Junghwa was sitting still in the dark living room, only holding onto a tablet PC.

“Hah…… Unbelievable, really!”

She was repeatedly sighing in displeasure while reading through dozens to hundreds of comments on an entertainment article.

It was none other than Yoo Junghwa who secretly passed on information about Tae Seojun to reporters and had them expose it.

She did this expecting favorable reactions such as people saying they were a fantastic couple when the fact that she, the top actress, and he were past lovers became known to the world, asking why they broke up, telling them to get back together, and so on.

If only things went that way, it seemed like she would gain a justification and excuse to reconnect ties with Tae Seojun, who wasn’t giving her any opportunity at all.

But what was this? Somehow the story turned out with her part completely omitted, and everyone was attaching Eom Soyeon to Tae Seojun. So the beneficiary of the article she exposed ended up being that girl who already irked her greatly.

Ever since the first broadcast of ended, every article coming out was filled with nothing but absurd comments saying Eom Soyeon and Tae Seojun looked so good together, that Eom Soyeon’s visuals, aura, and acting were all on par with the lead.

Even the internet search categories were plastered with Tae Seojun and Eom Soyeon’s names, so Junghwa, who couldn’t help but be infuriated, nervously bit her fingernails.

What a persistently irksome girl!

If Tae Seojun liked her, he wouldn’t try to hide it, but there were no such signs heard of yet. However, Junghwa, who couldn’t be reassured by just that, began thoroughly looking into information about Eom Soyeon without even relaxing her furrowed expression.

The world didn’t point fingers at Eom Soyeon, who gained attention by coming out as an unwed mother. Rather, most articles praised it as a courageous choice.

Junghwa, who was browsing such articles, ended up looking through stock market rumors out of irritation. Their credibility may be low, but their accuracy regarding personal information was surprisingly high.

Dr. Eom Eunhyuk, currently residing in Canada, was a professor at the province’s state university and a world-renowned authority on organ transplant surgery. But even his birth mother was an S University alumna, and not only Eom Soyeon but her two older sisters were also from their mother’s alma mater, albeit with different majors.

“What is this now! This girl was from a family of brains despite looking like that?”

Junghwa’s expression distorted venomously.

She now seemed to know why the world was uniquely favorable towards Eom Soyeon.

Right, good family background and education played a part in addition to her circumstances.

However, there was something Yoo Junghwa would never realize even if she were to drop dead and come back to life.

The difficult choice and the responsibility that must be shouldered even if heavy. Despite her young age, Eom Soyeon’s unwavering appearance in squarely facing and pushing through them was upright to anyone’s eyes.

So even the public, who used to frown and pour out criticism, couldn’t help but eventually harmonize with Eom Soyeon’s bold steps. They had no choice but to cheer on her earnest desire to become a dignified mother rather than an actress caught up in popularity.

But this flow was completely incomprehensible to Yoo Junghwa, who was used to distorted conduct where any wrong methods were fine as long as wealth and power followed.

Pangs of conscience?

Knowing such things as mere pretense and hypocrisy, she only pitied and cherished herself. She only resented this damn world that bestowed upon her a hellish environment and crooked parents.

“Ha, so irritating!”

Junghwa, who felt like her foul mood would only worsen if she kept looking at displeasing articles, sprang up and threw a bleak gaze out the window.

Banpo Bridge, illuminating the city’s night, came into full view. She had never paid much attention to it since it was always there, but the few lights that were off felt like blemishes today.

Would such flaws exist in the perfect Tae Seojun?

If he didn’t just pop out of nowhere into this world, there must be something that could be his weakness.

What could that be?

Don’t chaebol families tend to be more sensitive about their children’s affairs? Like if their son dated or married an absurd woman with a child, something like that.

The faint hint of delight on Junghwa’s expressionless face began from the thought that that girl’s weakness could also be Tae Seojun’s weakness.

If I just subtly hinted at their relationship, his parents would flip out on the spot. No matter how willful he was, he wouldn’t be able to ignore the intervention of his immensely wealthy parents.

Then if I gently coax his angry parents to my side, wouldn’t it be game over? Not only bringing down Eom Soyeon, but also gaining strong allies in my relationship with Tae Seojun.

Though it would require a villain’s crocodile tears and cunning lies, that’s nothing to me!

“I guess I really am wicked. Heh……”

Red lips smirked palely.

Soyeon simply could not fall asleep.

It was because the pounding in her heart wouldn’t easily subside due to Seojun’s words, ‘This body is now yours’.

But in reality, it was the opposite.

