Chapter 164: Strong Woman (3)

Ji Han-Seok went back to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

“Want a house tour?” Je-Woon asked Kang Ra-Eun.

She had been curious about the place, so she nodded.

“Sure. Oh, and this...”

She was still holding the housewarming gifts that she had bought. Tae-Chan received them in Je-Woon’s place.

“I’ll put these in the living room, hyung.”

“Okay. Come to the first room after. We’ll start the tour there.”

“Got it.”

Tae-Chan seemed to know Je-Woon’s house very well, from how perfectly he had understood Je-Woon’s instruction to come to the first room.

‘Well, they’re not members of the same boy group for nothing.’

It was well known even in the entertainment industry that the members of Bex were very close with one another. Je-Woon was considered a top star right now, but that had not been the case from the beginning. Only after spending four years as a trainee and three more years in Bex as an unknown group had he been able to taste the sweet fruit of success.

The people who had been following the group before they started making a name for themselves knew best how much the members had struggled. The members had suffered through so much together that they were like family at this point, and the same went for Je-Woon and Tae-Chan.

“Come up these stairs, Ra-Eun,” Je-Woon mentioned.

“Okay, sunbae.”

The stairs were fairly steep. There was no need for her to cover her bottom since she was not wearing a skirt. Ra-Eun noticed a black camera installed on the handrails on her way up the stairs.

‘There’s another one here.’

From the front door to this staircase, she had noticed over ten cameras already despite not having gone through the entire house yet.

‘It’s such a big house, so I guess it makes sense.’

According to Je-Woon, the home was approximately 2200 square feet. A huge number of cameras were obviously necessary to cover the entire house.

‘The staff members must have worked super hard on this.’

Je-Woon also seemed to be having a hard time having every moment of his day filmed.

Ra-Eun entered the first room that Je-Woon had mentioned. She quickly scanned the room.

“I can see you’re a tidy person, sunbae.”

“Am I? Isn’t this normal?”

The room was far too tidy to be considered normal. The bed was made so well that even army officers would be impressed. Ra-Eun didn’t know if Je-Woon had gone out of his way to tidy things up perfectly for the cameras, but there was one thing she did know; even if a person who usually didn’t keep things clean tidied up to make it look like they kept clean all the time, there were bound to be signs of their untidiness if looked carefully. However, Ra-Eun could see no such signs in Je-Woon’s home.

‘Meaning, he’s a tidy person by nature.’

Ra-Eun also liked to keep things neat and tidy, since she believed that a clean environment kept one’s mind healthy. Ra-Eun and Je-Woon seemed to have similar philosophies.

“My father always told me ever since I was little that one’s environment greatly influences a person, so he drilled into me to keep my surroundings clean at all times,” Je-Woon mentioned.

Ra-Eun smiled. “What a great father.”

“Right?”

Unlike a certain former father of hers.

***

The home tour with Je-Woon and Tae-Chan took quite a long time despite just skimming through the place because the house was just so big. There were tons of rooms, but the highlight of the tour was definitely Je-Woon’s room.

“I’ve never had a girl in my room other than my mom and little sister,” Je-Woon expressed.

It was his first time letting a woman who was not a family member into his room.

Ra-Eun smiled casually and replied, “I’m honored to be your first, sunbae.”

It sounded a little weird, but it was not wrong. Je-Woon’s room was extremely clean and tidy as Ra-Eun had expected. What stood out most was the poster that she assumed his fans had made for him. The poster had been exquisitely edited to contain images of him from his debut all the way to his current self. There was only one of this poster in the whole world.

Ra-Eun pointed at the image of Je-Woon on the bottom right corner of the poster. He was holding a mic while shirtless and drenched in sweat.

“This is from Bex’s first solo concert, isn’t it?” she mentioned.

“Yeah. How did you know?”

“I’d seen it from footage on a variety show.”

The women’s cheers as Je-Woon took off his top was still vivid in Ra-Eun’s memory. She remembered being exasperated by the fans’ actions.

“Every single member cried buckets that day, Tae-Chan included,” Je-Woon mentioned.

The members had been so moved by their very first solo concert that they couldn’t help but cry.

“What about you, sunbae?” Ra-Eun asked.

Je-Woon shrugged. “I didn’t.”

Just then, Tae-Chan objected to Je-Woon's claim. “You cried the most, hyung. Don’t try to act tough in front of Ra-Eun.”

It had been an obvious lie. Ra-Eun more than sympathized with Je-Woon. She had attended concerts of various celebrities during her time as a bodyguard, and had seen many of them be brought to tears on stage from the overflowing emotions. Je-Woon had likely been the same as them.

Je-Woon scratched his head in embarrassment and asked Ra-Eun, “We’re probably gonna have another concert during the second half of the year. Would you like to come, Ra-Eun? I’ll get tickets for you.”

“Yes. I’ll come for sure if you invite me, sunbae.”

