Chapter 23
Lee JiHan
The play had ended and the audience was gone. By the ti Na AhJung arrived at her dressing room, she had returned to her normal self. With a cold soda can held to both cheeks, she was sitting crouched in the tiny dressing room. She propped her chin on top of her knees and closed her eyes. When she realized I had arrived in front of her, her eyes fluttered open.
“Oh? I thought you went ho,” she said in surprise.
“I was in the audience. Did you not see ?”
“Ahh! You were? You were watching!”
“You’re telling you didn’t see in this tiny theater? Are you kidding ?”
“It’s hard to see the audience when you’re on stage...
Looking like she might be in trouble, AhJung glanced hesitantly over at .
“Yes, this is the Na AhJung I know,” I accidentally said out loud.
A few monts later, I crouched down in front of her. Sitting at eye level with her, I placed my hand on top of her head.
“Not bad,” I said.
“What?”
“Acting. I think you can continue doing it.” I patted her on the head while I said this. “Of all the things my brother said to you, I think at least this one thing was the truth.”
“What things?” AhJung asked confused.
“You can keep following this path. It’s not too late. It will work out,” I repeated word for word what my brother had supposedly said to her.
The best of this girl is when she is on that stage. My brother and I agreed on that.
At my words, AhJung looked back at as if she had been hit on the back of the head with a hamr.
“Really?”
“You believe my brother but when I complint you it’s fake?”
“No, it’s...the opposite.”
“Opposite?”
“Ah, no.” AhJung closed her eyes and shook her head to get back to her senses. Her mind must have gone numb.
She held the soda cans to her forehead. “Pull yourself together, pull yourself together, pull yourself together,” she muttered under her breath almost too quietly for to hear.
The ti this girl is on stage may be the only ti she is at her best, but this was cute in its own way. Overco by a whim, I grabbed AhJung by the arm. Her eyes flew open in response to the action.
“Stop sitting there and stand up.” I stood up and pulled Na AhJung up with .
Now that I had her up, I realized that she still had not changed out of her costu.
“Change and co out. I’ll bring the car from the lot and pick you up in the front.”
Because she still looked shocked by the situation, I took the cans and held them to her two cheeks. At this, AhJung jumped in surprise and her eyes beca as big as plates.
“Pull yourself together, and don’t leave any pieces behind,” I said.
Even though the cold cans were resting on her face, it grew redder.
***
While exiting the theater and heading to the parking lot, I called the fortune-teller we had t earlier that day.
“That girl, the lake, is her future that bleak?” I asked.
[Lake? No, that girl only holds the water in a plate. I was trying to be kind because she was sitting in front of , but her future is worse than I originally predicted. What could she do with that water on a plate? There’s nothing that will work out for her.]
“It doesn’t seem that way, can you try looking at her fortune a bit more carefully? This girl, don’t you think that the plate could grow? Perhaps it could beco an enormous plate.”
[Do you think that looking it over again will create sothing out of nothing? Her fortune is that of a plate.]
“Then please make a new talisman.”
[Talisman? I gave you one last ti. Did you lose it?]
“No. Not one that makes her feelings fade but one that makes things work out for her. Please.”
[Really? Well, that’s not difficult, but like I’ve said before if she ets her man of gold, everything will work out in her favor. That will have a far better effect than a talisman.]
“That wasn’t sothing you made up?”
[What are you jabbering about? I may have tricked the girl into taking the talisman because you begged so much but I never ss with my fortune reading. The compatibility and future I read were all real. I thought that was the deal?]
“That’s true, but the thing about the man of gold was a bit disturbing.”
[Why? Because you thought I was talking about you? Because you are gold, you thought I was making fun of you?]
“Yes, that is what I thought.”
[Well, I’m not able to say whether that is you or soone else. All I did was read you the fortune I saw. The rest is up to you two.]
“Well, if that’s the case, I just have to find a guy that has the sa fortune as .”
[Do as you please. I’ll have another talisman ready so co over and pick it up. I have another custor. I’m hanging up.]
The phone went silent. What was this nagging feeling? I put the cellphone back in my pocket and shook my head. I had already reached the parking lot. I sped up to get to my car faster but stopped when I saw a flower shop across the street.
