“Then I’ll be leaving now.”

“Watch out on your way home. Respond well if Giwoo ever calls you.”

“I will. Er, senior.”

Joohyun told Hamin, who looked at her after saying goodbye to Maru, that it was okay to call her any time.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’ve taken a liking to you. I’ll drop the honorifics with you next time. A sister-like relationship is better than a senior-junior relationship. See you next time.”

Hamin stiffly replied ‘yes’ like a shy teenage girl. The taxi that had been called stopped in front of the restaurant. Joohyun gave her a 50 thousand won bill despite her adamant refusal before sending her home. She was someone who would feel uncomfortable sending a junior of hers off without anything. Hamin opened the window and said that she’d treat her out next time.

“What a good girl. It’s nice to see someone like that.”

“Noonim. You look out for your juniors quite a lot. You even give them taxi fares.”

“Only then does it put me at ease. I became popular suddenly without any period in the dark, so I don’t know what a rookie’s pains are like, but I’ve seen some quite a lot.”

“You’re secretly even bragging, huh?”

“I wonder if you know the hypothesis that all languages in the world came to be in order to brag.”

“I think I might have heard of something like that before. But are you going to give me money when I go home as well? If possible, I’d like two 50 thousand won bills. I’m a junior of yours too, but if I remember correctly, you’ve never given me taxi fares before.”

“But you earn a decent amount.”

“What about when I was back in high school?”

“It’s a bad thing to keep bringing up the past.”

Joohyun pointed at the café in front of the restaurant. They still had things to talk about.

“Aren’t there too many people there?”

“And what about it?”

Joohyun pushed the door open instead of Maru who was hesitant. She knew what Maru was worried about. When the door attached to the bell started ringing, the people sitting near the door gave her a glance. It was probably a reflexive action. Most people turned their focus back to their own coffee and the people they were with, but a group of girls sitting at the table left of the door did not take their eyes off her. Joohyun winked at them and walked inside. Maru was still outside.

“What are you doing?”

Joohyun waved at Maru. Only then did he walk through the door with an awkward smile.

“You’re different from the actors I know of. Those people prefer places without a crowd.”

“I’m sure that’s just what’s more comfortable for them, and this is just what’s more comfortable for me. If you think about it, having a strong impression isn’t all that bad.”

Joohyun stood in front of the counter. After ordering, she received an alarm token.

“Uhm, you’re Joohyun-unni, right?”

It was the group of college girls. Two of them remained at the table, while three of them came to her. In their hands were pieces of A4 paper that they clearly intended to use for their assignments. She took a step closer to them, as they were too nervous to come any closer.

“I am.”

Even after listening to her answer, the three of them hesitated. After a few seconds of exchanging gazes, the one in the center held out the piece of A4.

“Unni, I’m really sorry, but can you give me an autograph?”

“If possible, a photo too.”

“Me too.”

When one of them spoke, the other ones followed suit. The two others who were watching them from the table had also approached.

“We’ll be bothering the others if we’re too loud, so let’s take a photo at your place. But you can’t interrupt me while I talk, okay?”

“We won’t disturb you even if we die.”

“You don’t have to die. Are you going to take one together?”

She sat down and gave the students an autograph each. While she took photos, she could see Maru walk over to the counter with the alarm token.

“Good luck with studying.”

Leaving behind the girls who shouted ‘we love you unni,’ she walked over to the table in the corner of the café. Maru was drinking some coffee through a straw.

“Are you done with your fan service?”

“For now.”

She sat down and grabbed her cup. The girls were quite obedient. They didn’t even glance her way as though to keep their promise to not disturb her. They were quite cute.

“Care to finish what you were talking about before?”

She had to hear the story of Kang Giwoo, Han Gaeul, and Han Maru that he could only vaguely talk about when Hamin was present. Two of the three were her cherished juniors, and the other one was an actor whom she had a good impression of. She had to find out the details of the situation so that she could respond accordingly in the future.

“It’s a bit of a long story. I’ve been tangled up with him since high school in a bad way.”

Maru bit on his straw hard as he talked about Kang Giwoo. It seemed that he despised him quite a lot. According to what Joohyun knew, Maru was the type to smile the more he hated or was displeased with a person. Not making enemies was like a life philosophy for him after all. If he went against that philosophy and expressed his clear hostility, it meant that his anger was considerable. Perhaps it might be better to call it hatred.

Maru sipped on his coffee for quite a while as though he was organizing their history until he started talking, starting with the words ‘that guy.’ Joohyun listened earnestly and focused on Maru’s expression. It was a long story that a person who wasn’t good at talking would have a hard time explaining, yet Maru quietly talked about everything without stopping. His first impression, the cruel deeds that Kang Giwoo made his ‘friend’ do, and the way he called such cruel actions ‘pranks.’ Just from that, she knew he wasn’t a man to be associated with. She even jumped up on the spot when she heard what a young girl named Bitna had to go through. How scary must it have been for such a little girl? If Kang Giwoo was in front of her, she would have grabbed him by the collar.

“That’s why Suyeon-noona listened to my request. It was better for us to make him have the misconception that Gaeul and I broke up.”

“So Kim Suyeon can do something kind for once, huh.”

She felt chills go down her back when she thought about how Kang Giwoo might have done something to Gaeul as he was the type to treat other people like objects. Thankfully, things didn’t seem to go awfully wrong thanks to Maru’s good responses.

“Then why do you look like that? You’ve solved the case, haven’t you?”

Maru smiled bitterly after she said those words.

