“What a dirty life. Aah, I wish a meteorite fell right on top of my head.”

Suyeon, who had been chuckling until just now, finally fell over. Just before she hit her head on the table, Geunsoo reached out and caught her head.

“I did think that she was overdrinking a little, and it really came to this, huh.”

“I think it’s about time we get up,” Maru said as he looked at Suyeon who had licked her lips.

Although she was strong with alcohol, it was natural that she got drunk since she drank without rest. Maru didn’t know if this was a part of her plan or not, but in any case, she was completely drunk.

“I want to cry.”

“Suyeon-noona. Get yourself together.”

“I don’t want to. Life’s too hard.”

“This woman turns pessimistic once she’s drunk huh. Woman, you should watch your mouth. Aren’t you trying to look pretty? Geunsoo-hyung is right next to you.”

“Ah right, Geunsoo-oppa’s here. I know, I know. I’m the bad bitch. I’m the bad girl.”

Suyeon lept into Geunsoo’s embrace with a grin on her face. Maru paid his condolences to Geunsoo.

“I’m in charge of her?”

“Consider it as punishment for a popular man. Suyeon-noona, get on Geunsoo-hyung’s back.”

Geunsoo sighed before piggybacking Suyeon. At that moment, Maru saw Suyeon’s lips curve into a big smile. He didn’t say anything since she looked really happy.

“Sungjae-hyung. Let’s leave.”

Sungjae put on his baseball cap so that other people couldn’t see his face before putting on his hoodie as well. It would be incredibly hard to recognize him without getting up close.

“Maru. There’s a wallet in my pocket. Use the credit card in the wallet to pay.”

“Yes, sir.”

After paying the bill, Maru came out of the restaurant with the receipt. He saw the three sitting down under the parasol by the convenience store. They each held a hangover drink.

“You should call a chauffeur service and go home.”

“No. Sungjae and I are going to sleep there,” Geunsoo said as he pointed at an alley with motels in it.

“What do we do with Suyeon-noona?”

“Get her a taxi home.”

“No!”

Suyeon, who had her face buried in her arms on the table, suddenly woke up and shouted. She grabbed onto Geunsoo’s arm and said something in a weird voice. To sum it up, she said she couldn’t go home because her car was right in front of the restaurant. Maru didn’t know what the car being here had to do with not being able to go home, but the stubborn Suyeon looked like she was about to lie down on the street if they called for a chauffeur service.

“Fine, fine. I’ll grab a room for you as well, so go sleep there.”

“Yes! I’m sleeping here!”

She became docile after that. It took around two minutes for her to start snoring.

“There’s Miso-noona too, and there’s this girl. Do the women at JA all act like this when they’re drunk?”

“Don’t ask. I’m beginning to get suspicious myself.”

Sungjae laughed before pressing on Suyeon’s forehead. Suyeon seemed to be in deep sleep as she didn’t even budge.

“Geunsoo-hyung. What are you going to do?”

“I’ll grab two rooms, one for this embarrassment of a woman and one for me and Sungjae. Maru, do me a favor.”

Maru grabbed Suyeon’s left arm and Geunsoo grabbed her right.

“Sungjae-hyung, let me borrow your cap for a moment.”

He put the cap he got from Sungjae on Suyeon. Her long, disheveled hair covered most of her face, but they couldn’t go wrong with too much caution.

“Sungjae, you should wait here. We don’t want people catching you with us.”

Sungjae nodded at Geunsoo’s words. Sungjae was the most well-known out of the four of them here. There would be disastrous consequences if a photo of him going into a motel leaked out. First up, Bada would bawl her eyes out. That was disastrous enough. Since it was such a horrible matter, they had to be prepared.

He and Geunsoo threw Suyeon into a motel room before leaving. It wasn’t just an expression. They literally threw her on the bed.

“I’m sweating.”

“Me too.”

“She’s such a hassle to deal with.”

“So you’ll put her next to you?”

“No.”

“You’re quite firm with that stance.”

“I’m trying to think of an excuse to get far away from her, but I can’t because of the alcohol. Leaving JA is one method.”

“Suyeon-noona might follow you out.”

“That sounds more scary than the horror movie I watched a few days ago.”

Maru had to stop as he was walking back to the convenience store from the motel. Geunsoo sighed.

“I think he got caught.”

“He got caught indeed.”

The convenience store was flocked with people. The women standing on the perimeters were raising their phones up high to take photos. Maru climbed the stairs next to the building and looked down at the convenience store. Sungjae was in the middle of everyone as though he was a gladiator in the middle of an arena. He professionally signed autographs and took photos. It was probably very hard for him to do that because he was drunk, but he looked immaculate.

“Should I try calling him?”

“Can he even pick up?”

“I’ll try anyway.”

He grabbed onto the rails as he tried calling. He saw Sungjae take out his phone in the middle of the crowd.

“Can you take the call right now?”

-Ah, yes. Please speak. Uhm, can you be quiet for a second? This is an important call.

The whole alley turned quiet in an instant with a word from him. Maru saw Sungjae leave the crowd before speaking,

“Can you escape?”

-No. Even if I can, I won’t be able to go to the motel. It seems like I’ll have to take the taxi back for today.

“Okay. Popularity has its demerits, huh.”

-I can’t help it. Oh, tell Geunsoo-hyung I said sorry. I’ll be going back first. I think I won’t be able to go home at all if I stay any longer.

“Alright. Have a safe trip home.”

He saw Sungjae wave from afar. He probably waved towards Maru’s general direction.

“Sungjae-hyung says he’ll take the taxi home. Also, he wanted to apologize to you.”

“That’s a pity. I wanted to talk with him in a quiet room. He was too famous to be hidden with a single hoodie, huh.”

