Before I knew it, it was time to leave Malaga.

The water from the fountain in front of the entrance stretched up refreshingly towards the cloudless blue sky.

“Adiós, hasta pronto. (Goodbye, see you soon.)”

As Seo Jun and So Yeon got into the sedan, the butler and all the servants who had come down the stairs bid farewell.

“Adiós, dar gracias. (Goodbye, thank you for everything.)”

Seo Jun also said goodbye and gently pressed the accelerator.

So Yeon waved continuously towards the receding mansion and the people standing in front of it, only closing the car window and sitting up straight when they reached the main gate.

When did I realize that Eom So Yeon had such a friendly and sociable personality? I think I instinctively felt it when I first saw her. How adorable and cute she looked smiling with that youthful face.

Recalling his first impression of her, Seo Jun’s lips naturally curved into a smile.

“What are you thinking about, smiling to yourself?”

At some point, So Yeon’s gaze had settled on his meticulously groomed face.

“You.”

Seo Jun’s answer was short and clear.

“……”

But So Yeon’s expression looked somehow complicated.

What did we do here? Was it because of the dulled sense of reality while staying at this mansion? So Yeon was still fiercely battling with herself, unable to let go of her lingering feelings.

However, the clock struck 12.

Now that midnight had passed, Cinderella’s time dancing the waltz with the prince was over.

It was time to return to the harsh reality.

Seo Jun seemed to still not want to end their relationship, but So Yeon, who had been constantly wavering during their time here, ultimately had no choice but to give up those feelings.

From now on, she would only see Tae Seo Jun for work. She would never again be sad or hurt with longing. She would absolutely not torment herself with vain hopes or excitement. For her child and herself, she would look only forward and walk confidently.

These were the things Eom So Yeon had resolved from the beginning.

Above all, So Yeon knew well. That being greedy was a more dangerously poisonous act than doing nothing at all. That she might lose her precious family and small happiness in a moment of carelessness.

Such thoughts kept blocking her heart from flowing towards him. They kept bending her legs that wanted to run to him.

“I can hear all the thoughts churning in your head, so there’s no way I wouldn’t know.”

Seo Jun glanced at So Yeon while driving and said glibly.

“Pardon?”

“I’ve been thinking too, and it seems that just won’t do.”

“You mean our relationship?”

“Yes. You’re thinking about the end, aren’t you? But it won’t be like that. I’ve never made a losing deal.”

Last night, Seo Jun had told So Yeon he wanted to continue their relationship. But she only repeated that she couldn’t do that.

And that argument was still continuing now.

“……”

So Yeon’s aimless eyes stopped on his large, long hands gripping the steering wheel.

Seo Jun turned on the audio.

Soft music filled the silence in the car, and after a while, he spoke.

“Does Ms. Eom So Yeon drive well?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I was thinking of borrowing your hands.”

The distance from here to their destination, Cadiz, was not short. Understanding his meaning to be that they should take turns driving, So Yeon apologized first.

“I’m sorry. I was so flustered that I left my international driver’s license at home.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Seo Jun’s thick knuckles came over to the passenger seat, firmly intertwining between So Yeon’s fingers and burrowing all the way through.

“Why……”

“Do I need a reason to want to?”

“……”

Unable to firmly grasp his hand nor push it away, So Yeon’s face gradually turned rose-colored.

While driving on the highway, they stopped at a small rest area.

After refueling the car with diesel, Seo Jun and So Yeon had lunch at an outdoor table in the restaurant. Afterwards, while recharging their caffeine with coffee, the reignited conversation greatly angered Seo Jun.

“Right now I feel… like I’m hitting a wall.”

“……”

“Why do you keep saying no? Bluntly speaking, Eom So Yeon isn’t even married, so are you saying a single mother can’t date anyone, as you said?”

“……”

She said that when her child returned to Korea from her parents’ care, she would devote herself only to childcare and work. And that was her sincere truth, without any excuses or lies.

