Life, Once Again!

Chapter 975. Crank Up 8

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His eyes were still, his chin was tense, his shoulders were loose, his fingers were relaxed as he grabbed the glass, and his legs were crossed in a leisurely manner. He was strangely unshaken. He was very leisurely and even made jokes. It didn’t look like he was thinking hard so that he could avoid this situation and instead wanted this to continue. While Kang Giwoo was humming along with the pop song in the lobby, Maru was convinced that this guy knew everything. Since his estimate had become a fact, he had to change his attitude.

How should he provoke him? A few questions went through his mind. If his aim was to just instill a sense of confusion in him, he would’ve chosen any random question. However, the situation called for him to not stop at just that. Maru had to shake him and make him lose his composure. Most importantly, he had to induce the guy to point the knife in the right direction: towards Han Maru, not Han Gaeul. There was one question that fit all of the criteria perfectly. It was more of a declaration than a question, but it was no different from a question since it would force his thought processes to a complete standstill and make him look for all sorts of answers, so it was practically a question.

Maru told the guy, who looked like he was standing up, that he was still dating Han Gaeul. After throwing that question, he looked at the guy’s face. He could not miss any minute changes, down to the shaking of his facial hair. If this still could not get any reaction from him, he would have to admit: he was being too delusional.

That guy’s eyes went up at first. His pupils were suddenly shaking like a small ship in the middle of the ocean. The chain reaction started from his back. His back had been hunched in a relaxed state but suddenly became taut. It was a signal. His calmness was breaking down all at once. It was probably just that shocking to him. After all, Maru wouldn’t have said this if he didn’t have the confidence that Kang Giwoo had seen through the lies.

“Dating, you say?”

“It came to me while we were talking. If we truly wanted to get close, there can’t be secrets. You seem surprised?”

Giwoo leaned forward, quite a difference from his laid-back posture while enjoying the conversation until now. The more intense his reaction was, the easier it became for Maru to say his next words. Giwoo was unable to continue speaking as though something unspeakable had happened. What he should be doing was smiling and asking about what happened and his relationship with Kim Suyeon, since it supposedly ‘has nothing to do with him,’ yet he completely froze on the spot. He knew the answer already, so he should have skipped the process of reacting naturally.

“Actually, I’ve been thinking a lot since I broke up with her.”

Maru started speaking. He did not want to give this guy any time to think. He had to strike before he gathered the messily scattered clues.

“You didn’t break up completely?”

“When we broke up, we thought it was over. As you said, we’ve known each other since high school, so we know each other too well. That became a mannerism of sorts and thus our relationship became quite monotone. Of course, it was mostly my fault. We haven’t changed at all, but I felt that we had changed.”

“So?”

“I realized not too long after we broke up just how important she is to me. But as a man, it goes against my pride to lower my head and apologize, right? That’s why I asked Suyeon-noona to create a situation that can stimulate Gaeul’s jealousy so I can apologize easily. If Gaeul had any feelings for me, I thought she would react in some way.”

He just added some details to an event that had already happened. Kang Giwoo was someone who saw him with Suyeon. If he just mentioned the main points, Giwoo himself would fill in the gaps in the logic.

“Actually, I made an appointment with Gaeul at that restaurant back then.”

“Wait.”

Giwoo waved his hand in the air messily and spoke,

“I thought that you broke up with Gaeul to hook up with senior Suyeon.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Who told you that?”

Giwoo became speechless. It was not a surprise. All the circumstantial evidence he had was at best, crude. Other than the fact that Han Maru and Han Gaeul were dating which Mijoo accidentally exposed, everything else he had was manipulated information and incomplete deductions. He couldn’t get an answer from the person in question, so it was natural for him to feel a discrepancy between the truth and the information he had. In the first place, if he knew everything perfectly, he wouldn’t be so startled by this act.

“You didn’t push her away first?”

“It’s not about who pushed the other. We just naturally became distant. It’s quite common, you know. We were doing perfectly well together, but suddenly, it just feels wrong. Then, our relationship just slowly deteriorated like sand being washed away from the shore. We contacted each other less, became distant, and by the time we graduated high school, we practically became friends. It was okay for a while. I even felt liberated. I was going to do various things and embrace my new life, but whenever I did, she just came to my mind. The time I spent with her came to me.”

Maru took his eyes off Giwoo and continued,

“But when I thought about it, it was all too childish. It felt wrong to use Suyeon-noona to probe Gaeul’s heart. And being caught by you was one of the reasons. After that, Gaeul and I just shared a quiet conversation. We asked how the other was doing and talked about whether it was the right decision to end it there. We talked for a long time, and we reached a conclusion.”

“That’s why you decided to start dating again?”

Maru nodded.

“Some things changed. First, we decided not to pay attention to each other so much. We realized that a suitable distance was important after we broke up. We also told each other what we found disappointing. We almost fought each other in that process, but after we said everything, we just laughed about it. It made me realize just how great words are. I thought we could get through to each other without words, but it wasn’t true. Rather than many conversations, what we needed was a truthful talk.”

“That’s great.”

He thought about whether he should mention the fact that he was living together with her or not, but he decided to hold back in the end. Giwoo most likely knew about it already, but there was no need to mention it first. After nodding for a while, Giwoo crossed his arms.

“It’s a little shocking. So you two were still dating when I approached Gaeul? And I made a fool out of myself without even knowing that?”

“I guess that’s how it turned out. Actually, Gaeul said that we should just reveal it, but I told her to wait. I never knew that you would be so serious. I feel like I unexpectedly did something sorry.”

He inserted words of provocation through his speech. He could feel the guy’s complexion pale.

“No. It’s a good thing instead. You two do suit each other.”

“Giwoo, you and that girl look like you suit each other too. She looks like a much better person than Gaeul in the photo. As you know, Gaeul has quite a temper.”

Giwoo made a dry smile. He probably thought that he was given a blow this time. He probably had a headache because Maru revealed information that was only worth something when hidden. He probably wanted to scream because of the agony. He might cause a mess again once he returns to his room. Though, it was already a mess from what he saw before they came down to the lounge.

Giwoo, who chattered without resting, started rubbing his thumb and index finger and fell silent. He looked like an artist who had fallen into thought. As for the piece he was working on, it might be titled ‘how to kill the guy in front of me.’ Maru could read rage from his calmly subdued eyes. It seemed that he couldn’t hold back at the fact that he had been given a big blow on top of being deceived until now. The more his rage became, the more relieved Maru felt. It would lessen the probability that he would harm Gaeul.

Whether it was fortunate or not, he had not given up on Gaeul yet. The possessive desire that leaked out from him was unpleasantly visible to Maru’s eyes. He was someone with a great possessive desire towards what he couldn’t have, so he probably shouldn’t easily try to destroy it. He would probably look for a way to remove the obstacles instead.

“Are we a little closer now?”

Maru stood up first. He had said everything he needed to. Any more conversation was worthless.

“It’s almost 1 a.m. We should go back and rest. We have a shoot early tomorrow.”

“Go back first. I’ll stay here for a little longer.”

Giwoo did not stand up. His eyes were fixed on the table as he waved his hand. Maru patted Giwoo on the shoulder before turning around. He walked across the lounge and stood in front of the elevator. He turned around to look at the guy, who was quite far from him now. Under the orange light, Giwoo locked his hands and placed them on his forehead as though he was praying.

“Amen.”

Maru pressed the elevator button.