Chapter 159: Savior (7)
Park Geon-Woo had been standing by at Incheon International Airport since dawn for Kang Ra-Eun’s protection duty. He had thought that he could finally rest now that they were at the hotel, but he was suddenly contacted by Team Leader So Ha-Jin.
The contents were simple; he was to accompany Ra-Eun to the nearby convenience store. The first thing Geon-Woo thought was that it was unexpected. He couldn’t understand why Ra-Eun had designated him when she would be far more comfortable going with another woman like Ha-Jin.
But whatever the case, he had been hired to do a job. He quickly changed back into his suit and headed to Ra-Eun’s room.
Knock, knock.
Ra-Eun opened the door in streetwear as soon as Geon-Woo knocked on her door.
“I’m sorry for making an unreasonable request so late at night,” she expressed.
“It’s no problem at all. It is our job to protect you, Miss Kang. You said you wanted to go to the convenience store, right? People might recognize you out there, so I suggest you wear a mask,” Geon-Woo replied.
“Yes, of course.”
Ra-Eun already had a mask with her even without Geon-Woo telling her. Once she buried her hat deep into her head, it would be very difficult to tell that she was Kang Ra-Eun. Not only that, they were in Japan, so this level of disguise should be enough.
“Shall we go?” Ra-Eun remarked.
Geon-Woo nodded.
Ra-Eun felt extremely strange walking out of the hotel and out into the streets with her past male self.
‘I’m sure I’ll never get to experience something like this again.’
It was a very special kind of experience that she never had, and will likely never have again in the future. Ra-Eun couldn’t tell her past self that he would become her when he grew up. She wouldn’t be able to give him an answer if he asked why she had become a woman, nor would he even believe her.
Hence, Ra-Eun decided to treat Geon-Woo as a stranger. Only then would she easily be able to bring up what she was about to.
Ra-Eun had chosen only two cans of coffee to buy at the convenience store.
“Is... that all?” Geon-Woo asked in confusion.
Ra-Eun nodded. “Yes.”
“...”
He had thought that she would be buying something more significant, but that had not been the case. No one had recognized her as expected even after paying for her items and coming out of the convenience store. All that was left to do now was to go back to the hotel.
Just then, Ra-Eun handed Geon-Woo one of the coffee cans that she had bought.
“How about some coffee before we head back?” she suggested.
One was for her, and the other had been for him. Geon-Woo thanked her and took the can. They decided to drink the coffee at a bench under a streetlamp before heading back.
Pop!
The sound of the can opening was much louder than usual, likely because they were in a silent street at night. Unlike Korea, there weren’t many stores that were open until late at night, hence the quiet surroundings.
Geon-Woo was busy drinking his coffee, but his eyes were busy checking Ra-Eun’s mood. An air of awkwardness surrounded them. From Geon-Woo’s perspective, this was the very first time that he had met Ra-Eun. Not just that, she was one of the most popular actresses in Korea. Rather than feeling good from sitting together with her, his seat felt more like a bed of nails.
If they were caught being together like this by people, or even worse, reporters, weird rumors might spread like what had happened with Ji Han-Seok. Hence, Geon-Woo couldn’t help but be even more anxious.
On the other hand, Ra-Eun felt more at ease around Geon-Woo than anyone else despite this being their first time together, since they were literally the same person. This was also why she was immediately able to tell that Geon-Woo was observing her.
‘I didn’t have much resistance to women at this time.’
Since Ra-Eun was the one who had business with him, it was also her responsibility to start the conversation.
“I had the opportunity to talk with your older sister recently.”
Geon-Woo’s expression froze, which Ra-Eun had naturally expected. Her hatred toward her former family had been severe at this point in time.
Despite knowing that, Ra-Eun suggested, “Why don’t you reconcile with her?”
Ra-Eun had designated Geon-Woo to have this exact conversation with him. She was planning on using even her own past self. She needed even more power to bring down Kim Han-Gyo without a shadow of a doubt. Authority, wealth, connections, et cetera... and among her connections, TP Group possessed wealth on par with... no, surpassing Do-Dam Group.
If Ra-Eun made an intimate pact with both of these conglomerates, she would be able to overpower Han-Gyo in terms of wealth. In short, she needed to consolidate her relationship with TP Group, and her past self Park Geon-Woo was imperative to do so.
Geon-Woo was greatly surprised by Ra-Eun’s suggestion. He would have been furious if any of his close friends had suggested such a thing, and told them not to ever bring his older sister and parents up in front of him. It was obvious. However, he couldn’t when it had been suggested by Ra-Eun, a complete stranger.
“Why would you suddenly...?” he asked.
