Chapter 626 (2/2)

“You don’t have to….”

Just as he was about to stand up, his friend pressed his shoulders down. Junmin raised his head. He could see that she was looking at him worriedly.

“You really don’t look good right now. If I send you off now, I fear that I won’t be able to sleep in peace.”

“Sorry for being a bad friend.”

“You just found out?”

When she returned after putting away the teacups, there was a bottle of wine in her hands.

“You’re giving wine to a patient? I thought a certain someone was telling me to quit smoking just moments ago. Isn’t alcohol similar?”

“I would feel terrible to hear that from you but you don’t even listen to the doctor’s words. Here, have a drink. You haven’t been here in ages, so it’s such a pity to just sleep like this.”

He smiled as he accepted the glass, and she sat down right next to him. Seeing her sitting right next to him, Junmin couldn’t help but smile.

“So you really aren’t planning on getting married.”

“This isn’t the first time you’re saying this. I’ll just die lonely.”

“Then what about me?”

She leaned against his shoulder. Junmin just drank the wine without saying anything.

“A forty-nine year-old woman is no good after all?”

“Much better than a man in his fifties.”

“Didn’t you notice my feelings a while ago?”

“I did.”

“What a bad man.”

“Sorry.”

“Jung Haejoo, is that girl still in your heart?”

Junmin smiled bitterly instead of replying. His friend’s face became closer and closer to his face.

“I’ll take the consultation fee now.”

Her lips touched his cheeks. Junmin looked at her.

“What, were you expecting something?”

She giggled before touching her lips.

“Now that I think about it, the kid that you introduced me to last time.”

“Han Maru?”

“Yeah. Have you heard?”

“I’ve only heard that there were no anomalies after a detailed medical check.”

“I am obliged to keep things secret, but I’ll give you a hint since you’re like his social father. That child said something similar to you.”

“Similar to me?”

“His sense of depersonalization, that is, being unfamiliar with himself, was fainter than you, but it was the same in regards to the fact that the scenery around kept changing. It was even down to the fact that it felt familiar despite the fact that he had never seen it before. Of course, the change in surrounding scenery is something separate from depersonalization, but the fact that the two occurred at the same time is definitely a strange thing. I’m thinking that there’s an environmental element at your company causing the symptoms, but that child doesn’t commute to the company or something, does he?”

“There’s no way he does.”

“There are no contacts between you two either. There’s nothing similar about you two, yet the peculiar symptoms match. What’s interesting is that even after a detailed diagnosis, the result is that there are no external or psychological problems. You might turn out to be the same.”

“That’s quite a coincidence.”

“It is a little surprising to be a coincidence, but since the results are normal, I had nothing to say as a doctor.”

She yawned softly.

“It’s somewhat wrong for me to say this to a patient, but can I get some consultation as well?”

“If it’s just listening, I think I can do it.”

“Then just listen. This is the thing I want to consult about. A cocky man suddenly came to my house and is stirring my heart. What do I do with this man?”

“Get him to drink and have him sleep.”

“What a really cocky man.”

Junmin could only repeat the word sorry.

* * *

“Be careful on your way.”

“Sorry about that. I was going to watch with you, but I ended up sleeping.”

“You must have been tired. We can watch the important stuff later, so don’t worry about it. Also, Yoo Jiseok, you should visit an ENT doctor.”

After sending Daemyung and Jiseok off, Maru cleaned the living room. It was 11 past 10. The videotape he was watching was on pause. This was the part where Joohyun shouted at Junmin. This could potentially be a sensitive part, so he did not continue the video when the others woke up.

“Did they leave?”

“Yeah. It was noisy, wasn’t it?”

“Not really. Are you going to keep watching?”

“I am.”

Bada nodded before returning to her room.

Maru resumed the video. He met Joongjin when he visited the coffee shop to meet Jincheol. He heard about the past between Joongjin and Junmin and received the videotapes there. Like what Joongjin said, Junmin didn’t have a good relationship with the members of the theater troupe, but it was getting better as time went by. However, Joohyun didn’t seem to like Junmin. Perhaps this was the case since Joohyun cherished Haejoo a lot.

-Ahjussi, you’re thinking that unni doesn’t have any talent, aren’t you? What you said at the beginning is just a lie, isn’t it? That’s why you’re talking like you’ve given up, aren’t you?

The agitated Joohyun stood in front of Junmin. The camera captured her face. Joohyun was angry, and Haejoo was looking at her with surprise. Junmin was also in the frame.

After a moment of silence, Junmin spoke,

-Haejoo can do better. It’s such an obvious thing that I don’t need to mention it. Confirming her talents, and giving her the conviction that she can do better - how is that any important? The reason the word ‘faith’ exists is because people do not trust. It’s because they do not trust that they keep seeking such a word and then affirm it for themselves. What I am doing is helping Haejoo become a better actress, not giving her faith.

When Junmin said those words, Joohyun made a complex expression. After that, Joohyun ran past the camera.

-Joohyun!

Haejoo called out to her and followed.

The video showed the stage with nothing on it for a while before it was turned off. Hm, Maru played the next video. The first thing he saw was a grey screen. There were people cooking pork belly on a frying pan. He also saw Joohyun, who was smiling awkwardly, as well as Junmin, who was cooking for her.

“Looks like things went well.”

Maru looked at the screen with a smile.