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“Oppose? Oppose what?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know?”
Haejoo’s throat felt parched.
In her mind, she recalled the message Dojun had sent, searching for an escape route.
“You’ve never even learned how to act, have you, Dojun-ssi?”
“A man and woman sharing love is instinct.”
The next project begins with a shocking scene between Sohee in a wedding dress and the male lead right from the first scene.
The important thing was that what you saw wasn’t everything.
All the foreshadowing for the unfolding story was hidden in the opening.
Director Kwak had decided to replace this part with a wedding scene.
She should just honestly explain the changed parts, but Haejoo’s heart kept twisting.
“Are you confident you can do it well?”
“There’s no reason I can’t.”
Dojun looked like someone who hadn’t eaten for days. His eyes, crossing the line into madness, seemed ready to devour anything.
Against this man, Haejoo had done something unnecessary.
If Dojun took just one more step here, he could collapse onto the sofa, so Haejoo braced herself firmly.
“It doesn’t make sense to say you’ll do everything that’s written in the script.”
“Then convince me.”
“What did you say?”
“Didn’t I tell you? If you’re going to film a romance movie, you have to agree with me.”
“What if I refuse?”
“Divorce.”
The aftermath of quitting smoking was significant.
If Dojun was mentioning divorce first, there was nothing more to see.
This reckless fight had to end here.
“Actually! The script is going to be revised.”
“You should have said so earlier.”
Dojun readily released Haejoo’s wrist.
He leaned back on the sofa with a languid air and skimmed the rest of the script.
“The movie’s atmosphere itself is racy.”
“……”
“I don’t like it.”
“Give me back the script.”
He didn’t even pretend to hear. On the contrary, now that he had something to focus on while suffering from withdrawal symptoms, his expression looked much better.
“There are many eyes that suspect we’ve been living separately during our marriage.”
Haejoo recalled the words Yoonji had spat at her. Just that alone showed how many rumors were circulating behind their backs.
It was definitely a situation where they had to be careful.
From now on, whatever she did, she would have to be mindful of the public and the media.
“Why are you suddenly talking about that?”
Haejoo, tired of the reality before her eyes, grumbled. Dojun narrowed his brows at her.
“If you film this kind of movie, you’ll be the only one getting criticized.”
“……!”
“A devoted husband and an actress who filmed a pure love story choosing to do racy scenes for success? It doesn’t add up.”
“That’s why the script is being revised.”
“Voluntarily? Or involuntarily?”
“Why are you always like this to me? I’m trying too!”
Haejoo felt unfairly scolded and flared up.
She was upset, thinking Dojun was taking out his withdrawal symptoms on her.
“I was just wondering if you thought of me even once when choosing the role.”
“That is……”
Jinhan’s influence was strong after all.
Haejoo had also made the decision because she coveted this movie.
“I was the only one in a hurry.”
If Director Kwak hadn’t mentioned revising the script first, they would have proceeded as planned. She felt sorry for Dojun about that part.
“I’m not used to it yet.”
“Used to what?”
“It’s only been a few days since I found out I was married.”
Haejoo also felt wronged.
She still resented herself for giving up and stamping the marriage registration under Kyung-ae’s pressure.
If she had known this future awaited her, it was a choice she would have never made.
“It’s not that I don’t understand your feelings, but I’m struggling right now because of cigarettes.”
“If you’re going to take it out on me, just smoke.”
“Your bronchi are weak, aren’t they?”
“How did you know that too?”
“I just know.”
Even at this moment, Dojun was struggling with the thought of the cigarette he wanted to hold between his lips.
He closed his eyes and was just gnawing at his innocent lip.
Something poked through his lips, and he frowned and opened his eyes.
“Hmm?”
“Hold onto this instead.”
What Haejoo had brought was a cherry tomato from the refrigerator.
If she thought that something like this could quell his raging senses, she was terribly mistaken.
“No.”
“Then spit it out.”
Dojun stubbornly bit down on the tomato.
His pride was slightly hurt, but he crunched and swallowed it.
In that gap, Haejoo snatched the script away.
She sat far away from Dojun and studied the role of Sohee.
“Don’t bother me.”
Dojun simply lay down on the sofa.
Even with someone next to him, Haejoo mumbled her lines, narrowing her smooth brow. Sometimes she clenched her soft fist tightly, burning with enthusiasm.