“Your older sister seemed to think about you very much. She had told me that all of her calls to you and interventions in your life had all been to resolve all the misunderstandings between you and your father.”
“Why would my sister tell you all that...?”
“Because we’re fairly close.”
They weren’t yet, but they would be once the matter with Geon-Woo was resolved.
“We’d frequently met during the shoots for One of a Kind of Girl. Your sister treated me very well. We had dinner together not long ago, and she just happened to talk about you. But I’d never expected to meet you like this.”
It had simply been a coincidence. However, continuous occurrences of such coincidences was what people called fate. This was most likely a chance, which was why Ra-Eun had called Geon-Woo out separately.
“I heard that you had saved your sister from drowning when you were young,” Ra-Eun said.
“Yes. It was around when she was still in high school.”
“She still hasn’t forgotten about that day. I think that’s also why she’s thinking so much about you.”
“...”
Ra-Eun knew Geon-Woo better than anyone else in the world. Although he acted like he had zero affections for his family, he occasionally missed them. It might sound contradictory, but whenever he saw other people who were very close with their families, he couldn’t help but want to be like that with his own as well.
Ra-Eun had been the same as well. She also felt far less hate towards her older sister compared to her former father. Ra-Eun knew that telling Geon-Woo about how much Park Hee-Woo thought of him would cause him to waver, since she herself definitely would if she was put in his place.
“I never thought my sister would tell you about something like that,” Geon-Woo mentioned with a weak smile.
Ra-Eun drove the final wedge into Geon-Woo without hesitation.
“Why don’t you give her a call first? I’m sure she’s waiting for you to, so it’s not a bad idea for you to make the starting gesture.”
“But what if it doesn’t go well...?”
If that happened, their relationship could worsen.
Ra-Eun replied with a smile, “If that happens, I’ll take responsibility in whatever shape or form.”
Even if what Ra-Eun was trying to help Geon-Woo do ended up horribly, Geon-Woo had zero intention of making Ra-Eun take any responsibility for it. After all, it was a family matter. However, Geon-Woo was the kind of man who needed a little push to act. Ra-Eun knew this very well, so she had purposefully used a firm tone. They had originally been the same person, so Ra-Eun knew exactly how to appease and persuade him.
“I understand. Since you’re going this far for us, I’ll give my sister a call once this job is over,” Geon-Woo remarked.
“I’m going to check if you did, so you’d better, okay?”
“Okay.”
Ra-Eun had no choice but to do this despite knowing how much Geon-Woo hated to interact with his family.
‘I’m doing this all for your sake, Geon-Woo.’
This was necessary, since he would be betrayed by people whom he hated far more than his own family in the future. The past and present selves had made an invisible alliance for the greater objective—revenge. Ra-Eun was solidifying her plan with each passing day.
***
After finishing her agenda in Japan and today’s Shuttered?shoot, Ra-Eun headed to Levanche. She couldn’t neglect her business to solely focus on her film shoots since she needed to grow her wealth and influence along with her connections.
‘Internal stability is crucial too.’
A fragile tower was far too easy to destroy.
Seol-Hun visited the chairwoman’s office and handed her the report that he had prepared. It had been a while since he had done so.
“I’ve organized the projects that we’re planning on pushing this season. Take a look,” he mentioned.
“Isn’t there way more than last time?”
“Well, yeah. That’s just how much bigger our company has grown.”
Turning a zero into a one was the hard part; making a one into a ten, or a ten into a hundred was relatively easier. It was good that her company had grown so much, but the number of things to examine had increased with it, which was an annoyance.
‘But what can you do, I have to do it.’
She pulled up her chair and got into position to focus on going through the report. Just then, her smartphone display lit up on the table. It was a text from Hee-Woo. She smiled widely as she checked its contents.
[I got a call from Geon-Woo yesterday. We’re going to meet for a meal soon. I asked him about what had caused the change of heart, and he told me it was all thanks to you. Thank you so much. I’ll make sure to repay this favor hehehe.]
‘Yeah, Park Geon-Woo isn’t the kind of man who would go back on his word.’
Like Ra-Eun had expected, Geon-Woo had contacted Hee-Woo as promised. As for the resolution of misunderstandings, she decided to leave it to her past self. She could always intervene if things were about to go south, so she was not very worried.
Seeing Ra-Eun put down her smartphone, Seol-Hun asked her, “Did something good happen?”
“Not yet. It will soon.”
She did not give him the details. As she was about to get back to reading the report, she received another text. Ra-Eun thought that it had been from Hee-Woo again, but it had been from someone else.
Ra-Eun called for Seol-Hun as she was reading through the text.
“Mister.”
Her question was simple.
“Do you know how to play golf?”
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