After Story 154

“Seungah, I’m sorry, but can you go back up first? I think Jichan-hyung should be feeling lonely by now.”

Dawoon reflexively grabbed Seungah’s hand. She could imagine what Maru would say after Seungah was gone.

“Han Maru, you still have something to say?”

Thankfully, Seungah stepped in.

“I have something personal to talk about with Dawoon, so I’m going to talk to her about it.”

“Is it something I can’t hear?”

“It doesn’t really matter if you’re here, but I’m not sure if Dawoon will be okay with it. What do you want to do?”

Dawoon looked at Maru and Seungah alternately. Maru looked like he was going to say everything. Having Seungah here might not have a desirable result.

“Unni, please go back up first. I’ll have a talk with oppa and be right there.”

She let go of Seungah’s hand.

“I’m not sure what it is, but take it easy. It’s been a long time since we last met.”

Seungah left those words before walking over to the building.

“I assume you know what I’m about to say, right?”

“I don’t know at all.”

There was no need to hurry. She could predict what he was about to say today, but if she said anything first, that might start more trouble. It should be okay to reply after listening carefully.

“You caused conflict between Seungah and Miss Nayeon and involved me in it with your made-up stories. Actually, I don’t really care about that. People sometimes do things like that after all.”

“Oppa, that’s all a misunderstanding.”

“Fine. Let’s call it a misunderstanding if you want to call it that. It’s not me you have to clear the misunderstanding with, so I don’t need to nitpick with that.”

A bus drove past them. The engine noise blocked all sound and Maru waited until the sound became distant before speaking,

“How did you know that Haneul and I were going out?”

“What do you mean?”

“I get everything else, but I was curious about that. It doesn’t really hurt me even if it gets known, but we were rather careful about it. Ever since both of us started working properly, we were careful not to meet outside. Only a few people close to me know about it, so I found it curious that you knew about it. I really mean it.”

“I didn’t know. Were you dating Haneul-unni? This is my first time hearing it,” Dawoon said, maintaining her calm.

While that question might not sound significant, she could only make excuses for the rest of the things if she feigned ignorance.

“Did you really not know it?”

“I really didn’t know it.”

“Fine. If you say so.”

Dawoon clenched her clasped hands. The further the conversation progressed, the chillier Maru’s eyes became. The spark of hope in his eyes seemed to be dying out.

She felt hesitant. Maybe it was better to reveal the truth here? Would he forgive her if she did so?

“Believe me. I really didn’t know.”

Dawoon made a decision. The train had left the situation. There was no turning back. The moment the train tried to turn its head to return, it would capsize. She could only pray that there were no obstacles in her way and maintain her speed.

“Then let’s say that you just found out that Haneul and I are going out. Now I’m going to say the things I heard from Haneul.”

What was going to come had come. Dawoon quickly brought up the words she had prepared beforehand.

“I wasn’t in the right mind back then.”

“You weren’t in the right mind back then?”

“You heard what I said before, right? I’m actually receiving psychotherapy. It seems like living as an actress has actually taken a big toll on me. I started feeling uneasy with all the attention I suddenly received. Not only that, the role I’m playing is a villainess role, isn’t it? There’s the stress from synchronizing with my character, and I’m also receiving a lot of insults from people who don’t even know me, so I really felt like crying.”

“Really?”

Dawoon wiped her tears. She was crying half out of rage and half out of fear; rage towards Han Haneul and fear that Maru may turn his back on her.

“Haneul-unni was really pretty. She was perfect as a model too. I was in a really bad condition on the day of the shoot, and there happened to be someone incomparably better than me doing a shoot right in front of me. I was envious and jealous. I know I shouldn’t be feeling like that, but I couldn’t help it. I was just too mentally weak.”

She took a step towards Maru.

She was going to speak based on facts. If she told any lies, everything might be exposed.

“It’s my fault. It was all my fault. I couldn’t control myself after the shoot. I just found myself too pathetic. That was why I said all those unspeakable things to her. I really shouldn’t have said those things….”

“Do you remember exactly what you said to her?”

Dawoon shook her head. “I wasn’t in the right mind back then, so I don’t remember. But I do know that they were things I must not have said out loud. I feel sorry for Haneul-unni even now. She must’ve been so shocked and hurt because of me.”

It was human psychology to not be able to hit someone who was asking to get hit. While Maru was looking at her with a frosty gaze, he was someone very warm on the inside. She was sure that he would forgive her and comfort her.

Dawoon looked at Maru.

“I see.”

Did he believe her? Dawoon relaxed a little.

“Dawoon.”

“Yeah?”

“Everyone knows that it’s a bad thing to just listen to one side of the story, suspect someone, and believe in it entirely.”

“Right. You have to listen to both sides.”

“Yes. An event is interpreted differently depending on who tells it.”

“I think so too. It’s true that I did something wrong to unni, but I didn’t do it intentionally. The doctor told me that I might say something offensive regardless of my will.”

“The doctor said that?”

“Yes.”

“How’s the therapy going?”

“I’m still having a difficult time, but I think it’s manageable. I’m eating medicine as well. Also, there are people like you around me who are helping me out, so I’m sure I’ll become better in due time.”

“That’s good.”

Maru looked at the building. Maybe he was planning to go back soon?

It was such a precarious situation that she was even sweating coldly, but it seemed that she had avoided the situation well.

Things would return to normal as long as she called Nayeon later and coaxed her.

