‘Did Oh Jong Hyuk deliberately change it?’

Ra Jin’s head, which had cleared from the headache medicine, throbbed again.

Going to Kim Yu Jun’s fiancée’s hotel was more than just awkward. Whether they wanted to or not, they already knew all too well what they were to each other.

Was it right before the two got engaged? Jin Jae Yi, who suddenly came as a director, had asked about her relationship with Kim Yu Jun.

―I don’t want to be an obstacle to your marriage. I’ve never thought of Executive Director Kim Yu Jun as a man either.

At Ra Jin’s firm words, Director Jin Jae Yi scoffed in disbelief.

An obvious love triangle, a villainess coveting another woman’s man.

Ra Jin felt like begging to be spared from this tiresome role. But why did it have to change to that place? As humiliating memories surfaced, she couldn’t help but sigh.

“Why did it change?”

“The director insisted there was something between you two.”

“The manager said that?”

“Yeah. I heard him on the phone.”

Even if Oh Jong Hyuk hadn’t changed the location, he clearly would have known first.

Yet if he didn’t stop it until the end, it must be out of spite. It had been over ten days since she went to the company. Or was Jin Jae Yi trying to humiliate her by moving the director?

Unable to tell whose scheme it was, Ra Jin felt even more confused.

“Unnie, are you okay?”

“Why is everyone so desperate to eat me alive?”

Even if Kim Yu Jun was given to her, she planned to return him, but she felt suffocated wondering why everyone was acting like this.

“Ah, I hate this. I really hate it.”

“The agency should stop this somehow. Ugh! Those jerks.”

Ha Eun came over and hugged her shoulders tightly. As she patted Ra Jin’s back, Ra Jin closed her eyes, sinking into it. She wanted to be comforted like this at least.

“Ha Eun, should I collapse here?”

“That’s an option too.”

“Or should I confront Jin Jae Yi while I’m here today? Tell her to please take Kim Yu Jun.”

‘That’s difficult,’ Ha Eun sighed along with her.

At that moment, for some reason, Prosecutor Kang Ji Ho came to mind. Suddenly, without any meaning.

Was it because of the intensity of the late-night snack they ate in the car? When did she so readily reject that person’s request, and now she seemed to have lost all sense of shame.

Two days ago, when they parted in front of her house, what was his expression like?

His usually neat eyebrows seemed to droop a bit, or was that not it? Was he still waiting for her to contact him, and if so, what should she do? As Ra Jin bit her lip lost in thought, her mother’s pale face suddenly appeared.

“Unnie. Are you okay?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“Why are you so out of it? Are you really not feeling well?”

Enjoying the warmth of Ha Eun’s hand on her forehead, Ra Jin clasped it with her own.

Just then, a quiet knock was heard.

“Actress, they say we need to move now.”

At the makeup director’s voice, Ha Eun turned around sharply and called out.

“Okay. We’ll be out soon.”

The female lead couldn’t skip the production presentation, and she could no longer act spoiled to her younger sister. It was time to return fully to being an actress. Ra Jin let out a deep sigh.

“Let’s go, Ha Eun.”

With each of Ra Jin’s steps, her water-colored dress swayed like gentle waves.

[This is the timeline separator]

Three vans with blacked-out windows drew a large circle towards the building entrance.

As the cars stopped at regular intervals, people with government IDs around their necks moved busily.

Green carts lined up with a clicking sound.

Blue acrylic boxes labeled “Official Duty” were neatly placed on top.

“Ho Jin. Boxes 3, 4, and 5 go to our room.”

Ji Ho’s bloodshot eyes pressed against his temples.

“We’ll need to bring them up once and then again.”

“You just take two.”

Ji Ho loosened his tie and stuffed it in his pocket before lifting a large box. His muscles strained, making his jacket taut.

At the office entrance.

Ho Jin, who quickly followed pulling a cart, stood next to Ji Ho.

“Sunbae-nim, what time will you start questioning the witness?”

“Let’s at least eat first, as human beings.”

Returning from seizing Myungjin Securities’ planning office, the forced march that began at dawn finally ended at 5 PM.

A tenacious struggle between those trying to hide and those trying to find.

Myungjin’s lawyers came out in droves, engaging in excessive nerve wars. It was difficult to find the desired documents, and the search was nearly halted several times.

Having been on edge the whole time, Ji Ho felt aching to his bones.

“Hoo……”

Ji Ho let out a hot sigh, trying to shake off the negative emotions.

As the office door clicked open, Ho Jin scurried in after him.

“Has there been any contact from the goddess?”

“She must be busy.”

“Ah, right! She said she had a drama production presentation today.”

“You know all sorts of things.”

Ho Jin rattled off Ra Jin’s schedule like a reporter with a big scoop.

The content wasn’t special to Ji Ho, as he already knew it all. He had been searching for articles about her clearly expressing refusal while waiting for any possible contact.

‘How foolish.’

Chiding himself, he neatly placed the boxes he brought on the empty table.

“What should we order?”

“Hamburgers.”

“We had that yesterday. You said hamburgers for lunch earlier too.”

Was that so?

It was a menu that came out unconsciously, but Ho Jin’s comment brought him back to his senses.

Was it because of lingering regret for her, who had apologized while biting her lip? The taste he had with Ra Jin two days ago was unforgettable.

Ji Ho brushed up his neatly trimmed bangs.

“Order whatever you want.”

“What if I order a 50,000 won lunchbox?”

“Whatever it is, just order. I’m starving.”

The Park Ra Jin space that had brazenly formed in his already complicated mind.

There was no time or luxury for such emotional expenditure right now, but Ji Ho threw off his jacket in frustration.

