Chapter 74
I arrived at Shin Ayoung’s apartment complex.
3··· 4··· 5···.
The elevator numbers continued climbing.
As it neared the floor, the situation began to feel real, and a question occurred to me.
I’d heard something like that last time.
“But didn’t you say your parents don’t really like coming home?”
I’d heard that her father was an actor, too, and that he found it burdensome when unfamiliar guests came over.
“It’s okay. No one’s home right now.”
Shin Ayoung waved her hand, telling me not to worry.
“···?”
Her answer left me with a peculiar expression.
‘Isn’t that more of a problem···?’
Before I could continue that thought, Shin Ayoung flung open the front door.
“Come on. Come in.”
Drawn in by her words, I stepped inside. After taking off my shoes, I entered the living room.
“···Wow.”
An exclamation escaped me on its own.
It was different from an ordinary family home. A remarkably spacious living room welcomed me.
She moved with familiar steps.
“First, to my room···.”
Shin Ayoung’s foot stopped as she led me along. It was an abrupt, rigid halt.
— “Ah.”
She had been about to take me to her room, but then she remembered something and her expression stiffened.
The Minimi broke into a heavy sweat. It was like a waterfall.
— “···What was my room like? Did I clean it?”
So that was what had made her stop. She was worrying about that.
The Minimi discreetly watched me, looking as if it were wondering what to do.
“Could you wait here for a moment? Sit comfortably in the living room.”
Shin Ayoung slid backward.
She quickly disappeared into her room.
It seemed she had decided to clean first. That was a quick decision.
“···.”
I casually settled onto the living room sofa and looked around while I waited.
‘This house is really spacious.’
Even the TV was a large-screen model, and every piece of furniture had an air of luxury.
Since it was the home of one of Korea’s most popular actors, that was only natural.
Of course, there were probably actors who didn’t live like this, but Shin Ayoung’s father didn’t seem like the type to live frugally.
‘It looks like a scene from a drama.’
A large family portrait hung on one wall. Every one of them was handsome or beautiful.
“You’ve been waiting long—”
Shin Ayoung emerged from her room with light steps.
She had changed into workout clothes without me noticing: a white tank top, a cotton jacket, and shorts. It was a comfortable outfit.
— “Oh dear, my room won’t do.”
The Minimi shook its head. It had an utterly bitter expression.
‘So she gave up in the end.’
She must have decided that cleaning the room right away would be difficult.
“Hmm···.”
Perhaps Shin Ayoung thought she needed to play host. She glanced toward the kitchen for a moment, then asked,
“Seungho, since you’re here, do you want a snack?”
“Huh?”
“Is there anything you want to eat? We have lots of things.”
“It’s okay. I just worked out, too.”
“Then what about some fruit? You don’t like fruit?”
“I do like it···.”
I just felt bad about showing up out of nowhere and eating her food.
“I’ll cut some up quickly. Look around a little longer.”
Shin Ayoung slipped into the kitchen.
Then—
She cautiously poked her head out again.
“You’re not allergic to peaches, are you?”
“No.”
“Okay~”
I nodded. I could feel the thoughtfulness behind her question.
After a short wait, Shin Ayoung brought over a plate of sliced peaches. The pieces were uneven. She hadn’t cut them particularly well, but I could still feel the effort she had put in.
“Come in.”
The open doorway led to a room at the end of the hall. According to her, it was her father’s study.
“Is it really okay for me to come in here whenever I want?”
“He gave me permission to use it whenever I wanted a long time ago. Besides, Dad doesn’t use it much.”
As I entered, neatly ordered bookshelves welcomed me.
Most of the books were novels or drama and film scripts. A few books on screenwriting were mixed in as well.
“Oh.”
As I slowly moved around and looked at what was there, my eyes stopped on one particular book.
“Whoa, no, this···!”
I was so startled that I froze.
I had found the screenplay for a movie I had once enjoyed immensely. It was even an actual copy used by the actors. The traces of its use were still there.
‘Whoa, they have this here···.’
Well, it was a movie she had appeared in, so of course there would be a screenplay.
I swallowed hard, curious about what was inside.
“···?”
Sensing someone’s gaze, I turned around.
“···.”
Shin Ayoung was looking at me with a smile on her face.
“···Ahem.”
I grew embarrassed at how much I had overreacted. I deliberately cleared my throat and looked away.
“Do you want to take a look?”
Shin Ayoung asked with a subtle glance.
“Huh? Is that okay?”
“Yeah, look through it however you like.”
She gestured for me to do as I pleased.
I was tempted by the offer. If it was all right, I did want to look through it.
I thought I might take a quick look, since it would only take a moment···.
