Chapter 28: A Kiss Scene? (2)

Kang Ra-Eun actually knew all along that her original self, Park Geon-Woo, may have existed in this era separate from herself. Now that the original Geon-Woo had returned to the past in the body of a high school girl that he had absolutely no relation to, it was fully within the realms of possibility.

However, Ra-Eun did not try to find him because... she was scared. She averted her eyes from the truth because she was scared of how she would feel once she came face to face with her past self. However...

‘It’s... not as big of a deal as I had expected.’

Ra-Eun had not suffered from any aftereffects since she had already expected it somewhat. She even knew the names of all the friends that Geon-Woo was with. They were enjoying their university lives while snickering together.

The Geon-Woo standing over there was another version of herself, but he would meet his end at the hands of Kim Han-Gyo and Kim Chi-Yeol in the future. In that case, wouldn’t Ra-Eun need to take measures to prevent that from happening?

No, because that would completely go against her plans. The assistance of Geon-Woo, Ra-Eun’s other self, was imperative to her revenge against Kim Han-Gyo and Kim Chi-Yeol. She was thinking of leaving Geon-Woo be until he would become the leader of Kim Han-Gyo’s security team, and before he would be stabbed to death by Kim Chi-Yeol and his men.

Ra-Eun would simply do her part as a bystander, because Park Geon-Woo was the final piece of the puzzle in her revenge. She had to build the foundations for her revenge until that day came.

“Ra-Eun!”

Seo Yi-Seo ran to Ra-Eun, having a bad feeling.

“What’s wrong?” Yi-Seo asked.

Her gaze went to Geon-Woo.

“Do you know him?”

Ra-Eun turned back and answered, “No, not at all.”

***

It was almost 10 PM. Park Seol-Hun, who had opened up a shoe store on the first floor of a commercial building, shouted.

“Now, come take a look! The special sale only lasts until today! Excuse me, young man! Come here and let me recommend you some incredible sneakers!”

No matter how much he touted, not a single customer made their way over to him. Since he couldn’t sell shoes all night, he prepared to close up shop.

“Yet another bust of a day...”

As he was clicking his tongue, a young lady approached him.

“Is business doing good, mister?”

Seol-Hun had only seen the lady’s face once, but it was one that he could never... no, should never forget.

Ra-Eun was standing in front of him, both hands in the pockets of an oversized hoodie with a lollipop in her mouth.

Seol-Hun secretly sighed.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I thought it was around time that your business would fail, so I’ve come to visit,” Ra-Eun replied.

“I-It’s not gonna fail! I’m gonna score really big this time!”

“Your massive stock says otherwise.”

“...”

Shoeboxes were stacked in heaps inside the store. Seol-Hun could not fool Ra-Eun.

Crunch!

She chewed the lollipop into pieces and asked Seol-Hun, who was carrying the display shoes back into the store, “This is your fifth business, right? I guess your chance will come once you fail in one more.”

“What chance?”

“The chance to score really big, what else?”

Seol-Hun’s path to success was clearly ingrained in Ra-Eun’s head. He would achieve massive growth after his business rose to become number one in the clothing industry.

Was it even necessary to get Seol-Hun to drag through his fifth and sixth businesses, even after knowing of his success in the clothing business? Would it not have been better for him to have skipped the two experiences and straight to his successful business venture? Ra-Eun had her own philosophy on that.

One could only learn the way of success by experiencing failure. Seol-Hun would never have been able to become so successful without failing in his previous six businesses. Seol-Hun had also said so himself in an interview that he had with a certain news media outlet.

But of course, Ra-Eun had no idea what Seol-Hun had learned from his six failures since she could not read minds. Hence, she decided to wait for him despite how annoying it was.

Seol-Hun bluntly asked Ra-Eun, “How did you know where I was?”

“I knew you'd opened up a store here. I simply didn’t visit.”

“Then why did you decide to come visit today? You’re not here to make me cough up the money you lent me, are you?”

Ra-Eun shook her head. She was not here for money. The reason was very simple.

“Just ‘cause.”

She had met her other self this afternoon. Even after heading home, she could not forget the scene of Geon-Woo snickering together with his friends. Ra-Eun had felt stifled, so she had decided to go see Seol-Hun on a whim, as well as to check if he was properly failing in his business venture.

And also...

“Do you have a cigarette, mister?” she asked.

“What? Why?”

“Can you give me one?”

She could only ask Seol-Hun for such a thing. She used to be unable to go a day without smoking. Although she had quit ten years ago as a new year’s resolution, she felt like smoking today.

Seol-Hun instantly replied with a baffled face, “Why would I give a brat like you a cigarette?”

