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Chapter 314 - Autumn (15)
Chapter 314: Autumn (15)
Translator: Dreamscribe
The first time Kang Woojin noticed the plump woman holding a knife was, in fact, almost by chance. Woojin, standing close to the entrance of the massive studio dome, had put on his tuxedo costume, and around him were a mix of his own stylist team and foreign staff members.
They had gathered to do his hair and makeup.
Up until that moment, Kang Woojin hadn’t thought much of it. He was simply maintaining his poker face while secretly marveling inside.
‘Wow- how many people are gathered here just for my makeup?? If someone saw this, they’d think I was a Hollywood star.’
Woojin’s stylist team alone had 5 members, while the foreign team had 7. Soon after Kang Woojin’s makeup was finished and he was adjusting his tuxedo, Cara, who had been practicing choreography with backup dancers, stepped into the center of the dome. That’s when the foreign makeup team around Woojin rushed towards her.
In the midst of this, Kang Woojin noticed something.
‘Huh?’
The plump woman in the foreign makeup team was holding something strange. Of course, he had only caught it by chance while glancing at them rushing off. It was something silver.
It was a knife.
He didn’t know when she had taken it out, but the plump foreign woman was definitely holding a knife. At that moment, Kang Woojin furrowed his brows as he watched them run.
‘Wait a minute, was she holding a knife before?’
That woman had been close to Kang Woojin just a few minutes ago. Even though she hadn’t left a deep impression, she definitely wasn’t holding a knife earlier. What’s going on? Does makeup require a knife too? Woojin was puzzled. His own team had never used a knife.
‘It looks like the size of a small kitchen knife.’
Looking at the plump woman now about five steps away, Woojin felt a sense of disbelief. Well, in Hollywood, there could be equipment he didn’t know about, right? He might have just seen it wrong. But what completely overturned Kang Woojin’s sense of relief was—
“!!”
—the smile on the face of the plump woman who was running. From here, Woojin didn’t hesitate for even a second.
-Wham!
Kang Woojin suddenly sprinted. It didn’t matter what had kicked in—whether it was ‘martial arts’ or ‘CQC’—what mattered was that Woojin could only see the plump woman lunging towards Miley Cara. The shouts from his team members echoed from behind.
“Huh?! Oppa! Where are you going?!”
“Woojin oppa!!”
Soon, the screams of the foreign staff running alongside the plump woman mixed in.
“Eek!!”
They must have noticed the knife in the plump woman’s hand.
‘Fuck! I’m late!’
Kang Woojin, dressed in his tuxedo, ran with a singular focus. Like a runaway train. The entire studio dome was chaotic.
‘Telling someone won’t help—I need to get there first!!’
Even if he told someone, they might not believe him. Right now, Kang Woojin arriving first to control the situation was the best option. This was truly a do-or-die moment.
Seven steps, five steps, three steps.
By the time the plump woman reached the blonde Cara, she was raising her knife, and Miley Cara was only just opening her eyes. The scene played out in slow motion for the sprinting Kang Woojin.
Thanks to his vision and judgment, courtesy of ‘CQC’.
Kang Woojin quickly finished his calculation. He needed to not only subdue the woman but also get her away from Cara. He was almost there. Just close enough to hear the plump woman’s low whisper in English as it reached Woojin’s ears.
“Goodbye, Miley Cara.”
What bullshit.
In an instant, Kang Woojin was upon the woman. He lifted his leg. The target: her side. He had to control his strength. If he kicked too hard, she could crash into someone nearby. There were staff members around. He needed just the right distance to knock her away from Cara and immediately subdue her. Woojin relaxed his leg halfway.
-Whoosh!!
The knife was about to stab down towards Cara. The plump woman let out a choking sound and fell forward a step away. Woojin’s long leg had swept past in front of Cara. Cara’s blue eyes widened, following Woojin’s movement.
“……Huh?”
A face that somehow exuded both indifference and aggression. However, Kang Woojin didn’t spare Cara even a glance.
-Thud!
He immediately took his next step. Brushing past Miley Cara, he muttered a short but firm command.
“Alert the guards.”
Then, Kang Woojin quickly closed the distance between himself and the plump woman sprawled just two steps away. The woman let out a short groan, scrunching her face in pain.
“Kyaak!”
She gritted her teeth and jerked her head up. She couldn’t quite grasp what had happened. Why did I just go flying? That was the look on her face. At the same time, Cara’s sharp voice echoed through the space.
“Here!! Over here!!!”
Only now did the many people in the studio dome turn their attention toward Cara. Dozens of backup dancers, staff members, and even the large-bodied guards.
