Chapter 95: The Sound of Cracks Forming in a Friendship (2)
There were a few things that Kang Ra-Eun did no matter how busy she was, and one of them was exercise. She felt restless if she missed even a day, so she had gone straight to the fitness center yet again today.
“We’ve arrived, Chairwoman,” Lim Seok-Jun said.
He got out of the car and opened the door for her. She got out of the car and praised Seok-Jun in satisfaction.
“Thanks. You’re pretty good at driving.”
“If there’s one thing I’m good at, it would be driving.”
That could be one of the reasons why he was chosen to be Ra-Eun’s chauffeur. Not only was he good at driving, he was also quick on his feet. Ra-Eun commended Director Do Hye-Yeong in her head for choosing someone so great.
“My workouts take around two hours, so just come back around that time.”
“I understand. Please feel free to contact me if you need anything before then.”
“Okay. You can go.”
Ra-Eun headed to the elevator with her sports bag after sending Seok-Jun off. The employees at the information desk greeted Ra-Eun as soon as they saw her. She greeted them back and walked straight to the changing room.
She saw three young women chatting while changing their clothes. She couldn’t get used to seeing such a sight during her early days of having returned to the past, but now she could just walk past them without getting flustered.
She had even gotten used to being in the shower room with a bunch of women, which she honestly couldn’t determine if it was a good or bad thing. She was getting used to life as a woman, hence...
‘It also means that I’m slowly becoming a woman.’
It was a pretty weird thing to think about. She was already a woman. However, that was only in the physical sense; she was still mentally a man, so she was somewhat terrified that she had been adjusting so well to life as a woman.
Ra-Eun lightly sighed.
‘I don’t know anymore.’
She had reached a point where she just accepted it. It was not like she could go around saying “I’m actually a man!” because she didn’t want to be a woman. She thought it’d be better to just become a woman than be treated like a lunatic.
‘I can’t take my revenge from a mental hospital, after all.’
She couldn’t give up on revenge, the entire reason for her being and her greatest goal. She changed and exited the changing room, and saw someone familiar after a long time.
Han Ga-Ae, a songstress and her only friend in the entertainment industry, was on a treadmill with earphones plugged into her ears. Ra-Eun could see from her slim figure and beautiful curves made visible by her tight sportswear that she had been maintaining her figure very well. Something else also caught her attention.
‘That’s our company’s product.’
Han Ga-Ae’s pink leggings were one of Levanche’s flagship products. Ra-Eun couldn’t help but smile. She got on the treadmill right next to Ga-Ae’s and greeted her.
“Hey, Ga-Ae.”
“Oh, Ra-Eun!” Ga-Ae took off her earphones after belatedly noticing Ra-Eun. “What are you doing here at this time?”
Ra-Eun usually worked out at the fitness center early in the morning except when she had early morning shoots, so she rarely met with Ga-Ae here.
“I didn’t really feel like staying at home,” Ra-Eun replied.
She had come here while testing Seok-Jun’s driving skills in addition.
“I’ve been enjoying Waitress?so much. My mom and dad also watch it regularly. My mom was cursing the mother character that Yeo Song-Won sunbae plays, saying she’s a bitch, and then she cried because she felt so sorry for your character,” Ga-Ae mentioned.
It went to show how amazing Ra-Eun and Song-Won’s acting had been. The view ratings had reached an all-time high when it was revealed that Kang Seon-Hye’s mother was Cha Yeo-Woon, the character played by Song-Won. It had become huge news among the fans when the episode aired.
“I felt proud for some reason when you were being praised,” Ga-Ae said while laughing.
Ra-Eun also laughed and replied, “I’m glad your mother’s enjoying the show.”
“It’s a shame, though. We wanted to watch reruns, but couldn’t because we couldn’t bother my little brother.”
“Why would it be a bother?”
“Oh, because he’s going to be taking his SATs this year.”
Ga-Ae had a brother who was a year younger than her. Since the older sister took her SATs last year, it was now the little brother’s turn.
“How many days until he takes the exam?” Ra-Eun asked.
“I don’t think there are even a hundred days left. Around... eighty?”
“Already?”
Time flew by extremely fast. It only felt like yesterday when Ra-Eun took her SATs, but it felt weird to hear that juniors who were only a year younger than her were preparing for their SATs. If Ga-Ae’s little brother was preparing for his SATs, then...
‘Doesn’t that mean Yi-Jun is as well?’
Seo Yi-Jun was also exactly one year younger than Ra-Eun. She had seen him when she stopped by Starlight Road during Kang Ra-Hyuk’s birthday, but she hadn’t wished him good luck on his exam.
‘Well, I’m free tomorrow, so I might as well stop by.’