“They say delivery will take 20 minutes.”

“I’ll handle this. You rest.”

Leaving Ho Jin clapping like a seal, Ji Ho began sorting through the documents he needed to review today. Headache-inducing work was perfect for wayward thoughts.

As he was quickly setting down documents.

[Suddenly… ?]

When Ra Jin’s surprised voice was heard from Ho Jin’s phone, Ji Ho’s hand holding the documents stopped abruptly.

―I heard you had particularly good chemistry with your co-star Seon Woo Jin this time. Could you briefly recite some lines from the preview?

Ra Jin’s silence on the other end of the unseen phone grew longer. At that moment, Ji Ho set down the thick stack of papers with a thud.

“What are you watching?”

Ji Ho asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

“These days you can even watch production presentations in real-time like this.”

“Park Ra Jin?”

“Even though I’m not on the same team as the goddess, I should support her like this at least.”

Ho Jin patted the seat next to him, saying they should watch together. Ji Ho plopped down as if drawn by a magnet.

“Her beauty is really something else today.”

A lake-colored dress hanging on delicate white shoulders. It was more striking that she wore no jewelry at all. Only she sparkled cleanly.

“How must it feel to talk face-to-face with someone so beautiful?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been conscious of it.”

Ho Jin shook his head as if he expected this response.

“Exactly 18 years ago, when you first came to our house, I knew.”

“Knew what?”

“That handsome oppa Ji… I mean, he won’t have a girlfriend because of his blunt personality.”

“You’re getting cheeky again.”

Ji Ho lightly brushed off the joke from Ho Jin, his friend’s younger sister, while unable to take his eyes off Ra Jin on the screen.

―Would you discuss it sweetly like the on-screen couple?

Ra Jin smiled shyly, looking at her co-star sitting next to her. What was with that affectionate gaze.

Ji Ho’s eyes narrowed for a moment.

The male actor turned towards Ra Jin and whispered in her ear. At that moment, camera flashes went off all at once.

At an official event full of reporters.

Whispering about content that couldn’t possibly be secret, and with filming already finished for the pre-produced drama, could the male actor have developed personal feelings?

Ji Ho slowly crossed his arms.

―Yeon Woo, Jung Yeon Woo. Don’t do this.

The man, immersed in acting, grasped Ra Jin’s white cheek. Ji Ho’s sharp jawline twitched in response.

[I’m sorry. This is as far as I go.]

At that moment, she from two days ago, simultaneously offering rejection and apology, overlapped. The only difference from then was her dark eyes now brimming with tears.

The male actor exchanged a few more poignant lines with her, looking as if he would kiss her at any moment.

As the brief performance ended with the host’s enthusiastic applause, the large man collapsed onto Ra Jin’s shoulder. With a shy smile.

“He’s really hamming it up.”

A simple and clear honest reaction came out.

“That look in his eyes like he’s going to devour our goddess. Ack! What the-”

It was the first time Ho Jin’s exaggerated reaction about her heart fluttering was unpleasant to hear.

Even if they were actors, strictly speaking weren’t they just colleagues? Once the acting was over, they should look back at the host, not rub their shiny face on the female lead’s bare shoulder, unable to distinguish public and private. It was inappropriate and unnecessary physical contact.

For a moment, Ji Ho mentally calculated the standards and sentencing for sexual harassment.

“Don’t those two look really good together?”

“……”

“I’ve never wanted celebrities to date before. But I’m rooting for this real-life couple.”

“Ah, I’m hungry.”

Brushing off Ho Jin’s words lightly, Ji Ho abruptly stood up.

“Oh! Arriving in 1 minute.”

As the notification sounded, Ho Jin dashed out.

Not long after, Korean set meal lunchboxes were spread across the table.

The braised short ribs glistened, and the soup and side dishes were neat. Perhaps because he was hungry from the search and seizure all day, Ji Ho wolfed down the feast.

As he was finishing the lunchbox cleanly, he craved a carbonated drink. He downed the soda he rarely drank in one gulp and thumped his chest.

The unpleasant feeling like someone had placed a fist-sized stone on his solar plexus wouldn’t go away.

Even while looking at the documents seized today, even while writing the arrest warrant request, even after taking digestive medicine.

“Did I eat too quickly?”

To aid digestion, Ji Ho deliberately walked around the office looking at documents.

He muttered like reciting a spell, trying to cram the black numbers printed on the white papers into his head.

“K content production cancelled, investment unrecoverable, bad debt expense… 50 billion won.”

To write off such a large amount as an expense. Ji Ho’s eyes moved quickly searching for the investment destination.

“TJ Pictures?”

It wasn’t Ra Jin’s agency, but to write off such a large loss. Moreover, the company had already been shut down overseas, making it difficult to approach.

If they were determined to hide it, they could hide it sufficiently, so why leave it so blatantly in the documents? Could it be a 50 billion won bait to hide the real culprit?

―Just think of Oh Jong Hyuk as one body with Kim Yu Jun.

Her voice echoed in his ears like an auditory hallucination.

If Kim Yu Jun, who had Oh Jong Hyuk wrapped around his finger, was using the entertainment business as a channel for embezzlement, wouldn’t Ra Jin have at least heard the name, even if she didn’t know the details?

Even if she didn’t know TJ Pictures, she might be able to tell him how the works she appeared in were distributed. For a moment, a thread of hope rose.

Ji Ho stared intently at the phone tossed on the table.

If he failed last time by stating what he wanted directly, this time a more subtle approach might work.

Two days since parting with her. Hoping Ra Jin’s guard had lowered a bit, Ji Ho picked up the phone.

One failed attempt, and as the second long ring was about to end.

[Hello.]

She finally appeared.