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Faint sunburn marks bloomed on her face.
Thickly applied ointment made the area under her eyes and her nose especially shiny.
Jinhan frowned at the sight.
“The audition period isn’t now, so please go back.”
Occasionally, those who failed auditions would stubbornly wait and cling to them.
Thinking simply, Jinhan coldly turned away.
As he tried to enter the building, the woman blocked Jinhan’s path.
“Just a moment! Please give me just one chance to talk.”
“Security!”
A security guard who had been attending to other matters rushed over at Jinhan’s call.
Seeing the unfamiliar woman standing her ground, he roughly pulled her away.
“You can’t do this here. Please leave at once!”
“I’m Haejoo unnie! My name is Lee Yura.”
The startled security guard looked back and forth between Jinhan and Yura.
Jinhan’s wary gaze was no different.
Seizing the opportunity, Yura took out her ID card from her bag and showed it.
“Look at this. It’s right, isn’t it?”
“That’s enough, just get out of the way.”
Jinhan didn’t believe Yura’s words.
She didn’t resemble Haejoo in any way to be family.
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me. Then look at this.”
This time, she took out an old family register issued by a government office about ten years ago.
Haejoo and Yura were listed as children in it.
“My resident registration number is the same here too, right?”
Already physically and mentally exhausted, Jinhan cursed under his breath.
As the security guard stepped back, he glared at her with contempt.
“Go back when I’m being nice.”
“No, what did I do that you’ve been like this since last time?”
“You should know better than anyone else, shouldn’t you?”
“Th-that’s...”
As if he didn’t need to hear any more, Jinhan turned around.
Becoming desperate, Yura clasped her hands together and begged.
“Please, just let me meet our Haejoo once, okay?”
“Our Haejoo?”
“Even if our relationship was a bit rough when we were young, she wouldn’t dislike me this much now.”
At her brazenly confident words, a dark light settled in Jinhan’s pupils.
Whatever had happened in Jeju, Haejoo was a work of art and a treasure that no one could touch.
“Wait here for a hundred days. You won’t be able to meet Haejoo even if you die and come back to life.”
Jinhan pushed past Yura and entered the building.
The security guard, who had been watching quietly, moved Yura far away from the company building, as if he had been waiting for this.
“If you keep insisting, I’ll call the police!”
Yura huffed and puffed but found a spot in the shade.
Jinhan, who had gone up to his office, stood by the window and watched her movements.
“Her name is Lee Yura...”
There was a way to give her some money and send her away. But he worried that would lead to more demands and exhaustion, so he pondered.
It didn’t seem like Yura would give up easily.
Since fans sometimes camped out in front of the company, he was worried that strange rumors might spread.
Jinhan called the manager team leader.
While discussing the earlier incident, Yura searched for Jinhan’s name on her phone.
“That person was the third son of Chairman Yoo of GN?”
Yura was still working on Song Young-sook’s farm.
Today was her day off, so she had come up in the morning and had been loitering all day.
While reading Haejoo’s articles, she had seen an interview Jinhan had done with a magazine.
Even at a glance, the two seemed to have a special relationship.
She had thought she could just ask Jinhan for a favor, but now she was in a tight spot.
“Damn it, I just made a pointless trip.”
She had to work on the farm again starting tomorrow.
Yura had planned to meet Haejoo to at least pay back the debt she owed.
But at this rate, it would be difficult even to see her face.
Her wallet wasn’t thick enough to stalk her, so she looked gloomy.
“Living like this, it would be more comfortable to just go to prison and rot.”
If she kept working on the farm, she would have to pay back Kyung-ae’s debt too.
At this rate, she wouldn’t be able to escape even in death, so she planned to run away in the middle of the night.
The security guard secretly watched Yura as she grumbled and turned away. He lingered inside the small security office, then took out a piece of paper with a phone number written on it from his wallet.
Choi In-ho’s name was also written on the paper.
A few days ago, he had come and given him a good amount of cash and the note, asking him for a favor.
<If anyone related to Lee Haejoo-ssi comes, please contact me.>
Usually, he would only receive a bit of money for cigarettes when someone asked him for a favor.
But Choi In-ho had given him an amount of money that was burdensome, making it difficult to pretend not to know.