For So Yeon, protecting her child was the top priority. She didn’t want to create even the slightest possibility of potentially losing her child.

Unable to answer Seo Jun’s questions any further, So Yeon exercised her right to remain silent.

“Could it be that you still can’t forget that man, the child’s father?”

“It’s not because of him.”

Seo Jun was not in a good mood due to her consistent silence. That’s why words that his pride would never normally allow suddenly came out. But why did she react immediately to the mention of that man?

A spark flashed in his dark eyes.

Anger rose.

The urge to throw away the filming and everything else and immediately go find and crush that bastard he didn’t even know swirled like a whirlpool.

Jealous of the man who was the child’s father, Seo Jun felt like his head was going to explode.

You still like that bastard who abandoned you?

Tell me quickly!

Say you’ve completely forgotten about that bastard!

Say there’s no other man in your head, only me, and beg me!

He couldn’t voice such excessive demands, such crazy words that didn’t even sound like proper speech. Seo Jun looked at the surrounding mountainous scenery to calm his agitated feelings.

“If you want to push me away, give me a valid reason.”

Realizing she had been trying to clumsily extricate herself from Seo Jun’s words, So Yeon spoke as if spilling everything out.

“Tae Seo Jun and I don’t suit each other. I thought that from the beginning. And that thought became even stronger after seeing the portrait hanging in the mansion.”

“Why is that.”

“The owner of Hotel Estella, Chairman Tae, is your father, right?”

“…!”

Seo Jun’s eyes wavered for just a moment at So Yeon’s words. It was surprising that she somehow knew even his family tree. But he didn’t ask how long she had known. Such curiosity was meaningless in this situation where he might lose Eom So Yeon forever.

“I didn’t know you were such an enormous chaebol, even for a chaebol.”

“You have great observational skills, but is that a reason why we can’t be together?”

“I don’t want to get involved in the Director’s secret personal life. Tae Seo Jun alone is overwhelming and makes my heart race to death, but I can’t handle Korea’s number one chaebol on top of that.”

“Being wealthy isn’t a crime.”

“It may not be a crime to avoid it. People with such wealth can probably do anything.”

Eom So Yeon’s words implied that someone in his family might be investigating her background. Even if his family didn’t approve of him as an actor, they weren’t the type to do anything illegal.

What’s with this woman? Has she seen too many makjang dramas, or read such novels? As he mulled over So Yeon’s words, Seo Jun couldn’t help but laugh.

“That won’t happen.”

“That’s what you think, Director. No matter how secretly we meet, if the tail is long, it will get stepped on.”

“Then let it get stepped on.”

“That’s what you think, Director. No one knows what will happen until something actually happens. It’s right to end our relationship here.”

“No. It’s not right. I won’t end it. I can’t end it. You reconsider.”

“I’ve already made up my mind. You’re the one who said we’d only stay together for a few days. You also said you’d back off cleanly if I said no. You should keep your promise.”

“Hah……”

He knew it wouldn’t be easy, but he didn’t realize she would be this difficult.

She speaks so frustratingly well too.

Responding to every word and not backing down.

Seo Jun’s expression as he sighed was neither too heavy nor too light. There was just a slight wry smile mixed with his relaxed gaze.

“Let’s think about it some more. Both you and me.”

Cadiz, with its densely packed white buildings and long alleys, was a place bordering the rough Atlantic Ocean.

It was around 2 pm when Seo Jun and So Yeon arrived at a downtown hotel not far from the port where large cruise ships could be seen.

Amid the warm welcome from hotel staff and drama production team, Tae Seo Jun was assigned a high-end special room with a great view, while the unknown Eom So Yeon got a small room on a lower floor.

It was natural for actors of different levels to receive different treatment, but So Yeon, overshadowed by Seo Jun’s brilliance, had to find her own room alone without being able to say anything to him, conscious of the filming team’s eyes.

Seo Jun had hinted that he would escort her to her room, but that was truly out of the question. From the concierge desk at the hotel entrance, people were looking at him and her with questioning eyes. As if wondering why the two of them had appeared together.

