After Story 87

"He has one?" Seungah muttered as she picked up some batteries.

She wasn't that close to Maru, but she thought that they had gotten rather close. They talked about a lot of things outside of acting too.

However, she had never heard about him having a girlfriend. She had to tell Dawoon about this.

Thinking about Dawoon, who would smile saying that it was okay, left a bitter taste in her mouth. That girl looked like she had taken quite a liking to Maru too.

"Customer, this product has been damaged. There's only one battery."

Just as she was typing a message to send to Dawoon next to the counter, the cashier told her about the ripped packaging.

"I'll bring another one."

"Sorry for the inconvenience."

"Not at all."

Seungah put her phone in her pocket. When she thought about it, it felt like it would be better to tell her in person rather than through text. It would be less awkward if she said it with some laughter.

* * *

After a shower, Dawoon took out a cosmetic mask from the refrigerator. Maybe it was due to the cold weather, but her skin was in terrible condition. She put some mist on her face before applying the mask. She pressed the mask so that it didn't peel off and grabbed her phone.

She looked at the messages that her friends shared and snuggled into the blanket.

Some of her friends went to Japan over the winter holidays and sent her a bunch of photos. They also said that they should go together next time.

She had four auditions in January alone. While she was envious that they were traveling, she had something to do, so she couldn't hang out with them.

-Take a lot of photos and show them to me.

After leaving that message, she was about to look at the photos again when a friend she had not contacted for a long time sent her a message.

Her profile photo had changed as well. It was a photo of her raising her hand, locked with her boyfriend's. She called her so that she could hear her voice and ask about recent matters.

"What, you got a boyfriend?"

She chatted for about 30 minutes with that question at the start. It was mostly about her friend boasting about her lover.

Usually, she would've just responded nonchalantly. There was never a time when she truly found fun in another person's love story.

However, today was different. Her heart was moved by her friend's story. Each and every word she said touched her heart.

-They say confession is only a confirmation process, right? But that's not entirely true. If you have feelings for each other, it's okay to come out a little strong, especially if you're a girl. I also didn't like girls confessing first before, but I changed my mind after meeting my boyfriend.

"Really?"

-Yeah. If there's a really good person, I think it's better to show your feelings and confess immediately. Honestly, you think about it when you go to school don't you? Why do the decent guys already have a pair?

"We do say that from time to time."

-I realized when I met my boyfriend. You need to place your dibs on good men first. Look at my boyfriend, for example. He's good-looking and he's gentle, so the women around him all woo him, but I pat my chest in relief whenever they do that. Had I been late, he would've been taken away too. Also, men these days are quite shy about expressing their feelings. Some even want the girls to be the ones leading them.

"Really?"

-From the way you speak, it sounds like there's a guy on your mind. Well, I guess it's about time for you too.

"It's not like that."

-Like hell it's not. For now, you should be more proactive. It actually works, you know? You know Soomin, right? She got a boyfriend recently, and he's a total hottie. But honestly, Soomin isn't that pretty, right? She's chubby and cute. Even girls like her have boys. So someone like you don't need to hesitate.

Her friend hung up, saying that they should talk again later.

Dawoon thought as she took off the cosmetic mask that had dried slightly. So a confession doesn't necessarily need to be a confirmation process?

She sat down in front of the makeup desk in order to take care of her skin. Today, her face looked white and pretty. She didn't have an appearance that lost out to anyone.

She never boasted about her appearance, but she never had trouble because of it either. When she looked back, the reason she decided to become an actress was that the people around her called her pretty and said she should be a model or an actress.

Dawoon bit on her thumb slightly. When she looked at her phone, it was going past 9. It was not too late to send a message.

She grabbed her phone and hesitated for a long time before turning it on.

It wasn't that she was going to confess. She just wanted to meet him in private. She had a good feeling from the first time she met him. He didn't look that rejective either.

He smiled at her gently and gave her the necessary advice. If she was a woman he wanted to distance himself from, he would not have shown such kindness.

She thought that she should be more confident. After taking a deep breath, she sent him a text.

-Oppa, what are you up to?

She turned her phone off after sending it. The nervousness she felt was on a different level from when she was sending a text to just a 'friend who is male'. But she didn't feel that unpleasant. She couldn't help but smile.

Should she say that they should watch a movie together? Or should she say she wanted to ask something about acting? In any case, she wanted to schedule a meeting with him.

10 minutes passed. The toe-wriggling tension had disappeared as well. Why was it that she was not getting a reply?

She turned on the screen. The 'unread' mark did not change, meaning he didn't even read her message.

"Is he charging the phone?"

She thought that she shouldn't mind, but she still couldn't help but look at the phone.

When would he read it? Even if it was being charged, there should be some noise. Maybe he left the phone at home and left his house for a bit?

At that moment, Maru checked the message. Dawoon quickly turned off the messenger and even locked the screen.

She immediately got a notification that she got a message. It was a message from Maru – I was cleaning.

"Cleaning, at this hour?"

Dawoon smiled and grabbed the phone. She didn't want to send a reply right away. She decided to wait five, no, just two minutes.

After waiting, she turned on the messenger.

-Do you clean often at night?

-Not that often, but my cat spilled something.

-Oh, your cat! It's the one in your profile picture, right?

-Yeah.

She thought about the cat with sharp eyes as she lay on her bed. It was nothing much, but she felt good.

-Something up?

Maru asked.

-No, not really.

-Yeah? Then what is it?

She sat up when she read that text. This was the opportunity; she had to bring up her objective before the conversation strayed elsewhere.

