Chapter 914. Crank Up 3
He got a text from Sora. Apparently, their work was invited to the short film festival in Chungmuro. She said she had to attend, but the actors did not have to. This director Kang was actually rather busy.
Maru finished cleaning by hanging the rag on the drying rack in the veranda. He felt refreshed after seeing the spotless kitchen and the living room. It was peace he had finally gained after driving out the three musketeers who stuck around till morning. He drank a cup of coffee and left the house with the two dogs who kept nagging him to take them on a walk. He could feel that December was right around the corner. He went to the local park after putting on his orange jumper. He walked a lap around the park while the dogs walked back and forth around him.
“Your voice doesn’t sound good. Did you not get good sleep?”
Maru picked up the phone while firmly grabbing onto the leashes. It was Gaeul. After coughing for a while, Gaeul spoke,
-I kicked the blanket away during the night because it was hot, and I think that’s gotten me sick.
“You should’ve been careful.”
-It’s fine since it’s nothing serious. I’ll get better with a cup of honey tea and some aspirin. Rather than that, how was yesterday?
“How do you think it was?”
-A fun party?
“It was h.e.l.l on Earth.”
-They’re all good people. You should treat them well.
“If I treat them any better than this, my parents will be disappointed in me, you know? They’ll tell me I’m being filial to someone else.”
-Mr. Kind Han Maru, you aren’t mad at me, are you?
“If the door lock says you got the wrong pa.s.scode when you come home later, then you’re free to think whatever you want.”
He calmed Woofie from running off and walked towards a bench.
“Can I ask you where you are now?”
-I just got out of Mijoo’s house.
“Did things go well?”
-Yeah, somewhat.
Maru waited while petting the Pit Bull’s head so that Gaeul could continue talking.
-Uhm, you know?
“What?”
-You said that lying is sometimes necessary, right?
“I did.”
-I lied to you when I said nothing happened yesterday.
“I know. I had a gist. Is it a big problem?”
-No. I just didn’t want to make you worry. But I realized that you already noticed when I talked with you.
“We’ve known each other for years. There was a gap in the middle, but it’s easy to deduce the situation from the way you speak, just like how you saw through my lie.”
Maru tapped Woofie on the b.u.t.t and stood up.
“It’s fine if it’s nothing big. So, when are you coming back home?”
-Well, if you promise me you won’t nag me and pry into it no matter what happens, I can go back right now.
“You know I’m known for not getting angry.”
-Are you sure?
“Yes.”
Woofie suddenly tried to dart off to the point that the leash became taut. He threw his gaze towards the place that Woofie was trying to go. He saw Gaeul waving her phone in the air. Maru smiled and walked over to her. When he got closer, he could see the white piece of cloth attached to her face. No matter how quickly the latest trends of fas.h.i.+on changed, there was no way attaching a piece of cloth to the face would be trendy. He started walking quickly. He reached his hand out to Gaeul, who was smiling awkwardly. The sensation of the gauze climbed up his fingertips unpleasantly and vividly.
“Did you get into an accident?” he shouted as he let go of the leash.
He was angry at her for smiling as though it was nothing.
“You promised to not get angry.”
Gaeul picked up the leash. Although he promised her not to get angry, it was a different story since she showed up with a gauze on her face. He asked her to elaborate, but she just grabbed his hand, saying that they should go back first. Since there were eyes around, he decided to listen to her first. Maru’s eyes were fixed to Gaeul’s face until the moment they returned to the apartment and opened the door. There was a gauze and an adhesive tape attached to her cheek and chin. It seemed that she wasn’t injured elsewhere.
“Home sweet home,” Gaeul said as she sat down on the sofa.
Maru turned on the air heater first.
“You promised you won’t get angry. How can you get angry the moment you see me?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t feel like joking right now. Are you okay? Are you sure the injury is not big? Was it a traffic accident? Or did something happen at the set because of some props?”
“This is why I was originally planning to wait a week before coming so that it could heal. Geez, you’re so scary that I feel like I can’t say anything to you.”
Gaeul tossed her feet while on the sofa, saying that she should leave. He lost his energy in his shoulders. He said all those things, so he couldn’t afford to not keep them. He also pitied Gaeul, who was very wary of him despite smiling.
“Want something to drink?”
“Some honey tea would be nice.”
“Alright, get changed first.”
All sorts of things came to his mind while looking at the boiling kettle. If it was a small traffic accident, there was no need for her to hide it, since it was not like she did anything wrong. What could’ve happened? From the way she told him not to get angry, it meant that the cause of the injury was something that could get him angry. He gave her the mug when she came back out after changing her clothes.
“Thanks.”
After taking a sip of the honey tea, Gaeul let out a slow sigh.
“I won’t get angry so tell me what happened.”
“It wasn’t anything much. I guess I paid the price for ignoring your warning?”
“My warning?”
“You told me before that I shouldn’t get into a fight with someone whose eyes have gone mad, that such a person might do anything.”
“So it wasn’t an accident, and someone did that to you on purpose?”
“There you go again, becoming all tense.”
