Chapter 180: Obsession (1)

Kang Ra-Eun returned back home after the Country Diner shoot.

‘I wouldn’t call it a hard time, but I’m still glad I’m back home.’

The first thing she wanted to do when she came back home was to take a shower. She took off her clothes, went straight to the bathroom and let the warm water take her. Ra-Eun loved to take warm showers whether it be summer or winter. The water enveloped her entire body.

“Much better.”

The lodge had been comfortable, but one was bound to feel discomfort when showering or sleeping in a place they were not accustomed to. Ra-Eun’s phone rang as soon as she came back out of the bathroom. It was from Shin Yu-Bin.

“Yes, Miss Manager.”

- Did you get back home safely? We have the release event for Shuttered next week, so rest up until then. Feel free to call me whenever you need anything.

“Okay.”

- Great work shooting for the last four days.

“You too, Miss Manager. Please get back home safely.”

Ra-Eun sighed as soon as she ended the call.

‘So damn busy.’

There was no time to take a breather. She thought she had gotten used to jam-packed schedules.

‘I guess I still have a long way to go.’

It felt like she wouldn’t ever get used to it.

Beep!

The front door opened as Ra-Eun was drying herself off with a towel, and left Seo Yi-Seo in shock.

“Ra-Eun! What are you doing buck naked?”

“I just got out of the shower.”

“Even so... What if it had been someone other than me?”

“But you and that guy are the only ones who know our house password.”

By ‘that guy,’ Ra-Eun was referring to Kang Ra-Hyuk. Yi-Seo couldn’t be any more worried about how defenseless Ra-Eun was sometimes.

“But you should still be careful. It’ll be a huge problem if you get marked by a stalker.”

Of course, Ra-Eun had already taken that into account. There was no apartment higher up than where she and Yi-Seo lived, so it was impossible for someone to peek at them from outside. The building’s security was so tight that there was little to worry about even if they managed to find out where she lived. Not just that, Ra-Eun was a former bodyguard, so she was very knowledgeable about how to nip the dangers of stalkers in the bud.

However, she still couldn’t let her guard down.

‘There are sometimes people that surpass logic.’

Ra-Eun would never have to experience anything that Yi-Seo worried about as long as she was careful against such exceptions.

Ra-Eun answered Yi-Seo, who was warning her with a stern face, “Okay. I’ll be careful.”

It wasn’t bad to hear her roommate’s nagging; it just meant that she cared that much for her.

***

The official release date of Shuttered?arrived. Ra-Eun and her fellow lead and supporting actors posted on their social media accounts that the movie was released and they hoped for everyone’s support on it. The day of release was the most important, since the result of the film was highly dependent on what the first wave of viewers thought about the film.

‘The responses at the premiere weren't bad.’

There were many reviews that stated the film was well-made, but there was bound to be a stark difference between reviews of critics and regular members of the public. Although Ra-Eun already knew that this film would hit ten million in total audience attendance...

‘It keeps bothering me.’

Her attention kept going to how the film was doing.

‘I guess I’ve completely become an actress.’

She unconsciously smiled awkwardly. As she was going through reviews of Shuttered?on her phone, a staff member called out to her.

“We’re all ready. You can come out now, Miss Kang.”

“I understand.”

Ra-Eun got up from her seat while slightly lifting the hem of her dress. The main color scheme of her outfit today was flaming red. She wasn’t a fan of red as a color, but she had no choice but to wear it since she couldn’t let her outfit color overlap with those of others... or that was what her stylist Ryu Ha-Yeon told her, at least. However, Ra-Eun thought otherwise.

‘I’m pretty sure she said that to make me wear this red dress.’

Ra-Eun could feel Ha-Yeon’s self-interest in the dress. Ha-Yeon had often mentioned to Ra-Eun that she wanted to have her wear a red dress one day, and her dreams had happened to come true today. It felt far too deliberate for it to be a coincidence. Ra-Eun recalled what had happened during her shoots of Reaper.

‘The?Reaper screenwriter had me wear tons of outfits too.’

Ra-Eun was contacted by Hwang Yo-Rin from time to time, being asked if she was interested in working with her again since she had a good synopsis in her hands. That offer had crumbled into pieces because Ra-Eun had starred in Shuttered, but Yo-Rin still called her from time to time for other things.

‘Why do so many weirdos gravitate around me?’

The weirdest one among them was likely the queen of obsession, Rita. Ra-Eun sighed without realizing it.

Seo Tae-Yeon, who had been next to her, tilted her head in confusion.

“What is it, Ra-Eun? Is there a problem?” n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“No, I just have a few things on my mind.”

“Are you nervous? That’s unlike you.”

Ra-Eun now had so much broadcasting experience that her nervous phase had long since passed. Ra-Eun simply smiled at Tae-Yeon’s guess.

“We’ll be moving now.”

After some time passed, the bodyguards moved forward while guarding Ra-Eun and the other actresses.

Kyaaaa—!

