Yoojin laughed as soon as she received the call and then changed her clothes before leaving. She was planning to get some rest during the day since she had an appointment at night, but she couldn’t miss this opportunity. She rushed to the street and grabbed a taxi.
“Take me to Hena Shop in front of Yeoksam station.”
Yoojin fiddled with her phone as she looked outside the window. Since they were coming by train, they should have arrived by now. She stopped the taxi at the junction before getting out. She found a couple holding hands in front of a building that was entirely covered in glass. Yoojin waved her hand and approached them.
“You’re actually here.”
“I dragged him here even though he didn’t want to.”
“Now that you did well. I always thought about this, but this guy really needs to get his hair done properly. Why don’t we try a baby perm on him?”
“I think that’ll suit him.”
Bunbun pulled on Maru’s clothes with a big grin on her face.
“Please touch it up just a little bit.”
Yoojin opened the door and entered. The staff greeted her with a smile, and the head manager-unni standing behind them waved her hand and came to them.
“Where’s mom?”
“She’s not here because she had something to do at the branch shop. But what brings you here at this hour?”
Yoojin brought over Maru and had him stand in front of the head manager-unni.
“I want to change this guy’s style a little.”
“Who’s he? A friend of yours?”
“The boyfriend of a close friend of mine,” said Yoojin as she looked at Bunbun.
“Then I guess I should do it myself. I don’t have any appointments at this hour either.”
“I’ll be thankful if you do it, unni.”
“Is this your first time coming to a place like this?” Yoojin asked.
“Not really. I’ve been to places like this quite often.”
“Quite often?”
“…In my dreams.”
He was speaking gibberish. Bunbun, who stood next to him, tapped on his forehead. The head manager brought a cape and put it around him.
“How would you like your hair done?”
Maru couldn’t look into the eyes of the smiling head manager. Yoojin poked Bunbun’s waist.
“Hey, he’s fl.u.s.tered.”
“You’re right. I’ve never seen him act like that before.”
Bunbun fell into thought for a moment before nodding her head. They took steps back and observed as Maru mumbled. The scene of Maru desperately trying to find Bunbun through the mirror was so rare that Yoojin took photos of him with her phone while holding back her laugh. Bunbun also took photos.
“Why is he so fl.u.s.tered?”
“Looks like it really is his first time in a place like this.”
“Should we save him now? I think he might cry at this rate.”
“We should. He actually gets mad quite a lot, so it’d be troublesome if he does.”
Bunbun hummed as she walked forward. She always hummed that melody when she was having fun. As soon as Bunbun appeared, Maru sighed in relief.
“Why are you so fl.u.s.tered?”
“Because I don’t know anything. I’ll just go with a sports style cut.”
Maru desperately pleaded with Bunbun. Bunbun seemed to have become weak-hearted as well as she fell into thought while tapping her lips. Yoojin thought that this was her time to step up.
“I have a shoot, so I need to keep it black.”
“Oh, really?”
“Just make me look like a student. A high school student can’t exactly have a peculiar hairstyle. I don’t want to get an earful from the producer later,” Maru argued logically.
“Oh, you’re an actor too?” The head manager-unni asked as she combed through Maru’s hair.
Maru nodded without saying anything.
“Unni, please look after this guy carefully. I don’t know when, but he will definitely become popular. Mom said that as well.”
“If the owner said that, then I guess I really should take good care of him. So, what do you suppose we do? From what I heard just now, I don’t think changing him up too much is allowed since he has a shoot.”
At that moment, Bunbun spoke.
“The character he’s playing is an intellectual one. A type of person who can use his smarts.”
“Also, we’re going to try putting glasses on him.”
“If it’s like that, why don’t we cut his back hair short and polish his bangs like this? Also, let’s do his eyebrows too.”
“Uhm, you can just use a hair clipper….”
When Maru tried to say something, Bunbun immediately covered his mouth. At times like these, Yoojin thought that Bunbun really had full control over him.
“Then please do it that way,” Bunbun said with a smile.