“···No. Let’s work on the assignment first.”
I shook my head. I felt that should come first right now. I could always look at the screenplay later.
“Should we?”
— “Hmm, we could take our time···.”
The Minimi looked deliberately disappointed.
“I’ll take a look at what you’ve written.”
“Just a moment.”
At my words, Shin Ayoung opened the laptop she had brought.
She launched a document program and turned the screen toward me.
She hesitantly pushed the laptop over.
— “Ugh··· I’m nervous···.”
Perhaps she found it burdensome to show her writing to someone else.
The Minimi paced restlessly around me from side to side.
“It’s a romance?”
The proposal described a love story centered around a male and female lead.
“Is it not very good···?”
Shin Ayoung’s voice slowed. She kept watching my reaction.
I shook my head as I looked at it.
“No, I was just wondering if there was a reason.”
“It’s··· Since it’s a short film, I thought that would work best. And the actors are a man and a woman, too.”
“Mhm.”
I calmly read through the screenplay after that.
“···What do you think?”
Shin Ayoung asked cautiously.
I tapped the desk, thinking about what kind of evaluation to give.
“It’s good. It’s not just a straightforward romance, either.”
It wasn’t an ordinary love story.
It was about a cohabiting couple who broke up and the process of saying goodbye.
“I like that it isn’t just a simple love story.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“But···.”
“Buuut···?”
Shin Ayoung leaned forward. Anxiety showed in her eyes.
“When people break up, things don’t usually end this amicably. I think it would be good to make it a little more heated.”
“Hmm? You think so?”
“Besides, I think that would make the process of sorting through their belongings in the home they share more interesting to watch.”
“Hmm···.”
Shin Ayoung tilted her head and thought it over, then nodded as if she understood.
“Okay. I’ll try revising that part.”
······.
An hour had passed before I knew it since we began working.
At some point, quiet music had started playing in the study. It had been too silent while we worked, so the music filled some of the empty space.
“···.”
Shin Ayoung quietly continued revising the screenplay.
The clacking of the keyboard echoed through the room.
Meanwhile, I was drafting a storyboard beside her while waiting for her to finish.
I was thinking about how to shoot and direct each scene.
— “Hmm-hmm-hmm~♪”
Shin Ayoung’s Minimi hummed along to a song playing in the background.
— “You say you get butterflies~♪ That’s you~♪”
She thought she was being quiet, but the song she was murmuring to herself inevitably reached my ears.
“···Hmm.”
I wondered what she had gotten stuck on. Shin Ayoung pouted and tapped her forehead.
— “Tsk··· Should I look up some reference material···.”
Shin Ayoung brought over a ladder from the corner. The ceiling in the room was high.
She needed it to take down the books on the upper shelves.
— “She said she put all the scripts she organized last time in here···.”
She rummaged through the bookshelves.
— “They’re not heeere···.”
The Minimi crossed its arms and fell into thought. It closed its eyes and rubbed its chin.
She seemed unable to remember where she had put the material.
“···.”
I discreetly watched her.
— “Did I leave them somewhere else?”
The Minimi whipped its head to the side and searched the shelf beside it.
I watched it warily and quietly rose from my seat.
‘This feels ominous—’
Whish-!
Shin Ayoung’s body tilted to the side as she hurriedly tried to climb down.
“!”
Without a moment to think, I caught her around the waist.
Thud—!
I managed to catch her just in time, but I couldn’t withstand the impact of the fall, and we went down in a slide.
“Sss···.”
I frowned and blinked. Fortunately, nothing hurt badly.
Only a slightly numb sensation remained in my back.
“···Hey, are you okay?”
Somehow, I had a feeling this would happen.
An uneasy premonition is always right.
“···.”
Shin Ayoung, who had been sprawled across my chest as if it were a bed, turned her head.
Her rabbit-like eyes were wide with surprise.
— Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
— Trill-trill!
Just then, the sound of the front door’s passcode being entered came from the entrance.
“Hey?”
I hurriedly called out to her, but there was no response.
— “---------”
Noise rang out. The Minimi stared down at me through the noise.
Its tiny eyes quietly held my face in their gaze.
“Shin Ayoung?!”
“···Ah.”
Only then seeming to come to her senses, she jumped up, but—
“···.”
A man was already standing in front of the study door.
Someone who looked like Shin Ayoung.
No—a man Shin Ayoung looked like.
“···H-hello···.”
I awkwardly offered him a greeting.
I could tell at a glance that he was Shin Ayoung’s father.
— “---------”
Along with the noise,
he looked down at me without saying a word.
I could tell for certain that I had already made a terrible first impression.