Chapter 132: Sunbae’s Proposal (4)

Kang Ra-Eun had never expected Kim Yeon-Gyu to confess at such a timing. She finally understood his actions while they were shooting the movie. Yeon-Gyu had played Min Ju-Tae’s best friend, Jang Seo-Woon. He was her friend back when she was still a man, and also the first person who she trusted and shared the entire truth with.

Because of this, Ra-Eun had worked with Yeon-Gyu more than Seung-Beom during the initial portions of the film, and the two of them spent a lot of time together talking. It turned out they had a lot in common; they debuted around the same time, they were the same age, and many other things. They had gotten a lot closer because of this, but...

‘It looks like there was a reason why he wanted to get closer quickly.’

Yeon-Gyu at some point had started to see Ra-Eun not as a colleague or a friend, but as a woman. She was not flustered by his confession.

‘I can’t believe the countless confessions that I’ve received from men would come in handy.’

After having experienced it many times, the soaring feeling of annoyance and the scrambling of her head after each time had died down. This was why experience was important.

Ra-Eun asked with an awkward smile, “Since when did you come to like me?”

Yeon-Gyu was flustered by her calm response. It was understandable, since there was no way a top-tier woman like her hadn’t been confessed to before. He decided to take her calmness as a fact that she had already experienced confessions many times.

“To be exact...”

Yeon-Gyu did not want to show weakness to Ra-Eun. Only those with courage were able to get the girl. He resolved himself to take one more brave step forward.

“From the first time I met you.”

Love at first sight. Yeon-Gyu was the first man who had so boldly professed his love to her. Ra-Eun acknowledged his courage, but...

“I’m sorry.”

This and that were different.

“I don’t have any intention of dating anyone yet.”

Ra-Eun had been confessed to by Choi Sang-Woon back when she was still an active-duty high school girl. That experience had made her realize that leaving the confessor room for possibility would only make things difficult for both parties. If it was a no, then she had to refuse flatly. That was the least bit of courtesy that she could give them.

Yeon-Gyu smiled in embarrassment. “I kind of had my hopes up, but I guess it was no good.”

He also had a faint feeling that Ra-Eun wouldn’t accept his surprise confession, and it went exactly how he had expected it to.

“I’m sorry for bothering you like this, Ra-Eun,” he expressed.

“No, it's okay. I’m sure you’ll find someone much better than me, so please don’t beat yourself up too much.”

After consoling Yeon-Gyu, she left as she heard Yu-Bin call for her. He silently said to himself with a face full of disappointment as Ra-Eun got further and further away from him.

“I don’t think there will ever be any woman better than you.”

There was no way there was.

***

Ra-Eun came back home after completing the community service. She had appeared on shows to advertise her film for a while now, and now had fulfilled the promise that she had made after hitting seven million in total audience attendance.

‘I should take a long break.’

She stretched and took a seat on the massage chair she had recently bought.

Ring—!

Her phone rang while she was in the middle of healing under the rays of sunlight beaming into the living room. It was an unknown number, but Ra-Eun could tell who it was. She nagged as soon as she answered her phone.

“Is a private first class trash like you allowed to call at this time?”

- It’s Saturday, noona. What’s wrong with making a call in my own free time?

Seo Yi-Jun argued back. It would have been a problem if it was a weekday, but weekends were fine. Ra-Eun calmed him down, saying it was just a joke.

“How does it feel to be promoted to private first class?”

- It’s hell. I guess my superiors were telling the truth when they mentioned the ‘first class’ in the rank name meant ‘first class worker.’

“Well, obviously. But you hit the jackpot in terms of barrack assignment, so you only have to work hard until the end of this year.”

Yi-Jun did not have any superiors who were above him only by a few months, and they did not target him to do anything outrageous. This was why Ra-Eun teased Yi-Jun all the time that he was living the life in the army, but she wasn’t serious about it. No matter what Yi-Jun’s service number was or which position he was assigned to, it did not change the fact that he was going through hell in the army.

“Why did you call me?”

- I just wanted to hear your voice since it’s been so long.

“I get it. All soldiers miss the sight of women when they go to the army.”

- Of course, I’m not saying that I’m fine with any woman.

He had called Ra-Eun because it was her, but stopped himself before it came out of his mouth.

- Y-You seem busy lately, noona. Are you okay?

“You’re asking because of the movie, right? It’s been so hectic lately because my schedule’s been jam packed with shows to advertise it. But well, that’s all over from today.”

