Due to crying all night yesterday, So Yi’s eyes were severely swollen.

Thinking it was fortunate that she didn’t have to go to work today since it was Saturday, she was gently rubbing her eyes with an ice pack when a message arrived on her phone.

The ice pack dropped to the floor from So Yi’s hand as she checked the post from the link Hye Na had sent.

Partner…

So Yi clicked on the post with trembling hands.

According to an informant who worked with Ms. Jin, CEO Cha Si Heon had said he was the man in the photo taken in Venice, but he never announced that he was dating Ms. Jin.

The informant continued that they were never seen eating alone together or showing affection at the company, and he didn’t even know if she attended company dinners.

They even reported that he didn’t know Ms. Jin had left early, and the two were only occasionally spotted at hotels.

There were an enormous number of comments. Most of them were criticizing Jin So Yi. There were also some comments criticizing Si Heon for having such a partner while having someone else to marry.

But most of the comments were blaming and rebuking So Yi as if they had been paid to do so.

Ridiculously, So Yi couldn’t refute anything.

It was fake from the start, and even his last words about going to meet his mother were fake.

Tears that had just stopped began to well up again.

Her breathing quickened as she felt dizzy, as if all the blood had drained from her body.

I know I’m the one who started this knowing everything. I’m the one who accepted the CEO knowing everything, but did it have to end like this?

No, if only it hadn’t been for those words that he said he wanted most.

If only I hadn’t heard those words that I was the only person the CEO wanted most, would I have been a little less hurt?

The tears that welled up like sobs suddenly filled her chest as if to swallow her breath, making her heart ache as if it would burst.

Ring.

At that moment, a call came from Si Heon.

So Yi turned off her phone with a coldly settled expression. After getting dressed and grabbing her bag, So Yi quickly left the house.

“Jin So Yi, what’s going on with you! Come in first.”

So Yi’s elder sister So Eun said as she opened the door with surprised eyes.

So Eun, who works at a newspaper company in Yongin, was about to go see So Yi on this weekend when she had no interviews scheduled.

“I was worried about you anyway. What’s with that article? What’s this about a partner? And if you turn off your phone like this, how worried do you think I’d be?”

So Eun had called So Yi as soon as she saw the article yesterday.

She knew So Yi was dating well, but suddenly there was a scandal with Yeon Ri Na.

On top of that, with the SNS content that came out today, her heart had almost dropped, but So Yi didn’t answer the phone.

Thinking she had better go see So Yi, So Yi barged into her house.

So Yi, who entered So Eun’s house, let out a faint sigh and collapsed onto the bed.

“Let’s have a drink together after a long time, elder sister.”

The smile she tried to put on was full of sadness.

“So he said he was going to have dinner with his mother yesterday and then went straight to meet Yeon Ri Na?”

So Eun asked as she poured a drink for So Yi, sitting across the table.

“Yes…”

“What did the CEO say? Did you talk to him?”

“He said the article wasn’t true, so I said I understood.”

“You just said you understood?”

So Yi nodded and downed the soju in her glass in one gulp.

“You should have asked why such photos were taken.”

“The trust is already broken. How could I believe anything else he says?”

So Eun carefully opened her mouth at her sigh-mixed words.

“Still, shouldn’t you have checked with the person involved first?”

“…”

“You just believed what other people said. Like what the person claiming to be your CEO’s elder sister said. Without even properly checking. You didn’t even try to find out what the situation was.”

So Yi, who had been biting her lip silently, lowered her head again.

Because from the start, we were nothing to each other.

A relationship that started by signing a contract from the beginning.

So Yi swallowed her words internally and lifted her glass to pour it into her mouth.

“So. You’re just going to break up like that?”

So Eun asked, looking at So Yi after drinking the alcohol in her own glass.

So Yi only nodded with a bitter expression.

“So Yi. Imagine putting the candy you like in a box and closing the lid. If you’re confident you won’t open it again twice after closing it like that. Then you can end it as it is.”

So Eun continued speaking as she filled So Yi’s glass with the bottle.

“But if you think you’ll keep thinking about it, just open it now. When you open it later, there might only be dried-up empty shells left.”

