Chapter 759. Sequence 2
The cat purred in her lap. The black fabric of her pants had turned into the colorful color of cat fur. She did hear that this cat moulted a lot, but she didn’t know it would be this bad
“She’s a total fur generator, not a cat,” Choi Seol said while putting down an empty beer can next to her.
Gaeul tickled the cat on the head with her finger. She could feel the round shape of the skull. When she stroked her finger down the neck and to the b.u.t.t, the cat stood up. She walked into the room before turning around. Your scratching skills are not up to stuff, her face seemed to say.
“Why don’t you tell me about it now?”
Choi Seol put a thick grin on her face. Gaeul understood what she was talking about immediately.
“There really isn’t anything.”
“Is this how you’re going to act? I’m tight-lipped. I definitely won’t tell other people about it.”
“I said there’s nothing to talk about.”
“No way. How can you say that not a single secretive something happened in the entertainment industry?”
“It’s the same people. Do you think people fall for each other whenever they see each other?”
“There’s definitely a lot of pretty men and women. Above all, a lot of men would be pursuing someone like you, Gaeul.”
“Aren’t you overestimating me?”
“That’s why I prepared something today.”
Choi Seol turned the TV on. Last week’s TV show was showing. Choi Seol put down the remote and after she touched her phone a few times, the TV screen changed into her phone screen.
“I looked for a clip as soon as I saw the live show.”
She looked up the video with the quick typing skills she had gained in high school and pointed at the TV with her chin. There was a video of an actor in an interview.
-If there’s an actress you want to act with, who would you pick?
-I would like to act with Miss Han Gaeul. I fell for the acting that she showed in ‘Flaming Lady’.
-Then since you’re at it, why don’t you give her a video letter!
-Uhm, Miss Gaeul. If we can, I’d love to act with you in the future. Or, I can just follow your schedule. It’d be an honor if you contact me personally but….
The actor scratched his head and asked if he was being too honest, making the atmosphere a lot more gentle. Choi Seol stopped the video.
“Tell me honestly. Did you meet this guy or not?”
A persistent gaze was glued on her. Choi Seol looked like she would never let her go if she didn’t reply. If the answer wasn’t to her liking, she probably wouldn’t change topics either. Gaeul looked at the piles of beer cans. They had drunk 6 cans between the two of them already. If she didn’t put an end to this, the number of cans would only increase.
“Yeah, I met him.”
She decided to be honest. Choi Seol pushed the beer she was about to open to one side. Having found prey that was more enticing than alcohol, beer lost any charm. Choi Seol showed the will to listen to every single detail with a clear mind. She poured some cold water into a bowl and drank it.
“Good, tell me about it.”
Choi Seol’s eyes became clear. Gaeul remembered back to the school trip six years ago. She looked and acted the same as back then when she pressed her to talk about the guy she was dating while hugging a pillow. The difference was that there was no pillow this time and that her cheeks were flushed red due to the alcohol.
“We didn’t meet each other independently. I was just called out by the director, and I saw him there as well.”
“Are you sure it was a coincidence and not a scheme? In order to see you?”
“Even if I say no, you won’t believe me, will you?”
“It’s a lot more interesting that way, exciting too.”
“Whatever. Anyway, we met there and had a conversation. It wasn’t a crowded place, so it took quite some time to relax. He might have said that on TV, but he’s actually a lot more gentle in real life. He seemed shy too.”
“Really? So not a sly one, huh.”
“He’s not. The way he speaks is really quiet, so he wasn’t bad as a conversation partner. No, in fact, it was pretty good. We shared a hobby too.”
“Hobby?”
“Going driving. Apparently, he likes driving his car without a destination. Then, he would come back home and rest once he was tired. He has a lot of similarities to me.”
“You’re right. You also rest at home a lot. Oh, that reminds me. When was it again? I think it was after you finished your drama. I went over to your house and it scared the heck out of me. I was wondering if I entered a pigsty instead of a house.”
“Hey, it wasn’t that bad. It was just a little messy because I just moved in. It was clean when you made another visit.”
“That’s because I cleaned it for you. Anyway, what happened after that?”
“That’s it. Hey, haven"t you been reading too many romance novels recently? You should stop watching dramas too. If every man and woman fell in love at first sight, then the novels and dramas you like would not sell. It’s because that doesn’t happen that that plot is made into movies, novels, and dramas.”
“Don’t break the mood. Are you sure nothing happened? I mean, he sure looks interested in you.”
Gaeul pushed away Choi Seol’s face as she was too close. After being pushed away by the forehead, Seol shook her head and approached her again. She was persistent like a detective that was convinced that there was a secret. Gaeul sighed out a warm breath. The detective won.
“Yeah, there was! There was one, okay!”
She gave up and told the truth. She stretched her arms out and lay back. The back of her head was caught on the tip of the sofa. When she loosened the tension in her stomach, her head brushed past the surface of the sofa and reached the floor.
“What? What’s this?”
Choi Seol immediately lay next to her. She put her arms around her knees and rolled sideways like a roly-poly toy. She looked like a child wanting a toy. The detective, whose eyes were on fire in order to seek the truth, had become endlessly gentle in front of the culprit who had confessed. Gaeul looked at the ceiling and probed around the floor with her hand. A pack of almonds that she bought as dry snacks entered her hand. The salty almond that entered her mouth tasted like the same almond she ate that night.
“I was about to go home after the director called me out, but he called out to me. He asked me if I was okay with drinking a little more.”
“He’s a playboy, not actually a shy guy?”
