Chapter Seventy-Six: The Host's Difficult Role

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Entertainment Around Us, No Pop-Up Windows

Story set in: March 2006

Recommended song: anyband — tpl

Disclaimer: This is a work of pure fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental!

Just what exactly happened that day?

That was the question running through Jiang Yihan’s mind. Ever since Valentine’s Day, Li Yimei had been acting strangely. Maybe it was a knot in Jiang Yihan’s heart, or maybe in Li Yimei’s—either way, the unspoken understanding between them had begun to fade.

Jiang Yihan had always thought of himself as someone who was neither prone to suspicion nor jealousy, but when faced with the situation, he found it hard not to doubt, hard not to feel envious. He hadn’t given it much thought at first, hadn’t speculated much, though he did feel unsettled. Jiang Ziyi and the others had indeed witnessed something that day, but Jiang Yihan chose to trust. What truly made him start to doubt and feel jealous was Li Yimei’s reaction. In their texts and phone calls, conversations would suddenly fall silent, words would dry up, and more and more, it was Jiang Yihan speaking alone, not the lively exchange they once enjoyed. Li Yimei’s odd behavior forced Jiang Yihan to reconsider: what really happened that day?

Just as Jiang Yihan was lost in thought, Li Ran entered the room. Seeing Jiang Yihan’s furrowed brow, Li Ran began to question whether it had been a mistake to engineer opportunities for Jiang Yihan and Li Yimei to be together. But what did it matter if it was right or wrong now? The worry on Jiang Yihan’s face was enough to make anyone regret it.

Li Ran closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then stepped forward and patted Jiang Yihan on the shoulder. Startled out of his reverie, Jiang Yihan glanced at Li Ran, then lowered his head again.

“Lazy cat, your schedule’s been packed these past two days—are you okay?” Li Ran asked, concerned about how Jiang Yihan was holding up.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me,” Jiang Yihan replied, forcing a smile that clearly betrayed his poor state—anyone could see it, especially Li Ran.

In the past few days, Li Ran had been trying to lighten Jiang Yihan’s schedule, but he found that with less to do, Jiang Yihan was more prone to overthinking. Left with no choice, Li Ran returned his schedule to normal. At least when Jiang Yihan was working, he had less to fret about; after a day of exhaustion, sleep came easier. Still, the physical fatigue of such a packed schedule made Li Ran worry, but what else could he do?

When Jiang Yihan arrived at the studio, he thought he’d walked into the wrong set. Turning to Li Ran for confirmation, Li Ran’s steady gaze assured him he was in the right place, prompting Jiang Yihan to step forward.

Yoo Jae-suk, Kang Ho-dong, Lee Hyori, Shin Ji, Kim Jaejoong, Kim Xiaoxi, Han Ji-hye, Park Young-ho, Kim Jong-min.

A parade of familiar faces filled the guest seats. Though he often ran into them during various events, seeing the whole group gathered together was a first.

“Why are you all here today?” Jiang Yihan pushed aside his doubts and focused on work.

“It’s your movie special, of course your whole cast is here,” Kang Ho-dong was the first to greet him. “As for us, we’re just the supporting cast to make you all shine.”

“Haha, Ho-dong, you’re always joking. If anything, we’re the background leaves and you seniors are the blossoms,” Jiang Yihan replied, taking his seat.

Since everyone knew each other, the atmosphere grew lively with chatter. Soon, the director called, “Start!” and filming began.

Yoo Jae-suk, as usual, was the first host and quickly introduced the topic. “Recently, the film 'May I Love You?' has taken the nation by storm. Surely everyone’s curious about what happened behind the scenes. Today, we’ve invited the entire crew. Please welcome them!”

After the main cast introduced themselves, the real conversation began.

“Jiang Yihan, tell us why you took this role,” Yoo Jae-suk asked. “The theme isn’t exactly mainstream, and there’s some risk—taking this on took guts.”

Jiang Yihan recounted his reasons and the situation at the time. The other leads shared their own experiences. Everything went smoothly, and soon the discussion turned to the film itself.

“What I remember most are the sad scenes,” Jiang Yihan replied to the question about which scenes stood out. “Sadness is hard to act, but Director Park insisted on capturing a certain feeling and forbade tears. Holding onto that atmosphere was tough. Most of my scenes were with Jaejoong, but he loved making me laugh, so keeping the mood was always a challenge.”