Yi-Jun had jogged with her on weekends and even made her a hat on her birthday, so she also wanted to do something for him.
***
The next day, Ra-Eun looked for her car keys to go see Yi-Jun like she had planned yesterday.
‘Oh, right.’
Come to think of it, she no longer needed to drive long distances; she could just call Seok-Jun. She looked for Seok-Jun’s number that she had saved on her phone.
- Yes, Chairwoman?
“I have somewhere to go today. Can you come?”
- Yes, right away. Where should I come pick you up?
“Come to my house.”
- Understood.
In the meantime, she made sure to grab her gift for Yi-Jun, limited-edition sneakers of a famous sports brand. It was extremely costly, coming to almost eight million won. Not just that, but they were being auctioned for even higher prices since they could no longer be purchased in stores. She had gone through a hard time to get these because she thought they’d be the perfect gift for Yi-Jun who was aspiring to be a fashion designer.
Fifteen minutes after she had called Seok-Jun, she received a call from him saying that he had arrived.
‘That was quick.’
It had been thanks to Ma Yeong-Jun’s strict education. Ra-Eun pulled out her smartphone as soon as she got in the car.
‘He should be done with school by now.’
She thought about contacting Yi-Jun in advance to say that she was on his way, but...
‘No, let’s not.’
Her mischievous desire to surprise him took over. Ra-Eun had been given information from Seo Yi-Seo that Yi-Jun was currently at Starlight Road. She had Seok-Jun park the car near the area and walked to the cafe with the paper bag containing the gift. At that moment...
Jingle!
The cafe door opened and she saw Yi-Jun sending off a girl wearing the same school uniform as him.
“Have a safe trip home.”
“Okay. Thanks for today. I’ll see you tomorrow!”
The girl looked like she’d be rather popular in school. As he was about to head back into the cafe, he stiffened because he had locked eyes with Ra-Eun.
“N-Noona...?”
Ra-Eun said teasingly with a corner of her mouth curled up, “Hah, damn punk. I guess it was true when Yi-Seo said you were pretty popular in school. You’re even dating a pretty girl like that.”
A bystander could have easily misunderstood the two students to be couples. Yi-Jun frantically shook his head.
“No, noona! That wasn’t a date! She just came to pick up something she forgot at the cafe.”
“Okay, okay. I won’t tell Yi-Seo, so you don’t have to deny it so frantically.”
Yi-Jun was not acting like this because his sister would hear of it. The biggest problem was that Ra-Eun was misunderstanding his relationship with his classmate.
“Here you go,” Ra-Eun said as she handed him a paper bag.
“What... is it?”
“A gift to wish you good luck on your SATs. They’re sneakers, so wear them when you go jogging.”
“...”
“I was only here to give you that, so I’m off. Good luck on your studies.”
She turned around to walk back to where Seok-Jun was.
“Noona!”
But then, Yi-Jun snatched Ra-Eun’s thin wrist and forced her to turn back to him. He immediately closed the distance between them and spoke clearly in complete seriousness.
“I’m really not in any sort of relationship with that girl earlier, so I hope you don’t get the wrong idea.”
“...”
Yi-Jun had only been swayed by Ra-Eun, but now the situation had completely reversed. Yi-Jun was also a man. Ra-Eun felt something inexplicable as Yi-Jun showed a manly side of himself. She hurriedly pulled her hand out from his grasp.
“...Okay. You could’ve just said so. Why did you have to get all serious, you punk?”
“Because you didn’t believe me.”
“Fine, I’ll believe you.”
Ra-Eun was talking confidently, but she couldn’t bring herself to look Yi-Jun in the eyes. She herself couldn’t understand why she was acting like this either. She was only thinking of one thing: to get out of this situation as quickly as possible.
“Anyway... I’m gonna go. Good luck on your SATs.”
“Thank you, noona. Can I come over to your house again when it’s over?”
“Do as you like.”
Step, step.
Ra-Eun was slightly fumbling as she walked.
Seok-Jun bowed to Ra-Eun as soon as he saw her and asked, “Have you finished your business here?”
“...” Ra-Eun nodded in silence.
“Where would you like to go?”
“Home.”
“Understood.”
Ra-Eun’s eyes shot toward Starlight Road as soon as she got in the car. She replayed what had just happened in her head. Ra-Eun had always thought of Yi-Jun as a younger brother who she could order around whenever she wanted, but he had shown a completely different side of himself to her just a little while ago. She didn’t quite know how to explain it, but after seeing Yi-Jun’s assertive side...
‘He’s unexpectedly manly.’
She found the normal Yi-Jun to be likable, but his serious side when things came down to it was not bad either.
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