A Dinner Invitation and a Confession
Lee Ha-eun.
At last, Sunday had come.
After getting ready, I headed to the soup restaurant we’d picked as our meeting place.
But maybe because I hadn’t slept properly last night, my already frayed nerves had grown even sharper.
I kept sipping coffee and thinking.
A meal with Lee Ha-eun.
And to make things worse, Choi Go-eun, that genius actress, had suddenly shown up.
...Damn.
When I put it that way, it would have been strange if I hadn’t been on edge.
I let out a long sigh and muttered, “Let’s set the meal aside for now.”
Who should I give the role of Seo Rin-bi to between the two actresses?
By common sense... yeah.
Choi Go-eun.
She still had plenty to improve on compared to Lee Ha-eun, but Go-eun was manageable.
Lee Ha-eun, on the other hand...
I didn’t know.
If I could just get her into the project, she’d be the best choice, but was it really the right one?
Looking only at the project, there were too many things between me and Lee Ha-eun.
Right from that day, and that night after, too.
And yet the reason I couldn’t bring myself to give up on Lee Ha-eun for Seo Rin-bi was the way she’d been treating me lately.
Unlike before, it wasn’t that she hated me.
If she had hated me, she never would have stepped in during Kim Seong-hun’s mess.
Come to think of it, the same went for the interview about Queen of Joseon.
“She definitely brought me up on purpose.”
Knowing Lee Ha-eun’s personality, that lip service hadn’t been an accident.
She had clearly mentioned me deliberately.
What changed that woman?
She was impossible to pin down, and I couldn’t guess at a reason.
After thinking it over, I finally changed direction.
“Fine... whatever.”
There was no answer to find by worrying about it now anyway.
So why make it complicated?
Sooner or later I’m going to meet Lee Ha-eun.
Obviously, we wouldn’t just eat and leave it at that.
I’ll ask her. Why she’s been acting like this lately.
Once I heard the reason, then I could think about Seo Rin-bi.
Once I sorted that out, the knots in my head finally loosened.
Feeling my taut nerves ease a little, I lifted my head.
Far off, I could see the soup restaurant we’d chosen.
After parking in the lot and stepping out, I noticed clouds gathering over the bright blue sky.
“Looks like rain.”
I clicked my tongue and went inside.
The owner recognized me, since I’d been here a few times with Lee Ha-eun before.
“Mr. Kwon. Long time no see.”
“Have you been well?”
“Yes. Lee Ha-eun’s in the private room in back.”
With a nod, I headed toward the room he pointed out.
I stood in front of the door for a moment and took a deep breath.
“...Hoo.”
Once. Twice. Three times.
I took exactly three deep breaths and opened the door.
-Clack!
Lee Ha-eun, who had been looking out the window, turned her head.
Short dolphin shorts and an oversized boxy T-shirt.
Her outfit was so plain, so casually thrown together, that the moment it met her face, she shone as if she were wearing luxury brands from head to toe.
A woman who was luxury by sheer existence.
The lips of top star actress Lee Ha-eun parted.
“You got here fast.”
When I sat across from her, I answered, “You’re the one who came early.”
“I had time to spare.”
She had time to spare, so the great Lee Ha-eun arrived early to a meeting?
The same woman who used to blow off schedules and show up late as a matter of routine?
She really was something.
Lying from the first sentence.
Meanwhile, Lee Ha-eun twirled her chopsticks and said, “But the place you picked is a soup restaurant?”
“You used to like the soup here.”
“I did.”
Her eyes curved into half-moons.
“But you remembered that I like soup? That’s impressive.”
How could I not?
Lee Ha-eun was the sort of woman who barely ate a proper meal because of dieting.
And yet the one thing she would eat was soup rice.
She said it made her feel full and comfortable.
Considering how she skipped three meals a day for the sake of dieting, there was no way I could have forgotten that kind of preference.
“Should we order sliced pork too?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll get pork soup rice, and you’ll have blood sausage soup rice, right?”
I nodded.
Personally, I liked blood sausage soup rice more than pork soup rice.
After we placed the order, a light silence settled between us.
But Lee Ha-eun and I both felt it.
-...Crack!
Just like that sky where lightning had suddenly begun to split the clouds.
The atmosphere between us was the same now, the calm before a storm.
Under that heavy tension, I thought to myself, How should I bring this up?
When it came time to speak, it wasn’t easy to open my mouth.
A woman I’d once treated like an enemy.
And yet she was also the woman I’d spent one night with.
How was I supposed to casually ask her why she’d been helping me lately?
But if I ran away here, nothing would get done.
That wasn’t what I wanted.
I lifted my head and met her gaze.
Those star-bright eyes were watching me steadily.
My mouth moved slowly.