He called the number written on the note, and it was answered immediately.
-Yes, this is reporter Choi In-ho from Real Fact.
“This is a security guard working at GN Entertainment. Do you remember me?”
-Oh my, you’ve given me a call.
“I contacted you because of what I received last time.”
-Did anyone come to the company?
“Someone who said they were Lee Haejoo’s older sister came and just left, so please be aware.”
-Lee Haejoo’s older sister, so Lee Yura?
“That’s what she said.”
-Didn’t she say anything else?
“She kept begging to meet her younger sister and was kicked out.”
-You should have gotten her contact information or something!
Choi In-ho scolded him with a mix of annoyance.
“The director was next to me, so I couldn’t do anything. I did my part, so don’t ask me for anything more.”
-Wait!
Choi In-ho grabbed him as the security guard was about to hang up.
-What’s the point if Lee Yura is gone?
“It seems like the atmosphere will come again, so I’ll contact you then.”
-Well then... understood.
The security guard hung up the phone, left the security office, and looked around.
Since Haejoo had gone to Jeju Island, he thought it would be difficult to see her for a while, so he didn’t expect anything significant to happen.
A few days later, as expected, Yura appeared again.
She looked better than before.
________________________________________
Sunday morning, Haejoo blinked her eyes at the touch that caressed her.
Unlike her still stiff body, the morning felt completely devoid of emptiness.
“Did you wake up?”
“What time is it?”
“Eleven.”
“Already?”
“Sleep more.”
“No, I should get up.”
The state of the two under the blanket was no different from last night.
They had bathed together, and using that as an excuse, they had sought each other out while the storm raged.
She had never felt like this before in her life. If she had to express it, the words “it feels like I’ve finally become an adult” were the closest fit.
She worried if she could focus on the role of Sohee like this.
Dojun, who was still pressed close to her side with his strong body, was stronger than any drug.
A sharp, tingling scent grazed the tip of her nose.
They say that wounds from people heal with people, and she had gone through a harsh treatment in one night.
“When will you go back to Seoul, Dojun-ssi?”
“Are you already sending me away?”
“It seemed like you came down despite being busy.”
“I put out the urgent fire, and I’ll come down often. Come out when I contact you.”
“What if I can’t go?”
“I’ll go to your accommodation.”
It would be difficult at the accommodation where all the company staff gathered.
Haejoo’s expression quickly turned troubled.
“I’ll just go. Call me.”
“No.”
“......!”
“It’s thrilling.”
“No way.”
At Haejoo’s stricter refusal than ever before, Dojun chuckled.
Her serious expression was just cute to him.
“Shall we go out and eat?”
The sun was shining brightly as if it had never rained.
The weather was clear, but it was so hot that going outside felt like a death sentence.
However, it was difficult to go to a common cafe.
Wherever they went, it was crowded with tourists, and they soon shook their heads.
“Let’s just stay here.”
“I’m just worried you’ll be too tired.”
“What do you mean?”
“It feels like holding you all day wouldn’t be enough.”
Haejoo was so taken aback that her mouth fell open.
Dojun, with the corners of his lips drooping, lay down on his stomach on the blanket.
It was a relaxed appearance she had never seen at home.
Thinking back to when she first found out Dojun was her legal husband, this was something unimaginable.
“I never thought things would turn out like this with Dojun-ssi.”
“Really?”
“To be honest, my first impression was that you were scary.”
“I thought I was being quite friendly.”
“Your eyes, your expression... it felt like you would explode at any moment if someone touched you the wrong way.”
“I had reached my limit. Waiting for you was hard.”
“Did you keep waiting for me in that old office?”
“You could say that. I’ve been going back and forth to the company for work.”
“Aren’t you being too foolish?”
The discomfort wasn’t a problem for Dojun at all. At the time, his fear that Haejoo wouldn’t come was greater.
“What did you think when you found out you were married to me, Dojun-ssi?”
“I was out of my mind.”
“......?”
“I think I was agonizing over whether I could make you laugh.”
“That’s unexpected.”
“I wanted to be your husband. I wanted to be qualified for that.”
“So that’s why you were obsessed with money?”
“Money?”
“The director said so. He said Dojun-ssi is a man obsessed with money.”
Dojun chuckled and sat up.
