Park Ra Jin couldn’t help but dry heave. Even after quickly closing her mouth, her whole body trembled with nausea. Like a truly sick person.

“What’s wrong, Ra Jin?”

Without needing to say much, Park Ra Jin answered with her expression.

“Are you feeling ill?”

As his hand approached to check her condition, a heavy fragrance wafted over from beyond his luxury watch.

It was unbearable. Park Ra Jin covered her mouth and nose and rushed to the first-floor bathroom. There, she vomited up the water she had drunk earlier.

Kim Yu Jun, who had suddenly appeared, patted Park Ra Jin’s back as she hugged the toilet bowl.

“How long have you been like this?”

How fortunate that she didn’t have to answer everything with the best excuse of being sick. Park Ra Jin deflated like a balloon with the air let out.

“Oh Jong Hyuk, this bastard doesn’t even realize the kid is sick.”

Clicking his tongue, Yu Jun picked up Ra Jin in his arms.

As if struck by a severe cold, Park Ra Jin immersed herself in acting sick. That way, Kim Yu Jun would leave this house quickly.

As she gasped for breath, his footsteps quickened. He opened door after door before entering the largest room on the first floor with a bed.

Since he had never entered the house before, he must think that room prepared for her mother was the bedroom. Regardless, Park Ra Jin squeezed her eyes shut.

“Where and how does it hurt?”

Yu Jun said as he laid Ra Jin down on the bed.

“Ha.”

Ra Jin covered her eyes with the back of her hand and swallowed dryly.

“It’s a cold. I just want to sleep a bit.”

“Why did you endure it when you’re sick?”

Feeling his movement as if reaching for his phone, Park Ra Jin quickly stretched out her hand and grabbed his arm.

“I’ll rest like this.”

Leaning on him as if throwing a tantrum, she heard the sound of a chuckle.

Though it was a fake illness, he wouldn’t know it was fake, so she couldn’t understand why he was laughing. Was he pleased that she was clinging to him while sick? Or was he happy thinking it served her right for not listening before? He was completely incomprehensible.

“Ra Jin.”

His long fingers stroked her disheveled hair.

“What would you have done if I hadn’t come?”

“……”

“When you rely on me like this.”

If she could only calm down the capricious Kim Yu Jun who had chased her home, she could endure this kind of misunderstanding.

“I’ll call Dr. Jung. Just hang on a little longer.”

Calling the renowned personal physician of the Myungjin Group for a fake illness would quickly expose her.

“It’s okay because elder brother is by my side.”

“Then at least take some medicine. I’ll call Oh Jong Hyuk.”

Kim Yu Jun was barely holding back, and now he wanted to call Oh Jong Hyuk here? Park Ra Jin hastily grabbed Yu Jun’s arm as he picked up his phone.

“Why?”

“I don’t like calling him to the house.”

“Who, Oh Jong Hyuk?”

Park Ra Jin slowly nodded.

“To be honest, he’s not… even my real elder brother.”

As if he hadn’t thought of it, Yu Jun’s eyes widened.

“I haven’t said anything, but I’d prefer if the manager didn’t come inside the house either.”

“He came inside? Late at night?”

When she nodded again, sparks flew in Kim Yu Jun’s eyes.

Though Oh Jong Hyuk had attached the manager to monitor Park Ra Jin, Kim Yu Jun must have known about his past too. The three of them were in cahoots anyway.

“When my stepfather was alive. Oh CEO and I, we were careful even with short clothes in summer. But now I’m living alone without even my mother.”

Muttering that you never know about people, Park Ra Jin hid her expression behind her hair.

Oh Jong Hyuk, not related by blood, and Tae Hyung Sik, who had lived a low life until recently.

Reminding him that both men were just like Kim Yu Jun would make the suspicious Kim Yu Jun take care of it himself. At times like this, his unusual sensitivity came in handy.

“Ra Jin.”

A gentle voice approached.

“You can have such admirable thoughts too.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being careful.”

“Right. One man around you is enough – me.”

She wanted to immediately brush off his hand stroking her hair. Park Ra Jin endured solely with mental strength. If she roughly matched his mood and pretended to fall asleep, it would soon be over.

“I should have Hyun manager bring something. You haven’t eaten either, right?”

Unable to stop him anymore, Park Ra Jin nodded.

“How about abalone porridge?”

Surely he wasn’t planning to stay long under the pretext of nursing her? It would take at least an hour for Hyun manager to bring porridge and medicine. Park Ra Jin’s mind raced, thinking of how to send him out with Hyun manager somehow.

“Abalone porridge sounds good. But could you call the youngest stylist for me?”

“Stylist?”

“The female stylist who joined this year. I want to ask her to stay with me.”

“Should I stay with you?”

What a dreadful suggestion.

Even when someone was sick, this insufferable probing never stopped. But the more he pushed, the calmer she needed to stay. It was her own method learned from observing Kim Yu Jun for a long time.

“You’re already busy, and what if I give you my cold?”

“That’s why you shouldn’t worry me. Managing your condition is also a skill.”

His words about skill made her shudder. Is this what you say to someone who’s sick?

“Please stay with me until the stylist comes. I think I’ll feel better then.”

“I just can’t win against you.”

As if reluctantly giving in, Yu Jun called Oh Jong Hyuk. Only after hearing the phone conversation telling him to just send the stylist did Park Ra Jin let out a sigh of relief.

“You get sick because you don’t eat properly. Come to the main house next week for some nourishing food.”

“Yes, elder brother.”

