Between Us is X (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 8

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Ju Han and So Min, who were oiling the ash dining table and chair set scheduled for delivery tomorrow, turned toward the stairs. Jae Rim placed coffee and snacks next to the workbench and exclaimed dramatically.

“Boss! So Min! Choi Yoon Bin! You know the actor Choi Yoon Bin, right?”

“I don’t.”

So Min replied indifferently. Jae Rim faltered.

“Really……? Oh right, So Min said you don’t watch much TV. But still, how can you not know Choi Yoon Bin?”

“If he’s super famous, I might recognize his face. But just the name alone, I’m not sure.”

“Haha, okay. Anyway. Boss, you know him, right?”

“Yeah. But why are you suddenly bringing him up?”

“He’s here at our store right now! He seems close with Manager Seon, you know? He had his manager buy coffee and all this stuff, and they just went up to the office together.”

“What?”

A thin crease formed between Ju Han’s brows. Jae Rim sipped his coffee noisily and muttered.

“That’s so weird. How on earth do they know each other?”

Ju Han answered casually as he passed by.

“I heard they lived in the same neighborhood when they were kids.”

“So he’s the neighborhood oppa? Wow.”

So Min tilted her head while watching Jae Rim continue to marvel.

“But Jae Rim, didn’t you say before that when you worked in fashion, you often saw celebrities and models? Even if you’ve seen a lot, is it still that exciting?”

“Just seeing them is one thing, but seeing someone I know being close with a celebrity is a first for me. And honestly, when I saw other famous people, I just thought ‘wow’ inside for a second, but Choi Yoon Bin is kind of fascinating. He feels different in real life than on camera. He’s even more handsome.”

Jae Rim, who had been ready to keep chattering, suddenly realized no one was on the first floor and hurried upstairs.

So Min said “I’ll enjoy this” and picked up her coffee.

Ju Han took off his work gloves, tossed them aside carelessly, and swallowed a shallow sigh.

If it was Yoon Bin, he was someone Ju Han also knew. Not close by any means—just the kind of relationship where they were aware of each other because of Eun Su.

He was always busy, so they didn’t meet often, but whenever they did, it used to bother Ju Han a lot.

The man who met Eun Su even earlier than he did.

The man Eun Su almost uniquely called “oppa” without any reservation.

It was childish, but he couldn’t help it. Of course, he knew better than anyone that he had no right or qualification to care about that.

“Boss, aren’t you having coffee?”

So Min asked, looking at Ju Han standing there like a statue. Ju Han picked up his work gloves again and answered.

“My mouth suddenly tastes bitter. If you don’t mind, you can have both.”

So Min smiled brightly.

“Thank you.”

[This is the timeline separator]

“Is the drama filming all finished?”

Eun Su was standing side by side with Yoon Bin in the second-floor showroom, coffee in hand.

“It’s almost done. The important shoots are all wrapped, just need to finish the rest.”

“You must have had it tough, jumping straight back into work without proper rest after discharge.”

“Getting comforted like this makes the hardship melt away a bit.”

Yoon Bin smiled as if he really were melting.

Eun Su marveled once again. She had known him for so long that she should be used to this face by now, yet she still found herself surprised from time to time. So this is what someone who looks like this does for a living as a celebrity, she thought—someone handsome at sixteen is still handsome at twenty and thirty.

“I came to see you too, but I also need a few things.”

“Really? What kind?”

Yoon Bin looked around the showroom with serious eyes.

“I’m thinking of getting a lounge chair. Once the drama ends, I’ll be resting at home for a while. I also need a slightly larger table for the living room and something that can be used as a bookshelf. I got an offer for a variety show that films inside celebrities’ homes, so I want to prepare a bit.”

“They’re filming your house?”

“Yeah. But right now it’s kind of empty. So recommend some pretty things for me.”

That means the pieces he takes from here might appear on broadcast?

A celebrity even more famous than Go Ji Yeon stopping by and doing the “I’ll take everything from here to here” move, then spreading the word widely on his own SNS… is this actually happening?

Eun Su’s face lit up.

“Then oppa, want to come this way?”

Eun Su led Yoon Bin deeper into the showroom. While the first-floor showroom focused on relatively accessible prices and casual furniture like chairs, the second floor displayed more artistic or hard-to-find pieces.

Trending

“This long chair was made in the 1970s, inspired by 18th-century French furniture. It’s still produced in an Italian factory, but the early design details make the vintage ones even more popular than the new ones.”

Yoon Bin nodded, clearly liking the simple design of the steel frame with black leather and the generous size that would allow even long legs to stretch out fully. Eun Su pointed to another chair.

“This is the Siesta chair designed in 1965 by my absolute favorite designer. The frame is mahogany solid wood.”

Insisting that chairs must be sat in to check if they fit the body comfortably, Eun Su had Yoon Bin sit down and continued explaining.

“The leather is original and in amazing condition. The folding parts are perfectly broken in without any damage.”

“You’re right. It’s really soft.”

Yoon Bin looked up at Eun Su from the chair and smiled.

“It suits you, Eun Su.”

“What does?”

“Working here. You look happy.”

Eun Su smiled back.

“I’m glad it looks that way. But oppa, you look really good in that chair right now.”

The cognac-colored chair that looked obviously luxurious at a glance could easily make the chair seem far more expensive than the person sitting in it.

Yet with Yoon Bin sitting there, it simply looked harmonious and natural. In fact, the eyes were drawn to Yoon Bin’s face first rather than the chair.

“Is this chair more expensive than the other one? Because you have that ‘I want him to buy this’ look in your eyes.”

“What are you talking about? What do you take me for.”

Eun Su added seriously.

