Chapter 164: Together with Gukbap
Muyoung mechanically pressed the buttons on the vending machine.
One canned coffee, two, three…….
Cha Eun-seong just sat in a chair and watched. The manager was also in a daze, as if he hadn’t woken up yet and was dreaming.
“You two seem out of it.”
“Do I look like I’m not? I’m sober now.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
The two of them had just come outside, deciding not to stop Uncle Unjeong-gil. Muyoung held a cold can to Cha Eun-seong’s cheek to get his attention.
“Get a hold of yourself. There’s a lot to clean up from now on. Manager?”
“Yes?”
Despite being much older and having more experience in the industry, the manager unconsciously spoke politely.
“Sinabro is a store near Exit 3 of Gangnam Station. Go there and tell the owner that the settlement is going smoothly, so please make sure the CCTV footage doesn’t get leaked. There are three employees who witnessed it, excluding the owner.”
“What about the others?”
“Fortunately, it was a disturbance in the hallway, so there were no customers. It would be best to buy and destroy the video. The company can take care of that. Senior Cha, please text Director Im and the others to let them know everything is settled. They must be worried.”
The two just nodded at the instructions that flowed out fluently. They had overcome a major hurdle with just that one ‘settlement.’ They could go back as if nothing had happened.
“And when you go in, Uncle Unjeong-gil will probably apologize to Senior Cha. He’s such a righteous person, so he definitely will.”
Muyoung told Cha Eun-seong.
“Then you should apologize too, Senior. After all, you beat someone up. Since it’s a ‘settlement,’ you should also pay an appropriate amount for medical expenses and consolation.”
“Well, what else can I do…….”
Money isn’t the issue.
As long as it doesn’t make the news and doesn’t cause any problems with broadcasts, he would gladly pay.
“What about the lawyer?”
“He’s just entered Gangnam Station.”
The manager checked his phone and answered.
“He’s a bit late.”
“He happened to be on a business trip to Namyangju yesterday.”
“Then, Manager, you go to the store first, and when the lawyer arrives, I’ll ask you to take care of the rest. I have a schedule in the morning too. I’ll drop off Senior Cha on my way to work.”
“Oh, okay. Then I really appreciate it.”
“No problem. We’re in this together.”
When Muyoung smiled, the manager felt a wave of emotion like a tsunami.
Isn’t that right?
Apparently, Muyoung wasn’t even part of the drinking group originally but joined later, as if it were fate, to handle situations like this.
“Then I’ll head to the store…….”
“Okay, go ahead.”
“Eun-seong, I’ll contact you. Go home.”
“Okay, got it. Sorry, hyung.”
“It’s fine. It seems like everything is resolved, so don’t worry about it.”
With his fiery personality, it was fortunate that he only broke someone’s nose after being called a male prostitute to his face. If he had completely lost his temper, he might have beaten someone half to death.
Squeak.
After the manager left, Cha Eun-seong and Ha Muyoung sat on the sofa, killing time in a daze.
To be precise, they were waiting for Uncle Unjeong-gil to beat up his son.
“It’s still chaotic inside.”
“Yeah.”
Thud! Thud!
Uncle, please stop, we’re sorry, you can’t do this here, Dad, I’m sorry, let me go, I’ll sue! Sue me too! Oh, please, sir……!
Thud! Thud!
Unidentifiable voices were tangled together, creating a commotion. Listening in, it seemed that Un Min-su still relied on his father for an allowance.
“He must have done it because he didn’t have financial independence.”
So, he picked a fight with Cha Eun-seong to earn some money and couldn’t even rebel against his father, who controlled his life, and was now groveling.
“I don’t know. I don’t want to know.”
“Senior, are you really not hurt?”
“Yeah, except for feeling queasy.”
Muyoung killed time by wiggling his toes.
How much time had passed?
One of Un Min-su’s friends, his face bright red, called out to Muyoung and Cha Eun-seong.
“Excuse me, you two for a moment…….”
“Is it over?”
Unlike before, his tone was quite polite.
Muyoung, holding several cold coffees, went back into the inner office.
It looked like a storm had passed through, with chairs and desks askew, and Un Min-su was sobbing, his hair completely messed up.
“Uncle.”
Beside him, the police and others who had struggled to restrain Uncle Unjeong-gil were also exhausted and sitting down.
Muyoung handed them coffee and asked,
“Are you okay?”
“Sigh. Muyoung.”
“I’m sorry. You said next time we’d meet over a drink, but we ended up meeting like this.”
A can of coffee was placed in Unjeong-gil’s hand.
It was just like that day. During the filming of The Plague, Muyoung had given him his drink. Remembering that, Unjeong-gil’s eyes welled up.
“I’m sorry, Muyoung. I raised my child wrong and caused you trouble.”
An orphan raised without parents.
Having seen all the controversy and explanations about Muyoung’s school violence, Unjeong-gil knew how hurtful his son’s words had been.
“No, I’m fine.”
“And Mr. Cha Eun-seong, I’m sorry.”
As Unjeong-gil apologized to Cha Eun-seong, the swollen Un Min-su hesitated and approached. He too bowed politely and apologized,
“……I’m sorry. It was my mistake. Please forgive me.”
It seemed like the nosebleed from earlier had started again.
The police looked fed up, downing the coffee Muyoung gave them in one go and cooling their sweat.
Cha Eun-seong watched this and nodded.
“I’m sorry too, for breaking your nose.”
“So, will you settle this?”
“……Yes, of course.”
Muyoung held Unjeong-gil’s hand reassuringly.
“The lawyer will be here soon. We’ll take care of the medical expenses and settlement without issue, so please forget about today, Uncle. It was a tough night for all of us, right?”
“Oh, Muyoung…….”
