A Night Soaked With You - Chapter 22
In-woo, feeling awkward, scratched the back of his head.
“I mean, the contact. I was actually waiting everyday for you to reach out.”
……Waiting every day? Yeong-won blinked in confusion, not fully understanding.
“If you had something to say, you could have just contacted me.”
“I felt too sorry to do that. Back then, I think I was forcing my feelings onto you too much.”
In-woo gave an embarrassed smile.
Yeong-won tilted her head in puzzlement.
During the filming at school, In-woo had been kind to everyone, herself included.
Because of that, Yeong-won sometimes felt awkward around Chae-young. Though it might have been burdensome at times, she never felt like In-woo was forcing anything on her…….
As Yeong-won hesitated, unsure of what to say, In-woo told her to wait a moment and went to retrieve his phone from his manager.
“Are you still using this number?”
He asked, showing her the number on his screen.
“Oh, no.”
Yeong-won shook her head.
It was a number she’d never seen before, and though she only got a quick glance, it looked like the contact name was saved as ‘Forever’. (t/n: Yeong-won’s name in Korean means “Eternity” or “Forever”, possibly a poetic or meaningful label given to Yeong-won’s contact.)
“I’ve changed mine. Save it quickly.”
In-woo said, switching the screen too quickly for her to get a proper look.
‘Did I see that wrong?’
Puzzled, Yeong-won tilted her head and opened her call log to save his number.
But then, she froze.
There was still an unsaved phone number lingering in her call history.
As she stood still, she recalled the man who had stared at her with piercing dark eyes.
Seeing Yeong-won hesitate, In-woo asked curiously.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Yeong-won brushed it off casually.
Just thinking about him filled her mind. A man with such a strong presence. A man who became more dangerous the more she got involved with him.
For her own sake, it would be best to forget him as soon as possible. Shaking Tae-geon out of her thoughts, she saved In-woo’s number.
After the filming was done, Yeong-won boarded the bus.
Sitting at the very back of the 40-seater bus, she leaned against the window, exhausted.
The sweat that had beaded on her forehead cooled in the air-conditioned breeze. Feeling better, Yeong-won slowly closed her eyes.
Just then, a conversation caught her attention.
“Who on earth is the investor for ‘Distress’?”
Yeong-won’s eyes snapped open. Her ears perked up.
“I overheard something—it seems like a big name is backing it.”
“Then why is the director keeping quiet about it?”
“Who knows. Maybe there’s a special reason for the secrecy?”
Curious herself, Yeong-won leaned in to listen more closely, but they quickly switched topics.
‘Who could the investor really be?’
Now fully awake, Yeong-won absentmindedly stared out the window before pulling out her phone.
She typed ‘Distress’ into the search bar.
Most of the articles were about In-woo and Chae-young joining the film. Not a single mention of the investor.
The mysterious backer of ‘Distress’.
In truth, Yeong-won wasn’t just curious out of idle interest.
She had once thought she’d never be able to act again. That she’d never stand in front of a camera as an actress.
At the point when she’d given up on her dream, believing it was gone forever, that investor appeared and helped her rise again.
And not just as a supporting role, but as the lead actress.
They had given her the role in a film that they could have easily tailored to their own tastes, despite the fact that she had never taken the lead in anything before.
It was the kind of situation where even bowing down in gratitude a hundred times wouldn’t be enough.
‘Is it a man or a woman? If they run a company with that much money, they must be older, right?’
She couldn’t understand why they remained hidden, but she knew she’d meet them eventually.
And when that time came, she’d express her heartfelt thanks, telling them how they had helped her achieve her dream.
With a soft smile, Yeong-won closed her eyes.