“It’s just that something unthinkable has happened. Noonim, are you the type of person to notice if a man has feelings for you?”

“Most of the time. But isn’t that the same for you? You can discern if a man is simply being kind or if he has other feelings after a couple of meetings.”

“How about asking someone out for a meal in private despite having been rejected once already?”

“That’s obvious. One hundred percent.”

“And therein lies the problem.”

“That’s the problem?”

Joohyun was about to sip some coffee when she realized what that meant. She felt like cockroaches were suddenly crawling in front of her. Not one, but dozens of them.

“Kang Giwoo that fucker likes Gaeul?”

Her voice became a pitch higher. Maru became startled and gestured to her to calm down. Joohyun let out a breath while pushing her lower lip forward. The café felt warm when she came in, but now it felt hot. She was fuming inside.

“What did Gaeul say?”

“Obviously, she told me she would handle it. Even if I want to help her, I don’t really have a way. I mean, as you probably know, the easiest way is to admit that we’re dating, right?”

“That’s the surefire method.”

“Once he realizes that he’s been toyed with, I can imagine what kind of things he might do. He’ll probably start by leaking the news to entertainment journalists. Gaeul can become a good actress. She’s a good actress now, but she can definitely become someone who can play on a larger stage. You must know how fatal a scandal, no, a clear truth like that is to a girl like that. People aren’t as opposed to dating as they were before, but you can only find less than a handful of people admitting their relationship. Everyone’s being cautious so that they don't get chewed by the blind public’s teeth.”

Joohyun bought a cold drink from the counter and gulped it down in one go. She couldn’t tell him to announce it openly without being so frustrated about it. Maru’s worries were things that all actors went through. Entertainers talked about love more passionately than anyone else, but ironically, they were also restricted from love more than anyone else. Entertainers who are at a suitable age for marriage might be able to get married while receiving the cheers of their fans, but for celebrities who were still growing while receiving the love of the younger generation, romantic relationships usually became a flaw. Entertainment agencies that started off as idol management agencies still put ‘no romantic relationships’ in their contracts. The fact that such a thing was explicitly stated in contracts was proof that romantic relationships were detrimental to earning money.

“I’m worried about Gaeul now.”

“She tells me she’s okay every day, and I have no choice but to keep watching her without being able to do anything, so I’m getting stressed out. I trust that she’ll respond well, but worrying is another matter altogether. She’s not a stranger to me.”

“Maybe we should’ve gone for a drink instead of coffee.”

She could feel how frustrated Maru was. She didn’t have a way to help either. She could go with her usual personality and give Kang Giwoo an insult the moment she met him, but Maru would probably not want that. It’d be rather strange to insult him rather suddenly.

“Just give her some encouragement when you see her later.”

“Encouragement? I’ll bring her around to some good places so that she can get some energy.”

“Thank you. Now that I got that off my mind, I do feel a little refreshed.”

“If something like that happened, you should’ve called me out way before and asked me to take you out to drink. I would’ve taken you out even if it meant putting off my schedule.”

“That’s exactly the reason I didn’t tell you about it. Also, you know I’m not the type of person who does that.”

“I know. I know that you don’t like talking about a matter that you can’t resolve by just talking about it. But what do I do about this prick Kang Giwoo? I can’t exactly beat him up.”

“You know what they say. You avoid shit because it’s dirty. Just don’t get yourself involved with him. It'll be a pain if the smell gets on you.”

“If you see shit on the side of the road, you should clean it up.”

Actors were those that only met during work unless they became personally close. She had never seen Kang Giwoo in private after shooting the movie ‘Building.’ She thought that he was a polite junior who could respect his seniors, but he turned out to be arrogant trash who waved around his sword everywhere. From how he controlled others behind their backs, he was more like the secret mastermind.

“Oh, I was right. It is Ahn Joohyun.”

Joohyun turned around. A couple was putting a phone out to her with their arms locked.

“Hey, take a photo for us.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t feel like it right now. Sorry.”

The man stepped up, dissatisfied that his girlfriend was rejected.

“Taking a photo isn’t such a hard thing to do. Also, why are you being so gnarly? Your attitude towards fans is terrible.”

Her temple felt like it was thumping. Joohyun stood up on the spot. She could hear Maru say something. He was probably trying to stop her. If she were feeling good, she would have taken photos with the rude couple that claimed to be her fans, but not now.

“Give me the phone.”

The man smiled victoriously. Joohyun raised the phone and took a photo of the couple. The couple froze on the spot as they were just about to approach her.

“I took a photo of you, so done now?”

“Are you kidding me?”

“That’s a little rude. Do you think I’m kidding? Am I your personal clown or something? How dare you shove your phone right at my face from the get-go!”

She expressed about a quarter of the anger she got from Kang Giwoo. The couple freaked out from just that. The man stuttered incomprehensibly as though he had no idea that a celebrity would shout at his face. The woman also paled.

“Got something to say to me?”

The man glared at her as though he was trying to save his pride before leaving the café. Left behind, the woman also followed suit. She felt a little more clear-headed now. Maybe she should snap out at Kang Giwoo if she met him after all? The guests around started applauding. The girls who were watching from afar shouted that she was cool.

“Noonim, you shouldn’t vent your anger on the wrong people,” Maru said with a smile.

This chapter shows what I like about the novel. It feels so realisitc. It feels like it might actually be happening somewhere.Editor's Note:That dude can get destroyed lol. People think they're kings because they are the 'fans'. Makes them so cocky because they think they can destroy a celebrity's image easily.