Chapter 931. Crank Up 4

Try working things out with him — was there a time when these words got on her nerves so much? Gaeul picked up a mango with her fork and spoke,

“Giwoo is just a friend. There is nothing to work out with him.”

The senior sitting opposite her looked taken aback.

“I thought you two looked good together. I think many people do.”

“Please don’t do that. It might make things awkward for us.”

“Giwoo looks like he has feelings for you though.”

“I’m sure he’s joking around, and it doesn’t matter even if he’s not. Giwoo and I are just friends.”

“If you’re worried about rumors, then don’t. Kids these days date perfectly well in cars. It’s not like people apologize to death like before if they get caught for it either. You’re at an age where you should be dating, aren’t you? Someone like Giwoo is really decent too. Don’t put so much distance and try meeting him. Heck, he’s from a rich family too.”

The sweet mango tasted bitter. Gaeul put down her fork and wiped her mouth with some tissue. She had a hard time staying seated. She had come for a vacation, so there was no need to keep listening to something unpleasant.

“I’ll stand up first. You can go ahead and finish the rest.”

“Gaeul.”

Being a quick-witted senior, she probably immediately realized what her actions meant. She would probably no longer try to couple Giwoo and her together. If she still tried to indirectly probe her out about this, then she would tell her firmly that she didn’t have a shred of intention to do well with Giwoo.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Just why did this keep coming up? This was the third time she had heard about it already. Did Kang Giwoo ask them for help? She could laugh it over if it was said half as a joke and in passing, but she felt furious when she was directly asked about it like right now. She left the terrace and walked over to the beach. She walked past two foreigner couples and dipped her feet into the sea. If it was Korea, she would immediately take her feet out because of the cold, but here, it wasn’t that cold even though it was December. As the seawater brushed past her feet and drained away, her iffy feelings were washed away with it. Perhaps this was why people often looked for the sea when they felt complex.

She took out her earbuds and started listening to her favorite songs. She would get lonely if there wasn’t anyone around her, but sometimes, she would desperately long for solitude, especially on a day like today, when she heard something unpleasant in the morning of a perfectly good day.

That was why she snapped out when a hand tapped her shoulder. Not only that, the fact that the owner of that hand was Kang Giwoo was the worst possible thing that could happen in this place where the green seawater and the white sand were beautiful.

“This place is really good.”

Giwoo sat down next to her without asking. Gaeul pressed her earbuds with the intention to block her ears. She also raised the volume by around 10. She felt a little better when she heard the loud thumping of the bass guitar. At this point, she couldn’t be bothered to tell him off or even hint about it. It felt like a waste of energy to try and make him understand the simple concept of ‘I hate you.’

Kang Giwoo stopped talking as though he realized that his voice wouldn’t reach her no matter what he blabbed on about. It would be great if he just left like this since she didn’t want to yield this spot where the seawater washed up just the right amount. She flicked her finger on her knees and focused on the music. He should probably leave soon unless he had some weird fetish for talking to a wall.

Suddenly, something was placed on her hand that was tapping on her knee according to the rhythm. Gaeul opened her eyes and looked at Giwoo’s hand that covered hers. She looked at the side of his face. He was looking at the sea as though nothing happened. She didn’t feel angry. In fact, she felt indifferent, as though it was a piece of plastic that touched her hand. But, that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t take action. She didn’t know whether he got caught up in the mood or had gone half-crazy, but he would have to pay the price for doing something that he wouldn’t be able to bear the consequences of. She didn’t show any signs. It was he who made a shameless action without warning. She grabbed Giwoo’s index finger and snapped it backwards. Giwoo screamed as though it was totally unexpected. It seemed that he had no room to brag about his manliness. When she let go, Giwoo hurriedly checked his index finger.

“It won’t break with just that, but I’d love to tell you that it can break if you do what you did just one more time. Now I’m finally sure. There’s no value in talking to a beast that you can’t get through to.”

Giwoo stood up while rubbing his finger. He seemed to know some shame at least. She stared at him to see him leave. A strange smile crept onto his face from an expression of pain. Gaeul took out one of her earbuds and stood up.

“You sit here then. I’ll leave.”

“Are you responding like this because you got hurt by a man? If it’s like that, I can understand you. I should’ve been more careful.”

“I don’t know where you pull your bullshit out from.”

“From how I see it, I hit the bullseye.”

“Did you finally set your mind to it today?”

“It’s because you got dumped by Maru.”

She wondered when he was going to bring that up. She didn’t know whether it was because of his pride or because he was probing her, but he finally brought it up. It seemed like Kang Giwoo had set his mind to it today.

