Mijoo looked at the backlights of the car before sighing. Kang Giwoo, who had returned after leaving for a bit, immediately said that they should say goodbye. As it was what she wanted, she immediately said that they should do that. She had to hold Chanwoo back from going for a 2nd round.
“Mijoo, be careful on your way back home.”
“You too, oppa.”
Chanwoo grabbed a taxi and left. The situation that made her heart beat in nervousness had finally come to a closure. She didn’t want to experience that again, whether it was acting in front of an actor or nervously watching one while pretending to be asleep. She looked around before taking out her phone.
“He left.”
Maru appeared after she waited for a little after hanging up.
“Good work.”
“Not at all. Is everything okay now?”
“If you did everything I said, then that should have dealt with the problem for now. How did Giwoo look? Did he ask you anything in particular?”
“He looked very pleased after he returned from seeing you. He didn’t ask anything in particular either. He definitely didn’t look like he was suspicious of something. But I did as you told me to, so is everything really okay now? I didn’t say that much.”
Maru called her for a request, and she found out that his request was about acting. It was a request that made her dizzy. Leaving aside the fact that she wasn’t good at lying by nature, the fact that she had to put on an act in front of an actor stifled her. Fortunately, the act wasn’t that difficult, so she didn’t have a hard time doing it, which made her wonder: Han Maru is a bastard, Gaeul-unni is pitiful; could she really sort the situation out with just those two phrases?
“That should be enough. It should have convinced him to think that one of the scenarios in his mind is true. As for the rest, Giwoo should have put the pieces of the puzzle together in the way he wanted to.”
She understood a little.
“Did you immediately pretend to be drunk after saying that?”
“Yes. I fell flat on the table. You told me not to show him my face.”
“Good. I’m not sure about anything else, but he’s good at reading expressions, so if you kept talking to him while looking at him, he might have thought about something else.”
She felt relieved to know that everything had gone well. However, there were two problems that she couldn’t resolve yet: Why did Kang Giwoo lie to her, and why is Gaeul not looking at him in a good light?
“Mijoo.”
“Yes?”
She was startled as she was in deep thought. Maru was pointing at her phone.
“Give Gaeul a call. You should apologize to her first, don’t you think?”
“Oh, right.”
“Gaeul will tell you about the details. She might not, but don’t feel too bad about it.”
“This became a problem because I went off with my mouth, so it’s natural even if she doesn’t tell me anything. I feel so sorry for her. I feel like things have gotten out of hand because of me.”
“From how Giwoo went back quietly, there shouldn’t be a big problem. He should believe that I broke up with her.”
Maru walked to his car after telling her to be careful on her way back. There was a woman wearing a cap in his car. Mijoo didn’t know who she was, but she was waving at her. She awkwardly waved back at her. After seeing the car leave, Mijoo pressed the call button with her stiff fingers.
* * *
Kim Suyeon took out her earbuds from her ears. She saw Maru coming towards the car after talking with a woman in front of the building.
“Did things work out?”
“Yes. I think I put out the urgent fire for now.”
“You got yourself involved with a dangerous kid. Why is it Kang Giwoo of all people? You asked me about Lee Miyoon a little while ago, didn’t you? The people you ask about are all so terribly strong.”
“I’m finding out about them beforehand so that I can avoid them. Like you said, they’re all so terribly strong, so I’m going to lay low.”
“Laying low? And yet you just did that?”
“It was an emergency situation. I couldn’t help it.”
Suyeon smiled in resignation and shook her head. She did come over because she was tempted by Maru asking a favor but didn’t know that it involved making a fool out of someone. Moreover, it was Kang Giwoo of all people. Although she had heard about the details beforehand, it did scare her to see him up close. After all, he was the grandson of the tiger chairman who single-handedly built the colossus that was the current YM, although he had retired now. She would not see anything good if the fact that she ‘tampered with’ the young master of YM was exposed.
“What did you two talk about after I left?” Maru asked as he put on his seatbelt.
Her talking with Giwoo by themselves was not within the plan. It was an idea Suyeon came up with on the spot.
“Since we were fooling him, I nailed the coffin.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That I’m toying with you before throwing you away.”
“You didn’t need to go that far.”
“Why? I just made good use of my public image. Giwoo seemed to accept that. Looks like rumors about me are still widely spread in this industry. Well, I guess people do see me in a weird way if they know anything about me.”
“Sorry, and thank you.”
“Okay, you owe me one now.”
“Call me anytime if you need me.”
“Wait at all times. You don’t know when I’ll make use of you.”
“Please refrain from calling me in the middle of the night.”
“Why, because you need to spend a hot night with Gaeul?”
She winked at Maru, who chuckled. This guy would always hesitate to make a move unless he had a guarantee, yet he was like a bulldozer when it involved Han Gaeul. It was like that with Lee Miyoon, and it was like that now.
“Looks like you like her a lot.”
“Yes. I like her a lot.”
“Look at you, not holding back even a little. You’re creeping me out. Gaeul has it good, having a man who loves her so much by her side. I wonder why such a man doesn’t appear for me.”
“Are you even willing to love such a man back the same way?”
“If it’s Geunsoo-oppa, I won’t hesitate for a second and would throw my whole body and heart at him.”
“Try saying that to him. Maybe he’ll fall for it.”
“Don’t start giving me weird ideas; I can only do that so many times. It’s embarrassing to keep doing it. I was surprised myself, you know? I actually still know what shame is. These days, just seeing his face and drinking together sounds about just right. I was laughing together with him when we were drinking earlier today, and I thought that maybe this is what friendship is like between two people of the opposite sex. Oh yeah, speaking of that, I wonder what those two are up to.”
