“You were close to Yoonseo the idol?” Byungchan asked as soon as he got in the car.
Maru replied as he pulled the seatbelt,
“We’re at most acquainted with each other. We didn’t have that many scenes together during the shoot, so I didn’t get to talk to her that much.”
“Then she must be one kind person. I mean she practically took pity on a guy standing awkwardly. Thanks to that, you got to show up on the entertainment show weekly.”
“True.”
“How was the atmosphere inside? I would’ve gone in with you if I didn’t have work to do.”
“It was good. The last episode turned out to be good too. I could see their hardships. I think the viewing rate will be pretty good.”
“Is that coming from one of the cast? Or from a viewer?”
“I think it’s closer to the cast? I personally rather like fairytale-like endings where two people live happily ever after, but there are bound to be people who don’t like such clichés.”
“I guess the trend of dramas is changing lately. When crazy plots were everywhere, all daily dramas had crazy plots, but these days, the emotional factor is coming back. Mini-series dramas used to be all about smooth progress, but ever since KBS did a deep-dive on political crime stuff, it became the trend to give the stories a twist. In that sense, Doctor’s Office conformed to the needs of the audience.”
“The last episode of Doctor’s Office was good.”
“And you must have liked Miss Gaeul from that episode.”
“You don’t say.”
Byungchan said that there were hangover drinks in the back seat. When Maru turned around, he saw boxes of various drinks. Not to mention hangover drinks, there were energy drinks with lots of caffeine, vitamin drinks, digestive medicine drinks, and even fiber drinks.
“You still carry around so much with you these days?”
“It’s a force of habit. I would buy a lot of them and put them in the back seats back when I worked as a road manager. I had to say hello to many people after all. It’s just that I haven’t fixed that habit. These days, I stay a lot more at the office, so I don’t even have anywhere to hand those around.”
“Then should I take them? I can place them at home.”
“It’s the blood and sweat of a salaryman, but since it’s you, I’ll give it to you. Take a box with you.”
Maru picked up the box of vitamin drinks. Maru pointed at Gaeul printed on the box.
“She’s pretty, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, she is. Is she coming back tomorrow?”
“She’s at home already. She came back in the afternoon, and hung out with some people before coming back.”
“So there was a reason why you didn’t go for the second round.”
The car stopped in front of the apartment complex. Maru undid his seatbelt and spoke,
“Are you going home now?”
“I think I’ll have to go back to the office. I still have to take care of some things.”
“You’re working hard. Give me a call when you have some time. Let’s eat together after a long time.”
“Sounds good.”
Byungchan fidgeted with his phone. It seemed like he received a text message regarding work. Maru tried to get out quietly so that he did not disturb him.
Just then,
“Maru, have you heard anything from senior Dongwook recently?”
He poked his torso back in with one foot still outside.
“What about him?”
“He suddenly quit work and is no longer picking up my calls. The chief editor for our magazine has changed too. The president said in passing that he quit because of personal circumstances, but he quit work so suddenly and cut off all contact, so I’m worried about him.”
“He quit?”
“So you didn’t know about it either.”
He had a vague idea since Dongwook invested quite a lot of time into chasing Lee Miyoon and Hong Janghae, but it felt very different to hear about it in person. Just because president Lee Junmin gave him his support, it didn’t mean that quitting work was any less grave. Whether it was just a formality or not, he had left the workplace he used to be in and jumped into a matter that had an unclear outcome. Even if Lee Miyoon and Hong Janghae were punished later, Dongwook wouldn’t gain any monetary benefits from this. At most, it would be a sense of relief from being able to take revenge.
“I got through to him once before, and he seems to be resting. You know, he’s been overloaded with work quite a lot. It seems like he’ll take a full break and return later.”
“Really? I’m glad if that’s the case. I also want to throw my phone into the Han river and go missing.”
“Everyone’s like that.”
Maru closed the door. Before the car departed, Byungchan asked him to say hi to Gaeul. Maru waved at the car that was becoming distant before going to his house.
“I’m here.”
Gaeul was on the veranda. He walked over to her and gave her a light hug and a kiss.
“Who was it? You seemed to be close.”
“Byungchan-hyung.”
“Oh, it was your Mr. Byungchan? You should’ve brought him with you.”
“He has some work to do at the company. He’s a busy guy.”
Maru looked at Gaeul’s arm. There was a tint of bronze from the tanning.
“I’m a little sunburnt, aren’t I?”
“It looks nice on you. How was the vacation?”
“Unexpectedly good actually. The weather was warm, the sea was clear, and the fruits were really tasty. It’s totally different from the ones you eat in Korea, even if they’re the same types of fruit.”
“Which one was the most delicious?”