Even in his languor, he couldn’t take his eyes off her clear, makeup-free face. Strangely, Haejoo still had a touch of girlhood about her.
‘She’s still the same.’
Dojun repeated several times in his mind how fortunate he was to be beside Haejoo. Gradually, his consciousness faded, and he fell asleep.
. . .
At some point, when everything became quiet, Dojun was already breathing evenly in his sleep. Only then did Haejoo’s shoulders, which had been tense, relax.
“What is this man’s true self?”
Dojun, who had quit smoking, was sensitive, but he was different from how he treated Jinhan.
His sleeping face was defenseless to the point of looking pure.
He was an unpredictable person.
There was no point in worrying about it, as it wouldn’t yield an answer, so she turned her eyes back to the script.
About an hour later, she felt limited without a scene partner.
When she was in a hurry, Hyun-sung, the youngest manager, would sometimes be her practice partner, but at home…
“Dojun-ssi is the only one here. Is he completely asleep?”
Dojun was completely lost in sleep without moving an inch. Even when she waved her hand over his face, he didn’t notice at all.
It was time to practice the scene where Sohee pours out a mad monologue towards her sleeping husband. The stage direction read, ‘She caresses him with a sensual touch as if to seduce him.’
It was a part that required deep inner acting.
There was a high possibility of filming it in one take, so it was good to practice even a little.
‘Shall I borrow Dojun-ssi’s body for a bit?’
She just had to be careful not to wake Dojun.
She planned to mouth the monologue silently, so she quietly got up.
If she were alone, she would have used a large teddy bear, but today’s practice partner was Dojun.
‘Let’s see.’
Haejoo went next to the sleeping Dojun.
Imagining him lying in bed, she quietly perched on the edge of the sofa.
She took a deep breath into the empty space.
Haejoo composed herself and then, embodying Sohee, began her monologue.
“You know what? Lonely people are drawn to lonely people.”
Haejoo’s fingertips mimicked caressing Dojun’s straight eyebrows. As a result, her hand’s shadow brushed over him along with a soft breeze.
At that moment, Dojun’s eyes, having sharply noticed, twitched in his sleep.
Unaware of this, Haejoo boldly continued her acting.
“If I’m crazy, it’s only because I recognized an existence even greater than myself.”
This time, she pretended to trace the bridge of his nose, which extended elegantly between his brows, with her fingertips. As the poignant act continued, strength entered Dojun’s limbs.
Regardless, Haejoo immersed herself in her acting. Without making a sound, she unknowingly poured emotion into reciting the script.
“I want you to feel the emotions I feel. Even this terrible solitude.”
Haejoo’s hand moved down from the bridge of his nose towards Dojun’s lips.
Slowly but dangerously close to touching, she passionately spat out the final line.
“So, you go crazy like me.”
Greed settled in Haejoo’s eyes.
It felt like she would die if she didn’t possess him right now.
It was the moment when emotion surpassed reason.
Her delicate fingertips finally touched the lips that had been deprived all day.
“Confine me and tie me down as much as you want. Ruin me to your heart’s content, please! Forever… so I can never escape you.”
That was the moment.
Dojun’s starved lips bit down on Haejoo’s finger.
“Ah!”
A warm sensation traveled up her fingertip and spread throughout her body in an instant.
Haejoo tried to quickly get up, but she was trapped in Dojun’s arms and laid down on the sofa.
It had all happened in the blink of an eye.
“Dojun-ssi?”
Dojun’s breathing was rapid, bordering on unsteady.
He was already at his limit, and Haejoo had just poured oil on the fire.
Haejoo, her wrist caught in his grip, swallowed hard.
Strangely, the script also said that the male lead wakes up and holds the female lead like this.
“I almost fell for it.”
“It’s not like that. I was practicing…”
“Then you should have agreed when I offered to be your partner from the beginning.”
“……!”
“If I know what the next scene is, do you want to try it?”
“When did you even read that far?”
“Just answer my question.”
This was very awkward.
She had to choose her opponent and engage in a psychological battle, but she had no way to win against Dojun.
He was as mad as the lines Haejoo had recited.
If it was because of those damn cigarettes, she desperately wanted to go buy him some right away.
“There was something even worse than cigarettes.”
“What is it?”
“You.”
“What are you saying!”
Dojun’s body slowly lowered towards Haejoo.
The atmosphere was completely different from when he had held her this morning.
