Chapter 853. Sequence 12
Bitna seemed incredibly nervous as though she had gone back to that moment. Despite the fact that Gaeul was holding her hand from the side, she was clutching onto the carpet with the other hand. He wanted to console her and tell her that it was okay to rest a little before speaking, but Bitna clenched her eyes shut before opening them again. She seemed to be telling herself that she couldn’t stop here. She was young, but she was quite stubborn. That was probably why she could think about overhearing the viper-like Kang Giwoo’s conversation, even though it must have been really scary.
“I froze stiff. I couldn’t take a step outside the closet. It was the first time I experienced something like that. I wanted to turn around and run immediately. I want to pretend like I haven’t seen anything.”
“But you kept watching, didn’t you? With courage.”
“Actually, I was just too scared to move; it wasn’t that I was brave. One time I got almost bitten by a large dog, and it just felt like back then. I had the feeling that I would get bitten to death if I was found out. I held my breath and prayed that he would go away, but he didn’t go away and took out his phone. He spoke while looking in the direction the stylist-unni went in, and the contents of what he said were horrible. He was insulting the stylist unni that he had been treating with a smile until merely moments ago.”
“May I know what he said?”
Bitna looked hesitant, but she eventually closed her eyes and spoke. Her eyes were trembling. Maru could feel that her eyes were moving anxiously behind those eyelids. He could practically see all sorts of thoughts clas.h.i.+ng within her head. Maru waited calmly. It was Bitna who was in the hardest position. He was planning to stop her if it looked like she was pus.h.i.+ng herself. After around 10 seconds, Bitna spoke again,
“I’ll say what I heard back then: The stylist-unni was stupid and didn’t recognize you, it’s tiring to deal with someone like her, I told her off so she’ll do better next time. I toned that down quite a lot. He used words that I don’t dare speak with my mouth. I couldn’t believe it. The person who was talking about good things in front of the stylist-unni until mere moments ago had changed instantly and spoke like that. That was when I found out that I wasn’t wrong about him. That disgusting smile was still with him. No, it even looked cruel.”
“So that’s why you asked if I was close to Giwoo and said that you were scared.”
Bitna replied ‘yes’ in a small voice.
“I wanted to tell you about it back then, unni, but I couldn’t. All I had were the things I have seen and heard after all. Moreover, you looked really close to senior Giwoo on the set.”
“I understand you, but what I can tell you is that it’s only like that on the surface. I’m also trying my hardest to look close to Giwoo. I’ll tell you this since you told me first: I don’t see Giwoo in that good of a light either. I told you we aren’t that close during the day, right? I meant what I said.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It’s not just me, Maru here feels the same.”
Maru told Btina clearly while looking at her big blinking eyes: Kang Giwoo has less credibility to him than a stranger he would come across on the street; that him changing for the good was just as probable as Woofie learning the law and becoming a judge. When he emphasized the fact that he was beyond salvation, Bitna looked quite fl.u.s.tered.
“I have seen and heard for myself, but why did you two start doubting him?”
It was very like her to not chime in and ask back calmly. Maru explained that the one who stepped on the middle-aged man’s fingers during Apgu was a friend of Giwoo as well as the circ.u.mstances leading up to him finding out and the happenings after that.
“So something like that happened even after that. So he’s a very constant person.”
“In a bad way, that is.”
“I was really hesitant until I decided to talk about it. I was worried that people might not believe me and think that I was being weird instead.”
“You did really well, not telling anyone about it. If you said you’re just scared, then people might not think much about it since you’re quite young, but if you used real-world instances like that, then there definitely would be some people who would not look at you in a good light.”
“That’s what I thought as well.”
“But peeping on him was too reckless. If you got caught, you wouldn’t have been able to make an excuse. Considering his personality, Kang Giwoo would never let that go either. Don’t do anything reckless in the future. I’m sure you’ll take great care of yourself, but I’m just worried.”
“I know that I was careless. I’m reflecting on it too. I will never do that again.”
“Yes, it’s fine as long as you do that.”
Bitna seemed mentally pressured as she was breathing heavily to the point that her shoulders were heaving. She must have been very worried. She was talking bad about Kang Giwoo, who had built a good image for himself, so just as she said, it must have been hard to talk about it. She couldn’t guarantee how the situation would turn out if she did talk about it. Maru was proud that she brought up the courage to talk about it. However, there were a few things that he still couldn’t resolve. There were things he needed to know in order to a.n.a.lyze the situation clearly.
“Bitna.”
“Yes.”
“I now understand what you meant when you said that you were coming over to throw a tantrum. I’m also grateful that you told me about this. But there’s one thing I want to know. Why did you tell me all this? You were the one who told me just now that you doubted that anyone would believe you.”
He then looked at Gaeul. Bitna also looked at Gaeul.
“I get why you didn’t tell Gaeul about it. But you said that you found out that Gaeul and I were dating in the car right? Then I think you should’ve thought about it a little more.”
“That’s….”
Bitna hesitated while trailing off. Did he push her too hard so suddenly? Gaeul was also giving him hints, asking why he was so harsh on a girl. If it was any other girl, he wouldn’t have thought about it deeply. After all, children usually didn’t think about things that deeply when they acted. However, Bitna was someone who definitely knew her way around. She was capable of explaining difficult things in simple terms, and she even discerned who to talk to with her own standards.
