It was when Ha In had just finished showering.

Ha In was standing in the dark living room, staring blankly at the call from Je Guk.

He said he would come here now. He didn’t raise his voice, but she could feel his anger.

Just hearing that he would come to Ha In’s house at this hour, she could tell how furious he was.

Ha In opened the veranda window and looked outside.

Even the cafe that was the last to keep its lights on near the house was closing.

Bars were in full swing, but they weren’t places she could go with Je Guk.

Given the late hour, no suitable place came to mind.

– My house

Ha In typed that message but erased it. She was worried that her house was too shabby to invite Je Guk in.

But more than that, she had to take responsibility for making Je Guk’s insides a compost heap.

Once they saw each other’s faces and talked, they would figure out how to proceed from here.

Ha In tapped her phone screen again with force.

– This is my home address.

Ha In left her home address in a text message to Je Guk and turned her drifting gaze far beyond the veranda.

“Ah, right.”

Only then did she remember that she hadn’t even dried her hair. Drying her wet hair was the priority.

Ha In sat in front of the dressing table and turned on the hair dryer.

The noise and hot air blowing from the hair dryer made her head even more complicated.

Even when she tried to regain her composure while drying her hair, she couldn’t seem to focus.

The reason Je Guk was coming all the way here was more than enough to make her dizzy. The revelation of Chairman Lee’s affair must have been a huge shock to Je Guk.

It was well known how much he respected Lady Yoon Joo Hwa.

Most of the charity projects Lady Yoon Joo Hwa had promoted were removed by Chairman Lee. But after Je Guk joined the management, he rebuilt all those projects.

Moreover, every year on Lady Yoon Joo Hwa’s death anniversary, he donated to children with incurable diseases.

If this was just the surface, she wondered how much Je Guk must have missed his mother in his heart.

But learning that his own father had an affair, leaving such a mother, he must have been overwhelmed with shock.

Thinking coldly, it wasn’t something Ha In had done without considering Je Guk’s potential reaction.

Even though things were going as Ha In had planned, her conscience pricked her.

Ha In stopped drying her hair and looked straight at her reflection in the dressing table mirror.

‘Cheon Ha In, now is not the time to think about other things.’

Urging herself, she pulled herself together.

She thought about what she would say when Je Guk arrived.

Je Guk was not someone to be deceived twice, so she considered how he might strongly shake her with his attacks.

He would ask pointedly about Ha In’s intentions. Then she also had to think about how honest she should be with him.

As if steeling her shaking resolve, Ha In changed into clean clothes like when going out.

Having finished her preparations, Ha In brewed a warm cup of tea.

It was one of Je Guk’s tastes that she had glimpsed over the shoulder while working at the Cheonha Group mansion.

Fragrant tea or full-bodied wine was what Je Guk sought every day to wrap up his day.

The head butler had told her that he drank a glass every evening because it helped relieve stress.

A cup of tea might not be enough to relieve the stress, but Ha In hoped that Je Guk’s heart, which she had stirred up, would soften even a little.

When enough time had passed for the tea leaves to sufficiently steep, the doorbell rang.

Ha In opened the front door with a trembling heart.

In front of the pushed open door stood Je Guk with a pale complexion.

His tie, which was always neat, was loosely undone. Ha In felt sorry to see his resentful eyes.

“You’re here.”

Feeling ashamed, Ha In uttered a perfunctory greeting.

“Excuse me for intruding.”

“Please come in.”

Je Guk stopped in front of the neatly arranged house slippers, ahead of Ha In.

“I brewed some warm tea. If you don’t feel like tea, I’ll prepare some wine.”

About to take off his shoes, he shoved his feet deep into his shoes again at those words.

“Acting like you know me well feels strange, as if we’ve known each other for a long time.”

Je Guk spoke bluntly to Ha In. Je Guk was right.

Strictly speaking, Ha In and Je Guk had known each other for a long time, but they hadn’t been acquainted for long. The thought belatedly dawned on her that it might have been uncomfortable for Je Guk, who disliked crossing the line, to hear.

“Ha, warm tea.”

In his voice, mumbling with a small laugh, a complex feeling could be sensed.

“Ah, I apologize if I made you uncomfortable.”

Ha In acknowledged her rashness, bowed her head and apologized.

“I’m sorry.”

Wondering if even that displeased Je Guk, he frowned and turned to look at Ha In.

