Chapter 907. Crank Up 2
It was probably around the time he was ten. He brought a transforming pencil case that he got as a gift from his grandfather. He had more than enough toys, but the pencil case he got from his grandfather was special. Just as he was boasting it off to the other kids in cla.s.s, that kid put her hand out. She was an especially tall girl. She, the leader of the kids who ‘played around’ in cla.s.s, s.n.a.t.c.hed the pencil case away from him and touched all over it, toying with it. He asked for it back, but that was of no use. She tossed the pencil case in the air for fun, and when she received it, the arm of the robot broke and fell on the floor. A gift he personally got from his grandfather had become distorted into a weird shape. The head had snapped backwards and did not return to its normal place, while the chest, which had a cool symbol on it, had been dented inwards. His pencils and eraser fell out of the pencil case like guts.
“I was just playing a joke. You’re not upset, are you?”
That was what the girl said. He immediately realized that she did it on purpose. Was it because he won the cla.s.s president election? Or was it because he didn’t go to her party? Or maybe, was it because he refused when she asked him out to play? All of them had reasons. He didn’t want to do the cla.s.s president election, but he got voted for it and ended up being elected, he was sick on her birthday, and he had already made plans to go rollerblading with his friends when she asked him out to play. No matter how hard he thought about it, he did nothing wrong. He kept thinking about what he did wrong as he picked up the pencils from the floor. He put the eraser in last and picked up the no-longer-transformable pencil case. Only then did he realize that he was crying.
“Hey, hey! Kang Giwoo’s crying. He’s crying because his pencil case was broken! He’s a crybaby!”
He could see the girl’s fingertips. She was laughing her heart out as though she had watched a funny scene from a cartoon.
The ear-piercing giggle, the razor-sharp fingertips, the gaze from above, and finally, the broken pencil case.
“You’re a boy, but you’re so petty just because of a broken pencil case.”
The pieces of the puzzle spinning around all scattered and gathered together. He used the girl’s voice as the adhesive to piece the puzzles together into a solid, unshaken thought. Giwoo realized that his tears had stopped. He put the pencil case on his desk and stood in front of the girl who was still laughing.
“Right, you were just playing around, weren’t you?”
He made a refres.h.i.+ng smile. A month later, that girl no longer came to school. Apparently, the girls he was close to had bullied her. When the homeroom teacher said that she transferred to another school due to family circ.u.mstances, Giwoo thought: he was just playing a joke, a small joke.
“Are you crazy?”
Kang Giwoo blinked. The event from ten years ago was reflected in his eyes before disappearing. Gaeul’s stylist shouting, Gaeul stopping her, and the director interrupting - his floating sense of reality returned to his body. Giwoo stroked his chin. Gaeul’s fair skin started bleeding. Even though it was perfectly reasonable that her stylist was shouting, Gaeul just checked her wound in the mirror and calmly washed it off. An aura that overwhelmed the crowd had seeped out of her entire body, just like a scene from a beautiful movie.
The broken pencil case from a long time ago overlapped with Gaeul for a brief moment, but it no longer did. The cool pencil case went into the trash after it was broken, but Gaeul had not lost her elegance. The one fact that she was not broken echoed in his head. He looked at Gaeul boldly walking out of the set. His heart pounded more than when he got the pencil case from his grandfather. She was an item that he desired so much. A lover, a companion, a wife, a friend for a lifetime - those were the kinds of labels he wanted to put on her. He smiled subconsciously. Ever since he had started shooting Doctor’s Office, he had not bedded anyone. Giwoo wanted to applaud himself for making such a decision. Compared to Gaeul, every other woman was cla.s.sless. The only one that suited him, who had to have the highest cla.s.s by his side, was Han Gaeul.
Giwoo looked at Lee Miyoon. The inflated desires and pleasure he got while thinking about Gaeul were extinguished instantly. The handbag that Lee Miyoon was holding entered his eyes. This woman wounded her with that cheap thing. That woman dared to create a flaw on an item that even the owner just let be. Had he been slightly close to Gaeul, he would have pushed Lee Miyoon away. A good opportunity to score some points with her had been lost.
Hearing the words ‘back to work’, the staff scattered and checked on the equipment. The noisy set became quiet with three words from the director. The director stared at Lee Miyoon for a long time before turning around, as though he would not sit this one by. Giwoo met eyes with Lee Miyoon who was glaring around everywhere while swallowing her frustration.
“Giwoo, Giwoo.”
And she went off again. Giwoo left the set, slowly so that Miyoon could catch up with him. Miyoon also followed him out without causing a fuss. On his way out, a staff member he came across told him to watch out. It was funny, because the one who should watch out was the old woman behind him, not him.
“Why did you do that?”
“You should’ve seen that b.i.t.c.h’s eyes. Those terrible eyes that look down on people. Did you see her glare at me just because she got hurt a little? She’s a vicious b.i.t.c.h.”
The word ‘b.i.t.c.h’ really got on his mind. Lee Miyoon should have already been notified that her era of leeching power to rise had been finished. It was not good for her to think that he would still treat her as an elder like before. If she had any wits, she should be getting on her knees, but she kept nagging him to give a call to his grandfather. He didn’t like that.