“Cheapskate.”

She had not had her hopes up.

Ra-Eun was now chewing on the lollipop stick after the candy part had disappeared. She then asked Seol-Hun, “Why do you keep trying your hand in business even after losing all of your money?”

She could not understand Seol-Hun, who was struggling to succeed even while borrowing money from loan sharks.

Seol-Hun put down the shoeboxes and crouched next to Ra-Eun.

“I just don’t want to die as an embarrassment.”

“That’s it?” Ra-Eun asked.

“You have no idea how powerful of a motive that is.”

Seol-Hun was a regular company employee before starting up his businesses. Although he had been reduced to a penniless hobo after failing in four business ventures, he still carried ambitions to succeed through business.

“What would people around me think of me if I die like this? They’d think I was some dumbass who croaked from being so caught up in his business failures, wouldn't they? Even if I die, I refuse to die as an embarrassment. I’m gonna die as proudly and wealthily as possible.”

Ra-Eun couldn’t help but giggle. Maybe...

“I might be in the same boat.”

Ra-Eun had dedicated her life to Kim Han-Gyo and Kim Chi-Yeol, but what she had gotten in return was dishonor and death. Ra-Eun did not want to die in such a way either. She had decided to steel her heart for her happy ending.

Seol-Hun observed Ra-Eun’s face displaying all kinds of emotions in silence. He reluctantly took out a cigarette from his pocket.

“Want this?” he asked.

Ra-Eun shook her head.

“No, it’s fine.”

Ra-Eun took the lollipop stick out of her mouth and showed it to Seol-Hun.

“I think this suits me more than that right now.”

Seol-Hun’s words had helped her organize her thoughts slightly.

***

On a Saturday afternoon, Ra-Eun was discussing something with Chief Jung in GNF. She then headed to the entrance of the agency after getting word from Shin Yu-Bin that she had arrived.

Chief Jung offered her words of encouragement before she left.

“Good luck on today’s shoot. I’ll head there if I manage to free up some time.”

“Okay,” Ra-Eun replied.

The first shoot of season 2 of The Devil’s Touch was scheduled for today. Ra-Eun had no choice but to give up on a weekend day because one of her scenes was scheduled to be shot today.

‘Today’s the day of the (pretend) kiss scene.’

Ever since Ra-Eun began her acting career, she had somewhat expected that a kiss scene suggestion would come her way at least once. In this instance, it thankfully ended up as just pretending, but...

‘They might ask for a real kiss scene one day...’

She was going to refuse with her life if that day ever came, but life never went how one expected. In the first place, Ra-Eun had never expected that she would be betrayed by Congressman Kim Han-Gyo and Kim Chi-Yeol, and be stabbed to death. Not only that, but even returning as a high school girl was well outside her expectations. Compared to those...

‘A kiss scene is nothing.’

But even so, that did not mean she wanted to do it.

Ra-Eun greeted Yu-Bin and got in the car. Watching Ra-Eun stroking her long hair, Yu-Bin asked, “Is there something on your mind, Ra-Eun?”

“Something on my mind?”

“Yeah. You haven’t been looking too well since yesterday. Is it because of the kiss scene?”

If Ra-Eun had to choose, it wasn’t because of that. She had still been dealing with the aftereffects of being made to confront her past. She was much better now, but her face had been stiff enough for people close to her to notice the change in her emotional state.

“I just... have some stuff to think about,” Ra-Eun replied.

“Feel free to confide in me anytime. I’m an incredible counselor.”

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”

It would have been amazing if her concerns were small enough for her to confide in someone.

***

Ra-Eun started reading her lines with Ji Han-Seok after getting her make-up done. Their scene was #8-2, which consisted of a slightly-drunk Ra-Eun pouncing on Han-Seok’s lips.

‘I hate being the receiver, but I hate being the instigator even more.’

Rather, forget who would be the instigator, she just hated the kiss scene itself. But she couldn’t do anything about it since it was in the script.

Han-Seok asked Ra-Eun as they were going through the script, “Can you act drunk, Ra-Eun?”

“Yes, I can,” she replied.

“But you’ve never drunk alcohol before, have you?”

There was no way that she hadn’t. Not only had she drunk tons in her past life, she also smoked, but the high-schooler Kang Ra-Eun had not. Her brother came in handy in times like this.

“I’ve seen my brother drunk tons of times, so I can just mimic him. Also, I learned how to do it in acting school.”

“That’s a relief.”

Acting drunk wasn’t the problem for Ra-Eun. Rather, the only things in her head were thoughts about how to get through the kiss scene smoothly.