The protest headquarters set up behind the podium was packed with people.

Kim Ye Rin entered the temporary tent, asking people coming and going where Choi Yoon was.

A man wearing a vest with the words ‘Anniversary Special Documentary, Half Moon Bear’ printed on it was organizing equipment in a large camera bag. Choi Yoon was just approaching him to speak.

“It must have been sudden, thank you for coming all the way here.”

“It’s fine. We get deployed here and there when requested by other programs anyway.”

Choi Yoon gazed kindly at the cameraman who shrugged as if it was no big deal. He asked.

“Have we met before? I feel like I’ve seen you before.”

“We briefly ran into each other in the waiting room when you came to record the narration.”

“Besides that…”

Choi Yoon pondered for a moment before continuing.

“I think I saw you during Blind, is that right? You came as a one-day assistant during the Busan location shoot, right?”

“Wow, you remember that. I heard rumors that you were good at remembering staff faces…”

Not wanting to interrupt their conversation, Kim Ye Rin leaned against the entrance and looked around to see if there was anyone else she could leave her phone with.

However, inside the tent were only Choi Yoon and the cameraman, who were rapidly becoming friendly.

With no other choice, she turned her head to look outside.

But the passing officials looked extremely busy. They were always busy, but today was especially so. Choi Yoon’s statement had energized the entire protest.

“…”

She wanted nothing more than to hand Choi Yoon’s phone off to just anyone and go home. Even facing him again was torturous.

“Ye Rin.”

There was a presence right behind her. Kim Ye Rin turned around with a start.

Choi Yoon’s smile was just a step away. He reached out his arm as if to embrace her back and lowered the tent entrance again. As the outside noise was blocked, his warmth became more prominent. She thought he was too close.

“Are you alright?”

Choi Yoon suddenly asked that, and Kim Ye Rin was momentarily flustered.

“What do you mean?”

“I heard. They say you caught him right in front of the podium? I heard there was a scuffle, so I was worried you might have been hurt…”

“I’m fine.”

Choi Yoon exhaled lowly as if relieved. Soon his relaxed smile seemed carefree. He didn’t look like someone who had been through an ordeal.

“I told you, didn’t I? That we’d make a great team.”

Kim Ye Rin didn’t answer.

From the moment she chose to live as an impersonator, she had never thought of teaming up with anyone.

At Kim Ye Rin’s silence, Choi Yoon blinked and then gave an awkward smile.

“What should we do? You guided me here, but I can’t take you back. I have to go up right away…”

“I’m fine. So I guess staying over is off the table now?”

For a moment, Choi Yoon seemed not to understand Kim Ye Rin’s question.

Eventually, he opened his eyes wide and burst out laughing like a child.

“Did you really think I was serious?”

Kim Ye Rin was slightly taken aback. Choi Yoon made a mischievous face.

“It was a joke.”

Then he added playfully.

“Should I stay over? If you tell me to come, I will.”

Thinking she wanted to hit him, Kim Ye Rin held out the phone.

“You got a lot of calls.”

Choi Yoon took the phone without even pretending to check it and pushed it into his back pocket.

Kim Ye Rin recalled the messages from the person named Yoo Ji Ho, who had been almost begging. She said again.

“You got a lot of messages.”

“I’ll check later. Right now, I have Ye Rin.”

Choi Yoon examined her carefully. He murmured.

“I want to say let’s meet again, but those words don’t come out easily.”

Then he pulled the corners of his mouth into a pretty smile. His voice was calm.

“I might go completely bankrupt now, so if you’re with me, you’ll go bankrupt too. So it’s better not to see each other.”

That was welcome news.

When Choi Yoon said to become a team, when he said to just trust him, what had I hoped for? Stupidly, not knowing my place.

I didn’t want to hope again.

“Then take care.”

Kim Ye Rin grasped Choi Yoon’s outstretched hand moderately. She was about to let go when it was caught again.

Holding Kim Ye Rin’s hand tightly, Choi Yoon tilted his head and met her eyes. His voice was soft compared to the strength in his hand.

“I’m a little disappointed. I thought I’d at least hear a thank you.”

Kim Ye Rin tried to pull her hand away. But Choi Yoon held on and wouldn’t let go.

“What are you doing? Let go.”

“I can at least hear a word of thanks, can’t I?”

Thank you? Me?

To you?

Something cold and hard welled up inside.

It was an impulse.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

Something I had always carried but never voiced.

“Why are there impersonators in the first place?”

Kim Ye Rin looked straight at Choi Yoon.

“You said that because impersonators are only executed when caught, they have no hesitation in committing retaliatory crimes when cornered.”

Choi Yoon’s face hardened.

He stared at her surface without even blinking.

Kim Ye Rin knew she should stop here.

But just Choi Yoon holding his breath and staring at her sent a strange intoxication through her whole body.

She couldn’t control herself. Even knowing it was dangerous.

“They sign a waiver saying they’re willing to die before getting on the operating table. Have you ever thought about why they would disguise their identity even at the cost of their lives?”

“There’s nothing to think about, it’s a crime in itself. Only those with a truly wicked nature are capable of it. Are you telling me to understand criminals too?”

“No one puts their life on the line just to kill people and set fires.”

“The reason they hide their identity doesn’t matter. They’re people who gave up on living honestly from the start. Are you defending social evils now?”

“Society creates evil. It oppresses people until they have no choice but to become impersonators!”

“So. What about the horrific crimes they commit?”

“When pushed to the edge, anyone would bare their teeth.”

A sharp light flashed in Choi Yoon’s eyes.