“I must meet the chairman once again. I think something’s gone wrong. I’m sure someone tampered with something in the middle. I need to meet the chairman alone and set this straight.”
“Set what straight?”
“My position, my power. My everything.”
“I see.”
Giwoo nodded and switched places to somewhere less crowded. He went to the back of the warehouse for the set. As it was under construction, no one would come other than construction workers during the day. He walked slowly and observed if there was anyone nearby. Fortunately, there was no one.
“Looks like you’re in a tight spot, senior.”
“It’s not that. There’s a slight misunderstanding. Everything will go back to normal as long as you can arrange a meeting for me with the chairman. So Giwoo, allow me to meet the chairman one more time.”
“That’s different from what I know. From what I hear, everyone under you has all left.”
Lee Miyoon’s face contorted. She seemed to be curious about how he knew.
“You might not know, but grandfather tells me a lot of things. He explained to me the other side of power ever since I matured, saying that I must know these things. One of the most impressive things to me was the parasites that leech power.”
At first, he tried to let her off with nice words. Had Lee Miyoon not hurt Gaeul’s cheek with her handbag, he would have grabbed her hands and cheered her up. However, this old hag touched something that she shouldn’t have. He almost ruined that fair line.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you, senior. Grandfather told me in deep detail about those parasites. There are supposedly many different parasites, and they each leech off power in different ways. But funnily enough, all parasites eventually fall under one misconception and drive themselves into doom; the misconception that their power stems from them.”
Giwoo took a step toward Lee Miyoon.
“You should’ve lived off the moss that the shade made. Why were you dissatisfied with just that and end up thinking that you were the one who created the shade? Did you really think that the connections you invested decades into making were truly yours? Think about it carefully. What did you use when you first had them work for you? It was money, wasn’t it? Do you think there’s anyone who would stay next to you for the person you are when it’s so ugly? It’s all about money. In the end, those people are bound to move to a person who pays them more.”
“Kang Giwoo, what are you….”
“And the people you stayed close to. Those people are in positions where they create power. The reason they stayed close to you temporarily was not that they trusted you, but that they trusted the name of my grandfather who backed you. You should have known that when you started off, but as I see it, it seems like you too have fallen under the misconception that it was your own name after you became old.”
Giwoo grabbed the handbag that Miyoon was holding.
“Since you must have known the position you’re in now, let me tell you one last thing. I dare you to come to my set one more time and cause a commotion. At that time, I’ll make you end not just your broker life, but your actress life as well. You should retire cleanly, don’t you think? You don’t want to go missing from the screen while others point fingers at you, do you?”
Lee Miyoon’s cheeks trembled. She seemed to be gnas.h.i.+ng her teeth, enduring her anger. Giwoo raised his hand slowly and tapped on Miyoon’s wrinkled forehead.
“I am warning you in consideration of our relations.h.i.+p until now. I usually don’t do warnings. So just quietly focus on acting work in the future, okay? If you try pulling off something funny for the sake of revenge, you’ll find yourself at the depths of life. I’ve seen it many times; about what happens to those who pointed their knives at grandfather. Personally, there were times when I thought that they might be better off biting their tongues off and dying.”
Giwoo dusted his hands before turning around.
“You should return for the day. I’m sure you’ll be ashamed once our Gaeul returns.”
After all that was said and done, Lee Miyoon was called the ‘national mother’ among the viewers. He wanted to break a bone somewhere, but there was no reason to create a controversy. The only thing that an old woman could do after all her limbs were cut off was to just act.
“You said that back then too, our Gaeul.”
It was when he took about two steps. Lee Miyoon said those words.
“What about it?”
“Are you doing this to me because I bullied Han Gaeul?”
“Do you think so? You really have gotten dull. Even I, who doesn’t know the details, can clearly see that you’ve been abandoned because you were doing things in vain. Well, I did add a couple things when you asked me to meet grandfather that day.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Why do you even want to know? It’s all over now. Since we’re at it, don’t touch our Gaeul. You know that precious stones are supposed to be handled carefully with gloves, right? If your dirty hands touched her and she got dirt on her or something, I feel like my heart is going to break.”
Lee Miyoon threw her handbag on the ground. Her eyes had been flipped about halfway.
“You don’t know what kind of person I am, do you?”
“I do. A pathetic human who can’t even secure her own food bowl.”
“Whether it’s you or Hong Janghae, it looks like the chairman has decided to dry me to death, huh? Fine, then. That’s how you’re playing this game. I won’t go down alone.”
Giwoo smiled and looked at Miyoon.
“Think about it. Think about the face of the people you’ve been dealing with. Do you think you can win in a legal fight against the people whose job is to deal with the law? Or fight financially against a company? Or politics? I’m saying this for your own good. You know I’m serious, right?”
The gasping woman soon drooped her shoulders. She nodded a few times like her soul had left her before collapsing on the spot. Giwoo turned around as he engraved that figure into his eyes. This woman who had lost her will to fight was not worth worrying about now.