She couldn’t let go of her phone. What Mijoo said reverberated in her mind. Kang Giwoo knew they were dating? She hadn’t expected that at all. Why did he not say anything despite knowing that? From how he stopped Mijoo from telling her about it, it meant that he was scheming something. Giwoo had been just watching her without a word recently, so maybe that was related to this. Her head hurt. It was likely that just as Maru didn’t have a good opinion of Giwoo, Giwoo did not have a good opinion of Maru. If he really was someone that did not hesitate to bully other people, then he must have tried to do something about Maru, and the fact that she was dating him would have been a great weapon. Had he decided to use it, he would have used it a long time ago. From how he was staying silent, did that mean he had another reason? Or was he waiting for the right time? It was likely that he was staying silent because that fact couldn’t damage Maru directly, but she couldn’t exactly feel relieved considering the things that Giwoo did until now.
The phone in her hands started vibrating. It was a call from Maru.
-I’m on my way back after getting them home. Have you called Mijoo?
“I just did. But there’s a problem.”
-What problem?
“She’s with Giwoo. It’s good that I called her immediately. If she kept staying next to him without knowing anything, she would have blurted out everything. But the bigger problem is that Giwoo knows you and I are dating.”
-Sounds like Mijoo told him.
“Kang Giwoo lied to her, saying that the three of us are all friends. Mijoo thought that he naturally knew that we were dating and told him about it.”
-And Giwoo must have acted like he naturally knew about it, yes?
“From her words, he was even smiling joyfully.”
-When was that?
“The day you and I drank wine.”
-Has Giwoo given you any hints since then?
“No.”
-Journalists haven’t come looking for you either, right?
“If they did, I would have told you about it.”
-So that means he’s keeping that to himself for now, huh. He’s probably staying quiet since revealing it will only harm you. It will also badly influence the drama if rumors spread around.
“I think so too. In fact, if he told anyone, it would be you.”
-He didn’t call me either. If he knew about it, he would definitely have brought it up with me, but from how there wasn’t a response at all until now, it looks like he has something else planned.
“I don’t care if Giwoo reveals it to the media. I can proudly admit it.”
-You’re at the prime of your career. Although it has become a lot better than before, there are many people who don’t sit well with an actress’s romantic relationship. If it gets exposed, there will be more demerits than benefits. I’m sure your agency won’t like it either.
“Things have gotten complicated. I was going to verify what I knew and was going to hear the truth from her, but Kang Giwoo is there too.”
-What did you tell Mijoo?
“For now, I told her to leave after wrapping things up. She may have made a mistake, but she’s still someone I cherish a lot. I can’t let her stay tied up with Giwoo. The same goes for Chanwoo.”
-Alright. I’ll call Mijoo.
“What for?”
-Insurance.
Maru told her not to worry about it and hung up. Although she wanted to rest, she couldn’t exactly relax in this situation. Gaeul grabbed her phone and went to the living room, hoping for some good news.
* * *
Maru quickly searched for a name on his contact list and gave that person a call.
“Noona, I need a favor.”
-What’s up? It’s not like you to use a word like favor, and to me of all people.
“I’m in a hurry, so can you help me out? If you can’t, then I’ll look for someone else.”
-I don’t know what it is, but sure.
“Where are you right now?”
-At a bar near your house. We were going to barge into your place out of habit but realized we couldn’t do that, so we’re sulking. By we, I mean me and the two men here.
“Then I’ll go pick you up.”
-Alright. I don’t know what it is, but the cute little boy sounds so urgent, so I don’t have a reason to refuse. I’ll be waiting.
Maru hung up and turned the wheel.
* * *
Mijoo kept staring at the mirror in the bathroom. Although she was told to wrap things up and leave while pretending nothing happened, that wasn’t as easy as it sounded.
“I can’t believe Giwoo-oppa lied to me.”
Thinking about how he lied without batting an eyelid made it difficult for her to face him. What kind of expression was she supposed to make while going back? She had to bring the drunk Chanwoo out, so this was definitely not something easy. She couldn’t explain what she just heard to him either. Mijoo slapped her mouth. Her mouth was the source of trouble. The fact that Gaeul told her that they were dating meant that she trusted her, but she ended up betraying that trust. No matter how ‘healthy’ of a relationship they had, the very fact that an actress was in a relationship might be fatal. She easily spoke about something she should never have. Even if she knelt in front of her and begged for forgiveness, she couldn’t be forgiven for it.
That was why she had to wrap this situation up properly. That was the least she could do. Whether her act was going to work in front of someone who could deceive everyone like breathing and was an actor to boot, was questionable, but she still had no choice. They had to escape this place. As long as Chanwoo did not say that they should stay for longer, it might end unexpectedly early.
She smiled naturally while looking at the mirror for one last time, though, whether it was truly ‘natural’, she wasn’t entirely sure. It had been three years since she started watching actors on sets. She probably wouldn’t get found out immediately.
She put on makeup again in order to create an excuse for leaving her seat for so long. She was planning to tell Giwoo that Gaeul had asked her about something related to the schedule if he did ask. She calculated that he wouldn’t pry too deep as it was about work. She hadn’t wracked her brain this much since she was in her third year of high school. After imagining a few possible situations, she left the bathroom. She took a deep breath and was about to walk to the door when she got another call. Mijoo flinched. She was already very tense, and the bell startled her. She checked the name of the caller on the phone. It was Maru.
“Yes, oppa.”
-I heard the gist of it from Gaeul.
She reflexively apologized.
-Apologizing can come later. Are you inside the store right now?
“No, I was thinking outside and was just about to go in.”
-Do you think you can act like nothing happened after you go in?
“I’ll try. I just have to go in and say that we should go home. Chanwoo-oppa might say that we should drink more, but I’ll try to make something out of it.”
