Between Us is X (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15
Eun Su raised one hand, signaling Ju Han to stay still for a moment. She quickly sorted through everything that had happened so far in her mind and began formulating a response.
Was this a situation they could back out of? No.
Were there any other solutions? No.
Then…
Lowering her hand, Eun Su turned to look at Ju Han.
“We don’t really have a choice. Since it’s already come to this…”
She continued, her eyes filled with resolve.
“Let’s do it.”
A deep vertical crease instantly formed between Ju Han’s eyebrows.
“I was expecting something clever—you know, since I could practically hear the gears turning in your head all the way over here—but that’s your conclusion? Did your brain break?”
“It’s the best option. Just close your eyes and do it once, okay?”
“No.”
Just then, Jae Rim, who had come outside looking for them, noticed the unusual atmosphere and abruptly froze in place. Completely unaware of Jae Rim’s presence, Ju Han and Eun Su kept talking.
“I said let’s do it.”
“I said no.”
“We’re friends. You can do at least this much.”
“Precisely because we’re friends, we shouldn’t. Who does that kind of thing with their friend?”
What exactly was the manager trying to do, and what was the CEO refusing?
What in the world was this “thing” they absolutely shouldn’t do…?
The snatches of conversation piqued Jae Rim’s curiosity intensely. Without even realizing it, he began inching closer, tilting both his body and ears toward them.
“Are you only thinking about what’s good for yourself? Honestly, isn’t this even better for you?”
“Just because it’s good doesn’t mean I’ll do it. Why are you acting like this?”
“Do you want me to tell you honestly why I’m acting like this?”
After a brief silence, Eun Su added softly,
“I made a mistake back at the hotel. I feel like I need to take responsibility for it.”
Hotel? Mistake? Responsibility?
Jae Rim’s mouth fell open soundlessly. Oblivious to what Jae Rim had just imagined, Ju Han avoided Eun Su’s gaze and replied,
“…You don’t need to take responsibility. If anything, I think I started it.”
“Right? So let’s share the responsibility together.”
“Are you messing with me right now?”
Was the manager messing with the CEO…? No, wait—if she was offering to take responsibility, that wasn’t messing around, was it?
As Jae Rim stood there confused, someone tapped him lightly on the shoulder. Startled, he nearly yelped but quickly clamped a hand over his mouth and spun around.
“What are you doing?”
So Min was staring blankly at Jae Rim, who looked suspiciously flustered to anyone watching.
“Well, I was wondering if your talk with the Litian Staff went well, but it seemed like the CEO and manager were having a serious conversation, so I was just waiting…”
Glancing past Jae Rim’s shoulder toward Ju Han and Eun Su, So Min’s eyes suddenly widened. Turning around to see what had surprised her, Jae Rim also gaped in confusion.
“Huh… what?”
From their angle, Ju Han’s back almost completely blocked Eun Su from view—but no matter how they looked at it, it appeared as if Ju Han was leaning down to kiss Eun Su.
Panicking, Jae Rim quickly grabbed So Min’s sleeve.
“Let’s go wait inside. They’ll let us know when they’re done.”
“Done with what?”
“Talking! Just talking!”
Jae Rim practically dragged So Min inside in a flash. Only then did Ju Han mutter,
“That’s enough.”
He’d just noticed something odd stuck in Eun Su’s hair above her forehead and had asked her to stay still for a second to check it out. It was a tiny flying insect, which immediately flew away as soon as Ju Han lightly touched it.
“What was it? A bug?”
“Yeah.”
“Ughh…!”
Shuddering, Eun Su shook her hair and finally opened her eyes, which she’d been tightly shut until now.
“Why all of a sudden…”
She trailed off mid-sentence. Ju Han’s face was much closer than she’d expected.
Ju Han seemed just as startled—his pupils visibly trembled upon meeting hers. He quickly straightened his posture, restoring their usual distance.
Eun Su finally managed to continue, her voice weak between lips that kept trembling.
