Chapter 850. Sequence 12
He found it strange. Why would she avoid her eyes? She was young, so she might feel shy when looking someone in the eyes, but from the minute tremors in the corner of her eyes, there seemed to be a different reason. Giwoo had seen numerous people avoiding his eyes like that. The executives that lowered their eyes in fear after being found out by his grandfather while pulling tricks looked like that. He wondered if he should ignore it, or if he should probe her out. It hadn’t reached the point of wanting to ask her everything, but it did tug at his mind. Everyone was looking at him with goodwill, but she stood out as she looked at him with wariness.
“Gaeul.”
Just as he was about to approach Bitna, who was by herself in the distance, he saw Gaeul, who appeared with coffee in hand. He put away his doubt about the brat and talked to Gaeul first. It was a trivial problem like a sore on his tongue, so he didn’t need to resolve it immediately.
“What is it?”
“I don’t think I’ve heard your answer to the question I asked yesterday.”
“Yesterday?”
“If you’re going to tell me that you forgot about it, then give me some time. I’ll go to the bathroom and wipe my tears for a bit.”
“I haven’t forgotten. I just didn’t get to talk to you about it because I was so caught up with the shoot. I’m grateful that you invited me, but I don’t think I can make it after all.”
“You have something to do that day?”
“I have a prior engagement. I think about this a lot recently, but I think I’ve gotten quite busy. Though, I’m still no match for you.”
“That’s such a pity. It is a good opportunity to taste some good wine.”
“Yeah, it is. Let’s go together next time.”
“Alright.”
Gaeul walked by while waving her script in the air. Giwoo relaxed the smile on his face and looked at her back. Did she hear something from Han Maru? Or did she actually have an appointment that day? If she heard about his past from Han Maru, she would probably hold him in contempt and avoid him, but there was nothing like that. She smiled back and responded just like before. For the past few days, he had watched her from a distance, but it didn’t look like she had a change of heart. If she heard something from Han Maru, she should have shown a reaction.
Thinking back, it was unlikely that Han Maru would tell his woman about the past and to ‘be careful of Kang Giwoo.’ Not only was there no evidence, it would also look shameful for him to just snitch like that. There was a possibility that Han Gaeul might become suspicious of him or even get fed up with him if he tried to taint the reputation of an actor in his prime, so he must have not mentioned it. Giwoo didn’t know how close the two were, but they shouldn’t have revealed everything to each other. After all, he was like that too.
He thought about it several times over, but the conclusion he reached was that Han Gaeul knew nothing after all. Even if she did, he could just feign ignorance and tell her that no such thing happened. If she came out strong about it, he could just borrow the power of law. After all, the reputation and relations.h.i.+ps he had maintained for a long time would bury the flaws of his past. A near-nameless actor dating Han Gaeul versus an actor at his peak of popularity. It was obvious who the ma.s.ses would side with.
Seeing Gaeul treat him like usual felt like a burden had been lifted off him. The brat’s strange att.i.tude didn’t matter anymore.
“Mr. Seongho, I heard you are getting married. Congratulations. Please tell me the date. I might not be able to attend, but I can always send you congratulatory gifts.
“Miss Yoonah, the restaurant you recommended to me last time was really good. Thank you. I was able to have a good time with my parents thanks to you. I’m not saying this is compensation, but here are tickets to a musical. You said you fought with your boyfriend before, right? Try to make up with him with these. It’s a romantic comedy, so I’m sure you two will get back together again.
“Jongsoo, doing a part-time job is hard, isn’t it? But try to hold on for just a little more. I overheard the lighting director say the new recruit was skilled and that he wants to keep working with him; that’s about you. The director might be a little strict, but he definitely leads his people in the right direction, so try your best. I’ll try to talk about you too when I can.”
