Chapter 7
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 7
"Why? Are you going to tell Director Jin you're quitting?"
His voice was flat, stripped of the raw emotion from the night before. It was a simple question, indifferent on the surface, but they both knew it was laced with a subtle, cutting sarcasm.
"Is it too awkward to look me in the eye now? Is this more uncomfortable than you expected?"
"I didn't come to work knowing this was your movie."
The thought had been circling her mind for so long that an excuse, completely unrelated to his question, slipped out. The words were barely out of her mouth before Yeon-ju regretted them.
"I really didn't know. If I had known it was your movie, I never would have joined."
Since she couldn't take back what she’d said, she chose to double down. Yeon-ju spoke with deliberate emphasis, enunciating every syllable.
A scoff escaped him at her declaration. Eun-seong let out a mocking laugh and brushed an imaginary speck of dust from his jacket.
"Well, I suppose that's possible. So, now that you know, you can't work with me?"
"It's not that, it's just… some personal circumstances came up…"
"Perfect. Go on, quit. Running away is your specialty, after all. You're an expert at it."
Yeon-ju clenched her dry fists. Even though she knew she deserved his criticism, a sharp ache seized her chest, making her heart feel tight.
Brushing off his jacket again, he shifted his gaze to the mirror. He stared at Yeon-ju's reflection, then tilted his head slightly. When their eyes met in the glass, Yeon-ju forgot how to breathe.
The moment their gazes locked, her fingertips tingled with a dizzying sensation, as if they had actually touched. A sharp pain bloomed behind her eyes; she didn't think she could bear his stare for much longer.
"You're good at that. Making a fool out of someone is a piece of cake for Go Yeon-ju."
"Yes. I am good at it," she shot back. "Backstabbing, making fools out of people, and running away—that’s my specialty. You know me well."
"How could I not? I was the one it happened to. I'm the victim."
"..."
"I might have been blindsided once because I didn't know any better, but I won't let it happen twice. There's no reason to. So I'd appreciate it if you stopped acting like you mean anything to me."
She could tell he was speaking through clenched teeth, his lips barely moving.
"Isn't making a fool out of someone once enough? Was it not enough for you? It was more than enough for me."
His demanding face, his piercing gaze, his venomous tone, his deep-seated resentment.
It was exactly as she had imagined, not a single detail out of place. She held his gaze, her heart fluttering and her mind growing hazy. Though it seemed pointless to harbor such resentment now, she vaguely realized that unless he let it all out, he would never find peace.
…So, was this an opportunity? A once-in-a-lifetime chance to purge the bitter remnants of their shared past.
"I'm warning you, don't just show up and run away whenever you feel like it. It pisses me off."
"You might regret this. Are you sure you won't?"
Eun-seong flinched at the unexpected question. "What? Regret what?"
"Regret. You're stopping me from quitting, but you might regret that decision one day."
"Ha. Listen to you."
Ha. Flustered, Eun-seong looked away and let out a dry laugh. He replayed her words in his mind, wondering what kind of absurd question he had just heard.
"Answer me. Don't stall by laughing it off."
"..."
Eun-seong snorted. She had accused him of stalling because that was exactly what he was doing. She’d hit the nail on the head, and it was hard to come up with a quick comeback.
As always, she's too quick on the uptake.
Are you sure you won't regret this?
He shifted his gaze back to her. She was looking up at him defiantly, her small fists clenched. Suppressing the urge to demand if she really thought that was a valid question, Eun-seong simply raised an eyebrow.
"You might not know this, but I did everything I possibly could for you."
"..."
"I gave you everything. There's nothing left to give."
The slight upward tilt of his chin betrayed his desire to dominate her.
"Think about it. Are you really someone valuable enough to make me feel an emotion as expensive as regret?"
He stepped closer to Yeon-ju. As if to prove his point, he leaned in, keeping his eyes locked on hers until their noses were almost touching.
His gaze was filled with absolute certainty—a look that said he wouldn't feel a single thing even if she devoured his lips right then and there.
"So cut the crap about regret. I have no intention of ruining your career, so stop messing around and just do your job."
"Do you think my career is so easily ruined? It's not like I'll starve if I quit this job."
"Even if you won't starve, stay until the movie is finished. I don't care about your personal circumstances, so just stick it out."
Yeon-ju narrowed her eyes. He was being stubborn about the strangest things. After trading a few barbs, a strange sense of defiance welled up inside her.
"Why are you so desperate to keep me here? It's uncomfortable for both of us. I'm offering to leave, so why on earth are you holding on to me?"
"Why should I trust you enough to let you leave?" Eun-seong shot back instantly. "How do I know you won't go around telling a different story, conveniently leaving out the part where you walked out on your own?"
Yeon-ju swallowed hard. Listening to him, she felt a fresh wave of sorrow with every word.
"It would be a headache if you went babbling to some reporter about how I kicked you out and made you lose your job. So just stay. I'd rather deal with the discomfort than the drama."
"Then don't change your tune later. I've made my position clear," Yeon-ju mumbled.
Eun-seong smirked. Thinking she was just trying to salvage what little pride she had left, he straightened up, putting some distance between them.
"You're the one who shouldn't change your tune. We are nothing to each other."
"Fine. I get it. I said I get it."
Just then, the door opened and Hae-young returned. Eun-seong stepped back in front of the mirror as if nothing had happened. Though he maintained a relatively calm expression, his insides were boiling, completely upended by Go Yeon-ju.
* * *
"Ugh, seriously."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing. It's nothing."