There were no other particular suspicions, but if by any chance there was something to deal with afterwards, it was obvious it would be entirely her responsibility. How could she handle their gazes?

The person to be torn apart by the sharp tongues of the filming staff and actors would not be the great actor Tae Seo Jun, but her, who seemed powerless and easy to pick on as a rookie.

That was reality and the huge gap between him and her, which So Yeon was reminded of again, so she had no choice but to ignore Seo Jun’s lingering gaze.

The room was somewhat shabby and desolate, though the cleaning and hygiene were satisfactory. So Yeon sat down on the edge of the bed as soon as she entered the space she would be staying in for a week.

Two old single beds and a worn dressing table attached to a built-in wardrobe, and despite the bright daylight, the room was so dark due to the nearby building in front of the arched window that the lights had to be turned on.

Feeling overwhelmed by the unfamiliar environment, So Yeon lowered her gaze from looking around absently to stare at her own tightly clenched hands without realizing it.

The grand mansion in Malaga.

The beautiful scenery and the thrilling, ecstatic secret affair.

The heart that had fluttered and wavered because of these hands that he wouldn’t let go of the entire way here.

All of that was over now.

This space, where she was alone, seemed to be telling her.

To let go of Tae Seo Jun now. To bury the memories of the few days spent with him deep in her heart. That she had been greedy enough, so from now on she should walk her own path bravely. That if she endured this difficult day well, tomorrow would be less difficult.

So don’t lose yourself to sorrowful emotions. This wasn’t the time for that.

“Oh!”

Coming to her senses at the end of her thoughts, So Yeon hurriedly unpacked her suitcase and called Yeo Do Soon.

“Where are you?”

-Me? On my way from Seville airport to Cadiz.

“When will you arrive?”

-I left 30 minutes ago, so it’ll probably take another hour. Why, do you miss me?

“Yeah. Terribly.”

-But why does your voice sound weak? Did oppa treat you harshly by any chance?

“……”

There was no way Yeo Do Soon, who heard all kinds of stories from the fan club and inside and outside the company, wouldn’t know about Tae Seo Jun’s famously prickly personality. Moreover, with So Yeon’s dejected voice sounding unusual and her not responding to the question, Do Soon’s thoughts immediately leaned that way.

-This guy, really! I begged him so much! Tsk, honestly… When you meet me later, badmouth oppa all you want. Anyone else can’t, but Eom So Yeon can. You’re my favorite friend after all.

“Heh, alright, just come safely.”

-Of course!

At her friend’s boisterous voice, So Yeon finally felt like she had returned to her own life. Above all, she was newly grateful and reassured by Yeo Do Soon, who was always on her side.

After ending the call, So Yeon held a script in her hand. And it was the one that the assistant writer she had met right in front of this room had handed her, saying it was a revised new script.

She had to check it quickly since the content for tomorrow’s filming had changed. But her expression as she read through the script was not normal.

Her face turned bright red as if it would burst, and eventually a startled exclamation involuntarily escaped her red lips.

“Huh, why is this……”

They said the dialogue was the same and only the situational concept had changed slightly, but upon examination, an explicit scene that wasn’t there before had been inserted.

So Yeon laughed dryly and read on to the next page, thinking “surely not”. But only scenes that were even more intense than before clouded her vision.

At least the level of exposure was only her back and shoulders, so it wasn’t something she couldn’t do. She should rather be grateful that her character’s importance had increased.

The problem was that even though it hadn’t been 30 minutes since she parted from him, she already desperately missed Tae Seo Jun. And once the longing started, it was growing uncontrollably with every breath.

Eom So Yeon, please don’t do this…

So Yeon could only scold herself.

Because she knew well that she shouldn’t be greedy here anymore. Because if her resolve crumbled by wavering, she might even lose Hyun Woo on the day she least expected it.

Before she knew it, a reddish tinge had settled around So Yeon’s eyes.

It was the sorrow of not being able to run to him anymore, even though she wanted to.