He crossed off the names on the list in his head as he spoke to people. It was rather annoying to have to walk around the set with his ears open, but it was something he couldn’t afford to do without. It was what allowed the current ‘Kang Giwoo’ to exist, after all. The important thing to do in order to achieve superiority in a relations.h.i.+p was to give material gifts and remember trivial things. As long as they were human, no one would hate what is given to them for free. The important thing here was to not act haughty about giving the gift, it was to express that they ‘deserve’ those gifts discreetly. While it might sound crude, it was quite effective. Ten compliments and one gift were enough to turn goodwill into friends.h.i.+p.
The more st.u.r.dy his reputation became, the farther Giwoo felt his path in front of him unfolded. There was not long left until he left the halo of his grandfather and would be able to stand on his own. He would be acknowledged as long as he achieved complete independence through his career as an actor.
Giwoo finished his relations.h.i.+p management by congratulating someone’s birthday and looked around to find Gaeul. He had been thinking this for the past few days while observing her: Han Gaeul was a decent woman the more he watched her. Giwoo even briefly imagined a future where he would call her his wife. He didn’t feel ashamed about it, so she pa.s.sed the criteria. Women were better if they were obedient, but someone unrelenting like Han Gaeul wasn’t bad either. If her personality disturbed him, he could always fix it down the line. Giwoo knew just how he should handle women like that.
“I wonder what I should do.”
It was a possessive desire he had not felt in a long time, and what’s more, towards a woman. The fact that she was Han Maru’s woman was also a factor that he quite liked. He genuinely looked forward to what kind of expression Maru would put on if he was deprived of the thing that he thought was his.
“Giwoo, you know who Seonah is, right? She wants to meet you once. It’s not a serious meeting; she just wants to talk to you in private. Don’t overthink things, and give me some face here,” said a senior as he approached him.
Giwoo really held him in contempt after seeing him tap his shoulders like they were real friends when Giwoo only acted close to him a couple times. He wanted to grab his drooping ears and tell him to know his place, but he put on a kind smile instead.
“I’ll meet her if it’s your request, senior. But my schedule is jam-packed right now. Also, as far as I am aware, Miss Seonah is busy too nowadays.”
“The two of you can sort that out, just please meet her once. If it was anyone else, I would have rejected without batting an eyelid, but I thought that the two of you suited each other. You two are a match made in heaven.”
The senior gave him her number. Giwoo saved the number for now. A decently pretty woman wanted to meet him, so he could make some time for that, about a day or so. If she was someone who acted prim, then he would just split ways after having a meal with her, and if she was someone who played around, then he would take her to the hotel and relieve himself once. If she was an idiotic woman who was aiming for the mistress of YM, then he would toy with her before throwing her away. Having a lowly peasant join the royal family was unacceptable unless he liked her or something.
He scoffed at the senior who turned around feeling smug, before turning around to where Gaeul was again. She had been reading her script until just moments ago, but he couldn’t see her anymore. Giwoo clicked his tongue subconsciously. He had a strong feeling that he wasn’t able to do something worth his time because of something trivial.
“Han Gaeul.”
Giwoo clicked his tongue and started walking.
* * *
“Thank you for your work.”
Gaeul, who finished her worth of shoot today, immediately looked for Bitna. Bitna had also finished her shoot just now. It was 9 p.m. The director never failed to upkeep labor laws regarding minors.
“Did you finish too, unni?”
“My scenes were towards the beginning today, so I got off early. But I won’t be able to do this as much in the future. The shoot will last later and later into the night the closer it reaches the finish.”
“It must be hard.”
“It’s fine since it’s enjoyable. Bitna, are you taking the bus home?”
“No, mom said she’ll pick me up.”
“Right now?”
Just as Bitna was about to say something, she put her hand in her pocket. Her phone was vibrating. Please give me a second – she said before putting her phone against her ear. According to Yuna, she was apparently this polite from the time she was in elementary school. Imagining a little kid being all polite made her smile subconsciously.
“It looks like I’ll have to take the bus. Mom said she has something to do.”
“Really? Your house is near Banpo, right? If you’re living with Yuna.”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll give you a ride.”
“No, it’s fine. It doesn’t take that long by bus.”
