Chapter 119

"Thanks for doing me a favor," Song Jae-Hee put her hands together and thanked Woo-Jin.

Song Jae-Hee was currently shooting a romantic comedy and had asked Woo-Jin to appear as a guest star on it, to which he readily accepted. He would be playing the female lead's first love. Even though he wouldn't have much screen time, it was a significant cameo. Fortunately, it would be released two months before Red Enemy, so there wouldn't be an overlap. Nonetheless, as it was a comedy, the character he'd be playing was not particularly cool but was somewhat a wreck. Thus, she was apprehensive that Woo-Jin might not be interested.

"As I mentioned before, I've been meaning to play a character like that," Woo-Jin said. A stalker with a delusional disorder who happened to be a third-generation chaebol! Woo-Jin was busy chuckling as he read the script. When Woo-Jin complimented the script for being well-written, Song Jae-Hee shrugged and praised herself for having a good eye.

"Director Choi must have said he liked this movie, huh?"

"Yeah! He liked it because there isn't any forced development for a romantic com...." Song Jae-Hee stopped talking and started blushing. After seeing her act this way, Woo-Jin congratulated her. He could guess that Director Choi Yi-Geon and Song Jae-Hee had started dating for a while now as they had been in contact with one another.

"Does CEO Jang know about this?"

"Of course he does. We're only nine years apart, but he grumbled and asked what I liked about that 'old man.' What's wrong with my Yi-Geon!" Woo-Jin was indifferent to the fact that they both were dating as he had already expected it, but when he heard her call him 'my Yi-Geon,' he felt as though he was getting hives all over his body.

"That's because judging from Director Choi's age and personality, he's taking his relationship with you very seriously. So in CEO Jang's opinion, he might think you're too good to be settling for him," Woo-Jin said.

Song Jae-Hee had been with Jang Soo-Hwan's agency since she was a child, so he thought of her more like a daughter than his agency's artiste. Now that his daughter had grown up and was dating a man nine years older, it was only natural for CEO Jang to be concerned.

"If I wasn't serious about him, I wouldn't have started a relationship with him."

"So, are you thinking about getting married?" Woo-Jin asked in surprise. Song Jae-Hee felt it was normal for her to think about marriage and thought Woo-Jin's question was strange.

"Did you think I've never dated anyone at this age? That's why I can be more certain that this person is mine. If I let him go, I'll regret it for the rest of my life. I can feel that my Yi-Geon is the man of my destiny!"

"Does that mean that you didn't feel that way about your past boyfriends?" After hearing Woo-Jin's earnest question, Song Jae-Hee paused for a moment and avoided making eye contact with him. However, Woo-Jin felt that he knew her answer without her having to say it, so he smiled and asked a different question.

"How was it when you broke up with someone you loved so much that you thought they were your destiny? How does one get a beautiful breakup?"

Song Jae-Hee widened her eyes and responded to his question with another question. "Are there beautiful breakups in this world?"

"Huh?"

"Regardless of the reason, a breakup is bound to be ugly and messy. It's greedy to want a beautiful breakup. As for a cool breakup? Wouldn't that mean your relationship wasn't that passionate, to begin with?" Song Jae-Hee asserted that the greater the love, the uglier the breakup would be.

"Nevertheless, I'd still prefer a beautiful breakup." Woo-Jin sighed as he recalled what happened a few days ago.

Chae Woo-Jin made the list of the successful candidates for the first round of the bar exam. His academic advisor hurriedly called for him before class started. His advisor knew that Woo-Jin had taken the exam but didn't expect him to pass, so they were rather flummoxed.

In a way, it was a natural outcome as Chae Woo-Jin was an impeccable student. Even though he couldn't get more than a particular grade last semester because of his poor attendance rate, his reports and test scores were better than everyone else's. From a professor's point of view, he was a competent and talented person, and it was a shame for him to be in the entertainment industry.

