Chapter 161
Mitchell glanced at me but didn’t particularly try to start a conversation. He let out a light sigh towards Malik and asked gruffly:
“Why are you here?”
“I went to LA and came back. I have a photo shoot starting the day after tomorrow.”
“That’s not what I asked. Why are you here?”
“Not for you, kid. I came to see Geon-woo.”
Malik crossed his legs the other way. He raised his chin and smirked at Mitchell.
“You didn’t tell Geon-woo.”
“Malik, you…”
“I already told him.”
“…”
Mitchell seemed to have missed our conversation while preparing for the shoot. Malik had already spilled everything Mitchell had tried to hide.
“You should have told him right away. Were you planning to take all the credit later? If I hadn’t come here, Geon-woo wouldn’t have known I helped his brother. Do you know how grateful Geon-woo is to me right now? Right?”
Malik looked at me as he asked. His expression seemed to demand an answer, and I found myself nodding unconsciously.
“See!”
Mitchell clicked his tongue and turned his body completely towards me. Curious about how he would react, I didn’t avoid his gaze.
But before Mitchell could answer, someone appeared, desperately looking for him.
“Mitchell, what are you doing here? It’s not finished yet. You said you’d just drink some water and come back, but you’re chatting? Come on in quickly.”
The makeup artist pulled Mitchell away. They had been working together for a long time, so they were quite comfortable with each other. Mitchell tried to buy time, asking her to wait a moment, but he couldn’t escape her determined grip.
“I said hurry up.”
She finally took Mitchell away. As he was forcibly dragged away, Mitchell watched me with a displeased look. His lips moved, but he spoke to Malik again, not to me.
“Don’t overdo it.”
Malik just shrugged at Mitchell’s warning.
Completely ignoring the warning, as soon as Mitchell entered the makeup room, Malik stuck close to me and started spilling everything. He said Jeff had kidnapped my brother Junman, thinking he was me. He added that it was just a guess.
Malik told me in detail how cruel Jeff’s assault must have been. He lamented how heartbreaking it was to see the scars left on Junman’s face and body, but he didn’t particularly look sad.
“It’s really fortunate that I found him.”
“Thank you so much.”
“My intuition is really good, right?”
“Yes. It’s the best.”
Malik demanded praise like he was expecting me to bow down to him. Even knowing this, I sincerely praised him.
In the past, even facing my brother was terrible, but hearing that he was beaten by Jeff made me feel uneasy in a different way.
Still, I was relieved that Mitchell had taken care of sending him back to Korea. Given Junman’s personality, I wasn’t worried as he’d likely forget everything and live carefree.
However, I was bothered that Mitchell hadn’t told me the truth. I felt grateful and sorry to Mitchell, but also slightly hurt. Still, I knew for sure it was out of consideration for me. Mitchell probably didn’t know Malik would come here and spill everything.
“I asked the director earlier, and they’re only shooting until sunset. All daytime scenes… How about steak for dinner after today’s shoot? Your treat.”
“…Alright. Let’s go.”
“Okay!”
Malik continued to brag endlessly, and I kept expressing my gratitude. Although he seemed a bit wild, he was comfortable and reliable, probably because he was Mitchell’s person. As I felt grateful, he seemed much more friendly than before. I kept thinking I should treat him to a lot of good food.
After we started shooting, Malik wasn’t seen. We had exchanged contact information anyway, and we were supposed to meet for dinner, so he’d probably contact me around then. I didn’t tell Mitchell about the dinner appointment with Malik. I figured Malik would have told him even if I didn’t mention it.
The morning shoot wrapped up at Logan’s house. Outdoor shooting would start in the afternoon.
Still, when I caressed Mitchell’s body, the strange unfamiliarity disappeared as if it were a lie. Mitchell would smile tenderly and embrace me.
“Mitchell, shall we go together in your car? We can practice our lines too.”
Wanting to ride in Mitchell’s car to the next shooting location, I deliberately asked loudly. To avoid unnecessary suspicion, I spoke so that everyone around could hear.
“I’m going to drive myself. Is that okay?”
“That’s fine.”
It wasn’t just fine, it was excellent. I couldn’t remember the last time we had a drive alone. Of course, the conversation with Mitchell was more important than the drive itself.
When I entered the shooting location in the navigation, it showed it would take 27 minutes from here. The staff said to arrive by exactly an hour later when shooting would begin. It was like giving us time to move and rest. I bit my lip, suppressing the cheer that was about to burst out.
Click.