“It also doesn’t take long if you ride my car. I also have to go to Banpo anyway.”
“It’s really okay though.”
Gaeul reached her hand out to Bitna. Bitna smiled shyly and fidgeted until she eventually grabbed her hand.
“Thanks for listening to my request. I’m someone who will have it no other way once I get stubborn.”
“I was just worried that I might be bothering you.”
“I’m giving a cute little sister a ride, so why would it be a bother at all? Oh, I’ll ask you this: did you say you were going to take the bus because you wanted to go back by yourself?”
“No, it’s not like that. I just thought that you must be tired and that driving me home will make you even more tired.”
Gaeul shook the hand in hers vigorously.
“It’s not tiring at all, so let me give you a ride. Oh, right. Aren’t you hungry? You didn’t eat that much for dinner, so you must be, right?”
“A little.”
“Then let’s buy some sandwiches on our way back.”
She told her manager Chanwoo and her stylist Mijoo to go back home first before getting her car out of the parking lot. She picked up Bitna who was waiting at the entrance and drove towards Banpo-dong. They visited a shop midway and bought some sandwiches. She bought one for Maru as well.
“This is yours, Bitna, and this is mine.”
“Thank you.”
“Enjoy your food. And here, take this drink too.”
They talked about various things while eating the sandwich. As for the thing about Giwoo, she intentionally did not bring that topic up. Bitna would speak about it if she deemed necessary. If she didn’t, then they wouldn’t talk about it.
Just as they were about to get up after finis.h.i.+ng the sandwich, Gaeul found Bitna staring at the sandwich she ordered as takeout.
“What, do you want more?”
“No, I’m full. But are you going to eat that too?”
“I have a big appet.i.te, but it’s hard for me to finish this one too. I’m buying it for someone else.”
Bitna nodded in understanding. She got in the car and put the paper bag with the sandwich in the back seat.
“Put on your seatbelt.”
“Yes, I just did.”
“Then let’s go.”
Yuna’s house was registered on her GPS navigation program. She inputted the address and pressed the gas pedal. Bitna was on her phone, and she seemed to be texting someone.
“I just told mom that I’m going home in someone"s car.”
“Right. You shouldn’t make your mother worried. When I was your age, I went everywhere without telling my mom, so I was scolded a lot.”
“My sister was like that too.”
“Yuna is quite similar to me. We have similar preferences too.”
From now on, she could say that they had similar tastes with a smile. It was such a happy thing that the fact that they liked the same man could become a good memory.
“Unni, I think you got a call.”
She heard some vibrations from the back seat. She recalled that she put her wallet and her phone in the paper bag while buying the sandwich.
“Bitna, I’m sorry, but can you take it out for me? I can’t let go of the wheel right now.”
“Okay, I will.”
Bitna turned around and took out the phone. Just as she was handing the phone to her, Bitna stared at the name on the screen. Then, she seemed to have recalled that it was not polite of her to do so and turned her head away in a cute manner.
“Sorry. The caller has the same name as someone I know.”
“Really? Who is it?”
“It says Han Maru.”
She got caught by a traffic light. Gaeul pressed the brakes and looked at Bitna. The Han Maru that Bitna knew of and the Han Maru that was calling was probably the same person. She recalled what happened a long time ago. Yuna asked her to introduce her to Maru, saying that her sister wanted to meet him. Later, though, she found out that Bitna wanting to meet him was just an excuse.
“He’s probably the Han Maru that you know of. You shot a drama together before too, haven’t you?”
“Is it really ahjussi?”
“Ahjussi?”
“No, senior, or well, should I call him oppa? I called him ahjussi when I was little, then oppa. My way of calling him changed quite a lot.”
The smart girl’s face was filled with question marks. Gaeul had fun watching her face. As she was smiling, the lights changed.
“Can you pick it up?”
“Me?”
“Tell him that you’re Kim Bitna and see how he reacts.”
Bitna hesitated a little before picking up the call with a nod.
“h.e.l.lo? This is Kim Bitna.”