Life, Once Again!

Dawoon chewed on her thumb and looked at the phone she placed next to her. The message that Maru sent was on the screen. The simple message ‘let’s talk’ poked her eyes.

She intuitively knew that this was going to be related to Han Haneul.

Without being able to be happy that she was messaged by Maru, she had to send a message; a message that she was busy right now so it was hard to talk.

“I’m sure she said it. I’m sure she went to oppa and blurted out everything.”

She threw the remote control at the TV that was blabbing on all by itself. It was noisy. It would be great if it could shut up for a little.

She took her phone and went inside her room before closing the door. What should she do? Han Haneul was a cunning woman.

She had forgotten about this for a while after the shoot and didn’t realize that Haneul would backstab her like this.

What would Maru-oppa be thinking right now? Wouldn’t he be putting blind faith in his girlfriend’s words and would start treating Dawoon like total trash?

She felt stifled. First, she took a deep breath. There was a need to calm down.

Her narrow vision recovered a little. Her tightening breath also relaxed.

Dawoon relaxed her body and started thinking in a calm state. This was a disadvantageous battle. Whatever the case may be, Maru would trust Haneul’s words more. Moreover, someone like Han Haneul would make up stories to badmouth her.

She felt terrible just thinking about it. That woman was truly terrible. It was no wonder that she schemed with Na Baekhoon behind Dawoon’s back.

It was because Maru was kind and affectionate that he was being swung around by a woman like that. Dawoon had to rescue the pitiful oppa.

Suddenly, it felt like this was not misfortune, but an opportunity. She organized her thoughts and picked up her phone. There was something she needed to test.

She scanned through her messenger friends list and picked a few who she didn’t care if she ruined her relationship with them. Then, she picked someone among them who was dating.

-Jiyoung, it might be my misunderstanding, but I think I saw your boyfriend go to a nightclub with another woman.

After that, she spent twenty minutes talking with Jiyoung. At first, Jiyoung said that there was just no way, but when she kept instigating her, Jiyoung’s attitude changed.

Wasn’t there anything strange? Doesn’t he contact you less and less lately? Wasn’t he acting negligently?

She got a phone call. It was Jiyoung. That friend then revealed over the phone that they had been in a strange mood lately while crying.

Dawoon felt glee. She only made up plausible-sounding words, but she managed to put a crack in someone else’s relationship. She advised Jiyoung to not bring the topic up first just in case before hanging up. Then she went through her photos on her phone.

She found a photo where Han Haneul and Na Baekhoon were standing side by side and smiling. It was a photo she took during the shoot. There should be absolutely no problems with this photo, but with a few words, she would be able to sow seeds of suspicion.

It didn’t matter even if it was a minute crack. If she could dent the relationship between Maru and Haneul, it would be easy to seep through that crack.

She felt relaxed now. She found a way.

When she lay down on her bed with a smile, a sense of shame assaulted her. How tragic was this? What kind of shameful deed was this?

She couldn’t help it though. She felt like she would collapse if she didn’t do this. This was an inevitable choice to defend herself. If lucky, she would be able to be tied to the person she wanted to be.

She couldn’t be bothered to think anymore. She put aside all her worries and closed her eyes. Right before she fell asleep, she heard someone whispering:

What if you start dating? What next?

Nothing really came to mind.

* * *

“The song you just heard was Yoo An’s Night of the Leaving Sun. Hearing this song, I want to go to the mountains and just listen to the birds.”

Suyeon paused a little before continuing her commentary,

“For part three, we’re joined by Mr. Han Maru, who has come to the studio after a long time. Mr. Maru, hasn’t it been too long?”

“Was I away for about three weeks? I think it’s been a really long time too. I came into the room, and it felt really unfamiliar.”

“So please come regularly. While you were away, everyone was looking for you. They said they needed advice from the devil.”

“I’m grateful that people looked for me without forgetting about me. I shall do my best to be the stick.”

Suyeon’s laughter could be heard over the microphone.

“Before we start, please tell us about your recent activities. Many of our listeners are curious.”

He was thankful that she looked out for him like this. Maru cleared his throat and spoke,

“I shot a film this time. I managed to join director Lim Hwanggeun’s work.”

“It must have been tough shooting in this hot weather.”

“I had a hard time, sure. But the results were really good, so I forgot all of that.”

“You said director Lim Hwanggeun, right? Isn’t he famous for his Gawol-dong series? Is this movie the sequel to that?”

“No, this will feel a lot different from his works until now.”

“So it’s not a comedy?”

Before Maru answered, he looked outside the booth at the producer. Although the progression of the program was up to the DJ, he might not be seen in a good light if he dragged on talking about what might be self-promotion.

If the producer told him to cut it off moderately, then he was going to say a couple more lines before wrapping up.

The producer raised her right hand to create a circle. It was a signal that he could continue. Was she being considerate? Or….

He looked at Suyeon. Suyeon smiled and hinted at him to speak comfortably. It seemed that she talked about it with the producer beforehand.

Suyeon had set him up well. Now, it was his turn to display everything without pulling back.

“There’s no sense of laughter at all. There are witty comebacks throughout to refresh the mood, but the story overall doesn’t have any comedic elements. So if you watch the movie thinking about his previous works, you might be taken aback by the nuance.”

“Can you tell me what it’s about? I’m curious.”

