Then she approached Sukgyeong, who had a completely distorted face, and grabbed her hand.

“Besides, Mom, I know Seo Yeonsu better than anyone.”

Seo Yeonsu was someone who would pretend to die if she asked, just as before.

Sehee pulled up the corner of her mouth while rubbing Sukgyeong’s wrinkled hand.

“She would never know, even if she died and came back to life.”

Sehee, with her incomparably bright smile, was beautiful.

But Sukgyeong felt a chill looking at her daughter.

“Would she even dare to think? That Moon Siwoo is her child.”

Though Sehee was the daughter she had painfully given birth to, at times like this, she was frighteningly cruel.

※※※

Yeonsu walked into her pitch-black studio apartment.

She collapsed onto the living room sofa.

The light switch was on the wall, within arm’s reach.

But lacking even the strength to extend her hand, she closed her eyes.

Her delicately curled eyelids trembled helplessly.

From work to the filming set to the emergency room—she felt like she’d been caught in a raging storm all day.

Her emotions had risen and fallen dozens of times in a single day.

In truth, Yeonsu’s life after the breakup had been extremely monotonous.

When she first learned of her pregnancy, Yeonsu was twenty-three.

Though young, she had still been excited and happy.

It was a child conceived with the man she loved. And as someone who lives alone, her only blood relative.

During a brief return to Korea, Yeonsu discovered her pregnancy while distracted by Chairman Hong’s deteriorating health.

And when she finally tried to tell him about the pregnancy—

“……He rejected me.”

Cutting off contact was his chosen method of breaking up.

Of course, not contacting him for two months was her fault.

She had no time as Chairman Hong suddenly entered a vegetative state, but he wouldn’t have known the circumstances.

Even when Sukgyeong told her to abort if she was planning to raise a child without a father, Yeonsu stubbornly refused.

She couldn’t give up Huimang, her only blood relative, for such a reason.

Perhaps she wanted to fill the void Seonjae left with the child.

So she cherished the baby for ten months.

Though she was a lacking mother with nothing to offer, she prided herself on being able to give abundant love.

After losing the child, Yeonsu lost her will to live.

She lived a monotonous life, going only between work and home. A life without ambition or willpower.

But since meeting him again, that daily routine had shattered. Her world had broken into pieces and become filled with tension.

“Hah……”

A deep sigh escaped through Yeonsu’s lips.

Sehee’s family had always been the same. She had never once questioned their words or actions.

Fourteen years.

They had steadfastly remained by Yeonsu’s side for fourteen whole years.

“Don’t trust them?”

As she lifted her eyelids, Yeonsu’s pupils shook violently.

She sat up straight and clutched her head.

In truth, her heart had been beating at an unstable rate ever since seeing Siwoo in the emergency room.

〈If I told you not to trust Managing Director Hong’s family too much, would I be overstepping again?〉

It was an absurd suggestion.

Yet that single sentence Seonjae had spoken remained clearly imprinted in Yeonsu’s mind, refusing to leave.

Looking down, Yeonsu noticed her hands were trembling finely.

Why did she keep feeling anxious?

The kindness, consideration, and affection they had shown her all these years…

An inexplicable sense of discomfort lurking within suddenly surfaced.

※※※

“So you were with Team Leader Seo Yeonsu.”

When Seonjae got into the car, Secretary Shin in the driver’s seat addressed him.

Not far away, Yeonsu was watching their car.

“There was some business.”

“Ah, yes. I’ll start driving.”

After this brief explanation, Seonjae leaned back and closed his eyes.

The secretary promptly acknowledged, seeing that Seonjae considered further conversation unnecessary.

The car started and began driving down the wide-open road.

In the pre-dawn hours, the city streets heading toward the Hannam-dong residence were quiet to the point of desolation.

〈Brother-in-law, I heard you decided to be a regular cast member? Thanks to you, our channel is growing. Thank you.〉

He had closed his eyes hoping to get even a moment’s rest, but a honeyed voice echoed in his ears.

It was Hong Sehee.

She had sought out Seonjae while he was reading a script in the filming set’s waiting room.

The words she left him before leaving, after sitting beside him and chatting about trivial matters, bothered him greatly—enough to keep circling in his mind.

