Sung Hyuk heard a very unpleasant thing while having lunch with Ji Sang.

“I hear you’ve got a rival now?”

“A rival?”

Ji Sang’s face had a mischievous smile.

“Seo Jin Gyo, I mean.”

“What nonsense about a rival.”

Sung Hyuk put down his chopsticks irritably.

“I hear Seo treats Young In really well? If it’s reached even my ears, that says it all.”

“…”

“They say many employees suspect something between those two. Why wouldn’t they? It’s none other than Seo Jin Gyo who came on his own asking for a contract.”

Ji Sang kept chattering as if determined to get on Sung Hyuk’s nerves.

“Did you know about this?”

“I don’t know.”

Whatever it was, he didn’t want to know. It would surely be something unpleasant to hear.

“You probably don’t know. That Seo Jin Gyo is being mentioned as a replacement for Park Tae Ho, who was booked for drunk driving.”

Park Tae Ho, the male lead in the drama planned for 16 episodes and currently aired up to episode 8, belonged to Management Team 5. More precisely, he was an actor Young In had been in charge of since Hyesung.

As he had to leave the drama midway due to drunk driving, an actor was urgently needed as a replacement. Knowing that Young In was having a lot of trouble, Sung Hyuk was also worried. So he had given instructions to recruit a possible actor as soon as possible, even if it meant proposing unreasonable conditions.

Separate from that, Ji Sang’s words weren’t worth listening to.

“Would Seo Jin Gyo be crazy enough to take that on?”

“I didn’t know there was another madman like you.”

“What nonsense.”

“They say he volunteered to do it himself.”

“…”

Sung Hyuk couldn’t help but be bewildered.

The day Seo Jin Gyo came to sign an exclusive contract wasn’t bewildering at all. He just thought it contemptible, wondering if he was trying to curry favor with Young In while making a choice that wasn’t bad for himself either, given SL Entertainment’s status.

But this was different. While the exclusive contract had nothing that could be called disadvantageous to Seo Jin Gyo, joining a drama already halfway through carried too big a risk.

At best, it would just break even. There was no reason for a top actor showered with casting offers from renowned directors to take on such a role.

“As the original madman, why do you think Seo Jin Gyo volunteered?”

“…”

Sung Hyuk didn’t answer. Not because he didn’t know, but because he didn’t want to say it out loud.

But Ji Sang stepped in and answered for him.

“It must be for Young In’s sake, obviously.”

“Shut up.”

“You’d better step up your game. You’ve met a formidable opponent.”

“Is it fun? Are you excited?”

“Of course it’s fun. How could watching Cha Sung Hyuk do things he never did before not be exciting?”

Glaring fiercely at Ji Sang, Sung Hyuk took out his phone and called his secretary.

“Check Seo Jin Gyo’s schedule and let me know.”

He knew that Young In had gone to an advertisement filming site as Jin Gyo’s on-site manager today.

As soon as he hung up, Ji Sang asked hurriedly:

“What are you going to do after finding out his schedule?”

“I’m going to go see.”

“What are you going to do when you get there?”

“I don’t know.”

Sung Hyuk had been not knowing a lot of things lately. He had no idea how to win Chae Young In’s heart.

Maybe that’s why he kept doing things he never did before. Like today.

[This is the timeline separator]

Arriving at the filming location, Sung Hyuk approached a luxury van.

Checking the license plate, it matched the vehicle number he had heard from his secretary. It was the van assigned to Seo Jin Gyo.

Just as he was about to knock on the window, the door flung open.

The person who got out of the van was a stylist belonging to SL Entertainment.

“…CEO?”

After a moment of surprise, the stylist preemptively spoke up before Sung Hyuk could say anything, her face brightening.

“Wow, you came to cheer us on!”

Sung Hyuk didn’t bother to deny it, considering the person’s goodwill in providing an excuse on her own.

“I just stopped by on my way.”

Only Ji Sang knew that it wasn’t on his way, but that he had come reluctantly. Soon Young In would know too, though.

“Jin Gyo oppa just went out saying he’d take a walk around the area with Team Leader Chae. Should I give him a call?”

“No. I’ll look for them myself.”

He headed towards the river, leaving the stylist behind.

As expected, the two were looking at the river. Seeing them standing side by side made his insides twist.

He wondered why he came to confirm something when he knew he wouldn’t be able to leave in a good mood. But then he heard unexpected words.

“Is Cha Sung Hyuk the one? Your ex-boyfriend.”

He decided to listen for now.

Sung Hyuk’s brow furrowed at ‘similar feeling’. He could never accept that he and Seo Jin Gyo were similar. Being compared to the most famous actor in Korea was neither an honor nor anything else to him.

“What did you like about CEO Cha?”

Young In’s answer was unexpected, saying she liked that he had no deficiencies.

Soon, an indignant feeling welled up.

“What if I’ve developed a deficiency because of you?”

