It was a clear autumn morning.

“I’m in front of your house. Come down slowly.”

Seo Ina left the house with an excited heart.

“This is the first time I’ve been so excited to go to school.”

Seo Jiho smiled and said as Ina got in the car.

The couple rings on their hands sparkled.

It was the first day of going to school after deciding to go public with their relationship.

They had already given a preview at the school opening party, but from today, they planned to show off their love like any other campus couple without being shy.

“I’m a little nervous.”

It was a situation where the fact that Jiho was J had been completely revealed.

Moreover, the fact that he was not officially with Lee Hanna but was traveling in Paris with his girlfriend had also been mentioned, so just thinking about how people would look at them made Ina’s mouth dry.

“I want to keep staying by your side, it’s a shame. Maybe I should have gone to medical school too.”

Even at Jiho’s joke, Ina couldn’t laugh comfortably.

Ina, who was not used to being the center of attention, still had a tense face.

“We can have lunch together starting from today, right? We can sit next to each other even in the library.”

“Do you like that so much?”

Ina laughed, looking at Jiho who was enjoying himself.

It’s not like they were starting to date for the first time today, and they had even traveled together, so would he really like it that much?

“Yes. I like it so much.”

At Jiho’s excited voice, Ina also relaxed a little.

‘That’s right. This is what I wanted too. I’ll get used to it gradually. I should proudly think that such a great guy is my boyfriend.’

While Ina was getting herself together, Jiho’s car arrived at the school.

As Jiho opened the driver’s seat door and got out, Ina also got out of the car.

“Wow, this is the first time we came to school together in the morning and got off together.”

Jiho was overwhelmed with emotion, remembering Ina who had fled and got off halfway before.

“Are you going to walk me to class?”

“Of course. I felt bad every time I dropped you off on the street and walked alone.”

“I see.”

“Shall we hold hands first?”

As soon as they took a step, Jiho whispered affectionately.

“If someone sees us, they’ll think we’ve never held hands before.”

Ina burst into laughter.

“It’s the first time.”

With a brazen expression, Jiho’s palm was spread wide open in front of Ina.

Small fingers were intertwined between large fingers.

Warm body temperature was transmitted through their clasped hands.

Ina felt a sense of reliability from the firmly held hand.

As they walked, people who recognized Jiho blatantly stared at the two of them.

Each time, Jiho gripped the held hand tighter.

Ina felt a ticklish and soft-hearted feeling as she walked to the medical school building.

“I hate to say it, but go in.”

“Okay.”

“Just do it like today. It’s no big deal, right?”

Ina nodded with a smile.

“I want to praise you for doing well, but…”

Ina took a step back, looking at Jiho whose face had turned playful.

“Go quickly.”

Not knowing what Jiho would do, Ina slowly backed away.

“All right. You go in first.”

Ina nodded, turned around and walked away.

Jiho watched until Ina completely disappeared and then turned around.

**

“So you’re saying… you spread that photo?”

Choi Soo Min was so surprised that she even stuttered.

“Is it true?!”

Soo Min’s high-pitched voice rang through Jung Yoo Mi’s room.

“I didn’t know this would get so big. I just didn’t want to see Jiho oppa and Ina doing well together. Oppa said he would find and sue the first person who spread that photo… Sob sob.”

Yoo Mi’s voice trailed off and she finally burst into tears.

Yoo Mi had been trembling for days, and feeling unable to handle it alone, she confided in Soo Min despite knowing she would be angry.

She found out that the comment Yoo Mi had made exposing J’s identity and the initially posted photo had been submitted to the police as evidence.

The photo was submitted anonymously, but it was a mistake to use her own ID for the comment, thinking she would delete it quickly.

It was only a matter of time before her personal information would be revealed if they tracked the ID.

Then wouldn’t the photo leak also be caught?

When she was blinded by envy and jealousy, there was nothing to be afraid of, but now she was anxious and her blood ran cold day by day.

The audacity that a thief would never be caught was gone.

Even the sound of her cell phone ringing made her heart sink.

After that incident, Ina and Jiho became such a famous campus couple that everyone at school knew them.

Yoo Mi had tried to ruin the two of them, but instead, she had only provided an opportunity for them to date publicly.

The ones who were ruined by this were Lee Hanna, who had been labeled a liar for approaching J, and Jung Yoo Mi, who was trembling in fear of being sued.

“Then did you also expose Jiho’s identity?”

Yoo Mi nodded at Soo Min’s sharp voice.

Kim Yeon Soo had been angry, saying that someone had maliciously revealed Jiho’s identity.

Soo Min had also comforted Yeon Soo with worry, but thinking that it was Yoo Mi’s doing made her dizzy.

“What do I do now, Mom?”

“How could you do such a thing without any fear? Are you in your right mind?”

Soo Min was so angry that she hit Yoo Mi on the back.

“Even if you make a mistake, there’s a limit. I’m going crazy because of you!”

“This is all because of Ina! She takes all the good things. I liked oppa for a long time, but suddenly Ina took him away! Sob sob. Just thinking about Ina made it hard for me to breathe!”

Yoo Mi cried out miserably.

“No matter how much you hate her, how could you? Don’t you have that much sense?”

“I wanted to ruin everything I couldn’t have anyway. So Ina couldn’t have it either.”

Soo Min looked at Yoo Mi with a dumbfounded expression.

Soo Min’s heart seemed to crumble at Yoo Mi’s twisted mind.

Jiho’s side was plotting and waiting, so Soo Min was also terrified that they might really be sued at this rate.

If this was revealed, it would not end with just her relationship with Yeon Soo being strained.

