Je Guk felt pity for Ha In who was looking at him with sorrowful eyes.

The sorrow of that child who had made an extreme choice and collapsed when he was young was conveyed to Je Guk as well.

Even though he had helped her escape from the hellish Cheonha Group because she wanted to run away.

Je Guk wondered how much resentment she must have harbored to still be unable to break free from that yoke and was walking a dangerous tightrope, saying she would take revenge.

But he had to be cold.

This time, it wasn’t something that could be resolved by Je Guk offering Ha In some compensation like he did back then.

Personally, he could embrace Ha In, but behind Je Guk was the Cheonha Group that he had to protect.

Je Guk calmly took a step back. Only then did Ha In breathe comfortably.

“Let’s go inside.”

Je Guk changed into house slippers and went inside the house. But he didn’t feel any movement behind his back.

Je Guk turned around towards the entrance again. Ha In was half dazed and catching her breath.

As Je Guk was about to take a step again, Ha In came to her senses.

“I’ll go in.”

Ha In guided Je Guk to the living room sofa. Then she brought cold tea that had cooled down completely.

“It was warm earlier… I’ll bring it out again.”

“It’s fine. It’s late, so let’s just get to the point briefly.”

Je Guk took a sip of the tea on the table. It was the minimum courtesy for the prepared hand.

“So what’s your purpose? It’s too naive to believe you can blow up the entire Cheonha Group.”

“I will make sure Hyun Baek Hap gets a prison sentence. I will make her live a long life in agony and pain, even if she wants to die.”

That in itself was what Je Guk wanted as well.

But in the process, Lee Hoe Jang would exercise his influence, and it would be difficult for the Cheonha Group to avoid damage.

“Is our Cheonha Group being sacrificed for that right now?”

“You know very well that Hyun Baek Hap is using Lee Hoe Jang as a shield and the Cheonha Group as a weapon to hold out, don’t you?”

Ha In’s words were correct. If things continued like this, the Cheonha Group would be at risk of self-destruction due to Hyun Baek Hap before Ha In could inflict damage on it.

But Je Guk didn’t want to show such a thing even if his pride was hurt.

“I won’t interfere if the goal is to punish Hyun Baek Hap. But if it has any negative impact on the Cheonha Group, I won’t sit still either.”

It was a story that would sound disappointing to Ha In, but Je Guk had no choice in his position.

“If you side with me, I’ll think about it.”

Je Guk was perplexed, not knowing how to interpret the words “I’ll think about it.”

It didn’t seem like the Ha In he knew a long time ago. He wondered if this was the same child who kept her mouth shut at any question, making Je Guk’s insides burst.

“Think, what do you mean by think?”

“I won’t hesitate to use any means necessary for my goal.”

Ha In said, looking straight at Je Guk. Ha In had never forgotten what Hyun Baek Hap had done for even a minute.

She was prepared to die if she couldn’t bring Hyun Baek Hap down to despair.

“Prosecutor Cheon Ha In will get hurt.”

“That doesn’t matter. You know better than anyone that I’m living because I can’t die, don’t you?”

Je Guk knew all too well what those words meant. Je Guk’s gaze turned to Ha In’s left wrist.

The scar left on Ha In’s wrist was well hidden by her watch strap.

“So, are you saying you’re going to challenge the Cheonha Group?”

“If you don’t like that, you can join me.”

Je Guk drank another sip of the tea in front of him, his insides burning.

“What changes if I side with Prosecutor Cheon Ha In? Do I have to watch myself ruin the Cheonha Group with my own hands to feel relieved?”

“You can provide the documents that can cleanly cut out only Hyun Baek Hap, can’t you?”

Je Guk closed his eyes tightly for a moment.

Corporate matters weren’t as simple as Ha In thought.

If there was a way to cleanly cut out only Hyun Baek Hap, he would have done it long ago.

Even with just the stock price manipulation judicial risk this time, more than 100 people were involved.

Je Guk was also devising a strategy to eliminate Hyun Baek Hap at this opportunity, but it wasn’t an easy task as he wished.

Moreover, with Lee Hoe Jang holding out like that, it was just frustrating.

So, Je Guk chose to cut off the rotten branch even if it meant some risk to the Cheonha Group.

But he wasn’t going to discuss this matter with an outsider like Ha In.

“What should I trust about Prosecutor Cheon Ha In to hand over such documents?”

“Then what did you trust about me back then to help me? Didn’t you know that Hyun Baek Hap was a bad person even then and let me out of there?”

“Ha…”

Je Guk sighed deeply, feeling frustrated.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t trust Cheon Ha In as a person.

As someone who belongs to the prosecution organization, there will come a time when she will have to follow the will of a larger organization rather than her own beliefs.

