Feeling like asking about the reason to be in Korea was equivalent to urging departure, I asked.

Sia, who opened her round eyes with force as if finally understanding, couldn’t just blurt out “Someone is targeting you,” so she beat around the bush with whatever came to mind.

“Is the treatment style Western?”

Both the speaker and listener had peculiar expressions.

“This isn’t a plastic surgery clinic. You must have confused it with the hospital you usually go to.”

“Wow, I haven’t had plastic surgery though? This is all natural.”

“Of course, and this isn’t a sushi restaurant either?”

Knock knock. A knocking sound flowed into their conversation. It was Yoon Sia’s manager.

Telling her manager who was urging that it was time to go that she would be right there, she got up.

“I thought I’d be happy if I was smart enough to become a doctor, or had a life where I had everything like a rich elder sister, you know?”

The sunglasses she had taken off for a moment covered her eyes again.

“But lately, I don’t think that’s necessarily true.”

As Sia turned to leave, wishing him well, the door she had half-opened was closed again by Se Dong’s hand, who had approached from behind.

A large shadow loomed overhead.

“Hey, all-natural.”

The man in the white coat that suited him well looked down with an expressionless face.

The playful doctor from moments ago was now pressuring her with an indifferent gaze.

Sia, unknowingly tense under that intimidating aura, only relaxed her shoulders when she saw the paper held out in front of her.

“Give me an autograph before you go.”

“…Unbelievable.”

“Then two. No, three.”

Receiving the paper from the grinning doctor showing his neat teeth, Sia brought forward the stiff texture behind it. It was his business card.

Daldal Dental Clinic. Conservative Dentistry Specialist. Oh Se Dong.

“When you feel like telling me why you came to find me, contact me then.”

The eyes behind the sunglasses that were putting away the card moved upwards following the playful voice. Oh Se Dong then pointed to the autograph paper with his chin and smiled broadly.

“I’ll help you once as payment for the autograph.”

* * *

Even the green that colored summer is fading away. Despite the hot autumn sun beating down, the air brushing against the skin was quite cool.

In the early morning, when the rush to work was in full swing.

The ivory high heels passing through the corridor made cheerful sounds as they hit the tiles.

With each step taken at a moderate pace, the cape draped over her shoulders fluttered lightly.

This place, like a hometown for the heart, where both mind and body feel at ease. Kye Da Hae’s workplace.

It was her first time coming to work in nearly a month. The business trip planned for two weeks had expanded in a positive direction, and she had only returned at the end of September.

She had kept her return date secret from Kang Jae Kyung, fearing he might offer to pick her up.

The trip, which had already had its schedule changed twice, had a high possibility of being extended, so that’s why she did it.

She didn’t want to disappoint someone waiting for her.

Da Hae checked her wristwatch and pondered for a moment.

At this time, Director Kang would probably be preparing for the morning meeting, so it might be better to hold off on contacting him for a bit.

Her white face smiled broadly as she imagined the cute plan of surprising him with a visit.

The image of his surprised face was already adorable even before seeing it.

“Good morning.”

“Oh…! Team Leader!”

Faces popping up one by one from behind the partitions greeted her. It was a morning no different from usual.

However, their expressions seemed somewhat strange, so Da Hae tilted her head and returned their greetings with a smile as she entered her office.

The space, unused for a while, felt empty, but the desk without a speck of dust showed the thoughtful care of her team members.

Thinking she should buy coffee instead of this, just as she was about to leave,

Knock knock. With a concise knocking sound, Manager Choi entered.

After deliberately closing the door, she approached hesitantly and smiled awkwardly.

“Um, Team Leader… Are you… okay?”

“About what?”

Manager Choi, peering at the team leader’s face blinking innocently, saw her expression suddenly darken.

It seemed she was unaware of the article about her that had just been published. Having brought it up, she now had to tell her with her own mouth.

Instead of answering, Manager Choi took out her phone and quietly held it out.

Da Hae, finally remembering she had left her phone in the car, thought she should stop by the parking lot while going to buy coffee, and took Manager Choi’s phone.

As her gaze lowered, wondering what this was about. And then.

“…”

The provocative headline on the screen made her breath stop.

The dark brown eyes reading the article on the screen were unnervingly calm.

