Past 6 PM, the office was still quite bright due to the extended summer daylight.

“So we barely managed to postpone the milk commercial by 3 days, using the actor’s health issue as an excuse. But the problem is whether the blemishes on Se Kyung’s face will subside in 3 days.”

Seated at his desk, Yoo Gun spun the pen between his fingers as he received the report from Secretary Ahn standing before him.

Wang Se Kyung, an actress under EM Entertainment.

With her petite stature, cute looks, and god-given acting skills, she consistently received public love as the first star Yoo Gun personally scouted and nurtured at EM Entertainment.

However, there was one issue with her, who had only taken on cute and innocent roles.

“So she drank alcohol the night before the commercial shoot?”

“…Se Kyung says she only had one drink two nights ago.”

She loved alcohol, but whenever she drank, her face would break out in acne.

Once they appeared, they wouldn’t subside easily, so the company had to make excuses each time to maintain her image until she recovered her condition.

Though immensely disappointed in her for drinking despite knowing her condition, he was responsible for managing her activities without issues at least until her contract expired.

Yoo Gun let out a long sigh, leaning back in his chair as he spoke.

“Try calling her.”

“She sent a text earlier saying she’s turning off her phone for three hours. Obviously because she knows she’ll get scolded by the CEO.”

Seeing Yoo Gun’s brow furrow, Secretary Ahn cautiously continued.

“Se Kyung must be upset too. Having such sensitive skin at such an inconvenient time.”

“The problem isn’t her skin, it’s her attitude. How could she drink knowing full well what would happen?”

At the sharp criticism, Secretary Ahn quietly bit his lip.

“Shall we look into dermatology clinics again? This time, we could get a thorough promise from the hospital staff to avoid any rumors.”

“The one we need a thorough promise from isn’t the hospital staff, it’s Wang Se Kyung.”

“Ah… yes, that’s right.”

Yoo Gun set down the pen he had been idly twirling on the desk with a sharp tap.

As the one who had to resolve this situation regardless, he needed to calmly consider alternatives.

First, they needed to start treatment quickly since time was short, and connect with a trustworthy hospital given the importance of image for a star.

A trustworthy hospital…

As he was considering asking his psychiatrist friend Jung Hyun to connect him with a reliable dermatologist, Chae Won came to mind.

After pondering for a moment, Yoo Gun immediately picked up his phone.

If Chae Won was amenable, it would be quite a good choice in terms of distance from the actress’s residence, as well as trust and skill.

Before even one ring could be heard, the call connected with tremendous noise.

– What’s this? Oh? Didn’t it disconnect? Hello?

Yoo Gun double-checked the screen to confirm it was Chae Won’s number and asked with a puzzled expression.

“I called Kim Chae Won.”

– Wow! It’s the same name as that person from before!

The suddenly excited woman continued speaking.

– You’re the boyfriend of our Dr. Kim who came to the hospital before, right? I’m the nurse who guided you then!

As he was trying to figure out why a nurse was answering instead of Chae Won and giving such effusive greetings, he heard from the excited woman that they were currently at a work dinner.

– Come over, okay? Our doctor is a bit drunk now and needs a guardian, okay?

Does that mean she’s drunk enough to have someone else answer her phone?

He wanted to ask about Chae Won’s condition, but the woman with a dolphin-like ultrasonic tone kept insisting he come and didn’t give him a chance to speak.

– Eun Ji, stop it. How much are you going to regret this tomorrow? Chae Won will be angry.

The voice that suddenly cut in was male.

Yoo Gun’s gaze slowly lifted as he listened.

A work dinner, so everyone gathered must be employees who interact with Chae Won daily… but were there male employees?

“Where are you?”

The woman who was about to end the call happily exclaimed again at Yoo Gun’s words before giving the location.

‘Chae Won will be angry.’

For coworkers, he seems to call her name rather affectionately.

Trying to recall if there were any male employees at that hospital, he vaguely remembered seeing someone in a doctor’s coat, but hadn’t paid close attention.

Yoo Gun stared at the ended call for a moment before standing up and grabbing his jacket.

Secretary Ahn, who had been watching, asked with a dumbfounded expression.

“CEO, where are you going?”

“Home.”

“What? At this hour?”

As he was about to head out the door, he turned back, and Secretary Ahn chuckled as if he knew it.

“CEO, you’re such a joker.”

But when he only grabbed the car keys from the desk and left again, Secretary Ahn just blinked, his smiling face frozen.

The one who had been stiff as if broken slowly tilted his head.

“Why’s he acting like this lately? The workaholic.”

His symptoms were as follows:

Suddenly chuckling while working.

Staring intently at his phone screen, then chuckling.

Leaving work precisely at 6 PM.

Not coming to work on weekends.

It’s been a while since seeing the fierce gaze that used to occasionally appear.

“Is he sick?”

Or is he dating?

After pondering deeply, Secretary Ahn shook his head vigorously, remembering how Yoo Gun used to firmly draw the line even with approaches from considerably beautiful stars.

“Why is he acting so scary?”

It’s not good for a person to change so drastically.

Secretary Ahn shook his head repeatedly and steeled his resolve, thinking he needed to be even more alert in times like these.