“Do you remember what Miss Nayeon said before she left?”

“What unni said?”

“That she would’ve taken your side if you honestly apologized.”

“Y-yes.”

“You should’ve clung onto her back then. You were doing so well but ended up choosing the wrong person at the end. Miss Nayeon would’ve been much more helpful towards your career.”

“Maru-oppa?” Dawoon called out Maru’s name, flustered.

His words were dry. Maru’s eyes, which were exuding a chill before, no longer contained any emotion. His eyes looked like well-made prosthetic eyes.

“There’s one reason I left you behind separately to ask these questions. It’s to clear things up properly. It might become annoying later if there are ties between us.”

Maru received a call. It seemed to be from Jichan.

“Yes, hyung. I’ll be right there. You can eat ahead of me.”

Maru hung up and then spoke,

“You seem to believe that you can persuade me, but that’s not happening. I’ve already made the decision before coming here. I did not think that you would tell the truth at all. And I was right.”

“No, oppa. I only said facts.”

“That was splendid. I could tell from your face that everything you said was a fact. But isn’t the truth different from the facts?”

“Were you that angry that I said strange words to Haneul-unni? I told you that I was receiving psychotherapy.”

“And which clinic are you receiving your therapy in?”

Dawoon tensed her eyes.

“Are you doubting me right now?”

“Miss Nayeon told me that you ate medicine in the bathroom.”

“Right. She saw me.”

“Those medicines. Can you show them to me as well?”

Her hands turned stiff. Dawoon hesitated for a while before taking out her medicine box. She couldn’t say that she couldn’t show him, and it didn’t feel like there would be a huge problem even if she did show him.

“It’s this. This is my prescription.”

“Really?”

Maru emptied the medicine onto his palm. Dawoon stared at him. They were small pills. What could he possibly find out from it?

“Pheniramine tablets and antihistamines, huh. I guess the rhinitis is getting worse since it’s the change of seasons. So your psychotherapist prescribed this for you? It looks like these work instead of tranquilizers these days, huh?”

Maru put the medicines back into the container and gave it back to her.

Dawoon received the container with shaky hands. However, she couldn’t put any strength into her hands and ended up dropping it.

The container hit the floor and fell around Maru’s feet. Maru grabbed the medicine and put it into her two hands; this time he made sure she wouldn’t drop it.

Dawoon couldn’t think of anything.

“I told you before, right? That people need to hear both sides of the story. I generally think the same. However, there’s someone I trust entirely. Someone whose judgment I prioritize above my own.”

Maru’s face closed in.

“Why didn’t you toy with me instead? Why didn’t you insult me instead? If you did, I would’ve at least listened to your story.”

“Oppa, I….”

“I think it’s a waste of time to look into what kind of person you are.”

She looked down at her own hands. Maru was taking his hands off hers. Dawoon let go of the medicine box and reached out to grab Maru’s hand.

“I’m sorry. It’s just as you said, oppa. I lied. Ever since I found out that you and Haneul-unni were dating, I felt so jealous. You know, don’t you? That I used to like you. That’s why I wanted to give myself an opportunity. Honestly, the two of you are just lovers, aren’t you? It’s not like you’re married. I can butt in, can’t I?”

She quickly continued as she looked at Maru’s eyes,

“I said something terrible to unni. I remember it all. I said things like how she must be trying to use Na Baekhoon to her advantage to get his support and that she must be using her body rather than her skills. But that wasn’t simply out of jealousy.”

Dawoon took out her phone and showed him a photo of Na Baekhoon standing side by side with Han Haneul.

“Look at this. There’s something between the two. Right?”

“Dawoon.”

“Look here. Don’t you think there’s something between them? Have you ever not suspected Haneul-unni at all?”

Maru calmly looked at the phone. Even if they were lovers, their relationship would soon crack if Maru started suspecting things. Dawoon was planning to aim for that gap. That was her final method.

Maru approached her. He put his arm around her and raised his phone above his head.

“Dawoon, look at the camera and smile.”

“Huh? Okay.”

She didn’t know what this was about but did as he said. She also put her hand around Maru’s waist so that they looked like affectionate lovers.

Maru took a photo and sent it somewhere.

A moment later, there was a notification alarm from his phone. It seemed he got a reply. After seeing the reply first, Maru smiled and showed her his screen.

It was Han Haneul’s response.

-Looks like you managed to relieve her for good. Is it fun to play with a younger girl?

Dawoon blinked. That wasn’t even funny. Her lips twitched. It was flabbergasting. She felt angry and at the same time, empty.

Haneul looked at that photo and that was the response she showed? That was it?

“Dawoon. Just how much significance did you think you held in me?”

Maru put his phone in his pocket and turned around to look at the building.

Dawoon fell on her butt on the spot. All sound disappeared.

She felt dazed.

“Would you like to say goodbye at least? You might be in an awkward position when you meet Seungah next time.”

Those words made her wake up. She quickly stood up and rushed over to Maru. Then she grabbed his arm.

“You’re not going to tell Seungah-unni, right? You’re going to keep it a secret from Jichan-oppa, right?”

“Do you want me to?”

“Please. I beg you.”

“You’re suddenly all polite again. It reminds me of when we first met. Dawoon.”

“Yes?”

“It’s a duty of mankind to tell others that there’s someone hopeless around them.”

“Er, uhm, er.”

“Let’s go up first. We need to eat at least,” Maru said with a smile.

His smile looked all the more gentle.

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