He doesn't have a choice, if he wants to finish his studies and eventually get his dream job. He admits defeat and slowly nods.

“Good,” his father says and suddenly his actor smile makes a comeback. “I assumed we would eventually reach a common understanding. Sohee will give you all the details. Thank you for your time. You're free to go now, son.”

Jinyoung gets to his feet and leaves the room like a lethargic blob. He hears his mother silvery voice calling after him, “You will do great, my angel. I'm looking forward to see the good results.” His mom really knows how to apply pressure without actually meaning to. He shuts the big doors behind him and trudges away. He still can't believe what just happened.

“Are you excited, nerd?” the teasing voice calls out to him from the stairs. His older sister is sitting on the steps, obviously waiting for something, waiting for him.

“YOU! This is all your fault. Why do you have to drag me into your mess?” he growls in reply.

Sohee leaves her seat on the stairs and walks towards him, seeming completely unfazed by Jinyoung's statement. “It's not because I think you'd be super talented, obviously. And it's also not because I am really looking for some sibling bonding time. I just need somebody, a sister, who stands beside me while I show my talent to secure this job,” she says and smugly smiles.

“Why? Why is this commercial so important that you even ask our parents to blackmail me into helping you?”

“Blackmailing? That's a very nasty word,” she says with a smirk on her lips. “See, this commercial is for a very famous brand. Being the face of this brand for a while is probably the kick off for much bigger projects to come. This is how this business works. And since they want sisters for their concept, I can't help it. Besides, our most dangerous competitors are the Cho sisters. And they are sickeningly cute,” she spits with so much bitterness that he wonders, if one of the Cho sisters personally ripped Sohee's favorite plushie or something. “So you better step out of your nerd-self and give it your all. We can't lose to them.”

“I don't care about Cho sisters and I don't care about that commercial.”

“But you care about your tuition, right?” And there is the evil smile Jinyoung despises so much. This smile means she wins and he loses.

“I guess that means you suggested the blackmailing part to mom and dad, too, huh? Yeah, I should have known,” he utters, the crushing feeling of being defeated yet again, hitting him.

“I see you understand the importance of this project now. Here's the schedule.” She shoves some papers into his hands. “There you find the concept of the commercial together with the time table. Be super early on audition day! Jaebum has to turn you into Park Jiwon after all. And heaven knows how long that might take.” With these derogatory words she turns around and leaves him standing in the hallway.

Jinyoung leafs through the papers, contemplating how a day, which started out great, just turned into a huge mess.

(*^▽^*)

Mark stares through the tinted car window. But he isn't really aware of anything outside the moving car. His mind is way too preoccupied with everything that lies ahead of him today. Subconsciously he frowns while he's rubbing his temple with the heel of his hand.

“Why are you so grumpy?” Jackson asks from the seat beside him, observing Mark with a skeptical look.

“I’m not grumpy. I just don’t see any sense in today’s activity. That irks me.”

“So you say you’re grumpy.”

Mark responses with a disapproving growl.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the young protagonist is out of humor today. He desperately tries to make sense of-”

“Jackson, stop narrating my life! You know I hate that.”

“Look Mark,” his manager, Youngjae, butts in, ”You’re actually allowed to choose your partner for your upcoming commercial shoot yourself. That’s a huge act of faith, the company trusts you that much. Can’t you appreciate it a little more?” Youngjae reasons calmly as he turns around to look at him from the front passenger seat.

“But I don’t care about that. I care about acting and that’s it. If I do the commercial with Cinderella it’s fine. But if I would film with Quasimodo it’s just as good. Because. I. Don’t. Care!” Mark points out.

“But people care. They want to see you with Cinderella,” Jackson tosses in.

“I know they do. But it’s stupid....ugh”

“You’re really special, you know? I don’t even know how you got this far in the business with such a humane attitude,” Jackson says in awe.

“I can’t even tell, if it’s compliment.”

“Me neither.” Jackson grins and shrugs.

Youngjae speaks up again, “But one thing is as clear as day, every other guy would be over the moon, if he could just choose from a bunch of pretty girls, all auditioning to act with only him.”

“What if I make the wrong choice? What if she turns out being untalented? What if I ruin someone’s life by not choosing her? Oh my god…what if I ruin someone’s life BY choosing her?” A sudden panic engulfs Mark.

“You worry too much. Just choose someone! It’s a mere commercial, not a freaking 200 episodes drama series, Mark.” Jackson advises.

“Since everyone wants me to do it so badly, I guess I don’t have a choice. I just want to show my discomfort with this whole thing,” the actor grumbles.

“Yeah, we got that already,” Youngjae mumbles and rolls his eyes.

“Good,” Mark says with grim satisfaction. “Will there be food at least?” He desperately tries to find a positive aspect.

His friend and stylist obviously thinks his question is scandalous. “How can you always think about food? No, the more important question is how can you consume food, in huge quantities, and still manage to look like that?” He underlines his question with an over-exaggerated hand gesture towards Mark's body.

The actor opts to only shrug in response. This seems to fuel his friend's outrage even more. “I just an apple and would not even swallow, still I'd gain weight.”

“How is it my fault?”

“Can you at least show some sympathy for your friend?” Jackson demands with a deadpan expression on his face.

“Uhm….too bad?”

“You know, for the very great actor you are, your real-life acting skills are terrible,” he says with a snarl.

“My real-life acting skills?” Mark laughs for the first time today. “You mean I’m a bad liar, yeah?”

Jackson huffs. “It’s still early in the morning but I am already done with you.” He crosses his arms in front of his chest and looks out of the window on his side of the car, deliberately avoiding Mark.

“Fine with me, though,” Mark says lightheartedly, only knowing too well that Jackson will be over it in a couple of minutes.

“Hey Mark, how about going out and do something wild this evening? Maybe it will cheer you up a little?” Youngjae suggests, trying to sell this to Mark by using his most enthusiastic voice.

“Something wild? I'm not interested.”

“You're not going out much. You need to live a little. It's good for the soul.”

“Why is everyone telling me that?” the actor groans and rubs his temple again.

“Youngjae is right,” Jackson suddenly butts in again, all teeth and smiles, acting like he never was pissed at Mark. “You should go out and get drunk properly.”

“Maybe not that,” Youngjae declines, his face looks like he just had a bite of lemon.

“Or you should go partying with a few girls, blowing some money and get laid,” Jackson animatedly puts forward.

“Jackson, can you maybe suggest things that won't ruin his image?” Youngjae asks blankly.

The stylist tries again. “What about wild in a public-”

“Okay, you definitely can't do THIS, Mark! I thought about going out and see a movie or visiting an amusement park or a festival. Things like that.” The manager sighs deeply. Mark knows he wishe