From tightly winding her slender legs around his long legs to holding Soyeon in his arms even while sleeping, Seojun seemed to be saying with his whole body that she was his.

Soyeon’s mind grew clearer even as dawn deepened. She still couldn’t believe she was in the same space, the same bed as him.

Barely managing to slowly wriggle and turn her body in the opposite direction, she gazed at the large window.

Huh?

It’s raining.

Rain is falling.

The sky, which was a different world earlier, was now filled with dark clouds and starting to drop raindrops little by little. Soyeon’s eyes were wide open until pretty thick rain streaks drenched the glass window.

Growl……

But then suddenly, her stomach clock rang.

His breath touching the nape of her neck was still peaceful, but Soyeon, who couldn’t be reassured without checking with her own two eyes, rolled her pupils back.

Right then.

“Gasp! Are, are you awake?”

“No. I wasn’t sleeping.”

Jet-black eyes tinged with dawn light were clearly looking at her, so how could she not be startled? As Soyeon asked with a shocked expression, Seojun answered with a smirk.

“Oh, you weren’t sleeping?”

“Yeah. I was just lying with my eyes closed.”

As Soyeon made a somewhat dumbfounded face, Seojun sat up and asked.

“Eom Soyeon-ssi, do you know how to cook rice?”

“Ri, rice?”

“I can’t sleep because I’m hungry.”

“At this hour?”

“There’s a saying that if you eat deliciously, it’s 0 calories.”

Soyeon immediately caught on.

He must have heard her stomach growling.

So he was preemptively saying he was hungry, and Soyeon, who couldn’t not know that action came from his deep heart, also sat up while playing dumb.

“Do you have ramyeon?”

“Can you cook it well?”

“It’ll probably be alright.”

As Soyeon smiled brightly while speaking, Seojun also grinned.

“Can I look forward to it?”

“It’ll exceed expectations.”

“Let’s eat quickly!”

Seojun and Soyeon held hands and left the bedroom to go to the kitchen.

Both of them were going to stay up all night.

Cha Yeojin, who entered the aesthetic shop’s break room, looked straight at Yoo Junghwa standing right in front of her.

“Yes. You told me to see you.”

Junghwa seemed to have waited a long time, but Yeojin’s gentle yet not so gentle expression showed no hint of apology.

“Hello, Madam. I’m Yoo Junghwa……”

“I know who you are one way or another, so let’s skip the introductions and sit down first.”

It couldn’t be pleasant for Cha Yeojin to face an actress who had a scandalous rumor with her son, even if it was in the past.

Yeojin, who cut off Junghwa’s words, lowered her body onto the antique-style sofa. Indeed, befitting the madam of Elstella Hotel, graceful dignity flowed from her upright sitting posture.

“Ah, yes. Madam.”

Junghwa, wearing a neat dress suitable for the situation, sat demurely across from Yeojin.

Yeojin, who nodded her head as if in thanks to the shop employee setting down a traditional tea set on the table and stepping back, grabbed the long handle of the teapot and asked Junghwa.

“Do you like persimmon leaf tea?”

This aesthetic shop, where only VIP customers entered, was a space where the privacy of high society matrons from all fields was perfectly guaranteed.

Therefore, even a famous celebrity had to pull strings to come in, so Junghwa had to bribe a shop employee with a large sum of money. That’s how difficult it was to arrange this meeting.

Perhaps because of that, Junghwa carefully answered while covering her tense expression with a soft smile.

“I’ve never had it, but if you give it to me, I’d gratefully……”

“Ah, one moment.”

However, Yeojin, who cut off Junghwa’s voice again, took the call that came in for Cha Yeojeong first.

“Oh, it’s me.”

– Unni, I think I’ll be a bit late. I called to say don’t wait and go ahead first.

“Of course, since you left late. I was going to do that today because I’m busy too.”

Although treating her flexibly, Junghwa couldn’t not know that Yeojin was definitely not an easy person, so she poured tea into the cup in order to look good while Yeojin was on the phone.

– Then come to Seongbuk-dong tomorrow, unni. Let’s have lunch together.

“Okay. Got it.”

Yeojin, who finished the phone call with her sister, held the teacup filled with persimmon leaf tea. Relieved by that, Junghwa brought her own teacup to her lips right then.

“Yoo Junghwa-yang……”

Junghwa’s fingernails adorned with nail art were very flashy, befitting a top actress. Fixing her gaze on that hand, Yeojin asked.

“Have you learned tea ceremony before?”

The correct answer to the question should be that she learned, but Junghwa presented a moderately neutral response, feeling like a lie would be quickly exposed.

