After Story 237

“I think the number of believers in Han Haneul has increased again today,” said Kang Anna, Haneul’s manager.

“Don’t start on that again.”

“Why should I not? It’s a good thing that more and more people like you. I’ve been to the merch booth, and all your products are out of stock. The popularity of Fiana is increasing by the day. I’ve heard that they’re going to start increasing production. If the responses are this good even though it hasn’t been that long since the musical started, it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ll be cast for the rerun.”

“You never know what will happen.”

Haneul let Chaejoo, her stylist, take care of her face. Chaejoo, who used to drop the makeup cotton a few months ago out of nervousness, now had confidence in her hands.

“Unni, would you like to erase the makeup around your eyes yourself? There’s makeup right next to your eyes.”

“Okay. Have you two had dinner?” Haneul asked Anna and Chaejoo.

The two of them looked at the corner of the makeup table. There were two sets of convenience store lunch boxes.

“That again?” Haneul said as she tilted her head.

“We like convenient things. Both Chaejoo and I do well with convenience store food.”

“There’s a restaurant right nearby. Heck, I told you that a roll of kimbap from a bunsik restaurant is better. No matter how good convenience store food has gotten, if you eat just that, the nutritional balance of your diet is…”

Haneul stopped talking after seeing Anna block her ears and shake her head. Chaejoo handed her her clothes and spoke,

“At times like this, Haneul-unni is scarily like my mom. Isn’t that right, Anna-unni?”

“Exactly. Do you think people know that our unni is a naggy woman? My friends think of her as a cool but kind person, but all she does is nag and nag and…”

“Fine. I’m sorry. But you have to eat proper food,” Haneul said, waving her hand in the air.

These two girls were with her ever since she signed a contract with JA, so she had gotten close to them almost immediately. They belonged to JA, not some external company, so as long as there weren’t any big problems, she would be working with them for a long time.

“Right, unni.”

Anna brought a chair over and sat next to her.

“What is it?”

“You’re close to Maru-oppa, aren’t you?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Can’t you call him to our drinking session just once? I mean, we’re in the same company, so it wouldn’t be strange to meet him.”

“What are you going to do when you meet him?” Haneul asked as she put cleansing wipes against her eyes.

“What else? I’ll say hello, we’ll have a talk, have a drink, and then… the you-know-what?”

“Anna.”

“Yes?”

“You asked if I knew senior Ganghwan’s manager before, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

“And before that, you asked me if I knew someone from JA Commerce, who has nothing to do with us other than the fact that they work in the same building as us, right?”

“Did I now?”

“And I set you up for both of them. What was the result?”

Anna laughed. “We became close drinking friends.”

“Do you want to date someone or do you just need drinking friends? Just decide on one. If you really want to date someone, I’ll look into some of my friends.”

“Hearing you say that makes me nervous all of a sudden. Should I date for real? What kind of person is Maru-oppa?”

Haneul put down the cleansing wipe gently. The cleansing wipe fluttered and fell into the trash can.

“Can’t do him.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think?”

Instead of Anna, who kept frowning, Chaejoo spoke,

“Is there something between you two?”

“Who knows?”

Haneul smiled and stood up. Chaejoo and Anna stood up as well.

“I have an appointment today. You two should go first.”

“What the, I was planning to go out with the three of us today. We should have a drinking party.”

“I’ll buy you those drinks at a nice place next time, so let me go for the day. Alright, watch out on your way home. Chaejoo, don’t forget to check the list of sponsored products and return them. I’m not going to say this anymore. Get ready to be broken by the team leader if you make any mistakes.”

Haneul waved her hand at Chaejoo, who became dejected, before leaving the building. Anna poked her head out of the makeup room and shouted,

“Unni! I’ll give you a ride!”

“It’s okay.”

“You know you have a schedule tomorrow, right? Don’t drink too much.”

“Do you think I’m you?”

“That’s true.”

Watch out on your way home: Anna added loudly. Haneul left through the staff-only exit and went to the underground parking lot. She got in her car and made a phone call.

“I just finished so I’m heading home. What about you, sweetie?”

-Making food at home.

“When did you say the seniors are coming again?”

-In thirty minutes.

“Is there anything I should buy on my way home?”

-Get some sliced cheese, tomatoes, and crackers. Oh, and some cat snacks.

“The list keeps increasing.”

-I think our new family member has finally passed the adaptation period. He keeps asking for snacks.

“What about Ricebun?”

-Coco beat her up so she’s watching from a distance. She’s several times larger too.

“That’s because Ricebun is so kind. Coco’s still a baby. I’ll head back after doing some groceries.”

-Watch out when you’re driving.

She put on her hat deeply and went around the grocery store. She bought the necessary items and arrived at home. She could smell something savory right at the door.

“Getting delivery food is usually the way to go for a house visit,” said her husband, flipping the tofu on the frying pan.

“There’s a skilled chef at home so why bother? I’ll help after I get washed.”

After having a shower, she went to the kitchen. She put the food cooked by Maru onto plates.

She wondered how many times they had worked together at a restaurant they set up together.

“This reminds me of the old times.”

“Can it be called old times?” Haneul replied.

Her husband replied ‘that’s true’ and laughed.

Starting with fried tofu and kimchi, various dishes were laid out on the table, starting from those that were good when cooled, to those that were best eaten warm.

