Chapter 74
“Go on, have a good shoot.”
Leaving his farewell behind her, Sara walked faster than usual.
She had acted calm in front of Seung-tae, but her heart was pounding like crazy.
She knew he wouldn’t actually kiss her, but when she felt his breath brush the tip of her nose, she’d unconsciously stopped breathing.
Sara fanned her heated cheeks with her hand as she crossed the parking lot.
But before she even made it halfway, someone she really didn’t want to see blocked her way.
She tried to pass by without a word—she didn’t even want to talk to him—but Han-sung kept stepping from side to side, deliberately blocking her path.
“What is it?”
“I thought you said you only work at the set. That it’s your job, that you get paid for it.”
“What’s with you all of a sudden?”
“You acted so high and mighty with me, and now you’re bringing guys to your workplace and giggling around with them?”
“I didn’t—oh.”
He must’ve seen her getting out of Seung-tae’s car just now.
For some reason, Han-sung’s face was twisted in an ugly, sulky scowl.
Sara didn’t even feel like arguing, so she just waved her hand dismissively.
“He was just dropping me off. Mind your own business, okay? And move. I said move.”
“Seo Sara. You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”
“The only one blocking the way on purpose is you.”
As the pointless bickering dragged on, irritation began to bubble up from deep inside Sara.
“You’re trying to make me jealous, right? Yeah, that’s it. Ha, I didn’t notice before. Sara, just say it—let’s get back together. Don’t do these petty things. You’re only acting out because I didn’t treat you right, huh?”
“This jerk’s starting again.”
“What?”
“Oops. You heard that? My inner thoughts just slipped out.”
Sara smiled sweetly as she said it.
Han-sung stood there dumbfounded for a second, then began spewing his usual pathetic lines.
“You don’t need to do all this. You know you’re the only one for me, Sara. You know how I feel.”
“Well, I don’t have even a speck of feeling left for you. Kang Han-sung, can you please just let me go to set?”
It was her final verbal warning.
If he didn’t get the message now, she was ready to drive her knee into his shin.
Suddenly, Han-sung’s eyes sharpened with alarm, and then he glared murderously at something—or someone—behind her.
Curious what he was looking at, Sara half-turned her head—and fell right into someone’s arms.
She didn’t need to check to know who it was.
“Sara. How could you forget the gift I gave you?”
“Oh, Seung—honey.”
Because of the height difference, Sara ended up completely enveloped in Seung-tae’s chest.
“You should take better care of it. You’ll make me sad.”
“Sorry, I forgot.”
With a gentle smile, Seung-tae handed her the case.
Did I really forget this in his car?
She briefly wondered, but thinking back to how flustered she’d been when she got out of the car, it wasn’t impossible.
Even though she’d tried to act composed, inside she’d been a mess.
Seeing the couple talking so tenderly, Han-sung crossed his arms and sneered.
“Nice acting. Judging by that face, are you an aspiring actor? Did Sara ask you to play her boyfriend?”
Of course, Sara completely misread the sarcasm.
Seung-tae really did have the kind of striking, cinematic face that looked even better on screen.
“And you are…?”
“Playing dumb? Or do you really not know who I am? What kind of aspiring actor doesn’t even know my name? You’d better study harder.”
“I’ve never really aspired to be an actor.”
“Wow, shameless and good at pretending. But the rest of it? Not so much.”
Han-sung’s smug lecturing was so ridiculous that Sara couldn’t help but laugh softly from within Seung-tae’s arms.
It was funny that he still thought Seung-tae was just some wannabe actor.
Since Seung-tae didn’t seem inclined to introduce himself, he just tilted his chin toward Han-sung and asked Sara,
“Who’s that?”
Seung-tae had seen Emergency Exit, so he probably knew perfectly well that the man in front of them was Kang Han-sung.
He was just asking for the same reason Sara was pretending not to know.
So she decided to play along.
“He’s one of the actors in the film. Don’t mind him.”
“Oh, really? You’re acting with Sara, then. Please take good care of her.”
“Still pretending, huh? I know you’re not actually dating. Hey, Seo Sara! Do you really need to go this far? Bringing some wannabe actor to put on a show? Pathetic.”
“I don’t know why you’ve been misunderstanding from the start,” Seung-tae replied evenly. “But I’m not an aspiring actor. I’m a working professional. And Sara is my girlfriend.”
To reinforce his point, he handed over a business card.
“Wow, you even brought props? You’re really committed.”
Han-sung’s tone dripped with sarcasm, but when he glanced at the card and saw the title printed there—Executive Director of Altech, a rather large corporation—he let out a mocking laugh.
“Come on. If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable. Executive Director of Altech? You should’ve picked some small company I can’t verify. You know you can look these things up, right?”
“Then go ahead. Look it up.”
“What?”
“I said, look it up.”
Seung-tae’s expression hadn’t changed, but suddenly the air around him felt heavy, intimidating.
Han-sung involuntarily shrank back, then, anger flaring, shouted,
“You think I won’t check? Fine! Let’s see. The Executive Director of Altech is—”
“Yoon Seung-tae.”
“Wh–what the hell? Did you fake this article too? Why does the photo—”
Han-sung stared back and forth between the online article and the man standing before him, trying desperately to make sense of it.
“If you still don’t believe it, you can check the official RW site.”
Seung-tae’s tone was coolly sardonic as he turned back to Sara.
“Oh, Sara. So you won’t forget this again—just wear it now.”
“Huh? Here?”
“I’ll help you. Give it.”
He reached out his hand, and Sara passed him the case.
Since she assumed it was earrings, she tilted her head forward—but Seung-tae gently took her wrist instead.
Then he opened the case and took out the jewelry inside.
To her surprise, it wasn’t earrings at all, but a diamond bracelet designed like a matching set with a ring.
“…Huh?”
Why a bracelet instead of earrings?
Before she could process her confusion, the dazzling bracelet was already clasped around her wrist.
Seung-tae smiled in satisfaction and whispered in her ear,
“I was going to give this to you next week. But it suits you perfectly. I’m glad I gave it early.”
“Wait, then—”
She hurriedly rummaged through her bag and found the case he’d handed her in the car earlier, sitting there quietly.
Looking closely, the cases were slightly different in size.
So he came after me not because of the earrings…
It was clear now that he’d shown up because of Han-sung.
Sara narrowed her eyes and stared at Seung-tae.
He knew exactly what she was thinking, but only smiled innocently.
“Should I take you to the set?”
“No, it’s fine. If the director catches you, you might not make it home tonight.”
“Oh, Director Choi? Shouldn’t I at least say hello?”
“And who do you think you are to greet the director? The set’s closed to outsiders. Ugh, do you think money can get you into everything?”
Han-sung, realizing that the man in front of him was really the Yoon Seung-tae from the articles, had tried to back down—but now he lashed out again, grasping for any insult he could find.
His bitterness and insecurity were plain to see.
Seung-tae answered lightly,
“No, I was going to pretend to be an aspiring actor and go greet him.”
Turning Han-sung’s own words back on him made his lips twitch furiously.
He clearly wanted to spit out more insults, but apparently the executive’s business card still intimidated him.
In the end, Han-sung stormed off without another word or even a goodbye.
Still watching his retreating figure, Seung-tae said quietly,
“Your ex-boyfriend is a lot clingier than I expected.”
“I know. It’s been driving me crazy. He keeps trying to talk to me on breaks, acting all friendly. But thanks to you, maybe this time he’ll finally back off.”
“Even at the set? Doesn’t Director Choi say anything?”
“Director Choi—well, she doesn’t know. I never told her that Han-sung and I used to date.”