“Ah, anyway, about that broadcast…”
“Aaaahhh!”
The moment the word “broadcast” left her lips, Ju Han immediately covered his ears with both hands, turned his body away with an “Aaaahhh!”, and bolted inside with long, swift strides.
“That…!”
Left alone, Eun Su’s face flushed crimson with fury.
Making someone beg this desperately? Who does he think he is—does he really believe everyone’s dying to appear on TV?!
She’d show him—she’d strike first with Moem, pull off something huge, and make sure he got a five-million-won raise!
Under her breath, Eun Su muttered almost inaudibly,
“And I want that much too…”
[This is the timeline separator]“You kids really thought this through well.”
A few days later, Sol Hee arrived personally at Vida with the appearance contracts in hand, her face beaming.
“I’m absolutely determined to nail this program. If it becomes a hit, you two will become global celebrities.”
“Celebrities, my foot.”
Ju Han responded dryly. Unfazed, Sol Hee pressed on.
“You don’t need to sign the contract today right away—just take your time and read it carefully. It wouldn’t hurt to get a lawyer’s advice either. Broadcast network contracts can be pretty complicated and tricky.”
“Since when do we trust advice from TV network folks?”
When even Eun Su grumbled, Sol Hee’s eyes narrowed sharply.
“But still… now that you’ve decided to appear, you’ll need to cooperate appropriately too, right? Why are you both being so difficult?”
“…Sorry. We’re just not mentally prepared yet.”
Eun Su apologized quickly. Truthfully, this wasn’t something to complain about to Sol Hee.
She knew full well they’d essentially dug their own graves and climbed right in—but despite that, she couldn’t shake off a nagging feeling of having been thoroughly tricked.
Especially since this signature would practically guarantee a string of approvals on the exclusive import contract with Litian, yet she couldn’t feel the joy she’d expected, making it all the more frustrating.
Meanwhile, Sol Hee pulled out another sheet of paper.
“Alright, now I need to ask you two a few questions. These days, with the internet as advanced as it is, cast members’ personal details and past histories inevitably get dug up to some extent. And that often leads to all kinds of unexpected scandals.”
Ju Han and Eun Su glanced at the questionnaire-like sheet and simultaneously made faces as if this were utterly ridiculous.
“If you’ve ever gotten into trouble in the past, better confess now. We need to assess whether it’s something we could contain if it ever surfaced after the broadcast.”
“For real? You’ve got to be kidding…”
“We both know everything about each other since we turned twenty, but I don’t know much about your middle and high school days. Any issues back then? Did you ever smoke or drink underage?”
“Nope.”
“School days went smoothly, then?”
“I did decently well in school and never got into trouble.”
Ju Han answered confidently. Not to be outdone, Eun Su lifted her chin proudly.
“Same here.”
Then she casually added,
“But what about those drunken adult mishaps that turned into dark history?”
“Are there any dark stories I don’t already know about?”
Eun Su thought for a moment, then shook her head.
“No. Now that I think about it, you witnessed them all.”
“In that case, it should be fine.”
After checking off a few more items, Sol Hee looked up.
“This is really important—have either of you ever been involved in school bullying?”
“No.”
“Never.”
Ju Han and Eun Su both shook their heads simultaneously. Ju Han suddenly glanced at Eun Su, as if remembering something, and opened his mouth.
“But…”
“Huh? What?”
Sol Hee prompted.
Ju Han looked at Eun Su. The moment their eyes met, Eun Su gave the faintest, almost imperceptible shake of her head. Ju Han immediately replied,
“Nothing. Never mind.”
“Alright. Next—could there possibly be photos of either of you with exes circulating online?”
An awkward silence fell for a moment. Sol Hee cleared her throat.
“Ahem. Well, unless you two plan to go down together, I assume you’ll each be careful about this…”
Eun Su let out an audible scoff, her shoulders shaking slightly.
“Why assume I only had one ex-boyfriend?”
