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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Somewhere Between Coincidence and Fate
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14.

Somewhere Between Coincidence and Fate

“I should be carrying that, Seonsaengnim. I should be the one doing it.”

As Dr. Joo moved with the luggage, Yeon-joo looked flustered.

She was already grateful to have met a benefactor on the rainy road and gotten a comfortable ride, but now that he was volunteering to be her porter, she was mortified.

“That’s heavy. Please give it to me. Okay?”

“It’s not heavy for me at all. So wouldn’t it be better for the person who doesn’t find it heavy to carry it?”

Dr. Joo smiled, saying it was fine. Yeon-joo, who had been walking behind Dr. Joo with an umbrella, folded it and gave him a grateful look.

“I really don’t know how to thank you. Thank you so much, Seonsaengnim.”

“That’s enough thanks. Which way is it?”

“This way.”

Believing that guiding him quickly was the best way to help, Yeon-joo moved briskly.

She put on her staff lanyard and stood in front of the dressing room. Dr. Joo then set down the luggage and dusted off his hands.

“Thank you so much. I’ll buy something and stop by the hospital soon.”

“Ah, if you say that, it makes me feel like I was soliciting business, and I don’t like that.”

“Oh… that’s not what I meant, but…”

As Yeon-joo’s voice trailed off, Dr. Joo stared intently at the ID card hanging around her neck. After confirming the three characters of her name, ‘Go Yeon-joo,’ Dr. Joo raised his gaze and looked at her again.

There was nothing more to say, so a clean goodbye was all that was needed. Just as Dr. Joo’s lips twitched, a loud voice came from behind.

“Geon-hee! Joo Geon-hee!”

“Hyung!”

Director Yang, whom he had arranged to meet, approached, waving his hand. Yeon-joo lifted her luggage and smiled brightly.

“You should go. Thank you, Seonsaengnim.”

“Ah, yes. Yes, then.”

Yeon-joo entered the dressing room and closed the door. *Thud.* As the door shut, Dr. Joo’s heart pounded along with it.

“Got your visitor pass, I see? Why are you just standing here?”

“Ah… no. I was just about to call you, Hyung.”

“Let’s go over there for now. It’s too hectic here.”

As Director Yang led him away, Dr. Joo started walking. He then glanced back at the dressing room.

Feeling his heart pounding, Dr. Joo placed a hand on his chest. Director Yang asked with a sullen expression.

“What’s wrong? Nervous being on a film set?”

“Ah, it’s not that. Maybe it’s because I drank coffee on the way here.”

“You drank coffee? You don’t drink coffee. What’s the occasion?”

“Well, it was raining and all, so I had a cup while driving. It’s been a while since I had caffeine, so my heart’s racing a bit.”

Dr. Joo rubbed his chest in a circular motion as he followed Director Yang.

This heart-pounding sensation was an extremely rare phenomenon for him.

*

“Yeon-joo-ssi, would you like some gimbap? You haven’t eaten yet, right?”

Eun-seong’s manager, Dong-hwan, approached Yeon-joo and offered her the gimbap. Yeon-joo, who had been organizing her things since she arrived, looked up at him.

“They’re serving boxed meals today. You should eat too if you haven’t, Yeon-joo-ssi.”

“Ah, thank you. For thinking of me, too. I was actually hungry.”

Taking the meal box from Dong-hwan, Yeon-joo straightened up and smiled.

But the sponsored outfit was more important than the gimbap right now, so Yeon-joo put the box down and took out the clothes.

It was a luxury brand famous for not sponsoring anyone, but they often provided outfits for Eun-seong. She had to return it in pristine condition, so she hung it on a hanger, careful not to let it get wrinkled or disheveled, and gently dusted it off.

Watching her, Dong-hwan chimed in while eating his gimbap.

“Did you go to the store yourself, Yeon-joo-ssi?”

“Yes. I went yesterday.”

“The team leader there is a real piece of work. Was she nice to you?”

“She was… okay, I guess.”

“I know what you mean. I sometimes go to return things, and ugh, she’s just…”

Yeon-joo smiled, recalling the store’s team leader who had been so fussy when lending out the sponsored clothes. The team leader, who had made a huge show of it and ordered her around like a subordinate, was indeed a piece of work, just as Dong-hwan had said.

