To You Who Found Me (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 6

Thump thump.

The quick footsteps grew closer and closer, making Hye Yoon tense up while Ji Ho remained calm, as if he already knew who it was.

Only one person ever came in and out of this house, so there was no way he wouldn’t know.

The voice arrived before the face, rough and urgent.

“Ji Ho! These bastards, this is clearly edited…….”

Bong Gi’s mouth stopped right at the entrance of the dining room.

He was dumbfounded by the scene in front of him.

Ji Ho eating with a woman at the table.

A woman, breakfast, cooking?

Even when taken separately, those words had nothing to do with Ji Ho.

“It’s okay. He’s my manager hyung.”

“……Ah, hello.”

“Heh heh.”

Ji Ho chuckled at the greeting that was whispered so softly it was questionable whether it was meant to be heard.

Hye Yoon was biting her lip hard over her terribly hunched shoulders.

“Hyung, this is Writer Jang, the writer for Kim PD-nim’s drama.”

‘Oh, is that so?’

Bong Gi barely swallowed the retort that almost came out.

Things like ‘So these days actors and writers match their chemistry like this before filming starts?’ swirled bitterly in his mouth.

He couldn’t help it—this was all he could see.

Hye Yoon’s hair still not fully dry, the oversized shirt that made her look like she was wearing a giant’s clothes, and most of all, the way Ji Ho’s mouth curved as if he liked how she looked.

In the nine years they’d been together, this was a situation he’d never seen before, and an expression he’d never seen before.

“Yes. Nice to meet you.”

Bong Gi somehow managed to be polite.

Then he suddenly snapped back to reality.

Remembering why he had rushed over here in a panic, he realized this wasn’t the time for this.

There wasn’t much time left.

“Honestly…… I was really shocked. I thought it was total nonsense, but then they said it wasn’t. My head’s all messed up right now.”

“Did something happen?”

Only then did Ji Ho, who had been the most relaxed in the situation, look at Bong Gi.

At Bong Gi’s unusually serious tone, the smile that had been hanging on Ji Ho’s lips dropped.

Hye Yoon, who had been alternating glances between them, slowly straightened her hunched shoulders.

“I’m the one who needs to hear what this is about.”

Bong Gi dragged his slippers roughly as he approached and placed his phone on the table.

On the brightly lit screen were photos of Ji Ho and Hye Yoon from last night.

Ji Ho’s eyebrows twitched irritably.

“Here, we have to deal with this now if we want to avoid a bad situation tomorrow morning.”

When Ji Ho pushed the screen further with his finger, the photos went on endlessly.

Smiling at each other, leaning on his shoulder, reading a book together, getting in and out of the car.

Even the moment he carried a drunk Hye Yoon into the house on his back.

“This is…….”

Hye Yoon couldn’t finish her short sentence because her heart was pounding so violently.

It wasn’t just that words failed her—she felt like she couldn’t breathe.

Every moment her memory had blacked out was densely packed into dozens of photos.

Ji Ho said nothing.

“I’ll hear the full story later. Anyway, they just contacted me—they’re running it as the main story tomorrow morning.”

“…….”

“The most we can do is negotiate to remove a few photos.”

“Then…… ask them to take these photos down.”

Ji Ho, who had been listening expressionlessly, suddenly scrolled Bong Gi’s phone screen.

His finger stopped and pointed at one photo.

The photo where the cover of Hye Yoon’s fairy-tale book was clearly visible.

“Are you crazy? If we’re removing any, we should ask to remove the last one. Don’t you know what kind of imagination this will spark?”

“Hyung…… it’s fine.”

It was Ji Ho—twelve years younger—who calmed the raised voice of Bong Gi.

As if nothing had happened, or perhaps even if something had, it wouldn’t matter.

His voice was gentle and soft.

It felt like that voice was trying to reassure both Bong Gi and Hye Yoon.

“The only way we can get photos removed is by admitting we’re dating.”

Bong Gi hurried to continue.

For some reason that mature attitude made his nose sting.

Remembering Ji Ho recently saying he wanted to rest for good only made it worse.

“They said if we do an exclusive interview, they’ll negotiate and run an appropriate number of photos. If we don’t, they’ll just release everything.”

“It’s just that something came up yesterday so we were together—we’re not like that.”

“Hey, you’re going to say that while showing photos of carrying a woman home at midnight? Who’s going to believe that.”

“……You’re right. No one will believe it.”

Ji Ho smiled cynically.

When his eyes briefly met Hye Yoon’s—who seemed barely able to breathe while watching both sides—warmth returned for a moment.

“You little punk, you think this is funny?”

“We can’t admit to dating, which means they’ll release everything…….”

Ji Ho continued looking at the photos still glowing brightly under his hand.

Photos of a book not yet published, nowhere in bookstores, that had appeared so out of place at the drinking party it would actually draw more attention.

‘But now even I ended up knowing about it.’

‘Yes…… but Mr. Ji Ho will keep it a secret, right?’

Hye Yoon’s voice from last night floated in the middle of his heart.

What he had to protect in this situation was crystal clear.

“Since Writer-nim isn’t a celebrity anyway, they’ll blur her face when they release it. So this one photo is the problem…… Please ask them to remove just this one. I can’t do the dating confirmation interview, but tell them I’ll give them anything else—several times over. I don’t mind showing some skin either. Heh heh.”