“I briefly learned for a role I played.”

However, that was Junghwa’s misjudgment.

“Ah, then you’d know that much. Even with the same tea, the temperature and aroma differ depending on who and how it’s brewed.”

In fact, Yeojin didn’t care either way. It was merely a warning to clearly maintain boundaries and to let her know that she doesn’t accept anything that’s not her method.

“So I do it myself.”

Yeojin, who subtly conveyed that meaning, brought a new teacup forward and poured tea.

“……!”

She’s not an ordinary strong-willed person.

Junghwa, whose spirit was blocked by Yeojin’s attitude, even thought she came to the wrong place. But now that it’s already done, she couldn’t back down either.

Quickly judging that there was nothing for her to gain by prolonging the conversation, Junghwa dropped the ambiguous atmosphere until now and directly brought up the purpose of her visit.

“We were close. Tae Seojun-ssi and I.”

“So?”

Yeojin replied curtly.

She already knew it would be that kind of story, so she was neither surprised nor curious.

“Seojun-ssi is seeing that kind of woman because of me.”

“That kind of woman, you mean. Are you perhaps talking about that actress named Eom Soyeon?”

Junghwa didn’t know yet that Tae Seojun and Eom Soyeon were seeing each other again. Therefore, what she was saying now was merely a fabricated fiction, and Eom Soyeon was nothing more than a disposable item to shake Madam Cha.

Junghwa was just diligently reciting the novel she had prepared while gauging Yeojin’s mood.

“Yes, that’s right. 4 years ago, Seojun-ssi, who was very angry with me, brought Eom Soyeon between the two of us. And he’s been continuing to do that to me for show until now. Madam, aren’t you the only one who can stop Seojun-ssi from being like that?”

“Well. I wonder when that story is from. I only know Yoo Junghwa-ssi as part of my son’s past.”

“Yes. You’re right. But Seojun-ssi and I still love each other deeply.”

As Yeojin listened silently, Junghwa spoke even more unobstructedly.

She brazenly threw false concerns right at Yeojin that Tae Seojun would continue to wander if she didn’t hold onto him. Junghwa’s eyes were desperate enough to deceive anyone as she didn’t hesitate to even request Yeojin to support her for the sake of her son.

Yeojin, who suppressed her shaken heart by drinking tea, slowly voiced.

“So…… My son is seeing Eom Soyeon to provoke Yoo Junghwa-yang’s jealousy, and he will continue to live in such a mess if it’s not you? The mess you’re referring to is my son seeing Eom Soyeon-ssi?”

“Yes, yes. That’s right, that’s what I’m saying.”

Junghwa’s eyes and eyebrows unknowingly curved up, thinking their words were finally communicating. However, a light sneer followed by a quiet murmur flowed out chillingly from Yeojin’s mouth.

“Heh, interesting……”

“Pardon?”

“I’m curious about the standards by which you think you’re better than Eom Soyeon-ssi.”

“That’s……”

Was it still not getting through? Junghwa, who trailed off with reddened eyes, didn’t avoid Yeojin’s gaze. It was the will to not give up on Tae Seojun until the end.

“The unmarried Eom Soyeon-ssi has a child. As the saying goes, seeing one is knowing ten – isn’t it proof of a promiscuous private life? Madam, you wouldn’t want young master to be involved with such a dirty woman.”

“…….”

It almost sounded plausible. However, Yeojin stared into Junghwa’s eyes for a long time. And as she withdrew that gaze, she parted her lips.

“Honestly, I don’t really like either of them, but what can I do?”

Yeojin was not intrigued by Junghwa’s story of putting down others to elevate herself. No, this conversation itself was utterly unpleasant, so she touched upon the essence precisely.

“But Eom Soyeon-yang doesn’t seem like someone who would forcibly do anything to my son. Rather, to me, Yoo Junghwa-yang, who acts as if she knows everything about my son, looks stranger. I wonder if you understand now that I’ve said this much.”

“……!”

“Let’s get up now. Isn’t time more precious than gold?”

There was no case anywhere of the top actress monopolizing the silver screen being treated so coldly.

So she could have stormed out of here right away, but even after Madam Cha left the break room, Junghwa stayed in that spot for a while. Rather than expressing unpleasant emotions, she just blankly stared at the chair where the wife of the wealthiest man had sat.

A life where everything is provided before you even desire it.

A noble life where everyone kneels before you even make them kneel.

Junghwa was endlessly envious of Cha Yeojin’s life, which held all of that in both hands. She was crazy with desire for the abundant and relaxed life of someone who has it all, not needing any crude greed.