Dong-hwan, who was driving, kept glancing at the rearview mirror, warily trying to read Eun-seong's mood. It was glaringly obvious that his boss was in a foul temper, having done nothing but sigh in frustration since getting into the car.
"Ugh, seriously, just…"
Only a few seconds passed before Eun-seong let out another groan. Dong-hwan kept his mouth shut and gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. There was no way he could know the tangled mess of Eun-seong's mind, which was entirely consumed by thoughts of Go Yeon-ju.
Are you sure you won't regret this?
Wow. The more he chewed on that question, the more his blood pressure spiked. How dare she ask me something like that?
Regret? Regret?
He had been so flustered at the time that all the things he should have said were only now flooding his mind, driving him crazy. The witty comebacks he could have made were piling up, leaving him with a mountain of lingering resentment.
It was so unfair. Incredibly unfair.
"Ah, damn it. This is so damn unfair."
Eun-seong's eyes widened, wondering if he had spoken his thoughts aloud. Just then, Dong-hwan’s eyes met his in the rearview mirror. The driver pointed at the traffic light with an awkward expression.
"I could have made that light, but the car in front was messing around. This light takes forever, so yeah, it's pretty unfair."
"Whatever. Just drive slowly."
"Yes, sir."
Missing a traffic light was nothing compared to the sheer injustice Eun-seong was feeling. Groaning, he leaned his head back against the headrest, looking thoroughly exhausted.
The truth was, if he ever ran into Go Yeon-ju again, he had planned to pull her aside quietly and suggest she resign. He had intended to propose, in an incredibly calm and gentle tone, that since their reunion would only be awkward, and since he, as the lead actor, couldn't possibly step down, perhaps she should look for another job.
But because Go Yeon-ju had beaten him to the punch, words he had never planned on saying had poured out of him instead.
If he hadn't been there, Yeon-ju would have definitely quit. She would have disappeared from the film set forever.
And what would have happened then? Once again, he would have been the one left behind, forced to accept her sudden, one-sided disappearance. Just like ten years ago, without getting to say a single word.
"Sigh… seriously…"
Frustration kept bubbling up. The thought that he had almost been blindsided by Go Yeon-ju again made his blood boil.
"Sir, what do you want for lunch? You should eat something before we get to the practice room."
"Forget it. I have no appetite."
Answering Dong-hwan half-heartedly, Eun-seong squeezed his eyes shut. That insolent Go Yeon-ju. That arrogant Go Yeon-ju.
After we finally crossed paths again, you think I'd just let you go? Not a chance.
"You haven't eaten anything since this morning. Are you going to be okay?"
"Are you going to maintain my physique for me? If so, I'll eat."
"No, sir. I'll just drive quietly."
Just you wait. I'm going to unleash every last drop of resentment I've bottled up over the last ten years!
* * *
We Might Regret It, But
"Perfect. Go on, quit. Running away is your specialty, after all. You're an expert at it."
Ugh! Yeon-ju slammed her beer glass onto the table. Today’s schedule had only included a three-hour costume meeting, so Hae-young had finished work early and coaxed Yeon-ju into grabbing a drink.
Already parched, Yeon-ju wiped her lips after chugging the cold draft beer as if it were barley tea.
What? Running away is my specialty? My expertise? Who do you think made me develop that talent in the first place? It's all because of you!
Hmph.
"I'm so pissed…"
"Huh? What is?" Hae-young asked, chewing on some dried squid.
Yeon-ju looked up. Realizing she had muttered her thoughts aloud, she laughed in embarrassment. "It's nothing, Director."
"Yeon-ju, it's just the two of us. Drop the formal title. It's so awkward."
Hae-young waved her hand, telling her to relax, and Yeon-ju offered a bright smile instead of an answer. But as Eun-seong's words echoed in her mind, her expression quickly soured again.
"Did something happen at work? You look really down, Yeon-ju."
"No, not really. I was just thinking about how refreshing this beer is."
"You're so silly. Sigh, the good days are over now. Once filming starts, we're both going to be working ourselves to death for months. Just you wait."
Hae-young held out her glass, and Yeon-ju lightly clinked hers against it. As she gulped down the fizzy beer, the stinging in her throat felt like a jolt to her senses.
"Anyway, Yeon-ju, let's do our best. So we don't have any regrets in the end."
When Hae-young mentioned the word 'regret,' this time it was Yeon-ju’s heart that stung. The incident from earlier, which she had tried so hard to forget, rushed back, weighing heavily on her chest.
"You might not know this, but I did everything I possibly could for you."
Her heart sank at the memory.
"I gave you everything. There's nothing left to give."
Those words, which seemed to compress ten years of time, hadn't sounded calm or indifferent in the slightest. His face, wearing an expression as hollow as his heart must have felt, had been incredibly cold. It felt as though the immense love she had received from him back then was coming alive again, filling her from the inside out.
"Think about it. Are you really someone valuable enough to make me feel an emotion as expensive as regret?"
…The face and voice that used to whisper words of love every time they met were gone.
It wasn't as if she hadn't known. She had known it all too well.
So why on earth was this reality only now breaking her heart?
"Yeon-ju, let's have one more beer."
"Sounds great, Unni. I'm down."
Yeon-ju smiled quietly, following the lead of Hae-young, who laughed and said that beer after work was always the best.
Yes. Let's not regret anything. Let's not look back. I can't be someone who lives in the past anymore.
"Oh, right, didn't you say you had something to tell me earlier? What was it?"
"Oh? Ah, that. Just… that I look forward to working with you."
"Huh? Really? Gosh, Go Yeon-ju, you really are silly."
Just you wait! I'm going to hang in there and do an amazing job!