She told him not to frown with a smile and waited a few more seconds before speaking,
“I got scratched by a bag. I went to the hospital and they told me it wouldn’t leave behind a scar so I shouldn’t worry about it.”
“Whose bag was it?”
“The old woman who picks a fight with me all the time.”
“Lee Miyoon?”
She nodded once. He knew that there would be an accident one day, but he did not even dream that she would do something like this. He expected her not to do anything to famous actors and actresses since she was someone who detested having her reputation defamed.
“Remember how I said that she looked really nervous lately? It looks like she really has a problem. From how she even did this to me, maybe she’s pushed to the edge of a cliff.”
Following that, she emphasized again and again that she was okay and that there was no problem at all, but all of that didn’t enter his ears. It didn’t matter if Lee Miyoon had a terrible personality or did whatever dirty things without other people knowing. Gaeul had kept her distance from her and had never received damage. But a problem had occurred. That woman actually took action against the one person she must not. It didn’t matter what pushed Lee Miyoon to the edge or what kind of state she was in now. The only important thing was that Lee Miyoon inflicted a wound on Gaeul’s face.
He thought as he kept looking at Gaeul’s cheek. What methods did he have to pressure her? As he didn’t have any realistic power right now, the only method he could take was to use other people’s hands to deal with her instead. The faces of two people came to mind. One was president Lee Junmin and the other was lawyer Park Sunggoo. They were the people who could give him practical help. Even among the two, lawyer Park Sunggo was better. The president was someone he would not be able to move so easily, but he could have lawyer Park help him if he paid the required fees. If he gathered the people who had been oppressed by Lee Miyoon until now without having Gaeul stand up for herself and have them all sue her….
“Han Maru.”
He returned to reality after imagining writing names down on a pet.i.tion. Gaeul was looking at him. Her eyes were like that of a mother that was chiding her child.
“I want to eat frozen polack soup. The one I couldn"t eat yesterday.”
Her eyes soon turned into a soft curve. He could not say anything to those eyes, and to that smile.
“You know I always yield, right?”
“I do. I always boast to everyone that my boyfriend is such a gentle person. Please cook me some frozen pollack soup with that gentle heart, and don’t think about anything else. Do you need help?”
The anger that rose to the top of his head was all dispelled when she looked at him with affection. The person in question was being calm, so it would be rather funny if he, an outsider, got angry instead.
“It’s all done, so I just have to boil it.”
“Then I should wash the little ones’ feet while it’s warming up.”
Gaeul put down the mug as though all talk about Lee Miyoon should stop here, before standing up. Maru placed the empty cup at the sink and took out the frozen polack soup that he had put in the refrigerator. He could hear laughter in the bathroom, as well as a voice telling the dogs to stay still.
He put the pot on the stove and lit up the fire. Even a snot-nosed brat would understand the meaning of a wound on an actress’ face. Although she said that it was fortunate since there would not be a scar, things could have just as easily gone awry. Above all, the placement of the wound made him nervous. A slight change in the angle or the timing, and the wound might have gone right across her eye. Maru picked up his phone. Since Gaeul told her not to do it, he could not pressure Lee Miyoon publicly. But that didn’t mean that he was going to stay still while sucking on his thumb. One of the reasons society was functioning properly was that one law was being kept to a certain extent. Those who committed crime were punished accordingly.
He sent a text to Kim Dongwook. Although that man said that he would take his hands off anything related to Lee Miyoon and YM, but the eyes he saw on the day they met Choi Miyeon was definitely not that of someone who had given up.
Gaeul left the bathroom. Maru put his phone in his pocket and placed the frozen pollack soup on the dining table.
“What a good smell.”
“Have a good meal.”
“How about you?”
“I had a light meal in the morning.”
“I don’t want to eat by myself though.”
Gaeul stared at him. Maru took some rice out of the rice cooker.
“The wound will heal soon so don’t worry about it. It didn’t get caught by the camera either. BB creams are amazing these days.”
“What happened to Lee Miyoon?”
“What else? I dealt her a big blow. She kept snooping around when she didn’t have a shoot, but now she won’t be able to do that. I said I’d sue her if she came and threw a tantrum one more time. Do you know? I became a total hero at the shoot. I had to stop the staff from throwing me into the air.”
“It’s not surprising.”
“But I’m worried. I’ll be going on the paid vacation right? I’ll have to see her face when we have a joint schedule outside free time, but it’s a pain in the head already. It’s entirely her fault and I have done nothing wrong, but she’s a senior after all. I hope she just stays quiet like this, but I don’t think she’ll do that given her personality.”
“I guess her not going on that vacation will put many people at ease.”
“True, but she probably will, I think. She loves getting treated well.”
Gaeul said ‘who knows?’ before starting to eat. Maru also got some soup and drank it.
“You aren’t thinking about doing anything strange, are you?”
“Do what?”
“No, it’s nothing. Just don’t worry about what happened to me.”
“Alright,” Maru replied with a smile.
He thought about what she said just a while ago; that lying is sometimes necessary.