He didn’t mind being criticized. Far from feeling bad, Choi Yoon was rather captivated by her varied expressions.

Her expressions overlapped with the faces of countless actors he had encountered. Good facial muscle control and rich emotions were favorable conditions for becoming an actor. Something some are born with, while others can’t obtain even with lifelong effort.

“Are you listening to me? Please drive safely from now on.”

Staring intently at the woman who lightly tapped on the car window as if giving a playful knock, Choi Yoon hastily fumbled beside him.

As soon as his fingertips touched the smooth surface of the business card case, he skillfully opened it with one hand and took out a card.

Has this woman committed murder somewhere? If not such a criminal, why on earth is she wasting that rare face, that unique aura, in this countryside?

She needed to be brought into the entertainment industry. That was the natural order.

It was the first time he was making the offer first. Lee Kang Woo would be surprised too. Surprised that I’m recommending someone else, and even more surprised when he sees this woman…

Choi Yoon grasped the door handle with the hand holding the business card.

The woman had already taken her eyes off Choi Yoon and was looking towards the cultivator. It was rare for a gaze that had once fixed on him to break away.

Even though I’m wearing a mask.

He spoke loudly as if to remind her of his presence.

“Shall we take a look at the situation?”

He stepped out of the car.

As soon as he closed the door, it was slightly hot even in just a shirt.

The pleasantly humid scent of grass, the smell of trees, and the fragrance of acacia flowers intertwined dizzyingly, tripping over each other.

Compared to the seasonless car interior, the outside was May, where spring and summer wrestled in the wind.

“Yes. This way.”

The woman was strangely lacking in wariness.

Following behind the woman who walked ahead unhesitatingly as if this dark country road was her living room, Choi Yoon scrutinized her entire body like a producer about to cast.

The woman had good proportions, which made her look taller.

Catching up slightly, he gauged where the top of her head reached on him. The tip of his nose.

He compared it to where other celebrities he had acted with had reached. It came to him easily. 170cm. A 15cm difference from Choi Yoon.

If a camera were placed now, it would make a beautiful two-shot.

Especially with a height difference perfect for forehead kisses, where the man would have to tilt his head slightly to kiss her lips. That in itself makes for a good picture too.

“A compact car might be able to pass somehow, but I don’t think your car will make it, sir.”

The woman was right. The forklift was stopped in the middle of the road, blatantly ignoring all traffic laws.

The only space where a car might pass was made impossible to even attempt due to the long metal arm attached to the front of the forklift.

However, Choi Yoon remained unfazed.

Whether or not he could pass through this road before sunrise was no longer the priority.

It didn’t matter. If anything, it was an excuse. To linger a bit longer by the woman’s side.

Fortunately, the tension he felt when first seeing the woman had somewhat subsided after quietly following behind her for a while.

But his heart was still pounding, requiring acting skills to ask naturally.

“When do you think the village chief will arrive?”

“Hmm. About 10 minutes?”

He quickened his pace to catch up with the woman. Walking side by side, he asked casually.

“You run a restaurant, I suppose.”

“How did you know?”

“You called me a customer.”

“Ah, did I say that?”

“Also, your apron and hands.”

The woman opened her eyes wide, then looked down at her hands spread out in front of her.

Her long, straight fingers slowly rotated in the air. Moonlight pooled and slid between the sunken and whitened scars.

The woman stuffed both hands into her apron pockets and smiled at Choi Yoon.

Choi Yoon tried not to make a dumb expression.

“When did you see my hands? They’re not very pleasant to look at.”

“No. I think they’re beautiful, hands like that.”

Crazy bastard.

Choi Yoon was startled by his own blurted words.

Crazy bastard, you crazy bastard, what are you doing? This mouth, this snout. You’re really trying hard to make a first impression as a pervert, aren’t you?

However, the woman showed no sign of hesitation. She blinked a few times and just smiled again.

A woman who smiles so easily. Smiles that others sell by the second were casually scattered on the street.

No matter how prettily she smiled, the only audience was Choi Yoon and the insects.

Though it wasn’t even his own face, Choi Yoon felt like he was dying of regret.

No, did this woman come from a deserted island? Even if she had received business cards, she must have received truckloads. Doesn’t she use social media? Are there people these days who don’t use such things? Isn’t it essential for promoting a restaurant…

While the woman set up the fallen bicycle and picked up scattered tomatoes as they returned to their initial meeting place, Choi Yoon gripped the business card he had been holding all along.

However, before he could start, the woman asked first.

“You don’t seem to be from around here. What brings you here?”

“Ah, there have been some protests in this area lately…”

“Village chief!”

The woman shouted loudly, raising her hand high, then waved enthusiastically towards something beyond Choi Yoon’s shoulder.

Choi Yoon quickly turned around.

But he couldn’t see anything.

The bumpy country road. Only the headlights Choi Yoon had left on barely reached the end, which was dark with silence.

While Choi Yoon was bewildered, the woman grabbed the handlebar of the parked bicycle and turned it around. She smiled brightly.

