Passing Strangers

Chapter VII

The groggy Hyun Bin suddenly became snappy and alert. All thanks to my dad who was so fond of him. They literally spent the entire day together – fixing my dad's vintage car collections, cleaning my dad's storage, playing pool, talking about business, mandatory service, music and stuff, fishing, and everything in between.

I never thought my dad would like him as much. What's not to like about him? He's kind, polite, good looking and capable of doing anything. Looking at him, I realized how he resembles my father in his youth. They got the same facial features and built, not to mention the dimples. They also have the same interests too. Maybe the similarities between them made me love Hyun Bin more.

I spent the day helping my mother with the household chores while my sister was looking after her baby. My mom's home cooked meals were the best. It was pleasing to see my loved ones gathering around the table. If not for the demands of my work as an actress, I would have probably settled down in the countryside with my parents.

It was past dinner time when my sister's husband, Hyun Bin and my dad got home from fishing. They wrapped up their long hard day with some beer. We, girls, gladly joined them.

"You should come home more often, Eon Jin."

"You know I just can't, dad. My work has been so demanding lately." I could only visit my hometown twice or thrice a year at most. My parents would usually be the ones to visit me in Seoul.

"Tae Pyung, you should stop my daughter from working so hard. It's not like she'll ever lose her fortunes when she stops working," My dad has been asking me to take some time off with my acting. I had been hospitalized for a couple of times due to over fatigue and my dad really hated that I least prioritize my health.

"You know how much I love acting dad," I reasoned out.

"Yeah, I know but you've been into acting all your life. Maybe it's time for you to do something else for a change. This is your chance, now that you're married."

"I was actually planning to just let her work in our company and do some office work. She could just manage Vast, go to the office at 8 and leave by 5pm. You know, the usual employee time. Though we really haven't talked about it yet, I think that would be less work for her," Bin said in between his beer sips.

Office work. Where did that come from?

I was certain that we already talked about my work and we both agreed that I would refuse movie and drama projects for a while. But the whole 'managing Vast Entertainment idea' was never in the plan. Acting has been my life since can't remember when. He should know that.

"Oh really? I think it's better for her to really just manage your company now, doing all the paper works," my dad seemed to like the idea. My mom, too.

"But I still have a 5-year contract with my current agency. I cannot just do that. And you know my passion for acting... Managing his own company is not my thing."

"We'll talk about this maybe at home, honey," he squeezed my hand. The tension was rising between me and Hyun Bin. I was certain that he was feeling what I was feeling.

It shouldn't be a big deal but it felt like he was acting like he could make decisions without my consent. I've been so willing to compromise and meet him halfway but I just thought that opening it up in front of my parents where I'll be caught off guard was really a taboo.

Or maybe, I was just adjusting to this married life. I'm really not used to the idea that I have someone who'll make decisions for me.

I slept without talking further to him.

He received a phone call from his secretary. Our three-day vacation in Daegu was shortened into two because of an emergency shareholders meeting of Vast. We had to leave first thing in the morning the following day.