Ra-Eun wanted to enjoy a concert as an audience member instead of as a bodyguard this time around.

***

While they were looking around the second floor terrace, they could hear Han-Seok shouting from below.

“Dinner’s ready, so come on down!”

“Already? Okay, we’re coming,” Je-Woon replied.

Je-Woon took the lead, while Ra-Eun and Tae-Chan followed.

Tae-Chan said to Ra-Eun while going down the stairs, “Be careful, Ra-Eun. The stairs here are steeper than you think.”

“Thank you, Tae-Chan sunbae,” Ra-Eun replied.

He showed excessive concern for her over some stairs, but it could just be because he was such a big fan of her. They were greeted by a lavish feast as soon as they came down to the first floor. Ra-Eun was genuinely surprised by what Han-Seok had prepared; she was not playing it up for the cameras.

“Did you make all this by yourself, sunbae?” she asked.

“I like cooking. And we have a guest, so I couldn’t just keep things simple.”

Even so, it was like they had come to a high-class Korean-style restaurant. Ra-Eun had witnessed a completely unexpected side to Han-Seok, Hence, she started to see him in a different light. Men who could cook were bound to be popular, since there was nothing more heartfelt than cooking for a special someone.

Ra-Eun wondered how Han-Seok’s heartfelt cooking would taste. Since Je-Woon and Tae-Chan had already tasted Han-Seok’s cooking several times before, they expressed that it was as delicious as always. Ra-Eun also thought the same.

“This is so good, sunbae!” she exclaimed.

“R-Really?”

One felt rewarded just from having someone enjoy the meal that they had made, especially if that person was someone that they liked. Ra-Eun was having dinner together with three men. Despite being the only woman, she was able to converse with them quite comfortably since she had been a man in her past life. She felt more comfortable talking with men than women.

Seeing that, Je-Woon felt relieved.

“I was worried that you would have a hard time adjusting to us guys. What a relief.”

“I’m sure it’s because everyone here is a good person,” Ra-Eun stated.

The three men smiled brightly. However, their joy only lasted for a moment. Tae-Chan suddenly sprang up from his seat while screaming.

Han-Seok, who had been sitting next to him, asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Th-There’s...! A-A black thing down there!”

“A black thing?”

The three others looked down at where Tae-Chan was pointing. Just then...

“Whoa!”

“Jesus Christ!”

Je-Woon and Han-Seok also reacted the same way as Tae-Chan at the unpleasant guest under the table. They were not playing it up for the camera in the slightest.

“I-Is that a cockroach?”

“Why is it so damn big?! It’s as big as my thumb.”

It was so big that even the men were reluctant to deal with it. However, they decided to muster up the courage since Ra-Eun was watching them.

“I-I’ll take care of it.”

Je-Woon, the owner of the house, rose up to the challenge first.

Buzz—!

Just as he was about to get the cockroach spray, the cockroach flew up. Je-Woon, Tae-Chan and Han-Seok simultaneously stepped back as if it had been scripted. Meanwhile, Ra-Eun pulled out some tissues, grabbed the cockroach mid-air without a shred of fright and crushed it to death. She then nonchalantly threw it into the trash can.

She turned to the men and asked, “Are you all okay, sunbaes?”

“Huh? Yeah... W-We’re okay.”

“Wh-What about you, R-Ra-Eun?”

“How did you... grab that thing with your hand?”

Ra-Eun replied as if it was no big deal, “I mean, it’s just a bug.”

The three men were lost for words by the strong woman that was Kang Ra-Eun.

***

Ra-Eun received a call from Park Hee-Woo, asking to meet, on the day that the Star-log episode that she had appeared on aired.

“I enjoyed the show, Ra-Eun. You turned out super cool on it, especially when you killed that cockroach. I don’t think I'll ever be able to do something like that.”

“It’s just something I got used to after starting to live independently.”

Ra-Eun had never been afraid of insects, hence she had been able to handle the situation at Je-Woon’s house calmly. It was highly unlikely for Hee-Woo to have called her simply to tell her what she thought of the show, so there was bound to be something else.

“Is this about Da-Il Foods?” Ra-Eun asked.

Hee-Woo smiled. “It is. The scandal dropped after one week, exactly like you said it would. How did you know that would happen?”

“I just told you some things that I’d heard here and there.”

Whatever the reason was, it was clear that TP Entertainment had avoided getting swept into the incident thanks to Ra-Eun.

“You helped me, so I’ll help you as well, Ra-Eun. Is there anything you need?” Hee-Woo asked.

“Hmm...”

Ra-Eun couldn’t think of anything at the time.

“Could I let you know somewhere down the road?” Ra-Eun asked.

“Yes, of course. Take as long as you need.”

As Ra-Eun was about to get back to eating her meal, the vice president suddenly changed the subject.

“Oh, right. Have you heard the story, Ra-Eun?”

“What story?”

What Hee-Woo said next was enough to shock Ra-Eun.

“The story about the masked woman.”