After leaving the office building, I walked for a long time.

It was the same situation as two years ago, but today, I didn’t cry. Not crying itself was a big achievement, I thought, comforting myself.

Back then, I cried so much because it felt like the sky was falling, but now, the sky had already fallen, so there was no need to cry anymore. It was just the worst becoming even worse.

I should have developed a better judgment of people. What have I been doing for the past two years that Ji-hyeon Jeong is still so arrogant? I bitterly smiled to myself.

He was a man who, if he believed he was with his person, would never doubt them. Foolishly. Even in the past, when all evidence of tax evasion pointed to Choi Yeoreum, he did not believe it.

“So what. Now he hates me to death.”

Just until yesterday, Tae-seok had been relentlessly tormenting Yeoreum. He commanded to change all the newly written episodes, as none of them pleased him, and he entered and exited the small room where she wrote, time and time again.

He even forced her to drink more coffee, despite already having some, and stood in front of her for ten minutes just to check how much she had written.

Yeoreum endured all his attitudes silently.

She acted utterly like a block of wood. Once the drama shooting started, she wouldn’t be able to see him often anyway. At most, for a month. She had locked her heart tightly and lived like a tin can doll without a heart.

“It’s late.”

Tae-seok frowned as he opened the door.

In simple slacks and a cotton tee, his casual outfit couldn’t hide his extraordinary physique, and today, he had an intensely deep gaze. Yeoreum took a small breath.

The bulging tendons in his wrist, his firm shoulder muscles, his deep voice…

Yeoreum tried her best to ignore all these features as she entered the house.

“I’m sorry.”

After parting with Ji-hyeon Jeong, she couldn’t calm her mind and ended up walking for an hour without realizing it. Even after rushing in a taxi, she was 30 minutes late.

She didn’t make excuses.

“I’ll stay 30 minutes longer.”

Tae-seok didn’t criticize further and just sat down, extending his hand.

“The script.”

Yeoreum handed him the script she had printed out yesterday.

Silence ensued. Yeoreum, with her accumulated experience, finally caught her breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Hours passed, but the turmoil Ji-hyeon Jeong had stirred in her mind hadn’t settled. She fanned herself. It had been a particularly unsettling day.

Tae-seok glanced at her and slightly lowered the air conditioning temperature.

The house was quiet.

Tae-seok seemed satisfied reading the part where the characters, Seol and Min-jun, confirmed their feelings for each other. Hyun-jun, having a heartbreaking farewell with Seol, departs for the airport. Comparing it to the previous version, the revised part was much better.

As he read the script, Yeoreum sitting opposite him caught his attention. Looking at her, sitting modestly and looking a bit tired, somewhat bothered him.

He wanted to see the pendant, but again, there was no necklace today.

‘There are many similar designs. Did I misunderstand?’

Since then, he hadn’t been able to see it again and was now a bit confused.

“Where were you that you got late?”

Breaking the silence, he asked. He was curious if she had met Cheon Ji-hyuk again.

‘From the pendant to Cheon Ji-hyuk. Why do I have so many curiosities? Pathetically.’

Yeoreum hesitated for a while before speaking.

“I had a fight with someone…”

“…”

“With someone, I had a fight.”

The hand turning the script pages froze. A fight?

At least it was clear it wasn’t Cheon Ji-hyuk.

“Why did you fight?”

Tae-seok asked again, his eyes blatantly demanding an answer.

“It’s a very personal question.”

“But I’m curious.”
Tae-seok slammed the script down with a thud and stared straight at Yeoreum.

“Who did you fight with? Why? For what reason? Maybe,” he paused for a moment, “Did you get hurt?”

Unaware that he was the one causing her the most pain lately, he asked boldly. Yeoreum, slightly startled, averted her gaze but didn’t withdraw her eyes.

“At the shareholders’ meeting, I told you. I never agreed to break up. That means, I still have the right to ask you these things.”

What does this mean?

Had he changed the direction of his revenge? Yeoreum, confused, looked back at him. His gaze was fixed on her unwaveringly.

Was his goal to shake her up again? If that was his goal, it seemed like the cruelest way to torment her.

‘Really, if that’s his goal, he doesn’t need to do anything. I never forgot him in the first place.’

Yeoreum sighed softly and quickly responded.

“Just someone. I went there confidently to hit, but I got hit instead. Not physically, but emotionally.”

“Why?”

“Sorry?”

“Why did you get hit if you were confident?”

Was it necessary to be this persistent? Yeoreum sighed again before continuing.

“I have something to protect.”

Tae-seok looked at her with an unreadable expression and then casually said,

“Food.”

“Sorry?”

“Lunch. Did you eat?”

“Yes.”