-Uhm, oppa, do you have time tomorrow?

-Tomorrow? I do, I guess.

Dawoon hesitated for a while before moving her thumbs, carefully so that she didn't make a typo.

-Then do you want to meet with me?

-Er, if you have something to talk to me about, it's okay to call me right now.

-It's not that I have something to say. I just want to talk about various things. There are some things I'm thankful to you about, and I want to treat you out if possible.

-If it's like that, then don't mind it. I only said a few words because a hard-working junior was good to look at.

-But I really feel thankful.

-If that's the case, then let's call Seungah as well and go on a food trip. Don't you think that's better?

Dawoon put her phone down as soon as she saw the reply. Even a fool would know what that attitude was. Maru drew the line saying that there was no reason for them to meet in private.

She felt confused, and at the same time, humiliated. Was she that unattractive? She even felt a sense of guilt.

She suddenly recalled what she blurted out due to the alcohol.

Was he putting distance because he remembered that? Was he saying that he didn't want to meet a creepy girl like that in private? If so, then why did he act so kind? Wasn't it his fault that she misunderstood? Did he perhaps do it on purpose? Did he play around with her?

-Dawoon, let me say this just in case, but I'm seeing someone right now. If I was off the mark, then you can just laugh at me for getting ahead of myself. I'm kinda bad at things like that.

Her chin shook when she read the message that Maru sent. So it turned out he had a girlfriend. She no longer felt embarrassed; she felt tragic. She ended up being a woman who wooed a man who was dating someone.

The fact that she didn't know annoyed her even more. She even wanted to cry because of Maru's caring attitude.

Then she quickly sent a text with shaking hands.

-Oppa, you sent that for me to laugh, right? Of course not.

-I knew this would be the case. Sorry about that, I have terminal-stage celebrity disease.

-Still, I got a good laugh thanks to you.

She pressed her forehead. She wanted to get amnesia. Why did she do something like this? How was she supposed to smile the next time they met? She felt dizzy.

-Then let's go eat something nice together later.

-Alright, I'll be looking forward to it.

She turned off her screen and tossed it onto her bed. Unfortunately, it didn't hit the blanket but the mattress instead and was flung away.

While she was dazed, the phone flew up into the air and fell down on the ground. The noise was quite loud. Moreover, the screen was facing the ground.

Her mood plummeted. She went over and flipped the phone over. There was a crack on the screen.

"What was that?" her mother said as she opened the door.

Dawoon smiled forcefully and said that she dropped her phone. Seeing the crack on the screen, her mother clicked her tongue.

"You should've been more careful. You gotta get that fixed."

Her mother glanced at her before closing the door. This was the worst. Why did things come to this? She had a splitting headache.

Dawoon burrowed into her blanket. How did things come to this? She looked for a cause and closed her eyes.

Her headache became worse.

* * *

"How could you tell me that now?! And not yesterday when you found out! Why!"

Seungah looked at Dawoon in surprise. This was the first time this girl showed such violent emotions outside acting.

What could've happened? When she thought about it, she remembered that Dawoon didn't have a good expression when they greeted each other. She was even worried that the girl might be sick.

She asked Dawoon if she was feeling sick. Dawoon said that she was okay and smiled. While it felt iffy, the person in question said she was okay, so she decided to let that go.

When they started practicing, Dawoon showed that she was not that different from before.

After practice, she called Dawoon out to the corridor. She had to tell her what she heard from Maru the night before.

Dawoon might feel embarrassed if she said it seriously, so she spoke in a joking tone.

The next moment, however, she heard Dawoon's nervous shout. Seungah looked at Dawoon's expression in a daze. Rather than feeling sorry, she felt worried first. What made this girl so sensitive? Just as she was about to ask the reason….

"S-sorry, unni. I wasn't going to do that…."

The person who shouted was even more flustered. Seungah quickly spoke,

"No, it's okay. I was a bit too light-hearted when I spoke, right? It must've been an important matter to you."

"It's not that."

Dawoon buried her face in her palms. It felt like she had touched a shameful side of hers.

She reached out in order to console her. When her hand touched Dawoon's shoulder, Dawoon took a step back.

"Unni, I'm sorry. I think I'll have to go home early today. Tell the instructor I don't feel well."

"Dawoon."

"Please."

Dawoon went inside the acting school and soon came back out with her bag.

She was unable to call out to her. Dawoon walked away with her mouth firmly shut.

"Did she like him that much? Or did something happen?"

Wasn't it just simple good feelings? She really didn't know that Dawoon would react like this.

She walked back and forth in the corridor and thought about it. No matter how she thought about it, Dawoon's attitude was strange. If the man she had feelings for turned out to have a girlfriend, she might feel disappointed, but it didn't make sense that she snapped out like that.

Seungah called Maru. Something must have happened yesterday. Otherwise, there was no way she would snap out angrily like that.

"Yeah, Maru. Can I talk to you for a second?"

In that short phone call, she found out the truth. Dawoon asked him out on a date first, and in that process, Maru notified her that he had a girlfriend.

-From how you're calling me, it seems like it wasn't just good feelings. I feel sorry now.

"You just stay oblivious like you are now. Dawoon also pretended otherwise, didn't she?"

-Alright, please console her. There are people who don't think much of this, but there are also people who think that this is really shameful. Also, let's not meet up for a while. I think that'll be the better option until Dawoon brings it up.

"Okay."

Seungah put her phone down and looked at the path that Dawoon took.