Chapter 3

Several days passed with no schedule, and a quiet, uneventful routine settled in.

Jisang would occasionally step out during the day. He had told her to contact him if she wanted to go out, but Hari never sought him out.

“Nice and quiet.”

She had started with bit parts, then moved on to minor supporting roles across four productions. Then toward the end of the year before last, she landed the role of the youngest daughter in a weekend drama series and gained her first real following, which launched her straight into lead roles.

After that, she had sifted through dozens of scripts and chosen a school drama depicting the power struggles among high school girls, and it had been what people called a massive hit. Her carefully honed acting had shone through as well, and she was now a strong candidate for a prestigious newcomer award at a major arts ceremony.

That success had lifted her into the ranks of top stars, and for the roughly six months since, she had been relentlessly busy. On top of that, she was currently being stalked.

So Hari found this quietly drifting time peaceful and welcome. Eating well, sleeping well, it felt like a proper rest for the first time in a long while.

“I wonder what we’ll have for dinner tonight.”

She also looked forward to the evening meals she shared with Jisang. There wasn’t much conversation, and sometimes an awkward silence would stretch between them, but even those quiet moments felt pleasant.

The days were so tranquil that she occasionally forgot she was living under a death threat.

Then, after several days without a word, her manager Jungwook called with welcome news.

“The commercial that got interrupted last time has been rescheduled. It’s in two days, so rest up until tomorrow.”

She had been on the verge of getting restless, so the timing was perfect. Hari finished out her sweet rest and readied herself to return to her routine.

* * *

Early in the morning, Hari left the house with Jisang.

“Bodyguard. Good to see you.”

Jungwook, who had been waiting outside, gave Jisang a respectful bow.

Hari found it a little puzzling why he was being so formal, but she assumed it was just awkwardness and didn’t think much of it.

A peculiar silence held for the entire drive to the salon in Cheongdam-dong.

“Hari, you haven’t eaten, right? Go on in, I’ll bring something.”

Jungwook sent Hari and the bodyguard in alone, saying he would go get some food.

“Hari, it’s been a while. Oh my. Who is this handsome man?”

The sight of the unfamiliar man following her in set the salon staff’s eyes sparkling.

“Unnie. Did you get a new manager?”

“Who is he? He’s so good-looking.”

“He’s my bodyguard.”

“Oh my goodness. Really? What kind of bodyguard looks like that?”

Jisang found a sofa and sat down to wait, as though the chatter around him didn’t exist.

Hari kept stealing glances at him through the mirror. Whatever was going on behind those pitch-black eyes, she couldn’t tell.

After her base makeup was done and the hair styling was beginning, the youngest staff member, who handled small errands, brought over a paper bag with ‘Yoo Hari’ written on it.

“This looks like Hari unnie’s lunch? It was sitting at the front desk.”

“Oh. Jungwook must have dropped it off. I’ll take it.”

Assuming it was something Jungwook had bought, Hari opened the lid of the paper container without a second thought.

At the same moment, the hair stylist let out a sharp scream.

“Eeek! What is this!”

Everyone in the room, from the makeup artist who had been choosing blush shades to the youngest staff member who had brought the bag, turned toward the source of the commotion and screamed in turn.

“A rat…… a rat!”

What was inside the lunch box was…… a dead rat.

“Ugh—”

The head makeup artist was already dry-heaving, but Hari, the one it had been meant for, didn’t scream at all. She simply closed the lid quietly.

Jisang came over immediately, took the container from her, and lifted the lid slightly to check the contents without letting her see.

“Unnie…… are you alright?”

The youngest staff member asked carefully, and Hari answered as though nothing had happened.

“……Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Wow. Unnie has nerves of steel…… I would have thrown it across the room.”

“Rats don’t scare me.”

Seeing the rat itself was fine. Having grown up in rough conditions at the orphanage, Hari had a strong stomach, the kind that could smash a cockroach without flinching while most women recoiled.

But…… the thought of the person who had sent this was frightening.

That person had caught and killed this rat specifically to instill fear in her. What had they been thinking as they watched it die? They might have been imagining Yoo Hari’s death in place of the rat’s.

She was trying not to let it show for the sake of the staff, but the fear that had seeped into her eyes was impossible to hide entirely. The staff were still too shaken to move their hands, and the dressing room was filled with a rattled, unsettled quiet.

“Let’s take a short break.”

At Jisang’s low voice, the staff filed out of the dressing room. Alone in the quiet room, he came and stood in front of Hari.

“Haah……”

Hari suppressed her feelings the way she always had. Telling herself she was fine, that she could handle it, over and over, steadying herself from within.

Then she felt a gaze and looked up to find Jisang looking down at her.

“Are you really alright.”

“I need to be…… I need to be so I can get through the shoot……”

Her voice trembled with fear. Jisang rested his hand gently on top of her head.

“It’s alright to say you’re scared when you’re scared. Don’t force yourself to hold it in.”

His warm touch and the gentleness in his voice made her large eyes fill with tears.

Rough as it was, it was exactly what she needed to hear.

The swell of emotion overwhelmed her reason. Before she knew it, the words came out.

“Could you hold me? Just for a moment. I can’t calm down…… my hands won’t stop shaking……”

Only after saying it did Hari realize what she had just blurted out. Why did she keep turning into an idiot in front of this man? She immediately began to regret it, certain she would cringe over this moment for a long time.

But contrary to what she expected, Jisang gestured for her to stand up.

Hari rose as though in a trance.

Jisang pulled her into his arms in one motion, drawing her against him.

Pressed against his broad chest, wrapped in the faint warmth of his scent, Hari gradually found her footing again.

Her mind was buzzing like a disturbed hive. Conflicting feelings tangled inside her. The fear threatening her was awful, but if it was what had brought her into this man’s arms, she thought she could almost bear it.

The moment she was seized by the desire to hold on and never let go, Jisang seemed to sense it and gently pulled back.

“If you’ve settled down, I’ll bring the staff back in.”

The warmth that had briefly entered his voice had returned to its usual professional flatness.

Hari felt a flash of frustration and caught him before he could leave.

“Where are you going?”

“I was thinking of going to find the bastard who sent that.”

His eyes were sharp and his lowered voice was cold. Hari looked at him steadily and said with quiet firmness.

“That’s the police’s job. Jisang, your place is beside me.”

It had been a sudden incident, but she hadn’t wavered. Her voice was soft but carried weight, and the eyes meeting his were steady.

Jisang looked at her, something shifting in his expression at the unexpected solidity in her.

“Don’t leave my side. That’s a directive from your client.”

At that, the severity in his face eased and he smiled.

“I momentarily forgot my duty.”

Jisang stepped out briefly to call the staff back in, then returned to the sofa and waited as before.

The way he sat with his long legs crossed looked far too arrogant for a bodyguard.

“What. Why is this all you got?”

A little later, Jungwook arrived with a real lunch of salad. Hari pushed it aside with the excuse that she’d eat it later. She had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to open a lid herself for a while, and the sigh came before she could stop it.