Life, Once Again!

Chapter 887. Sequence 14

“I know it’s a little too late to ask, but what business did you have with Maru, Miss Hamin? You looked really urgent.”

Hamin put down the pasta she wrapped around her fork. It was a question that she wished wasn’t asked. She didn’t know what to say to it.

“Looks like I asked a difficult question. Sorry, I was just a little curious.”

Joohyun smiled while rinsing her mouth with some water. Hamin looked at Maru, who was next to her. Maru, who was dipping a slice of baguette into a gambas al ajillo, received the gaze and shrugged as though he was completely clueless.

“Should I give you two some space after all?” Joohyun asked.

“No, you don’t have to.”

“It bothers me that you two are exchanging glances like that. It makes me feel like I’m interrupting something.”

“It’s really nothing like that. Right, Mr. Maru?”

She did not want to put Joohyun in discomfort. She was a person that Hamin was grateful to for inviting her out to a meal and listening to her stories. She couldn’t bear to push out the host when she butted in midway.

“I told you. You shouldn’t get swept up by the atmosphere. She’s acting like that because you keep reacting to her, Miss Hamin,” Maru said as he lifted the oil-soaked baguette. Hamin looked at Joohyun’s face. She looked wronged. She looked like she had been scammed after signing a loophole-filled contract.

“Don’t look away and keep staring at her,” Maru said just as she was about to take her eyes off.

Hamin kept her eyes fixed on Joohyun, feeling like she was doing something wrong. Not long later, Joohyun frowned.

“Are you really not going to tell me even though I went so far as to do this? I would have revealed it because it bothered me so much.”

Joohyun grumbled and put a piece of steak in her mouth. She was a lot more liberal and prone to acting as she pleased than she had originally thought. Hamin had momentarily forgotten that she was the kind of person to swear at the media and that she liked her because of it.

“She’s the type of person to think that holding back because of the mood is making a loss,” Maru said.

At this point, she found herself pathetic for being so nervous about the matter with Kang Giwoo. Was it a matter she had to hide from Joohyun? In fact, it felt like it would be better to reveal everything and get her opinion on it. Since she was close to Maru, she would keep this matter a secret as well. Hamin turned around to face Maru.

“I’d like to continue talking about what we talked about at the studio, is that alright with you?”

“I believe I said that I told you everything back then.”

“It’s because something doesn’t sit right with me.”

Hamin got ready to speak and looked at Joohyun.

“I will not say anything I heard here outside. If what is said here gets around outside and you receive harm because of it, I will take full responsibility. I will not talk about it, but if such a thing happens, I will take responsibility even if it’s not me.”

“I believe you, and this is nothing that great, so there’s no need to call it a secret. Maybe I’m just misunderstanding all of this.”

A misunderstanding – she wished for it to be like that. Giwoo wasn’t simply a friend. Giwoo was the actor who had the closest relationship to her agency, Soul. If Giwoo indeed intentionally vaguely ended his words so that she could come to the wrong conclusion with malicious intentions, how was she supposed to face him in the future? Just being worried about it felt stifling. It would be great if he could remain the grateful friend who helped her out during her time of need.

“What do you want to know about that person?”

Maru spoke first. He did not say Giwoo and instead referred to him as ‘that person.’ She thought that he was being considerate. Hamin decided to do the same.

“First, what I know is that that person is an incredibly good friend. I’m not saying this just vaguely. That person encouraged me a lot when I had a hard time. I said during the shoot that I started off as an idol but failed. Just as I was feeling despair, the agency reached out to me, suggesting that I should switch to being an actor instead of staying as an idol.”

“You said your agency is Soul, right, Miss Hamin?” Joohyun asked.

She replied ‘yes’ to that.

“I met that person there. That person gave me courage when I was exhausted. Thanks to that, I was able to gain energy.”

“And that person spoke badly about me, or to be precise, induced you to think that way. Am I right?”

Maru was right on point. This was definitely something she had to set straight.

“That person told me that he mentioned your name to the writer of ‘Doctors’ so that you could do well. Is this true?”

“It is. I heard from the writer herself. Though, I have an idea as to why he did such a thing.”

“If it’s true that he did that, then that person did it for your sake, right, Mr. Maru?”

“If you look at the results, then yes.”

Hamin tensed her eyes.

“Then don’t you think what you said back at the studio is a little too off? You told me that becoming suspicious after just listening to one side of the story is nothing good, right? But now that we checked, that person has not lied at all. In fact, he helped.”

“That’s a feasible suspicion. It’s also natural for you to believe that person you’ve known for a long time instead of me who you met for the first time today. Honestly speaking, I don’t really care how you see me, as long as it doesn’t directly harm me. If harming someone in one’s imagination is illegal, the entire Korean peninsula won’t be big enough to imprison all the criminals. However, I will give you some help to clear your mind since you seem to believe that this is such a serious problem that it is to the point that it made you come all the way here.”

Maru wiped his mouth with a napkin. All of his actions exuded leisure. The way he responded calmly made her suspicious instead. The president of her former agency, who had gone missing, also had a nice, gentle first impression. Joohyun was watching, no longer having that smiling expression on her face.