Ju Han’s grip on the paper tightened imperceptibly. Sol Hee quickly interjected,
“I don’t care if it’s one or a hundred—anyone among them who’d cause a scandal if revealed? Like, say, if your ex is currently a famous celebrity.”
“There’s no one like that.”
“What about someone you broke up with so badly they’d jump at any chance to spread rumors and ruin Seon Eun Su’s life?”
“There shouldn’t be…”
Eun Su’s trembling pupils flickered covertly toward Ju Han before snapping back.
“Fine. And I’m assuming there are no cringey posts, hateful comments, or empathy-baiting photos on your social media either?”
“No, none at all.”
“Still, better double-check everything in advance and clean it all up just in case.”
After finishing this thorough vetting, Sol Hee lowered her voice.
“So—when should we say it started?”
“What?”
“Let’s be honest—you two were quite the famous campus couple. I heard some gossip among classmates when people found out you’d broken up after graduation.”
“…”
“To avoid any rumors among your alumni, we should say you really did break up back then and only recently got back together.”
It was definitely something they needed to align on, but neither felt eager to take the lead. Ju Han glanced at Eun Su, who was hesitating, then spoke up.
“We reconnected naturally while working together, and it’s been about a year.”
“That works. But we’ll need an exact date and a proper story—like who confessed to whom, when and where, plus some proof of your relationship… Want me to write a script for you if it’s too tough?”
“No, we’ll just figure something out between us later.”
Ju Han looked at Eun Su as if seeking confirmation. She gave a silent nod.
“Alright, then I’ll email you a file later—it’s a list of pre-interview questions for cast members. I’ll send it ahead of time, so go over it and get your stories straight.”
“Got it.”
“Also, give your staff a heads-up in advance. Since they’ll likely appear during filming, I’ll ask for their cooperation separately later. If anyone’s uncomfortable with being on the broadcast, let me know—I’ll handle it. And don’t forget to keep this under strict embargo until I say otherwise.”
Sol Hee stood up, saying she’d best be off. Ju Han and Eun Su walked her all the way to the showroom.
“Be careful on your way.”
“Yeah, I’ll be in touch.”
After Sol Hee left, only the two of them remained at the entrance. An awkward tension hung in the air.
Eun Su glanced around and asked,
“When should we tell the staff?”
“Maybe bring it up during a team dinner in a few days.”
“Yeah. After having a drink or two…”
“Actually, you and I need to talk first.”
Ju Han turned to Eun Su with an unreadable look in his eyes. For some reason, his gaze was hard to meet—Eun Su instinctively looked away as she replied,
“Ah… yeah.”
“Then let’s grab dinner after work today.”
“Today?”
“If not today, then tomorrow.”
“No, let’s just do it today.”
If it had to be done, better get it over with quickly. Just as Eun Su steeled herself and was about to head inside, she suddenly remembered something.
“Hey, Kim Ju Han.”
“What?”
“If you hated the idea so much, why did you suddenly agree to do it?”
As if he’d expected that exact question, Ju Han answered immediately,
“I didn’t want to hand over a nearly finalized deal to Moem.”
Hearing that, Eun Su looked oddly relieved. Ju Han gave a bitter smile inwardly.
“Anyway, our ultimate goal is for Vida to become even better known and more successful. That’s all I’ll focus on.”
Murmuring half to herself, Eun Su went inside first.
Left alone, Ju Han crossed his arms and fell deep in thought.
When Eun Su had said, “Just close your eyes and do it once,” he’d been utterly speechless—even betrayed.
‘You should hate it too. How can you possibly agree?’
He didn’t know what Sol Hee had told her, but the fact that Eun Su could change her mind so easily clearly meant her past relationship with him held little weight. That realization stung more than he’d expected—downright pathetic, really.
‘Here I am again, acting pathetic. I’m not cool at all… But then, what’s there to be sorry about? I’m not sorry, yet I feel sorry.’
As he struggled to calm his churning emotions, he suddenly recalled overhearing that very conversation.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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