Sung Hyuk shifted the responsibility to Young In, who turned around with surprised eyes.

“It’s because of you, so you should take responsibility.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You are my only deficiency.”

“…”

“So if I have you, I’ll be perfect again. Then you’ll like me again too.”

He didn’t care that Jin Gyo was listening. His only thought was that he couldn’t miss this moment.

“Stop resisting.”

“…”

“I’m never giving up on you. If I was going to drift apart after fumbling around, I wouldn’t have started in the first place.”

Young In just bit her lip silently.

At that moment, Jin Gyo intervened.

“Why are you, a supposedly refined person, eavesdropping on others’ conversations?”

Sung Hyuk threw a bland look at him.

“I don’t think I’ve ever pretended to be refined in front of you, Seo Jin Gyo-ssi, so I’m not sure why you have such a misunderstanding.”

“…”

Jin Gyo couldn’t refute. He had to admit it wasn’t something to say to someone who hadn’t tried to hide his hostility since the day they first met.

“When it comes to anything related to Chae Young In, I can do more than just eavesdrop.”

Sung Hyuk had only just realized the meaning of the question Jin Gyo had asked on the day he came to sign the contract. He must have heard from Young In at some point that her ex-boyfriend had gone to America, and was trying to confirm that.

“Since you seem to know about Young In and me, there’s no need to hide it anymore.”

“You didn’t seem to have much intention of hiding it from the beginning.”

“Well, I won’t deny that. I’ve never wanted to hide my relationship with Young In.”

As he spoke, Sung Hyuk’s gaze shifted to Young In.

Young In read in his eyes the meaning: I’ve never been ashamed of you, so don’t think of yourself as inadequate.

Of course, she knew. If she had ever felt that Cha Sung Hyuk was even slightly ashamed of her for being adopted, she would have broken up with him that very day. Naturally, she wouldn’t have kept him in her heart until now either.

Biting her inner lip hard, Young In spoke up.

“What brings you all the way here?”

“Just to see you.”

“You’ve seen me, so please leave now. The shoot is about to start.”

“I’ll wait until the shoot is over.”

“Why?”

“To take you home.”

Young In steadied her wavering heart and tightly clenched her cold hands.

“I’m working right now. Of course I’ll go with Senior Jin Gyo when the shoot is over.”

“…”

As Sung Hyuk closed his mouth with a hardened expression, Jin Gyo opened his with a smile.

“I’ll make sure to escort Young In home safely. You can go back without any worries, CEO.”

As Sung Hyuk turned away silently, dazzling sunlight poured down on his head.

Young In wordlessly gazed at him, shining even in moments like this, and therefore all the more unattainable.

[This is the timeline separator]

Young In got out of the taxi that arrived in front of her house.

It was almost midnight.

As she trudged to the front gate, she heard a car stopping behind her.

Wondering if the taxi had returned because she had left something behind, Young In turned around abruptly and froze.

It wasn’t a taxi, but a black SUV. And the person getting out of the driver’s seat was Sung Hyuk.

“Where’s the person who said he’d escort you home safely and told me not to worry?”

“I said I’d come alone.”

“Good.”

“Did you wait to check if Senior Jin Gyo was bringing me home or not?”

“I felt like I wouldn’t be able to sleep without seeing you go into the house.”

“…”

How long had he been waiting?

It seemed it was useless even though she had deliberately humiliated him in front of others, telling him to cut ties.

She shouldn’t feel sorry, she should act colder and harsher, but putting what she knew into practice was too difficult.

“I was worried you might not come home.”

“Did you think I might spend the night with Senior Jin Gyo?”

“Yeah.”

“…”

Young In wanted to say that she and he weren’t that kind of relationship, but she held back. She knew that telling the truth was tantamount to leaving an opening for Sung Hyuk.

“Go in.”

Silently turning around, Young In took heavy steps into the gate, as heavy as the darkness that had deeply settled.

It was a night where her heart was heavier than her body.

[This is the timeline separator]

Young In listened to Hae Yoon chattering away beside her as she headed to the conference room for the team leader meeting.

The topic was rumors circulating in the company about Team 5.

“They say the CEO favors only Team 5, they didn’t know he’d go as far as creating a whole team, there’s so much talk.”

Management Team 5 was still in charge of the actors who had belonged to Hyesung. It was no different from just moving offices.

Employees from other companies absorbed around the same time as Hyesung were dispersed among Teams 1 to 4, so it was indeed preferential treatment.

“Things calmed down a bit after Senior Seo Jin Gyo’s contract, but you never know when they’ll start gossiping behind our backs again.”

“What can we do about the stone that rolled in. We’ll have to put up with that much…”

It was at that moment that Young In stopped in her tracks, seeing a middle-aged woman walking from the opposite direction.

She had only seen her once, for just a few minutes, but she could recognize her at a glance.

The mistress of SL Group and Cha Sung Hyuk’s mother.