“How can you all be such idiots?”

The PR legal team lawyer took a short breath before speaking.

“Watch your language.”

“Do your children know this is how you make money?”

“What did you say?”

“Honestly, aren’t you ashamed of yourself? Don’t you feel guilty? Surely when you were studying law you had some desire to uphold social justice, so how did you end up living this kind of life? Don’t you think, ‘Did I cram all those law books just to clean up after a woman like that?’ You’re pitiful.”

The lawyer’s face turned bright red as he spoke.

“Jung Yeo Reum. Don’t say such harsh things just because you’re angry. Think about the aftermath. Do you know what happens when you recklessly upload slanderous videos on the internet? Do you really want to go to jail?”

Yeo Reum smiled sweetly as she said.

“Criminal Act Article 307. A person who defames another by publicly alleging facts shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 2 years or by a fine not exceeding 5 million won. Also, Article 70 of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. states that a person who defames another by publicly disclosing facts through an information and communications network with the purpose of slandering them shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 3 years or by a fine not exceeding 30 million won.”

The mouths of the PR legal team lawyers fell open.

“Don’t worry. I have 3,600 in my bank account. I’ll still have some left after paying the fine.”

Yeo Reum replied simply and showed her phone screen to the legal team lawyer.

It was the board of a large online community, with the title ‘PR Group Owner’s Family’s Deadly Gapjil!’ ready to be uploaded at the press of a button.

“How about that, killer title, right?”

Looking at the pale-faced lawyers, Yeo Reum also showed it to Ha Eun.

“Oh, you’re too far? Then I’ll read it for you. The title of the video I’m uploading to the internet is ‘PR Group Owner’s Family’s Deadly Gapjil!’ How about it? Do you like it?”

“Hey, don’t act so tough. You think you can take on our group? As if!”

“Acting tough? Then watch this.”

As Yeo Reum was about to press the upload button, a panicked Ha Eun jumped up and shouted.

“No! Don’t do it!”

As she tried to snatch the phone, Yeo Reum quickly dodged to the side.

“Give it here!”

“I don’t want to?”

“Do you really want to die!”

Ha Eun frantically reached out her hands and jumped up and down trying to grab the phone Yeo Reum was holding up.

“By the way, you’re quite good at running too. Someone might think your leg wasn’t broken.”

“…What?”

Ha Eun, finally coming to her senses, stopped in surprise.

The PR lawyers looked devastated, and the cleaning staff were even more dumbfounded.

Yeo Reum clicked her tongue and picked up her phone again.

“Stop it.”

The legal team lawyer, having regained his composure, said.

Yeo Reum’s phone screen was still on the large community’s board waiting screen.

“I don’t want to?”

“Are you really going to go up against PR Group or what!”

Finally angered, the lawyer shouted and reached out to grab the phone.

Without hesitation, Yeo Reum pressed the upload button.

He froze in shock.

“Oh my, it uploaded properly even with just a light tap.”

“…No. No!”

Ha Eun screamed.

Everyone was stunned, not having expected her to actually upload it.

The PR legal team lawyer was even more so.

He looked at Yeo Reum with an almost awe-struck expression.

“Ah, that feels good! So refreshing!”

Yeo Reum laughed loudly, sticking out her stomach.

“I’ll… I’ll kill you!”

Ha Eun, who had been momentarily despairing, lunged at Yeo Reum in a rage.

“…Young lady!”

Unlike before, she didn’t dodge this time.

As a result, Ha Eun grabbed a handful of Yeo Reum’s hair and shook it.

“You can’t do this!”

The two PR lawyers tried to stop her, but Ha Eun seemed out of her mind.

Finally, even the police officers had to step in to separate them with difficulty.

Yeo Reum, with her hair disheveled, said to Lawyer Park.

“Lawyer, please secure the CCTV footage here. I’ll spread this video along with the earlier recorded insults. Hey, Kang Ha Eun. This is a perfect frontal angle, so your face will look amazing. Congratulations.”

Ha Eun, only then realizing there were CCTVs in the police station, exploded even more.

Shaking off the people holding her, she ran towards Yeo Reum again with her arms outstretched.

