Maru stood up as he grabbed the cardigan on his lap. Choi Hyunjin, who was approaching him quickly, stopped about five steps away from him. She looked like she was about to ask for a handshake in a friendly manner, but she suddenly started smiling awkwardly. Maru was puzzled as well. Why would she approach him so amicably? Considering that the first time they met was a week ago during a shoot, she looked strangely kind to him.

“Uhm, you told me I can drop the honorifics with you, right?” Hyunjin asked.

The person who just called him by name and said something about how she found the ‘right person’ suddenly looked rather nervous. Maru smiled for now. Hyunjin would probably be at unease if he did not.

“You’re going to use polite speech with me again? You don’t have to. We said we’ll drop the honorifics last week.”

“But still, after I called you, it sounded somewhat awkward.”

“What’s there to be awkward about? A senior wants to drop the honorifics with a junior.”

“Right?”

Hyunjin approached him by another two steps.

“What are you doing here? Everyone else is going out to eat.”

“I was about to go home since I’m done with my shoot, but the director...