After a persistent pursuit, I found a village on the coast of Namhae.

Staying at the pension where Yeoreum was staying, I found a homestay closest to it and observed for a few days. At first, there was no particular movement. Thanks to that, Oh Hyun-sik caught up on his sleep.

Thinking about stopping and going back home, Yeoreum revealed herself. She looked somewhat lifeless.

Gradually expanding her range of activities, she went from the front of the house to the nearby park, and later even went to the breakwater farther away.

In the process, she became friends with the grandmothers in the neighborhood, ran errands for them, and even got side dishes. She admired dogs, took them for walks, took care of the street cats, and even went to the market by bus.

There was also a day when she picked up the trash left behind by fishermen. Young, who was standing by, found everything fascinating and laughed, finding everything amusing.

‘Yuyoung probably wouldn’t be laughing like that.’

It was when rumors spread that the reason for the disbandment of ‘Lovely Rose’ was because Yuyoung was doing well alone. Although it wouldn’t be easy, I thought the reason she made an effort to smile was probably to consider Yeoreum.

‘Well, she seems to be living well. There’s nothing special, but I came for no reason.’

After more than two weeks, it started to get a little boring. In Oh Hyun-sik’s view, Yeoreum seemed to be less affected by the breakup than expected. Perhaps she didn’t like Seo Taeseok as much as he thought. Oh Hyun-sik prepared to go back to Seoul, and as far as he could remember, it rained that night.

While taking a stroll outside by chance, he saw Yeoreum standing in front of the pension on the beach, crying out loud. Even by just seeing the back of her wearing an umbrella, he could tell it was Yeoreum. After crying for a long time like that, when the rain stopped, she went back into the pension.

The next day, it was possible to find out why Yeoreum had come down to this coastal village and the reason she secretly cried. While driving diligently and going up to Seoul, he received a call from an unknown number.

Ji Hyun-jung realized the existence of the reporter belatedly and even knew about the fact that Oh Hyun-sik had captured the dating rumors.

Ji Hyun-jung called Oh Hyun-sik and asked why he didn’t turn it into news, and Oh Hyun-sik replied that he wasn’t very interested in dating with a non-celebrity.

“At that time, Ji Hyun-jung said this. The informant for the Seo Taeseok tax evasion case is Choi Yeoreum. She received money for reporting it as a condition for breaking up with Seo Taeseok.”

Taeseok’s fist clenched white.

“I’ll provide evidence, so how about trying to write an article?”

At this point, Director Hong couldn’t hold back his anger and slammed his fist.

“This crazy person! How can she do that over and over again!”

Surprisingly, Taeseok was quiet. Director Hong drank some cold water to cool his anger, but Taeseok didn’t even touch the water floating in front of him.

Rather than staying still, he was gradually crumbling from the inside. Director Hong, intoxicated with his emotions, didn’t notice it right away.

At that moment, what would have happened if such an article had been published?

Choi Yeoreum would have been exposed to the public, and her privacy would have been invaded nationwide. Even without seeing it, it was obvious.
“Of course, I refused. However, I got to know Ji Hyun-jung’s character. Ah, I wondered if there was some secret even after their breakup.”

Oh Hyun-sik detached the external hard drive from the laptop and pushed it toward Taeseok.

“These are the materials I’ve collected so far. Honestly, I didn’t need them myself, and I was curious why I was collecting them, but it turns out they found their owner like this.”

“…Thank you.”

Taeseok responded with a fractured voice.

“I will definitely repay this. After looking at the data a bit more… for now, I am, currently, quite confused and need some time to calm down.”

As Taeseok rambled on, Oh Hyun-sik gestured as if to say that’s enough.

“If it helps, then it’s enough.”

“…”

“If you two are completely done, then this data is also useless… But, I think there might still be feelings between you two. I wish you both the best.”

Needing some time alone, Taeseok hastily organized his space. Oh Hyun-sik left, leaving a message that if there were more questions, he could contact him anytime. With a threat not to take any tranquilizers, Director Hong also left after work.

Feeling frustrated being left alone, he called K. He knew that Ji Hyun-jung had canceled the insurance claim for the traffic accident, but he asked if there was anything else he found out.

K’s voice sounded quite tired.

K, who had been muttering to himself, stopped for a moment.