“Lee Ha-eun.”
“Yeah?”
“What’s with you lately?”
She tilted her head.
“What about?”
“Why are you helping me like this?”
“I helped you?”
“Yes.”
Lee Ha-eun smiled.
“You asked me to eat with you just to ask that?”
“Not just that, but it’s one of the reasons.”
“Interesting. Go on then. In what way did I help you?”
“The Kim Seong-hun incident, for one...”
Lee Ha-eun’s smile at the corner of her mouth deepened.
“And in the Queen of Joseon interview, you didn’t mention me on purpose?”
As that smile grew, the unease in my chest grew with it.
But it was too late to turn back.
After one rough breath, I threw a straight pitch.
“Why are you doing this to me when everything’s already over? You hate me, don’t you?”
After I got the words out, I steadied my strained breathing.
Lee Ha-eun wore a strange smile at her lips.
Whether she had no intention of answering or not, her tightly shut mouth didn’t seem like it was going to open anytime soon.
How much time passed like that?
At last, Lee Ha-eun muttered, “It’s hard not to say it.”
“?”
“Still, I guess I should be glad you’re not an idiot.”
“??”
“You actually caught on, Kwon Chan. That I was helping you, I mean.”
My eyes widened.
Then Lee Ha-eun tilted her head slightly.
“I wonder why I helped you.”
My heart started to pound.
Ignoring the thud of it, I answered, “That’s for you to explain.”
“If I knew, you’d run away.”
I let out a dry laugh.
“Why would I run?”
“Really? You sure about that?”
“Just say it.”
Lee Ha-eun leaned forward.
Without meaning to, I flinched and my shoulders jerked.
“No. You’d run.”
One small tilt of the head away, and our lips would have touched.
Her breath, so hot it felt like it could burn, brushed across my face.
“Because, Kwon Chan, you hate me, don’t you?”
The violent pounding in my chest made it feel like my eardrums might burst.
And inside that noise, I saw the face Lee Ha-eun had made.
Red cheeks.
Eyes slightly unfocused.
A gaze fixed stubbornly on my face.
Her expression had changed, and I hadn’t even noticed until now.
My eyes widened.
This is...
It was the expression of a woman in love.
In that instant, lightning split through my head.
Huh?
Lee Ha-eun’s suddenly altered behavior, the strangely possessive way she’d been speaking to me, the way she’d clung to me.
And finally, that night, when she had pleaded with me so pitifully.
Just as my breathing began to roughen, Lee Ha-eun whispered,
“A woman like me, Kwon Chan...”
Her unfinished words wrapped around my ear like a snake.
“Doesn’t spend one night with a man if she doesn’t have feelings for him.”
My pounding heart exploded.
***
My head went blank.
What the hell is she talking about?
Lee Ha-eun liked me?
Had she completely lost her mind?
No, wait.
When I asked her before, she said no...
Had she changed her mind?
Or was she lying?
Unable to believe what was happening, I stared at her face.
But... it wasn’t a joke.
The way Lee Ha-eun was looking at me had turned sticky, heavy, nothing like before.
I gasped and held my breath.
For real?
Lee Ha-eun, the top star actress.
The woman every man in the world dreamed of, liked me?
Why?
Wasn’t she the kind of woman who could seduce any man on earth if she wanted?
What could she possibly be lacking... that she’d like me?
By my common sense, it was an impossible confession to accept.
And yet the thrill I felt right now...
It was incredible.
-Thud-thud!
The dopamine surge blasted straight through my limit.
I couldn’t even think about the recent string of shocking events anymore.
And just when the rush was about to blow away what little reason I had left, Lee Ha-eun broke into a laugh.
“Your face is hilarious. Can I take a picture?”
The mind that had run off came back as if nothing had happened.
I lifted my head and looked at Lee Ha-eun again.
She was crossing her arms like she was perfectly composed, but her face was hot as a ripe persimmon.
That Lee Ha-eun...
Was pretending not to be embarrassed, but she was embarrassed.
At that moment, my lips parted.
“Lee Ha-eun...”
“Kwon Chan. I’m Lee Ha-eun.”
“?”
Her voice had suddenly turned cold.
Her face, too, went pale again as if nothing had happened.
“I don’t play games unless I can win.”
Lee Ha-eun had returned to normal.
From a woman in love back to the crazy woman I knew.
“But this game makes my defeat way too obvious, doesn’t it?”
The actress, packed full of arrogance and pride, smiled brightly.
“So don’t worry. I don’t like you. I’m not that into men who don’t like me either.”
“...”
“How’s that? Good enough answer?”
I held my breath.
Good enough answer?
In this situation?
That answer?
A bitter laugh escaped me.
Is she seriously insane?
Because I didn’t like her, she couldn’t bring herself to say she liked me even if it killed her.
