Chapter 130
Chapter 130
Ganghwan slowed down his car when he could no longer see Suyeon from his side mirror . He let out a sigh .
“That’s the first time I’ve seen you like that . ”
“Like what?”
“Surprised . ”
“Me?”
Maru nodded confidently . Ganghwan looked absolutely terrified just a moment ago, which was very unlike him . The man was usually the one who surprised people, not the type to retreat like this .
“Was I that obvious?”
“You probably know the answer to that yourself, don’t you? You even looked kind of rude . ”
“That bad?”
“Why were you so surprised? She was pretty, too . Don’t you sing about wanting to meet pretty women all the time?”
“Yeah, she’s pretty . But I don’t know if I’m into her . ”
“She’s younger than you, too . So why?”
Ganghwan was usually very friendly towards just about anyone he met, but he put up an immediate wall in front of Suyeon . Very odd, considering how pretty of a lady Suyeon was . Didn’t Ganghwan always talk about treating women nicely? Ganghwan opened the window slowly, letting the cold winter air in .
“How was Suyeon, in your opinion?”
“She seemed gentle . Kind of cute, considering how she seemed to want to get friendly with you . ”
“By the way, you know you sound really experienced with women sometimes? Also what the h.e.l.l’s up with you describing Ms . Suyeon like a kid? You know she’s six years older than you, right?”
“Really?”
Maru shrugged . He hadn’t been able to change his way of talking since he got back, so he gave up on it altogether . Whenever people asked him about it, he just told them he picked it up from his grandmother .
“Anyway! She looks really nice and pretty . ”
“Nice body, too . ”
“ . . . You saw a lot in such a short time . ”
“What can I say, men are naturals at this kind of stuff . It’s like how girls like to pick out changes from each other when they meet their friend after a long time . ”
“Fair enough . ”
Ganghwan grinned .
“Right . She has a great body, cute, and has a nice personality, so it’s all cool if I meet her at work, but . . . ”
“But?”
“I never want to see her in a casual environment . ”
“Why not? She’d look great with you, coach . She resembles your ideal girlfriend a lot, too . Long hair, s.e.xy b.o.o.bs, nice body . ”
“ . . . You sound way too much like an old man right now . ”
“I’m still a young lad in my teens, you know?”
“You’re a huge pervert, you know that? Wait, could it be, with that girl… you’re not going too wild, are you?”
That girl . Maru shook his head as he thought of her .
“I’m taking it slow . You should savor what you truly value . ”
“Look at you . ”
“Stop changing the topic and please answer me . What don’t you like about her?”
“Mm, if I had to put it in words, I’d say that she knows she’s charming too well . ”
“She knows she’s charming?”
“Man, what am I saying in front of a kid?”
“I’m in my teens, I’m all grown up . ”
“Didn’t you literally just say something about being a young lad?”
“People need to learn to be flexible with their words in society . ”
“Give me your d.a.m.n ID . You’re actually over thirty, aren’t you?”
Thirty? No way . Forty five was more like it . Maru just decided to grin lightly in response .
“That doesn’t sound like a bad thing though . ”
“That’s true, but… No, it’s fine . I shouldn’t be talking about stuff like this . ”
Ganghwan changed the topic right away . Maru caught the man’s expression pretty quickly, though .
“She’s a vixen?”
“Man, you’re too persistent . ”
“I’m curious . I want to know what about her has you like this . ”
Ganghwan let out a defeated sigh before brus.h.i.+ng his hair upwards . The car came to a stop on a streetlight and Ganghwan finally started talking .
“First off, I don’t judge how other people live as long as they don’t hurt others . Got it?”
“That sounds like an excuse for whatever’s coming up, but okay . ”
“Hm hm . Miss Suyeon uses the fact that she looks charming to the best of her abilities . Most men just fall for her right away . I worked with her once before in a play and there was an incident . It wasn’t her fault, but if you really dig into it . . . ”
“She wasn’t really at fault, but she was the source of the problem?”
“Pretty much . ”
“Crime of pa.s.sion, basically?”
“Where’d you learn something like that? You watch way too much TV . ”
The light turned green and the car started moving again . Ganghwan drove towards the bridge nearby .
“Not that bad . Well, maybe it was . One of the writers and an actor both fell in love with her at the same time and that’s where the trouble started . They’re both pros, so the play ended well, but the two of them basically became sworn enemies afterward . ”
“That sounds fair . Doesn’t sound like a big issue . ”
“On the surface, yeah . It sounds perfectly normal . ”
“Was there something more to it?”
“I learned this later, but the writer ended up moving to a project Suyeon was doing . Originally, he was supposed to work with the actor together on something else . That entire project went up in flames after what happened . ”
“You think Suyeon destroyed their relations.h.i.+p just to take that writer with her?”
“Who knows? Suyeon actually looked very sorry about it when the thing actually went down . But then . . . ”
Ganghwan narrowed his eyes a little, as if he was staring off into a point in the past .
“Something similar happened one more time . Also, I ended up meeting that same writer in a different project . Since the industry’s small and all . ”
“Right . ”
“I thought those two would naturally be going out together . After all, he was very deeply in love with her at the time . But they weren’t actually dating . They were just friends . He actually confessed to her beforehand, but she said she was afraid to get in a relations.h.i.+p . At the same time, one of the more famous actors in Hyehwa station followed Suyeon into her new project . ”
“Because the actor was into Suyeon?”
“According to the writer, yes . The writer became uncomfortable watching the two acting like they were dating, so he just co-wrote one of the scenes and left the team . What’s scary is that immediately after he left, Miss Suyeon brought in a new writer . . . ”
“A male one?”
“You get it now?”