She tried texting. She asked if they were still drinking at the bar or if they went home. She got a text back immediately. Ganghwan left after drinking a couple more glasses, but Geunsoo was still there.
“Geunsoo-oppa is still drinking by himself.”
“You should go visit him.”
“Not today. If Ganghwan-oppa isn’t around, it gets awkward between us. When it’s the three of us, we’re like the three musketeers, but when it’s just me and Geunsoo-oppa, it’s like we’re both ascetics or something. These days, that got even worse, so I don’t even want to meet him without Ganghwan-oppa around.”
“That means he’s conscious of you.”
“I don’t think so.”
Suyeon said that as she looked at Maru’s face. Her unrequited love had been going on for years. At first, it began as a joke or a prank of sorts, but she eventually turned serious. She even regretted the fact that she started it off as a joke and wished that she had been serious since the beginning. The fact that she told him about her past was also because she wanted him to know how serious she was. It was selfish of her to do so, but she was a selfish woman after all.
“I’ll pay back the debt today.”
“I don’t plan to use it though.”
“It’s a really good opportunity. Are you still not going to use it?” Maru said as he grabbed the wheel.
He had a suspicious smile on his face. It was a smile that made her explode with curiosity. Suyeon told him to say it, saying that she would fall for his jokes.
“Geunsoo hyung-nim is thinking about you quite seriously, noona.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I heard it from the person himself. He didn’t want me to keep it a secret, and in fact, it looked like he wanted me to tell you.”
“Really?”
“I’d be real trash if I lied to you here.”
“But you were always trash.”
“If you put it that way, then I don’t really have anything to tell you, because it does seem like I’ve always been trash. Anyway, I’ll drive you to where Geunsoo hyung-nim is now. It’s the bar where I picked you up, right?”
The car departed. Suyeon fidgeted as she thought about what he said. There was no reason for Maru to lie. Did he turn into a statue when there were just the two of them not because he disliked it, but because he was conscious? She always interpreted his attitude the same way because she thought that there was no way he would like her. She thought that he didn’t even want to talk to her.
“Geunsoo-oppa really said that?”
“If he didn’t want to drink with you, he would have texted back that he was going home too. But, he said he’s by himself at the bar.”
“That’s true.”
“Weren’t you supposed to be max level when it comes to romance? Why didn’t you notice such a straightforward clue?”
“Because I never thought it was an option. To me, Geunsoo-oppa staying distant from me is on the same level as saying you’ll die if you don’t breathe.”
“Then why don’t you check if that rule still holds or not? You need to try holding your breath to see if you actually die or not.”
Suyeon thought about it for a moment before speaking,
“I’m not going after all.”
“Why?”
“I don’t have the confidence to see him after you said all that.”
“You said all sorts of things to Kang Giwoo, so why?”
“That’s because he’s the same type as me. Geunsoo-oppa is different. I’m too nervous. I can’t go.”
“Tonight may be the last chance you can seriously talk it out with each other.”
“You really are trash. If you say that, then I….”
Suyeon stopped speaking and closed her eyes. Maru asked what he should do. Today, the car seemed to be moving really fast, without giving her any time to think.
“I’ll ask first.”
Suyeon sent Geunsoo a text first, asking if it was okay for her to go if he was going to drink more. If it was like she expected, the reply should come in about 10 minutes, telling her that he left the bar a while ago. She inwardly wanted him to reply like that. After all, if they didn’t meet, her heart would stay safe.
She got a reply. It was almost auto-reply level of speed. She clenched her teeth and checked the text.
“Should I go to the bar?”
Suyeon closed her eyes and nodded.
* * *
Geunsoo came out of the bar and brought Suyeon inside. He had a look at Suyeon’s face before she went in, and she looked like a cow being dragged to slaughter. All sorts of fears and worries were being exuded from her eyes. People really were unpredictable. If their dream came true, then they would be suspicious first instead of rejoicing. In that sense, Maru thought that she was a lot like him.
“I’m going back now.”
He hung up the call from Gaeul and got in the car. Considering how rushed he was in dealing with this situation, the outcome was pretty clean. Scouting Suyeon was the best move he could make. She was the first one that came to his mind as she possessed the right image for this job.
Suyeon was right. It was something that trash would do. He was grateful to her for taking up on the job without complaining. He did not consider telling her what Geunsoo thought was settling the debt. After all, those two would have made progress even if he didn’t do anything. If there was an opportunity to help her out later, he was going to do it regardless of what it may be with a thick face.
“I should wrap things up now.”
Maru called Kang Giwoo. The signal went on for a long time before Giwoo picked up.
-Oh, Maru. What’s up? You called me first.
“Nothing. I just wanted to say nice meeting you today.”
-Me too.
Maru yawned in a small voice so that it didn’t go over the phone and waited. He observed a man walking past his car and smiled at a cat jumping in front of the car. Giwoo said what he expected him to.
-I hope it goes well for you. I’ll forget what I saw today, so don’t worry about that. I’m not sure you know, but there’s a rule to not say anything about what people saw there. So there’s no need to call me like this. Don’t worry about it and get to sleep.
“I didn’t worry at all. Alright, see you later.”
He hung up immediately. Maru was grateful that he reacted the way he thought he would. There was no need to worry now since Giwoo should be thinking that the scenario was going the way he wanted it to. This was why it was easy dealing with people who could use their heads. They would make predictions and judgements if they were given some minute clues. It was worth the effort to induce that young master to think like that.
Maru drove his car back to his apartment.
