Ch.131I don’t like beating around the bush

# Old Habits Die Hard

They say old habits die hard.

That’s because one’s true nature doesn’t change easily.

‘I hate beating around the bush.’

Yet Kim Sujin had to live a life constantly suppressing her true feelings, contrary to her nature.

That’s how the entertainment industry worked.

No, that’s how society worked.

There’s no utopia where everyone can work with genuine smiles.

Kim Sujin, who debuted as a child actress, learned this fact very quickly.

A world where everyone suffers if you don’t do your part.

Living in such a place made it increasingly difficult to express her true feelings.

And that contributed greatly to developing a rather contradictory personality.

Pretending to dislike something she actually liked,

Acting sulky when she felt she shouldn’t reveal her true feelings.

In kind terms, she was a tsundere.

In harsh terms, she was just irritable.

But knowing this didn’t make it easy to change.

She debuted as a child actress at five years old.

Starting with “Hehe Doctor!” until now.

She’d been in the entertainment industry for about 12 years.

Suppressing her true nature had become second nature.

It even felt normal now.

But.

“This isn’t okay.”

For the first time, Kim Sujin expressed her true feelings.

The cause was quite simple.

A photo of the boy she liked smiling with another girl.

Seeing it made her feel terrible.

“You should have hidden it better.”

Honestly, he had hidden it fairly well.

Tucked away in a corner of his desk where it wasn’t immediately visible.

But the problem was…

“You should have refused when I offered to clean your desk.”

When cleaning, one naturally wipes every corner,

And naturally discovers everything that’s hidden.

But truthfully, she had no right to complain.

‘I’m not his girlfriend, just a childhood friend.’

When she clarified her position, she had no right to feel this way.

This wasn’t something that could be resolved with simple jealousy,

And in a way, confronting him like this exceeded her rights as a childhood friend,

It was a kind of overstepping.

So…

“I have something to tell you.”

Once again, Kim Sujin thoroughly concealed her true feelings.

If she just avoided saying the most crucial word…

‘It’s fine.’

This wasn’t revealing her true heart.

This much was safe.

That’s what Kim Sujin believed.

“…”

Kim Donghu looked at her, suddenly serious.

A thoughtful face, eyes filled with guilt for knowing but pretending not to.

Honestly, she knew everything.

How could she not?

They were no longer five-year-old kids playing in kindergarten.

And simultaneously, they were at an age too busy with countless possibilities.

“It’s ridiculous, really, nitpicking over things like this when we’re just friends.”

You must think I’m being absurd.

Kim Sujin continued speaking while thoroughly hiding her true feelings.

As long as she didn’t say that one word.

Then their relationship wouldn’t change.

“I hate terms like ‘more than friends, less than lovers.’ Either we’re friends or lovers.”

I don’t understand why we need to waver in between.

That’s why she didn’t particularly like romantic comedies.

Even shoujo manga all seemed too unrealistic to her.

If two people like each other, they would know,

And pretending not to know means it’s not that serious.

“I’m sorry for bringing this up suddenly, but… I just felt like saying it.”

She used to say things like “As childhood friends, you should wake me up like this in the morning!”

Now she had to speak like this, and the contradiction,

The fact that she created this situation, made her hate herself.

“I want you to understand how I feel about you, why I’m acting this way.”

Just up to here.

She couldn’t say more.

She felt like crying.

She just wanted him to understand.

‘We can’t be in a relationship right now.’

We’re too busy.

We’re at a stage where we need to rise.

There was no time to spend on love with fleeting romantic feelings.

She knew how fatal dating rumors could be for celebrities.

‘That’s just how scandals work.’

Even though actors’ private lives were relatively more accepted.

As someone who earned money through public attention,

Getting caught up in unnecessary gossip wasn’t good.

Needless to say, she had no intention of giving up her feelings.

When you and I, no, when we,

Reach higher ground and find stability.

Then she would speak her true heart.

That’s why she was drawing the line now.

Dropping just a tiny bit,

Of her true feelings that couldn’t help but leak out.

“…Kim Donghu, making me do all the talking in this situation, not saying anything…”

This is crazy.

She regained her composure, returning to her usual self.

She wondered why her twin tails looked so good today,

Why her makeup turned out so well, why she seemed unusually stylish.

‘Was this why?’

She couldn’t help but laugh inside.

Still, having said something made her feel relieved.

She briefly worried that her words might make things awkward.

Suddenly!

Kim Donghu grabbed Kim Sujin’s wrist and pulled her into his arms.