“First up, what is it that you want, Miss Hamin?”

“What I want?”

“I’m sure there’s something you want. You didn’t come to me without a goal.”

“First, I want to set things straight. There are two things I am sure of. One is that that person talked to the writer about you, and the other one is that he described you poorly in front of me.”

“To be precise, he didn’t describe me poorly, but made you think like that, correct?”

“Yes.”

“There’s a simple solution to this. You know his number, right?”

“I do.”

“Then call him and ask him yourself. That’s the most surefire method. It would be a meaningless act if I were not here with you, but it is a different story if I’m here listening with you. Just promise me one thing. If he asks how I did, then tell him that I did terribly. Also, tell him that you did great and so I wasn’t able to say a word.”

“Would I find out something if I say that?”

“Yes. There’s a bit of a lie mixed in, but just think of it as a checking process, or you can consider it as repayment for suspecting me for no reason. I’m telling you this beforehand because you look like you dislike deceiving people.”

Just as he said, this didn’t feel right to her. She would be suspecting a friend of hers after all. There was the option to put an end to the situation here and accept the conclusion that she made for herself, but she felt like she would regret it if she left it hanging like this. Thinking about how she ended up after trusting the missing president’s words, this was something she ought not to delay.

“One more thing. If things go well, I’m sure things will become awry for you. If you don’t have confidence in your skills in feigning innocence, you might as well stop here. After all, it’s completely fine for you to think of me as a bad guy.”

“Isn’t it uncomfortable to receive suspicion from another person without a reason?”

“I told you. I don’t care as long as I don’t receive direct harm. What I am a little worried about is what would happen to you if you keep associating yourself with that person, but honestly, that’s none of my business.”

“Putting it like that makes me want to check even more.”

Hamin took out her phone. Once she made a call, Joohyun would find out that the person they were talking about was Giwoo, but it should be fine. She had given a promise that she would not expose any of this outside this place. She changed her phone to speaker mode and made the call.

-Hamin. Did you finish the shoot?

“Yeah. Thanks to you, it went without a hitch.”

-It’s not thanks to me. It’s because you prepared well. Wasn’t it hard?

“It was okay.”

Maru stared at her. Hamin licked her lower lip with her tongue and spoke,

“People said I did well too.”

-That’s good.

“Also, you know Han Maru, right?”

-Yeah.

“I didn’t do it because I heard such things about him from you, but I somehow ended up blocking him from speaking. It was his first TV show appearance, but he wasn’t able to do anything. After the shoot, he even glared at me.”

-Really?

“You had a hard time because of him, didn’t you? I received a lot of help from you when I had a hard time. It’s not really a repayment, but I wanted to tell you. He did terribly.”

-Er, Hamin.

“Yeah?”

-I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Why did you do such a thing to Maru? I should have told you that I am on good terms with Maru.

Giwoo’s voice contained panic. Hamin looked at Maru, who was right in front of her. Maru just put his hand out in front as a gesture for her to continue.

“You told me right before the shoot, didn’t you?”

-Tell you what?

“You didn’t say what exactly, but you put on a difficult expression because of Han Maru. You even fled the place without finishing your words.”

-That was just because I suddenly remembered something urgent. But Hamin, was Han Maru that helpless? Did he look angry? I’m asking because I’m worried.

Hamin didn’t know what to say. Then what was with that bitter smile and pained look in his eyes that he showed while talking about Maru that day?

-Hamin?

“Sorry. It looks like I misunderstood.”

-Yes, you misunderstood. I am on great terms with Maru. You didn’t happen to tell Maru that you acted aggressively because of me, right? I trust that you aren’t such a hasty person.

Hamin shut her mouth. The missing president’s speech tone overlapped with Kang Giwoo’s voice. Maru drew his hand across his neck. He seemed to be asking her to finish the call.

“Sorry for calling when you must be busy. I’ll hang up now.”

-Alright. Good work.

Hamin pressed the end call button. This was the result she wanted: that she was misunderstanding. She should be feeling refreshed, but she felt a headache instead. It was because Giwoo pulled out while saying that everything was entirely her fault. Not only that, he even tried to check on Maru’s state discreetly. He even sounded joyous when he asked if Maru was angry. She looked at the black screen on her phone. Was it over now?

“How quick.”

Maru’s phone rang. He put it in speaker mode as well and placed it down on the table.

“What is it?”

Maru replied aggressively, as though he wasn’t feeling good. Giwoo’s voice could be heard.

-Maru, are you okay? I heard from Miss Hamin that you weren’t able to focus on the shoot because of her. I felt sorry for it, so I called you about it. Actually, Hamin, that girl, is a little slow-witted. She trusts what other people say easily, so there seems to be a misunderstanding.

She had to hold herself back from laughing because of the absurdity. ‘Miss Hamin’, he said. Maru pulled out two napkins.

-Maru? Can you hear me? What’s wrong with this….

Hamin wanted to tell him that the Han Maru he was looking for was waving napkins around in the air like he was dancing.

“Bingo,” Maru said softly.