This time, Yeo Reum slightly dodged, grabbed Ha Eun’s arms, and tripped her leg.

With a cry, Ha Eun sat down hard on the floor.

“Want to try again?”

Yeo Reum looked down at Ha Eun.

“Go ahead if you dare. But this time, I’ll strangle your neck.”

As Yeo Reum took a step forward, Ha Eun, despite her pain, quickly scooted backwards on her bottom.

Everyone stood dumbfounded with their mouths open at the events that unfolded in the blink of an eye.

Looking around at them, Yeo Reum smiled brightly and said.

“As you can see, Kang Ha Eun attacked me first twice. I was just defending myself. Everyone okay with that?”

*

Yeo Reum left the police station with the cleaning staff and Lawyer Park.

“Will you really be okay? PR Group won’t let this go easily.”

“Am I just sitting still?”

The cleaning staff looked grateful as they watched Yeo Reum smiling mischievously.

Lawyer Park said,

“There’s nothing to worry about. The physical evidence is clear, and Kang Ha Eun verbally abused you and even assaulted you at the police station. PR will probably offer money in exchange for taking down the video.”

“Let’s see how much they offer. Though I doubt it’ll satisfy me anyway.”

“As expected, our Yeo Reum thinks big.”

The cleaning staff laughed loudly.

“But boss, I guess we’ll be fired from Woarium Resort?”

“I was already fired yesterday.”

“Already?”

“Don’t worry about us. There are plenty of other places to work.”

“That’s right.”

Yeo Reum smiled softly at their unanimous response.

“By the way, lawyer, how much should I pay you for your fee?”

“It’s free.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s a farewell gift for our office part-timer, and I also felt really good for once.”

“Thank you!”

“Everyone worked hard since morning. Yeo Reum, how are you getting home? Want a ride?”

“No, I have someone to meet.”

“Then be careful on your way back.”

“Yes. Thank you for your hard work too, lawyer. Thank you.”

After saying goodbye, Lawyer Park and the staff got in their cars and left.

Yeo Reum headed towards the bus stop.

She quickly boarded a bus heading to Woarium Resort, but then belatedly remembered that he had already left the resort.

Yeo Reum carefully dialed his number on her phone.

But instead of the expected pleasant baritone voice, she only got a message saying the phone was turned off.

‘It would be really nice to see him one more time. I want to at least thank him properly…’

The bus was still diligently running in the meantime.

Just then, a sign for Haeundae Beach came into view.

‘Could he have gone there?’

With a baseless guess, Yeo Reum got off the bus and ran towards the beach.

Due to it being a weekend and the warm weather, there were quite a few tourists visible.

Yeo Reum started walking quickly, looking around.

“…Ah!”

She spotted a familiar silhouette lying on the sandy beach.

Yeo Reum was overjoyed.

Without thinking, she ran towards him.

“San Ha!”

His body seemed to twitch slightly.

“San Ha!”

She called out to him again.

He slowly sat up and looked with a bewildered expression at Yeo Reum, who was running while waving her arms wildly.

She was so happy to see his face fixed on her that she ran recklessly, not even noticing her shoelace had come undone.

Regardless of people’s stares, she kept calling his name and running forward.

Then she stepped on her own untied shoelace.

In an instant, she lost her balance and fell face-first.

Just a few meters away from him, Yeo Reum planted her face in the sand.

Embarrassment came before pain.

So she couldn’t move an inch.

“Hey, magpie. If you’re not dead, get up.”

His nonchalant words sounded like comfort.

Yeo Reum jerked her head up.

“Hehehe.”

Her face was covered in sand, and sand crunched between her teeth as she smiled.

His brow furrowed slightly, but even that looked handsome.

“Don’t smile with that face.”

“Okay!”

Yeo Reum jumped to her feet.

She quickly brushed off the sand and hurried to his side.

He had spread out his long black padded jacket like a mat and was lying down on it again.

Yeo Reum, after glancing around, sat down on the sleeve part of the jacket.

“Um, I heard you checked out?”

“That’s right.”

He closed his eyes.

“Thank you for today.”

“For what?”