The sound of the car door closing was exciting. As the car started, we were completely free from people’s gazes. Do all celebrities in secret relationships feel this way? My free hand moved urgently to reach Mitchell’s thigh. Mitchell also held my hand, smiling pleasantly.
It feels like I’m dating you.
I wriggled in Mitchell’s hand, saying this only in my heart.
“So, Mitchell… You have something to tell me, right?”
Regardless of whether the mood was good or not, there was something we needed to address.
“How much did Malik tell you?”
“Everything.”
Then a small curse flowed from Mitchell’s mouth.
“If it wasn’t for Malik, you were going to keep it a secret from me, weren’t you?”
“Maybe?”
Cheeky bastard.
“Why?”
“I don’t like you paying attention to your brother.”
A snicker escaped at the satisfying answer. Hearing Mitchell’s intention directly with my own ears made everything crystal clear. Still, there was no doubt that what Mitchell had done for Junman was too much. With mixed feelings, I unconsciously spoke in a blunt tone.
“Why did you go that far? That guy… He’s not good enough to deserve such treatment.”
“Because you cared about it. I wanted to put your mind at ease.”
The moment I heard the answer, my heart ached.
Ah… what should I do with our Mitchell?
I moved my hand restlessly on Mitchell’s leg. As we were holding hands, the touch felt even clearer.
“And the cafe will be in your name. It’s not Bae Junman’s. If he does anything I don’t like, I’ll take it back.”
Take it back? I couldn’t believe how satisfying those words were.
Moreover, since he was planning to put the cafe in my name, I would have found out about it eventually.
“I was wondering… how to tell you this.”
Malik told me.
Come to think of it, Mitchell is quite sly.
There was no need to continue talking about it. What Mitchell did was for me, and even if I had never found out about it, it wouldn’t have been a problem. In the past, I would have hated the fact that he hid something from me, but now I didn’t mind at all.
After all, he had given me the final choice.
“Oh? Wait a moment.”
There was a vibration from my bag. As I removed my hand to check my phone, Mitchell placed his hand on my stomach. I blocked his hand from digging further down into my waistband while checking the caller… oh no, it was a call from Malik.
I hadn’t even told Mitchell that we had exchanged phone numbers.
“Malik?”
Mitchell quickly confirmed the name on the screen. The gaze Mitchell gave me was several times more intense than the vibration in my palm.
“Answer it. Let’s hear what he’s babbling about.”
“…Okay.”
“Speakerphone.”
“…Ah.”
The good mood was completely ruined by the tactless Malik.
“Hello?”
– Oh? You answered. I thought you wouldn’t be able to.
“I’m moving to another location right now.”
– Is that so?
“Did something happen?”
– I called because I think I need to postpone our dinner appointment today. Something urgent came up, you know.
“Okay. That’s fine with me.”
– I’m so disappointed. I really wanted to have a meal with you.
“Ah… Haha.”
– I’ll contact you again later. I’ll treat you to something delicious then, so see you later.
“Okay. I understand. See you then…”
The short call ended. Was I finished too?
There was plenty of time to tell Mitchell about the appointment with Malik. I didn’t intentionally hide it, but somehow it ended up seeming like I did. My skin tingled under Mitchell’s gaze.
“You made plans to have a meal with Malik? Without me?”
“…No. You’re included.”
“You didn’t say anything.”
“We were going to go home together after the shoot, weren’t we? Of course, if I go, you go too. I thought Malik had already told you, but he didn’t?”
“So you even exchanged numbers?”
“…It happened.”
“Why does that bastard Malik talk like that?”
“Like what?”
“‘I’m so disappointed. I really wanted to have a meal with you.'”
He mimicked Malik’s words, sneering. He cursed Malik for a while, saying things like he has a big mouth, and he’s rich but always mooching off others. His voice tone gradually rose as his irritation seemed to increase.
Finally, he made a strange suggestion.
“Should we say we’re dating?”
Mitchell smiled with his lips curved, his neck veins bulging. Although he was watching the road while driving, if our eyes had met, it would have been a chilling smile enough to make my knees weak.
“…What?”
“We’ll just say that we two are dating. We’ll just blow it up to the whole world. To keep the bugs away.”
“…”
I was speechless at the shocking suggestion, unsure if he was serious or joking. No, above all, this guy didn’t know the order of things.
Before revealing something like that, shouldn’t we date first?
Isn’t confessing to me first the first step?
If I’ve hinted that I like you, you could also tell me that you like me.
Is it that hard to say you like me even if you don’t?
Really… I was getting irritated.
If you want to let the world know about our relationship, go ahead. I’ll let you do everything, but confess to me first, you bastard!