“I’m not rebuking you. I trust you wholly. I was just curious. Why me? I must have faded out of your consciousness since we haven’t been in contact for years, so why did you talk to me about something so important? You don’t have to tell me if it’s too difficult for you.”
While Maru trusted her, it was important to get a full grasp of the situation. Why did she tell him something that she didn’t tell Gaeul? She even knew that talking about it risked a very dangerous outcome.
“For Gaeul-unni, I heard about her a lot from my sister. She called her a really kind senior at school. I also felt that during the shoots I had for the past few days that she really is a good person. But I couldn’t trust her and tell her about it. It’s not that I suspect her or hate her or anything. This is not her problem, it’s mine.”
“While I’m slightly disappointed, I think that’s only natural. There’s the matter with Kang Giwoo too. But you still are sure that she’s a good and kind unni, right?”
“Right now, she’s a good, kind, and trustable unni.”
Bitna then looked at Maru.
“And likewise, I was aware that you were a good person too, Maru-oppa. I believe in my sister’s eyes for people. I also knew that you were a good person after meeting you.”
She stopped there and smiled awkwardly. She looked up as though she found it difficult to speak.
“But honestly speaking, you didn’t feel that ‘kind’ to me. I knew that you were a good person from how you listened to my sister’s worries, understood her, and even advised her, but listening to you made me realize that you helped her because she didn’t cross the line; that you would never see her again if she went too far. I said all that but it’s still quite confusing. I’m not saying that you’re a bad person, oppa. You’re a really good person, just not entirely kind.”
“Are you saying that you remember the conversation Yuna and I had when the three of us went to the café that day?”
“Yes, I remember. I also remember that my sister cried a lot. Back then, I had this thought while looking at you listening to her words: You’re a good person but not entirely kind. But you definitely can be trusted. I didn’t say this before, but you went around looking for pain relief for the middle-aged man with injured fingers, didn’t you? That was when I felt that even though the middle-aged man told me not to tell it to anyone, he still asked you for help.”
After listening to her, Gaeul hugged Bitna’s shoulders and spoke,
“You have a good eye for people, Bitna. You’re right. Maru doesn’t really belong to the kind category of people. But if you’re talking about whether he can be trusted or not, I say that he can be trusted more than me.”
Maru placed his elbow on his knees and rested his chin on the back of his hand.
“This suddenly became a lot of pressure for me. Bitna, don’t trust me too much. Like you said, I’m not that kind.”
“But you said you wholly trusted me, didn’t you? That’s why I trust you as well. And that’s why I talked about it. If it weren’t for you today, I would have spoken about it to my sister first. Not my mom though, since she’ll make a big deal out of it. But when I thought about it, I thought that it would enter your ears even if I tell my sister. It also seemed like that after considering your relations.h.i.+p with Gaeul-unni.”
“Looks like I can’t lie in front of Bitna.”
Gaeul looked at Bitna and said that everything was okay now.
“Nothing will change immediately, but this unni was convinced after what you just said – convinced that Kang Giwoo is a really bad guy. I told you before, right? That I don’t really see Kang Giwoo in a good light. But it was kinda vague. That was why I kept watching him and maintained the status quo. But now I’m convinced.”
“What do I do now? I have to go to the shoot about three more times in the future. I feel like I’ll get scared if I see senior Kang Giwoo’s scary eyes.”
Kang Giwoo was an evil guy who did not hesitate to ruin other people’s bodies even when he was a student. How scared must she have been after seeing the bare face of the bone-deep evilness within him? Maru hinted to Gaeul that it was time for the unni to step in.
“Don’t worry. I’ll always be next to you during shoots. Tell me your schedule later. I’ll make sure I’ll go even on days I’m not in it.”
“But you’ll be tired if you do that.”
“It’s fine. Also, I’m one of the main cast. Our schedule will probably overlap all the time.”
Gaeul emphasized that it was not a nuisance for her. Bitna eventually accepted after repeated explanations. After getting that down, Gaeul immediately took her phone to her ear. This was the second problem they needed to solve.
“Bitna, do you want to play with Woofie for a little? Gaeul-unni looks like she’ll be on the phone.”
“Yes.”
Maru heard that pets were helpful when curing anxiety. There was nothing more soothing than warmth when it comes to consoling the heart after all. As she stroked Woofie on her lap, she looked much more at ease than when she was talking about Kang Giwoo.
Maru stood up with the empty cups. I’ll bring you something to drink – he said before giving a glance at Gaeul, who entered the bedroom.
She was waiting with a serious expression with her phone against her ear. From how she wasn’t saying anything, it seemed that her stylist wasn’t picking up.
“Looks like she’s out drinking with Chanwoo. I’ll leave her a message for now.”
“Okay, and also, please take care of Bitna. She might look okay now, but I’m sure she’s very nervous. You’ll be better for her for something like this than me.”
“Okay. Oh, can I call Yuna over?”
“Do what you want. This place is practically a private café anyway.”
Gaeul nodded and approached Bitna.