Was that what she was saying?
If it had been anyone else, it would have been an excuse that made no sense.
But because it was Lee Ha-eun, it made sense.
A woman made entirely of arrogance and pride.
That was Lee Ha-eun.
Feeling the excitement that had been charging like a runaway train begin to cool at last, I muttered, But... that’s right.
Even if Lee Ha-eun liked me, my answer wouldn’t change.
I still disliked her. I still felt uneasy around her.
Even if it was the love of a top star actress, there had been too much between us already.
And since Lee Ha-eun knew that too, she was acting like this.
Just as I know Lee Ha-eun well, Lee Ha-eun knows me well too.
There was no way that arrogant actress would do something as simple as a crush.
As my reason returned, I took another sip of water.
That explanation makes sense.
Lee Ha-eun’s suddenly changed behavior, her attitude, her tone, all of it.
Even what happened that night now made sense.
With my composure restored, my mind widened a little more.
I want to confirm one more thing.
Looking at Lee Ha-eun’s expression, it didn’t seem like she had any intention of speaking further.
But I wasn’t planning to back down either.
Just a little more.
I needed one more definite confirmation.
Slowly, I opened my mouth.
“Lee Ha-eun, one more thing.”
“Say it.”
“You don’t plan on giving up, do you?”
Lee Ha-eun let out a scoff.
“Shouldn’t that be you giving up and coming back to me as my manager?”
“...”
“Stop hanging around people who’ve already dropped out of the game. Don’t you know a manager’s position changes depending on the celebrity they handle?”
Her eyes curved wickedly.
“You need to move up. You’re ambitious when it comes to work, aren’t you? Isn’t that right?”
Yeah.
I was ambitious when it came to work.
That was why I was trying to get that crazy woman into Black Bride.
But now...
Separate from work ambition, I’d started to get curious.
Lee Ha-eun doesn’t look like she has any intention of giving up at all.
As the one man who had lasted a full year as one of her former managers, I could say this with certainty.
Lee Ha-eun had no intention of letting me go.
What on earth made her like me this much?
Had there even been enough time between us for love to take root?
At least in my memory, there hadn’t been.
Or is there some other reason?
What the hell was it?
And I...
I was so curious about that reason.
So much so that, even knowing it was insane, I wanted to keep Lee Ha-eun close and find out why.
So this is... right.
A sane kind of madness.
A madness with a reason, both for Kwon Chan the manager and Kwon Chan the man.
If I could bring Lee Ha-eun into Black Bride, both sides would benefit.
I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled out the Black Bride script.
Damn!
“What’s this?”
“The script for a project I’m trying to get you into.”
“Why are you suddenly handing this to me?”
The water had already been spilled.
So I went straight ahead like a man.
“I actually came here to ask you this.”
“...”
“I found a good script, and I thought it suited you. Even if I’m not your manager anymore, we’re still in Team 5, so I figure I can at least recommend a script, right?”
The corner of Lee Ha-eun’s mouth twitched.
“So you’re saying I make you uncomfortable, but you still want to work with me?”
“Yes. As a person, I’m not sure what to make of you, Lee Ha-eun, but...”
I let my words trail off, then said with conviction,
“As an actress, you’re the best I’ve ever seen.”
Lee Ha-eun’s eyes widened.
She kept staring at me for a long while, and then a faint snort escaped her.
“I’ll do it. Tell them I’m signing.”
My brows twitched.
“Without even reading the script?”
“Why would I need to read the script you gave me?”
Lee Ha-eun grinned.
“My former manager has an uncanny eye for scripts. I’m sure you picked well.”
Out of nowhere, Lee Ha-eun threw a straight pitch right into my chest, and my eyes went wide.
-Thud-thud!
My heart was pounding harder than it had when I realized Lee Ha-eun liked me.
Why do I feel so good?
I didn’t know.
Was being recognized by Lee Ha-eun really that big of a deal?
Unable to keep it in, I got to my feet.
“Let’s go.”
“Already?”
“The rain’s stopped, so we should get moving.”
I turned my head.
The summer weather that had been full of wind and rain had cleared like a lie.
“Since it looks like things are going to get busy starting tomorrow.”
Lee Ha-eun, who had been staring straight through me, nodded.
“Fine, whatever.”
Then she brushed my shoulder gently and whispered,
“I’ve got plenty of time anyway.”
And just like that, the meal with Lee Ha-eun came to an end.
And I had secured the next project of South Korea’s greatest actress...
and won her heart.
***
The next day.
Baekhak Entertainment’s headquarters turned upside down.
“...Mr. Kwon!”
The representative had called for me.
Because word had come down that Baekhak’s flagship star, Lee Ha-eun, had chosen her next project.