“Hyung, you say that, but you always distracted me first!” Kim Jaejoong quickly interrupted. “Whenever it was your turn to help me rehearse, you’d make faces and try to make me laugh. I only teased you back for revenge a couple of times.”

“Haha, is that true, Yihan?” Kang Ho-dong chuckled.

Jiang Yihan smiled sheepishly and nodded, making everyone laugh.

“Jaejoong, what about you? Which scene left the deepest impression?” The conversation shifted to Kim Jaejoong.

“It was the kiss scene for me. Hyung got into character so quickly and guided the whole thing really well. It was a bit awkward kissing another guy,” Kim Jaejoong covered his mouth, laughing, “but the shoot went quickly and everything felt right, so the awkwardness disappeared in the moment.”

Kang Ho-dong teased him relentlessly about the kiss scene.

“How did you get such beautiful shots for the movie?”

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“The shots were gorgeous, but filming was tough,” Park Young-ho replied. “Sometimes, for a sunrise or sunset, we’d rehearse over and over, then wait for that perfect half hour to get the shot. If we missed it, we’d have to try again the next day. The waiting and rehearsing were exhausting. Sometimes we’d get up at two or three in the morning just to catch a five o’clock sunrise.”

“And you know the balcony scenes at my place in the film?” Jiang Yihan added. “There were lots of scenes up there, but that balcony was terrifying. Some parts would shake and felt really unstable. Every time we had to climb up there, the wind would howl, and I felt like I might fall. But the shots turned out well.”

“Filming sure is tough,” Yoo Jae-suk concluded. “Before we know it, our show is almost over, and it’s time to say goodbye to the film crew. Jiang Yihan, why don’t you do the closing for us?”

After nearly three hours, it was time to wrap up. Yoo Jae-suk’s sudden suggestion caught Jiang Yihan off guard. He whispered, “Jae-suk hyung, this wasn’t in the script.”

“I added it last minute. Improvise,” Yoo Jae-suk replied quietly, expression unchanged.

Jiang Yihan could only roll his eyes in resignation. “Alright then, before we end today’s show, let’s hear everyone’s thoughts on the movie.”

But where there should have been responses, the set suddenly fell into an awkward silence. Jiang Yihan was left hanging. He hesitated, then asked, “Jaejoong, can you sum up the film for us?”

“I was really happy, that’s all. We’ve already talked about everything else,” Kim Jaejoong replied unexpectedly, refusing to take the cue.

Jiang Yihan glanced at him, unease growing in his heart, but forced down his suspicion in front of the cameras. “Xiaoxi, what do you think? Was filming tough?”

“Hehe, Yihan hyung, I really enjoyed working with everyone and learned a lot,” Kim Xiaoxi replied with a textbook answer.

Jiang Yihan paused, frowning, his uncertainty growing. He turned to Han Ji-hye. “Ji-hye, was there a moment during filming that really stuck with you?”

“I think the movie is the result of everyone’s teamwork. I hope people like it,” Han Ji-hye replied with a soft, deflecting smile.

Jiang Yihan stopped, carefully studying the faces around him, searching their eyes for hidden meaning. His anxiety deepened. After a quick mental calculation, he turned to Yoo Jae-suk and Kang Ho-dong. “Jae-suk hyung, Ho-dong hyung, maybe you two should wrap things up instead.”

“Yihan, have more faith in yourself, try again,” Kang Ho-dong answered, still all smiles. But now, that smile made Jiang Yihan even more uneasy. In the end, he decided to ask Lee Hyori—if she also acted strange, then something was definitely off.

“Hyori noona, what did you think of our movie?”

“Yihan, didn’t I already say? Change the subject, or the ending will fall flat,” Lee Hyori replied, sweetly but firmly.

Jiang Yihan frowned, slowly stood up, and turned his back to the cameras, suspicion and a hint of anger in his voice. “This isn’t right—what are you all up to? I knew something was off, none of this makes sense.”

He scanned everyone’s faces, trying to catch a clue.

“Jiang Yihan, what are you doing? This is a recording, everyone’s being professional. You keep repeating questions we’ve already covered—how can you wrap up like that?” The director’s sudden outburst startled Jiang Yihan. “And why are you turning your back to the camera? Don’t you know that’s rude?”

