Chapter 810. Sequence 8
“I wanted to tell you earlier than anyone else.”
“That’s why I’m first?”
Gaeul nodded. Chaerim squinted before smiling. She didn’t think that Chaerim’s anger died down. The fact that she smiled probably meant that she understood; she understood that there was no point in pressuring the foolish junior who had appeared with the man who had dumped her once.
“I get it. I want to know why you broke up and why you got together, and nitpick about a lot of things, but I’ll just stop here. To say one thing though, if I ever hear that you two are breaking up or whatnot again, don’t ever think about seeing me again. I’m serious.”
“That won’t happen.”
“Does that mean that you’re going to go all the way? To marriage even?”
“If possible.”
She wasn’t lying. If they were going to date again, they would have to think about their relations.h.i.+p beyond just lovers. Marriage, which Maru jokingly spoke about when they were young, had gotten close to reality.
“Maru, what about you?” Chaerim asked.
Maru replied that he was going to do whatever the bride wanted to do. It was quite embarra.s.sing to hear the word ‘bride’ from him, but she didn’t hate it.
“Looks like both of you are serious about it. Right, you got together after being apart for so long, so you should get married. But still, it still puzzles me. I did realize that you got a man, but I never realized that it would be Han Maru. You two are tenacious alright.”
“I didn’t know that things would be like this until a few days ago. Maru kept avoiding me.”
“Oh my word, he avoided you?”
“Yep.”
“Hey, Han Maru. Don’t you play around with my little junior. I won’t forgive you.”
She locked arms with Chaerim and glared at Maru. Now that she got a reliable ally, she could give Maru a good nagging. He, who always boasted a slippery eel-like smooth talking ability when there were just the two of them, docilely admitted his sins. This was why having someone on her side was important.
“Unni, do you have some time tomorrow/”
“Tomorrow? I don’t have any special appointments other than coming to the store and having a look. Why do you ask?”
“We’re going to hold a c.o.c.ktail party, and I was hoping you’d come. We’re going to have one at Maru’s house.”
“I’ll go. There’s no need to hold back when it’s drinking. But who else is coming?”
“For now, you’re the only one.”
“I thought you said it was tomorrow?”
“If things don’t work out, we can just drink with the three of us. You don’t like things being noisy, right?”
“That’s true. Han Maru, are you good at drinking?”
Maru just said ‘moderately.’ Gaeul was thinking differently as she had heard about him from Heewon. Before Maru went to the military, they emptied a whole day to drink, and apparently, Maru was calmly drinking while everyone else just collapsed. A strong drinker would apparently be an understatement, so Maru’s alcohol capacity was probably beyond imagination.
“A friend of mine told me that this guy’s a G.o.d at drinking. He won’t get drunk no matter how much he drinks.”
“That’s good. I’ll be fine for up to two bottles, so let’s drink all the way until the end tomorrow.”
She grabbed Chaerim’s hand before letting go.
“I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Alright. Tell me how many people are coming so that I can bring some desserts.”
“Okay.”
Gaeul undid the lock on the front door and left the café. Maru came out a little late as he had to receive a smack on the back.
“It’s good to see you together. You two really suit each other.”
Chaerim waved at them, telling them to have a safe trip back before going back to the café. They got back to the car with the walnut pie that she gave them.
“She hasn’t changed, has she?”
“She’s the same as ever. She’s full of confidence and she doesn’t hold back. Though, I found out for the first time today that she has a strong hand. Seems like she quit all her media activities, huh?”
“I don’t think she intended to quit completely. I also plan to help her out if she says she wants to go back.”
“Tell me about it when she does. I don’t have much influence, but I’ll try looking into it as well. Rather, you two were still in touch, huh. Good for you.”
“I borrowed her shoulders a lot. She gave me a lot of consolation when I broke up with you. That’s why I wanted to tell her first. I startled you by bringing you here without telling you, didn’t I?”
Maru glanced at the café once and smiled faintly.
“A little.”
“Actually, I wanted to tell you, but I also wanted to see you a little taken aback. It’s childish revenge on my part. Not that I’m in the position to take revenge.”
“I’m thankful that you only went this far. But who else do we call? Just the three of us sounds good too.”
“Don’t you have anyone else to call?”
He pondered a little as though no one came to mind immediately before bringing up a name.
“How about Heewon? And Haewon too.”
“Right. We can call those two. But I wonder if they can make it.”
“They don’t have a shoot tomorrow, so they should be able to make it. The problem is, how do we lure out that sloth from his house?”
“We’ll first ask him, and if he says no, we can just have Haewon drag him over.”
“I guess Haewon’s the answer, huh.”
She folded three fingers down. Chaerim, Heewon, and Haewon. Although Chaerim wasn’t acquainted with the brothers, they were all good people, so there shouldn’t be a problem getting along.
“Oh, there’s one more person.”
She took out her phone. The last time she called her, that girl said that she didn’t have anything on Sat.u.r.day. She probed her memories and pressed the call b.u.t.ton.
-Yes, s...o...b..e.
“Are you okay with taking a call right now?”
-Yes. I just finished my part-time work.
“Are there a lot of customers?”
-It’s Friday night, so yeah, there’s quite a lot. But it’s fine since there aren’t any unreasonable guests. How about you, s...o...b..e? Are you in a shoot right now?
“No, I also finished.”
-The first episode is next Wednesday, right? I’ll make sure to watch it.
“Thanks.”
-But why did you call me? If it’s food, shall I go over to your house right now? The jokbal[1] we ate last week was good.
