Chapter 131

“I’ll be right back, I’m going to the bathroom!”

We were in the middle of a board game when Yumi, who seemed really urgent, suddenly spoke up and dashed off.

Jiyu and I were left alone in the room. I tried to break the awkward atmosphere by munching on some snacks on the desk.

I wasn’t thinking much at first, but the memory of the comic book I had read earlier lingered in my mind. That kissing scene just wouldn’t leave my head. In fact, it was so vivid, it felt like it was burned into my brain. Jiyu looked at me. She had been leaning on the bed earlier but now crawled closer to me and whispered softly.

“Hana…”

“Uh… yeah? What?”

Feeling Jiyu’s intense gaze, my body felt like it was paralyzed. She swallowed hard and hesitantly spoke up.

“You saw it, right…?”

Jiyu looked at me with a confident expression, as if she had figured it all out.

“N-no, I didn’t…”

“Liar. The book was in a different spot after Yumi and I left.”

Jiyu pressed me with solid evidence. It felt like a rookie prosecutor cornering a criminal with undeniable proof. And in this scenario, I was the criminal. Of course, I hadn’t committed any crime.

“Jiyu, I respect your preferences!”

With no way out, I decided to face it head-on. I figured there was no reason for her to get mad or annoyed. It wasn’t like I had seen something super inappropriate or anything.

Compared to some of the more extreme magazines out there, a scene with a kiss on the cheek was pretty tame. Maybe it’d be different if it were a guy’s house?

“Hana! I prefer watching over participating…”

Jiyu didn’t say anything more because Yumi came back into the room. I couldn’t respond to Jiyu and just went back to playing the board game.

And just like that, the earlier atmosphere vanished as if it had never happened. Jiyu was acting super friendly with me again, just like before we read the book. Since I had no intention of exposing my friend’s preferences, I just let it go.

It was probably wise to let it slide. But when Yumi and I were close, Jiyu seemed to be watching us with a satisfied look.

Probably just my imagination.

—

“Unnie? Why does your skin look so good lately?”

“Oh, you don’t know about Starlight Lotion?”

“What’s that?”

“Didn’t your manager bring it to you?”

“My manager just started recently. I’ve been without one for a while. They said it’s hard to get right away.”

“Oh my, oh my. Everyone’s going crazy because Starlight Lotion is hard to find, and here you are, so carefree.”

Kim Jina explained the efficacy of Starlight Lotion to her clueless junior. It’s a bit pricey, but it’s amazing for the skin.

She told her junior how it covers blemishes, acne, and even skin discoloration, calling it the ultimate makeup solution. The junior’s eyes widened in surprise. Who knew such a magical cosmetic existed? Of course, since it’s a recent release, not everyone knows about it yet.

Not everyone knows every cosmetic brand, but it was a bit surprising that someone in the entertainment industry didn’t know about it. Even without a manager, not knowing the latest trends in cosmetics… She knew her junior was a bit clueless, but she didn’t expect her to be this out of the loop.

“Try this! In just a few hours, you’ll have skin like mine.”

“Thank you, unnie!”

The junior took the lotion from Kim Jina and left, probably heading to the makeup room to apply it. She couldn’t apply it right away because of her existing makeup. Kim Jina hummed happily as she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

Kim Jina prided herself on being top-tier in the entertainment industry when it came to looks, talent, and proportions, but the one thing she couldn’t boast about was her skin. Since she was young, her skin hadn’t been great, and even with makeup, it was hard to hide.

Her skin bothered her so much it stressed her out. Even after visiting high-end dermatologists, her skin only improved slightly, but it still didn’t meet her standards.

Of course, her skin wasn’t terrible. If regular people saw her skin, they’d probably think it was as smooth as a baby’s. But in the entertainment industry, where the standards are sky-high, her skin was still a bit lacking.

But after using Starlight Lotion, her one flaw disappeared.

Her skin became brighter and completely clear! Of course, Kim Jina, in her late 20s, couldn’t have the skin of someone in their early 20s, but…

She didn’t take it or anything like that. That was the realm of rejuvenation, after all.

But by her late 20s, she had achieved such clear and radiant skin that no other woman her age could match her baby-like complexion.

Today, she was vividly feeling the efficacy of Starlight Lotion as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror. At first, she only applied it to her face, but lately, she had been using it all over her body. The difference was stark when she compared the skin on her face and neck to other areas.

Of course, it might have just been Kim Jina’s perception, but to her, it felt that way. So much so that she was using up an entire bottle of Starlight Lotion a day. Cost wasn’t an issue. With her fame, filming just one episode of a show allowed her to use a bottle a day for a whole month.

The only downside was that on her days off, when she didn’t apply the lotion, her skin would revert to its original state, which bothered her. It became clear that the lotion wasn’t a permanent cure for her skin. Of course, this was kindly noted in the instructions, so she didn’t have any complaints.

She wished the lotion could eliminate all kinds of skin issues and blemishes just by applying it… But even Kim Jina thought that was unlikely. If a single lotion could do that, dermatology clinics and various cosmetics companies would go bankrupt.

There were already rumors that the sales of cosmetics companies and dermatology clinics had halved. Of course, there were limits—severe scars or wounds didn’t completely disappear.

Still, the effects were outstanding. From the day she started using Starlight Lotion, she was able to throw away half of the cosmetics she had at home. Most of them were only used to cover up dull skin.

Only the cosmetics that fundamentally improved the skin survived. And Kim Jina hadn’t quit going to the dermatologist. Even with Starlight Lotion, having a good skin base was still important.

No matter how good the cosmetics were, if the skin was bad to begin with, the effects would be minimal. Grandmothers with deeply wrinkled skin wouldn’t see much improvement from using Starlight Lotion. Of course, there would be some improvement in wrinkles and skin quality.

Kim Jina held the backup bottle of Starlight Lotion she kept in her bag and thought, ‘When will the next cosmetic product come out?’

Now, Starlight Cosmetics was the leader in the Korean cosmetics industry. It hadn’t been long since they surpassed other companies, but they had conquered the market with just one product. The popularity was so immense that people were coming to Korea just to buy Starlight Lotion, even though it wasn’t sold overseas.

—

“Hana, did you have fun with your friends?”

“Yeah! We played board games, ate delicious snacks, and had a great time!”

Haru came to pick me up exactly at 6 PM. I got into the passenger seat, fastened my seatbelt, and we headed home.

“Hana, what’s that?”

Haru seemed to notice what I was holding. I showed it to her and said, “It’s a glow-in-the-dark dinosaur!”

It was a wall sticker of a dinosaur, and it even glowed faintly in the dark. I had spent all my money today to get it.

“Don’t you already have dinosaurs in your room?”

I wasn’t satisfied with the few dinosaur stickers next to my bed. I needed to collect more. So I confidently declared, “My goal is to stick every known dinosaur on my wall!”

“Uh… really? Won’t you run out of wall space?”

“Hmm, maybe?”

Thinking about it, Haru was right. The wall was already covered with dinosaur stickers, and adding more might be too much. But I figured I could at least stick the ones I had now.

“Tomorrow’s a day off. What are you going to do, Hana?”

“I’m going to catch up on *Little Magician Lumi*!”

I planned to binge-watch the episodes I missed today. *Little Magician Lumi* was always fun to watch, no matter how many times I saw it. There were still many seasons left, and exciting animations always gave me something to look forward to.