Choi Yoon pressed his forehead against the back of his hand on the steering wheel and breathed slowly. His stomach churned even though he hadn’t eaten anything.
With his head bowed and vision dark, the yellow streetlights blurred and faded repeatedly.
All his predictions about Kim Ye Rin had come true. Yet his whole body ached as if he’d been suddenly struck.
He couldn’t understand. He had dug so deep wanting to know. Now that he finally had the answer, why was he still so anxious?
Ah, one thing was off.
Park Jae Sun and Kim Ye Rin are not lovers. That was the one thing he had misjudged.
But if he could choose just one misunderstanding out of all his predictions. He would have rather they were lovers with five children between them than Kim Ye Rin being an impersonator.
His throat was dry. He swallowed but there was nothing to swallow.
Why did she impersonate? Did Kim Ye Rin really not know this would be her end? Someone so meticulously careful and capable.
He lifted his head with an exhale.
An hour had passed since ending the call with Park Jae Sun. He said it would take about that long to return to the hospital, take a photo of the surgery list and email it, so he should be able to check it now.
He had left Kim Ye Rin’s phone on the passenger seat, and was reaching into his pocket for his own phone when. There was nothing there.
Ah, did he leave it in the hospital room?
He seemed to remember putting it on the bedside table.
If he went up to find his phone now, he’d be late. He needed to check right away, and if anything was unclear, call Park Jae Sun to request clarification.
Choi Yoon had no choice but to use Kim Ye Rin’s phone to access the internet. He logged in and opened the email.
As soon as he opened the attachment from Park Jae Sun, his vision was filled.
He scanned it quickly. The list was much longer than he’d thought, and its history went far back.
If Park Jae Sun, rumored to be so skilled that he was fully booked for years in advance, had worked this much in the shadows, his irritable behavior wasn’t entirely incomprehensible. In fact, it was a wonder he hadn’t died from overwork.
Scrolling through the seemingly endless list, Choi Yoon noticed a repeating phrase. He paused. Now he saw it.
Death, death, death.
The remarks column was filled with “death” notations. Nine out of ten never woke up and died.
If manifestation points exceeded two, like dragonfly wings or deer antlers, survival probability dropped even further. Even after cutting off one ear, many cases couldn’t withstand having the opposite ear cut and died.
The hand scrolling the list trembled slightly.
Then Kim Ye Rin… She has nine tails. Which means nine initial surgeries.
No need to think deeply. Impersonator surgeries are inherently dangerous. He knows this. He knows, but…
Choi Yoon searched for Kim Ye Rin in the entire document.
It was immediately compiled. Still, it came to at least four pages. Even after the first surgery was successful, additional surgeries were performed yearly to cut the constantly regrowing tails.
Choi Yoon gently traced the first column of that arduous record with his fingertip.
Unlike the others, small text was visible in the remarks column. He zoomed in.
Miracle.
Light flashed across his vision.
Choi Yoon reflexively squinted and turned his head, then looked forward again. The car sliding in with its headlights on seemed familiar.
It was a rare model in Korea. Yoo Ji Ho drives that car. After confirming the license plate, Choi Yoon turned back to the chart.
He erased Kim Ye Rin’s name from the search bar and entered a few known names in turn. After repeating this three or four times without results, entries unfolded for one name.
It was a prominent figure in the media with quite a good reputation. Not the surgery recipient, but listed as the guardian who paid the costs. After confirming this, he logged out of the email.
As Choi Yoon got out of the car, Yoo Ji Ho emerged from the opposite vehicle. Then Yoo Ji Ho opened the passenger door and took out several large envelopes. A brand shopping bag was glimpsed among what looked like bread and drinks.
Choi Yoon strode over and stopped near the car’s hood, blankly watching Yoo Ji Ho open the back seat and unload similar envelopes.
He spoke quietly.
“I thought you were leaving.”
Yoo Ji Ho startled and raised his upper body. He banged his head on the doorframe, spilled the envelopes he was clutching back onto the seat, then pulled himself out and looked this way.
“Wow, you scared me.”
“I thought you were leaving.”
“You said you came to the hospital urgently. There won’t be anything, right? I bought some simple things like underwear and clothes to change into. And food and stuff. What room number is it? I’ll drop these off. Why aren’t you answering your phone?”
“I left my phone behind. What’s going on? The preview.”
He asked calmly.
But Yoo Ji Ho seemed to immediately notice that Choi Yoon’s tone was different from usual. He let out a light sigh, then slammed the car door and approached.
“I made a mistake. Just trying to set a simple editing direction.”
I don’t understand. Why would you make such a mistake… Choi Yoon swallowed the words rising in his throat. Though he knew it was meaningless, he asked.
“Can’t you take it down even now?”
Yoo Ji Ho looked troubled.
“It’s too late. It’s already spread everywhere.”
Choi Yoon stared silently at Yoo Ji Ho. Yoo Ji Ho avoided his gaze.
“I’m really sorry. I didn’t expect it to spread this quickly…”
Mid-sentence, Yoo Ji Ho paused. His eyes widened.
Choi Yoon turned around.
Kim Ye Rin stood there in simple attire with sneakers, staring at them blankly.
She soon approached with soft steps and reached out her hand. Her slender fingers naturally took the phone Choi Yoon was holding.
“I got a message asking to move the car.”
Despite Choi Yoon’s explanation, Kim Ye Rin showed no reaction. She merely stared intently at Yoo Ji Ho with her hands tucked into her cardigan pockets. Her expression was impassive.
