After Turning Down a Legendary Veteran's Offer

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[A seemingly beautiful and aloof junior star who is actually stubborn and determined to swim against the tide × a seemingly cool, handsome, cocky, push-and-pull expert of a senior producer who is secretly sensitive, romantic, and versatile]

Three years after debuting in an idol group, Nam Yunji was still struggling to make a name for herself when the company went bankrupt, leaving her back at square one. Her groupmates were scrambling to find a way forward, while she had just offended a hugely popular senior. But the senior was strange indeed: he actually extended an olive branch, inviting her to join the major agency everyone was clamoring to audition for.

Kwon Jiyong, always confident and flamboyant, never expected the junior he’d run into backstage at a music show, and taken a liking to, to turn down his offer and sign with his company’s rival instead.

Fine. Now he was definitely interested!

Content warnings:

◆ The heroine is an old-school, stubborn, delicate girl. There’s a touch of wish fulfillment, and she grows over time. If that’s not your thing, please don’t read. If you don’t like it, just leave; there’s no need to tell me. It’s somewhat realistic, but also differs from reality. This is a parallel world, the timeline is messy, and it may diverge from the real timeline and events.

◆ The heroine suffers a lot and is not in a wish-fulfillment story.

Please add this to your reading list:

"[Showbiz] My Sister Never Looks at Me"

[A gifted, proud, radiant painter of an older sister × a confident, flirtatious, flamboyant yet dark superstar younger brother]

The first time Kwon Jiyong met Kang Myungrin, her school-bully younger brother had him pinned against a wall, leaving him in a humiliating state. A languid voice cut in: “Kang Jiho, what are you throwing a fit about now?”

When he looked up, he met a pair of beautiful, clear eyes. She was lovely and cool, like a flower growing on a cliff. She barely glanced at him, calmly telling her brother, “Apologize. Now.”

His most humiliating moment and the instant he fell for her happened on the same day.

Afternoon sunlight spilled over the paint-stained fingertips she’d just used to finish a painting, dazzling him.

He was only a trainee then. Next to such brilliance, even the existence of his crush seemed laughable.

Kang Myungrin was an artist adored by all, famous from a young age and exceptionally gifted. Her world was full of color. She’d heard her younger brother mention “that really cool friend,” G-Dragon, but promptly forgot about him, never even bothering to remember his name.

Years later, Kwon Jiyong was a dazzling, universally known top-tier star. Confident and flamboyant, he brought a star’s radiance and just the right amount of push and pull, frequently appearing at Kang Myungrin’s side. But she never gave him more than a passing glance. Her world held painting, art, and a boyfriend, but not the boy who had once watched her from the corner.

To her, he was just a somewhat unusual younger friend, someone she treated with polite distance.

Until that night, at a party, in a haze of drunkenness and hangover.

The boy who was always so sweet and smiling in front of her pinned her against the wall of her studio. Stripping away every disguise, he murmured against her ear, eyes alight with years of repressed madness and possessiveness.

“Noona,” he whispered. “Do you know how long I’ve waited for this moment?”

This story includes an older woman-younger man romance with a three-year age gap, a love triangle, non-virgin leads, a slightly unhinged character, and a bitter-husband vibe. Beware if these aren’t for you.

A story idea: "[Showbiz] Killing My Future Self"

This may change before I start writing, but the core idea of a subtle love triangle between 2012 Jiyong, his future wife, and 2025 Jiyong will stay. OOC warning.

In 2012, Kwon Jiyong woke up hungover at a celebratory party marking the peak of his career.

He found the actress Yoon Mal, a woman with whom he’d had absolutely no connection but whom the media had loudly billed as someone who would never cross paths with the King, asleep in his arms. The diamond ring on her left ring finger overlapped with the band on his own.

He jolted away in terror, but she sleepily snuggled closer and kissed his chin, murmuring like she was dreaming, “Honey, five more minutes…”

Kwon Jiyong felt as if he’d been struck by lightning. He looked at his phone: 2025.

The worst was yet to come: social media headlines read, “Kwon Jiyong and Yoon Mal secretly married for five years” and “The whole internet is shipping the century’s love story: the Dragon and Mal couple.” But in his memory, the last time they’d spoken was backstage at an awards ceremony in 2011, when she’d coldly reminded him, “You’re standing on my hem, Mr. GD.”

Now he had to face two impossible questions:

1. How could he be the perfect husband to a top-tier actress in a future he knew nothing about?

2. Most importantly… how had he fallen in love with this woman?!

As he began imitating the habits recorded in the notes app by another version of himself, and tried to recreate the affectionate moments he saw on social media… he discovered he was irresistibly drawn to Yoon Mal.

Even stranger, every time he got a little closer to her, a little more of the sleeping consciousness of 2025 Kwon Jiyong would awaken.

And so, this absurd love triangle quietly began.

Theme: Strive tenaciously and never forget your original aspirations