“What the hell is this photo? Cactus and Friends? Why does this book matter so much?”

“No. I’ll contact them myself.”

“Sigh, Ji Ho…….”

“Writer-nim, you’re finished eating, right?”

“……Yes? Yes. I’m done.”

Suddenly Ji Ho spoke to Hye Yoon.

She had also been staring at his hand.

At the fairy-tale book in the photo and at his long, masculine hand that was trying to protect her.

The cause of all this was her, yet he was trying to take responsibility for the consequences—she slowly looked up at him.

“Then it would be best if you leave now. I was going to drive you, but they might be camped outside again.”

“Ah…….”

“Hyung will take you. Don’t worry, I’ll handle this.”

Ji Ho pushed back his chair and stood up.

He was clearly urging Hye Yoon to move.

You need to get out of here now. Don’t get hurt for no reason.

“Um…… Mr. Ji Ho.”

That’s why—she couldn’t just leave.

I don’t want the man I met for the first time yesterday to get hurt either.

“Yes.”

Hye Yoon stood up awkwardly and looked into his eyes.

Unlike earlier, they were now covered with a thick wall.

Calm eyes that showed no trace of worry or anxiety.

He was incredibly good at hiding his true feelings.

Goodness. Only realizing that now.

“I’m okay with it.”

“With what?”

“……Pretending we’re dating.”

For a split second his eyes wavered.

They flinched almost imperceptibly, then stopped.

She felt she couldn’t miss that tiny crack in his emotions.

“If you say you took a drunk woman home and let her sleep over but you’re not dating…… it will only make you look like a really bad guy.”

“It’s okay.”

“I’m not okay with it.”

Across the table their eyes locked intensely.

It was a kind of battle of wills.

Though for a battle of wills, it was far too heartbreaking.

“If we say we’re dating, they’ll remove a few photos. I think that would be better.”

Bong Gi whipped his head back and forth, looking at both of them.

He already felt like he knew—they weren’t in any relationship and nothing had happened—yet the way they looked at each other was too desperate.

The current situation too.

Anyway, he thought the same.

There was no best option, so they had to choose the least bad.

Admitting they were dating seemed like the answer.

“I wonder. What if I refuse?”

But Ji Ho answered rather coldly.

It was certainly touching, but he couldn’t protect her with emotion alone.

“Hmm…….”

Hye Yoon racked her brain.

She needed one strong blow.

Something that could stop him from jumping into the fire alone.

If she offered what he wanted, maybe he would waver a little.

“I’ll…… offer to appear as Hee Soo as collateral.”

Even as she said it, regret flooded in, but there was no choice.

Still, seeing Ji Ho’s pupils visibly widen and his lips part slightly in shock strangely made her feel good.

“……I don’t usually play this dirty.”

Hye Yoon softly smiled as she threw his own words from yesterday back at him.

As if she had never once taken his words—or his heart—lightly.

⋆⋆⋆

[Exclusive] Ahn Ji Ho in a relationship with his next project co-star and writer Jang Hye Yoon

Ahn Ji Ho admits dating “We are at the stage of getting to know each other with good feelings toward Jang Hye Yoon”

Ahn Ji Ho confirmed for 4-episode drama

Ahn Ji Ho ♥ Who is the rising star Jang Hye Yoon?

Kim Min Woo PD “Casting Jang Hye Yoon will prove to be a godsend”

The next day.

It was exactly as expected, yet still shocking.

Articles poured down like summer rain on every portal site.

On SNS, not to mention the familiar foreign languages, even languages she couldn’t read a single word of had translated and spread the dating rumors.

Her phone kept whining with endless messages, begging to be put out of its misery.

Hye Yoon turned off notifications and finally faced her own dating scandal articles properly.

Yesterday they had agreed to admit the relationship and she had immediately left Ji Ho’s house.

So only now could she see which photos he had managed to block and how he had explained the situation.

“Aigoo…… Why are you two smiling like that, you idiots.”

When she clicked the title proudly marked “Exclusive,” the photos that had turned her into a rookie actress overnight lined up one after another.

She let out a sigh.

Because the two of them looked so happy it hurt.

Smiling face to face, Ji Ho bending one knee to look up at Hye Yoon, and her leaning on Ji Ho’s shoulder.

Only three photos in total.

[……Ahn Ji Ho’s side stated, “While preparing for the drama, they developed feelings for each other and later progressed into a romantic relationship.” They also addressed the fact that he confirmed his next project as the drama , the debut work of his girlfriend Jang Hye Yoon as both actress and writer. “He decided to appear purely because of the outstanding quality of the work. This controversy will naturally resolve itself once the drama airs, so we are not particularly worried,” they said……]

“Haa…….”

[……Finally, he did not forget consideration for his girlfriend Jang Hye Yoon. “She is still a non-celebrity and has not been exposed to much media, so I have a strong desire to protect her. We ask for your generous understanding so that she suffers no harm from excessive personal information leaks or attention,” he concluded the interview.]

“Girlfriend…….”

She took a deep breath, but it didn’t help.

Even though Hye Yoon knew everything was fake, her heart was still racing.