So Yi’s empty gaze, losing focus, was caught at the end of the glass that was filled with a trickling sound.

“Either way, your feelings are most important to me, elder sister. I hope you won’t be hurt.”

So Eun filled her own glass as well, trying to hide her upset expression.

I’m not confident I won’t open it again twice.

It’s just that I know… that candy was never mine from the start.

So Yi swallowed the words caught in her throat and emptied her glass.

And she just smiles faintly and fills it again.

As if her head keeps filling up with thoughts of Si Heon no matter how much she empties it, she filled, emptied, and filled her glass again.

“Sigh… You should at least meet and talk.”

So Yi lay down on the table as if collapsing, hearing So Eun’s voice sighing loudly, seeming more and more regretful.

Her heart was pounding and her head was spinning from the intoxication that had already risen high.

So Yi closed her eyes, desperately praying that when she fell asleep and woke up like this, she could go back to being strangers from the start.

The next day.

So Yi, who had been sleeping all day, got up after dinner time.

“Are you going?”

So Eun had prepared three meals a day, saying she should eat even while sick.

“I have to go to work tomorrow.”

So Yi smiled weakly as she picked up her bag, even putting on her coat.

“Wait a moment. I called a taxi.”

“A taxi?”

As So Yi opened her round eyes, wondering what taxi from Yongin to Seoul, So Eun’s phone rang.

“Oh, Do Hun. Have you arrived? I’ll send her down now.”

Do Hun?

So Yi opened her mouth with a surprised expression.

“Elder sister, why is Do Hun…”

“I was worried about how you’d get home in your condition, but Do Hun contacted me. He asked if you were here because your phone was still off. Then he said he’d come pick you up.”

So Yi let out a silent sigh.

“No, I can go alone…”

“He’s already in front of the house, what can you do? Take Do Hun’s car. Call me when you get home. Cheer up.”

In the end, So Yi was pushed out of the villa and headed to Seoul together in Do Hun’s car.

After driving silently for a while, Do Hun opened his mouth in a low voice when they were nearing her home.

“Jin So Yi.”

So Yi leaned her head against the window without any response.

“I told you clearly, don’t meet that person.”

Towards So Yi, who still had no response, Do Hun continued with a very upset expression.

“This is what happens when you don’t listen to me. See, you should have not met him when I told you not to.”

Do Hun’s car slowed down even more as it turned into a dark alley with the lights off.

Do Hun let out a big sigh and spoke again.

“Take some time off work and rest. Get rid of that person quickly too. Then it will subside soon. And…”

Do Hun’s car, which had slowly reduced speed, stopped in front of So Yi’s villa.

“Give me a chance this time too.”

So Yi, who had been leaning her head against the window the whole time, turned her head with surprised eyes.

“I’ve waited for you for a long time. Thinking that someday you would see me as a man. But I can’t stand seeing you get hurt while meeting these awful men anymore. That’s why I’m saying this. Please see me as a man now.”

She never imagined it. That Baek Do Hun would have such feelings.

Her head felt like it was going to burst even more with Do Hun’s words added to her already distressed and confused state.

“Do Hun. I’m sorry. I don’t want to think about anything right now. Your words aren’t even registering. So later… No. I want to pretend I didn’t hear what you just said.”

“Jin So Yi.”

Do Hun called out to So Yi urgently, but So Yi quickly grasped the door handle and greeted him.

“I’m sorry. And thank you for bringing me.”

So Yi got out of the car and headed towards the villa building.

The cold night wind of the alley that had cooled down rushed in with a whoosh.

Suddenly, So Yi’s eyes widened.

That person’s scent mixed in with the wind.

Si Heon’s scent made her eyes snap open.

Right in front of where So Yi had gotten out, a large figure leaning against the building’s outer wall.

A man wearing a dark brown coat with his arms crossed, staring this way with fierce eyes, strode forward.

“…CEO.”

He stood in front of So Yi with eyes that looked like they could tear apart all the air in front of him if they could tear the air.

His gaze, which was weighing down the air all around so that not even a single breath could be taken, was burning fiercely.