Last time, they had let it go as a mistake when Yoo Mi slapped Ina’s cheek, but if Won Jin found out that Yoo Mi had done this because she hated Ina, it seemed he would not stay still.

‘We have to somehow prevent the situation from going to a lawsuit…’

Cold sweat ran down Soo Min’s back.

‘Rather than being caught later and getting sued, wouldn’t it be better to confess first and ask for forgiveness?’

Soo Min took Yoo Mi’s hand, calming her excitement.

“Yoo Mi, this won’t pass like this. If we really get sued, it will be really hard to turn back then.”

Yoo Mi raised her head and looked at Soo Min reproachfully, her face covered in tears.

Soo Min’s heart ached as she looked at Yoo Mi.

“If you get called to the police station and Dad finds out that you did this because you hated Ina, what do you think he’ll say?”

Yoo Mi looked at Soo Min with a terrified face.

Hiding her trembling heart, Soo Min calmly persuaded Yoo Mi.

“Yoo Mi, everyone can make mistakes in life. You just have to regret and reflect on what you did wrong. So let’s confess first and beg for forgiveness before the police find out.”

It would not be easy to be forgiven, but this was all they could do for now.

“Are you telling me to beg now?”

“Even if we ask for leniency based on the relationship we’ve had so far, we should at least try.”

Soo Min closed her eyes and let out a long sigh.

How did it come to this?

“If I beg, will they forgive me? Yeon Soo unnie earnestly asked me to keep it a secret…”

Yoo Mi trailed off and lowered her head.

Soo Min was angry again at the fact that Yoo Mi had committed such a reckless act knowing that, but she tried hard to hold back.

Right now, the priority was to soothe Yoo Mi and deal with the situation.

Soo Min looked for her cell phone and first called Yeon Soo.

**

Yeon Soo hung up the call from Soo Min that came early in the morning and sat blankly on the sofa.

‘Ha.’

She still felt dazed because it was too shocking.

“Yeon Soo, if I had known this in advance, I would have absolutely stopped her. I’m so, so sorry. Yoo Mi is also regretting and reflecting a lot right now. She’s still a young child, so she did it without thinking. Please forgive her just this once for my sake…”

Yeon Soo was appalled to learn that Yoo Mi, whom she had cherished like a daughter, had orchestrated the scandal and exposure of Jiho’s identity.

“She must have been really upset to see Ina and Jiho dating so well in her own way. I’ll scold her sternly, so please avoid the police investigation. Yeon Soo, I’m begging you like this.”

The reason for doing such a thing was all because of jealousy towards Ina.

Yeon Soo couldn’t hide her anger either.

“Was Yoo Mi only this much of a child? I’m so dumbfounded that I can’t even speak.”

“I was also blinded by my dislike for Ina…”

“Don’t you have anything else to say to me? Everything you said about Ina was also a lie. Ha… I misunderstood Ina all this time just listening to you. Now I see that you and Yoo Mi are the same. How can you stab someone in the back like this! I’m so disappointed.”

Yeon Soo poured out everything she had been holding back.

At Yeon Soo’s cold response, Soo Min groveled.

“That’s… I’m really sorry. It was all my fault. Yeon Soo, please turn a blind eye just this once.”

“If you want to be forgiven, tell Yoo Mi to meet Jiho and beg herself!”

Yeon Soo coldly told Soo Min, who asked her to persuade Jiho, and hung up the phone.

**

“Forgive me.”

Yoo Mi bowed deeply in front of Ina and Jiho.

All four people, including Soo Min who followed out of concern for Yoo Mi, gathered in Ina’s living room.

Having no one else to rely on due to Yeon Soo’s cold reaction, Yoo Mi contacted Ina.

She hated it more than death, but there was no other way.

She hoped that because they were family, Ina would persuade Jiho for her sake.

Yoo Mi held onto a thin thread of hope.

“You made things this bad and still have the nerve. Do those words come out that easily?”

Jiho, who had been glaring at Yoo Mi sharply, opened his mouth.

At his icy cold voice, tears welled up in Yoo Mi’s eyes.

If it weren’t for Ina’s request, Jiho wouldn’t have even thought of meeting Yoo Mi.

Ina persuaded Jiho, saying it would be better to give Yoo Mi a chance to deeply reflect on her own rather than handling it by the law.

They weren’t people who could avoid seeing each other for life, and no matter how much he hated her, she was Ina’s family.

“Oppa. It was all my fault. I…”

Yoo Mi took a deep breath as if overcome with emotion.

“I was so envious of unnie. I was so jealous that she always got the good things since we were young… Do you know how much I liked you, oppa? I only had eyes for you, but… Sob sob sob.”

Yoo Mi wiped away the tears that poured out with the back of her hand.

“It felt like unnie stole you from me. You didn’t even acknowledge my feelings… So I was so angry that I just… I know I was wrong too. So please forgive me just this once. I won’t hate unnie anymore either.”

Yoo Mi looked at Jiho pleadingly with a tear-stained face.

“Jiho, unnie is begging you too. I know how big of a mistake Yoo Mi made. She will live reflecting and regretting even more than being sued, so please show leniency just for my sake, and I will never forget this favor.”

Unable to bear it any longer, Soo Min grabbed Jiho’s hand and pleaded.

Ina looked at Yoo Mi bitterly.

‘I didn’t know the gap in emotions was this deep. You must have been quite hurt too.’

Soo Min, who became desperate, pulled Yoo Mi and knelt on the floor.

“Please go back. I’ll think about it.”

Jiho said coolly as he got up from his seat.

The mother and daughter, who had hesitated for a long time, made a final plea for leniency and left.