He put on his bathrobe and knelt down on one knee in front of Haejoo.
“How else could I handle you if I wasn’t crazy?”
“Excuse me?”
“Even now, just looking at you feels like I’m going to die...”
His earnest gaze slowly became audible.
Overlapping with his shallow, rapid breaths, Haejoo’s chest swelled.
Dreamlike time was flowing by like this.
She had never dreamed that such a moment would come into her life, which had been full of nothing but lack.
It felt like ice shards were spreading through her brain.
Dojun’s breath, different from last night, became a painkiller, spreading throughout her body and soothing the ache.
“Let’s go out. If we stay here, I feel like I’ll keep tormenting you.”
“But my clothes...”
“Wait.”
Dojun sent a message somewhere on his phone.
A moment later, there was a knock, and Secretary Song brought a suitcase before leaving.
“I brought your clothes from home too.”
Surprised by his unexpected thoughtfulness, she quickly washed up and changed her clothes.
As Haejoo was about to leave the hotel, she suddenly stopped.
Looking at Dojun in comfortable clothes, Haejoo made a sulky face.
“Did you plan everything from when we left the house?”
“What?”
“Staying here with me.”
“Why would I come all the way to Jeju Island and stay alone?”
“I guess.”
The two enjoyed a drive along a quiet beach.
Occasionally, tourists secretly took pictures of them and then left.
Photos of Dojun and Haejoo on their date were uploaded to social media in real time.
Anyone could see they were a loving couple.
Netizens who saw them in person were all envious.
This soon became fodder for reporters’ articles.
Posts on social media with titles like ‘Actress Lee Haejoo and Gino Group CEO Park Dojun’s Happy Daily Life’ were the main content.
The reactions were varied.
‘They were separated, but were they actually on good terms? The world of celebrities is complicated.’
‘If they were like that, why did they live separately?’
‘I’ve seen Lee Haejoo living in 00 Apartment. I live there. They were definitely separated.’
‘That looks like a show too. Real Fact should dig into it.’
After having dinner with Haejoo that evening, Dojun headed back to Seoul.
Haejoo, who had returned to the pension, saw that articles had already been posted and read the comments.
“Let’s not pay attention.”
When she took out her script, Hyun-sung came to see her.
He smiled awkwardly and immediately handed her the drink he had brought.
“Noona, did you see the article about you?”
“Yeah.”
“The reaction is good.”
“Whatever. ......The director left.”
“Yes. Please don’t mind it and focus on the movie, Noona.”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t you know your expression has become so much brighter, Noona?”
“Really?”
“It’s really nice to see.”
“Hyun-sung-ah, you look like you have something to say. Don’t beat around the bush.”
Hyun-sung cleared his throat several times.
He had been thinking about what to say all day, but now he froze.
“I received a call during the day, and it seems your older sister was camping out in front of the company.”
“What?”
“She grabbed the director and kept begging him to let her meet you.”
“That’s absurd.”
“Our team leader asked me what we should do with her.”
Waves crashed into the calm depths of her heart.
Haejoo tried to calmly find a solution.
“So you’re saying she’s likely to keep coming like that?”
“Yes. Our team leader thinks we should confront her at least once.”
“All she wants is money anyway.”
It would be problematic if her personal affairs were misrepresented during filming.
She wondered if it would be better to just address it first.
“I’ll discuss it with Dojun-ssi.”
“Please do.”
Haejoo picked up her phone, which was full of missed calls.
She hesitated whether to call Jinhan first but then put it down.
She judged that now wasn’t a good time.
While she was deep in thought, Dojun called. Only then did she exhale the breath she had been holding.
“Dojun-ssi.”
-I’m home now.
“You worked hard. And... some trouble happened to me.”
-What is it?
“It seems my older sister came to the company.”
-Hmm.
“She’s so stubborn, she won’t back down easily. What should I do?”
Haejoo’s voice trembled.
She felt endlessly small in front of the past relationship she desperately wanted to sever.
-I’ll go meet her.
“Who?”
Haejoo’s mind went blank.
In the moment of her apprehension, he uttered the name she had been dreading.
“Your older sister, Lee Yura.”
To Haejoo, Yura was no different from a viper, but to Dojun, she was just a toy.
Something to be stepped on and crushed...
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