Yoo Ji Ho looked at Choi Yoon with a bewildered face. Choi Yoon cleared his throat.
“Ye Rin, this is…”
Before he could finish the introduction, Kim Ye Rin abruptly extended her hand.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Ye Rin. Are you Yoo Ji Ho?”
Yoo Ji Ho blinked, then skillfully reached out to grasp Kim Ye Rin’s hand. They shook hands lightly.
“I’ve heard a lot about you from Yoon hyung. You recognize me right away.”
“Yes. I recognized your voice when I heard it. I overheard you talking on the phone with Choi Yoon.”
Yoo Ji Ho raised one eyebrow and looked at Choi Yoon. Choi Yoon was just as perplexed.
He had talked on the phone with Yoo Ji Ho a few times in front of Kim Ye Rin. But he had never let her hear his voice.
Kim Ye Rin pulled something black out of her cardigan pocket and showed it. It was Choi Yoon’s phone. Instead of returning it, she simply held it up lightly.
“I listened to the recorded calls.”
For a moment, Choi Yoon doubted his ears. After a beat, he asked.
“You went through my phone?”
“Yes, I did. Why? Does that upset you?”
Kim Ye Rin looked up at him blankly. The May night was still cool, her soft cheeks slightly flushed from the cold.
“You searched my restaurant, didn’t you, Choi Yoon?”
Kim Ye Rin shifted her gaze from Choi Yoon to Yoo Ji Ho. She stepped past Choi Yoon towards Yoo Ji Ho. A faint smell of hospital disinfectant lingered.
“Where do you get all that information?”
Yoo Ji Ho looked like he didn’t understand what she meant. Kim Ye Rin said,
“Things like my resident registration abstract and business plan.”
This time Yoo Ji Ho’s face went pale. Without waiting for an answer, Kim Ye Rin continued.
“And I saw another video.”
Was she talking about the preview uploaded to YouTube? Just as he was about to open his mouth to explain about the upload without notice, Kim Ye Rin adjusted her grip on Choi Yoon’s phone.
Choi Yoon watched in dismay as Kim Ye Rin’s fingers naturally entered the passcode to unlock it, her expression wiped clean and calm.
Kim Ye Rin held up the phone towards them. It wasn’t the expected YouTube.
It was something even Choi Yoon had never seen before, yet he knew exactly when it was from.
A strong sense of doom overwhelmed him.
He instinctively snatched the phone from Kim Ye Rin’s hand. He replayed the video from the beginning.
Yoo Ji Ho leaned in close to look at the phone together.
On the clutched screen, Choi Yoon was mercilessly beating Lee Kang Woo. Then Choi Yoon grabbed Lee Kang Woo by the scruff of his neck and slammed him down. Along with the desk fixtures, Lee Kang Woo crashed roughly onto the office floor. Yoo Ji Ho swallowed as he watched Lee Kang Woo stagger to his feet and spit out blood-tinged saliva. He muttered.
“What is this?”
Choi Yoon didn’t answer. He first checked who sent the video. It was Lee Kang Woo.
There was a message he left below the video.
[If you don’t come up after cleaning up, I’m handing this over to Jeon Min Seok.]And another below that.
[This is your last chance.]His insides burned as if he’d swallowed fire. He struggled to steady his breathing. Yoo Ji Ho shoved his shoulder hard, causing Choi Yoon to slam his back against the car.
“Hyung, what the hell is this!”
Towards the shouting Yoo Ji Ho, Choi Yoon yelled back in a low voice.
“I’ve been beaten for decades and I hit back just once. Just once!”
“How could you… How could you let this be filmed?”
Yoo Ji Ho snatched the phone from Choi Yoon’s grasp and checked the video again.
“And in Lee Kang Woo’s office, are you crazy?”
Choi Yoon kept his mouth firmly shut.
“Aren’t you upset about all the times you held back?”
After spitting this out, Yoo Ji Ho roughly messed up his hair and turned around. He put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath, then looked back.
“Was it then? When you were hospitalized after your car accident? Did Lee Kang Woo have someone run you over with a car because you rebelled like this?”
Choi Yoon rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand. He really felt thirsty.
“This beast of a man…!”
The veins in Yoo Ji Ho’s neck stood out fiercely. Choi Yoon raised his hand to stop whatever else he was about to say. He looked at Kim Ye Rin.
Kim Ye Rin spoke monotonously.
“I downloaded it and sent it to my email.”
Choi Yoon barely suppressed the urge to grab Kim Ye Rin by the collar. He asked in a low voice.
“What are you trying to do now?”
“I’m threatening to spread that video if Choi Yoon reports me as an impersonator to the Monster Management Center.”
Choi Yoon had to admit that he had underestimated Kim Ye Rin.
Then again, she had written a note saying she was willing to die and even had parts of her body cut off. How could he have thought someone so ruthless to herself would be generous to others?
Kim Ye Rin’s eyes looking at Choi Yoon now were still shiny black, but utterly businesslike, as if regarding an object. Not a single speck of warmth could be found.
In an instant, their positions had reversed. Each grasping the other’s most vulnerable point.
This relationship can no longer be undone.
“Well?”
Kim Ye Rin asked, looking back and forth between Choi Yoon and Yoo Ji Ho. Her expression was dry, devoid of any emotion.
“Does the cost-benefit analysis work out?”
______
In This Life, I Won’t Be Foolish To Lose You Again (Female-dominant)
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
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