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“I’m sorry...”
For some reason, she felt sorry towards Dojun.
Foolishly, she couldn’t say anything and just cried.
Haejoo, holding President Park’s hand, buried her face in Dojun’s chest. An unspeakable sorrow washed over her, and she couldn’t calm down.
“It’s okay now. You’ve been through a lot.”
Dojun wiped away the tears that had wet Haejoo’s cheeks. Then, he looked at the haggard President Park with pity.
The police who had been dispatched after the report approached them.
He answered his radio, saying they seemed to have found the missing person, and then asked Dojun.
“This is the father you reported missing, correct?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a relief he’s alright. We’ll be going now.”
“Thank you for your trouble.”
Dojun was on his way out of the company after handling only urgent matters.
He had been bothered about leaving President Park at home.
While driving himself home in a hurry, he received a call from the caregiver.
When she said President Park had disappeared, he had reported it to the police and then had to step on the gas like crazy.
The time was just past noon.
The caregiver took President Park inside the house.
Only Haejoo and Dojun remained in front of the house.
“Haejoo-ya.”
“...I was so scared. Because of me, Uncle...”
“It’s not your fault.”
Just then, Dojun noticed Haejoo’s feet, which were a mess.
She had walked barefoot on the hot ground without socks, and they were red and blistered.
Looking at President Park going into the house, he was wearing socks covered in dirt and women’s slippers.
A sudden dread washed over Dojun.
“Lee Haejoo, your feet...”
Too surprised, Haejoo hadn’t even realized her feet were hurting. While walking on the sun-baked road, small wounds had formed on the soles of her feet.
“Let’s go to the hospital.”
“Some medicine will fix it.”
“You really...”
Dojun’s insides burned black.
Without saying anything more, he picked up Haejoo and went inside the house.
In the first-floor bathroom, the caregiver was washing President Park. He went straight up to the second floor and had Haejoo sit on the edge of the bathtub.
“I’ll wash myself.”
“Just stay still.”
Taking off his suit jacket, he removed the wristwatch he was wearing.
Dojun pulled the showerhead over and turned on lukewarm water, first rinsing off the dirt on Haejoo’s feet.
“It hurts if you touch it!”
“Almost done.”
Her delicate skin was a mess.
There were wounds where blood and dirt were mixed, and he carefully washed them.
Sweat beaded on Dojun’s forehead.
While he was distracted, his phone rang, and he answered it urgently.
“I can’t go to work today... We found Father. Send anything urgent by email.”
Dojun felt utterly miserable about the situation. He also felt terribly guilty for making Haejoo go through this.
“We have to go to the hospital. I can see something like glass embedded in it.”
“No wonder it felt prickly.”
He quickly brought bandages and wrapped them around both of Haejoo’s feet.
Helping her downstairs, they found President Park sitting down, having already taken a clean shower.
“Is our daughter-in-law not feeling well?”
“My feet hurt a little.”
“Oh dear, what happened?”
Only then did Haejoo let out a weak laugh.
President Park was just weak, but he had no injuries.
Dojun took the wheel.
First, he took President Park to the nursing home and then found a nearby surgical clinic.
“How did this happen?”
Rumors that Haejoo had come to the hospital quickly spread inside. Afraid of causing misunderstandings with a clumsy excuse, she told the truth.
“My father-in-law has dementia, and he left the house, so I was in a hurry to find him.”
“Oh dear. You must have gone through a lot.”
Dojun silently watched beside her.
They removed the tiny shards of glass and sand that had pierced the soles of her feet and left the hospital.
“Shall we grab lunch before going home?”
“Hmm, soybean noodles?”
“Okay. There’s a good place around here.”
Dojun parked the car in front of a slightly old-looking restaurant. As the two entered the restaurant, people’s gazes turned to them.
Murmurs started here and there. Unfazed, Dojun asked a restaurant employee.
“Do you have a private room?”
“This way, please.”
Considering Haejoo, they were led to a partitioned room.
After ordering soybean noodles, Dojun’s phone rang as he was about to pour water into his cup.
“It’s a work call. Wait here a moment.”
It was Secretary Song’s call.
Dojun briefly stepped outside the restaurant and pressed the call button.
“Yes.”
-The police contacted us regarding the fraud case.
“What happened?”
Under Dojun’s instructions, they had sued Kyung-ae for fraud for running away without repaying the money she owed.