“He’s coming.”

“…You must have excellent eyesight. I can’t see anything.”

It’s not just good. It’s extraordinary.

Choi Yoon stared intently at the opposite end of the road again. He still couldn’t see or hear anything.

“I’ll be going now.”

Meanwhile, the woman was full of confidence, now with one leg already over the bicycle. She looked ready to fly away at any moment.

He hurriedly blocked her way.

“Here, this.”

He thrust it out abruptly.

The woman reflexively took her hand off the bicycle handle and accepted the business card.

The gold leaf embossed on the luxurious business card smoothly reflected light at the woman’s fingertips.

Actor Choi Yoon

The woman said nothing.

She just quietly looked at the card with her head slightly bowed.

“I’m absolutely not a strange person.”

Even as he thought he never imagined he’d be saying such words, his heart was strangely pounding.

But the woman showed no reaction.

She still had one leg over the bicycle, holding the business card instead of the handlebar, her head slightly lowered, staring at the card without even blinking.

Choi Yoon added awkwardly.

“I’m Choi Yoon. An actor. I appear on TV…”

Only then did the woman slowly raise her head. Her expression was completely washed away, as if in shock.

As expected. Although his solar plexus tingled with immediate satisfaction, it wasn’t enough.

Choi Yoon slightly lowered his mask, then took it off completely. The night breeze felt cool on his face that had been stuffy and covered.

However, even though Choi Yoon fully revealed his face, the woman didn’t move a muscle.

Right. When too surprised, one might lose their words.

Choi Yoon smiled with his eyes.

“You must be very surprised at our first meeting, but your appearance is truly outstanding. And you have a unique aura. As an actor myself, it seems such a waste for this uncut gem to just be in the countryside. I can introduce you to a good company. I don’t want anything in return. It’s just a sense of duty as an actor, you know, thinking about South Korea’s entertainment industry…”

Was I always this poor with words?

The more he spoke, the more he sounded like a malicious broker. It felt even more so because the woman had no reaction.

Choi Yoon became increasingly flustered.

No, doesn’t my face vouch for me? A public figure like myself giving out a business card and showing my face while talking…

That’s when it happened.

The woman dropped the business card on the ground. Thinking she had accidentally dropped it, he was about to pick it up when the woman stepped on the card.

Just as he was about to be surprised, wondering if it was a mistake, her sneaker ground the card into the earth. The woman lifted her foot.

The business card revealed its miserable state.

Choi Yoon’s face, printed in sketch, was mercilessly crushed.

Choi Yoon blankly stared at that shape before suddenly raising his head.

Their eyes met.

“It’s so nice to meet you. Actor…”

The woman arrogantly lifted her chin and lowered only her eyes. Her strangely gleaming eyes fell like a knife to check the business card, then smoothly rose back to face him.

With a face as alien as if from another world, the woman continued to mutter.

“…Mr. Choi Yoon.”

There are moments in life when you lose the leading role in your own story.

There are times when someone else suddenly captures the camera that only focused on you, the spotlight that always followed only you.

At such times, in the darkness where even you are forgotten, you can’t help but be mesmerized by that person alone.

The woman who had thus seized even Choi Yoon’s spotlight contorted her face strangely, as if crying or laughing.

A face flushed and heated. The clearly defined neck bones and elegantly connected collarbone revealed as she took a deep breath as if swallowing fire.

Yet her eyes were still vibrantly alive, pinning Choi Yoon in place as she opened her mouth.

Her voice was calmer than expected.

“I’ve saved many lives in my life, but I’ve never regretted it as much as today.”

The woman stared intently at Choi Yoon as she slowly continued.

“I should have left you, to die right there.”

Choi Yoon didn’t react immediately.

Die.

It was a phrase he had heard often enough in internet comments, from occasional crazy fans.

But it was truly the first time hearing it directly, this close.

Moreover, it was different. It wasn’t a joke that would end with tearful apologies at the police station, nor was it envy or jealousy festering independently of Choi Yoon.

It was something more fundamental… The woman seemed truly sincere.

It was truly strange, but in this moment, it was entirely Choi Yoon’s fault. Whatever the reason, unconditionally. Completely.

“You said I was a waste, being in the countryside. That you’d introduce me to a company.”

The woman coldly listed the rare kindness Choi Yoon had offered, then laughed through her nose. She adjusted her grip on the bicycle handlebar. She roughly placed her foot on one pedal. Still fixing her gaze on Choi Yoon, she spat out.

“Mind your own life instead of meddling in others’.”

The woman turned her head. She stared straight ahead and muttered softly.

“You piece of trash.”

The woman pressed down hard on the pedal. Her body seemed to rise high before the bicycle found its balance.

With that, she flew past Choi Yoon.

As if the celebrity car smeared with tomatoes, the business card never given to just anyone, and Choi Yoon, who had been paid just for his appearance, were of no value at all, the woman didn’t look back.

She simply became one with the bicycle, gliding away as effortlessly as when she first appeared, soon smoothly turning a dark corner and disappearing from sight.