204 Gun’s Sick Day (2/2)

Yeo Ri's smile turned somewhat strained. She hadn't agreed to his request yet, but at this point, it would be too rude of her to decline the older man.

Sensing her dilemma, Ha Jun tactfully grabbed his friend's phone, snapping a self-portrait of himself making a duckface.

”Hey—!” The owner of the phone protested, taking back his phone and deleting the stupid picture.

Yeo Ri glanced at Ha Jun, who grinned back at her, with surprise, then gratefulness.

”He—” He was about to hand his phone over to the younger girl, but the sound of ringing caused him to stop. Someone had received a call.

It was the generic phone ringtone, so everyone fumbled to look for their phones in case it was theirs.

”It's not mine,” the only girl in the group said after checking her phone.

”It's not mine either,” Ha Jun added after glancing at his own phone for confirmation.

”Ah!” Yeo Ri noticed the vibrating phone on her side of the bed. She hastily ran over to pick it up, ”I'm sorry, it's mine,” she said to the group apologetically.

She quickly pressed the green 'accept call' button, ”Yes, hello?”

”Hello. Is this Miss Lee Yeo Ri?”

”Yes, this is she,” Yeo Ri politely replied to the unknown person on the other side of the call. She had been in too much of a haste to pick up that she didn't even have time to look at the caller ID.

”Ah, yes, I am calling on behalf of GG Doll—” the person explained, ”—and we were wondering if you have time to spare for a photoshoot today. We're in a bit of a hurry since one of the girls had food poisoning. President Park gave us your contact information after we asked her if she had any girls who were free today.”

”Yes,” Yeo Ri quietly assented. President Park—Mrs. Choi—hadn't given her any extra work these past few days since she asked to be kept out of the spotlight for a while. For the older woman to give her contact information over to the representative, this must've been an emergency.

”Of course, we will compensate you properly. We will be offering 5000 dollars for your services,” the representative said.

”Eh?”

Yeo Ri stupidly dropped her jaw. She felt as if she had just heard an absurd amount of money. ”H-how much...?”

”Five thousand dollars,” the person patiently repeated.

”...” Yeo Ri fell into a daze. ”R-really?”

The amount of money that was offered was over ten times the amount she usually earned for a shoot. On average, she would earn somewhere between $50 to $300 per shoot depending on the type of shoot and how long it took. On top of that, she was a rookie so it was impossible for someone like her who was new to the industry to be able to earn so much in one go. Therefore, she felt as if the representative was pulling her leg.

”Ah, the reason why we're paying you so much is because the boss is interested in you. She's probably trying to use your popularity to boost our traffic,” the representative added, chuckling to himself. ”So don't feel bad about taking the money.”

”Ah... yes...” Yeo Ri glanced at her brother who was still sleeping. His brows were scrunched, as if he was not feeling too comfortable.

Yeo Ri frowned. She was torn between accepting the job and taking care of her brother. Gun was sick, so she couldn't just leave him alone. Though, that being said, the offer was really too enticing. Being a young girl, this was the first time she had a chance to see that much money land in her lap.

”Yeo Ri-ah? Is it a job offer?” Ha Jun asked her as soon as he saw her conflicted look. An idea crossed his mind.

Ha Jun grinned widely at her, ”Don't worry about it and just take the job, Yeo Ri-ah. I don't mind staying behind and look after Gun for a while,” and while he was at it, he could explore the small home and learn about his friend's secretive home life, he thought.

Yeo Ri's brows wrinkled. She bit her lips, hesitating. ”Are you sure, Ha Jun-oppa? What about your classes?”

Ha Jun waved his hand dismissively, ”Missing one or two classes won't really affect me. Yeo Ri-ah, in university, missing a few classes isn't a big deal, you know?” He said with a righteous tone. ”Besides, Da Na is taking the same classes, so I'll just tell her to take down the notes for me.”

”If you say so,” Yeo Ri finally relented after hearing his reasoning. ”You're a lifesaver, Oppa.”

Yeo Ri turned back to the phone call, giving her affirmation.

”Great! We're expecting you to arrive in 20 minutes. Please hurry!”

”Huh?!” Yeo Ri panicked. Twenty minutes?! That was barely enough time to do anything!

Yeo Ri frantically ended the phone call, rushing to get ready.