“W-what are you doing!”

It had been about two months since Kim Sujin last saw Kim Donghu.

A gap created by movie filming and Japanese dubbing work.

The embrace of a growing young man was broader than Kim Sujin had imagined.

To put it in perspective.

‘He’s grown… bigger than during the Flame Theater days?’

When classmates made a fuss calling him a “beast idol” or whatever.

Now she understood why she had remained so indifferent.

Because she knew the real thing was even more impressive.

This powerful embrace holding her tight, refusing to let go.

She already knew how maddening it could be.

Thump,

Thump,

Thump,

Her heart was racing.

Racing like crazy.

“I know, Sujin. Just wait for me a little longer.”

That was a selfish request.

A rope fashioned under the guise of asking her to wait.

But.

The point was that it was Kim Donghu who said it.

“…Until when?”

“Hmm… I don’t know, just until everything generally stabilizes?”

“So I’m supposed to just ignore things like this until then?”

Flutter, flutter.

Kim Sujin picked up the Polaroid photo with a strange look.

It showed Usami Chisako in a maid outfit making a heart sign with Kim Donghu.

“…”

Kim Donghu didn’t answer.

One shouldn’t make unfavorable statements.

“Kim Donghu, are you crazy! No answer? Don’t tell me you’re going to handle other girls this way too?”

Again, he didn’t answer.

The right to remain silent exists for situations like this.

‘Besides, no one read me my Miranda rights.’

While his mind wandered, Kim Donghu seriously considered the current situation.

‘Handle this way…’

Of course, that shouldn’t happen.

Everyone should be handled differently.

And this brief contemplation…

“You’re not answering?”

Made Kim Sujin’s eyes sharpen.

Squeeze!

Kim Sujin hugged Kim Donghu as tightly as she could.

She seemed to be trying to apply pressure with her arm strength.

But it had no effect on Kim Donghu’s body, hardened by high-intensity training.

“For now… let’s think about it again when we become adults.”

Kim Donghu’s comment about becoming adults stemmed from his desire to prevent his parents’ death, which happened when he was 19.

Until then, he couldn’t safely date or meet anyone.

“Adults? Why? Hmm… huh?”

But Kim Sujin interpreted it differently.

When we become adults, what then? What does he mean? Why specifically adults?

Following that train of thought…

“Y-you, you you you, you’re not a pervert, are you?!”

Kim Sujin’s face turned bright red.

And what followed was…

“L-let’s talk about this later! P-pervert! You’re crazy, Kim Donghu, seriously!”

Kim Sujin’s hasty retreat.

To think a single word like “adult” could cause such a reaction.

‘This… might be an incredibly powerful weapon I’ve discovered.’

Kim Donghu slowly reviewed what he had said.

No matter how he looked at it, there was nothing problematic about his statement.

He couldn’t fathom why she had left in such a hurry.

+++++

Late September.

The release of “Traitor: The Root of Corruption” was approaching.

The first trailer had already been released,

And they planned to ramp up promotion through a press conference the following week.

But before that, I had something else to do.

“So… I’ve negotiated the contract terms, what do you think?”

“Not bad.”

It was about becoming the model for Ilyang Food’s Buldak Spicy Noodles.

Having already demonstrated the glory of its spiciness in Japan through “The Noble Gourmet,”

Ilyang Foods was determined to have me as their model.

As a result, discussions had progressed very quickly.

“But there’s one more proposal.”

“What?”

Manager Seokho pulled out a second contract option.

Option 1 offered a high contract fee for a single year,

Option 2 was a multi-year, performance-based contract.

“They seem to want to use you for quite a long time… so after negotiations, this is what we got.”

Currently, Buldak Spicy Noodles weren’t hugely popular overseas.

The popularity was minimal,

And even with “The Noble Gourmet,” it might just be a temporary spike.

No one could predict the future.

But…

“I’ll go with option 2.”

“Huh? The multi-year, performance-based one?”

“Yes.”

I was different.

‘Buldak Spicy Noodles are at their lowest point right now.’

I had already experienced in my previous life how popular these noodles would become overseas.

Knowing that and not choosing option 2? That would be unthinkable.

‘In just a few years, it’ll be huge.’

When that time came, how much incentive would I receive?

It was an incredibly exciting moment.

And such moments quickly passed by, and suddenly it was early October.

“Is the action in the trailer real?”

“We heard you don’t use stuntmen, is that a lie?”

Unexpectedly sharp questions flew at the press conference.