“The video. It really helped. Thank you.”

“It’s nothing.”

“But did you come to the police station today?”

“Yeah.”

“Were you worried about me?”

He slightly opened his eyes to look at her.

Seeing Yeo Reum’s eyes sparkling with expectation, he answered.

“I went to meet someone. They’re a police officer there.”

“Oh.”

“You look disappointed?”

“No, I’m not.”

Looking at the sulking Yeo Reum, he said.

“Want to eat a hamburger?”

“Yes!”

But there was nothing around him.

Just then, a person wearing a delivery helmet and carrying a plastic bag approached.

He said to Yeo Reum.

“Raise your hand.”

Yeo Reum quickly raised one arm.

“Ah, there you are. Here’s your order.”

He handed over the plastic bag with a slight bow.

Inside were indeed hamburgers and cola.

“Isn’t this for you to eat?”

“Why are you suddenly being so formal? You were calling me San Ha just fine earlier. Anyone would misunderstand.”

“Hehehe.”

As Yeo Reum laughed awkwardly, San Ha said.

“I didn’t order it. Someone sent it, and it’s a hassle to throw away.”

“So can I really eat it?”

“Sure.”

Yeo Reum, sitting next to him, quickly unwrapped the package and took a big bite of the hamburger.

“Were you hungry?”

“I guess so. Plus, after all that stress at the police station, this tastes like heaven.”

Yeo Reum exclaimed in admiration.

He turned his body, which had been looking only at the sky, onto his side.

Propping his head up with one arm, he asked Yeo Reum who was eating the hamburger enthusiastically.

“Is it good?”

“Yes!”

She ate frantically due to her hunger.

After Yeo Reum had finished eating everything and wiped her mouth with a napkin, he got up.

Yeo Reum followed suit.

“Are we leaving now?”

“Yeah.”

He shook out his padded jacket vigorously, then brushed off the dust on his head and body.

Yeo Reum approached and helped brush him off.

He glanced at her but left her be.

Yeo Reum asked.

“Um, can I call you?”

He answered.

“No. Don’t. I’m changing my phone number.”

“I know it might sound weird coming from me, but don’t we seem like fate?”

“I don’t think so.”

He looked at Yeo Reum and said clearly.

“I don’t live here.”

Even as he watched the disappointed Yeo Reum, he answered simply and put on his padded jacket.

He walked forward.

Yeo Reum instantly ran up to face him.

“Do you know my name?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll tell you. My name is Jung Yeo Reum. Hot Summer! I’m 25 this year.”

Instead of replying, he just resumed his momentarily paused steps.

“I’m Jung Yeo Reum! Jung Yeo Reum!”

She shouted loudly several times at his back.

But he quickly disappeared with his slow but large strides.

“Wow, how cold. How can he leave without even looking back once?”

Although they had only met twice, she liked him.

She found him lovable.

Even she thought she must be crazy.

Yeo Reum stared for a long time at the path where San Ha had disappeared.

When she felt a chill in her body, she picked up the plastic bag left on the ground.

Just then, her phone rang.

“Mom!”

―Where are you?

“I’m at Haeundae. Do you like traveling, Mom? Is Dad carrying you around a lot again? Please tone down the public displays of affection a bit, considering others.”

―Um, Yeo Reum.

“What?”

―Can you come up to Seoul now?

“Did something happen?”

Come to think of it, her mom’s voice sounded very subdued.

―Call me when you arrive at Seoul Station.

…Seoul Station?

Her chest fluttered with anxiety.

Yeo Reum said,

“Mom, put Dad on.”

―Your dad is a bit busy right now. Call me when you arrive.

“Did Dad have an accident?”

For a moment, there was the sound of a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the phone.

―No, it’s not that. Call me when you get to Seoul. Okay?

Mom’s call ended like that.

Yeo Reum ran towards the road.

As soon as she hailed a taxi, she climbed into the back seat.

“Please go to Busan Station! Quickly!”

Her whole body was trembling.

Although her mom had said it wasn’t the case, Yeo Reum’s mind was filled with only one thought.

‘There’s been an accident. And Dad is now… in critical condition.’