“Prosecutor Cheon Ha In, be faithful to the place you belong to. I will be faithful to the company I lead.”

Dealing with Hyun Baek Hap was also Je Guk’s long-cherished wish, but he didn’t want to leave it in someone else’s hands.

With that determination, Je Guk got up from his seat.

Ha In, who didn’t get the answer she wanted, sat there with a disappointed expression.

“Thanks for the tea. If fate allows, let’s meet again.”

It was the moment Je Guk was about to take a step. Ha In got up from her seat and grabbed the sleeve of Je Guk’s clothes.

“Please help me.”

Je Guk turned around at that gesture and voice. Ha In looked at Je Guk with eyes that seemed to be about to shed tears at any moment.

The cold prosecutor from a while ago was nowhere to be seen. Je Guk wasn’t someone to be swayed by someone’s emotions, but he felt strangely moved in his heart.

“Please.”

Ha In said earnestly once more. Her eyes, wet with tears, were shining brightly. A deep desperation was felt in those eyes.

Cheon Ha In, you’re really determined.

Ha In grabbed Je Guk firmly with one hand on her wristwatch.

Je Guk couldn’t push her away and stood there still.

He was worried that if he turned away and left like this, Ha In might have bad thoughts like she did a long time ago.

“Help me. If it doesn’t make sense either way, just help me. That’s what you said. You asked if I should have just asked for help. Then just help me.”

Ha In clung to Je Guk, not minding her shamelessness.

She wasn’t naive enough to believe in the justice that the world speaks of.

It wasn’t that Hyun Baek Hap was flawless and couldn’t be charged with crimes.

If the Cheonha surname firmly protected Hyun Baek Hap, it was not something that could be guaranteed to make her pay for her crimes.

If that was the society Ha In belonged to and it wouldn’t change no matter how much Ha In struggled, she at least wanted to hold one shield.

“Ha In.”

Tears didn’t fall from Ha In’s bloodshot eyes. Ha In said she didn’t shed tears even when she was sad.

She said she grew up being told not to cry from inside the womb because Lee Hoe Jang hated the sound of crying.

Seeing that the illness of her mind from the past remained the same, Je Guk felt inexplicably sad.

Je Guk put his hand on Ha In’s thin shoulder, hoping she would calm down a bit.

“Let’s find a way where neither you nor the Cheonha Group gets hurt.”

It was what Je Guk was going to do after leaving this house.

But Ha In shook her head.

“I don’t care what happens to me.”

Je Guk didn’t like Ha In saying such things.

Je Guk spoke firmly. There should be no incidents where Ha In throws herself as kindling for the sake of revenge.

“Let’s find a good way.”

He comforted Ha In once more. Only then did Ha In let go of Je Guk. Still, her gaze couldn’t leave Je Guk.

Ha In also knew well that Je Guk was not a person who made empty promises.

“Ha In, I want you to live well. I want you to live happily.”

At Je Guk’s sincere voice, Ha In’s body, which had been sensitively alert, relaxed.

“Get some rest and calm down.”

Ha In hesitated, unable to answer readily.

“If you answer, I think I can leave with peace of mind.”

It was Je Guk’s sincerity. It was his wish for Ha In to live well without suffering.

“Yes.”

Ha In answered heavily. Only then could Je Guk take a step.

As he headed towards the parking lot, he tried to calm himself down.

It wasn’t something he couldn’t understand if he considered what kind of time Ha In had spent.

Ha In, who had come this far alone, lonely and desolate for a long time, worried him by saying she would fight a battle with no end in sight.

* * *

After he left, Ha In sat on the living room sofa and stared at the teacup left alone.

Je Guk was a cold but sincere person, both then and now.

When he called her “Ha In,” it felt like new flesh was growing on her painful name.

Every time Ha In wanted to die, he said he hoped Ha In would live happily today as well.

She knows what happiness he’s talking about.

It was to forget everything and live her own life. But Ha In was too afraid of those words telling her to live happily.

It was the same before her mother passed away.

Ha In doesn’t know how happy she was that day when she received the candy basket gifted by the elderly housekeeper.

She couldn’t even open the packaging to share with her mother, and her mother left Ha In’s side that day.

She became trapped in the jinx that whenever happiness comes, misfortune follows.

So she never did anything that could be mistaken for happiness.

She never laughed comfortably, afraid that her happiness would be discovered.

Ha In was afraid of happiness even as small as a jawbreaker candy.

Realizing that she had been shaken as well when she only needed to shake Je Guk’s heart, Ha In got up from her seat as if to shake off her complicated emotions.

And she cleared away the teacup that was left alone and sorted out her mind as well.

It was painful for Ha In to trust and wait for the compassion Je Guk had.

Still, if there was something she gained, it was that she could understand him after clashing with Je Guk.