“But, director, they—” Jiang Yihan protested, only to be cut off.

“They what? They answered truthfully; your questions aren’t suitable. Think of a few more and we’ll resume after a short break.” The director slammed his script to the floor.

A heavy silence fell over the set.

Jiang Yihan shot everyone a glare, then decided to sulk alone and stormed off to the restroom.

As soon as he left, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“Did we make it too obvious? Did Yihan hyung catch on?” Kim Jaejoong asked, sounding oddly cryptic.

“Probably not, the director squashed his suspicions,” Lee Hyori replied, equally mysterious.

“Li Ran, you help us trick Yihan next time. It’ll be more convincing,” Park Young-ho said, using the word “trick.”

“I don’t want to,” Li Ran refused outright, seeing everyone’s confusion, then explained, “If I try to trick Yihan, he’ll sense it. I can’t fool him.”

“Yeah, right,” Kang Ho-dong didn’t believe him.

Li Ran could only shrug helplessly—he truly couldn’t lie to Jiang Yihan, nor did he want to.

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At last, the truth behind the earlier scene was revealed. Everyone had been conspiring to trick Jiang Yihan. It was all part of a “hidden camera” segment, where the cast sets up a prank to capture the artist’s most genuine reactions on film. They’d deliberately refused to answer Jiang Yihan’s questions, and the director’s stern act was all part of the ruse. Jiang Yihan had totally fallen for it, storming off in anger and frustration. Now, flush with success, everyone was plotting how to keep the prank going.

As they discussed their next move, Jiang Yihan returned. The moment he walked in, everyone stopped talking and tried to look innocent, though they couldn’t quite hide their smiles.

Jiang Yihan sat down again, and at the director’s call of “action,” the interrupted “ending” resumed.

“Director Park, are you satisfied with the film? What did you gain from it?” Jiang Yihan asked, still sulking.

“Very satisfied,” Park Young-ho replied, as curt as ever.

“Ho-dong hyung, what did you think of our film?” Jiang Yihan swallowed his anger and pressed on.

“It was... okay, I guess,” Kang Ho-dong replied, scratching his neck indifferently.

Jiang Yihan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and continued, “Jae-suk hyung, what about you?”

“I thought it was good, yeah, good,” Yoo Jae-suk answered perfunctorily. “But Yihan, why are you repeating earlier questions? You should be giving a summary for the ending.”

“Yeah, Yihan, if you keep rehashing old topics, the audience won’t be interested,” Kang Ho-dong piled on.

Soon, everyone was chiming in, and the studio became a clamor of voices.

Suddenly, Jiang Yihan bowed his head and began to cry.

The sound of sobbing stunned everyone into silence—they realized things had gone too far.

“Yihan, I’m sorry! We were just playing around, don’t be mad,” Lee Hyori was the first to rush over and comfort him.

“Hyung, I’m sorry, too, it was all the director’s idea—we really didn’t mean it,” Kim Jaejoong said nervously.

Seven people crowded around, talking over each other, desperately trying to explain themselves. Just then, Jiang Yihan suddenly looked up, startling everyone.

Not a tear stained his face—only a triumphant grin.

“Hahaha, I knew you were up to something. I was faking it!” Jiang Yihan declared gleefully. “See? I caught you!”

The group exchanged glances, then rushed at him, “pummeling” him in mock anger.

“Ouch, ouch—don’t hit me! You started the prank, didn’t you?” Jiang Yihan wailed.

“Who cares, you tried to fool us!” Kang Ho-dong crowed in excitement.

After a while, everyone calmed down.

“Yihan, how did you know we were tricking you?” Lee Hyori asked, a little out of breath.

“Hmph, everything was off! Everything was going fine, then suddenly it all changed—anyone would find that suspicious. And most importantly, when things started to feel weird, I looked at Li Ran. He was way too calm, not like his usual self, so I knew you must’ve planned it together.”

After hearing Jiang Yihan’s reasoning, everyone glanced at Li Ran, who could only shrug helplessly, as if to say, “I told you I couldn’t fool him.”

Everyone felt a twinge of defeat.

Still, after all the commotion, Jiang Yihan’s spirits had clearly lifted—a little levity had eased much of his earlier gloom.

Rambling Cat’s Chatter: Went to the Asia Music Festival today, just got back—sorry for the late update!