The depth of the wound inflicted by one’s own child.
Muyoung couldn’t even begin to imagine how deep it was.
Unjeong-gil sniffled and looked over his son’s friends.
“Don’t worry about keeping them in line. I’ll make sure they know. If they even think of causing trouble, they’re dead, and so am I.”
At his fierce words, the friends closed their mouths as if they had become mute. Muyoung smiled and patted his hand.
“Thank you.”
“You’re in a new drama, right?”
“Yes, I’m working with Senior Cha.”
“I hope there are no problems…….”
“With Uncle helping, what problems could there be? Right?”
Muyoung asked, looking at Un Min-su and his gang behind him.
Silence is consent.
They just avoided Muyoung’s gaze.
Then, a man entered the office.
“Oh! Eun-seong!”
It was the lawyer the company had called.
Despite being called in the early morning, he was perfectly dressed in a suit. Was that why he was late?
“I’m the lawyer in charge. Here’s my card.”
He looked around and handed his business card to Unjeong-gil and his group. He immediately knew who the perpetrator and victim were.
“From now on, you can talk to me.”
“Can we leave now?”
“You should. There’s no point in staying here longer.”
The lawyer whispered lowly in response to Muyoung’s question.
As the sun rises, more people come in and out of the police station. Among them are not only trainee reporters but also various broadcast people lurking around for scraps.
“Then we’ll head out first. Uncle, see you later.”
“Okay, be careful.”
“Senior, this way.”
Muyoung bowed to Unjeong-gil and pulled Cha Eun-seong away. It was over just like that. As he was dragged along, Cha Eun-seong let out an incredulous laugh.
“Our car is…….”
Muyoung found his van in the parking lot.
Tucked away in a corner, he had even placed a towel over the license plate, just in case.
“Oh? Hyung’s sleeping.”
As Muyoung approached the car, he hesitated.
Ko Gyeongmin was completely passed out in the driver’s seat.
Already tired, going back and forth to the police station must have drained him. He was fast asleep, mouth wide open.
“Hmm…….”
Muyoung checked his watch.
Even if he dropped off Cha Eun-seong, there was still time before his schedule. Wanting him to get some rest, he decided to let him sleep.
“Senior, should we grab some food?”
“Food?”
“Yeah, aren’t you hungry? You need to sober up too.”
As Muyoung asked, Cha Eun-seong suddenly felt hungry. Unconsciously, he placed his hand on his stomach, and Muyoung pointed across the street to a gukbap restaurant.
“Let’s just eat one bowl there. If Manager Hyung is too sleepy, it could be dangerous to drive.”
There was no reason not to eat.
The sky was brightening to a bluish hue in the early morning. The streets were completely empty. Cha Eun-seong watched Muyoung’s bustling figure as he walked.
It all felt like a dream.
Just a few hours ago, it felt like his life was truly ruined, but now he was peacefully eating gukbap.
“Ma’am! Two pork gukbap, please!”
“……I’ll have sundae gukbap.”
“Sundae gukbap! Wow, it smells amazing already. This place must be really good, right?”
Muyoung set the table with a giggle.
Cha Eun-seong looked at him in confusion.
“But what are you, really?”
“Me? Ha Muyoung?”
“No, I mean, what are you doing all this for?”
There was a lot of meaning in that.
What was he doing, forcing his way into the drinking session and helping him so much? Muyoung smiled and answered,
“I told you, it’s for the drama. If Senior gets written out, we’d have to reshoot everything we’ve filmed, the drama would lose its tension, and the viewers would be furious. Ugh, that would be terrible.”
He crunched on the radish kimchi.
“And whether you like it or not, I’m your fan.”
Is there anyone in South Korea who hasn’t seen Cha Eun-seong’s work? As a star loved by all, working with him was an honor and a joy for Muyoung.
“Oh, right.”
Looking at the TV in the corner, he remembered.
Last night was the first broadcast of Blade’s Path, and he hadn’t checked the results yet. He had been too busy.
“Whoa.”
Muyoung checked the group chat and smiled widely. Then he showed the screen to Cha Eun-seong.
“Senior, look at this!”
[PD: Hello everyone. I hope you’re all sleeping soundly. Last night, Blade’s Path finally aired its first episode. The viewership ratings just came out, hahaha.]
[Writer: Please don’t beat around the bush.]
[PD: Are you not sleeping, Writer?]
[PD: The first episode got 9.7%, ranking first in its time slot and first for the week! Let’s keep this up! Everyone, let’s push a little harder!]
[Writer: ＼ ＼ ٩( ᐛ )و /／Hooray!!!]
It was a huge success, topping the weekly ratings for a cable broadcast.
Cha Eun-seong seemed surprised, exceeding his expectations.
“Wow.”
“Where should I put the sundae?”
“Over there. I’ll take the pork!”
Muyoung seemed overjoyed, eagerly scraping up his pork gukbap. Cha Eun-seong called out to him,
“Senior, eat up too. You’ll just sleep when you get home.”
“Hey.”
“Yes? More radish kimchi?”
“Never mind. Call me hyung from now on.”
Muyoung, chewing a mouthful of food, looked at Cha Eun-seong. He picked up a piece of sundae with his chopsticks and said,
“It’s a sign that we’ll do well with the rest of the filming.”
“Wow, really?”
“If you don’t want to, forget it.”
“Oh, hyung! Hyung! I’ll call you hyung! Hyung, more radish kimchi, please!”
Muyoung happily piled radish kimchi onto his side dish.
The restaurant owner, taking a breather, sat in the corner and fiddled with the remote. Last night’s Blade’s Path was really good…….
“I wonder when the rerun will air.”
It had been quite a hectic day.
The dawn sky grew brighter and brighter.