Like a squirrel spitting out all the seeds inside its cheeks at its home, Gaeul told him everything that happened during the vacation from start to end. She was so excited as she talked that it was to the point that it made Maru happy just by watching. Her voice was filled with joy whenever he responded to her words. He listened to her words over a can of beer. After talking for a while with a smile on her face, she stopped and rolled her finger around the lip of the beer can. Perhaps she remembered some bitter memories about the vacation she said was ‘unexpectedly good.’
“You must be tired. Should we head back inside?”
There was no need to bring up past memories if it was exhausting to do so.
“Things are going well, right?” Gaeul asked suddenly.
Although she left out all the context, Maru immediately realized what she was referring to.
“Yes, they are.”
“I knew it. I thought so when Lee Miyoon, who had been depressed ever since the start of the vacation, became overjoyed right before we came back. Something good must have happened to her. I don’t think she realized that it will ultimately be her own shackles.”
“I don’t think that’s true. She’s just treating it lightly since she probably thinks that the risk is worth taking. Or, maybe she had the confidence to suppress things even if something does happen once she regains her power.”
“That sounds reasonable. It felt rather strange watching her. It involves many people, so I can’t exactly feel happy about it. How is it going with Yoojin’s mother?”
“I’m going to contact Yoojin once I get some materials from senior Dongwook. She’ll probably persuade her mother to stop. I’m sure her mother will immediately quit once she realizes that things might get dangerous for her.”
“Is there anything I can do? I’m not unrelated to all this. If you need my help, tell me any time.”
“I might need your help when we persuade Yoojin. We should be able to win her over easily, but if that isn’t the case, we’ll need someone more persuasive than me.”
“We’re doing this for Yoojin’s sake, aren’t we? If it’s like that, I’ll gladly help.”
Gaeul sipped on the beer. She looked a little tired right now as though she spent all the energy she charged up during vacation talking. When he asked if she was sleepy, she shook her head.
“One more thing. I think the relationship between Lee Miyoon and Kang Giwoo has become bad. I didn’t hear the whole conversation because there was a door between us, but from the angry voices and the tone of their words, I can tell for sure that the relationship between them became sour. I ran into a little problem so I was in a fix, but Lee Miyoon even helped out. I found out later that her helping me was equivalent to harming Kang Giwoo. It looks like she hates Kang Giwoo to the point that she was even willing to make me benefit after hating me so much over the years.”
“How were those two before?”
“Don’t even start. The only one Lee Miyoon doted on during the shoot was Kang Giwoo. At one point, Kang GIwoo was even famous for having tamed Lee Miyoon. Though, she still acted terribly towards others.”
“Yet the relationship between the two soured, huh? The answer’s obvious then.”
“What is it?”
“It’s because you’re too pretty.”
“I can’t get used to your jokes now since it’s been a few days.”
“I’m not joking though.”
“Don’t say that. It’s making me feel iffy.”
Gaeul said that she should talk about it now that it was brought up and began to talk about what happened between her and Giwoo. So, he grabbed whose hand, and incited others to talk bad about who? By the time she finished, Maru was looking for his car keys. He felt like he had to give that guy a smack in the face and have a good talk with him.
“I don’t know anymore. I just thought it was a simple affection or greed, but I don’t think it’s at that level anymore.”
“There’s only one thing that comes to my mind after listening to that: Obsession.”
Gaeul faintly smiled after hearing that word.
“That’s what I told Giwoo as well; that he was obsessed with me. He looked quite shocked, as though he didn’t have an idea what his own feelings were until now.”
“Those with mental problems should visit a doctor. Will there be another occasion where you meet with Giwoo in the future?”
“No, not for the foreseeable future. Even if there is, I’m going to cancel it. I was originally not going to tell you about it since I know you’ll be worried, but I think that it’ll be better if you know about it.”
“Thanks for telling me about it.”
The timing of Lee Miyoon hitting Gaeul’s cheek and the relationship between the two going sour matched. Maru felt like he shouldn’t take this ‘obsession’ lightly. There was no one more dangerous than those who would commit crazy deeds out of madness.
His expression seemed to have frozen up while he was thinking as Gaeul told him to loosen up a little.
“Don’t worry too much since nothing much will happen if I watch out for it. Rather than that, how was the afterparty? I talked about mine, so let’s hear yours.”
Gaeul went over on her knees and placed her head on his shoulder. Feeling her warmth made the depressing emotions coursing through him disappear without a trace. Lee Miyoon, Kang Giwoo, Hong Janghae – those names were vaporized from his head. He felt like nothing would matter as long as she was by his side.
“There’s something that might invoke your jealousy.”
Maru started talking with a grin on his face. Looking at Gaeul, who was urging him to go on, he whispered in a small voice.