〈By the way, did you already know Yeonsu from before? I keep noticing your paths crossing.〉

Seonjae had replied “no” with an indifferent face to her subtly probing tone.

She was a perceptive woman. Just as Seonjae, uncomfortable with their conversation, was about to leave the waiting room—

〈I see. Yeonsu said she wants to quit appearing on The Closet. That’s not like her normally responsible character.〉

〈……〉

〈I don’t know if you’ve heard the rumors, but Yeonsu takes medication after being badly hurt by a man. Psychiatric medication. This arranged date is a big decision for my mother too. Yeonsu is somewhat unstable.〉

Sehee’s eyes were full of concern as she continued speaking.

〈But please don’t think badly of our Yeonsu, and if she says she wants to quit, please understand.〉

With those words, Sehee gave Seonjae a bright smile.

Though her words seemed kindly spoken out of concern for Yeonsu, in truth, everything she said bothered him.

Rumors, a man, psychiatric medication, unstable mental state.

It was excessive information to share about someone he had just met. It was Yeonsu’s private life, after all.

Was Sehee really normal, coming to the filming set to tell him such things?

Were these things to say about someone she claimed to be as close as sisters with?

No.

Seonjae’s lips twisted.

Eventually, his closed eyelids lifted, revealing black pupils.

Women’s power struggles, subtle psychological warfare—he had no interest in such things. And he had no intention of getting entangled in them either.

But the problem was that all of it involved Seo Yeonsu.

Seonjae gazed out the window, resting his chin on his hand.

Why did that woman reappear after five years, putting him through such trials?

If she had left to live well, she should be living extravagantly well. Why was she living while being treated that way?

It wasn’t just Hong Sehee’s issue.

Sukgyeong, who had been sharp toward Yeonsu in the emergency room, was the same.

During this brief reunion, he could picture how she must have grown up in Chairman Hong’s household.

Though publicly she was raised like a daughter, the reality must have been different.

She was a foolish woman.

She could sharpen her tongue against him and clearly express rejection, so why couldn’t she speak up properly in that household?

That’s why. Though he could have just pretended not to know, he ended up giving her a warning.

A warning that didn’t even sound like “don’t trust them too much.”

He wondered how she had taken that unexpected statement.

Seonjae loosened his tightly fastened necktie, feeling stifled.

When that didn’t help, he finally lowered all the windows.

Before dawn. Despite it being summer, the rather cool air rushed into his lungs.

Whether smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol, his mood wouldn’t improve whenever he thought of that woman.

Seonjae deeply furrowed his brow.

He wanted to shake off thoughts of Seo Yeonsu, but it wasn’t easy.

Even when thinking of other things, he would ultimately find himself thinking of her again.

Seonjae remained silent as he watched the scenery quickly passing by outside the window.

In the silence, Secretary Shin only occasionally glanced at Seonjae as he stared out the window.

He had clearly insisted on driving to the studio alone.

The secretary had told him he would wait nearby and to call, but the place Seonjae called from was a hospital far from the studio.

He wanted to ask why Seonjae’s destination had changed, but seeing him lost in thought made it difficult to ask.

So he was focusing silently on driving when—

“Look into Team Leader Seo Yeonsu for me.”

The secretary looked toward Seonjae at the sound of his voice.

“How deeply should I investigate?”

“How she’s lived the past five years, who she associates with, what rumors are circulating in the company.”

Seonjae recalled the rumors Sehee had mentioned.

It seemed there were other stories besides the ones he knew about.

Moreover, the psychiatric medication was news to him.

Five years ago, when they were together in America, Yeonsu hadn’t been taking any medication.

“And.”

Until now, Seonjae had wanted to avoid confronting the issue rather than face it.

That’s why, even while circling around her, he hadn’t asked Yeonsu why she had left. He had only hoped that someday she would tell him first.

But it was too bothersome to wait.

He knew the reason it bothered him, yet he wanted to pretend he didn’t.

He just didn’t want to admit it.

That he was attracted to Seo Yeonsu enough to create opportunities to meet her for the most absurd reasons.

“Find out if she’s been seeing anyone too.”

With those words, Seonjae mocked himself.