Let’s meet. Why?

No matter how I thought about it, I wasn’t on casual dining terms with Prosecutor Kang Ji Ho. I had already firmly rejected him before.

Park Ra Jin picked up the sandals she had taken off. Then she got up from the stairs, exhaling heavily.

“I’m not in the mood to eat today.”

[If you don’t want food, let’s have drinks.]

Was it that obvious?

Though she didn’t enjoy drinking, today she desperately wanted to. Did this man have some technique for seeing through her?

His suggestion made her waver slightly. No, it made her waver a lot. But Park Ra Jin wasn’t so out of her mind as to share drinks with him.

A day of bad luck. On a day like this, going out carelessly could lead to bigger mistakes. Park Ra Jin made up her mind to go home and drink cool wine in a warm bath.

“I’m not feeling well today.”

[How about tomorrow?]

“Whether it’s food or drinks, I feel like there’s another reason for this.”

[If I say I want to congratulate you on your new drama, is that not allowed?]

Words without sincerity.

He was busy as a special prosecutor, how could he have time to casually congratulate her on a new drama? There must be some other hidden motive.

Park Ra Jin wanted to urge him to speak up, but hesitated in case he was unnecessarily honest. One rejection had been enough.

“I’ll think about it and let you know.”

[I’ll wait.]

He retreated like someone who had genuinely wanted to congratulate her. Park Ra Jin went down the stairs barefoot, holding her phone and sandals.

“Don’t get your hopes up too much.”

As she added one last remark, she heard a chuckle through the phone.

“Take care then.”

Park Ra Jin hung up with a curt farewell. Once she took off the pretty but impractical sandals, her legs no longer trembled.

They say moving your body helps when your mind is cluttered, and the moderate breathlessness pushed away Park Ra Jin’s jumbled thoughts.

“Basement floor 1.”

After exhaling her shaky breath, Park Ra Jin put her sandals back on. Then she smoothed her hair and patted her bottom.

Pressing down on the long bar-shaped handle, the heavy iron door opened with a creak.

Park Ra Jin poked her head out to peer through the glass window. As blinking orange lights flickered, Park Ra Jin raised her phone.

“Please open the door. Right now.”

As the sound of an engine starting was heard, Park Ra Jin ran hurriedly, covering one side of her face.

A van with the driver’s seat partitioned off.

Thanks to Seon Woo Jin’s consideration in blocking unnecessary gazes, there was no need to greet the manager separately. The unseen manager closed the car door as soon as Park Ra Jin got in.

As the door closed automatically with a whirr, Seon Woo Jin handed over a water bottle.

“This makes me even more curious. What’s going on with Director Jin Jae Yi?”

“I’ll definitely repay you for your help today.”

Seon Woo Jin chuckled as she deflected the awkward question with a greeting. He was certainly perceptive.

“Where should I take you?”

The car started moving smoothly before she could state her destination, as expected of someone who had set up a reliable one-person agency.

“If you don’t want to go home, just say so. I’ll stay up all night with you.”

“You’ll get in trouble with that person.”

“No one knows we’re dating. You’re so quick to catch on.”

Perhaps because they both had circumstances they couldn’t talk about, they changed the subject with a soft laugh.

“Just enter the address.”

As actor Seon Woo Jin held out his phone, Park Ra Jin quickly entered the address. After sending it directly to the manager, the car turned right.

“I’ll get you home safely. Just treat me to a meal.”

She could buy him ten meals if needed. Along with Seon Woo Jin’s secret lover.

“I’ll treat you properly. Thank you so much for today.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Buzz―.

In the dark bedroom, Park Ra Jin glanced at the ringing phone beside the bed.

After checking the caller, Park Ra Jin turned the phone face down again.

“I don’t even want to hear his breathing, why is he calling first thing in the morning.”

If he had something to say, he could text, what kind of close relationship did they have for him to call? To Park Ra Jin, Oh Jong Hyuk was still an unwelcome guest.

A bottle of white wine with two movies last night. She had fallen asleep late, why wake her up! Park Ra Jin stomped her feet in annoyance.

“I don’t even have a schedule, why!”

She yelled at the persistently ringing phone, then finally checked the time.

A perfect morning to laze in bed, 9 AM.

As the call finally ended, Park Ra Jin patted her thick pillow. Just as she was settling back into a comfortable position, muttering “This is it, this is right,” the phone rang again.

“Ah! Really.”

They weren’t even close siblings, why was he doing this?

It would be simple to turn off the phone, but blatantly avoiding Oh Jong Hyuk’s calls was problematic.

If it came out that she had ignored her already insecure stepbrother’s calls, she might be denied requests regarding her mother. So Park Ra Jin was avoiding calls timidly enough to make excuses about being asleep.

“I’m fully awake now. Let’s wash up. Wash up.”

Whether the phone kept ringing loudly or not, Park Ra Jin sprang up from bed.

Though she had indulged in a half-body bath after returning home yesterday, she started running water to shake off the lingering effects of alcohol in the morning.

In the bathroom filled with misty steam, water rippling like waves. Park Ra Jin tested the temperature with her toes, then slowly entered the bathtub.

“Nice.”

Letting out a languid sigh, Park Ra Jin leaned her head back.

As she massaged her scalp with hands now tinged pink, she thought of Prosecutor Kang Ji Ho.

