Chapter 136

* * *Ganghwan and Miso stepped outside the auditorium. By the time they finished another run, it was already 9pm. “You planning on keeping them around for a bit longer?”“I have to. The prelims are in two days.”“Don’t pressure them too much, they’re just kids. You get way too rough sometimes, you have to be softer with them.”“If I was soft too, wouldn’t I be way too perfect?”Ganghwan firmly shook his head. This woman didn’t have any humility. Then again, that was the source of her charm.“How’s your work going on that side?”“My kids are elites, so they’re all doing very well.”“Elites, huh.”The two of them walked into a restaurant nearby. They ordered some food before sitting down. The lady at the store told them it’d take around 15 minutes.“Are you paying all of them for their food?”“What, would I be making them pay then?”“Dang, Miso. You must be earning a lot of money.”“Hell yeah I do.”“Why don’t you invest a bit of money into my play, then? I promise we’ll make good returns.”“Go find someone else. I’m too young to be investing any money right now. Plus, I don’t have that much money to begin with. Why don’t you just go to senior Junmin?”“I’d rather die before asking him. I don’t want to become even more indebted to him when I’m already knee deep inside. I don’t want money ruining our relationship.”“...Oh? So you’re fine if our relationship gets ruined?”“You just realized? You, me, and Geunsoo. We’re terrible, terrible friends.”“You’re not wrong. Ugh.”Ganghwan watched Miso as she flopped down on a table in front of her. It’s been a while since he last saw her this tired.“Something wrong?”“It’s just the acting club. Everything else is fine. Hah...”She sighed loudly enough to make her hair start moving on her desk. Looking at that, Ganghwan started twisting her hair with a grin.“Hey!”“You surprised me.”Miso stood back up with a massive frown.“This is why you don’t have a girlfriend.”“Hey, don’t hit me where it hurts like that. It’s not like you have a boyfriend either.”“Me? I do.”“...Hah! That’s the funniest joke I heard all year. You? A guy? Are you sure he’s not involved in some pyramid scheme?”“You want to get beat up?”Ganghwan stepped away from her into the kitchen for a bit. In the meantime, the lady from the store came back with bags of kimbap and stir fried pork.“Do you need chopsticks?”“Yes, can we have fourteen?”The two of them stepped outside, each one holding a bag of food in their hands.“Are you actually dating someone, though?”“I do.”“Who? Someone I know? Which actor is it?”“...No, he isn’t related to this industry at all. Well, wait, I guess he kind of is.”“Who is it?”“Ugh, why do you want to know so badly?”“Why? I’m curious! I want to know who would date someone with a terrible personality like you.”“Do you actually have a death wish?”Ganghwan didn’t stop teasing her, despite all the threats. Miso said some terrifying things, but Ganghwan could tell she was actually embarrassed. He’s never seen that side of her before, he couldn’t stop teasing her here.“...He’s a school teacher.”“Really? I suppose it is the mission of teachers to rescue lost little lambs. Where does he work?”“Woosung high.”“Really? This one? Wait, so you met him through the club? So it’s been like a year, huh?”Finding love from your high school… Love really was a strange thing.“It’s been more than ten years.”“What?”“I had a crush on him for a full decade. I’ve only managed to get somewhere with it recently.”Miso’s face was as red as a beet. Ten years, though? What was up with that?“He’s the person who made the acting club with me while I was still here. He was really cute back then. Not that he isn’t cute now.”“Hold on.”“What?”“So you’re dating a teacher you had a crush on while you were in high school?”“Yeah.”“Hahaha, don’t joke with me. Are you the heroine of some romance novel? You should at least make your stories believable.”“Do I look like I’m lying?”Miso frowned annoyedly. Ganghwan’s face stiffened. A teacher who dates his student?“Really?”“Yeah.”“Really really?”“Yeah yeah!”“...Ha. Haha. Life is meaningless. Ugh.”Ganghwan sighed deeply in defeat.