The head manager-unni said that he should listen to his girlfriend and consoled the sighing Maru.
“Let’s drink some coffee. I’ll make you some.”
Yoojin put some coffee beans from the shop on top of a coffee filter and poured hot water over it little by little. She picked up the steaming coffee mugs and went to sit next to Bunbun on the sofa.
“How’s it going with that crazy woman these days?”
“The thing is, you really get used to getting insulted.”
“That’s not a good thing you know?”
“But she’s not shouting at me like before. These days, we don’t meet each other that often since our shoots don’t overlap. At first, I was frustrated and sighed all the time, but I don’t feel anything now. Also, I look at her with the gaze that’s asking if she has anything to nitpick with me, right? Then that woman snorts and turns around. That makes me a little thrilled.”
“Sheesh, hey. You really have a lot of courage. What are you going to do if she does say something to you?”
“I already declared war, so I won’t lose.”
Bunbun looked resolute. Yoojin stared at her for a while before pressing down on Bunbun’s wrinkled forehead.
“You’ll get wrinkles like that.”
“Ah, right.”
“Also, are you really looking after yourself recently? You have a pimple here.”
“Oh that, I get one on that spot all the time.”
“You should really take care of yourself. My mom always tells me that the skin is vital for an actress. You know that cameras have become really good and they capture every little detail on your face, right? One of the model-unnis that comes to the shop a lot told me that the skin is decided from birth, but you can’t ignore constant management.”
“I do have to look after it I guess.”
“And Maru, too.”
“He seems to be taking care of himself if not for his strange hair and jacket. I heard that he uses mask packs all the time.”
“That was unexpected.”
“I also thought that when I first heard him and he told me that he would be disqualified as an actor if he couldn’t take care of his own body.”
“At least he knows it. Even though he never went to a proper stylist shop before.”
Yoojin looked at Maru sitting on the chair. Whenever the head manager-unni asked him a question while cutting his hair, he replied awkwardly with a very tough expression on his face. Even though he was usually very snappy, he was being awkward in a place like this. She suddenly wondered how he would react if he was taken to a nail shop. If she told Bunbun about it, she would probably take him to one with joy.
“Looks like your mother is really busy.”
“My mom’s always busy. She has meetings, gets invitations, and stuff like that all the time. An unni that worked with her for a long time has recently opened a branch store, and she’s been going there a lot recently.”
At that moment, the door opened and a woman with messy hair entered. The head manager-unni realized who she was first and greeted her.
“Oh, what brings you here?”
“Looks like you’re busy. I had to come here without a reservation since I had something urgent.”
“The owner isn’t here right now though.”
“What about the designer who took care of me last time? That unni was good.”
“She’s on break today.”
“Then I’ll wait a bit, so can you take care of me, unni? I have plenty of time today.”
“Alright, then. It won’t take that long.”
The woman was led by an employee to a private waiting room. Bunbun asked in a small voice.
“That person is Hyerim, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, she’s a regular here.”
“You must see a lot of celebrities here, huh.”
“Yeah. Since my mom has a lot of connections, all sorts of people come to visit.”
Yoojin didn’t feel anything since this happened rather frequently. Once, she tried sitting here all week and saw numerous celebrities being guided quietly to private waiting rooms. If they made reservations, they were led to the 2nd floor, so the normal customers didn’t even see them usually. Also, most celebrities came here late at night or before dawn.
“Hey, he’s sleeping,” said Yoojin as she pointed at Maru.
He was c.o.c.king his head like a chicken.
“Do men feel sleepy when they get their hair done?”
“You tell me. It’s so curious. How can they be so ins.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e?”
“He’ll probably wake up saying that a strange style is also okay.”
“You’re right.”
At that moment, the door opened again.
“Huh!”
Yoojin stood up in surprise this time. There was an unexpected guest behind her mom, who came in with a smile on her face.
“Come in.”
“Nice shop.”
“Of course it is. How much do you think I spent on interior design?”
The person that came in while talking to her mother was Ahn Joohyun.
“Hello, senior,” said Yoojin as she stood in front of Joohyun.