“It has nothing to do with you.”

“To my eyes, it’s not like that. I understand you. It’s true that Maru is a good friend of mine, but he lacks compared to you. Such a guy kicked you away, so it’s not surprising that you’re having a hard time. I’m sure you’re rejecting all advances from other people because of that.”

He seemed convinced. His ‘own world’ was disgustingly firm. She would love to tell him that he had been totally fooled, but she brought out her patience.

“Also, where did you hear something like that? That Maru and I were going out, and that we broke up. Not many people know about it.”

She decided to go along with him. It didn’t look like he was going to go away just because she kept rejecting him. Instead, she planned to ask him difficult questions.

“Mijoo told me.”

Giwoo obediently spilled everything. She thought he would be roundabout with his answer, so she asked while pretending to be taken aback.

“Mijoo?”

“I asked her because Mijoo seemed to be worried about you, and that came up. It seems like she tried not to interfere with your relationship that much since it’s a personal thing, but it seems like she had a problem with your relationship with him after all. After all, she did say it like she wanted my help. Of course, I might be wrong about all this.”

He had twisted the truth in an abstruse way. It was true that Mijoo had committed a mistake, but she had never asked for his help. She instantly understood Giwoo’s intentions. He was intending to ruin the relationship between her and Mijoo. He probably calculated that there would be an opening for him to exploit if she had fewer and fewer people to speak her heart to. The if-I’m-wrong-oh-well right at the end was the epitome of self-defense. This way, he would be able to escape the responsibility later. She could practically hear his head churning from all the way where she was. However, it seemed that Giwoo still hadn’t realized that he should look at the opponent before trying to write fiction. In this field, the man who was next to him when she woke up every morning was second to none. This man looked down on a woman who lived with such a man.

“I see.”

“I found out unintentionally, but honestly, I felt happy. It gave me an opportunity to approach you. I know that you were hurt because of Maru, and I want to help you heal it.”

“Yes, I perfectly understand what you’re trying to get at. Since you know about it, I don’t have a reason to hide it either. I am utterly disgusted by your actions. The way you tattletale other people’s mistakes is like a kindergartener, and any sort of friendship I felt towards you is instantly reduced to nothing.”

Giwoo visibly showed with his eyes that things weren’t going the way he expected. It seemed that he didn’t know how to react when his plans didn’t go the way he expected since everyone around him showed him goodwill, and he had never gotten caught doing something bad with that smart head of his. Gaeul felt that he was really like a little kid.

“If you want to grumble about something, then look for someone else.”

“Gaeul.”

“Also, if you’re spreading something funny to other people, you better stop, if you don’t want to be shamed. You know what I mean, right?”

Giwoo, who never stopped talking, fell silent for the first time. Gaeul thought that it was over now. The shoot was over, so there was no reason for her to hold back. It was fine even if this ruined their relationship. If she ever had to work with him again for a shoot, she would rather sleep at home without thinking about anything.

“Shamed?”

Giwoo, who spoke after a long time, made a dry smile and tilted his head, repeating the word ‘shamed.’

“I’m almost fed up now, Gaeul.”

“Fed up?”

“Don’t take things too far. There’s no loss for you in this. I get that your pride was hurt because you got rejected by a third-rate actor while dating him. So, I’m telling you that you should recover that pride next to me and reclaim your true worth. You know, people should hang out with others in their own league. You don’t realize that you’re in a pit of maggots. It’s not surprising. You were born like that. But I can lead you out of that place. Let’s be honest. Love? Sure, it’s important, but you aren’t going to rely on that for your entire life. In the end, the people next to you are nothing more than accessories.”

Giwoo had thrown away a little of the shell that covered him. This was much better. It would be much better on his conscience to advertise himself as total trash rather than forcefully wrapping that disgusting personality of his with something different.

“Kang Giwoo, you are a total lowlife, huh.”

“I know the true hearts of people. I’ve seen them countless times ever since I was young. People act proud, lofty, amazing, and as if they have a conscience. But in the end, it’s all just a temporary method that’s used to survive. They’re bound to take it off in front of the thing that they truly want. I’m sure you’re the same.”

“Can you not treat me like you? I feel like I’m going to vomit what I just ate.”

“The reason you’re doing this is ultimately to raise your value as a woman. How much more should I woo you? There’s a trend for decorations. Bear in mind that worth falls with time.”

“My worth as a woman, huh? I’ve heard something good today, so let me return with something else.”

Gaeul raised her middle finger.

“Fuck off.”