Chapter 98: Confession
TL: Aniea
"Why are you groaning so much today?"
"...I think I pulled something."
"What!? Then you should go to the hospital!"
"Just kidding. It's just a bit of a aching."
I pushed away Seo Jun-woo, who had a question mark floating above his head. With the play so close, I didn’t have time to exchange jokes with this guy.
"Did you say it was a complete sell-out?"
"Yeah, every seat was gone exactly 32 minutes after the online ticketing opened. And that too, the server crashed twice because so many people logged in."
"Quite popular, huh."
There were over 1,000 seats in total, and the price was almost the same as a regular musical. I didn’t expect it to sell this well.
At my reaction, Seo Jun-woo gave a dumbfounded look, then immediately added more explanation.
"Just the fact that you and I are in the same production is enough to create plenty of buzz. And on top of that, CEO Kim Eun-ha is in it too."
"True."
Although she'd caused a stir on social media by going on some staged outdoor dates with me a few times, Kim Eun-ha wasn’t known for much else.
The most people knew was that she was Chairman Kim Seok-ho's granddaughter and the owner of Mirae Department Store.
Despite that, her unique beauty had brought her massive popularity online.
'...Until now, the supply has been way too small for the demand.'
While I’ve done drama as an actor, she hasn’t even been on any broadcast, let alone run a personal social media account.
Public interest in Kim Eun-ha kept rising day by day, but there was no real output to satisfy it, so people were left thirsty.
In this situation, she wasn’t doing an interview, she was actually participating in a theater. Naturally, the curious public couldn’t help but flock to it with their eyes blazing.
"And she’s donating all the net profit, right?"
"She is."
Kim Eun-ha decided to donate all the proceeds from this performance to a child welfare organization.
On top of that, one-third of the tickets were given to friends of orphanage children or other kids from orphanages.
Thanks to that, the criticisms like "This is basically a school talent show, but the ticket price is shameless" vanished completely.
"...But because of that, the pressure on our side has skyrocketed."
Groan-
Seo Jun-woo scratched his head and let out a pained sound.
Since people had paid full price for the tickets and were being drawn in, if the performance didn’t meet expectations, there’d be a massive backlash.
"Well, still, it should be fine. Honestly, just showing you and the CEO flying around with lightsabers would satisfy most people."
"The climax is the scene where I fight you."
"No, it's the kiss scene."
Seo Jun-woo declared with a voice as firm as a rock. I turned my head slightly to give him a look, but instead, he met my gaze head-on.
"Defeating the evil sorcerer is just a side dish. The heart of the story is always the love between the princess and the prince reaching fruition. The kiss scene is the peak of that."
"Don’t exaggerate."
I cut him off immediately, but Seo Jun-woo didn’t back down and raised his voice.
"Aren’t you the one who’s mistaken here? The work we’re performing is a ‘fairy tale’. We have to protect the children’s fantasies!"
"...Since when did children’s fantasies revolve around kiss scenes?"
"Love is the most primal instinct of humankind. You could even say it’s the origin of all stories in the world. Why else would the last scene in most fairy tales be a kiss scene?"
"So what are you trying to say?"
"Rejected."
"No. I can’t give this up either."
Seo Jun-woo gripped my shoulder firmly, as if this was the one thing he couldn’t concede.
Haa-
A sigh escaped me without even realizing it. My head began to ache again, just like it had the past few days when we’d already exhausted this topic.
The cause of the incident was simple.
It was during a regular rehearsal.
The prince, who collapses after taking the curse meant for the princess. With the help of the dwarves, he barely escapes, but even after several days, he doesn’t regain consciousness.
At this point, the princess, following a fairy’s advice, sheds a tear and kisses him to break the curse and wake him up.
-The legendary kiss scene!
-We’re really going to kiss during rehearsal too!?
-Of course! Rehearsals should always be like the real thing!
Lying on the bed with my eyes closed, I could hear the excited voices of children buzzing around my ears.
It was called a kiss, but in reality, it was just a light peck. Of course, even that would’ve been more than enough to meet the expectations of young kids.
-Huh?
-Something’s weird.
-Why is noona just standing still?
No matter how long I waited, I didn’t feel anything on my lips. She wasn’t even showing signs of getting closer.
So I cautiously opened my eyes just a slit and looked at her expression. Just as I expected, Kim Eun-ha was completely frozen.
-Eun-ha ssi? Are you okay?
-...I’ll take a short break and come back.
As if coming to her senses at that moment, she shook her head a few times and disappeared backstage.
She returned shortly after and resumed practice with a calm face, but no matter how many times we tried, the same situation kept repeating.
‘...Does she have some other trauma I don’t know about?’
Like artificial respiration, maybe.
As I pondered, my thoughts drifted that far, but I couldn’t just ask her directly.
She only kept apologizing without explaining the reason, so in the end, I was the one who took the initiative and suggested removing the kiss scene.
-Unnie, are you really okay with this!?
-Yeah. It’s my fault after all...
When Kim Eun-ha bowed her head, the others reluctantly agreed. And that’s how this current situation came to be.