His plan was to slowly torment her to death within the full legal boundaries.
But the news he received was somewhat disappointing.
-Besides the money she borrowed from the elder, Park Kyung-ae also embezzled money from acquaintances.
The elder Secretary Song mentioned was President Park. Dojun briefly nodded at Haejoo, who was visible through the glass, and then turned away.
-Park Kyung-ae had four more fraud cases tied to her.
“What’s the reason she hasn’t been caught yet?”
-We found out that her eldest daughter, Yura, moved to the Philippines with her after getting married.
Including the initial fraud lawsuit, it had already been several years.
The police had either given up, or Kyung-ae had gone into hiding in the meantime.
“Why would she borrow money she couldn’t handle?”
-We found out she was paying off debt with more debt and then borrowed more money, saying it was to marry off her eldest daughter.
“She’s crazy.”
-According to the police, both Park Kyung-ae and Yura are residing in the Philippines.
“Tell them to catch her no matter what.”
-It seems they’re moving now that you’ve filed a lawsuit, President.
“Alright for now.”
He had heard from President Park that Kyung-ae had tried to sell Haejoo to other creditors as well. If President Park hadn’t kept Haejoo by his side, things would have been dire.
“Dojun-ssi, the soybean noodles are here.”
“Okay.”
They also ordered a buckwheat pancake as a side dish.
The two ate their late lunch, filling their empty stomachs.
As the noodles in the bowl were almost gone, Haejoo asked a sudden question.
“Dojun-ssi, are you good at fighting?”
“Why the sudden question?”
“I saw scars and calluses on the back of your hand.”
“I used to box.”
“Do you like rough sports?”
“It felt like I would die if I didn’t use my body.”
Dojun’s nonchalant tone carried a heavy weight.
When Haejoo stopped using her chopsticks, he picked up a piece of buckwheat pancake and offered it to her.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“It’s strange that you also felt like you would die, Dojun-ssi.”
“My mother passed away early. I grew up under my father, but I think I was always wandering because of emptiness.”
It was his hidden story that she hadn’t known.
Haejoo gave a faint smile, placing some of the remaining noodles in her bowl into his.
“Your uncle is amazing.”
“My brother was weak from birth. Then he was diagnosed with leukemia...”
Dojun and Yijun had completely opposite personalities.
Yet, the two had never fought once while growing up.
“If you and your brother are twins, you must look very alike.”
“We did when we were young, but our auras changed a lot as we grew older.”
“Ah!”
“Didn’t you see my brother back then?”
The “back then” Dojun was referring to was the day they registered their marriage.
Haejoo recalled Yijun in his emaciated state, sitting in a wheelchair back then.
“I couldn’t see his face because he was wearing a hat.”
“Yeah, he probably lost all his hair because of the treatment.”
Yijun was like a hometown to Dojun.
If he were to be reborn, he wanted to be Yijun’s older brother in the next life.
He wished he could have stayed by his side until the very end...
“Did you like your brother a lot?”
“He was unusually meticulous for a guy. On days I came home after a fight, he would always act like a mother.”
“So you did like him?”
“He was my brother.”
Haejoo sipped the water in her cup.
Watching him cleanly finish the remaining food, various thoughts crossed her mind.
‘How much of what President Park said should I believe?’
Even if she couldn’t hear Yijun’s side of the story since he had passed away, Dojun was right in front of her.
Yet, she couldn’t bring herself to ask.
If the madman who had protected her when she was young was him.
The scars etched on the back of his hand might have been marks of honor for him.
“Shall we go now?”
Back home, Haejoo took a shower and applied new medicine to her feet. Just as she was clumsily bandaging them, the phone rang.
“Director Kwak?”
She had felt uneasy since Jinhan’s words the day before.
She wondered if her life as an actress would really end like this.
Nevertheless, Haejoo answered the phone as usual.
“Yes, Director!”
-Haejoo-ssi, is this a good time to talk?
“Of course. How have you been?”
-Same as always. Not about that, but did something happen between you and Director Yoo Jinhan?
“Ah...”
The name she had been dreading came up.
Without realizing it, the pressure grew like a snowball.
Haejoo was completely at Jinhan’s mercy.
She had said she would wait for his decision, but it would be too sad if it ended like this.
“It’s difficult for me to explain the reasons in detail. I’m sorry.”
