Chapter 58

As they left the police station, the female officer thanked Seol-rin.  

“Thank you for understanding. Personally, she’s one of the kids I feel sorry for… We’ll make sure to educate her properly and work closely with the center to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”  

“Yes… Oh, could I get the contact information for the center where Min-ji is staying?”  

“Of course.”  

The female officer kindly smiled and handed over the name and contact information of the center where Min-ji was being protected.  

“Ugh, what a mess this all is…”  

“Thanks for coming with me to the police station, Mi-yeon.”  

“How could I let you go alone when something this big happened?”  

After receiving the call from the police that the culprit had turned herself in, Seol-rin had been in a daze. Mi-yeon couldn’t bear to let her go alone, so she had stepped in as her guardian.  

When they first walked into the police station, Mi-yeon had imagined a burly, terrifying criminal. She was utterly shocked to see that the culprit was such a small and frail child.  

On their way back home, Mi-yeon asked casually, 

“Why did you get the center’s contact info?”  

“Just… I think I’ll want to know later if the kid’s doing okay.”  

“By the way, Seol-rin, you looked pretty cool earlier.”  

“Me? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”  

“I don’t know, you just seemed really professional. At first, I thought the kid was just being bratty and bad, but when I heard she was an abused child, it really broke my heart. I even teared up a bit. And I felt ashamed. I didn’t even notice those bruises on her. Even if I had, I wouldn’t have connected them to child ab*se. But you figured it out right away. That’s amazing. I see you in a new light.”  

Though Seol-rin waved off Mi-yeon’s praise, she couldn’t help but reflect deeply. The thought that there might be countless children like Min-ji suffering in unseen corners of the world weighed heavily on her.  

Seol-rin resolved to find out what small things she could do for these victimized children.  

And so, another tumultuous day came to an end.  

* * *  

The next day, instead of heading to Tae-oh’s house, Seol-rin went to her own rooftop room. She had been away from home for too long and was worried about it. With all the recent incidents resolved, she finally felt relatively at ease.  

“Cough, cough!”  

As soon as she stepped into her rooftop room, she started coughing. After being away for over a week, the place was covered in a thick layer of dust.  

After doing the laundry and cleaning, she finished tidying up the house, and it was well past 10 PM. Despite the modest surroundings, her home felt like home, and the familiar atmosphere made her feel drowsy.  

Lying on her mat, she found herself wondering what Professor Ma Tae-oh was doing. Just as she thought about how much she missed him, a video call came in from him.  

Because of the time difference, it was late at night when they could finally talk, even briefly.  

“Professor!”  

— What, you went back home?  

Tae-oh’s handsome face appeared on her phone screen. Just seeing his face, even through a screen, made Seol-rin smile foolishly.  

“Yes, I came home because the renovations are done.”  

Of course, it was a white lie, but she didn’t want to worry him.  

— I see. You worked hard.  

“Oh, no, not at all. Where are you now, Professor?”  

— I’m at the hospital. My mother starts chemotherapy tomorrow.  

“Oh… Are you with her now?”  

— Yes.  

“Could I say hello to her?”  

A moment later, Mi-ryeong, with her head shaved, appeared on the screen and waved brightly. For some reason, seeing her made Seol-rin’s heart ache, like a wagon losing a wheel.  

— Seol-rin, do I look terrible? Without hair, I feel so self-conscious.  

“No, it suits you so well. You look amazing.”  

— Really? Thanks for saying that. But long hair was better, right? I want to get better soon and grow it out again. 

“Yes, you’ll definitely get better. Then you can grow your hair out beautifully and go eat lots of delicious food with the professor and me, and we can travel to fun places together.”  

— Alright, let’s do that. 

Mi-ryeong smiled brightly, and Seol-rin responded with a radiant smile of her own.  

Soon, Tae-oh reappeared and asked how Seol-rin was doing. They shared their daily lives and talked about small things.  

Even though they were physically far apart, it was clear that their hearts were connected.  

* * *  

[I sincerely apologize to the assistant who suffered because of me, as well as to the staff of Korea University. I earnestly ask my fans to stop blindly criticizing and reproducing false information.]  

Cha Yeon-woo’s solemn voice echoed through the business hotel room. Tae-oh, staring at the phone screen, recalled the events of just a few days ago.  

He had been so busy preparing for his thesis presentation that he hadn’t even realized the danger Seol-rin was in. Then, suddenly, Cha Yeon-woo had shown up at his research lab.  

At first, he had felt annoyed. No matter how much Yeon-woo was his student, as a man, Tae-oh couldn’t help but dislike how Yeon-woo hovered around Seol-rin.  

‘If you’re going to protect her, do it properly.’  

Yeon-woo had blurted out something incomprehensible and stood there panting. Tae-oh had stared at him coldly, wondering what on earth he was so angry about.  

Then, when Yeon-woo explained everything, Tae-oh felt like the wind had been knocked out of him.  

‘Assistant-noona is in danger, and you don’t even know it?’  

‘What’s happening to Jin Seol-rin?’  