Just then, the bell rang. Haneul took off her apron and went to the porch.

The small kitten that moved here a while ago, Coco, followed her out. He was someone with a lot of curiosity and would rush out if she opened the door. She picked him up and turned the doorknob.

“A cat is welcoming us.”

“It’s cute.”

It was Ganghwan and Suyeon.

“You’re here at the perfect time. We just finished setting the table.”

“You made so much,” Ganghwan said while looking at the table.

Hnaeul received a long paper bag from Suyeon. It seemed to be wine.

“I brought something that can be drunk lightly. It’s sparkling wine.”

“Thank you.”

Suyeon smiled and looked around the house. Unlike Ganghwan, who commented on everything in the house, like how the TV was big or how the wallpapers were done nicely, she quietly appreciated everything.

“That couple didn’t happen many times,” Haneul said next to Maru.

“Whatever the case may be, the two of them do suit each other. It’d be great if senior Ganghwan was more quiet, but I don’t think that’s possible.”

Her husband smiled and went to the living room with the last dish. Haneul took out some champagne glasses from the cupboard, including one for Geunsoo who should be here soon.

“Nice location. Should I move here as well?” Ganghwan said as he looked outside the window.

.

“Have you two looked into what house you’ll move into once you’re married?” Haneul asked as she put down the glasses.

Suyeon responded, “Not yet.”

Ganghwan added, “We were originally looking into the outer perimeter of Seoul or one of the new cities, but this area is pretty good. I thought Seoul was all noisy, so I can’t believe a place with the Han River view is so quiet.”

“This place is gold. There’s no need to go outside during fireworks festivals. Just open the window and you have VIP seats.”

Haneul poured the sparkling wine that Suyeon brought into the champagne glasses.

After handing one over to Ganghwan, who was on the veranda, she approached Suyeon who was standing still in front of the bedroom.

“Here.” Haneul gave her a glass.

Suyeon received it after thanking her.

“Aren’t you curious about what’s in the bedroom?”

Suyeon nodded, saying that she was a little interested. When she did, Ganghwan came over and spoke,

“Let’s keep our manners here.”

“It’s nothing special, so it’s fine. Also, it’s better to look into a lot of things if you want to decorate your newlywed house. It’s not something I can boast about, but we have a pretty neat room,” Haneul said as she opened the bedroom.

Suyeon went inside first, and Ganghwan followed suit.

“The duvet has a nice color.”

“Maru hand-picked both the outer cover and the inner material and had them custom-made.”

“Really? So he could do things like that, huh.”

“You should try sitting on it. If it’s okay with you, I’ll tell Maru about it.”

“I can’t ask for so much.”

“There’s no need to feel sorry. It’s something I want to do for you, unni. Of course, the real work will be done by the person out there.”

Suyeon rubbed her hand against the duvet before sitting down on the bed.

Her expression brightened up. She seemed to have taken a liking to the touch. Haneul felt proud as though she was praised herself.

“Can you help us out when we buy things for the new house? If she and I are the only ones buying things, I’m sure the house will turn out awful.”

“Why of course.”

Just as they started talking about the furniture, the bell rang once again. She left the bedroom and looked towards the porch. Maru was opening the door and greeting Geunsoo.

“Nice house.”

Haneul focused on the thing that Geunsoo brought. A long paper bag. It was yet another alcoholic drink. She smiled.

Ganghwan and Suyeon came out to the living room. Everyone that needed to be here was here, so it was time to eat and chat.

As soon as they sat down, Ganghwan went on like a machine gun. She had experienced this a few times before, yet she couldn’t help but be surprised nonetheless.

It wasn’t easy to keep talking without going on about repeated topics, and yet Ganghwan kept going on and on. Thanks to that, there was not a single quiet moment throughout their meal.

“I’ll get some more food,” Maru stood up.

Haneul made a glance at the empty plates once and then at Geunsoo who was smiling. She did hear that he ate a lot, but this was a lot more than she had imagined.

Until now, they had only met a few times in a café or at a drinking party, so she hadn’t seen him eat for real. Her husband wasn’t kidding when he said that Geunsoo might become successful as a food fighter.

“What part of Maru do you find the sexiest?” Suyeon suddenly asked.

The questions she tossed out every once in a while from out of nowhere were all difficult to answer. She especially liked to make lewd jokes like it was nothing when she was drunk, and the age rating of whatever she said even made Ganghwan speechless.

This was something that even Maru didn’t know before, so these members actually had quite some trouble during their last drinking session.

“Unni.”

“Yeah?”

“You should stop drinking.”

“Why?”

“You’re slowly revving up. Anyway, you’re forbidden from drinking from now on.”

“I’m starting to feel sad all of a sudden.”

Suyeon sighed and rested her chin on her hands. These members were all very unique. Haneul had fun just watching the three in front of her.

After the meal, she got some fruit for the three people who sat side by side on the sofa. After about thirty minutes, Suyeon spoke,

“It’s about time we leave, but I strangely don’t want to leave.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“It’s someone else’s house, but it feels like my own. How curious.”

Seeing the three people mutter, Haneul smiled.

“Have a good rest.”

While she put away the plates, she could hear the three of them chat. They were mostly talking about moving into this neighborhood.

“This really is a tenacious fate alright,” said her husband while wiping the moisture on the dishes that were washed.

She nodded and looked at the three people in the living room.

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