DOS
Of course, nothing like that happened.
The new bride and groom successfully put the rings on one another and hugged and kissed among all the cries wishing them well, their expressions sweet enough to make everyone jealous.
Lisa was standing at the closest place to PD Kim as she applauded, her lips maintaining an arc of a smile from beginning to end, smiling so much that a faint light seemed to surface in her eyes.
Since the bride and groom had finished the ceremony, they now had to go propose a toast at each table.
Tonight, PD Kim was especially happy. She held her groom's hand, smiling nonstop the whole way, not refusing no matter who called for her to drink. Lisa could only rush forward and try to block as much alcohol as she could, drinking as much wine in the other's stead as possible.
She usually abstained from alcohol and smoking, but who knew that her alcohol tolerance was actually fairly good. When they came to pay their respects at Irene's table, she had already drunk quite a bit, but she still seemed sober and stood next to Irene for a while.
"You shouldn't drink too much. If you end up drinking too much, then you shouldn't drive home yourself."
Irene startled. She didn't even have time to react before Lisa had already moved on to the next table, patting PD Kim's shoulder, "Yaa... Jennie-ya...," and laughing out loud.
How was this person still able to laugh?
When the banquet ended, Lisa's face had become somewhat unsightly, and even with eyes closed, Irene could count how many times the other had gone to the bathroom.
Irene guessed that she was incredibly drunk and was afraid that the other didn't have any way to return home, so she booked a room at the hotel and even requested a cup of warm water from the waiters. When she returned to the wedding hall, most of the guests had already left. And Lisa was standing alone in this deserted hall, currently staring blankly at the half-eaten wedding cake.
Irene said a word to the waiter, requesting that the other come a bit later to tidy up, before walking over to Lisa's side, handing over that cup of water.
"Drink some water to try and sober up a little."
Lisa regained her senses at once. She was most likely truly drunk, as she stared quietly at Irene for a moment before she seemed to recognize who this person was and accepted that cup, saying her thanks.
"I booked a room downstairs. Do you want to rest for a while?"
"No need." Lisa pulled over a chair and sat down, rubbing her nose and saying, "I want to sit here for a while longer." A pause, and then, "Haven't you been avoiding me for the last several days? Why have you decided to come talk to me today?"
"Tonight is special."
Lisa nodded, her black eyes reflecting the beautiful light from the chandeliers, as she smiled, "To be able to openly and honestly pine after a certain someone... tonight will be the last time."
Irene couldn't help but ask, "But have you been able to be open and honest in the past?"
"I really haven't." Lisa carefully thought it over and said, with a bitter smile. And then she raised a hand to cover up her own eyes, her voice turning somewhat hoarse, "Why are the lights here so piercing?"
Irene quietly walked out.
After a while, a thud echoed, and the hall's lights all shut off.
The only light was the sliver shining in through the window.
In the dark, Lisa let out a sigh of relief, feeling as if her face had become somewhat stiff from smiling. She saw a blurry figure winding around the tables and chairs walking over, finally coming to a stop right in front of her.
She really was so incredibly drunk that she suddenly couldn't remember who this person was. But she involuntarily grabbed the other party's hand, and a name abruptly jumped out in her mind.
"Irene."
Irene made a sound in acknowledgment. When Lisa's hand brushed over the scar on her palm, she made a slight struggle but ultimately gave up, allowing the other to hold her like this.
The surroundings were completely quiet, bereft of even the smallest sound.
Irene softly leaned against the back of a chair, turning to look out the window at the flickering starlight just like Lisa.
"Why have you kept coming to look for me recently?"
"...head hurts." Lisa didn't answer the question, simply saying in a low voice.
"Is it a bit better now? Do you want some more water?" Irene had no choice but to help her press down on her temples.
"It's fine." Lisa did actually feel somewhat better, and she fortified her spirits to answer, "I didn't really mean anything by it. I just wanted to talk with you. There's a question that I've always been meaning to ask you."
"What did you want to ask?"
"That day... the day you left my house, why did you say thanks to me?"
Irene started and then finally understood. So it turned out that Lisa had always bore grudges over the fact that she had stolen Lisa's lines. Originally, she could have said a few mocking words in response, but after a moment of hesitation, she still said her true feelings,
"When you have an unrequited love, although there will be times when you toss and turn, restless with pain, at the same time, there's also a sweetness to it that you'd have trouble voicing, isn't that right?"
In the dark, she couldn't see Lisa's expression clearly.
