Chapter 14.1

Chapter 14.1

Whenever she muttered to herself, her true feelings unexpectedly burst forth. Due to her immature behavior that didn’t match her intentions, no matter how much he pondered, he couldn’t guess her identity. Eventually, curiosity and frustration overwhelmed his self-control.

“What do you want from me?”

As André smoothly spoke in Korean, Miran, who was about to sip from her glass of soju, was so startled that she dropped the glass. He deftly caught the glass in mid-air as it fell vertically, setting it down on the table with a loud thud, glaring at her.

Miran’s eyes widened, her lips trembling. With a pale face, she managed to squeeze out her voice.

“Ha, you… speak Korean.”

“I understand.”

Silence fell between them for a moment.

“So… you understood everything I said in Korean all this time?”

Miran’s face gradually brightened as she reflected on the words she had casually spoken before. André asked in a low, threatening voice.

“Why are you trying to get me drunk? If your plan involves a serious crime, forget it. It won’t go any further.”

“What… serious crime? What are you talking about?”

Miran replied with a bewildered expression. Even though it was Korean, she couldn’t understand the meaning as if he were speaking English. André, who scrutinized Miran with keen eyes, sighed briefly and asked again.

“What do you want from me?”

Upon hearing this, Miran’s face turned red.

“André? Mr. André? How should I address you?”

“André.”

“I’ll help you, so help me too, André.”

“What, how?”

Miran still found it difficult to shake off the shock that André could speak Korean. Even seeing it in front of her, she couldn’t believe it. His pronunciation was almost perfect as if he had lived in Korea since childhood.

“You speak Korean really well.”

André merely shrugged at Miran’s compliment. Seeing him like that, she hesitated, biting her lower lip. Knowing Korean was a significant advantage for script rehearsals. Finding someone like him elsewhere would be difficult.

Miran reached under the table and took out her bag, pulling out the script and wallet from the transparent folder inside. She took out three green bills from her wallet and quietly placed them next to André’s glass of soju.

His gaze fell on the folded bills, then slowly rose to meet her eyes with a thin, piercing stare.

“It’s my compensation for helping you.”

“What do you need help with?”

Taking a shaky breath, Miran poured the remaining soju into the half-empty glass and drank it in one go. Frowning slightly, she poured herself another drink and pushed the transparent folder towards André on the table.

“This is a movie script. I’m trying to practice the scenes here… Can André play the role of the other person?”

Maybe because of the alcohol, her face turned bright red.

André’s green eyes flickered. He hadn’t expected such a request, so he was quite taken aback.

“An actress?”

“Yes, well, more like an aspiring actress. I got a bit part this time, and I have a shooting schedule set for next week, so I need someone to practice my scenes with.”

Among many people present, seeing her ask for help meant that her scene partner was likely a foreigner. Helping her by reading English lines or correcting her poor English pronunciation… It wouldn’t be easy, but it wasn’t something he couldn’t do.

“Okay.”

André replied calmly, neatly folding 30,000 won and tucking it into his back pocket. He needed to make an international call to New York tomorrow, and he needed money for the embassy trip, so helping her out and receiving fair compensation seemed like the right move.

Being short of money was quite a fresh experience. André’s lips curved faintly. He must have cleared up any doubts about Miran’s identity, and this situation wasn’t entirely uninteresting.

“Thank you!”

Miran clasped her hands together, bowing with a grateful expression. She seemed overly thankful for receiving payment. André took out the script from the transparent folder. The script, stapled together, consisted of just four pages, including the cover.

“A Jopok’s Innocence… Jopok?”

Reading the handwritten title, André raised an eyebrow.

“Jopok. Gangster.”

“Ah…”

Shoterning gangster into ‘Jopok’*.

Koreans enjoyed abbreviating words. Although he had lived here for three years, it wasn’t easy to deduce shortened Korean words.

*The reason for André’s confusion: The unshortened form of ‘gangster’ is 조직폭력배 (Jojikpongnyeokbae), but the script’s title contracted it to 조폭 (Jopok).