***
Na AhJung
After changing back into my regular clothes and passing by the ticket booth, I saw HeeKyung cleaning up her area. She hurried over and handed an envelope.
“Thank you so much for today, you did great! It’s not a lot, but here’s your pay.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” I said. “The play doesn’t even make that much, just buy a drink later.”
“Last ti you did this play, it made no money so you didn’t get a di. I should be giving you more but it’s not doing all that well now either. There’s just enough here to buy a drink.” HeeKyung forced the envelope into my hands and winked.
I put the envelope sheepishly into my bag. “Well, if it’s just enough for a drink...what are you going to do about the play tomorrow?”
“We got a call back from the lead a few minutes ago. She said she’ll co out tomorrow.”
“What is wrong with her?” I asked.
“She has no desperation. She has a sponsor and got the lead with such ease. The play’s reaction is not all that great so she is just getting too lazy to do it. From what I hear, she’s already poking around other directors to get a part in a different play.”
I pouted, feeling cheated hearing about the life of the younger actress who had pushed out of the spotlight.
“AhJung, that man you introduced to us last ti as your future brother-in-law, he was here today. What’s your relationship with him?”
I was a bit taken aback by her suspicious tone. “What do you an relationship? What are you talking about?”
Did she see sothing in the dressing room when he had made blush? My face blushed red again as it had in front of JiHan earlier. At my reaction, HeeKyung raised her eyebrows.
“When he ca to the ticket booth and I greeted him, he claid he was neither your friend, nor your future brother-in-law. What is he?” she asked doubtfully.
“Oh, is that what he said?” I was relieved to find out this wasn’t because of sothing she’d seen. “To tell you the truth, he doesn’t like . He said his brother is too good for . That’s probably why he said it like that.”
“That’s the reason?”
“Yes. That’s the reason.”
“But why does he follow you around? Especially when he says he doesn’t like you.”
“Well, he says he wants to observe what I’m like. He is my future brother-in-law,” I said nodding.
That was the truth,Lee JiHan would soon be my brother-in-law, but even so I felt discomforted by the fact. The thought of JiHan as my brother-in-law made feel unnerved for so reason.
***
I said my goodbyes to HeeKyung and exited the theater. It was already dark outside.
I looked around the entrance to find JiHan’s car but he wasn’t there. Had he parked far away? I checked the ti with my cellphone and searched for him again. When Lee JiHan shows up, I will act like I normally do. I will not start blushing like last ti. All of a sudden, I heard a raspy voice coming from behind .
“Lookie here, isn’t it Na AhJung?”
I swung around in fright and found DaeChul sunbae standing in front of .
“Oh my God!” I fell backward as I scread.
“What? Why are you so frightened? Did you see a ghost?” Lim DaeChul crept over next to .
“Sunbae, what are you doing here...”
“Why else would I be here. I ca to see you.”
“Huh? ?”
“Yeah. I ca all the way here to see you.”
“How did you even know I was here?”
“Hey, I have no way to contact you so I have to do this sort of thing.”
“This sort of thing...what thing?”
“Why do you think that other actress didn’t show up today?” Lim DaeChul looked up and down strangely. Thanks to him, my whole body felt as cold as ice.
This jerk had planned all of this to get here! Scared, I grasped at my heart, barely able to respond.
“So the reason the lead didn’t show up...”
“Yep, that was . I had to give her another part just so I could get you here, AhJung.” Lim DaeChul slightly kicked my knee with the tip of his foot. “Do you know why?”
I did know, this was all because of Lee JiKyung, but I had to pretend I didn’t know, so I shook my head.
“I don’t know, but I...I don’t have ti. I’ll talk to you later.” I shuffled backward slowly to try to avoid the situation, but Lim DaeChul grabbed my arm.
“Not later. Now. I have sothing very important for you to hear. Let’s go talk sowhere quiet.”
“I...I have nothing to hear.” I avoided his gaze and tried with all my might to remove my arm from his grasp.
Lim DaeChul, however, had no intention of letting go and twisted it more painfully.
“Na AhJung, if you don’t want to get a beating, you’d better follow .” His brutal voice made tear up.