‘Maybe I should have contacted him late last night…’

Though she had firmly told him not to expect anything, his words about waiting clung to her like a tail.

“What congratulations between us.”

She shook her head as if it made no sense, then sank deeper into the tub.

Creating waves with her palms like playing in water, kicking her feet as if swimming underwater. Prosecutor Kang Ji Ho’s low voice echoed in Park Ra Jin’s ears.

Had she made him wait unnecessarily when he said he worked without time to eat? It was unsettling to leave it hanging when she should have just refused from the start.

“Anyway, from here and there first thing in the morning.”

The words “it’s bothersome” came out naturally.

Park Ra Jin pondered even after leaving the bathroom and finishing a cool bottle of water. Whether to text him or call him. Unable to put it off any longer, she picked up the phone thrown on the bed.

Ding dong―.

“Huh?”

The doorbell sound came from the first floor.

She didn’t call housekeeping on days without schedules. Who could it be? Park Ra Jin came down from the second floor bedroom with her phone in hand.

“I didn’t order any deliver―!”

The wall pad at the first floor entrance.

As if the bad luck from yesterday was still ongoing, Park Ra Jin dropped her phone the moment she saw Kim Yu Jun on the wall pad screen.

To think Oh Jong Hyuk’s persistent calls were because of Kim Yu Jun. Facing Kim Yu Jun’s face glaring at the camera as if in a staring contest, Park Ra Jin’s mind went blank.

A man with an official fiancée, and a well-known fourth generation chaebol at that.

Kim Yu Jun had never come to her home before.

They always met outside or he would call her to the Myungjin main house for special occasions. Why here now?

He had often dropped her off in front of her house, but this was the first time he had rung the doorbell like this.

Even when she called to apologize under Oh Jong Hyuk’s pressure, he hadn’t answered.

So what sudden whim made him come here? Did he fight with Jin Jae Yi? Is he angry because of that?

Amidst the flood of assumptions, Kim Yu Jun’s eyes flashed on the wall pad screen. Park Ra Jin paced in front of the wall pad like a lost person. Soon the screen showing Yu Jun went dark.

‘Should I pretend I’m not home?’

Though he likely knew her schedule already, useless thoughts floated through Park Ra Jin’s mind.

She couldn’t invite him into an empty house. Should she go outside instead? But what if he does that again like at the hotel? Park Ra Jin could only stamp her feet, unable to decide what to do.

Just then, the dropped phone vibrated loudly. Like an excavator drilling the floor.

The vibration probably wouldn’t reach him standing at the front gate across the garden, but it felt like a warning to open the door quickly since he knew she was inside.

Park Ra Jin let out heavy breaths like someone who had just emerged from deep water.

“Haa… ha.”

She couldn’t tell if he was still standing at the gate or berating his secretaries.

The phone and wall pad were quiet again. Park Ra Jin’s heart fluttered as she alternately stared at the darkened screens.

Why is it so quiet? He didn’t call someone to open the door, did he? The longer the silence stretched, the harder it was to decide what to do.

Just as she was confused by the returned silence, as if mocking her momentary lapse in attention, Park Ra Jin’s phone and doorbell rang simultaneously.

“This won’t do.”

Park Ra Jin ran into the first floor bathroom. Then she hastily took out the hair dryer and plugged it in.

As the hottest and strongest air blasted her face and back of her head, it stung more than burned. Park Ra Jin’s face in the mirror turned red like someone standing in the midsummer sun.

Her bloodshot eyes and flushed cheeks looked like someone suffering from a high fever. Park Ra Jin put the hair dryer back in place and slightly messed up her hair. Is this enough?

Before the artificially created heat dissipated, Park Ra Jin moved quickly.

Whirr. Ding dong, ding dong―.

Running towards the wall pad, she panted heavily like a female lead with an incurable disease. For a moment, a heat haze rose before Park Ra Jin’s eyes.

“What should I do.”

Kim Yu Jun, faced again in the square screen, was still standing in the same place. But with a gaze quite different from before. His eyes flickered, sharp to the point of nearly exploding.

Park Ra Jin pressed the microphone-shaped button with trembling fingers like someone with chills.

“Park Ra Jin.”

A low, chilling voice heard after weeks.

Unable to answer or make excuses, she just pressed the door open button.

As he disappeared instantly from beyond the screen, Park Ra Jin pressed her hand to her forehead. Perhaps from tension, her forehead was burning hot, and her clammy palms were damp with cold sweat.

Just as she was inwardly relieved while pretending to be sick, a wry laugh escaped. How long would she have to keep doing this?

A life like an observational reality show surrounded by countless cameras, moving according to a script. There was nothing that wasn’t an act even in ordinary daily life.

“Haa.”

The bitterness was fleeting; Park Ra Jin was at a moment requiring more immersion than any film set.

Knock knock.

The sound of knocking on the front door pierced Park Ra Jin’s heart like thunder. At times like this, be even more natural, as if just waking up, absolutely don’t rush.

Reassuring herself countless times, she slowly unlocked the door.

The moment she pulled down the entrance handle, with a click, her body was pulled along. Park Ra Jin, who had completely relaxed her body, collapsed into Kim Yu Jun’s arms.

This damned woody scent.

No matter how she tried to endure, his heavy body scent made her nauseous. Her body involuntarily twisted at the overwhelming fragrance and firm chest.

“Park Ra Jin. You…!”

“Ugh.”