Ra-Eun maintained her smile as she heard fans yelling from everywhere. She was smiling, but her head was full of complaints; it was not toward the fans, but the bodyguards.

‘Their formation is a mess.’

It was full of holes. If Ra-Eun had been a sasaeng fan with bad intentions, she would be more than capable of getting through the formation and harming the actresses inside. That was how incapable these bodyguards were.

‘Team Leader So Ha-Jin and her team weren’t like this.’

Back when Ra-Eun had been in Japan, The security team led by Ha-Jin had gone above and beyond Ra-Eun’s expectations. That team even had Park Geon-Woo, Ra-Eun’s former male self, with them. However, these bodyguards were members of a different team entirely.

‘Where the hell did they hire people like this?’

Ra-Eun wanted nothing more than to take off her dress, put on a suit and do their jobs for them. That was how dissatisfied she was with them. As the group pushed past the massive wave of people, she felt something.

“...?”

She looked to the right, which caused the fans standing in that direction to scream even louder.

“Unnie! You’re as pretty as ever!”

“I love you, Ra-Eun!!!”

“...”

Unlike the fans going crazy over the slightest of action from Ra-Eun, a man wearing a large hoodie and a hat covering his face was staring at Ra-Eun completely expressionlessly. He was strangely quiet for a fan, which significantly bothered Ra-Eun.

‘He’s not showing a hint of emotion when he gets to see a celebrity he looks up to? It’s far too strange.’

The group went up on stage as Ra-Eun’s suspicions grew. A staff member handed mics to Ra-Eun, Tae-Yeon and Jin Seo-Yeong in turns. The host first asked Tae-Yeon to introduce herself.

“Hello. I am Seo Tae-Yeon, and I played the role of Song Hye-Mi. Our film was just released today. I’m sure all of you watched it, right?” she asked to excite the audience.

The fans shouted “Yes!” in response as if it was obvious. Ra-Eun glanced at the man who had expressionlessly stared at them. He once again showed no reaction.

It was Ra-Eun’s turn to introduce herself.

“I am Kang Ra-Eun, and I played the role of Hwang Tae-Yeong.”

She continued to check the man while talking.

‘Should I check one more time?’

Ra-Eun attempted to excite the audience like Tae-Yeon had done, just in case.

“You’ll watch it a second and third time, won’t you?”

“Yes!!!”

“You’ve just promised me, okay?”

The fans cheered passionately once again to answer Ra-Eun. Tae-Yeon and Seo-Yeong looked at Ra-Eun in surprise because Ra-Eun didn’t usually do things like this.

“You’re in high spirits today, aren’t you, Ra-Eun?”

“I’ve never seen you saying things like this, Ra-Eun sunbae.”

The corners of the man’s mouth did not even twitch despite Ra-Eun saying something like that. Her suspicions grew even more.

***

As soon as the event was over, the actresses needed to get through the wave of people to reach their cars. Just then, Ra-Eun called Tae-Yeon, who was walking with the bodyguards.

“Sunbae.”

“What is it, Ra-Eun?”

Ra-Eun scurried to Tae-Yeon. “Let’s go together.”

“Huh?”

“Please don’t ask why. You join us too, Seo-Yeong.”

Seo-Yeong rushed to her sunbae’s side.

‘I can’t trust these bodyguards.’

Hence, Ra-Eun decided to protect Tae-Yeon and Seo-Yeong herself. However, the two of them didn’t know that. Tae-Yeon casually locked arms with Ra-Eun.

“Oh, my little Ra-Eun. Are you scared because of the huge crowd?”

“No, it’s not that...”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. This unnie here will protect you, you cutie!”

“...”

Ra-Eun had been greatly misunderstood.

***

Just when the three of them had reached their cars, Ra-Eun sincerely requested Tae-Yeon and Seo-Yeong, “Don’t go anywhere but straight back home for today, just in case.”

Home was the safest place. Even now, Tae-Yeon only saw Ra-Eun’s actions as purely aegyo.

“Okay, I’ll do as you say, Ra-Eun.”

Ra-Eun got into her car once she sent them off. Yu-Bin and Ha-Yeon, who had already been in the car, were impressed by the streets still packed with people.

“This movie actually might become a massive hit. I don’t think I’ve seen people this excited for a film before,” Yu-Bin expressed.

“Seriously. Don’t you think so too, Ra-Eun?” Ha-Yeon asked.

However, Ra-Eun did not give the two of them any attention because she couldn’t get the unidentified man from earlier out of her head.

‘What the hell was up with him?’

Various guesses were running rampant inside her head. As she was deep in thought, a certain possibility flashed in her head.

‘Kim Han-Gyo couldn’t have sent him, could he?’

It was extremely unlikely, since she had made sure that Han-Gyo couldn’t find out who she was. However, if that really was the case, then that would mean Han-Gyo had found out the masked woman’s identity.

‘Who could that man possibly be?’

She had been presented with a difficult problem to solve.