Embedded Files
Psst! We're moving!
—Lee Haejoo is under my temporary protection. Take responsibility for her when you get discharged. And please take care of Father.
Dojun had never mentioned Haejoo to Yijun, except for the day he first met her. He hadn’t even told him her name.
Yet, in his letter, Yijun said he was temporarily protecting Haejoo.
Dojun frowned at the nonsensical content.
He had finally managed to push Haejoo out of his mind, so why was she being brought up again? He resented it.
It was break time, so he immediately made a call from a public phone.
‘Hey, Park Yijun! What’s with the letter?’
‘Call me hyung.’
‘Don’t change the subject, just answer.’
Yijun’s voice was weaker than before. Yet, he chuckled at Dojun’s energetic voice.
‘The girl you like, her name is Lee Haejoo, right?’
‘How did you know?’
‘How could I not know when you were so obvious about it while getting into fights?’
‘Is something wrong with Haejoo?’
‘Worry about me. I’m going to die soon.’
‘Park Yijun won’t die. I guarantee it.’
‘Are you God?’
‘Don’t talk nonsense. I’ll be out on leave soon, so wait for me.’
Even as Dojun said those words, he struggled to bear the weight of his depression.
What had helped him overcome the void left by his deceased mother was his twin brother, Yijun.
But Yijun had been frail since birth.
Watching over Yijun, who frequented the hospital like it was his own home, Dojun had suddenly met Haejoo, and his interest had shifted.
Guilt washed over Dojun’s depths. No matter how much he tried to avoid it, Yijun seemed to have finished preparing to accept death.
‘Dojun-ah, don’t you have anything else to say to me?’
‘If you open my desk drawer, there’s a bankbook and a debit card.’
‘Why?’
‘I forgot to give it to you. Your birthday is coming up soon.’
‘Is there a lot of money in the bankbook?’
‘About fifty million won. Buy whatever you want.’
‘When did you save up so much?’
‘Stocks, what else? Don’t tell Father. He’ll scold me, saying stocks are gambling.’
Yijun chuckled again.
‘Dojun, you’re going to make a lot of money someday.’
‘Out of the blue. I’m taking leave for your birthday, so I’ll see you then.’
He didn’t know that this would be his last call with Yijun.
Dojun, who had rushed to the hospital on leave only to face a heartbreaking farewell, was left in a daze.
Yijun couldn’t die.
Absolutely not.
‘You bad bastard, even though you said you were going to die, you sure used the money well.’
Fifty million won had been withdrawn all at once from the bank account he had told Yijun about. He wanted to ask where he had spent it, but now he couldn’t.
All that Yijun had left behind was the letter he had sent to the military.
It was a short letter, only mentioning that he was temporarily protecting Haejoo and asking him to take care of their father.
Dojun understood the meaning of this letter much later.
Belatedly, he found out that Haejoo had left home, and he thought that was the end of their connection, but it wasn’t.
‘Before Yijun died, he had someone register their marriage with some girl.’
‘……Huh?’
CEO Park had been diagnosed with dementia.
He would occasionally say and do strange things, and they found out after going to the hospital.
Taking advantage of a moment of clarity, he revealed a fact known only to him to Dojun.
‘That Yijun guy felt sorry for that girl, so he told me to give her fifty million won.’
‘Fifty million won?’
‘Yeah. He told me to give it to her, so I met her on the day of the funeral and gave it to her.’
Dojun knew instinctively. That money was the money he had given to Yijun.
‘You made someone who was about to die register their marriage? What did that girl do to deserve that?’
‘I guess I’m being punished for it.’
‘This is driving me crazy.’
‘The problem is, that Yijun guy did something he never did before.’
‘What kind of accident?’
Dojun’s mind was becoming hazy.
Apart from being shocked, his heart tightened because he felt he knew what kind of trouble Yijun had caused.
‘He went and registered the marriage under your name.’
‘Who is that girl……’
‘Lee Haejoo. She’s the second daughter of the woman who borrowed money from me.’
‘……!’
‘I thought it would be better to tell you before I completely lose my mind.’
‘Father!’
Only then did Dojun come to his senses.
He realized that to protect Haejoo, he needed to learn and develop his skills, not just use his fists.
People called Dojun a money-crazed bastard, but that wasn’t the truth. He had only ever run towards Haejoo.
“Haejoo, you wouldn’t know. Why I had to become a monster.”
He tossed and turned throughout the night until dawn.
Then, he dozed off and woke up.
When he went downstairs to the first floor, Haejoo was already ready to go out.
“Did you wake up?”
Haejoo, who greeted him, looked awkward and avoided his gaze.