Still, she couldn’t just gossip about every little detail, so it was best to hold her tongue.

“You worked hard, Yeon-joo-ssi. You have to return it too, right?”

“Yes. Today. I have to take it back.”

“Should I take it for you? It’s on the way when I drive Hyeongnim.”

When Dong-hwan offered to return the sponsored outfit, saying it was on his way, Yeon-joo’s eyes widened. The store was in the opposite direction of her home, and getting there and back by public transport was quite a hassle.

Thinking about how many kind people she had met today, she swallowed hard. Dong-hwan then asked Eun-seong, who was looking at his script.

“Hyeongnim. Can I return that sponsored outfit for Yeon-joo-ssi on our way?”

“No.”

“Yes. What? You said no?”

When Eun-seong replied with a no, Dong-hwan’s eyes widened in confusion. He had stopped by the store to make returns several times before, so he couldn’t understand why it was suddenly not allowed.

As if annoyed by the interruption, Eun-seong’s lips parted. He was full of complaints about every little thing.

“Why are you returning it? The person who borrowed it should be the one to return it.”

“Well, the store is on our way. And there’s a lot of luggage, so it’ll be hard for Yeon-joo-ssi to carry it alone.”

“If it’s hard for her to carry alone, someone will help her. That someone isn’t you. And it’s definitely not me.”

“Ah, yes. I understand, Hyeongnim.”

Dong-hwan gave Yeon-joo a helpless shrug. In response, Yeon-joo gave him an ‘it’s okay’ look, closing and opening her eyes.

Munching on his gimbap, Dong-hwan whispered in Yeon-joo’s ear.

“Don’t worry about it. Hyeongnim is just on edge right now. You know?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Stop whispering. I’m not on edge at all.”

Eun-seong, who had overheard them as if he had supernatural hearing, interjected again.

Startled, Dong-hwan quickly swallowed his gimbap. Eun-seong opened his eyes and stared at him. Looking at Dong-hwan standing with Yeon-joo, Eun-seong furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes.

“How can you eat gimbap in front of an actor who hasn’t had a single sip of water since last night?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Dong-hwan stealthily closed his meal box. He slowly chewed the gimbap in his mouth, turned away, and swallowed.

Yeon-joo glanced at her own unopened meal box, and Eun-seong, flipping through his script, chimed in again.

“The smell of gimbap.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll get rid of it right away.”

As Dong-hwan hurried out with the meal box, Yeon-joo knelt up and picked up her own. She wanted to put it away too, thinking how torturous the savory sesame oil smell must be for someone who hadn’t even had a sip of water.

“Hey, you. Stop.”

“Yes?”

Eun-seong, who had been carelessly flipping through his script, glanced at Yeon-joo as she was about to leave. Then, he casually swung his leg and spoke.

“Why do you always follow him out? Do you hate being alone with me that much?”

“That’s not it. You said it smelled of gimbap. I was going to put it away.”

“I was talking to my manager. It has nothing to do with you.”

Wondering what on earth he meant, Yeon-joo stood still.

So, she couldn’t figure out if he wanted her to eat the gimbap or get rid of it. As the sound of rustling script pages filled the silence again, Yeon-joo finally spoke after some thought.

“How can you film without even a sip of water? You must have no energy.”

“It happens all the time. It’s part of my job, what can I do?”

“A sip of water won’t make much of a difference.”

“It does. So mind your own business and eat your gimbap.”

If you just listened to the words, they were kind, but she wasn’t sure why it felt like he was picking a fight.

Yeon-joo looked down at her meal box, then raised her head again. His words, ‘How can you eat gimbap in front of an actor who’s been starving all day?’ rang in her ears.

“Of course, I haven’t eaten either, but I’m not so clueless as to eat gimbap in front of someone who’s starving.”

*Ha.* A faint laugh spread at the end of Yeon-joo’s sentence. The sound had come from Eun-seong’s lips.

“You know what being truly clueless is?”

The question instantly made her tense up.

“It’s acting all high and mighty while hovering around and getting on someone’s nerves. And not even realizing it—that’s what being truly clueless is.”

“…”

“Am I wrong?”

Yeon-joo just swallowed dryly.

Feeling the shock as if she’d been struck, she mulled over his words and then furrowed her brow.