“Taking his cap off wasn’t the best idea, it seems. But it’s quite curious to see so many people gather in such a short time. He feels like a true celebrity.”

“You envious?”

“No. I can’t get envious after seeing him getting almost squished to death. Wouldn’t people recognize you as well?”

“Probably not.”

“Twilight Struggles became so controversial though.”

“Hey, you make me sad by saying that even though you know what happened.”

Maru smiled and nodded. Geunsoo, the third son in the movie, had his head smashed by the elder’s hammer. As that scene was filled with blood and insults, it was switched to the next scene quickly, so it was hard to recognize any actors in the scene. When the camera showed Geunsoo from up close, his face was already covered in blood, so he was far from his normal immaculate self.

“Won’t you get a lot of female fans like Sungjae-hyung if this movie goes well?”

“That sounds good. It’s about time I buy my own house too, so I have to earn a lot of money.”

“Do you have some money saved up?”

“Actually, quite a lot.”

Geunsoo made a suspicious smile.

“You should get going too. I’ll get a taxi for you so take that.”

Geunsoo took out a few ten thousand won bills and gave them to him. Maru accepted the money without refusing. They walked through the alley, which was now devoid of people after they all left, and went to the main street. They waved at the taxi across the street, but it just drove past as though it had a passenger already.

“Do you regret continuing acting?” Geunsoo asked from the side.

“Fortunately, or perhaps, unfortunately, I’ve never regretted it for now. Now that I think about it, it was you who planted the fear of acting in me.”

“Did I?”

“Are you going to pretend that you forgot? You called me all the way to the rooftop to lecture me.”

“So, did you not like that?”

“No, it was good. There aren’t many people who listen to other people so seriously and then advise them. Did I tell you? You’re on my list of the people I respect, you’re at the top ranks too.”

“I’m sorry. You are not in my list of cherished juniors though.”

“Well, I’ll strike your name off then.”

“I just put your name on it, so don’t strike me off. We’re family, you know?”

Geunsoo looked at his watch.

“Please go home and rest. I just have to take the taxi home.”

“Nah. Since I’m out here, I’ll sober up a little. It’s about time she woke up and started causing a fuss.”

As soon as he said those words, Geunsoo’s phone started ringing.

“You got a call?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“It keeps ringing.”

“You must be hearing things.”

A moment later, Geunsoo’s phone became quiet. Maru took out his own phone just in case. As he had expected, he immediately got a call. The caller was of course, Suyeon.

“You’re hallucinating. Don’t take that call.”

“How are you going to face the consequences?”

“I’ve changed my mind. Sungjae isn’t here, so I’ll just take the taxi home.”

“You’re running away? After throwing a woman in a motel room by herself?”

“As an accomplice, you should be on my side. Also, being with her just by myself is a little scary.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

Maru pressed the decline button and then asked.

“Is Geunseok doing well recently?”

“He’s much more docile now. He’s always been good at studying, and these days, he talks to me quite often. He’s much better than the sensitive brat from before.”

“That’s good. A friend of mine is worried sick about him, so it made me a little worried as well.”

“The kid named Jiseok, right?”

“You know him?”

“He comes around from time to time. We talked about the sitcom Jiseok was in until just a while ago. It’s good that such a bad kid has a good friend.”

“Yes, so fortunate.”

“Geunseok talks about you from time to time, too.”

“What does he say?”

“That you’re hateful.”

Maru smiled. Hearing that he was hateful put him at ease instead. If Geunseok said something like ‘sorry’, he would’ve doubted that.

“Tell me if something happens to you. I’m definitely willing to help you out,” Geunsoo said with a pat on his back. Maru nodded.

“Oh yeah, are you busy these days?”

“Me? Just moderately busy.”

“If you have the time, let’s go visit director Lee together. We need a delinquent role, and you seem fit for the job.”

“In the movie you’re shooting?”

“Yes. Actually, it was him who talked about it first. He had dibs on you when he saw Twilight Struggles.”

“Me?”

Geunsoo put on a thick smile and spoke,

“He wants to know who that cocky delinquent was. He said that the delinquent was cocky to the point that he wanted to meet the guy.”

* * *

“Why aren’t you picking up, dammit!”

Suyeon shouted at her phone, but there was no reply. She swayed as she walked towards the door and grabbed the knob, but at that moment, she felt like she couldn’t be bothered with anything. She just lied back down on bed before heavily breathing.

“I know, I know, okay? A bitch like me and love? That’s laughable.”

It was all a game. She would live like this until she became a grandma. One dog and one cat. She would eventually pass away like that. Aah, a beautiful life.

Suyeon clutched her aching head and closed her eyes. She faintly saw the door slowly open amidst her fading consciousness. No, was it even opening?

‘I don’t know. My head aches.’

Suyeon closed her eyes just like that.

* * *

Her mouth felt bitter. She reached out while still lying down, but the bottle of water that was always within reach, could not be reached. Only after waving her hand in empty air for a while did she realize that she was in a motel. She buried her face in the thick duvet and sighed. Why did she always get drunk first when she drank with Geunsoo? It was like that at the villa before, and this time as well. She couldn’t understand.

“But still, he really left me here, huh.”

Of course, she didn’t actually feel disappointed. She had expected it after all. She smiled senselessly and sat up. She yawned and started getting ready to leave when she saw a paper bag on the dresser. Suyeon tilted her head and looked at the contents.

-What made you feel so bad that it made you cry throughout the night? I couldn’t get any sleep because I was worried.

It was Geunsoo’s writing. Suyeon took out the contents of the bag. It was a bowl of porridge, and it was still warm.

“You really… make me unable to give up on you.”

She rubbed her nose. Her nose strangely tingled.

“Dammit, really. Really….”

It seemed that she couldn’t eat right away.

Suyeon reached out to the tissue box on the dresser.

Her nose still tingled.