Chapter 1006. Crank Up 10

“Why, you don’t want to?”

The guy didn’t answer. Giwoo felt the boiling rage inside him calm down after a long time. This guy didn’t budge no matter what he did like a rock. Whenever he saw Maru like that, Giwoo felt like his own worth was plummeting endlessly and became furious. However, the silence at the table was different from the usual one. He could tell from the subdued expression on the guy’s face. He seemed a little angry. Seeing that reaction made him feel a little better. He wished for the guy to be more enraged, more stiff, and feel more hatred for him.

“You want Gaeul?”

“If you give up on her cleanly, then I’ll get along with you. I’ll tell grandfather that you’re a good friend. This should be a pretty good deal for you, isn’t it? A little-more-than-decent actress versus the practical owner of YM. You can’t compare them. It’s clear what you have to choose when you think about your future. There are women everywhere. You can give up on someone like Han Gaeul, can’t you?”

Giwoo smiled and closed his mouth. This guy would never give up. He could feel that. The two of them would mutually destroy themselves rather than break up. He couldn’t tell what bound the two of them together, but no external pressure would make them break up. That was why the only thing he could do was to make him enraged.

“Gaeul is pretty charming alright. I can see why you’re putting so much effort into her.”

Maru’s words broke the silence.

“Effort? Me?” Giwoo’s eyes twitched as he replied.

“Having a closer look at you, you’re quite pitiful. Like you said, women are everywhere. You must have experienced many women too. So why are you so obsessed with Gaeul?”

“Don’t speak nonsense and just answer me. Either you break up and maintain a good relationship with grandfather, or you two stay together and you throw away the YM background. You’ll have a pretty hard time continuing to be an actor. With a word from grandfather, the likes of you or Han Gaeul can be erased from TV in an instant.”

“Oh, indeed. The chairman’s words are amazing alright. I mean, I got to travel all around the world to shoot a commercial thanks to him. He’s really amazing.”

“If you know, then I think it’s about time you start crawling on the ground by yourself.”

“I’ve been lowering myself even if you didn’t tell me that.”

Maru picked up his teacup and took a sip. He said that the tea was good in a small voice.

“But it’s a little funny if you think about it. Why are you the one telling me that? I’ve been invited by the chairman today. Alright then, let’s say I break up with Gaeul. What’s in it for me?”

“You can’t even remember what I just told you. Grandfather told you, didn’t he? That we should be in a good relationship. Don’t you know what that means?”

“It means what it sounds like. Be in a good relationship.”

“No. Do you think grandfather called you and me here just to say something like that? He’s always gentle at first, just like he’s giving advice. But the people who know him, the people who know the chairman, know that it’s not advice, but an order he’s giving. The chairman just told you that you will be in a hard spot if you don’t get along with his grandson. You get what that means right?”

Giwoo pulled the chair forward. He wanted to get as close as possible to have a look at this guy’s face. He felt like he would be able to escape his head pains and insomnia if he could see this guy’s face collapsing into total depravity little by little.

“Is that how it is?”

“If you get it then choose. Either you bring with you a stable future, or you stop being an actor and start looking into doing something else. But you’ll have a hard time getting a job in any decent place. Though, without any specs, you’ll be hard-pressed to apply to any of them anyway. Even if you do pass the resume test, companies with decent names are under grandfather’s influence. Though, if you want to do part-time work at a convenience store, I won’t stop you.”

“I have saved up a decent amount of money, and Gaeul has saved up quite a lot, so we wouldn’t need to go that far. But we don’t need to give up on being actors for the time being. There’s me too, but Gaeul also likes acting a lot.”

Maru moved his body closer to the table as well. His chest was almost touching.

“But you know, there’s one thing I’d like to confirm,” he added as he touched his ears.

“What would you like to confirm then?”

“Let’s say the chairman’s words are not advice, but an order. Let’s say that we go a step further than that and go against his orders and bare our fangs at each other. When that happens, will it truly be me who gets punished?”