But the hand that the other was using to hold Irene's actually trembled before then slowly tightening. "It's all my fault."
"Hm?"
"Before ending my feelings for one person, I shouldn't have tried starting a relationship with another."
"Has it ended now?"
Lisa was usually tightly closed off, always locking her own heart up as securely as could be, but tonight perhaps she really had gotten drunk, since she actually honestly said, "I don't know."
It wasn't like Irene hadn't guessed that this would be the answer.
"It's fine. Take your time. Time will always prevail in the end."
Even the deepest love would pass.
They just had to see which came first—Lisa forgetting Jennie, or Irene forgetting Lisa.
Lisa made some ambiguous sounds in acknowledgment and, leaning against the chair, gradually fell asleep.
Irene stood for a while longer before finally finding a waiter to help move Lisa to a room downstairs. Lisa didn't take off her shoes or change her clothes, simply falling directly onto the bed. Irene was too lazy to help her tidy up and simply pulled up the blankets, tucking her in randomly before then also lying down.
But Irene didn't feel like sleeping in the slightest, simply lowering her head to stare at Lisa's sleeping face.
Even if she kissed those closed eyes, no one would know.
But Irene restrained herself from acting on these feelings.
She thought that Lisa would call out Jennie's name and so had long made preparations in her heart, but who could've expected that Lisa didn't mention that name once. She slept very quietly, holding Irene's hand from beginning to end, very, very softly saying one 'I'm sorry'.
I'm sorry, I was too late to love you.
Irene didn't sleep for the whole night, watching as the dark night outside the window slowly brightened, but her spirits actually felt exceptionally high.
She had work that afternoon, so she didn't go home to change, simply freshening herself up in the hotel's bathroom before calling Ye-rim to come pick her up.
Ye-rim naturally didn't forget to gossip a bit about PD Kim's wedding.
Irene picked a few insignificant details to tell her. After chatting and chatting, she finally started feeling tired, in the end falling asleep in the car who-knew-when. When she arrived on set, she was just in time to start work. Although Irene's face was somewhat pale, she fortunately still had to disfigure it with makeup, and with that fake scar on, everything was covered up.
Today, she had only one scene to shoot.
For the sake of saving the male lead, her character had been heavily injured by a group from the enemy faction and had fallen amidst a heavy torrent of rain, never to get up again...
Although the director's fame was great, his temper was even greater, and he itched to throw the script right in the other's face, scolding.
"Hey, famous celebrity, can't you put on more of an expression here? Can you even act?"
Irene kept silent. No one in the surroundings spoke, but all of them were staring at her.
Everyone with eyes could see how her acting was. All of them knew that she couldn't act; she had simply climbed into the right bed.
"Let's do another take." Irene wiped away some rainwater from her face.
Because her attitude was this good, the director couldn't even get mad in retaliation and simply grit his teeth.
"If this take still isn't good, then we might as well end work here today." A pause, and then, "Imagine for a moment that you're about to die, and your beloved was currently in the arms of another person... Is trying to act out this kind of despair too difficult?"
Irene shook her head and once again got into position.
That's right, how could it be too difficult?
She'd already finished acting out a much more difficult play.
The rainwater once again fell, those droplets pelting against Irene's body, bringing with it a faint pain. In the end, she finally let go of the sword in her hand and completely collapsed into the rainwater.
Crash.
The water splashed up, obscuring both her eyes.
Mixing with the rainwater, her tears slid down. Irene didn't try to move her body. She knew that she'd never be able to stand again.
Just like it was written in the script, she had softly and quietly, persistently and obstinately... loved her for a lifetime.
▒ ▒ ▒
Months later...
The day the branch restaurant opened was coincidentally Irene's twenty-ninth birthday.
Lisa had someone send over a flower basket, while she herself parked across the street. From afar, she heard the popping and crackling of firecrackers, and the restaurant doors had many people trying to get in on the fun, but she didn't get a single glimpse of Irene's figure.
She didn't even have to guess to know that the other was definitely in the kitchen taste-testing new dishes. When she imagined the image of Irene hurrying around at this moment, her lips couldn't help but curve into a smile.
It had already been several months after PD Kim's wedding, and Irene had also long finished filming for that movie. While she had picked up practically no work in the meantime, she and Lisa's relationship had become very peaceful.
