Chapter 61: Accepting the Award

Myung Eon was extremely busy.

First, he had to walk the red carpet as an MC, and then walk it once again with the cast of *Descendants of the Sun*.

Everything else was fine, except for the clothing changes. While men's suits all looked pretty much the same, Kim Ji-won's two distinct dresses were quite noticeably different.

Myung Eon recalled watching TWICE attend a year-end awards show red carpet previously, where he had wondered why they simply wore their stage outfits instead. Now, he realized how much trouble that saved.

"Ji-won noona..."

While waiting in the red carpet staging area, Kim Ji-won naturally linked her arm through Myung Eon's.

This older sister had acted somewhat aloof on the set, but as soon as they walked the red carpet, she reached out and grabbed his arm like that—had all his previous efforts amounted to nothing?

Still, this was probably part of the job description, just considering it promotion for *Fight for My Way*.

He would just have to make a little sacrifice.

"Don't speak. This pair of high heels doesn't quite fit," Kim Ji-won lowered her voice, seemingly afraid of drawing unwanted attention.

Myung Eon gently patted Kim Ji-won's hand. "I understand."

"What do you understand?"

"Girls' shoes occasionally tend not to fit right."

Myung Eon had once carried Kim Ji-soo out of YG Entertainment for this exact reason. That dummy had worn ill-fitting shoes, twisted her ankle while dancing, and instead of calling a doctor, had called her good friend.

He had suffered quite a few losses of a similar nature.

Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo smiled as they watched the pair's interaction.

The awkward atmosphere among everyone was mainly due to Jo In-sung; otherwise, there were no major conflicts between them. Moreover, Myung Eon and Kim Ji-won had already been tangled up in ambiguous rumors during the filming of *Descendants of the Sun*.

Everyone saw it clearly.

The records set by *Descendants of the Sun* would probably remain unbroken by any production team for a long time—the leading man and leading lady, as well as the second male lead and second female lead, were all dating. The core theme was truly keeping the whole family neatly paired up.

Quite a few acquaintances were present today as well. As soon as Myung Eon entered the venue, he spotted Kim Woo-bin at a glance.

This older brother and Bae Suzy had starred in *Uncontrollably Fond*, which aired on KBS in July of this year.

"Woo-bin hyung, why didn't you answer when I called you yesterday?" Myung Eon walked up and gave Kim Woo-bin a playful punch; this guy had been acting all mysterious lately.

Kim Woo-bin swung his arm and bumped shoulders with Myung Eon. "I had a bit of a headache yesterday and went to bed early. Who stays up late like you?"

"Your health has been getting weaker and weaker lately, you know."

"Yah, my health is just fine."

Afterward, Myung Eon greeted Bae Suzy. The two were of a similar age, both born in 1994.

They had met before; after all, Lim Na-yeon was a trainee at JYP, and when TWICE held their debut survival show, Bae Suzy had been a mentor. Myung Eon had crossed paths with her back then.

If he remembered correctly, Bae Suzy should be dating Lee Min-ho right now.

What a pity.

"Oppa, why didn't you come over to greet me?" Just as Myung Eon was about to head back to his seat, a young girl popped out from somewhere and startled him.

Myung Eon smiled when he saw her. "Yoo-jung-ah, I didn't see you just now."

Kim Yoo-jung, born in 1999, a former child actress.

In 2004, Myung Eon was ten years old and Kim Yoo-jung was five. She had already debuted back then, making her a famous child star in South Korea. Alongside Kim So-hyun and Kim Sae-ron, she was hailed as one of the "Three Kims," referring to the three child actresses with the surname Kim.

Myung Eon had gotten to know her through various circles in the industry.

Kim Yoo-jung had collaborated with seasoned veterans Cha Tae-hyun and Sung Dong-il, both of whom happened to be on good terms with Myung Eon, so through various connections, they naturally became acquainted.