“I just finished the shoot, so I can’t tell you much, but I can tell you that it’s a story about bad guys.”

“Bad guys, you say?”

“Scammers. They’re all out to find weaknesses in others. They’re people who put aside law and justice, and they live purely for the money in front of their eyes.”

“Bad guys shouldn’t be so charming if they’re just bad. There must be something else too, right?”

“I’m a little embarrassed since this will sound like I’m boasting, but I’m sure you’ll come to like the villains in this movie.”

“Looks like I must go watch it once it’s released. You’re going to give premiere tickets to our listeners, right?”

“I’ll definitely give some tickets to our audience even if it means using my own money.”

Suyeon clapped.

“Everyone, you hear that? It’s been recorded, so don’t you go telling us that you don’t remember later. I guess we got some good presents to give away. The writer outside is applauding me for having done a good job.”

Maru looked at the monitor in front of him. Messages of encouragement were coming in real-time.

Some of them grumbled, saying that he shouldn’t be promoting himself, but those soon got buried under the new messages.

He sighed in relief inwardly. If Han Maru had a bad image as an actor, he would’ve gotten a lot more negative feedback than this. He felt relieved that there were more messages of encouragement instead.

“Well then, shall we listen to the resentments of salarymen on their way back from work?” Suyeon said into the mic as though whispering.

* * *

“Maru, what are you doing after this?” Suyeon asked while the radio was on commercial.

Maru took off his headphones and spoke,

“I’m going to go home and play with my cat.”

“So you don’t have an appointment, huh? Does your cat get lonely often?”

“Well, from what I see, she’s totally fine by herself so I don’t think so.”

“Then you should eat with us. We’re having a get-together after the radio today.”

“Is it okay for me to join you?”

“We wouldn’t invite someone who goes straight home after the program. You’re on close terms with other people too,” Suyeon said while looking outside.

The writer opened the door and came in before speaking,

“Mr. Han. What are you doing after this? If you don’t have anything, you should eat with us.”

“I was just talking to him about that. But this guy still seems to feel unfamiliar with us. He asked me if it was okay for him to join us,” Sueyon said.

He shook his head and replied,

“I really like get-togethers. I’ll definitely join you.”

He waited in the studio for about an hour. The main writer gave him some postcards with stories on them, telling him that he should do some work without dazing around.

“There are still people who send postcards, huh?”

“These days, this is special. There are many people who keep sending them since it’s quite fun if you get the hang of it. Read them and get some stories that are decent. Let’s see how your judgment is regarding shows.”

Judgment, huh? He picked a few stories suitable for the radio and gave them back to the writer. Scanning through them quickly, the writer spoke,

“Hey, you wanna work here? I’ll raise you if you do.”

“I like my job as an actor.”

“That’s a pity. Producer, Maru did work, so buy him something nice at the get-together.”

The producer smiled and said yes. They went to the nearby stewed ribs restaurant after the show.

Pork ribs colored in red sauce boiled inside a dented nickel-silver pot.

They had drinks and talked. There were four women, and Maru was the only man.

He did various menial tasks for the table. Even then, he kept his ears open.

“Maru, do you have a lover?”

The main writer, who was grumbling that her husband was giving her a hard time because of his sleeping habits, changed the topic.

Maru put the empty side dishes to one side and spoke,

“How do I look? Do you think I have one?”

“I put my vote on yes.”

“Me too.”

“I put my vote on no.”

The production crew said a word each. Then, their gazes gathered on Suyeon, who was drinking quietly.

“To even things up, I’ll put my vote on no.”

Then she faintly smiled and drank the rest.

The table became bustling again. They talked about the writer’s plans to visit overseas to the producer’s new washing machine.

While the topics changed, Suyeon did not say much. At most, she smiled and chimed in from time to time.

“She’s a lot different from when we’re doing the radio, right?” the main writer said while looking at Suyeon. “It’s not that she’s ignoring us or something like that, so don’t think too strangely. We found it weird at first, but we started not to mind ever since we found out that she was that kind of girl.”

Suyeon said that she was uninteresting and told them to stop before grabbing a rib with a hand with a glove on.

“She’s more noisy than ever during broadcasts, but she’s quiet outside the booth. Sometimes, we forget she’s even there. Suyeon, talk about something interesting for us.”

“I got nothing. Also, if you talk too much while you eat, you’ll lose your fortune.”

“See? She’s on the more talkative side today too.”

The main writer grinned and picked up her glass. This didn’t feel like a drink-and-get-drunk atmosphere.

After they had drunk moderately, someone said they should get up.

The producer paid for the food and left first. Other than the new writer, everyone else had families, so they left soon.

“It’s good to try your best, but sometimes you need to have some leisure. Actors aren’t sprinters. Well, you might not need any of this advice. You seem to be doing well by yourself.”

Suyeon said those words to him before she got in the taxi.

They were probably words she said without much thought, but Maru could feel the concern of a senior towards her junior.

“I’m glad that you look comfortable in this life.”

“What was that?” Suyeon asked while poking her head out the window.

“Nothing. Watch out on your way home.”

“Okay, see you at the next broadcast.”

“Goodbye.”

He lowered his head at the taxi that was driving off. He was smiling because he felt suitably drunk.

Just then, his phone notified him of a messenger alert.

-We should meet up once, right? Hanjoo Chicken Feet Association!

It was Yoo Jichan’s message in the group chat.