*

Jae Min was shaking his leg as he stared at his phone.

[What are you doing?]

She clearly read it, but Hee Joo wasn’t replying.

“Why isn’t she answering…?”

No reply came no matter how long he waited.

This had never happened even once in their 5 years of marriage.

As he pondered various possibilities – had she fallen asleep, or started work and couldn’t respond – he soon came to a conclusion.

“Ah!”

As if he finally understood, he clapped his hands.

“She’s purposely not replying? To get my attention.”

Jae Min snickered.

“This girl is really trying. Did she get some coaching somewhere on not replying right away? Huh?”

Jae Min chuckled, finding her efforts cute.

“Anyway, you always get caught like this, Kim Hee Joo. But I’m not so easy, you know.”

She must be staring at her phone, waiting eagerly?

This, this. Should I send another text or not?

As Jae Min was grinning, a message alert suddenly sounded and he immediately straightened up and grabbed his phone.

[Honey, what are you doing? – Ro Na – ]

He thought it was Hee Joo who couldn’t resist contacting him, but it was a message from Ro Na.

Seeing her message, Jae Min let out a deep sigh.

Last evening, he had rushed her to the hospital when she said her stomach hurt from severe stress, but fortunately the baby was healthy.

He remembered the doctor’s words that sudden stress could cause uterine contractions and harm the baby, so he should be careful, and he had apologized unconditionally.

[Just hanging out]

After sending a cursory reply, Jae Min deleted the chat with Ro Na and opened the chat with Hee Joo again.

‘The rumors are all over, you know? They say Attorney Noh’s wife is as beautiful as a celebrity.’

The new employee who had lunch at the cafeteria today relayed the rumor he had heard.

It’s obvious. The source of that rumor must be the loose-lipped Attorney Kang.

‘Can’t you show us a photo? I’m curious how beautiful she must be for rumors to spread!’

He couldn’t show them.

Because he had deleted all the photos with Hee Joo from his phone, from wedding photos on, at Ro Na’s request.

“I don’t know where you got coaching, but you’re going to keep not contacting me until the end, right? Kim Hee Joo.”

After pondering, Jae Min soon began carefully typing out each letter.

[What are you doing, Hee Joo?]

Since he’s contacted her first twice now, she should pretend not to know and reply.

“Are you so happy to get my text that you can’t even sleep? Ah… I shouldn’t misunderstand.”

As Hee Joo’s reaction became easily predictable, Jae Min chuckled.

*

Just as he was entering the outdoor public parking lot, a call came in from Chae Won.

Yoo Gun pressed the call button after finishing parking.

– It’s me.

“Your voice sounds fine?”

Yoo Gun opened the door and got out, locking the car with the remote as he walked.

A few awkward breaths sounded in his ear before she spoke in a calm voice.

“Earlier, my employee made a mistake while drunk. I just now saw the call log, not knowing anything.”

When he heard the drunken voices of employees shouting for him to come earlier, he had roughly guessed the atmosphere.

Including imagining Kim Chae Won sprawled out too drunk to answer the phone.

But even after hearing her sober voice, Yoo Gun’s steps towards his destination did not falter.

– I’m sorry, but you don’t need to come.

When Yoo Gun paused briefly at Chae Won’s words, he was in front of a crosswalk surrounded by buildings with flashy lights.

“Then should I go back?”

– …You’re already here?

As he stood at the crosswalk looking at the traffic light across the street, Chae Won was pacing below it with her phone to her ear.

Usually a woman who held her head high, she kept her gaze down and bit her nails repeatedly, seeming very apologetic.

“I can see you, Kim Chae Won.”

At Yoo Gun’s words, Chae Won raised her head and looked around.

After glancing in the wrong direction, she happened to turn and spot Yoo Gun, her lips parting slightly.

Yoo Gun looked at the red light still signaling to wait and said:

“Shall we cross, or not?”

As they gazed at each other and Chae Won hesitated, a man came out of a building and sidled up next to her.

Yoo Gun’s legs instinctively tensed as he watched.

– Kim Chae Won, are you really leaving like this?

Yoo Gun focused on the voice coming through the phone without taking his eyes off the scene.

It wasn’t the advances of a stranger, but a voice that grew more annoying the more he heard it.

‘Chae Won-ah.’ ‘Our Chae Won-ie.’ He called her name so casually like this.

Yoo Gun’s eyes, fixed on the man, briefly flicked to the traffic light.

It was still a red light signaling to wait.

– We’ll talk tomorrow.

– I’ll take you home. You drank a bit too, didn’t you?

– It’s fine, I’m okay.

The conversation from across the street came through the phone quite clearly.

The traffic light still glowed red, to the point of suspecting it might be broken.

Sensing the conversation would drag on, Chae Won gathered herself and turned her head towards Yoo Gun.

As if to say sorry, but please just go.

– Um, Choi Yoo Gun.

“I’m coming over.”

As the yellow light came on, Yoo Gun strode forward with large steps.

Yoo Gun approached Chae Won, who still had her phone to her ear.

Sung Min, who had been explaining why he couldn’t stop Nurse Oh, also stopped speaking as he looked at the sturdy man standing before her.

Yoo Gun and Sung Min’s gazes met.