Considering that it was common for people to fail their exams after taking a leave of absence, his feat was a little short of a miracle. Hence, the academic advisor became even more concerned, not knowing what to do with this student that was letting his talent go to waste. As an academic advisor, they hoped Woo-Jin would pass the second round of the bar exam, but after considering that he was in the midst of shooting a movie, they felt sorry for him because it seemed like it might be too much for him to handle.

After Woo-Jin was done talking to his academic advisor and listening to their concerns and advice, he still had 20 minutes left before his next class started, so he spent his remaining time with Hyun-Min. They sat at the emergency stairway connected to the outside, where barely anybody passed through as the emergency stairs weren't used by everyone regularly.

"What are you doing here?" Lee So-Hyun came out of the emergency exit and asked in surprise when she saw the two. Hyun-Min frowned and wondered why, out of all the people in the school, Lee So-Hyun was the one using that door.

"My next class is starting soon," Woo-Jin replied simply. Lee So-Hyun paused for a second after hearing Woo-Jin's brief reply before stealthily approaching him and asking softly, "There was a Chae Woo-Jin on the list of candidates that passed the first round. Is that you?"

"And so what if it's me?"

"I just wanted to congratulate you."

In the past, when they both were dating, Woo-Jin had once told Lee So-Hyun about his plan to take the bar exam, and she still remembered it. So when she saw Chae Woo-Jin's name on the list of candidates who had passed, she didn't just overlook it.

"Your dream came true. But it's still a secret, right? It seemed like nobody knew about it," she remarked.

"That's because rumors aren't going to help me with my preparations for the second round. I hope you'll pretend you don't know about it as well." Woo-Jin's academic advisor shared the same sentiment and said they would do their best to prevent rumors from spreading as much as possible. The name on the list alone was not enough to reveal his identity, so for the time being, he was planning to pretend to have no knowledge about it.

"In that case, I'll congratulate you next time. If you pass the final round, I'll buy you a meal to congratulate you," Lee So-Hyun said.

"Why are you buying me a meal? You don't have to do that."

"Can't I do that as an old friend? And don't be mistaken. I have a boyfriend." Lee So-Hyun frowned and told Woo-Jin not to be so sensitive. She even grumbled, asking if she wasn't allowed to buy her classmate a meal.

"Whether you have a boyfriend or a husband, it has nothing to do with me. There are many other people who want to buy me a meal. Frankly, what I'm trying to say is I don't have any time for you." It seemed like Lee So-Hyun was the mistaken one instead, so Woo-Jin told her how he felt upfront.

"How could you...be so rude to someone who congratulated you?"

"How am I being rude? I was just being honest with you because you said I was being sensitive."

Previously, Woo-Jin had always hoped that his love story with Lee So-Hyun was not over for good and that they'd rekindle their love someday. Even though he didn't love her as much as he did in the past, apart from his family, she was the only one he had loved this much. The memory of his love for her always made Woo-Jin very emotional, preventing him from giving up on this one hope.

However, since Woo-Jin decided to let go of his lingering feelings for her, he didn't feel any need to be polite to get along with her like before. After getting discharged from the military, whenever Woo-Jin ran into Lee So-Hyun in school, she had always been friendly and acted as if they still might have a chance in the future. Because of that, Woo-Jin couldn't make up his mind and was very confused. If Lee So-Hyun were single, she might have understood his complicated feelings, but she currently had a shiny couple ring on her finger. She had been dating someone since last fall, but Woo-Jin found it hard to understand what she wanted from him.

"You weren't like this," Lee So-Hyun said.

"He has always been like this. He had just been too soft on you this whole time." Hyun-Min suddenly interrupted their conversation. He had been standing in the middle of the staircase, keeping a lookout for people heading their way. Hyun-Min pointed at Woo-Jin and told Lee So-Hyun that she was the only person who didn't know what Woo-Jin was honestly like and smiled broadly. He looked delighted.

"I'm going to treat you just like a normal classmate, like what you forced me to do previously. You've been hoping for that for a long time," Woo-Jin said. In the first place, he wasn't the type to interact much with classmates he wasn't familiar with, let alone having a meal together. It was just plain absurdity.

"These days, you aren't like that, though," Lee So-Hyun retorted.

