“Sounds like the writer took a good note of you. So, how does your role change?”
“Nothing’s set in stone yet. It seems like she has some things in her mind, but I’ll have to get the script to be sure.”
Gaeul put her chopsticks down and patted Maru on the shoulders as though he had done a good job.
“You don’t know what will happen. You might become famous if you receive good responses through the drama and make your name known through the movie. Who knows, you might even become more famous than me, you know?”
“That sounds good just thinking about it.”
Maru ate a spoonful of rice and thought back to the events that occurred yesterday. What was supposed to be a light drinking occasion ended up lasting quite a long time, and he was only able to leave writer Eunbin’s house after 9 p.m. As the participants were a writer, a producer, and an actor, the topic of conversation was naturally about dramas, and they discussed – more like argued – until the very last moment. As Jayeon and Eunbin had different preferences, he tried siding with both of them and ended up getting an earful about how he had no opinion. When he was asked what kind of genre he preferred, he replied romance, only to hear the extremely market-friendly answer that his face wasn’t up to par. When Jayeon said that he would play the role of a murderer really well, Eunbin burst out into laughter in agreement. As much as he wanted to retort, he did feel that coercive calls were much more suited to the reflection of his face that he saw through a hand mirror than performing serenades. Since that was the case, he imitated a famous murderer from a movie. Both of them burst out into laughter.
“What kind of person is writer Lee Eunbin? As for producer Jayeon, I’ve seen her quite often while working with producer Park Hoon, but I’ve never seen the writer. According to aunt Hanmi, she’s someone who writes the most humane stories among her juniors.”
“Humane stories, huh. I can’t judge because I only met her once, but I can definitely say that she’s peculiar.”
“Well, you can see that from how she wants to use actor Han Maru, can’t you?”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?”
They put away the dishes and went to the sofa. Finishing up for the day while eating some snacks on the sofa became one of their routines. They finished up what they couldn’t finish talking about over dinner and confessed if they found anything disappointing about each other. The jerky that Gaeul bought fulfilled its purpose very well, quite a contrast to the wine that was being aged. The wine was going to be used for cooking in a while.
“These days, Giwoo wouldn’t talk to me. Usually, he would bring up something to talk about if we make eye contact.”
“So, do you feel disappointed about that?”
“Rather than disappointed, it makes me feel cautious. It makes me wonder if he realized that I’m viewing him with suspicion. It makes me feel sorry too. I know that I have nothing to be sorry about if what you said he did is true, but that’s just how I feel. We’re working together too.”
“Don’t give him too many hints about how you’re observing him. Also, according to what I know about Kang Giwoo’s personality, he would have asked directly without avoiding you – if you have anything to talk to him about.”
“You said you aren’t friends, but I feel like you know him more than me,” Gaeul said with a smile.
“Well, you don’t remember the birthday of a close friend, but you do have to remember your redemption date for your loan.”
“So you’re in a debt relationship with Giwoo?”
“You can call it that.”
“Who’s the one in debt?”
“I wonder.”
When he replied vaguely, she pouted as though it was no fun for her. Maru brought half a cookie in front of her mouth in order to appease her.
“Nothing happened with Lee Miyoon after that?”
Gaeul said that she got into a big fight with Lee Miyoon not too long ago. She said that she would usually gloss over it softly, but she snapped out that day because she heard something she couldn’t endure. Maru wanted to know what provoked her but didn’t ask as it didn’t look like she had any intentions of answering him.
“Fortunately, nothing. I thought she’d come over again and again and nag me, but she doesn’t come over these days. Whether she’s busy or got fed up with me, I don’t know, but it’s good for me since I was a little worried.”
“I’m sure you’ll be able to take care of yourself even if I don’t tell you to, but still, don’t get involved with that woman too much, whether it’s in a good way or in a bad way.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever coexist happily with her. Though, it might make me regret it later.”
“If you do want to fight her properly, then call me.”
“Why, you’ll fight with me?”
“No, I’ll have to call the ambulance. If you two get into a proper fight, that old hag will start bleeding, so I’ll have to have the ambulance on standby.”
“Hey, I’m not such a violent woman, you know?”
As soon as she said those words, a lightly clenched fist flew into Maru’s flank. Her words and actions were totally opposite to each other. When Maru pointed at his flank that just received a hit and looked at her with a ‘what’s this then?’ face, Gaeul just shrugged and stood up with the plate and the mugs.
“Watch out. She’s a more dangerous woman than you think. I can tell you to judge Kang Giwoo for yourself but not her. Honestly speaking, I wish you would relent a little in front of that woman. I’m not saying that you have to do as I say, but there would be nothing better if you two had an indifferent relationship. But, I know that Han Gaeul isn’t the type of woman who would do that, so the only thing I can do is to warn you.”
Gaeul, who was walking over to the kitchen, turned her head around and nodded heavily. As she worked in the same industry, she probably heard a rumor or two about Lee Miyoon as well.
“I’ll watch out.”
“Tell me if something happens.”
“Okay.”
Clack clack – Maru could hear her wash the dishes. He remembered back to Lee Miyoon’s eyes that looked down on her target. According to his experience, people with those kinds of eyes would never let go once they bit down on the neck of their prey. Unless it was a situation where she would see blood, she would leap without hesitation once she realized that she would be able to bully her target one-sidedly. From how she let go of Gaeul for the past five years, it seemed like she didn’t have any interest, but from the way she still picked a fight with her from time to time, it seemed like she must have finished her preparations to stomp her. It was at times like these that he found his ability rather disappointing. After all, there was no way for him to find out what ‘Lee Miyoon’ was thinking about ‘Han Gaeul.’ It would’ve been better if she bared her fangs at him. That woman was the type of person to desperately try to catch both rabbits if there were two in front of her, instead of giving up on the smaller one. So pissing her off from the side probably wouldn’t do him good either.