-Don’t do that, and just drink like you were just doing.
“What?”
-You don’t have to try to leave, just keep drinking. But you can’t get too drunk, so drink in moderation. Also, I have a favor to ask.
“A favor?”
* * *
Kang Giwoo put down his glass and looked at his watch. Mijoo, who had left after getting a call from Gaeul, hadn’t returned for over 30 minutes. He checked the notification bar on her phone before he picked up the call and saw that there were a lot of messages and missed calls. If they were all from Han Gaeul, it meant that it was pretty urgent, and from the conversation with them, he found out that Gaeul would never call them regarding work once their work period was over. He became curious about the reason she called at this late hour. If it was any other woman, he wouldn’t be interested, but this was about Han Gaeul. Giwoo wanted to know about Gaeul in detail. He was personally interested, and she was also Han Maru’s woman after all.
Mijoo returned around the time Chanwoo said he was going to the bathroom after drinking like a whale. Her expression didn’t look too good.
“Giwoo-oppa, pour me a glass.”
Giwoo poured some drink into Mijoo’s glass. Mijoo then snatched the glass and put it straight against her mouth.
“What happened?”
“Something happened.”
She then proceeded to sigh as though she was blaming herself for something. She became like this after taking a call. What did she hear from Han Gaeul? He was really curious now. He wanted to grill her about what she just heard, but he took some leisure. It was very arduous and tiring to deal with a girl he didn’t like, and this bitch would probably stay silent if he acted ferociously right now.
“I’m a good listener too.”
This bitch probably didn’t know how expensive the smile she was seeing right now nor how blessed she was for drinking with Kang Giwoo. If his friends found out about this, they would all probably laugh at him, saying that they couldn’t believe that he drank with a girl like her. That was why Mijoo would have to tell him everything. He could bring out the patience to hang out with her for now, but if she kept staying silent without knowing her place, he was going to give her a punishment.
He locked eyes with Mijoo. She seemed to be hiding something. He was feeling itchy because of that mouth that didn’t tell him anything. He couldn’t shout at her either. Thinking that feeding her more alcohol would loosen her up a little, he poured some more for her. After drinking it, Mijoo sighed and spoke,
“It’s my fault.”
“What did you do?”
“It’s all my fault. So the thing is.”
Because of the alcohol, her words were slurry. He wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her, telling her, ‘how you feel is none of my fucking business, so just tell me what you talked about over the goddamn phone.’
“Gaeul-unni is so pitiful.”
“Gaeul is? Why?”
“So, the thing is, it goes like this. Han Maru, that bastard….”
After mumbling, Mijoo fell onto the table. Giwoo couldn’t make out what happened at all. Han Gaeul is pitiful and Han Maru is a bastard?
Chanwoo returned and spoke as he looked at Mijoo on the table,
“Looks like she’s completely drunk. Giwoo, this girl can’t even speak when she’s drunk. Her drunk behavior is really strange.”
Giwoo narrowed his eyes and looked at Mijoo. Just as he said, she seemed totally drunk. She was mumbling something, but he couldn’t make out a word she said. Thinking back to the words Mijoo said, he ate some snacks. About 20 minutes later, Mijoo raised her head again.
“Did I fall asleep?”
“You’re totally drunk, alright. Mijoo, I told you to drink in moderation.”
Chanwoo gave Mijoo some water. Giwoo asked after looking at her,
“Mijoo, what you said before.”
“What?”
“You don’t remember?”
Mijoo made a totally clueless expression. He took a closer look at the bitch’s expression. Something felt off. The girl who was drunk to the point of falling asleep looked strangely sober. When he looked into her eyes, she even looked away. Oh? Was this girl playing a joke with him?
In order to make other people’s acting habits his own, he needed to have good observing eyes. Giwoo could proudly say that he was better than anyone when it came to catching the minute changes within people. If he put his mind to it, it was only a matter of time until he found out what kind of things she was pulling off here.
“Er, Mijoo.”
Just as he was about to probe her out, Mijoo’s eyes looked over his shoulder. Giwoo looked around. A not-so-welcome face was walking across the store. It was Han Maru. Next to him was a woman with a black mask and a baseball cap. They looked pretty close.
Giwoo tried to look at Mijoo’s face again, but the bitch already planted her face on the table again. Just then, he remembered her saying that Han Maru was a bastard and that Han Gaeul was pitiful. The one who was walking with Maru just now was not Han Gaeul. Their body figures were different. Although he couldn’t make out her face because of the mask and the fact that it was dark in the store, he could be sure about that.
Giwoo took out his phone and called Gaeul.
-What?
He could feel anger from the voice over the phone. It also wasn’t like her to pick up the call with a ‘what.’ This was getting interesting. He held back from smiling and asked,
“I was having a drink with Mijoo and I suddenly thought about you. If you aren’t too busy, wanna come hang out?”
-Sorry, I don’t feel like it today. Thanks for calling, but see you later.
“Alright, no biggie. Have a good rest.”
Before he could finish the word ‘rest,’ Gaeul hung up. It wasn’t her usual way of ending a call in a cheerful tone. Something was happening, the key to which was probably with Han Maru, who just disappeared into the back of the store. He couldn’t care less about Mijoo now. She could sleep or do whatever she wanted.
Giwoo told Chanwoo that he would go to the bathroom and walked towards the direction Maru disappeared in. There were many couples drinking in places that were walled off by partitions. They didn’t give a glance even if anyone passed by. This was the reason Giwoo frequented this place. He would be worry-free from annoying flies here. That was why many celebrities frequented this place as well. Here, it was courtesy to not greet each other, even if they did know each other, unless they were extremely close.
After passing by a few partitions, Giwoo managed to find the face he wanted. He saw Han Maru with a big grin on his face.