All that was left for her to do now was to take a break. She was finally able to let her body and soul rest now that her schedule had gotten far more lenient.

“I’ll also be coming to visit you with your sister, so set a date and time with her.”

- You’re really gonna come?

“What, am I not allowed to go visit? After all your pestering about when I’ll be coming to visit...”

- I was just joking around. Of course, I’d be happy if you’d come, but...

“Forget it. I’ve already talked it over with your sister. Anyway, don’t get yourself hurt until then. Got it?”

Yi-Jun answered that he wouldn’t after a short chuckle. She hung up and leaned back on the massage chair.

‘Come to think of it, Sang-Woon hasn’t even called once now that it’s almost time for him to be discharged.’

Sang-Woon had also called her often until he became a private first class. He still called her from time to time, but it was significantly less than before.

‘Or is he taking my busy schedule into consideration?’

Yi-Jun had also been worried about her busy schedule, so Sang-Woon might also be reducing the frequency of his calls because of this.

‘You’re making me sad, dammit.’

Ra-Eun did not care about stuff like that. They were friends, so he could at least call her. Such considerations saddened her rather than make her happy.

‘Well, I also did the same during my own military service.’

Back when she was a sergeant approaching the date of her discharge, she frequently went on leaves to meet her friends, so she did not go out of her way to frequently call all of her acquaintances. However, there was just one exception. No matter what a soldier’s rank was, they frequented the phone booth if they had girlfriends.

‘I also used to have a girlfriend.’

However, she had never dated anyone to the point that she thought she wanted to marry them. She had simply been in a few light-hearted relationships. Yeon-Gyu’s love confession popped up in her head as she was thinking about relationships.

‘I wonder if I’d be able to get into a relationship with someone in this life?’

She had suddenly gotten curious.

***

Ra-Eun went back to a broadcasting station after a long break to recharge herself. It was not for a drama or movie, but just as a guest appearance. She looked through the list of guests that she would be appearing with while heading to the station in Yu-Bin’s car.

Ji Han-Seok and Je-Woon.

‘They’re both people I know.’

It could be because it was an actor special, but the guests were all acquainted with each other. Not just that, Ra-Eun’s characters had been in a relationship with them both in their respective productions.

Looking at the guest list from next to Ra-Eun, Ryu Ha-Yeon remarked jokingly, “Isn’t this a love triangle?”

Ra-Eun looked at Ha-Yeon with eyes that screamed at her not to say something so dreadful. They arrived at the broadcasting station before they knew it. Ra-Eun quickly headed to the studio with Yu-Bin and Ha-Yeon. They still had ten minutes until the scheduled time, but it was best to get ready early since no one knew what sort of problems might occur on the scene.

Ra-Eun greeted the program director and all the staff members one by one as soon as she arrived at the studio, and met up with the guests that she would be appearing with today.

“Hello, sunbae.”

She had come across Je-Woon first. Je-Woon also greeted Ra-Eun welcomingly.

“Hi. Did you just get here?”

“Yes. Oh, sunbae. Congratulations on getting first place.”

Je-Woon was an actor, but his main occupation was a singer. Not only that, Bex, the boy group that he was in, was the most popular boy group in Korea. They were so popular that their new song had reached the top of the music chart in three days. Their presence had also been influencing people overseas as well.

“I saw tons of videos of foreigners reacting to your music on ArcaTube. It was even up on the Billboard chart, wasn’t it?” Ra-Eun said.

“Yeah. Our last song was 37th, but apparently, people say it’s going to be higher than that this time.”

“Congratulations in advance, sunbae.”

“Thanks.”

Je-Woon smiled brightly just from a simple congratulations from Ra-Eun.

“Oh, there’s Han-Seok.”

As they were talking, Je-Woon pointed at Han-Seok approaching them. Ra-Eun turned around and greeted him.

“Hello, sunbae. Did you have a safe trip home after the community service last time?”

She had sent a text that day, but had not received a reply. She had thought it was strange. Han-Seok simply stared at her in silence, but then...

“Ra-Eun. Can we talk for a second?”

Ra-Eun had no idea what Han-Seok wanted to talk about, but decided to hear him out for now. As the two left, Je-Woon shrugged as he stared at Han-Seok emanating a weird aura.

“What’s with him? He’s not his usual self.”

1. This means that Yi-Jun would be the highest ranking soldier in his barracks for a while once his superiors are discharged.

2. This isn’t a real site; it’s just a combination of the sites ArcaLive, which is like a Korean reddit, and YouTube.