Bunbun was staring in a daze from afar. Joohyun blinked her eyes a few times before smiling.
“Didn’t think I’d see you here.”
Yoojin’s mom, who stood next to her, laughed quietly as she covered her mouth before speaking,
“That’s good. I was about to call you here too. But my daughter, what brings you here?”
"A friend of mine was looking to get a haircut."
Yoojin called over Bunbun. Bunbun approached and introduced herself.
“I see, I see. You’re a friend of Yoojin, huh.”
“And him.”
“Him?”
She pointed at Maru, who barely opened his eyes. Her mom narrowed her eyes to look at him before exclaiming ‘aha’.
“He’s the one I saw at the movie get-together. I should say hi to him later.”
Her mom quietly approached Maru and tapped on his shoulder. Maru flinched in surprise and turned to look at her. While the two had a conversation, Yoojin talked to Joohyun in front of her.
“What brings you here?”
“The owner of the hair shop I usually went to said she was going overseas for education. I was originally going to go to the shop that my agency introduced me to, but that person recommended your mother to me. I heard about this place a lot, but never actually got to visit this place, so this is my first time here. Oh, I know her on a personal basis, but this is the first time I’ve come to the shop.”
“Welcome. I’m not saying this just because she’s my mom, but her skills are really good.”
“I know, I know. Rather than that, I guess we haven’t met since the movie, right?”
“We haven’t. Didn’t you miss me?”
“Not really?”
“What a shame. And here I was once your daughter.”
When she said those words, Joohyun grabbed Yoojin’s cheeks and twisted them.
“Even though you were so awkward in front of me when we first met.”
“I always act nervous in front of seniors I respect. Oh, you’re busy these days, aren’t you?”
“I am, I guess. But why’s Maru here?”
“Because we want to change his hairstyle. Oh, and this is a friend of mine.”
“Hello.”
Bunbun greeted as she introduced herself. When Joohyun heard her name, she immediately looked at her hand.
While Bunbun was at a loss, Joohyun reached out. She grabbed Bunbun’s right hand and raised it to her eye level.
“So it’s you.”
“Eh?”
“The girlfriend that Maru’s been boasting about.”
“He boasts about her?” Yoojin asked while laughing.
“He told me that there’s a really skilled person. I asked him who it was and he told me that it was his girlfriend with a big grin on his face.”
“Really?”
“This rabbit ring is a couple ring, right? He was wearing it even when he came out as a minor character in The Witness.”
Joohyun closed in on Bunbun’s face and narrowed her eyes. Bunbun smiled awkwardly and tried to step back, but Joohyun held her still.
“You’re an aspiring actress, aren’t you?”
“Y-yes.”
Yoojin explained to her that Bunbun was already appearing in sitcoms.
“Really? What about an agency?”
“I don’t have one yet.”
“Ah, I see.”
She nodded before reaching out her hand again. This time, it was for a handshake.
“I’m Ahn Joohyun.”
Surprised, Bunbun grabbed her hand quickly.
Yoojin looked at the two from next to them. On one side, there was an actress who had entered the ranks of top stars, while on the other side, there was an actress who hadn’t even made a name for herself.
‘But they look good with each other?’
Joohyun and her sharp impression and the cute Bunbun matched each other strangely well.
“Let me in too,” said Yoojin as she stepped in between the two.
Joohyun smiled and hugged her neck with her arm as well.
“Let’s go watch that guy who’s been gazing at us this whole time.”
Joohyun, with Yoojin and Bunbun on either side, walked wide strides and stood behind Maru. Maru, who looked at Joohyun through the mirror, made a sour expression.
“Please don’t say anything.”
“Why? It suits you. Why don’t you just shave everything off?”
The sighing Maru and the grinning Joohyun seemed to be on close terms. Yoojin could see her mom’s eyes flash. Her habit was probably coming out again.
“Oh my, how crowded. Why don’t we sit down and have a talk? We need to finish this boy up first after all.”
Her mom pointed at the waiting room behind the counter.