One person wasn't in a rush to rebound from her heartbreak, while the other also didn't exhaust her methods to hide, so the two of them had become like perfectly ordinary friends. Sometimes, they'd have a nice conversation on the phone, and when they had time, they'd go out for a meal together.
This had all been quite difficult for Lisa. To give up on the person she had loved for so long was akin to digging out a piece of her stillbeating heart, hollowing her chest out with pain. That kind of lonely emptiness often caused her to wake up suddenly in the middle of the night, preventing her from going back to sleep again.
And when she could barely take it anymore, she'd think of finding someone, anyone, to stay by her side. But she didn't go through with it.
It was just like Irene had said before, only time could heal all wounds.
One day, two days wouldn't let her forget, but one year, two years, ten years, twenty years should do it.
Lisa closed her eyes. When she saw that it was about time, she started the car and circled around, driving to wait at the restaurant's back door. Not long later, as expected, she saw Irene come out wearing those big sunglasses.
This street was quite empty, so Lisa simply had to honk the horn twice before Irene found her car, walking over with long strides and asking, "You got off work this early today?"
Lisa didn't mention how she personally took time off her schedule, "Get in, let's go eat."
Irene opened the door and got in.
Lisa looked at her empty hands and said, finding it strange, "You didn't make cake today?"
"I have to make my own cake even on my birthday?" Irene waved her right hand.
Lisa remembered that she always used to make it herself in the past, but what she said just now also made sense, so Lisa simply stepped on the gas and said with a smile, "All right, I know where we should go for dinner now."
She took Irene to a very tasteful coffee shop.
The interior was decorated to maximize nostalgia, with dim lighting and a classic hit song. Lisa ordered their baked Alaska. When the cake was served to the table, the rum on top was lit, and the entire cake ignited. After the flames were extinguished, the actual taste of the cake was also quite good. Ice cream was even inside it, making the cake taste cold and sweet, but not at all cloying.
Although the taste couldn't be considered the most remarkable, the important thing was the surprise of the fire being ignited. Lisa was also quite considerate and had chosen exactly that time to say happy birthday.
As Irene watched the flames pitter away, she also thanked Lisa. Later, when she tasted the cake, a smile was clearly visible in her eyes.
Lisa felt that this kind of relationship also wasn't bad.
She and Irene were no longer in the transactional relationship they were in the past, but they actually had much more of an understanding of one another now. Even without the delight of a physical relationship, they could still have a calm happiness.
▒ ▒ ▒
That day, Lisa completed all her work quite smoothly, but just as she was about to get off work, she received a call from Irene's manager.
Lisa had always paid a lot of attention to Irene's work, and she had arranged many of them personally. Especially regarding filming, all of it had to go through her before it could be accepted. As such, the manager had called her to ask for instructions, saying that there was a film looking to cast Irene as the lead.
Recently, Irene's thoughts hadn't been on filming, and in these past several months, she had accepted only two commercials. Lisa also didn't want to force her and so didn't really think much of this matter, asking carelessly, "What kind of movie?"
"It's a literary film."
"Uh-huh. And who's the director?"
The manager somewhat hesitated for a moment before finally saying a name, "Cotton. Kim Jun Cotton."
Upon hearing this, Lisa was stunned.
It wasn't that this director was too obscure, it was that he was truly too famous.
This name wasn't really famous because of the popularity of his films but rather because of his family background—he was the Kim conglomerate's most spoiled little young master.
It was said that he filmed movies completely for his own fun. From the scripts to the actors to the costumes to the props, everything was handled by him personally, and everything had to be as he liked.
He was even more excessive when it actually came to filming, needing to consider the weather, the ambience, and his own mood. One time, for the sake of shooting a sunrise scene, he stayed up on a mountain for a month.
The time spent shooting these films would drag on and on, and when it finally finished, it'd be full of his own unique flavor, so unique in fact that quite a few reviewers would praise him.
With this kind of identity, Kim Jun Cotton naturally also had a somewhat proud temperament, and those in his circle normally called him Young Master Kim. Everyone knew that, when Young Master Kim chose actors, he never cared whether they were popular or not, only whether they were suitable.
No matter how firm their relationship was in the past, Lisa also had no way to get Irene into his films, not even as a small supporting role.
But this time... why did Kim Jun Cotton take the initiative to come looking himself?
― 20 ―
Maybe we seek for something that we couldn't ever have
Maybe we choose the only love we know we won't accept
Or maybe we're taking all the risks for something that is real
'Cause maybe the greatest love of all is who the eyes can't see
- To the Bone -
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