“Aren’t you sleeping?”
Gaeul was staring at him from in front of the door. Maru shrugged off his thoughts and stood up from the sofa.
“I will.”
* * *
“Allow me to borrow Mr. Han Maru.”
He did think that this man in front of him wanted something from him when he visited out of the blue, but he didn’t know that it would be Han Maru that he wanted. Junmin placed the teacup down just as he was about to take a sip.
“You seem to come to me to borrow a person every time you come, director Park. Last time, it was Miso, and this time, it’s Maru.”
“I’ve already checked his own will to participate. If it’s about payment, I am willing to pay up whatever you decide. Or is this not feasible?”
“I’m in fact rather grateful to you for using that runaway child. But from what I heard, you’ve apparently turned down an offer to be a director. If you’re going to use Maru, I think I should know what you’re shooting at least, don’t you think?”
“I heard that all rumors in the film industry end up in president Lee Junmin’s ears, and you already even know about how I turned down that offer. I’m planning to take a break from earning money and shoot as a hobby. I have a fat bank account, so it’s about time I wasted it.”
“That sounds like to me that director Park Joongjin is planning to put his mind to working on a piece. Am I correct?”
Joongjin nodded crookedly. He looked like he was going with the mood, even though he didn’t like it. If he wasn’t the president of an agency that had the actor he wanted, that guy would’ve turned around and left already.
“That is the case.”
“If it’s like that, then I can send him to you without a guarantee. You’re the almighty director Park after all.”
“Please don’t say something that’s not even on your mind. Write a suitable contract with decent pay instead.”
“Alright, that boy doesn’t have anything special, so he’s pretty cheap.”
“Then let’s end that matter there.”
Joongjin pressed down on his knees and stood up. Just as he turned around while undoing the top button of the flowery shirt he wore all four seasons, he stopped in front of a photo on the wall. Junmin smiled bitterly. It was a pretty old photo. It was the photo of Jung Haejoo and the troupe members. He and Joongjin were in it as well.
“That’s a photo I didn’t see the last time I was here. I believe there was a photo of a pup before the layout of the office changed.”
“I see you still have a good memory. I was browsing through some old records and found that photo, so I hung it up.”
“That’s a good photo of Haejoo.”
“Indeed.”
“Can I ask you one thing?”
Junmin took out a photocopy of the photo on the wall from his drawers. He even framed it beforehand. Back when he created this, he couldn’t understand why he was making such a thing, but it seemed like it was for this moment. When he pushed the frame towards him, Joongjin accepted the frame looking rather surprised.
“You scared me there. If you knew that this was going to happen and prepared this beforehand, I would have to believe you even if you say you can see the future.”
“It’s not like that. I too don’t know why I made this. But looking at your expression, I think I know why I made it.”
After staring at the photo for a long while, Joongjin said ‘thank you’ in a really small voice. That was something that Joongjin rarely said even as a formality, but that just now felt like it came from the bottom of his heart.
“I can’t really call it compensation, but I’ll shoot a great piece with Mr. Han Maru.”
“If you do, then I’d be grateful.”
Joongjin lowered his head and left the room. Junmin, who watched as he left, subconsciously called him to stop him.
“Haejoo’s grave. I saw that you visited her this year too.”
Joongjin turned around. He looked incredibly curious about his intentions on bringing up that topic now. There was a hint of hatred as well. Junmin thought that the two males who loved the same woman simultaneously would never reconcile and never even think about doing such a thing, but after seeing Joongjin smiling sadly and warmly after taking that photo, he felt like a fool for being on the edge. Joongjin seemed to have felt the same as his expression soon turned into a powerless smile.
“What do you think Haejoo would’ve said if she saw us like this?”
“I wonder. What do you think, director Park?”
“She’ll probably not notice anything and would then grab both our hands and say that we should go eat. She’s a woman who made me marvel at her while she was acting, but she was bad at taking hints.”
“I think so too.”
Junmin looked at the photo on the wall. Many things had changed. One woman died, one man chased after the mirage and ended up creating a firm nest for himself, while the other man left after forsaking everything as though he was fed up before he eventually returned. Nothing remained the same, but there was one thing that hadn’t changed from the scenery in the photo.
“We really took that photo far away from each other, huh.”
“I went to the corner because I didn’t want to stand next to you, president Lee.”
“I’m the same.”
Junmin looked at Joongjin who stood next to him. He still looked distant, but he felt like the distance had shrunk a little. Whether it was due to time or his heart had been weathered away, or whether he had matured, he didn’t know.
“If you have time next week, why don’t we go meet Haejoo together? I was planning on weeding that place since I haven’t done it this year.”
Joongjin did not reply. He only responded after a long while when head manager Kang notified them that there was a guest.
“Very well. I’ll go with you. I think it’s about time we finish talking about the things we have always delayed about.”
“We’re too old to keep delaying things like immature kids.”
Joongjin smiled and spoke,
“I’m younger than you, president Lee.”
“After fifty, everyone’s just getting old, so let’s just say that we’re in similar situations.”
“Fifty, huh. Thinking about my age, it does make me realize that I’ve hated you for quite a long time. By this point in time, it wouldn’t be strange to marry another woman and have a child.”
“We’re old enough to see grandchildren.”
“Both you and I have it tough because our hearts were taken away by an incredible woman.”
Joongjin looked down at his flower-patterned shirt and undid all the buttons and took it off. He looked like he didn’t need it anymore.
“See you next time.”
Junmin saw him off.
