Chapter 5

After enduring another long flight and arriving at Incheon Airport, Jisang’s eyes, which had been soft and mild for the past few days, sharpened again like a black leopard’s. Facing the reality that the threat of a blackmailer who could appear anywhere at any time was lying in wait once more, every nerve in his body stood on edge.

But much had changed from before.

He was too busy staying alert to his surroundings, while Hari’s heart fluttered at even the slightest brush of his hand, as though every accidental touch was an act of intimacy.

Hyunseo, who had come to the airport to meet them with Jungwook, recognized immediately that the air between the two had grown warmer.

The two had barely taken a few steps out of the arrivals hall, yet Hyunseo could feel the shift in the current between them.

‘They slept together.’

So it had been unavoidable after all.

She had not been entirely unprepared for it, but she had not expected things to move this quickly.

‘What is Hari thinking…… Even if she was going to give herself to him, she should have taken more time, been more careful about it.’

A deep sigh escaped her on its own.

“Unnie! It’s been so long.”

Hari, oblivious to all of it, came running over to Hyunseo and stomped her feet in delight.

Not wanting to ruin her mood, Hyunseo kept every trace of what she was feeling from showing on her face.

“What’s with this dramatic welcome?”

“Today was my OB-GYN appointment. I came along to see your face while I was at it.”

After a long flight, anyone would be expected to feel tired and irritable, but Hari looked far too cheerful, and Jungwook made a show of feeling slighted.

“How is it that you looked happy before you left, and you look even happier coming back? Did you really want to be away from me that badly?”

“Hm? Choi Jungwook, what’s gotten into you. You were diligently devoted to Unnie while I was gone, weren’t you?”

“Of course! Even if it were the moment you won a Best Actress award, Hyunseo comes first.”

“Who said otherwise? I’m perfectly willing to hand you over to Unnie.”

While the two bickered and showed off their bond, Jisang, who had been pulling Hari’s luggage out for her, came face to face with Hyunseo.

He gave her a light nod of greeting. Hyunseo fixed him with a sharp, unwavering stare that made it plainly obvious she had a great deal to say and was holding it back for now. Jisang simply gave a relaxed tilt of his head in return.

“Unnie. I had such a good time. It felt less like going away for work and more like a proper vacation. Oh, and ‘Beautiful Girl’ is really something, isn’t it? I read the script all the way to the final episode. Our Unnie really does have an eye for these things. I really want to do this project now. Can’t we just stamp it and lock it in? I don’t want another actress to take it.”

Hari threw her arms around Hyunseo and clung to her, and the silent standoff between the two was brought to a close.

“The photo shoot went well? No trouble?”

“Yes. The bodyguard took such good care of me, like a manager almost. Not a single inconvenience.”

“Is that so. The bodyguard took good care of you.”

Hyunseo looked at Jisang and smiled. Or rather, she made the shape of a smile. In that moment, Hari was the only one who believed it was real.

Jungwook, who knew the full story, had no choice but to deliberately raise his voice and sound more jovial than usual to cover the cold air that had frozen solid between Hyunseo and Jisang.

“Let’s go. Quickly. Before people recognize Hari and start crowding around.”

“Right. Let’s go.”

Each carrying their own hidden truths, the four of them got into the same car.

“Oppa. Was there any progress in the investigation into the blackmailer while I was gone?”

“Mm. Nothing I’ve heard about.”

“Goodness. I wonder when they’ll ever catch this person.”

“I know.”

There were four people in the car, but only two were talking.

Jisang was staring out the window, and Hyunseo, sitting in the passenger seat, kept glancing at him through the rearview mirror.

Hyunseo had originally run a small cafe in Hongdae. After starting a relationship with Jungwook, a ten-year veteran manager who had been a regular at the cafe, she developed an interest in talent management, and went on to found Bless You Entertainment with Hari, who had been working there part-time at the time, as the artist.

From that point through the entire process of fully merging the company into Chacha Entertainment, Hyunseo had crossed paths with this man, Cha Jisang, more than five times.

At first, his cold impression had put her off, but the more they spoke over the course of several encounters, the more she sensed that he genuinely admired and cared for the actress Yoo Hari.

And so she had entrusted Hari to him……

She had not anticipated that he would deceive her about his identity and play the role of a bodyguard like this.

“Was CEO Cha personally acting as a bodyguard this whole time? Why on earth?”

The day she had gone to the company to have it out with him after hearing that Hari would be living under the same roof as her bodyguard, Hyunseo had discovered that the CEO she had met, Hari’s bodyguard, and Hari’s first love were all the same person.

After learning the truth, she had not felt resentment so much as sheer bewilderment. She had simply thought, what on earth is this man doing.

But the answer he gave her had been surprisingly clean.

“A situation arose where Yoo Hari needed a bodyguard, and I did not think there was anyone who could protect her as well as I could.”

Hyunseo recalled Hari saying that, setting aside any personal feelings, his abilities as a bodyguard were exceptional.

“All right. Let’s say you were confident in your ability to protect her. But why does Hari only know you as an ordinary bodyguard? Why didn’t you tell her that you’re the CEO?”

His answer to that was equally simple.

“If I revealed that, wouldn’t it make Hari uncomfortable?”

“Even if you’re only withholding information, you’re still deceiving her. I don’t want to be complicit in that.”

“Hari is currently under threat and in a very difficult place emotionally. It seems that because I’m her bodyguard, she’s able to lean on me comfortably and get through it. Wouldn’t it be better for me to remain as her bodyguard until the blackmailer is caught?”

“That’s exactly why you should have told her from the beginning!”

“I did not expect the culprit to go uncaught for this long.”

Hyunseo, who rarely found herself logically outmaneuvered, was left speechless. His argument was, frustratingly, quite reasonable.

“When Hari no longer needs a bodyguard, I promise I will tell her myself.”

She had wanted to say that this was still wrong, that she needed to tell Hari the truth right now, and to just go ahead and do it on impulse……

But the fact that this man was Hari’s wretched first love had stopped her in her tracks.

Hari had wished, more than once, that she could meet that man again just one more time.

Hari herself had described it as nothing more than a faint, fleeting affection for a stranger she had briefly encountered, but to Hyunseo’s eyes, that feeling had run deeper than Hari let on.

Since entering the entertainment industry, Hari had been pursued by men without end, yet she had always been indifferent.

Whoever it was, she would inevitably measure them against that man.

When a handsome actor approached her, she would say he was not as good-looking. When a young, successful businessman tried to win her over, she would cut him off flatly, saying she had no interest in money.

He was a man who had taken root that deeply in her heart. Meeting him again as her bodyguard, in a situation where she was being threatened, was perhaps why Hari had not fallen into a deep depression despite everything.

Right. Either way, Hari’s stability was what mattered most right now.

Hyunseo concluded, reluctantly, that turning a blind eye for the time being was the right call.

“I heard you’ve had a connection with Hari since six years ago. Don’t tell me you had this intention from the moment you sent the merger proposal to my company.”

Hyunseo had spoken with this man at length that day and had cleared up enough of her misgivings. She had even extracted a promise that he would not lay a hand on Hari until Hari herself wanted it and asked for it.

And yet things had turned out this way……

She did not believe CEO Cha had broken that promise, but it was clear that another in-depth conversation was needed.