-Whatever went wrong, try to resolve it amicably.
“What did the director say?”
-He told me to consider other actresses besides you.
“I see.”
-But I wrote the scenario thinking of you from the beginning, and more importantly, the investor is President Park Dojun.
“Yes.”
-I’m in a difficult position in the middle.
Thinking about the conditions Jinhan had set when sending Haejoo to Dojun, the issue was simple.
Divorce from Dojun.
He was putting pressure through those around him solely for that purpose.
-You can’t even move to another agency because your contract period hasn’t ended, right, Haejoo-ssi?
“Yes.”
-Whatever happened, both of you should compromise a little.
Director Kwak said that the script revisions were almost finished. The other actors had also been confirmed, and they only needed to cast the role of Youngin.
“Who are you considering for the role of Youngin?”
-There’s a friend who’s very eager to do it, but I haven’t made a decision yet.
“Why not?”
-I don’t think she’ll have good chemistry with you.
“Who is it?”
-You know Hong Yoonji, right?
Haejoo had hoped it wasn’t Yoonji, but she couldn’t help but sigh.
Her relationship with Yoonji wasn’t just bad; they were complete opposites.
“I see.”
-She begged so much that I agreed to see her audition today.
“Yes.”
-Anyway, try to work things out with Director Yoo Jinhan and give me a call.
All Jinhan desperately wanted was a divorce, so what was there to work out?
Just as Dojun had warned, it was uncertain whether a divorce would really benefit Haejoo’s life.
After hesitating for a long time, she finally called Jinhan late at night.
Her heart pounded just hearing the ringing tone, and then he answered.
-Yeah, Haejoo-ssi.
His heavy, subdued voice was not the same as before.
Nevertheless, Haejoo started by asking how he was.
“How’s your headache?”
-Let’s hang up if you have nothing to say. I’m a bit tired.
Jinhan was really about to hang up.
Becoming anxious, Haejoo called out to him.
“Director!”
-What is it?
“I know you’re angry with me.”
-Doesn’t seem like it.
Yesterday, Jinhan had returned to the apartment, feeling sorry for getting angry at Haejoo.
But he had seen her leaving with Dojun from the apartment he had provided.
Jinhan was heartbroken by the betrayal.
The decision he had made for Haejoo ended up backfiring, and he endlessly regretted it.
“Please, at least let me fulfill my responsibilities for the role I’ve been given.”
-For whose sake?
“Even for those who believe in me.”
-That’s just your opinion, Haejoo-ssi.
“Director!”
-I sent you to Park Dojun on the condition that you would divorce him. But getting such a harsh betrayal feels quite painful.
“It’s not like that. There are many complicated circumstances.”
-Whatever it is, Park Dojun is dangerous. So, I hope you make a wise choice.
The call was unilaterally ended.
It was the first time Haejoo had received such coldness from Jinhan, and she was quite taken aback.
The repercussions didn’t end there.
The next day, she received a call from Hyunsung, who told her about a series of overlapping misfortunes.
-Noona, all your commercial shoots have been postponed.
“Why?”
-They’re going to produce event-based ads that fit the season first, and you’re not the model.
“Didn’t they give any other reason?”
-No. Strangely, all three places that were supposed to start filming soon said the same thing.
“Okay. There’s nothing I can do about it.”
Haejoo had a likely reason in mind but kept silent.
Jinhan’s determination to make her divorce Dojun was starting to wear her down.
She didn’t care about dating or marriage anyway, so she just wanted to live quietly...
“What in the world is the problem!”
Her phone, which had been constantly ringing with work calls, became increasingly silent day by day.
Then, unexpectedly, Yoonji called.
Reluctantly, she answered it.
“Yes, Sunbae-nim.”
-What’s going on between you and the director that’s causing me trouble too?
“What are you talking about?”
-Even auditions that were almost finalized are being canceled... This is unbelievable, really.
Holding her phone, Haejoo closed her eyes.
-You fought with the director, didn’t you?
“We just had a difference of opinion.”
-Hey, if you just stay still like this, you’ll be buried in this industry!
Yoonji’s voice trembled, clearly desperate. Then, she offered a solution of her own.
-I’ll set up a proper meeting, so come out. Got it?
Yoonji, who had never seemed afraid of anything, was clinging to Haejoo.
It was the first time this had happened.
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