“Cara? What’s going on over there?”
“Hey, hey!! Move!”
“Miley!!!!”
A dozen or so startled guards began to dash over. Despite their bulky frames, they moved quickly, and from all around, screams and shouts started to ring out. In an instant, the dome transformed into a space filled with terror. Confusion and panic spread everywhere.
But only one person—
—swoosh.
Kang Woojin, standing before the fallen plump woman, remained—
“……”
—calm and cold. There was no tension in Woojin’s eyes as he looked down at the woman. The plump woman trembled slightly and suddenly sprang to her feet. Her eyes were filled with rage and madness. She knew she had failed.
‘Damn it!! I couldn’t stab Miley Cara!!!’
The woman’s eyes darted around. If she couldn’t get to Cara, she had to stab someone—anyone. If not, she felt like she would lose her mind. Time was running out. Once those bulky guards running her way reached her, she wouldn’t be able to do anything. The problem was the Asian man standing right in front of her. Because of this bastard, she couldn’t move hastily. The distance was too close.
Soon, the woman’s thoughts twisted.
“Fine, then I’ll just stab you!!!”
Screaming furiously, the plump woman charged at the Asian man. No, she lunged at the still, silent Kang Woojin. She thought she got lucky when he kicked her away, believing his body must have stiffened from shock. You were surprised too, right? Weren’t you?
She had picked the wrong opponent. Very wrong.
If possible, Woojin had no intention of touching the woman. This woman—or rather, this criminal—was unpredictable. You never knew what a provoked criminal might do. But with her charging like that, there was no choice. Honestly, subduing this woman was nothing for Kang Woojin.
—swoosh.
Woojin lowered his gaze. The woman didn’t even know how to properly hold a knife. If she stabbed like that, her own hand would get torn up more than her opponent. Does that matter? The woman thrust the knife straight toward Kang Woojin. Woojin easily dodged it, sidestepping, then grabbed her wrist. Pulling her in, he tripped her with his leg. The plump woman collapsed helplessly.
However—
—swoosh.
Kang Woojin did not let go of her wrist. The woman dangled awkwardly, suspended by her arm. She screamed a bizarre shriek and tried to stand up, but Woojin yanked her wrist forward. Her face and stomach dragged against the floor. Without hesitation, Woojin pressed her wrist down to the ground and pinned her hand under his foot.
“Krrrk!!”
The knife slipped from the hand of the struggling woman. Woojin kicked the knife aside without a second thought. Subdue complete. Actually, can this even be called subduing? In a way, it felt as though the woman was dancing according to Woojin’s intent, and the expressionless Kang Woojin simply stared down at the trembling woman, calm and cold.
In that brief moment, Cara, who had witnessed everything, covered her mouth with both hands.
‘……Oh my God.’
The strange thing was that Cara’s gaze was fixed solely on Kang Woojin, and her heart was pounding wildly. While the recent incident was certainly a factor, half of it felt like it was somehow because of Kang Woojin.
The noisy studio dome suddenly grew a bit quieter.
And then—
-Wham!!
A dozen guards quickly restrained the plump woman sprawled on the ground.
Afterwards.
After the woman who had attacked Cara was restrained, the massive studio dome had turned into complete chaos. Half of the hundred or so staff members were either screaming or shouting, while the other half surrounded Miley Cara, checking on her. The dozens of people on Cara’s team were no different.
They were all focused on making sure Miley Cara was alright.
As her main manager, Jonathan, checked on her physical and mental state, he shouted to those around him.
“Did someone call the police?! When the hell are they getting here?!”
As expected, amidst the chaos, most people were agitated. Emotionally, that is. The dome was filled with screams as people yelled at the top of their lungs. Meanwhile, Cara’s manager Jonathan and the staff were looking for Kang Woojin. He stood near the bound, plump woman with an indifferent expression. Choi Sung-gun and Woojin’s team were already sticking to him, bombarding him with worried questions, while Jonathan and dozens of staff members expressed their gratitude to Woojin.
Even so, the atmosphere was still frantic.
The staff appeared as if their souls had been drained from them. After all, if not for Kang Woojin, Cara would have been in serious danger, so their reaction was understandable. On the other hand, Woojin remained calm. Well, it was more like he was pretending to be calm, with a bit of bravado mixed in. On the surface, he had his poker face on, but inside, he was feeling immense relief.
‘Wo—seriously, that was so fucking close! This is crazy for real.’
Subduing the woman hadn’t been particularly difficult, but seeing such an absurd situation unfold right before his eyes was still unsettling.