She hadn’t even touched her breakfast, which remained untouched on the table, as if she had skipped her meal.
“Where are you going?”
“I have a meeting for my next project, so I’m going out.”
“On the weekend?”
“It was postponed because of the scandal.”
Haejoo acted as if nothing was wrong.
Her tone, devoid of any emotion, was the same as when they had reunited the day before yesterday.
“Wait a moment.”
Dojun, who had left Haejoo in the entryway, ran up to the second floor.
When he reappeared, he held a small case in his hand.
“What’s that?”
“Wouldn’t it be better if we were perfect as a married couple, since we’re doing this anyway?”
Dojun held out his hand.
Haejoo, not understanding his intention, looked blankly at him and then at the case.
“Give me your hand.”
“Why, why are you doing this?”
Dojun visually measured the thickness of Haejoo’s beautifully jointed finger. With a strange expression, he opened the small case.
Inside were a pair of simple yet sleek rings.
“Don’t take the ring off.”
“We should have discussed something like this together…”
“When did we discuss the marriage registration?”
“That’s different.”
“You asked me to save you, didn’t you?”
“Yes?”
“I’m doing this because I want to save you, so wear it.”
Dojun slipped the ring onto Haejoo’s ring finger.
Surprisingly, it fit perfectly.
Haejoo’s face flushed at the awkward situation that couldn’t even be called a proposal.
She still wasn’t used to Dojun’s rough manner that irresistibly penetrated her defenses.
“I’m late.”
“Go on.”
Haejoo, who had come out to the entryway, fidgeted with the hand wearing the ring.
She sighed, wondering who would even notice a wedding ring.
She immediately got into the car Dojun had given her. Haejoo left the quiet neighborhood and headed towards Seoul, talking to herself.
“I got a husband overnight.”
When they decided to live together, Haejoo wondered how often she would run into Dojun at home.
But contrary to her expectations, he somehow knew she was having a morning nightmare and woke her up.
The feeling of his tight embrace, as if he would never let go, was still vivid.
“That man was Mr. Dojun.”
Dojun’s embrace was hotter, bigger, and firmer than she had imagined. His thin t-shirt allowed their bodies to touch, and the unfamiliar sensation soon colored all her senses.
He was her husband. Just a moment ago, Dojun had given her a ring, which meant Dojun was…
“When did he even prepare the ring… damn it!”
Although she had arrived at the GN Entertainment building, Haejoo couldn’t get out of the car right away. Several reporters were camped out.
Haejoo deliberately parked in a roadside parking lot with few spaces. As soon as she did, the reporters clicked their camera shutters as if they had been waiting.
Only after entering the building with a calm expression, as usual, did she exhale the breath she had been holding.
“It wasn’t over yet.”
Haejoo stared blankly at the ring Dojun had given her.
There was no way sharp-eyed reporters hadn’t noticed the ring on Haejoo’s finger.
It was something she herself hadn’t even thought to챙기다 in her confusion, but Dojun had prepared it.
With this, Haejoo had become Dojun’s real wife. Whether Dojun had foreseen this situation or not, it was incredibly fortunate.
The extreme tension that had suddenly gripped her eased, and she felt hungry.
Haejoo rubbed her aching stomach.
“I’m hungry.”
She had arrived earlier than her appointment time, so she had some time. In the conference room, Hyun-sung was setting out coffee and snacks for everyone.
“Noona, you’re here!”
“Hasn’t anyone else arrived yet?”
“No. If you haven’t eaten, please eat first.”
Haejoo wet her lips with an iced Americano and then took a bite of a sandwich.
She finished one quickly and then went to the restroom to freshen up.
No matter what she did, the ring bothered her.
In the returned conference room, another person was there, concerned about Haejoo’s ring.
It was Jinhan.
“Haejoo-ssi, articles have already come out. What’s that ring?”
He pulled up an article about Haejoo that had just been posted on his laptop.
It was a picture of her getting out of the car a moment ago.
The article, titled ‘I’m a Married Woman Now,’ mentioned the trivial detail that she was wearing a wedding ring.
“It’s a wedding ring.”
“Did CEO Park Dojun give it to you?”
“Yes.”
“You two aren’t really mistaken that you’re married, are you? This isn’t child’s play.”
“Director, even if we get divorced later, we need to quell the scandal first.”
Jinhan, his nerves on edge, started to say something but stopped.
Dojun’s meticulous actions only seemed unsettling to him, but he didn’t show it.
Just then, a woman wearing large sunglasses knocked on the open conference room door. As everyone’s attention turned to her, she took off her sunglasses.
“Senior Yoonji, hello.”