At this rate, any moment now…
“I made a mistake.”
“I’ll welcome mistakes like this anytime.”
Haejoo had no way to avoid it. Whether it was acting or something else, the fact was she had touched him first without permission.
She couldn’t think of a way to defuse this situation.
His lips, lingering with a smack, looked like they would devour Haejoo any second.
“Wait!”
“What is it?”
“Let’s think rationally, okay?”
“Do that on your own.”
“Just a moment! Are you really going to do this?”
“What can’t a married couple do?”
“Even if we’re married, we’re…”
Dojun’s hand brushed through Haejoo’s dark hair.
Her small face was half-covered by his large hand.
His scent threatened to permeate even her taste buds. Her lips, unknowingly flushed red, parted slightly.
Just as her mind was becoming hazy, a large shadow receded.
When she opened her eyes, Dojun, having left Haejoo lying on the sofa, was walking towards the kitchen.
“Haa!”
Haejoo’s heart wouldn’t calm down.
She sat up with a creak, and he, having gulped down a glass of ice water, held out the cup.
“Be careful in the future.”
“What did I do so wrong…”
“Shall we continue what we were doing?”
Haejoo, glaring at Dojun, picked up the script and ran up the stairs.
Only after closing the second-floor door did her legs give out.
“Ah, really!”
Her back was wet with sweat.
Just as she was leaning against the door, catching her breath, Dojun knocked.
“What?”
Haejoo opened the door slightly and looked up at him.
“Let’s have lunch together tomorrow. I have to go see my father today, so I’ll be late.”
“I have plans for lunch tomorrow.”
“On the weekend?”
“I’m having lunch with the agency staff. The director might even come.”
Haejoo emphasized that she couldn’t miss the meal.
A normal person would just let it go, but Haejoo was nervous because she didn’t know what Dojun would do.
“I guess there’s no choice.”
For some reason, Dojun readily accepted.
The problem was the shadow that quickly fell over his face with disappointment.
This made her feel uneasy again.
“If you’re going to see CEO Park… let’s go together.”
She blurted out words she didn’t mean.
Anyone could see that this was the price for bothering someone who was sleeping soundly.
“Suit yourself.”
“I’ll get ready and come out.”
Haejoo changed into a comfortable dress and tied her hair in a ponytail.
Dojun was already downstairs.
“Are you sure you want to go?”
“I was able to leave home thanks to CEO Park.”
“Hmm.”
“Of course, I resent your brother for writing the wrong name on the marriage registration.”
“Do you hate being married to me that much?”
Haejoo was taken aback by her own words.
The words had come out differently from her intention.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then you’re saying it’s good?”
“I’ll refuse your wordplay.”
Dojun opened the front door and held it for her. As Haejoo crossed the threshold, they walked side by side to the garage.
“Father cherished you.”
Haejoo recalled CEO Park visiting late at night and handing her fifty million won. She wondered how he must have felt on the day he had to send away his son, having to send her away too.
She guessed it was possible because CEO Park had the will to save Haejoo from her family.
“I’m going because I also owe him a debt.”
“A debt?”
“I heard that your brother left fifty million won for me before he passed away.”
“……”
“I was barely able to become independent with that money.”
The corners of Dojun’s lips subtly curved upwards.
He opened the car door with the smart key, helped Haejoo into the passenger seat, and then took the driver’s seat.
There was a dementia-specialized nursing hospital 15 minutes away. Known for its expensive admission fees, it didn’t look like a nursing hospital from the outside.
“There was a place like this here?”
It was a place equipped with all the facilities needed for the hospitalized patients.
Dojun requested a visit at the front desk on the first floor.
“You can go right up.”
There were many people coming and going in the first-floor lobby.
Those who recognized Haejoo began to whisper.
It was their first outing together since the marriage scandal.
She was surprised that it was such a large nursing hospital.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have come.”
In the past, when people met Haejoo, their reactions were mostly positive. But after the scandal broke, she had to endure negative public opinion as well.
Haejoo’s expression gradually stiffened awkwardly. She smiled, but her gaze wandered, unable to settle on one place.
“Aren’t you going?”
“People are looking at us.”
“Let them look all they want.”
“Huh?”
Dojun suddenly grabbed Haejoo’s hand.
At that, the many eyes watching widened.
“Shall we go see Father?”
He would never let go of Haejoo.
Never again.
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