The western sky was turning red.

Pink had prepared boiled eggs and chicken breast as a special treat, but it seemed she wouldn’t come today. Da Jung looked out beyond the terrace just in case, but there was no sign.

She knew the cat had its own routine and wouldn’t visit more than once a day.

What kind of feelings were behind her effort to prepare something, knowing it wouldn’t come? It would be quite selfish to feel disappointed after waiting arbitrarily when it didn’t show up.

Peeling and eating a boiled egg, she leaned back on the sofa with the best view outside. The western sky was turning red, and this was her first meal of the day.

She thought about the real estate registry.

From the moment she decided to go on the trip until the day she arrived, she went over the events step by step. How she became entangled with Lee Jae Ho, whom she met as if by magic.

It all seemed coincidental, but when she started to doubt, everything became suspicious.

She tried not to make hasty assumptions, but her thoughts were hard to control. Had he experienced such encounters often?

What was the real purpose of buying this pension?

There might have been an unavoidable reason why he couldn’t mention being the building owner. Da Jung constantly tried to think of reasons on his behalf. But nothing came to mind.

She held her trembling hands and took a deep breath. As she did so, her eyes reddened. She mustered the courage to call, but the man didn’t answer.

**

“Elder brother!”

As Jae Ho, finished with the shoot, was leaving the studio, someone grabbed his arm. Noticing Jae Ho’s brow slightly furrowing, Byung Hoon quickly intervened.

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh my.”

The woman abruptly let go of his arm. It was Oh Chae Won.

Giving Byung Hoon a cold look, Oh Chae Won quickly changed her expression, considering the gazes of the staff remaining in the studio. She smiled prettily, her eyes forming crescents, and offered an apology.

“Why are you apologizing, Manager? I should be sorry. I made a mistake because I was so happy to see him.”

Then she smiled brightly at Jae Ho.

“Elder brother. It’s been so long. I’ve been waiting to say hello.”

Jae Ho stared at Oh Chae Won with indifferent eyes and replied with a short “Mm.” He then checked the watch on his wrist. It was an obvious sign that his schedule was busy, but Oh Chae Won deliberately ignored it.

“How come we meet here? I had a photo shoot nearby. I’m so glad. I was going to contact you anyway.”

“Ms. Oh Chae Won, I’m sorry, but he has a busy schedule today…”

“There’s talk about producing season 2. You’ve heard, right?”

Oh Chae Won interrupted Byung Hoon, raising her voice slightly. Some staff members turned to look at them. Since she was openly talking about work, it would look bad to completely ignore her, so Jae Ho finally turned to face Oh Chae Won.

“Byung Hoon, load the luggage in the car first.”

Oh Chae Won smiled.

“I already gave my okay a while ago, but there’s been no response from Season Entertainment. I can’t even schedule other work because of it. Let’s talk about work for a moment.”

“…”

“There’s a cafe on the first floor of the building. It won’t take long.”

“…”

Jae Ho spoke briefly in a monotone voice.

“Let’s do it here.”

Oh Chae Won opened her eyes wide.

“But it’s dusty here as they’re cleaning up. Why here?”

Jae Ho narrowed his eyes slightly and raised his hand to brush his eyebrow a couple of times. He was quite annoyed and bothered. He raised his eyebrow slightly and spoke curtly, as if spitting out the words.

“I have no intention of doing season 2. If that’s what you want to talk about, this is the end of it.”

“W-wait a moment. Elder brother!”

Oh Chae Won grabbed his arm again. Jae Ho’s gaze as he looked down at his arm was cold. Oh Chae Won quickly let go and pressed the elevator button.

“Actually, I’ve already placed an order. Please? Just 10 minutes.”

**

He was on edge with an inexplicable anxiety.

The interview ended later than expected, so he couldn’t answer Da Jung’s call, and when he called back, she didn’t answer. Once he arrived in Pyeongchang-dong, he wouldn’t have a chance to call all evening.

Despite telling her that communication might be difficult, he was worried.

It had been a while since he refused season 2, so why didn’t Oh Chae Won know?

It seemed the production company had kept it quiet, hoping to persuade him one more time. He suddenly felt tired. Because of such an indecisive attitude, Oh Chae Won, who knew nothing, couldn’t make a decision even if she got a casting offer she liked.

He thought it would be better for her if he clearly conveyed his intentions.

“It seems the production company didn’t inform you.”

“No, before that. What have you been up to lately, elder brother? Are you just resting after finishing the movie?”

“I’ve already notified them that I have no intention of doing season 2. Keep that in mind and take any good casting offers that come your way.”

“Why? Our show was quite popular. The public’s expectations are really high. Don’t be like that, do it with me.”

“…”

“Hm? You don’t have any particular schedules right now, right? The viewers were already quite disappointed with the ending. Think about it again.”

Oh Chae Won spoke quickly, smiling a bit excessively. But Jae Ho just checked the time again without smiling back.

“Elder brother, you’re a person with a lot of ambition for acting. It’s not easy to find another good romance drama like ‘I Love You from That Time’. You know that better, right? I think you’re just tired now, but if you think about it again, you’ll have to do it…”

“No. Even if I think about it more, it’s the same.”