"You should try having a social life. And become like me."

"Then what about me? You're nice to other people, but why are you so mean to me!" Like Lee So-Hyun pointed out, Woo-Jin had changed a lot recently. He was friendly to the people he barely knew, as well as strangers, and he had also actively participated in school activities. Perhaps, Lee So-Hyun wanted the current Chae Woo-Jin. No, to be precise, she wanted him to treat her a little more special as compared to others. Woo-Jin tilted his head to the side after hearing her request.

"Am I obligated to do it just because you want me to?" he asked.

"I...!"

"Alright, I'll admit. Honestly, it's true that I hadn't gotten rid of my lingering feelings for you up until now. As you can remember, I liked you a lot back then." Lee So-Hyun gave a satisfied smile after hearing Woo-Jin's reply. She looked as though she had gotten the answer she wanted to hear.

"However, these feelings have all disappeared in an instant, just like the melting snow. I truly thought it was impossible, but it became possible one day. And now you don't seem that special anymore. Do I really have to be cordial with you now?" Even when he had firmed his mind and was logical, his heart never stopped feeling the same way. His messy feelings had always dominated him and broke his resolve, but his feelings for Lee So-Hyun had suddenly disappeared one day by chance. It all happened while he was shooting Red Enemy.

Prince Myeong-Hwan fell in love with Yoon Hwa-Eun and approached her, pretending to be a poor painter. It was rare for a painter to be called to a private residence to paint a portrait of a woman. Still, for some reason, the young lady's father had also commissioned the painter to do a portrait of his daughter, along with her grandmother's portrait. It was supposedly going to be shown to her prospective mother-in-law when it was time for her matchmaking. At that time, Prince Myeong-Hwan believed him and thought it was the truth until he died.

However, a few years ago, the truth was revealed upon discovering Yoon Hwa-Eun's diary. It was a premeditated move on the father's part to commission the kisaeng painter to paint the portrait of the elderly woman and his daughter. It had all been a ruse to get his daughter to marry Prince Myeong-Hwan. The latter had lost his wife and was widowed.

The Yoon family had no ties to Queen Moon-Jin's family, and they were close to the king. However, the king already had a queen, so the only way for Yoon Hwa-Eun to enter the palace would be to become a concubine. It seemed as though the Yoon family was choosing between getting Yoon Hwa-Eun to become a concubine or marrying Prince Myeong-Hwan and ended up picking the latter.

And when it came to power, becoming Prince Myeong-Hwan's wife and having Queen Moon-Jin's family as a connection would give them more power than just being a concubine. Hence, the Yoon family made a huge decision to get to the center of power.

First, Yoon Hwa-Eun's father commissioned a portrait from the painter as he heard he was acquainted with the prince and that they met with each other often. So naturally, he planned to commission a portrait of his daughter as well. The prince visited the painter's studio regularly, so he believed that Yoon Hwa-Eun's portrait would catch his eye. Yoon Hwa-Eun was extremely beautiful, so her father had complete confidence.

However, to his surprise, the prince had personally gone to his residence with the painter. It was a favorable outcome that he had never expected. It was very rare for a young lady from a Yangban family to approach a mere painter without hesitation and be friendly to him. It was naive of the prince to mistakenly believe that they were meant to be together and that their love transcended social classes.

Fortunately, even though Yoon Hwa-Eun was acting under her father's orders, she had also fallen in love with the prince. However, that was only because she knew his true identity. She never would have fallen for him if she had thought he was just a poor painter.

Meanwhile, the queen died along with her baby during childbirth. To look for a new wife, the king lifted the prohibition of marriage. As soon as he started looking for unmarried young women to be a part of the selection process, Yoon Hwa-Eun's father changed his stance. He decided to abandon Prince Myeong-Hwan as he was not interested in taking the throne and chose to become the Buwongun[1]. Yoon Hwa-Eun obeyed her father's wishes and acted accordingly. Seeing Yoon Hwa-Eun change her mind as she put on an act was different from what he had known.

1. The title of the queen's father. ☜