Giwoo’s jaws jolted as soon as he heard those words, but the word lingering in his mouth wasn’t spitted out. His laughter made him forget about what he was going to say. Giwoo slapped down on the table and laughed. That was the funniest thing he heard all year. The comedy movie he watched recently might as well be a tragedy compared to what Maru just said.

“You know what you’re saying right now, right?”

“I do, and that’s why I’m asking. Would the chairman really respond that way? And will his actions be upon me?”

“Is something wrong with your head?”

“If there was, I wouldn’t be sitting here. Stop asking the obvious and answer my question. Is the chairman you know someone who’d really do something like that?”

Giwoo kicked the table leg with his left foot. The teacup jolted before returning to its place.

“You’re making me incredibly displeased with the way you sound like you know my grandfather. Han Maru, you’re making a grave mistake. You seem to think that my grandfather cherishes you just because he gave you a few opportunities and met you a couple times, but don’t make me laugh. Of course, I’m sure he’s taken a liking to you to a certain extent since he gave you those chances. But compared to me, you are nothing. Grandfather was always like that to me. He even defined my personal relations. Although he became lenient after I got a little older, when I was young, every single one of my friends had to be evaluated by my grandfather. You’re just one of them. The moment I say I don’t like you, grandfather might get angry at me, but the outlet of his anger will be where you’re standing.”

It was a grave mistake on that guy’s part to think that his grandfather was on his side just because he laughed with him a few times. Giwoo had seen his grandfather mention ‘socially burying someone’ several times with a smile on his face. Maru nodded.

“Let’s say that’s the case. What are you planning to do once we break up? Can you even guarantee that Gaeul will go to you?”

“That’s not for you to worry about.”

“I just wanted to know. I want to know how you’re going to fill the void in her.”

“Han Maru. People are bound to be attracted to those near them. Especially if it’s a woman we’re talking about. Gaeul might be a little strong-headed, but she’s bound to need someone to rely on. She might look at me in a negative light for the time being, but she’ll know once she has some time.”

“She’ll know what, you mean?”

Giwoo locked his fingers and put them against his mouth. This guy displeased him until the very end. If he apologized and begged for forgiveness just once for bragging, he would have let him go. Yet, this guy’s steady eyes felt like searchlights. He acted like he did not know what compromise was whenever Han Gaeul was involved. He would bend in every other matter, but when she was included, he acted like death wouldn’t stop him. It was a really displeasing attitude. What irked him above everything else was that he was feeling jealous when he saw Maru act like that. He utterly despised the fact that feelings of fear and jealousy were rising within him against someone that was worse than him in every way.

“Forget it. It’s not like you intend to break up with her. Don’t resent me later. I gave you the opportunity.”

He had nothing more to say. He stood up with the intention of going down to the first floor.

“So it’s the chairman from the beginning to the end.”

He turned around. Maru was looking at the plates on the table.

“What do you mean by that?”

“What it sounds like.”

Maru stood up. Giwoo grabbed Maru’s shoulder as he walked past.

“Is that all you want to say? If we go out like this, we’ll have a very uncomfortable relationship.”

“It’s not like we were ever in a good one.”

“It’ll be too late for you to regret once you are outside. You’ll lose everything. If grandfather does not take any action, then I will. Will Han Gaeul stay by your side even after you’ve been thrown out of the entertainment industry? Do you think that a meager romantic relationship will last forever? You should seek benefits. A word from me to grandfather and you’ll get wings. You just have to get away from that woman. If you do, then I’ll forget about the bad behavior you showed me until now. Honestly speaking, I feel like we can become good friends. It doesn’t sound bad to have you by my side.”

“Wings given to me by the chairman, huh? That sounds tempting.”

“Right?”

Maru put his hand on his own shoulder. Giwoo looked at Maru who pushed away his hand and went downstairs.

“But you aren’t the chairman.”

“Han Maru!”

When Maru climbed downstairs, secretary Kim appeared. Giwoo stomped his way down the stairs while forcefully opening his hand from clenching in rage.