Chapter 574 (1/2)

The taxi drove off. Maru took a deep breath before lifting up the box with the videotapes. It wasn’t that heavy, but it was hard to walk because of the sheer volume. Just as he barely managed to carry the box, that got caught on his thighs every time he walked, to his house, his phone rang.

“Yeah, what?”

-Were you exercising? You’re out of breath.

“I was moving some stuff.”

-Stuff?

“I received some presents. Anyway, what’s up at this hour? Didn’t you say you were going to practice late into the night?”

Maru pushed the box in front of his house and sat down on the stairs. 9:10 p.m was the time when he checked his watch.

-I just finished.

“You have it hard.”

-Nah.

Her small laugh could be heard over the phone.

“If you just finished should I go pick you up? I think I have time to see you for around an hour.”

-You must be tired because of the shoot, so get some rest. Oh, I called you because a junior of mine wanted to see you.

“Junior? Junior who?”

-Junior at our school’s acting club. To be exact, it’s her sister who wants to see you. Do you know someone called Kim Bitna?

“Kim Bitna?”

He contemplated when he heard the rather familiar-sounding name. He remembered the small pretty girl who played the role of a beggar with him during the shoot for Apgu last summer. That girl’s name was Bitna. At the same time, he was reminded of Bitna’s mother, who wore sunglasses and drove with one hand. Even though he had only seen her once during the audition, she left a deep impression on him.

“I know her. I met her when I shot Apgu last year. She was a really polite kid, so the adults doted on her a lot.”

-Then that must be her. A junior of mine is her sister, and I heard from her that Bitna wants to meet you.

“Bitna wants to meet me?”

-Yeah. Looks like you two were close?

Maru thought about what happened last year. He couldn’t say that they were on really good terms. Unlike the other boys who he had gotten close to by living together with them for a while, Bitna always disappeared with her mother after the shoot.

“It wasn’t bad, I guess.”

-Really?

“I did treat her to some snacks from time to time, so maybe that’s how I scored in her heart?”

Maru reminded himself of the young Bitna who did the shoot without any complaints. Even adults found the weather hot, yet Bitna continued acting without crying even once. Her clear eyes left a deep impression on him.

Just then, he could hear her start talking to someone over the phone. He had waited for a while when the door to his house opened.

“Oppa, what are you doing here?”

It was Bada. Maru pointed at the phone.

“Oh, it’s unni. What’s this? It’s in the way here, so I’ll take it inside for now.”

Bada struggled to put the box inside. Maru thanked her in a small voice.

-What’s this thank you?

“I said thank you for being born.”

-What the hell was that so suddenly?

“This wasn’t the first time I’ve said that. Anyway, I thought you were talking to someone.”

-It’s the junior I was talking about. She’s next to me. How’s your schedule? Bitna apparently really looks forward to meeting you.

“No way. I’m fine with Tuesday. I wonder if Bitna is okay with that?”

-Wait a sec.

Her voice became smaller again. She seemed to be talking with her junior.

-She’s okay with Tuesday.

“Really? I’m fine with meeting her, but I don’t know what she wants to do. If it’s just saying hello, I can go over to your school. Bitna can do that too.”

-That sounds good. Then you should come on Tuesday, and I will send you the time by text.

“Okay.”

-I’m going to hang up then.

“You are?”

-What else?

“How disappointing. It’s the perfect time for a call, yet you want to just hang up after doing business?”

-If you don’t have anything to do, just sleep!

“How heartless.”

She hung up after wishing him good night. Maru smiled and closed his phone.

“Rather than that, Bitna, huh.”

That was unexpected. Just as they talked about, they weren’t on bad terms, but they weren’t close enough that they would meet up like this in person. At most, they would greet each other if they met each other on the streets. If it was one of the boys that rolled around the floor with him to act like a beggar, he might gladly meet them, but for Bitna, he felt more confused than happy.

What were they supposed to do when they meet? - he thought about it as he opened the door. He couldn’t think of anything to say to her when they met. There weren’t many things he could do with an elementary school kid. Maybe he should buy some food for her at a restaurant?

“Oppa, what’s all this?” Bada asked after opening up the box.

She opened one of the casings for the videotape.

“Are these movies?”

“No, some recordings of acting practices.”

“All of this? No, wait, 1988? These are super old!”

“They were taken a long time ago after all.”

“How many are there?”

“About sixty.”

“You’re going to watch all of this? How long is each one?”

“Probably at least an hour?”

“Then that means at least sixty hours, huh.”