The moment she answered with a soft smile, his smiling face instantly hardened. Park Ra Jin’s heart sank at the suddenly changed atmosphere, not knowing what had upset him.

Why again!

Struggling to lift the corners of her mouth to hide the fear creeping in, Park Ra Jin smiled with difficulty.

“You can listen so well like this.”

“……”

“Then why did you run away at the hotel? Hm?”

Kim Yu Jun approached Park Ra Jin as if pressuring her to speak.

“Don’t tell me it was because of Seon Woo Jin?”

She had only texted the manager that she would ride in actor Seon Woo Jin’s car. Did he hear something? If Kim Yu Jun hadn’t ordered his secretary to follow her, it must have been the manager’s doing.

‘Did he chase me here just because I rode in Seon Woo Jin’s car?’

A person with a proper fiancée, and in the morning at that? An indescribable emotion beyond words like “unbelievable” rushed over her.

But she couldn’t argue right and wrong against Kim Yu Jun’s contradictions. Getting rid of this shameless Kim Yu Jun was the urgent priority.

“That…”

“Shall we explain step by step why you did it?”

How careless to think he would let it go easily after experiencing Kim Yu Jun so much. No matter how hard she tried to appear composed, her lower eyelids trembled.

“I don’t want to say this to a sick person, but.”

His voice tickling her ear, his gentle hand stroking her hair. And his sharp gaze determined to catch even the smallest lie. Park Ra Jin felt completely consumed by it all.

“Don’t you feel uneasy?”

“I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“Hmm. Apologies later.”

Shaking his head slightly, he lowered his face. His breath, cooler than ice, escaped with a chuckle.

“There must be a reason why you not only ran away from the hotel, but also ditched the manager and rode in that guy’s car. Let’s start there.”

He was already worked up, and riding in Seon Woo Jin’s car seems to have been the decisive factor. Using the excuse of being sick was a godsend, to that extent.

Though her teeth chattered at his voice whispering like the wind and his hand stroking her hair, Park Ra Jin steadied her breath.

“Show at least a minimum of sincerity. Ra Jin.”

He was always like this.

When something displeased him, he would question relentlessly, and if that wasn’t enough, he would demand “again” until satisfied.

A trivial matter would snowball into a mistake and be transformed into wrongdoing. How much he would push until her mind was knocked down. He didn’t forgive apologizing early or repeatedly.

The timing and sincerity he had set.

If she didn’t match that, he would lecture that it was an obvious excuse.

“Do you need more time to think?”

“Well…”

“Ha. I can hear the sound of your brain turning from here.”

“It’s, it’s not like that.”

“Then why can’t you speak? Did you start liking Seon Woo Jin while filming? Is that why you rejected me?”

Kim Yu Jun’s desired answer was already decided anyway.

She just needed to say it in pieces appropriately, but the words just wouldn’t come out. Though the command was clearly input in her mind, Park Ra Jin was at a loss for words as if hit by a bug.

‘Don’t be so frustrating, speak properly. Don’t make things difficult for Mr. Seon Woo Jin unnecessarily.’

“Mr. Seon Woo Jin has a girlfriend. They’re secretly dating so they can’t go public.”

“Who is it?”

“That…”

“Am I the type to go around talking about it?”

Though it bothered her to spread a colleague’s secret, considering Seon Woo Jin’s future, being marked by Kim Yu Jun wouldn’t do any good.

“It’s a supporting actress in this drama. I can’t say the name.”

Kim Yu Jun’s gaze followed closely, half in doubt. Then she had no choice but to play her final card.

“Actually, I knew the event venue had changed to Hotel HS before departing.”

She let out a hot sigh at the frustrating situation.

“Knowing things are awkward with Director Jin Jae Yi. I was annoyed that the manager didn’t do anything.”

She added that’s why she didn’t want to ride in the manager’s car. At times like this, honest emotions could be better than ten excuses.

“It was hard when Director Jin Jae Yi called me to the room, and when she said strange things in front of that talkative director.”

“What did she say?”

“That she’s enduring. She also said it would get interesting when her patience runs out.”

For a moment, Yu Jun’s eyes twisted.

‘Hopefully this won’t cause a fight?’

More than anyone, Park Ra Jin was the one cheering for Kim Yu Jun and Jin Jae Yi’s marriage. Their relationship needed to be solid for her to have a way out.

Park Ra Jin covered her eyes with the back of her hand to avoid being caught acting. Then, as if on cue, tears flowed between her fingers. The timing was so perfect that if cameras were rolling, the director would have yelled “Cut!”

“It hurts so much to be treated like this.”

With her chin trembling, she babbled out memorized lines from before.

Meanwhile, Kim Yu Jun neither stroked her hair nor added any words.

He made no sound, as if he had disappeared. For a long while even after Park Ra Jin finished speaking. Then with a soft “phew,” his voice was heard along with a faint breath.

“Not much longer.”

Yu Jun’s gentle touch pulled away Park Ra Jin’s hands covering her face.

“I’ll settle everything by the end of this year.”

Settle? What?

“Jin Jae Yi who acts up relying only on Haesung, my father who looks down on me. All of it.”

She almost blurted out “No.” As he caressed Park Ra Jin’s moist eyes, he continued speaking. So tenderly.

“When I perfectly finish everything, I should start by announcing our marriage.”

His fingers lingering around her eyes gently traced her cheek. Then he softly tugged on her long hair, twirling it. His lips speaking of promises pressed against the ends of her hair.

The moment he kissed it with a soft sound, Park Ra Jin’s breath caught.