“Yes . Sort of . ”
“I’ve no intention of judging people with this, of course . Everyone has their own ways of living, but she’s definitely not the type of person I would work well with . So I’m trying to distance myself from her, I’m only okay with her in a work relations.h.i.+p . ”
“She’s quite charming, isn’t she?”
“She is . That’s why people follow her . ”
“Why don’t you just go for it anyway? Who knows, you might turn her into a princess just for you . ”
“Nothing good ever comes from gambling . ”
Maru nodded . He understood what kind of a woman Suyeon was . Every person had a weapon of their own and Suyeon’s weapon was her charm . Knowing what he did about the wars waged in the name of this woman… Her weapon was very powerful .
“How’d we start talking about this, anyway? I had so many other things to tell you today . ”
“Stuff like this is nice to talk about every once in a while . Knowing how the rest of the world works can also help with my acting . ”
“Did you grease your tongue with oil or something? Since when did you have such a smooth tongue?”
“It smells very nice, doesn’t it? I used b.u.t.ter . ”
“d.a.m.n it, give me your ID . I actually need to check your age . ”
Maru grinned as Ganghwan pinched one of his cheeks .
* * *
“h.e.l.lo, Teacher . ”
“You’re here . ”
Junmin glanced at his friend, gesturing to speak a little later . His friend, the director, nodded before getting ready to leave with his a.s.sistant .
“You should stay, sir,” Suyeon said with a smile .
“We have no place in actors’ talk . We’re much more comfortable talking about the backstage . ”
Junmin asked his friend to wait outside for just a little bit .
“Why did you call me out yourself? I was surprised . ”
“I was wondering how you were doing . ”
“Very well, as usual . I’m teaching that kid you introduced me . ”
“I see . How’s Geunseok?”
“He’s alright . He has a great sense for things and he knows exactly what he needs to do to make me happy . ”
“Sense, huh . Of course . That’s what he was raised for . ”
Junmin nodded . After asking a few more questions about the boy, he changed the topic .
“The filming for the drama’s over now?”
“Yes . I’m annoyed that it isn’t doing too well on TV . It’s getting pushed back by all the other shows . ”
“How many episodes left until the end?”
“Four . ”
“6% for the ratings, was it?”
“It’s a total failure . ”
“You must feel quite depressed about it . ”
“Very . It was my first time as one of the more important side characters, but the show’s not getting any views . It almost feels like my fault . ”
“Stop lying . ”
“Heh, was I that obvious?”
Suyeon smiled cutely, Junmin had to wonder how many men she charmed with that smile . He knew Suyeon very well . The woman knew how to grasp the hearts of men, she was born with the talent . The only reason why Junmin took her under his wing was because she knew how to use that charm of hers for acting .
“By the way, Teacher . ”
“What?”
“Why did you stick that kid of all people to me? I was surprised . ”
“Do I ever tell people the reason for why I do certain things? Find out for yourself . Anyway, what happened to your movie audition?”
“I’ll have to work hard for it in my own way . ”
Junmin nodded . He silently wished luck towards the director of whatever that movie she was auditioning for was .
“There’s a person from the Woonjung theater company on the first floor . Go greet them if you can . ”
“Yes . Ah, Teacher . ”
“Mm?”
“Would you like to have dinner today?”
She accentuated her chest a little bit as she spoke, her usual innocent self was gone and in her place was someone a bit more erotic . Junmin took a sip of his tea as he blinked once .
“I have a meeting with that friend over there . ”
“Man, I got rejected twice today already, boohoo . ”
“Twice?”
“Yes . I met Ganghwan outside and he just avoided me . I’m pretty mad about it . ”
“Haha . ”
“Anyway, I’ll go meet that Woonjung person now . ”
“Sure . ”
Suyeon stood up from her seat and walked towards the stairs . Her hips swayed sideways naturally . It didn’t feel erotic or anything, but rather very controlled . She looked like a total model .
“I’m impressed that you’re managing to keep her with you . ”
Junmin’s friend came back . His a.s.sistant wasn’t with him anymore, probably got sent to do work elsewhere .
“Everyone has their uses somewhere . ”
“I don’t think this often, but man you’re evil . ”
“I’ve worked here for 30 years now . This industry’s littered with people who only look nice . ”
“I heard you put one of your kids with her?”
“Yup . ”
“Isn’t that dangerous? I feel like she would just rip apart a young boy who hasn’t even matured yet . ”
“That’s the hope, actually . ”
“What?”
“The boy’s still in his sh.e.l.l, he doesn’t even know why he’s acting just yet . He started because of Geunsoo and that can’t continue as his motivation . Not only that, the boy often acts subservient in front of you, but he’s actually laughing at you behind your back . ”
“Rotten to the core, is it?”
“He has talent, though . He’s Geunsoo’s brother, after all . I don’t want to throw away something that has potential . That’s why I stuck him with Suyeon . ”
“What if he turns into a puppet?”
“That’s just his luck . I’m not a nice person . I like to help people, but only if I profit off of it . Why would I keep someone who has no value?”
“The maestro’s actually a very cold person, is that it?”
“Don’t look at me too badly, I’m doing pretty nice things too . I just don’t like people who like to try to leech away my time and money . ”
“What about that kid called Maru, then?”
“ . . . I have no idea about that kid, actually . Haven’t felt like this in a long time . The boy’s finding answers by himself . He has his reason for being confident, he’s not overconfident, though . But it’s not like he’s conservative about his actions . It’s odd . Very odd . ”
“He’d get along with my Mintae very well . ”
“They’d probably become very good partners . ”
Junmin’s friend nodded . Junmin opened his notebook to check his next schedule . Time was, to him, equivalent to people . Junmin couldn’t miss a person even if his life depended on it .