“The jokbal was definitely good. But I didn’t call you for that today. There’s something I wanted to tell you. Also, I wanted to invite you.”
-Invite me?
“To explain that first, we’re going to be holding a c.o.c.ktail party tomorrow with some people we know. We’ll be drinking and eating the food we bring. Do you have an appointment tomorrow?”
-I’m going to eat out with my family tomorrow. Sorry.
“No, you don’t have to be. It’s me who called suddenly. Let’s leave the invitation aside for now.”
She cleared her throat before speaking,
“I got back together.”
-Sorry?
“With Maru.”
There wasn’t a response for a long time. Did she hang up? Gaeul checked the phone. It was still connected. Just as she was about to ask what was happening, she heard a faint breathing sound. The trembling breathing eventually turned into a crying sound.
-s...o...b..e, really?
“Yeah.”
-That’s good. Congratulations.
“Are you crying right now?”
-No. No, I mean, yes. I’m crying in the middle of the street right now. People are staring at me, but I’m going to cry anyway.
“Why are you the one crying?”
Her heart tightened. This girl had been just as worried as Chaerim-unni. It was thanks to this girl calling her first and asking if she was okay with a gentle voice that allowed her to win against the empty feelings and focus on work. She felt sorry for the girl, but when the girl congratulated her, her eyes soon turned red. Maru quietly gave her some tissues. She wiped the corners of her eyes.
“Don’t cry.”
-s...o...b..e, I’m glad. I’m, really, really glad.
“Are you going to keep crying? I feel like crying if you keep crying too.”
-Okay, wait a sec.
Gaeul could hear deep breathing over the phone. She imagined how the girl would be taking a deep breath in the middle of the street and it made her laugh.
-I’m okay now.
“Sheesh, you’re too quick to cry.”
-It’s fine to cry at times like this. It’s a good thing. But how did you two get back together? Did Maru-s...o...b..e call you back?
“I put dibs on him first this time. He kept running away, so I grabbed him and tied him up.”
-It always bothered me when I met you. I wondered if you couldn’t forget about him. I also felt a guilty conscience whenever I did.
“I always told you that it’s not your fault, yet you’re at it again. Anyway, everything’s going well now.”
-Congratulations, s...o...b..e. Congratulations on getting back together.
“Thanks. Since we’re at it, I’ll hand you over.”
-Eh? To whom?
Gaeul told her to wait before giving Maru her phone. Maru looked at her with an expression that asked who it was on the other side of the phone.
“Go on. I heard you were cruel and didn’t even talk to her once until now. It’s an extension of my revenge.”
Maru received the phone and cautiously put it against his ear. h.e.l.lo? - he said. The moment he said ‘h.e.l.lo’ once again, his expression turned weird. He looked at her with a difficult expression before eventually regaining his smile. They had a conversation for a while and then it turned into an awkward silence before he spoke about what happened in a low voice until he eventually returned the phone to her.
“Looks like she’s doing well.”
She nodded as she picked up on the call.
“You were surprised, weren’t you?”
-s...o...b..e, you almost startled me witless. You’re so bad.
“I wanted to report to you too.”
-That was the first time I heard Maru-s...o...b..e panic. I was panicking too, but not as much as him, it seems.
“I was watching from the side, and his expression was very interesting to look at.”
-I feel so refreshed right now. I feel like a decade, no, a century’s worth of indigestion was flushed down all at once. I finished crying. I’m going to have a good sleep tonight.
“You should. Oh right, what happened to the audition you took last time?”
-I haven’t heard back. I don’t know if I failed or not. I’m just going to forget about it if they don’t call me back in a week.
“I’m sure it will go well.”
This girl knew how to control her emotions. She would become a splendid actress as long as she could refine herself a little more.
-Uhm, s...o...b..e.
“Yeah?”
-I’ll go tomorrow.
“But you said you had an appointment?”
-I’ll tell Bitna and mom that we should eat out next time. Such a good thing happened, so I can’t miss out. Eating out together as a family is important, but I want to see you and Maru-s...o...b..e tomorrow. I want to see for myself that you two are together.
“I’ll be thankful if you do. Let’s have a blast tomorrow.”
-Okay.
“Okay, Yuna. I’ll call you back tomorrow. We’re gathering at Maru’s house, so we might go pick you up. Have a good rest at home. Don’t suddenly burst out crying on your way.”
-I said I finished crying. Have a good date, s...o...b..e.
She hung up the call. What should have been a burden for Yuna was also resolved. Gaeul felt pity for her when she thought about how Yuna should have been worrying for the past five years.
“It wasn’t that awkward considering that I haven’t said hi in five years.”
“You get how rough you were when you cut off contact, right? You didn’t contact anyone else, not just me. When I look back at it now, I don’t think you told the news to anyone who knows me.”
“Back then, I wanted to be thorough.”
“Still, you went too far. If you see Yuna tomorrow, apologize to her first. She’s had a hard time until now. She was worried that we broke up because of her.”
“I did tell her that we didn’t, but I guess she couldn’t help herself from thinking that, huh.”
“She’s a good girl after all.”
She started up the car. It would be pretty fun to hang out with the six of them. They might call for more people depending on the situation, but she decided to invite just them for now.
“Let’s go home and eat this together. I’m not sure about anything else, but Chaerim-unni is good at making walnut pies.”
“What about after that?”
“Shall we watch a movie together?”
“And after that?”
“I’m not going to do anything.”
“Then I guess I should go to sleep too then.”
She smiled and poked his cheek.
[1] Pig’s foot