Chapter 130

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 hell’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, sexy boobs, 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 damn 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 brushing 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 passion, 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 relationship 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 relationship . 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 relationship . ”

“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 butter . ”

“Damn it, give me your ID . I actually need to check your age . ”

Maru grinned as Ganghwan pinched one of his cheeks .

* * *

“Hello, 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 assistant .

“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 assistant 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 shell, 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 .