At the same time, he felt a bit of disdain towards Hollywood.
‘Is terrorism in Hollywood just a normal, everyday thing or what??’
Woojin felt a chill at the mere thought of what might have happened if he hadn’t noticed in time. Lowering his gaze, Woojin looked at the plump woman being pinned down by the massive guards. The woman was squirming, letting out strange groans. There was even some foam forming at her mouth. What gave him goosebumps was how the woman, with madness in her eyes, was still glaring at Miley Cara.
Internally, Kang Woojin cursed.
‘Is she seriously a lunatic?’
At this point, the massive guards who were restraining the woman kept glancing at Woojin.
‘That movement just now—what was that? It was fast and precise. No unnecessary motions.’
‘It didn’t seem like a coincidence. He’s definitely learned something.’
‘Without a second’s hesitation… He could’ve been in danger himself. So he wasn’t worried about that at all?’
Of course, Miley Cara, surrounded by numerous staff members, was also staring at Kang Woojin.
“……”
Why is my heart still racing? She had a peculiar expression on her face.
Just then—
—screech!
L.A. police cars arrived aggressively at the front of the studio dome. Watching them, Woojin couldn’t help but make a pure observation. Naturally, it was internal.
‘Whoa—this looks just like a movie.’
About two hours later. Inside a large van.
Among the numerous cars parked in the external lot in front of the studio dome, Miley Cara was sitting alone inside an unusually tall and spacious van.
“……”
Her makeup had faded, and her previously tied-up blonde hair was now loose. Her expression was dark. No, it was more like she was in a state of shock. She always had a somewhat cold atmosphere, but now it felt even more intense. She was likely lost in deep thought.
As she sat there in a daze, the moment when she was almost attacked earlier flashed through her mind.
The woman’s creepy smile and voice, the knife that had almost lodged itself somewhere in her body, her own frozen self, unable to do anything. The more she replayed it, the more terrifying the scene became. Feeling a bit nauseous, Cara closed her eyes.
“Whew-”
It wouldn’t have been surprising if she experienced mental issues after something like that. No matter how often incidents like this happen throughout Hollywood, seeing it in the news and experiencing it firsthand were worlds apart. Even if she took a few months off, no one would blame her.
But Cara was a professional.
‘Get a grip. If you break down here, you’ll be haunted by this for the rest of your life.’
Miley Cara, who had maintained her position at the top in Hollywood for over a decade as a singer and actress. Though this was her first time facing such a situation, she had grown up seeing all kinds of things. She had fought her way to the top, enduring everything along the way. Cara judged that if she crumbled here, everything would be in vain.
‘I’m scared, but I have to endure. I have to overcome this.’
She had been hurt by paparazzis, had accidents during filming, had been stalked, and had even suffered from absurd rumors. But Cara had always maintained her mental strength, continuing to walk her path with resilience.
This incident would pass as well.
It would just be filed away as another grotesque event. Cara, who had closed her eyes, slowly opened her eyelids. Her deep blue eyes were revealed, still tinged with anxiety, but somewhat calmer now. She took another deep breath, trying to steady her mind.
At this moment.
—knock knock, click.
The back door of the van opened, and Cara’s main manager, Jonathan, who had a buzz cut, appeared. His face was full of concern.
“Cara, are you okay?”
Cara, now much calmer, ran her fingers through her blonde hair and nodded.
“Yeah.”
“I’ve scheduled the psychiatrist for tomorrow morning like we discussed.”
“Thank you.”
“…I’m sorry. This is mostly my fault. I couldn’t stop it, and I should have checked things more thoroughly beforehand.”
Jonathan was blaming himself. However, Cara didn’t reproach him.
“Don’t be like that, it’s fine. It’s no one’s fault. There’s no need for everything to fall apart because of that one woman. What happened just happened, and we just need to be more careful moving forward.”
Jonathan, who was standing outside the van, looked at Cara inside the vehicle, but then suddenly turned his head. He sensed someone approaching. From the right, a black-haired man was walking toward them. It was Kang Woojin. Since Cara had requested to speak with him, Jonathan quietly stepped aside.
Of course.
“Mr. Kang Woojin.”
As Kang Woojin passed by, Jonathan extended his hand in gratitude.
“Thank you very much.”
“……”
Woojin, with a silent expression, shook his hand and then moved inside the van where Cara was seated.
-Click!
As soon as the door closed, a brief silence filled the interior.
“……”
“……”
It was Miley Cara who broke the silence first. She made eye contact with the quiet Kang Woojin and spoke solemnly.
“I owe you a debt, and quite a large one at that.”
****
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