“Oh! But Mr. Sihyeong, you didn’t call either.”

“Ha, I suppose that’s true.”

“My friend is a busy star, so I’ll be the understanding one.”

“That makes me the bad guy.”

“Isn’t that better than me being the bad guy, Mr. Sangyun? I’m the woman here.”

“Mr. Sihyeong, give up. You can’t win against Ms. Yunjoo.”

After a warm exchange with the two of them, Sihyeong went off to rehearsal and Yunjoo sat in the audience watching the others practice. These were lines she had once memorized with real dedication, back when she had wanted to try acting. She had studied them so thoroughly that she still remembered every single one. She had quickly realized it was a hopeless endeavor, but she had practiced quite earnestly all the same.

Yunjoo watched Sangyun running the actors through their rehearsal. On stage, he became a different person entirely. The easygoing face was gone, his eyes sharpened, and he put the actors on edge. The actors themselves all said that because of how Sangyun was like this, the moment they stepped on stage, tension gripped their entire bodies.

Every trace of the man who had been trading jokes and teasing her just moments ago had vanished from Sangyun’s face. What remained was only the formidable director and head of the theater company. That side of him showed just how deeply he loved theater. Yunjoo had been watching him quietly when she got up, gathered her things, and left.

Outside, she walked slowly with no particular destination. She had been walking for a while when she felt someone fall into step beside her. She looked up in surprise to find Sihyeong standing there in a cap and dark sunglasses. Yunjoo stopped and stared at him.

“Oh! Mr. Sihyeong.”

“You finally notice the person walking next to you?”

“Weren’t you in the middle of rehearsal?”

“I saw you leave and followed you out. I didn’t have rehearsal today anyway, so I was thinking of not coming in, but I came to see you.”

“Stop joking around. I don’t like that kind of joke.”

“I’m not joking. If that’s how you want to take it, treat it as a joke then. Want to go sit somewhere?”

“If I’m seen with you, people will stare and there’ll be a scandal.”

It wasn’t a joke, he meant it sincerely. She didn’t want the burden of it. She wanted to live quietly until the divorce was settled, and she had no interest in men.

“Come on…… So you want to just keep walking like this? I don’t mind, but won’t your legs get tired?”

“I’m scared. I don’t want my whole life dug up the next day and to become public enemy number one.”

“Then let’s go somewhere I know. No scandals, no one staring. We can just be there.”

“A place like that exists?”

“Come with me. It’s not far.”

Standing around on the street like this, there was no telling who might recognize them, so going somewhere was the better option. The place Sihyeong knew was a small French restaurant that took only a limited number of guests. Places like this typically didn’t seat anyone without a reservation.

“Noona!”

“Oh, Sihyeong.”

“Today’s your day off, right?”

“Yes. What brings you here? Aren’t you going to introduce the beauty next to you?”

“This is Ms. Cha Yunjoo, the theater company’s stage designer. And this is my noona.”

“Hello. I’m Cha Yunjoo.”

“Welcome. I’m Sihyeong’s older sister. But you can’t just bring guests on my day off.”

“Noona, we’ll just have coffee and sit for a bit. Ms. Yunjoo says she’s uncomfortable going around with me because people might recognize us.”

“Mr. Sihyeong……”

Yunjoo tried to stop him from repeating exactly what she had said.

“It’s fine. Honestly, I’m not thrilled about going around with him either. Make yourselves at home. I came out because I have some prep work in the kitchen, so don’t mind me. You can get your own coffee.”

“Sure, noona.”

“There you go. No one staring, no scandal. Sit down, I’ll bring the coffee.”

Sihyeong’s noona put people at ease just as naturally as Sihyeong did. Thanks to her, what was meant to be a brief stop ended up stretching much longer. It turned into a full meal, with a simple salad, sandwiches, and soup.

They stayed longer than expected, but the people were genuinely warm and easy to be around. And above all, the food was wonderful. Yunjoo had a feeling this place would become a regular spot for her. Both the food and the woman she had just met were so good that she left in far better spirits than when she had walked out of the theater company.

When Yunjoo had stepped outside the theater company, she had felt a hollow sense of having nowhere to go. The house felt less like her own space and more like she was staying in someone else’s, and she had been walking with a tangled mind, wondering whether she could really tie up everything cleanly and go study abroad.

But laughing with cheerful people and eating good food had lightened her heart considerably. The noona stayed behind to finish her prep work, and when the two of them stepped outside, a problem arose. Sihyeong wanted to drive her home, and she had to turn him down.

Even though she lived there, it was not her house, and she didn’t want others to know about it. On top of that, it was a place she would no longer be living in once the divorce was settled. Sihyeong didn’t push when she refused, and they reached a compromise where he dropped her off at the subway station.

* * *

Yunjoo was spending her days at the theater company finishing up the remaining work with Sangyun, and Kangwook was caught up in his own packed schedule. Even so, Yunjoo couldn’t stop her eyes from drifting to her phone. From the day Kangwook had saved his number in her phone, he had developed a habit without realizing it of glancing at his phone or opening it every now and then. But not once had a call come in from Yunjoo.

“That’s so like Cha Yunjoo.”

Yunjoo had been working on the computer at the theater company, coordinating endlessly, and after a frantic day she finally slumped face-down on her desk in exhaustion. From here on she would have to run between two places, the site and the theater company. Sangyun had been watching her lying there with her eyes closed and came over.

“Ms. Yunjoo, you’re tired, aren’t you?”

Yunjoo heard Sangyun’s voice without lifting her head.

“Oh, Mr. Sangyun, I’m just resting for a moment.”

“You look worn out. You’re heading to the set construction site starting tomorrow, right?”

“Uuugh.”

Yunjoo made a strange sound as she stretched and sat up. She was quite different from how she looked. Easygoing and unpretentious, yet with a certain shadow somewhere, and very guarded about personal matters.

“Mr. Sangyun, are you done with rehearsal? I won’t be easy to see starting tomorrow. Will you buy me dinner?”

“Let’s do that. The rest of it you can handle on your own.”

Sangyun nodded, watching her as she spoke. The Yunjoo he had first met seemed like someone who had no business doing this kind of work. The second time, she had shown him something different from the first impression. 

And now she was someone who poured everything she had into her work. And she had no interest in men, so even with someone right in front of her, the way she looked at people didn’t change. The two of them tidied up the office and left the theater company, and Sihyeong appeared out of nowhere and fell into step beside them.

“Where are you going? Can I come?”

Yunjoo laughed at Sihyeong appearing out of nowhere to tag along, while Sangyun’s face creased with displeasure.

“Mr. Sihyeong.”

“Doesn’t Lee Mr. Sihyeong still have rehearsal left?”

“Director, I’ve been working pretty hard. Cut me some slack.”

Sangyun laughed off Sihyeong’s charming plea, and the three of them went into a small restaurant in front of the theater company and took their seats. Yunjoo watched Sihyeong talking with Sangyun. When she had first seen him she had been struck by the novelty of meeting a film actor, but what was more remarkable was how naturally he fit in with the people around him.

Sihyeong was the kind of person who cracked light jokes, slipped out of rehearsal to tag along like this, and still managed to make Sangyun laugh. As she watched the two of them, Yunjoo’s phone rang. She pulled it out of her bag and her expression tightened when she saw the screen. The ringing nagged at her, but it wasn’t a call she felt comfortable answering either.

Should she answer? Should she not? Why did he have to ask for her number in the first place?

Both men’s eyes turned to Yunjoo as she sat holding the phone and just staring at it. With them watching, she couldn’t answer here. She stood up, excused herself, and stepped outside with the phone in hand.