"Hey, seriously, using an AED to bring someone back in a fantasy world!? Whose idea was that!?" (TL: AED = Automated External Defibrillator)
Seo Jun-woo raised his voice.
Since all the build-up for the prince collapsing after being hit by the curse had already been completed, the scene itself couldn’t just be cut.
At the point where the prince had to be saved somehow, the alternative chosen instead of a kiss was a defibrillator.
"We’re already swinging around lightsabers, so what’s the problem with a defibrillator? If we can’t make it a touching scene, we might as well turn it into light comedy."
"Sigh...."
Seo Jun-woo clutched his forehead and let out a deep sigh. I couldn’t say I didn’t understand how he felt, but there was no other option.
"...So you’re really not planning to change it?"
"Don’t go saying weird stuff to the CEO."
"Sheesh. I give up."
Seo Jun-woo shook his head and walked away. I silently watched his retreating back, then cautiously stood up.
***
At the same time.
Kim Eun-ha was sitting in her office, staring blankly at the ceiling. She looked completely dazed, like someone whose soul had left her body.
On her desk was a mountain of documents waiting for approval, but there was no sign of her hand moving.
"CEO-nim."
"......."
"CEO-nim!"
"......."
Secretary Yoon, unable to stand it any longer, scolded her, but Kim Eun-ha still showed no reaction.
So Secretary Yoon walked over to her side, grabbed her by the shoulders, and shook her hard.
"CEO-nim! Please, snap out of it!"
"...Ugh?"
Kim Eun-ha’s eyes barely regained focus as she slowly rolled her gaze and made eye contact with Secretary Yoon.
Looking like a complete zombie, Secretary Yoon let out a heavy sigh and continued speaking.
"Are you that disappointed you couldn’t kiss Woo-ju ssi?"
"...Wh-What kind of nonsense is that!?"
Kim Eun-ha, who had been completely slumped just moments ago, suddenly sat up straight. She was so flustered that her skin turned bright red from her neck to her ears.
"I heard you decided to remove the kiss scene from the play. But since that day, you’ve been acting weird, CEO-nim. You know it better than anyone, right?"
"...Yeah. But it’s absolutely not because I’m disappointed I couldn’t kiss Woo-ju ssi, okay? How did you even come to that conclusion!?"
"Then what’s the reason?"
"......."
At the sharp question, Kim Eun-ha fell silent. Then, like someone deflated, she slightly lowered her head and spoke in a small voice.
"...I don’t know either."
"Sorry?"
"I really don’t know the reason."
"......."
Kim Eun-ha plopped down into her chair. Then she began fiddling absentmindedly with a random pen and murmured.
"When he’s lying there with his eyes closed, everything in front of me just turns white, what am I supposed to do about that..."
"Is it maybe because it's your first kiss?"
"It’s not."
"But you’ve never done it before."
"How would you know that?"
"Because I manage your entire schedule. Wouldn’t it be weirder if I didn’t know about your dating history?"
Unable to easily refute Secretary Yoon’s blunt statement of facts, Kim Eun-ha shrank back even further.
"...I’ve kissed before, at least."
"I’m sure you have."
"I’m serious!"
"Then why can’t you do it with Woo-ju ssi?"
Gnaw gnaw-
Kim Eun-ha eventually started biting her nails. The fact that even the bad habit she’d worked so hard to fix was resurfacing made it clear she was frustrated too.
Sigh-
Secretary Yoon looked at Kim Eun-ha and sighed inwardly. She was usually so cold and rational, so why was she so oblivious now?
'No, it’s not so much that she’s oblivious...'
It was more like she didn’t want to admit it.
Kim Eun-ha probably knew her own feelings deep down. She just couldn’t bring herself to acknowledge them, so she might have been unconsciously pushing them away.
Even Secretary Yoon couldn’t be sure of the exact reason, whether it was Kim Eun-ha’s pride, or if there was some other factor involved.
But one thing was certain. If left like this, all work would come to a complete halt.
"CEO-nim."
"What."
"You like Woo-ju ssi, don’t you?"
"Yeah. I like him."
"As in romantically?"
"...What are you trying to say?"
Kim Eun-ha narrowed her eyes and glared at her, as if to say, “Go ahead and try me.”
It was the kind of fierce look that would make an ordinary person flinch and retreat instantly, but for Secretary Yoon, who had spent half her life with her, it was nothing.
"From where I’m standing, it looks like you’ve completely fallen for Woo-ju ssi."
"It’s not that serious."
"But you do like him, right?"
"Th-That’s..."
Kim Eun-ha, who was about to reflexively argue back, suddenly fell silent. Even to herself, the situation felt too obvious.
Secretary Yoon’s question pierced her without leaving any room to escape, and it forcibly jumpstarted the brain of a woman who had declared a mental strike.
With a mind far superior to that of an average person, she found the answer far too easily.
"...This is just a chemical reaction caused by hormones. A temporary illusion that will naturally fade over time."
"Why do you make saying 'I like him' sound so complicated?"
"Ah, really! So what! What if I like him?"
"What do you mean what? Just confess."
"...Confess?"
At Secretary Yoon’s spot-on remark, Kim Eun-ha blinked her eyes in surprise.
*****
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