Chapter 258 (1/2)

“What kind of shit… shit… sshiiit….”

There was a motto on one of the walls in the practice room he practiced acting with Ganghwan - The quality of a line uttered once is different to the quality of a line uttered a hundred times. The word might be a fixed ‘shit’, but the nuance would be different according to the intonation, the accent, and the pronunciation of the word. What ‘shit’ actually fits with the line? He had a clear answer when he practiced alone, but now that he was on his way to the read-through, he felt complicated.

“Uhm, excuse me. Can you quieten down a little?”

Maru flinched when he heard that voice. Someone had sat down next to him without him knowing. When he looked outside the window, he saw that the scenery wasn’t Suwon anymore.

“Sorry about that.”

He put the script back in his bag. The lady sitting next to him smiled and looked towards her knees. She was reading some kind of workbook and it seemed that she was preparing for a license test.

‘Phew.’

Maru didn’t entirely like the fact that he was so absorbed that he didn’t notice someone sitting next to him. He needed to calm down somewhat. He heaved deep breaths and closed his eyes. He forgot about the script for a moment and focused on his breathing. His tense nerves calmed down somewhat thanks to that.

“Excuse me.”

He saw Gangnam station in front of him. He grabbed a handle and pushe himself up before getting off the bus. The overwhelming crowd made him realize once again that it was the weekend.

Maru opened up his phone and called Yoojin.

“I’m at Gangnam station. Where are you?”

-I’ll be there soon.

“And when is soon?”

-I said I’ll be there soon.

Yoojin hung up just like that. A woman’s ‘I’ll be there soon’ was just as vague and unreliable as a man’s ‘when I was in the military’ stories, so he decided to go to a nearby convenience store for now.

The convenience store was crowded as well. After looking at the tired-looking part-time worker here with pity before going to the table area. He drank some refreshing sports drink, watching the cars go by when a girl entered his eyes. When he squinted and focused on her, he saw that she was Yoojin.

‘What do you want me to do?’

Maru stared at Yoojin in front of the pedestrian crossing. When the lights turned green, Yoojin reached out for the sports drink after running towards him. Of course, he had no intention of giving it to her.

“Give me some. I’m thirsty.”

“Buy one yourself.”

“Is this how you wanna do this?”

“I’ve been drinking it.”

“What’s this, Maru? You’re worried about indirect kissing? Is that it? You see me as a gi… ouch!”

Maru hit Yoojin’s head with the plastic bottle since she was uttering nonsense. Yoojin frowned and took out her phone.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m making a report, of course.”

After tapping on her phone with her thumbs at blinding speed, Yoojin smirked. Just as Maru wondered what was going on, he got a text message. Maru frowned before taking out his phone.

-Don’t bully my friend

It was from her.

Uhm, excuse me? I’m your boyfriend, you know? And also, your future hubby.

“I’m sorry, but she’s on my side.”

“...Haa.”

With a victorious smile, Yoojin entered the convenience store and came out holding a drink.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes ma’am.”

The two then headed towards the JA Building.

“Did you practice a lot?”

“I only have two lines. So I don’t think they’ll tell me off unless I make a huge mistake.”

“Good for you. I have four scenes so I have a lot to memorize.”

She definitely had a teasing tone in her words. Although they were both extra roles, the scenes they appeared in were drastically different. Yoojin was the second daughter of the second son. According to roles, she would be Suyeon’s younger sister. Unlike her though, who dies a miserable death, Yoojin was used as a set piece to show harmonious family relationships in the beginning of the movie, and meet a bitter ending after witnessing the deaths of her father and elder sister. She was in charge of showing the audience that the consequence of violence was an innocent victim.

“Ah, I’m nervous. Joohyun-unni will be here today too.”

“You two have a scene together, don’t you? When the three sons have a meal together.”

“Yeah. I’m really looking forward to that. That means I get to watch Joohyun-unni acting right in front of me, right? I might faint from joy.”

“What’s so good about her?”

“She’s cool! There’s no actress cooler than her in this world.”

“You’re a total fangirl, huh.”

Maru was reminded of the fact that Bada liked Joohyun as well. Weren’t girls supposed to like handsome male actors? When he thought about it, he realized that the fans of girl idol groups were mostly teenaged girls as well. Of course, those groups had a lot of male fans as well, but the ones that actually took action were all girls.

‘Well, I guess that’s why the marketing departments target teenaged girls as their audience,’ Maru nodded to himself as he remembered his old memories with difficulty.

“I hope I can get close to Suyeon-unni as well.”

“Human relationships are best when there’s a suitable distance.”

“What the heck are you talking about? A close relationship is of course better,” Yoojin grinned as she said those words.

“Fine. That’s for you to decide.”

“What, you have something to say to me?”

“No.”

“Is it about the bad rumors about her?”

Maru looked at Yoojin who just shrugged her shoulders. It seemed that she was quite knowledgeable about it.

“You haven’t participated in a drama even once, have you?” Yoojin looked at the distance as she spoke. She had an aloof expression. For a brief moment, she looked like an adult.

“Do you think I have?”