Je Guk took a step closer to Ha In as if to draw out all her inner thoughts.

Ha In was bewildered, not understanding why Je Guk had suddenly turned around. Trapped under his gaze looking down at her with his tall stature, Ha In flinched and slightly hunched her shoulders.

“Well, I don’t even know what to ask first.”

Je Guk closed his eyes tightly and opened them, looking anguished. Then he looked at Ha In straight again with resentful eyes.

“You were the prosecutor in charge of our Cheonha Group case. Why, that day. The day you encountered me, why didn’t you say anything?”

It must have been unpleasant enough for Je Guk. He might have thought she was trying to deceive him.

“There were many ears around.”

To Je Guk’s first question, Ha In cited the most superficial reason among many.

Then Je Guk took another step closer to Ha In. Startled by the distance that had become too close, Ha In stepped back half a step.

Je Guk took another half step towards Ha In.

Again, at a distance where their breaths might touch, Ha In stepped back another half step.

“The reason you asked to meet at the Cheonha Art Gallery.”

Since it wasn’t a question he was asking unknowingly, lying in response was meaningless.

“I wanted to borrow the power of Lady Yoon Joo Hwa.”

Ha In spoke the truth.

The reason she had called him to the best place to remember Lady Yoon Joo Hwa was to shake his heart.

“How infuriating. No matter how I think about it, it’s infuriating.”

Je Guk furrowed his brows and stepped even closer to Ha In.

Before she knew it, Ha In’s back was against the front door. She looked up at him with startled eyes.

“Then, the reason you took on our Cheonha Group case.”

Unless Je Guk was a fool, there was no way he would think the current situation was a terrible coincidence.

Lost in thought, Ha In lowered her gaze and moved it left and right.

Je Guk was coming on much stronger than expected, making it difficult for Ha In to come to her senses.

Ha In tried to calm herself, thinking she couldn’t crumble here.

“For revenge.”

At the end of her answer, Ha In raised her head. There was no reason for her revenge to be shameful or unjustifiable.

“I came all the way here to get revenge.”

Even if she felt deeply sorry, she knew well that an apology would be meaningless to him.

Rather than an apology that might seem hypocritical, she thought it would be better to express the will that brought her this far.

“After leaving the Cheonha Group mansion, I studied with my life on the line to get here.”

Ha In spoke very earnestly. But Je Guk’s eyes remained cold, unwavering.

Je Guk was someone who became more composed the more confused he was.

“Ha, revenge. Then I don’t need to ask about the reason you revealed my father’s affair today.”

Unable to answer any further, Ha In dropped her gaze.

She could do anything for her purpose and was confident she could be indifferent. But strangely, it didn’t work well only with Je Guk.

“Did you intend to use me for your revenge?”

It might be unpleasant for Je Guk to hear, but that was the truth.

“Yes.”

“After driving a wedge between my father and me, the real game begins? That revenge of Prosecutor Cheon Ha In.”

Je Guk pieced together the situation like completing a puzzle.

It was shameful but all true. Ha In had tried to use Je Guk. Even at this moment, that plan remained unchanged.

“But why are you being so honest with me?”

Ha In felt a pang of guilt but maintained a calm expression. Ha In’s honesty might seem suspicious to Je Guk.

But she thought it would be better to tell him directly rather than have him find out what he would soon learn anyway.

“Isn’t it most accurate for me to tell my own story?”

It was something Je Guk had to believe in order for it to begin.

“You should have just asked me to help you.”

Ha In couldn’t tell if Je Guk was just probing or if he meant it sincerely.

The Je Guk she knew was not someone who probed or tested people.

How nice it would have been if Je Guk had easily helped Ha In with just a word.

But Je Guk was not in a position to do so.

It was something that could cause massive damage to the Cheonha Group.

If she had just asked for help, would he really have helped? He would have surely tried to dissuade Ha In instead.

“You have no reason to help me.”

Strictly speaking, there was no one in this world who had to help Ha In unconditionally.

After losing her parents, Ha In quickly realized that fact.

In a world where nothing was easily granted to Ha In, let alone someone’s help.

“Back then, long ago, did I have a reason to help you when I did? Isn’t that right, Ha In?”

At the sound of him calling her ‘Ha In,’ she raised her head. Je Guk was looking down at Ha In with sorrowful eyes.

Ha In choked up, and the tears she had held back for a very long time welled up to her throat.

Ha In had never expected Je Guk to react like this.