Chapter 584 (2/2)

-Should I switch at this opportunity?

“I might start crying in despair if you dump me. In front of your house, that is.”

-That sounds horrific. I won’t dump you. I’m going to hang up now. I need to go.

“Watch out for cars, only cross the road when the light is green, and raise your hand.”

-Yes, yes, Mr. Han Maru. I’m a good girl, so I’ll do everything you just said.

“What do you do when a bad mister is asking to go with you while giving you candy?”

-I take the candy and kick his butt!

“Correct. See you tomorrow. Also, text me the number for this Yuna just in case. It will be a pain if we miss each other.”

-Hey, you’re trying to pick up a girl’s phone number like that?

“I’m quite good at things like that, you know?”

-Fine. Anyway, treat her well. She’s a really good kid.

After hanging up, Maru looked outside the window. He started seeing a familiar road. He would arrive at Myunghwa High after ten minutes or so.

He had a look at the number she texted before pressing the stop bell. He saw students wearing Myunghwa High uniforms lined up at the bus stop.

After getting off the bus, he walked along the road until he saw Myunghwa High across the two-lane road. The black vans parked near the school were something like a signature for Myunghwa High.

“Good luck with the shoot!”

“Good luck!”

A girl who came out of the school amidst the cheers of the students got in one of the vans. She seemed to be an idol of sorts. As this school was known for having many young people who worked in the entertainment industry attend, this was not a rare scene. Maru crossed the street and walked over to the school gates. When Maru, who wasn’t wearing any uniform, stood in front of the school gates, people wearing uniforms glanced at him before going past.

“Are they not here yet?”

He heard that they would be waiting for him in front of the school, so he took out his phone. Just as he inputted the number he was texted and was about to press the call button, he saw a girl holding the hand of a little girl. Maru smiled and put his phone back inside his pocket.

“Hello.”

Bitna politely greeted him while putting her hands, which were holding a drink can, by her belly button. Her politeness left nothing to be desired. She seemed to have grown a lot over the past year. Well, they did say kids grow up quickly.

“Hello.”

Another girl, a student, greeted him as well from next to Bitna. She seemed quite excited for some reason.

“You must be Yuna then.”

“Ah, yes. Have you heard from unni?”

“Yeah. You’re Bitna’s sister?”

“Yes.”

“You’re better than me, listening to your sister’s request like this.”

“O-oh, no, not at all.”

Maru then looked at Bitna who was staring at him.

“I wonder what Bitna wanted to see me for.”

“Uhm, you know….”

Bitna, who was usually clear-cut about everything, seemed hesitant. Did she feel awkward after not seeing him for a long time? He thought that it might be better to put some distance, when,

“Uhm, there’s something I need to apologize to you about.”

The one that spoke was not Bitna but Yuna. An apology all of a sudden? Maru asked what it was about.

“Actually, it wasn’t Bitna who wanted to see you.”

“Then?”

“It was me who wanted to see you, seonbae-nim… may I call you that?”

“Call me whatever you want. Han Maru, Maru, hey, you, et cetera.”

Yuna seemed taken aback. Maru scratched his eyebrows when he saw that her thought process seemed to be stuck. It seemed that he should refrain from making jokes.

“Just call me seonbae.”

“Ah, okay.”

“I don’t think I need to listen to the rest. You asked Bitna to meet me because you have business with me?”

“Yes! You found out pretty quickly.”

“Anyone would know that if you’re making an expression like that. I did find it a bit strange when Bitna suddenly said that she wants to meet me. I guess Bitna helped our her big sister, huh?” Maru said as he looked at Bitna’s eyes.

She was a calm child who did not complain even under the scorching sun, but she was still a child. He couldn’t let her mind about what her sister and this brother were thinking about. Bitna should probably be at ease just by notifying her that there was nothing wrong with this situation.

“Sorry, oppa. I lied.”

“This isn’t even considered lying. People like me know best since I lie all the time.”

“Do you lie a lot, oppa?”

“I do.”

“Then does that make you a bad person?”

“Does Bitna see me as a bad person?”

Bitna stared at him for a while before shaking her head.

“If Bitna says I’m not, then I shouldn’t be. Uhm, Yuna, was it? Shall we switch places? This place is a little crowded.”

“Shall we?”

Bitna naturally grabbed Yuna’s hand. They seemed to be sisters who got along well.

“Yuna, why are you looking around like that?”

“What? Oh, I was worried that someone might recognize you and come, seonbae. I heard that image management was important for actors….”

“You’re clearly overly worried. There’s no one who recognizes me.”

“Not at all. You’re famous, seonbae-nim.”

“I’m famous?”

“...You’re probably famous.”

Maru then grabbed a random person who was walking by.

“Uhm, excuse me, but do you happen to know who I am?”

“What? No, I don’t seem to know you.”

“Sorry about that. I seem to have been mistaken.”

That student scanned him from top to bottom before leaving. Maru looked at Yuna, who was blinking her eyes.

“See? No one knows me.”

“A… ah! It’s because you aren’t wearing glasses. You’ll definitely be recognized if you wear glasses.”

Yuna then suddenly started rummaging through her bag.

“What are you doing?”

“I have a pair of glasses I wear when I’m studying. If you wear that, people will recognize you.”

“Isn’t it supposed to be problematic if they do?”

Hearing that, Yuna’s actions suddenly froze. She stiffly raised her head, not knowing what to do.

“You have a peculiar character, huh.”

“Sorry.”

“Not at all. I meant to say that I quite like you. Bitna, your sister seems to be an interesting person, isn’t she?”

Bitna faintly smiled while nodding.

“Where shall we go? I don’t know the area that well. Preferably, we should go to a place where we can eat.”

Whenever he came here, it was his girlfriend who always guided him around. Most of the time, she took him to restaurants that were gaining popularity.

“There’s a place I visit a lot with my friends. Can we go there?”

“Sure.”

Yuna nodded. Maru took a step back and looked at the sisters who were holding hands.

‘Now that’s the kind of daughter I want.’

The word ‘daughter’ gave him a sense of nostalgia, but he didn’t know what that was about.

Maru smiled and followed the two.