Chapter 497 (1/2)
“Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.”
Although it was a bit late, they separated from Yoojin with a greeting that was only allowed on Christmas. She waved at Yoojin, who disappeared in a taxi, and spat out a breath of white air.
“I heard that snowy days aren’t as cold.”
“It’s snowing because it’s cold.”
“Is that how it works?”
Maru grabbed her hand and started walking.
“You’re done shopping for the day, right?”
“Why do you ask? You want to do some more?”
“Of course not.”
“Oh, I thought you wanted to look around some more.”
She swung her hands back and forth while smiling. The hand he was holding moved back and forth like a swing.
“Are you hungry?”
“I was about to ask that. Now that I think about it, we didn’t even have a proper lunch, did we?”
They didn’t have lunch properly since they were busy walking around looking through clothes. It was 4 p.m. Although it was still a little early for dinner, Maru’s stomach was rumbling, wanting food.
“Why don’t we go there?”
The place she pointed at was a shabu-shabu[2] restaurant. A hot soup was perfect on a cold day like this. Thinking that it was a good choice, they entered that restaurant.
“Welcome. A table for two?”
“Yes.”
“Come this way.”
Since it was a public holiday, the restaurant was quite crowded. They sat by the window and Maru took off the padded jacket that she bought for him. They had spent an hour looking before deciding on this. Maru thought that he should wear it for a long time as he looked at it.
“Are you fine with the spicy one?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s good.”
“It is.”
The strong taste of seasoning was to Maru’s liking. Maru wasn’t planning on eating healthy so he liked strongly seasoned foods more. When he poured another cup for her, they got the shabu-shabu they ordered. After they put it on the stove and turned it on, the broth started boiling.
“You should leave the thick slices of mushroom in the soup for a while, and as for the rest, you can eat them immediately.”
Maru put a bunch of vegetables into the broth and cooked some thin slices of beef before putting it on her plate.
“I’ll eat by myself. You should eat as well.”
“Don’t worry about me.”
She blew on the meat to cool it down and ate it before making a joyous expression. Maru looked at her. Perhaps this was why being next to someone could empower a person so much.
“How’s the shoot these days? Isn’t it hard?”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I feel like my portion keeps decreasing.”
She twitched her lips and twirled her chopsticks in the soup to look for the mushroom.
“At first, I started off with the mindset that I’m learning, but I still find it a bit of a pity. When Jiseok says he has a shoot but I’m staying at home, I feel like I’m lagging behind. If I get fired up because of that and stand in front of the camera, I get scolded for being too tense. Acting really is hard after all.”
“It just comes down to experience. If you get more experience, you’ll be able to do better.”
“Is that how it is?”
“It is how it is.”
Maru put some cooked meat on her plate again. Even while saying that he didn’t need to do so, she ate the meat quickly.
“Should we order some more?”
“What are you going to do from now on? If you are going to continue being an actress, I think you should look into joining an agency. There’s a limit to how much you can do by yourself.”
“I’m still thinking about that. I do want to, but I keep wondering if it’s the right thing to do and keep hesitating. Acting definitely is fun. I want to keep doing it as well. But wanting to do something and doing something well are two different things, right? I don’t want to jump in hastily.”
“In my eyes, I think you’re doing plenty well.”
“Let’s say it’s a matter of confidence. Actually, I don’t know either. It’s a bit different from doing plays after all.”
“It is.”
“Mom’s telling me to do what I want to do, but there’s no guarantee that I would be as lucky as this time around.”
“You said that a graduate at your school connected you to the audition, right?”
“Yes. She works for an agency.”
“Did you look into that?”
“What a pity.”
Maru picked up a suitably cooked mushroom before looking at her eyes. She chewed for a while before shaking her head.
“Don’t mention JA. I don’t think I’ll be able to last if I join like that. Also… that’s a place for only the talented people.”
“That’s not entirely true. The president supports people as long as he deems that they’re worth investing in. It’s not as much as an exclusive contract, but he’ll give you some form of care. Daemyung is going to receive college tuition from him. Of course, I’m not saying that Daemyung is bad at acting, but still.”
She bit on her chopsticks and looked at him. From her expression, it didn’t seem like she liked that. Maru smiled and no longer spoke. He did not plan to force her to do something she didn’t want to do. He could try explaining to her that grabbing an opportunity through people she knew wasn’t a bad thing, but he did not want to deny her way of life outright nor tell her to follow him. It had to be her decision. The only thing he could do was to give her some advice.
“I’ll tell you when JA is holding an audition to recruit new actors. That’s okay with you, right?”
She nodded. After looking at the pot that only had a few pieces of mushroom left, she spoke,
“Am I being too stuffy? It’s not that different from how I got the audition for the sitcom through a school senior.”
“It is a bit different. I understand where you’re coming from.”
Maru raised his voice a little and spoke,
“Looks like I brought up something I shouldn’t have. You’ll be getting calls from various places because of your skills soon enough.”
“That’s obviously not happening.”
“You never know.”
She made a sour expression before saying that it would be great if it was like that. They left the restaurant after finishing their meal.
“It’s snowing again.”
Reaching out her hand, she brightly smiled and told Maru to see. There was a large snowflake on her palm. Though, it soon melted away.
“Looks like it’ll pile up again.”
“You’re right.”
“Where should we go now?”
“I want to drink some coffee.”
Maru pointed at the café on the other side. Actually, he wasn’t desperate for coffee. He just needed a quiet space.
“I’ll buy you the coffee.”
“Nah. I received a present from you today, so let me buy one for you today.”