My eyes, drifting aimlessly, met his by chance.

Clear, sharp eyes looked down at me – deep and unwavering, like ink.

Only then did I realize: all those words he’d just hurled at me-they hadn’t been said by mistake.

He knew who I was.

And I knew he knew.

And now neither of us was even trying to pretend or hide the secret.

“Why did you pretend not to know all this time? You knew who I was from the beginning.”

I also asked quietly.

When I first realized that he had read me, I was so tense that I rode the bus wide awake while my colleagues slept beside me.

But now that the moment had finally arrived – right after a far more serious incident and my own rescue – I felt unexpectedly calm.

“Well… if I had to give a reason, it just felt like I had to.”

Like me, Lee Seol-won was calm and rational.

Had he also imagined and prepared for this moment for a long time?

“When did you find out?”

“On the day of the media presentation.”

I heard his answer and silently searched my memories of that day.

Ah.

I took a short breath.

A sudden flash of realization crossed my mind.

“You didn’t come to see your fiancée that day, did you?”

If he had come to support Heo Yeonseo as her fiancé, he should have sat in the front center – where the view of the stage was best.

She was the lead dancer of the Hani Dance Company and performed right in the spotlight.

But instead, he had deliberately chosen the seat next to mine, on the right, where the gayageum players of the traditional orchestra I had prepared for Eun-sae were most visible.

The meaning was clear. He hadn’t come to see Heo Yeonseo. He had come to see me.

“That’s why you noticed that I wasn’t on stage.”

Another ambiguous piece of the puzzle fell into place.

He didn’t deny my assumption.

“Of course… you must have known who I was from the beginning. But…”

I looked directly at Lee Seol-won.

“Why didn’t you avoid it?”

It wasn’t as if he had ever been with Eun-sae.

If the roles were reversed – if I were the one being forcibly kissed – I would have slapped or pushed the other person away.

Maybe not to that extent, given the biological difference in strength, but he still had plenty of chances to avoid me.

So why did he fall for my plan so easily?

Was it because you didn’t want to interrupt Heo Yeonseo’s interview on stage?

Was it because there were reporters around and you wanted things to go by quietly without making a scene?

“And what about the photo? Sure, it wouldn’t have been hard for someone like you to find out which reporter was sitting behind us… but if you managed to get your hands on that photo, you should have destroyed it right away. Why did you keep it?”

If he had, his cousin wouldn’t have been able to get his hands on it and recklessly threaten him with a scandal involving his fiancée.

“When did you first notice me? Have we met before? Why do you keep helping me? You’ve lost more than you’ve gained by doing so. You’ve only ended up in more danger because of me.”

Why, why, why.

Once I started asking, the questions kept coming, one after another, with no end in sight.

While circling around Lee Seol-won, I gained so much from him.

I found out who was really responsible for Eun-sae’s death.

I uncovered the secrets she never dared to say out loud.

But in the process, this man – he suffered financial losses, was forced to take drugs, and had his weaknesses exposed.

He didn’t have to go this far. He really didn’t.

“Why, you ask?”

For once, a faint crack appeared in the man’s usually dry and indifferent expression.

A silence settled between us for a moment. It wasn’t long, but it was heavy – unnaturally so.

“…because you kept showing up in front of me, looking so fragile and unsteady.”

When he finally spoke, his voice came at the end of that pause.

Depending on how you heard it, it might have sounded like he was talking to himself.

Or, in another light, like he was angry.

Not that his tone was sharp or raised – and yet, somehow… it felt that way.

I stood there, frozen, completely taken aback.

Honestly, if anyone had a right to be confused by everything that had happened, it should have been me.

But somehow… this man looked like he was the one struggling with even deeper conflict and turmoil.

“I don’t understand. I really don’t understand. No matter how I showed up – how I looked, how I acted – you could have just ignored me, pretended you didn’t see or didn’t know. Why didn’t you? What am I to you… that you couldn’t?”

“You are…”

He slowly closed his eyes.

Only then did I let out the breath I’d been holding in.

I hadn’t even noticed that I was holding it in.

But the moment of relief was brief.

From under those long lashes, the shadowy irises that had only been hidden for a second slowly reappeared.

“You’re the variable in my life.”

‘Variable.’

For him, this word could hardly have a positive meaning.

After all, Lee Seol-won was a man who had calculated even his engagement, forced to do so by the so-called “mistake” his cousins never let him forget.

I could only guess, but surely this man’s life had been meticulously planned, step by step.

From a young age, he must have been used to always preparing for what’s next.

“So you were never supposed to show up like this.”

In a way, I agreed.

Our meeting was an accident that neither of us could have foreseen.

If Eun-sae hadn’t died so suddenly, I would have gone on stage at the Gugak Festival as planned. I’d have been too busy juggling schedules and excited about the increased attention.

But instead, I met him – and found myself drawn into a world of danger I’d only seen on the news.

And because he met me, the life he had worked so hard to keep stable and peaceful began to unravel.

“I know. We’re a bad match – bound by fate.”

Two people who were never meant to meet met.

It was a mistake.

Maybe it surprised him that I accepted it so quietly, but Lee Seol-won just looked at me for a while, silently studying my face.

“I’m sure I don’t make much sense to you, Mr. Lee. You’ve probably wondered why I’d go so far, why I’d do such reckless things. Maybe it’s because you already have your own ideas about me. But even so, you’ve never pressed me for details – you’ve just adapted to me, and I’m really grateful for that. Now that I think about it, I appreciate it even more. If our roles were reversed, I don’t think I could have done the same thing.”

Looking back from his perspective, I realized how much patience and understanding he had shown me.

Especially considering that he had never been anything to Eun-sae.

He wasn’t in a stable position himself, and he was even getting married – he had no reason to risk any more than he already had.

I had already trapped him, and there was no way I could undo the damage I had done.

“As you can probably tell, I’m not someone who can handle everything that comes with being involved with you. If you continue to get involved, you’ll have nothing to gain – only more to lose. The more you get involved with me, the worse it’s going to be for you, so I have to do the bare minimum I can-be decent enough to draw the line. Mr. Lee, you should leave while you still can.”

The only integrity I had left to protect was to make sure he didn’t get pulled in any deeper.

I tried to free my wrist from Lee Seol-won’s grip.

It felt shameless – keeping my distance from a man I should stay away from, but accepting his help, relying on him even though I knew I couldn’t take responsibility for it.

But even as I tried to put space between us, Lee Seol-won didn’t move.

“What about you if I leave?”

Instead, he grabbed my wrist even tighter. The force suddenly brought his face closer.

“Mr. Lee. Let it go – let it go now. That man, he’s impulsive. You don’t know what he’s going to do next. He might barge into your office again and trash the place like he did last time. You need to go and prepare yourself, just in case.”

“If I leave you behind… will you end up hurt and alone?”

He responded with a question laced with subtle meaning.

I almost responded with a polite, professional smile, like someone in customer service, carefully managing my expression and tone.

But I stopped myself.

To this day, I had tried to deceive him more than once.

But not a single attempt had ever gone the way I intended.

This man always saw through me with ease.

So there was no point in lying anymore.

“Not necessarily. But even if it happens, it’s not your problem, right? So don’t worry about it.”

I tried my best to suppress my emotions.

He didn’t answer right away. A silence hung between us.

“It’s too late for that now.”

His low voice fell into me like a stone into still water – and from that point on, a heavy wave spread out, slow and steady.