After learning the full story from Cha Yeon-woo, Tae-oh had been speechless. His thoughts came to a halt. All he could think was that he needed to confirm the facts and talk to Seol-rin.  

But Yeon-woo’s sarcastic laugh snapped him out of it.  

‘Don’t tell her.’  

‘What?’  

‘Don’t you get it? She’s trying to protect you in her own way. You’re not going to make her efforts go to waste, are you?’  

Yeon-woo’s calm yet piercing words hit Tae-oh hard. Realizing why Seol-rin hadn’t told him about the ordeal made his chest ache even more.  

Suddenly, Ma Tae-oh recalled Seol-rin’s face when she had asked, with a contemplative expression, if she could come to his house. Foolishly, he felt pathetic for not immediately realizing how much his one and only partner had been through.  

‘Hey, Professor Ma Tae-oh. This is no time to be zoning out.’  

‘What should I do?’  

‘I have someone I suspect might be the culprit. The problem is, there’s no physical evidence.’  

Cha Yeon-woo went on to share details, including his suspicions about Gu Yu-na and the defamatory posts on the anonymous bulletin board—things Tae-oh couldn’t have imagined. While Tae-oh had known nothing about what was happening to Seol-rin, Yeon-woo had been running around trying to handle it all by himself.  

It felt like taking an uppercut from someone he had dismissed as just a mere rookie. Whether he felt good or bad about it didn’t matter—his priority was to resolve Seol-rin’s situation.  

Surprisingly, Yeon-woo even proposed a solution on the spot.  

‘I also let Gu Yu-na know that you’re leaving for the U.S. She probably knows Assistant-noona will be there too.’  

‘So you’ve set a trap?’  

‘I don’t know if she’ll take the bait. It’s a gamble.’  

‘Then we’ll just keep setting traps until she does.’  

‘I’ve spoon-fed you this much. If you still can’t protect noona, I won’t just stand by.’  

‘But why are you telling me this?’  

Tae-oh was curious. He couldn’t easily understand why someone who had always glared at him as if he wanted to kill him was suddenly offering help. But Yeon-woo’s response was so perfect that it lingered in Tae-oh’s mind for a long time.  

‘I don’t want to stoop low…’ 

Tae-oh chuckled.  

‘Cha Yeon-woo, you’re quite the adult.’  

He had thought of him as just a rookie… Swallowing back his thoughts, Tae-oh checked the calendar.  

There wasn’t much time left before he returned to Korea.  

* * *  

“I believed in our Assistant Jin Seol-rin from the beginning. You must’ve felt really hurt because I was so cold, right? It’s just that, from the school’s perspective, it’s troublesome if unnecessary scandals arise… Anyway, I hope you can understand.”  

After Yeon-woo’s interview aired, many things changed. The Philosophy Department Head personally approached Seol-rin, cautiously apologizing. This morning, even the Dean and the University President visited her. They seemed anxious, worried that Seol-rin might take action against the school’s inadequate response.  

Seol-rin confidently conveyed her demands. Even though she was just a contract assistant, she was still a graduate of this university. She pointed out that the school had a responsibility to protect all its students. She sharply criticized the school for doing nothing while she was attacked by anonymous masses online.  

Her words left everyone speechless.  

In the end, the University President promised to prevent such incidents from happening again and offered Seol-rin a sincere apology.  

Just as she was feeling disillusioned by the school’s sudden change in attitude, another person appeared at the department office.  

“Yeon-woo…”  

His handsome face glimmered beautifully in the sunlight streaming through the window. With a stiff expression, Yeon-woo asked Seol-rin, 

“Assistant-noona… Can we talk for a moment?”  

Afraid that she might avoid him again, Yeon-woo was extremely cautious, but this time, Seol-rin readily agreed to talk.  

“Sure, Yeon-woo. Let’s talk.”  

The two of them walked through the green-filled campus. From Seol-rin’s perspective, there was no reason to avoid Yeon-woo anymore. And Yeon-woo, having revealed everything, no longer needed to meet her in secret.  

As they walked, the other people on campus paid little attention to the two of them. It was a rare moment of peace.  

“I saw your interview.”  

Seol-rin was the first to speak, albeit hesitantly. When she first saw Yeon-woo’s video, she felt a mix of emotions. She knew how difficult it must have been for a celebrity, especially an idol, to address the matter so openly. She felt both gratitude and guilt toward Yeon-woo for wrapping things up so neatly.  

“Noona.”  

“Yes?”  

“You know I liked you, right?”  

“Yes…”  

“That’s all I need to hear. That’s enough.”  

Yeon-woo repeated that it was enough and smiled brightly.  

“I liked you a lot. I think I’ll remember you for a long, long time.”  

“Thank you for liking me, Yeon-woo.”  

“When I become a world star someday, don’t regret it.”  

“Pfft, sure. You’re already amazing now, but I’m certain you’ll become an even more amazing and wonderful person as time goes on.”  

“…Wow, but the weather’s really nice today.”  

Thinking that it was the perfect weather for a heartbreak, Yeon-woo stretched his long arms and yawned.