I continued to fight him off, even under the threat of getting hit.
“Quit getting on my nerves!” Lim DaeChul let go of my arms and grabbed by the hair.
I cried out with my eyes closed as he attacked violently. It was as if he was determined to pull out all my hair by its roots. He continued to drag with him. Was this why being with JiKyung would stop from living up to my full potential ? Because of this thing with Lim Daechul? I was in so much pain that my eyes were watering, but I still resisted. Unfortunately my actions were useless because my feet faltered beneath as he dragged away.
Should I scream? No, what if he reveals to everyone here that the man I am about to marry is gay? If he said that in front of everyone and Lee JiHan heard...is it be better to just follow him now and try to escape later?
As I was weighing my options, I heard a screech so loud that even Lim DaeChul stopped. Tires squealed and a car ca to a halt in front of us. I opened my eyes and looked at the car. JiHan burst through the car door.
Oh no! Lee JiHan can’t get involved! He can’t hear what DaeChul will say!
As the alarms went off in my head, JiHan started to run toward Lim DaeChul who still had by the hair. JiHan extended his arm and grabbed Lim Daechul by his hair!
“Huh?” I said out loud in confusion.
Lee JiHan lifted Lim DaeChul by his hair, causing him to let go as he moved his grip to JiHan’s wrist and scread in pain. Released from Lim DaeChul’s grip, I stepped back massaging my still aching scalp. DaeChul stood on tiptoes as JiHan pulled harder.
“Ow, who are you? Let go!”
As Lim DaeChul yelled, JiHan shook him back and forth. Lim DaeChul, unable to say anything else, continued to scream. I blinked, not knowing how the situation had co to this. JiHan dragged DaeChul and shoved him into the back seat of the car. In the blink of an eye, JiHan got into the driver’s seat and locked the door. He whizzed past and drove out of my sight.
What just happened? I blinked rapidly. Gathering my thoughts, I picked up my phone which had fallen to the floor. Worried that Lim DaeChul would reveal JiKyung’s secret, I called JiHan. He JiHan didn’t pick up the phone for ten minutes. I chewed at my fingernails nervously as I was overtaken by anxiety.
After about 20 minutes, JiHan’s car appeared in front of . My heart was beating fearfully as he opened the car door and got out. Peering inside, I found that Lim
“Your poor head.” JiHan wrapped his hands consolingly over my scalp.
Looking up at him, I saw that he was checking to see if there was anything wrong.
“If it still hurts, we can go to the hospital,” he said.
“No, no it doesn’t hurt now,” I insisted. Who goes to a hospital for getting their hair pulled? I shook my head, dumbstruck. “What happened to DaeChul sunbae?”
“I threw him away.”
“What?”
“He won’t be able to co back, so don’t worry about it.” Lee JiHan patted my head with one hand.
“How co he can’t co back?”
“Because humans have a survival instinct.”
I stood speechless at his roundabout way of explaining what had happened. He gave no opening to ask further questions, only wrapped his arms around mine and lead to the passenger’s seat.
When JiHan opened the car door, I turned to the back seat and checked that Lim DaeChul was really not there. After massaging my numb legs, I sat in the passenger’s seat. JiHan closed the door, headed to the back of the car, and returned with a large bouquet which he handed to . The bouquet held blooms of varying colors and was almost as big as I was.
“Hold onto this for a second,” he said as if it wasn’t for .
“Oh, okay.” As if it was a job he’d assigned , I hugged the humongous bouquet.
He headed to the trunk again and returned with another enormous bouquet, placed it on my lap without another word and closed the door. I heard the trunk close behind and when JiHan returned to his seat, he had yet another basket of flowers.
“This you can wear over your shoulders,” he said.
“What?”
“If you can hold on to it then go ahead. If you want to leave it at your feet you can do that too. It just seems like it will be uncomfortable to do that, so I’m telling you to wear it over your shoulders.”
“But what is all this?”
“I didn’t know which one you would like so I bought all the flowers left at the flower shop. I figured at least one would be your favorite.”
I stared at him in silence. Did the flower fus gone to his head? I think he’s lost it. As I questioned his sanity, Lee JiHan started his car.
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