“Are you saying I’m hovering around? Cluelessly?”

“I’m saying if you’re going to hover, then hover all the way. Don’t sneak away and provoke me.”

Eun-seong tilted his chin up and looked at Yeon-joo. It was a signal for her to stop getting on his nerves.

“So just be clueless and eat your damn gimbap. Don’t pretend to be considerate and then bail. I don’t want that kind of consideration from you.”

“Yes. I understand now. I’ll eat, then.”

Yeon-joo plopped down on the floor, opened her meal box, and began stuffing gimbap into her mouth. After seeing that, Eun-seong turned his eyes back to his script.

The words on the page wouldn’t register, and he didn’t even know why he was so ticked off at Go Yeon-joo, but he had failed again today at being nice to her.

Seeing her shove the gimbap into her mouth haphazardly without any water, it looked like she was eating out of spite. His lips twitched, wanting to tell her to eat slowly, but he left her alone.

He didn’t know why he got so worked up over every little thing and couldn’t control his emotions. He was so angry with himself he felt like he would go crazy.

Swallowing his maddening frustration, Eun-seong continued to read the script.

The savory smell of sesame oil was no longer on his mind. Hearing her give small coughs as if she were choking, Eun-seong stared at the water bottle on the table.

*Sigh,* that blockhead. She’s as much of a handful now as she was back then. Just as Eun-seong was about to hand Yeon-joo the water, the door opened and Dong-hwan came back in.

“Hyeongnim, the director is looking for you.”

“Why.”

“It seems there’s an issue. They said the child actor got hurt. You should go see.”

At the news that the child actor was injured, Eun-seong looked up. Dong-hwan pointed outside with an exaggerated expression.

The child was playing the role of Eun-seong’s son, and with their first shoot scheduled in a few days, the injury was a major issue for the production.

With a long sigh, Eun-seong closed his script and left. Yeon-joo, who had felt the gimbap piling up in her esophagus with every swallow, finally burst into a big cough after Eun-seong was gone.

Just then, a call came from her son, Han-byeol. Suppressing her coughs, Yeon-joo answered the phone.

“Hello? Son?”

*

“Ah, this is driving me crazy. This is why I warned them so many times.”

Director Park Hyung-wook furiously scratched his head.

He had gone through audition after audition and struggled to find a child he liked, finally discovering this one after much hardship. It was truly like finding a pearl in the mud.

But perhaps not everything could align perfectly; the child had been dragged here against his will by his mother.

“His leg is broken?”

“Eun-seong, the kid fell while riding a longboard. A longboard, right before filming? How can they expect him to be an actor if they look after him like that?”

Eun-seong recalled the child’s face from their first meeting on set a while ago.

The kid had no interest in filming or acting. He’d been like that since the first time they met. It was purely his mother’s ambition to make him an actor, which was why Director Park had been so worried.

Knowing how difficult it is to control a child of that age, he had warned them several times, but the kid ended up breaking his leg while playing on a longboard anyway.

“How many kids that age play without getting hurt?”

Eun-seong retorted, as if defending the child, and the director leaned forward.

“Then they should raise him as a kid, not an actor. Filming is just around the corner, where are we supposed to find another child actor? It’s not easy.”

The professional child actors who had been in front of the camera a few times had a polished air about them that didn’t fit the role. But finding a child with no experience came with risks like this.

On top of that, the child had to resemble Eun-seong, which was the real challenge.

“Director. So we can’t film? Will it be delayed?”

“Delayed? We don’t have time. We have to find a new kid and film. But where am I supposed to find another one?”

Director Park let out a deep sigh. Eun-seong, idly swinging his leg, rested his chin on his hand and gazed out the window. Just then, Yeon-joo ran outside, catching his eye. He followed her with his gaze to see where she was going.

Where Yeon-joo stopped, Hae-yeong was standing, holding a small child’s hand.

“This is driving me crazy. Ah, there was no one else I liked besides him. Anyway, Eun-seong, don’t you worry. I’ll find someone else somehow.”

Eun-seong stared blankly at the scene. Director Park, who had been talking to him, followed his gaze and turned his head.

A small boy suddenly came into Director Park’s troubled line of sight.

“Whoa? Who’s that kid?”

It was Han-byeol.