Kim Ye Rin tried to twist her hand free from his grasp. Just as it was about to slip out, it was caught again.

Choi Yoon whispered lowly.

“What are you trying to do right now?”

The cameraman went outside to take a phone call. Now only Choi Yoon and Kim Ye Rin were left in the tent.

“Kim Ye Rin. Do you realize what you’re saying is extremely dangerous?”

Choi Yoon’s hand, which perfectly enveloped Kim Ye Rin’s, tightened with force. It was rough, as if about to crush her hand joints.

His coldly sunken eyes were meticulously fixed on her.

“If you can’t explain why you’re saying such things, I’m going to report you right now.”

Even if Choi Yoon were to call the Monster Management Center right now and say Kim Ye Rin was suspected of being an impersonator, it wouldn’t be strange at all.

But even after inviting such danger, Kim Ye Rin felt blood rushing to the top of her head. She was already out of her mind.

Perhaps from the moment she first laid eyes on Choi Yoon, such a collision was inevitable.

I shouldn’t have expected anything.

“I’ve been attending protests hoping the full inspection itself would become useless. Not to selectively punish only impersonators.”

“If you were thinking normally, you wouldn’t have such thoughts in the first place, but even if you had such hopes, it’s best to give them up. I don’t want a world where impersonators roam free. I think both humans and monsters would agree.”

“You must feel good. Being able to change the world as you wish. Now the full inspection will gain momentum, right?”

Ha, Choi Yoon exhaled lowly. He looked incredulous.

He said sharply.

“Do I look like I’m living as I wish?”

“At least right now you do.”

“If you can’t explain exactly why you’re defending impersonators…”

“Do I look like an impersonator to you?”

Choi Yoon didn’t answer. He traced Kim Ye Rin’s face with a taut gaze that withheld any judgment.

“You said I would come to like you. You were wrong.”

Choi Yoon’s eyes wavered slightly.

At that tiny crack, a pleasure that surprised even Kim Ye Rin herself slid down her spine.

I want to keep telling you that you’re wrong.

I want to keep saying that your thoughts, your attitude, the direction in which you’re trying to change the world, are clearly wrong.

I want to shatter your foundation, and hear the sound of you breaking completely from beginning to end.

“I still dislike you.”

Choi Yoon seemed about to let go of Kim Ye Rin’s hand, but immediately gripped both her shoulders firmly.

He spat through gritted teeth.

“I’m asking why you’re saying such things. No sane person would take the side of impersonators.”

“That may be true by your precious standards.”

“Answer properly. Before I report you.”

You can’t report me. I know that you fell for me at first sight. It’s nothing special. Everyone falls for my shell.

“The person I loved in the past was an impersonator. That person died, and you just killed them again. I attended the protest for that person. Is that answer enough?”

There is no guilt in lying. As long as I can hurt you somehow.

But as she was about to turn and leave, Kim Ye Rin’s arm was grabbed. She was roughly turned around.

“Aren’t you making a mistake with me right now?”

The formal speech that had shortened returned. But it didn’t feel respectful at all.

“Ye Rin, you don’t seem to understand at all how people think about impersonators. Do I need to explain social common sense to you? You condoned a criminal.”

His eyes, chillingly noble, bored into Kim Ye Rin without blinking. He said lowly through clenched teeth.

“If I were you. As soon as I found out my lover was an impersonator, I would have reported them.”

Immediately after, he spat out.

“I wouldn’t have fallen in love in the first place.”

Choi Yoon’s knuckles dug clearly into Kim Ye Rin’s captured forearm. With a face coldly sunk in contrast to his heated grip, Choi Yoon whispered.

“I once delved madly into impersonators. I wanted to know. Why my father had to die. I wanted to find a reason. Even if there wasn’t one, I wanted to create one.”

Kim Ye Rin read an old fear in Choi Yoon’s eyes.

“To become an impersonator, you have to cut off the manifestation point. Whether it’s a tail or horns, you have to remove it. Artificially removing the core that forms the foundation of a monster means being prepared for death.”

The veins on Choi Yoon’s smooth neck stood out. He continued chillingly.

“That’s why only a very small number of monsters choose to become impersonators. Because only very powerful Grade 1 monsters can endure it. Monsters with the temperament of beasts. For example, black tigers, hawks. Or…”

While gripping Kim Ye Rin’s arm as if to break it, Choi Yoon’s dark brown pupils slowly traced her face. He was persistent.

“Like gumihos.”

Kim Ye Rin hoped she was calm. But her head felt hot enough to burst.

“Monsters who have removed their manifestation point easily show violence. You must know that not a single impersonator who has been caught and escaped so far has not caused human casualties. They all became social disasters. All of them. Without exception.”

“Then if one impersonator appears who escapes but doesn’t kill people, will you withdraw your opinion?”

Choi Yoon’s face contorted. It was a sneer.

“Ye Rin, you’re ignoring all the already tallied results and assuming something that has never happened even once.”

“Statistics aren’t everything. If people think something about impersonators, it’s packed with misunderstandings and prejudices. Like you.”

No more. She had argued too much.

Kim Ye Rin felt in her skin that Choi Yoon was about to explode.

She managed to say.

“I’ll move out of the restaurant when the current lease expires.”

Kim Ye Rin twisted her arm out of Choi Yoon’s grasp.

Immediately, Choi Yoon reached out his hand.

This time she didn’t avoid it. She struck it away fiercely.

Because Kim Ye Rin didn’t control her strength, Choi Yoon’s neat back of hand instantly swelled up red.

Kim Ye Rin said as if spitting.

“Let’s never see each other again.”