She was Hong Yoonji, an actress who had debuted ten years ago.
Yoonji, with a face etched with sensitivity and sharp eyes, lightly dismissed Haejoo’s greeting.
“Director, can I see you for a moment?”
Jinhan looked visibly embarrassed.
He delayed giving an immediate answer and checked the time while pretending to gather his documents.
This was something that would have been unthinkable in the past.
“I have a meeting scheduled, so it can’t be long.”
Yoonji, with her glamorous looks and figure, was unrivaled in the advertising world. After the drama she starred in became a huge hit, she had even ventured into movies.
People lined up to cast her, and Yoonji’s standards soared sky-high.
She wouldn’t film commercials or photoshoots unless they were for top brands. This was her way of preventing image depletion. However, behind the scenes, she neglected self-improvement, indulging in leisure.
As a result, every project she did flopped, and she was recently fading from public interest.
“Hah! This is too much!”
“Let’s talk outside.”
As the atmosphere turned tense, Jinhan pulled Yoonji out of the conference room.
Haejoo, who had been watching them, quietly asked Hyun-sung.
“Is something wrong with Senior Yoonji?”
“Even R Cosmetics cut her as their main model.”
“I know that much.”
“She kept pushing the company to get her CFs, and the only one they managed to get her was for a constipation medicine.”
“Ah.”
“Weird insurance commercials and now constipation medicine… she has every right to be upset.”
Hyun-sung, having finished preparing for the meeting, looked around.
Only after seeing that there was no one passing by in the hallway did he lower his voice.
“The advertising agencies for R Cosmetics, which Yoonji noona used to do, and V Motors contacted us, wanting to cast Haejoo noona.”
“Me?”
“Yoonji noona probably heard about that and her head exploded.”
“I see.”
Yoonji had once been so successful that people said she was the one feeding GN Entertainment. But in her current state, her contract renewal was uncertain.
“The director worked quite hard to promote Yoonji noona.”
“……”
“But Yoonji noona doesn’t put in any effort. She’s always busy going to clubs and meeting guys.”
“I see.”
“The director has gone through a lot of trouble cleaning up after Yoonji noona.”
Haejoo finally understood Jinhan’s predicament.
It wasn’t someone else’s problem. This marriage scandal was also largely thanks to his proactive efforts, making Haejoo feel inexplicably subdued.
A moment later, the office door Yoonji had entered slammed open.
After she stormed out angrily, Jinhan also returned with a stiff expression.
“Has Director Kwak not arrived yet?”
“I’ll go check.”
Hyun-sung quickly ran out.
Haejoo quietly took out the movie script she had received in advance.
“Director Kwak seems to be still undecided about Haejoo-ssi’s role.”
“I think the Youngin role would be better for me.”
Director Kwak was a figure watched closely even at international film festivals.
This movie featured four main characters, two male and two female, and was planned to be a romance thriller.
The role Haejoo coveted was Youngin, a psychiatrist, which required subtle, internal acting.
“No. You absolutely have to take a role with strong character.”
“Then how about the Sohee role?”
“Let’s use this opportunity to firmly establish you as a serious actress.”
The character Sohee was a mysterious figure with a wide range of emotions. She had a passionate love affair with the male lead but secretly wore a mask and committed cruel crimes.
This movie was about the thrilling psychological warfare between her and Youngin.
“There seem to be some intense scenes, I’m not sure if I can handle them…”
“Haejoo-ssi.”
“Yes?”
“I want you, as an actress, to become known worldwide. And I will definitely make that happen.”
“Yes.”
“If you’re going to be mindful of CEO Park Dojun in front of me, just drop it.”
Jinhan’s nerves were unusually sharp today. His sharp gaze and expression, which she had never seen before, seemed to hold affection for Haejoo as well.
“Acting is acting. An actor!”
“……”
“Has to make a living through acting.”
Just then, Haejoo’s phone vibrated.
Dojun had sent her a message. The atmosphere was serious, so she was startled and about to turn it off, but the content caught her eye.
[Just so you know in advance, you must consult with me about any future romance movies.]
It was perfect timing.
Was he asking her to explain romance movies in detail, not even other genres?
It was an excruciatingly embarrassing part.
At least, it was for Haejoo.
Haejoo’s hair stood on end, and she quickly retorted.
[This upcoming movie is a romance thriller.]
[If you really want to do it, you’ll have to convince me thoroughly. Officially!]
Convince and officially.
Looking at Dojun’s way of speaking, the common point between these two words, which had completely different meanings, was one thing.
He wanted Haejoo to do it with him first before doing it with some other actor.
In other words, he meant no.
Google Sites
Report abuse