“Look again carefully. It’s the ‘I want him to buy both’ look.”

“Hahaha.”

Yoon Bin burst out laughing. His already impressive double-eyelid eyes curved deeply, and the long dimples at the corners of his mouth dug in deeply.

After choosing the chairs, Eun Su and Yoon Bin came down to the first floor together.

Following Eun Su’s advice, Yoon Bin successively picked a simple round dining table, a teak bookshelf with an open back, and a glass table with unique leg structure.

“When is a convenient delivery date?”

“Wait a sec. I need to check the schedule with the manager.”

Yoon Bin looked for his manager. At that moment, footsteps came up from the basement, and Ju Han appeared.

Yoon Bin greeted him first, warmly.

“Hey, Ju Han.”

“Hello.”

Ju Han gave a light bow. A slightly awkward—but not quite uncomfortable—atmosphere passed between them.

“When I heard from Eun Su that you two were working together, I thought it was a bit unexpected…….”

Yoon Bin trailed off, then grinned and added.

“It turned out well. Looks good.”

Ju Han just smiled quietly.

In the meantime, Eun Su finished discussing dates with the manager and turned to look at the two men facing each other.

Though their vibes were different, the sight of two undeniably handsome men standing face to face had something inherently eye-catching about it.

Come to think of it, it had been a long time since she had seen them like this. The last time the three of them had drunk together, she vaguely recalled it was either their fourth year or right after graduation.

Yoon Bin lifted his wrist to check the time.

“There was so much to see, I lost track of time. I should get going now.”

“Okay. Take care, and good luck with filming.”

“Yeah.”

Yoon Bin raised one hand and lightly patted Eun Su’s shoulder as he passed.

“I’ll text you.”

After seeing Yoon Bin and his manager off at the door, Eun Su came back and suddenly exclaimed “Ah.”

“I forgot to ask for an autograph. Should I have asked for a photo too?”

Because they had known each other since they were so young, even though she knew he was a celebrity and a top star, she often forgot to treat him like one.

“Nah, that would have been too obvious.”

Jae Rim quickly chimed in.

“Rather than us announcing it, the best scenario is if our furniture just naturally appears perfectly in the photos or videos that Choi Yoon Bin posts himself. Then people will immediately search and share things like ‘Choi Yoon Bin chair’, ‘Choi Yoon Bin table’. After that, we just gracefully confirm ‘Yes, that’s correct’ and word-of-mouth will spread like crazy, articles will come out, right?”

“Wow, you already have the whole plan?”

Eun Su nodded in admiration, and her eyes met Ju Han’s, who had been standing with his arms crossed. Eun Su smiled proudly.

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“The Siesta chair finally found its owner.”

“That’s good.”

Leaving only that short reply, Ju Han turned around. Eun Su tilted her head watching Ju Han’s back as he went outside, perhaps to get some air.

‘……What’s with him. Why is he reacting so coldly?’

He used to say that selling just one of those meant we could close the store for the day and call it quits.

Ah, is he acting like that because he’s worried I’ll make him buy dinner and drinks with the boss card while talking about it?

Finally realizing the reason, Eun Su pouted toward Ju Han’s back, which was no longer visible.

[This is the timeline separator]

Just before quitting time, Eun Su’s phone rang. It was a call from her best friend Sol Hee, who had been working as a broadcast writer for seven years.

“Oh my, Writer Jang. Long time no talk?”

― Yeah, Manager Seon. Where are you? Still at the office?

“Of course.”

― Come meet me after work today. My treat.

“So suddenly?”

― Sorry. I meant to contact you earlier but got too busy and lost track of dates. Do you have other plans?

“No, nothing like that. Sure, let’s meet. Where?”

― I reserved a really nice place. By the way, is Kim Ju Han free? Can he come too?

“Huh? Hmm?”

Wondering why she was suddenly asking for Ju Han, Eun Su gave a vague answer that she would have to check.

― If nothing’s up, let’s all meet. I have some good news for you two.

“Good news? What is it?”

― I’ll tell you later. Hanging up now.

Staring at the abruptly ended call, Eun Su tilted her head.

‘Good news? And something she has to tell both me and Kim Ju Han together?’

Did she finally set a wedding date or something?

It feels like she only recently started dating her current boyfriend. Well, people date for years and break up, or get married after a few months—human matters are unpredictable……

A text arrived with a map link to the meeting place. Eun Su replied that she could be there by 7:30 and called Ju Han.

“Where are you?”

― In the basement pulling out items, why?

“Got it.”

Since he was working, talking on the phone would be difficult, so Eun Su immediately got up and went downstairs.

The basement, which served as both storage and workshop, had large windows that opened directly to the backyard, making it easy to load vehicles close by. Right now a truck was parked, and Ju Han and So Min were carrying out furniture for delivery.

“Watch your hands.”

“Yes.”

She saw Ju Han’s side profile as he effortlessly lifted a huge dining table together with So Min and loaded it onto the truck. It must have been really hot—he had rolled his short sleeves all the way up to his shoulders. His heavily tensed forearms and the long, defined muscles stood out clearly.

Eun Su stood blinking for a moment, then snapped out of it, approached, and helped move the dining chairs. Ju Han paused when he saw Eun Su suddenly appear and start helping.

“Why, is something urgent?”

“Not urgent. We can load this first and talk.”

With the chairs Eun Su carried as the last items, everything was loaded onto the truck. After securely fastening the well-packaged furniture, Ju Han spoke to So Min.

“I’ll drive. Get in.”

“Yes.”

So Min headed to the passenger seat, and Ju Han turned to Eun Su.

“After work today…….”

Eun Su was about to get to the point but froze at the sight in front of her and stopped mid-sentence.

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