Most importantly, Kim Yoo-jung shared the exact same birthday as Lim Na-yeon: September 22nd.

Because of this, Myung Eon had inevitably paid a little extra attention to her back then and lent her a helping hand on a few small occasions, resulting in a rather solid friendship between the two.

It was still possible to make friends in the entertainment industry, and sometimes even forge deep bonds.

"Did you not even think about looking for me?" Kim Yoo-jung pouted. "Or rather, you had no idea I'd be attending the KBS Drama Awards today either."

"Kim Yoo-jung-ssi, I'm the MC today, how could I possibly not know?"

"What if you weren't acting as the MC?"

"I watched *Love in the Moonlight* from start to finish, you know. You and Park Bo-gum-ssi had incredible chemistry."

Kim Yoo-jung's starring role in *Love in the Moonlight* could arguably be considered KBS's second biggest hit of the year, second only to *Descendants of the Sun*. She was bound to reap quite a few rewards tonight.

"Oppa, that's the only thing you watched, right?" Kim Yoo-jung was clearly unsatisfied with Myung Eon's answer.

"Our Yoo-jung's acting is also top-notch. Look at me, I haven't even managed to land a lead role yet."

Myung Eon had always possessed an abundance of patience for pretty young girls.

Lim Na-yeon: Are you really not doing this just for my sake?

Kim Ji-won curled her lips. This guy had friends scattered all over the entertainment industry, and quite a few of them were beautiful female celebrities.

She was clearly the senior here, yet her networking network fell far short of his.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the award ceremony was about to begin, and Myung Eon hurried back to his seat, earning a sideways glare from Kim Ji-won upon his return.

This older sister must have jumped to the wrong conclusion. Kim Yoo-jung was only seventeen years old.

No, wait, it was about to be 2017, so that little munchkin must be turning eighteen, nineteen by Korean traditional reckoning—older even than Yoo Ji-min.

She was a grown young lady now.

The hosts had designated standby positions at the edge of the stage, and the three of them prepared there for the entirety of the award ceremony.

Jeon Hyun-moo skillfully delivered the opening remarks, while Myung Eon and Kim Ji-won interacted according to the rehearsed routine, essentially introducing KBS's achievements for the year and then playfully teasing the actors seated in the audience.

Among them, Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-ki were the primary targets of attention.

The Song-Song couple was practically the hottest topic in all of South Korea right now.

"Next, we are going to announce the Excellence Award for Actor in a Miniseries."

After presenters Park Seo-joon and Park Hyung-sik finished speaking, the big screen behind them began scrolling through the nominees and their respective works.

Song Joong-ki, Kim Young-kwang, Lee Sang-yoon, Oh Ji-ho, Jang Hyuk, Myung Eon...

"The winner is Myung Eon-ssi, congratulations." Upon hearing the announcement, Myung Eon straightened his clothes, walked over, and shook hands with the two presenters.

Winning this award did not mean he had overshadowed Song Joong-ki; that hyung had a much bigger award waiting for him later.

*Descendants of the Sun* was destined to be the biggest winner tonight, ensuring that everyone who came went home with something.

"Yes, to be able to receive this award is an immense honor. Thank you everyone for recognizing my acting."

Following custom, Myung Eon expressed his gratitude to Kim Eun-sook and the rest of the production crew before returning to the host's podium holding his trophy.

Just as he wanted to "show off" to Kim Ji-won, this older sister won the Excellence Award for Actress in the same category. True to being a couple, even the awards they won were perfectly balanced.

Damn it, Myung Eon could already imagine how tomorrow's press releases would be written.

Next came a bunch of miscellaneous awards, and Myung Eon casually picked up a Netizen Popularity Award as well, which was hardly worth mentioning.

"The winners of the Best Couple Award are Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo, Kim Woo-bin and Bae Suzy, Lee Sang-yoon and Kim Ha-neul...

Myung Eon and Kim Ji-won!"