As if it was breaking news posted in a hurry, the article of just a couple of lines was concise in its content.

Her eyes lingered for a long time on the photo of a man and woman, so heavily pixelated it looked rather sensational.

Amidst comments filled with all sorts of profanity, her hesitant finger hovered over a link shared as the address of the original photo. When she pressed it, a new window opened to an anonymous community board.

The logo of a luxury hotel, a snow-white bed, features clearly visible even under the mood lighting.

A man lying leisurely with the blanket half-covering him, the CEO of Sammyeong Entertainment and major shareholder of Sammyung Group. The married man Kang Jae Kyung.

The woman overlapping him, the love interest of the Sammyung Group’s second son. The rising star and exclusive model for Youngson Trading, Yoon Sia.

For a moment, the sense of distance from the screen became dizzyingly far.

As if boasting the majesty of the original, the image quality was different from the article’s photo from the start. Reactions poured in in real-time.

A dirty love scandal of a chaebol family. A shameless man who snatched his brother’s woman. The embarrassing true face of a major corporation’s head.

Of course, there were sneers saying that as rumored, his physique was good, and that’s why he could seduce young and successful women.

Comments lined up with explicit expressions saying that Yoon Sia’s meteoric rise was only possible thanks to hefty sponsorship.

His wife received a flood of sympathy for her husband’s affair with the group’s exclusive model.

As the abandoned chaebol third-generation princess and the lady of misfortune.

“…Team… Leader?”

“Ah, um… I left my phone behind. I’ll go to the parking lot for a bit.”

Da Hae smiled a little instead of saying more.

Her two legs, which had left the office cutting through the unsettled atmosphere, only lost strength after getting into her parked car.

The phone lying as pitifully as its owner felt unusually heavy today.

She pressed one of the rampant articles.

Unlike Kang Jae Kyung, who completely denied the scandal and warned of strong action against malicious gossip spreaders, Yoon Sia’s agency side had no official statement so far, it said.

This was why public opinion was flowing unfavorably for Kang Jae Kyung’s side.

Without any consideration for the image he had built up until now, the merciless article viciously tore into him.

Saying he was trying to back out now after being caught playing with a child, and asking what kind of intimidation the promising actress must be under to not even be able to make an official statement and hide.

There’s no way such a ridiculous article could be true.

Kang Jae Kyung is not that kind of person.

Although the timing of it breaking just as she returned to the country showed its clear intent, at this moment, Da Hae was not in a stable enough state to consider such things.

Taking a deep breath, steadying her breath and steadying it again, Da Hae just stared at the phone that had been vibrating non-stop since she got in the car.

The caller was Kang Jae Kyung.

When that vibration ended, a missed call history appeared on the screen.

Oh Se Dong 1 call, Bae Jung Soon 1 call, Kang Jae Kyung 23 calls. There were also several calls from unknown numbers.

Both corners of her eyes slowly drooped.

The gray concrete wall visible through the front window resembled her state of mind. Dark and gloomy.

Her hand, barely gathering strength, grasped the phone.

Zing, a timely message from Kim Yeon Woo arrived.

[Oh my, how dreadful… −Kim Yeon Woo− ]

Her devotion in attaching the article link and even captured photos was touching.

As she was skimming past the follow-up message saying that seeing him do this while his wife was away on a business trip shows Director Kang is no different from other men.

Zing, the phone vibrated briefly once more. This one she couldn’t easily skip.

[I told you, didn’t I? That an unchanging relationship is really difficult. −Kang Pil Seung− ]

He had said his girlfriend seemed to have changed.

He wondered if her suddenly becoming cold over a few days meant there might be someone else. Then he had asked if she shared phone passwords with Kang Jae Kyung.

The advice to be suspicious once in a while, the concern that didn’t seem like concern attached to the end of the worries that weren’t worries. She had let it all go in one ear and out the other.

…What could it be. For Da Hae, it was an incomprehensible situation.

Given that the relationship between brothers was not good, using his girlfriend to do something like this was beyond imagination.

But she didn’t want to think that Kang Jae Kyung had seduced his younger brother’s lover either.

Her head, with its rational thinking function blurred, was fiercely entangled with all sorts of speculations.

Meanwhile, the phone vibrated for a long time.

Her fingertip, hesitating for a moment, soon slid the screen in the direction to receive the call.