“It didn’t look like it. He looked like he had mustered up the courage. He looked a little pitiful too. He didn’t seem like a strange guy, so I said yes.”
“So? Where did you go?”
“A bar that he’s a regular at. It was a quiet place, and the privacy seemed good. We talked over a drink about various things.”
“What various things?”
“You know, just this and that. From work to everyday life. It wasn’t that awkward. He didn’t ask anything in detail either. It was like a light drinking session between friends.”
“Don’t tell me that’s it? My nose tells me that there’s something more to this. Tell me, tell me now.”
Gaeul turned her head to the right. She saw Seol, seeking an answer. Her nose was twitching.
“He asked for my number, and if we could eat together next time.”
“So? Did you give it to him?”
“No.”
“Why!”
Choi Seol abruptly sat up. She looked disappointed and flabbergasted as though she found a zero missing from her salary cheque. Gaeul also sat up. That man had good manners. They had a lot in common as well. The speed they drank at was decent, and his skills in leading a conversation weren’t bad. There was no need to talk about his looks since he was an actor. He was above average in every aspect. There was no reason to refuse his request anywhere. Perhaps she should have given him her number, telling him that they should eat out some time. She could remember the man’s embarra.s.sed smile as she politely apologized.
“I wanted to focus on work for a while.”
“Can’t you work while you are dating?”
“Actresses are all about image.”
“Hey, this is 2011. There are many people who publicly claim that they’re dating. We no longer live in a world where people are socially ostracized when there’s a dating scandal.”
“On the surface, true. But you need to have a look at the letters that arrive at the agency whenever there’s a scandal. Not only that, think about all the things that come up on social networks. I definitely need to be careful about that since I have a job that shows my face to other people.”
“If you say so. I find it a pity.”
“Why do you find it a pity when it’s about me?”
“Because I want vicarious satisfaction. I think I’m hopeless in this life. All the guys I like only see me as a friend. Should I just strip and a.s.sault them?”
Choi Seol blinked creepily while licking her lips. This girl was in critical condition. Her disease was lack of affection. Gaeul advised her friend not to step onto the path of a criminal. Her hand gestures were way too indecent and realistic to treat her words as a joke. Her hand movements looked like she was going to strip a man from top to bottom.
“I thought you wanted to live like a woman.”
“It’s because I can’t do that that I’m in this state.”
“Also, stop with your hands. You look like a pervert.”
“You wanna know what a pervert will do to you?”
Gaeul giggled and stood up. She needed more booze. Not one that had warmed up because it was left outside; she wanted a cool, refres.h.i.+ng one with droplets forming on the surface They switched places. They let the trash become the owners of the living room and sat at the table in the kitchen.
“But hey, what were you doing for an hour? You said you’d come right after you finished your radio.”
As she was embracing the chill of freshly taken-out beer, she received that question from Seol. That question took away her senses to the point that she could no longer tell if the beer in her hands was cold or hot anymore. Gaeul rolled her eyes around. She turned her eyes away from Seol and scanned the fridge, the cabinet, then the sink.
“Something’s up, huh?”
Why was it that acting, which was her source of income, became useless in front of her friend? She stopped trying to put on an act that even a child wouldn’t be fooled by. Perhaps a part of her wanted Seol to understand.
“I went to see a play.”
“A play? In that short time?”
“I only entered halfway. I didn’t watch it properly.”
“If you wanted to watch something, you should’ve told me about it. It would’ve been great if we watched it together.”
“Well, the thing I wanted to see wasn’t the play itself. No wait, I guess I wasn’t exactly watching for the person either.”
“What do you mean?”
“Seol, do you remember Han Maru?”
Choi Seol’s eyes looked up for a moment before coming back down again. She made a puzzled expression for a while because of the unfamiliar name but eventually exclaimed out loud in realization.
“Your ex-boyfriend?”
“So you remember him.”
“You went to see him? Why?”
“There wasn’t a special reason. I just happened to hear that it was his last performance. I wanted to congratulate him, without any special intentions.”
“So, did you tell him?”
Gaeul lifted the can of beer and shook her head. Choi Seol chuckled as though she knew that was going to be the case. After gulping down some beer, Choi Seol suddenly made a surprised expression.
“Don’t tell me you still have feelings for him?”
“Do you want me to be honest?”
“Gaeul, Han Gaeul. That’s no good. I feel really anxious now. Did you forget what happened? You came over to my house and cried the whole day.”
“I did do that.”
“Think about it carefully. Do you still have feelings for him?”
Gaeul shook her head.
“No, I don’t. But when I saw him, I felt strange. We haven’t contacted each other for three years, and I haven’t heard his voice either, but when I looked at him, I just felt relaxed. That’s why I left without even saying h.e.l.lo. I felt like it would be strange to go meet him.”
“Well done. You shouldn’t go meet a guy who dumped you. Not only that, you’re a popular actress. There’s nothing to be disappointed about. Forget your old feelings. Don’t ever look back at him, okay?”
“Okay. Also, it’s not like I felt anything special. I just felt relaxed. You know, like meeting an old friend after a long time. Right, it was comfort rather than love.”
“What the heck is up with that cheesy line? That’s supposed to be a line said between a married couple, so forget about it. You need to meet a better man. I’m sure that Han Maru or whatever is regretting you know? The girl he dumped is doing so well right now. Good, let’s go meet this Han Maru and laugh at him.”
“There you go again. Just drink.”
Just as Gaeul lifted her beer to toast, her phone rang. She got a call. She picked up the phone from the floor and flipped it around. She saw the caller"s name. It was producer Park Hoon.