Jae Ho said with a subdued look.

“Chae Won.”

Jae Ho, who had been tapping the table with his fingers as if bored, straightened his clothes.

“I don’t care about acting anymore.”

There was something more important in life now.

Would Da Jung be jealous of only Oh Chae Won? She would eventually be bothered by romances with other actresses too, so for her sake, he wouldn’t mind never filming a romance again for the rest of his life.

He was already planning to tell the CEO that he would only consider action or noir scripts from now on.

“So don’t try any harder.”

He stood up. Byung Hoon, who had been standing back, quickly approached. As Jae Ho was passing by Oh Chae Won’s side indifferently, he suddenly stopped and lowered his gaze slightly.

“Ah, one moment.”

Oh Chae Won looked up at Jae Ho with a last hope. But the black eyes that met her gaze were just indifferent.

“The ‘elder brother’ way of addressing me is a bit uncomfortable. Were we ever close enough to call each other so casually?”

His voice was of unfathomable depth. Oh Chae Won slightly shrunk her shoulders, overwhelmed by his aura.

“Let’s stick with ‘senior’. If we happen to meet again.”

Jae Ho urged an answer with his eyes.

“…Yes.”

“Good. I’ll be cheering for you.”

Now he really had no time. If he wanted to keep his grandfather’s request to arrive earlier than his uncle’s family, he had to leave quickly. Jae Ho headed to the underground parking lot with Byung Hoon without looking back.

As he was about to get into the van, the door of a black sedan parked nearby opened, and a man got out. It was Manager Jung. He seemed to have arrived early to match the end of Jae Ho’s filming schedule.

“I’ll take you from here.”

He bowed slightly in greeting. Jae Ho approached and gave him a light hug. He had been thinking that the van might be a bit uncomfortable for the Pyeongchang-dong affair, which was unrelated to his acting schedule.

“How did you come when I didn’t contact you?”

“I thought you might be uncomfortable coming in the van.”

He was someone who sometimes surprisingly knew everything about Jae Ho.

“Manager, then I’ll leave our hyung to you!”

The two cars left the parking lot and disappeared in different directions. It was around the time when the city’s neon signs were deepening.

**

Who was ? What kind of person are you?

The uninhibited words and actions, the naturally intense skinship that flowed like water. Yoon Da Jung, who had been busy following along without much resistance to all of that, was she an easy woman who was fun to play with?

Assuming the contents of the document envelope were true, since when did Lee Jae Ho know Yoon Da Jung? She often followed him around to various locations, but there were many such fans, and she didn’t think she had a particularly noticeable face. In the end, all the thoughts didn’t make sense and kept returning to square one.

It doesn’t make sense.

The fact that Lee Jae Ho was the owner of this pension remained unchanged. And it became his property just a week before Da Jung came down here, which was three days after she posted on the cafe.

Even after thinking about it all day, Da Jung didn’t know how to interpret this fact.

In the end, she thought everything might be a wild guess. The idea that Lee Jae Ho had planned a meeting disguised as a coincidence just to easily enjoy himself with a woman. That seemed too much like a makjang drama plot.

The method itself wasn’t like him.

Then her thoughts hit a wall again. Not like him? How much did I really know about him?

They hadn’t talked much about personal matters even after spending several weeks together. How was his family, did he have siblings, which school did he graduate from, how did he live before becoming an actor?

It was a night when she became curious about the stories of his background, which she hadn’t thought were important before.

Da Jung scanned the pension with heavy eyelids. The interior, decorated more elaborately than necessary, caught her eye. A dryer, a clothing care system, even a dishwasher were arranged in top-of-the-line models. Her gaze lingered on the high-end appliances that were rare to find in a pension.

Now that she thought about it, these too were not common. What pension has a dishwasher? It’s not even a villa.

The document envelope also seemed to have ulterior motives. Who is this person? Is it really a woman he met before?

She was also curious about this person’s hidden intentions. Is it right that they’re advising me for my sake? It was hard to believe that someone would care so much for a complete stranger. It made more sense to think they were planning something to get back with Lee Jae Ho themselves.

Or they could really be a journalist…

She recalled the market alley where he walked around smiling without a care, the breakwater they visited with fishing rods. Had Lee Jae Ho worn a mask then? Had she been too careless because it was the countryside?

Da Jung put the envelope deep inside her bag.

She didn’t understand anything. So she planned not to look at it again. Even if it turned out that Lee Jae Ho had played with her, she didn’t know what to do about it for now.

She heard the sound of waves.

Her heart was beating uncontrollably fast.

After locking up more carefully than usual, Da Jung turned off the lights early. Her mind was in chaos. Then the phone rang again. It was Lee Jae Ho.

Zing. Zing. During the long, regular vibration, Da Jung just stared at his three-character name over and over. The man who had existed in her fantasy finally walked out and turned her whole reality upside down, ultimately taking everything from her.

She had fallen in love.

Even though she had prepared herself sufficiently, it had happened beyond her preparation. The moment she realized this feeling, Da Jung fell deeply.