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Chapter 28
“What were you thinking when you took these?”
Even at Daeho’s question, Jaejin said nothing.
Watching Jaejin keep his mouth tightly shut, Daeho rubbed his temples as if he had a headache.
“Reporter Yoo, sure, we make a living tailing celebrities and digging up gossip, but even this industry has rules.”
“……”
“Kim Arin is an up-and-coming actress. And a female actress at that.”
“……”
“And Joo Taeuk is a married man. You do know that, right?”
“…I know.”
“And you also know he’s Assemblyman Joo Youngjin’s only son?”
“…Yes, I know that too.”
The short replies only made Daeho feel more dumbfounded.
If Jaejin had taken the photos despite knowing all that, then had he really intended to publish them?
The thought made Daeho’s head throb.
“So?”
“……”
“Was that what you wanted too? To tie Kim Arin and Joo Taeuk together and blow up a scandal?”
At Daeho’s question, Jaejin once again sealed his lips shut.
Seeing he had no intention of speaking, Daeho scratched the back of his head irritably.
His gaze drifted toward the camera sitting on the table.
Honestly, how could anyone not be tempted by this?
Joo Taeuk, the CEO of JT Entertainment.
A man like an iron fortress. Handsome enough to be a celebrity himself, born into a powerful family, yet never once involved in a scandal.
When he suddenly announced he was marrying an unknown actress, the public had already gone wild back then. So if photos like these spread across the world…
Yeah. Maybe, just like Youngho had said, they really could end up sitting on a mountain of money.
But the price they would pay for it wouldn’t be small either.
While Daeho wrestled with the dilemma, he glanced at Jaejin.
As if staging a silent protest, Jaejin finally lifted his lowered head and slowly spoke.
“You may not have looked yet, but there are more photos taken afterward.”
“……”
“It wasn’t a private rendezvous between just the two of them. Han Gyeowool was there too.”
“…You know that doesn’t matter, right?”
At Daeho’s words, Jaejin clammed up once more.
Daeho let out a deep sigh and jerked his chin toward the door.
“Enough. Get out.”
“……”
“Leave the camera.”
“Chief.”
“I said get out. I’ll handle it myself.”
At Daeho’s words, Jaejin bit his lip before finally standing and bowing.
Click.
As the door shut behind him, Daeho removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes.
After a moment of thought, he let out a shallow sigh and picked up his phone.
“Hey, CEO Ma. It’s me.”
* * *
“So this is why you asked for vacation time?”
The voice was colder than ice.
Unable to meet Yura’s gaze, Arin lowered her head.
“Joo Taeuk? Ha, JT Entertainment’s Joo Taeuk? What exactly are you planning to do by getting tangled up with that man?!”
On the table lay the tablet Yura always carried around.
Displayed on the screen was a photo of Taeuk grabbing Arin’s wrist.
The moment she saw it, she knew when it had been taken.
The day she first went to see Han Gyeowool.
It was that brief moment after she’d spoken with Gyeowool inside Taeuk’s car and gotten out first.
She and Taeuk had only been together—only shared the same space—for less than a minute.
“I thought you didn’t truly mean it when you said you regretted entering this industry.”
“CEO…”
“If you hate it that much, quit right now. I won’t stop you anymore.”
“That’s not it.”
“Kim Arin!”
Yura’s sharp voice thundered through the office.
Arin slowly raised her lowered head and looked at her.
“I did go there to see unni. I’m not trying to make excuses. I know it was my fault.”
“You seriously…!”
“I heard she’d been discharged from the hospital, so I went because I thought maybe I could see her for just a little while once she got home. But then…!”
“W-wait a second!”
The one who interrupted the tense shouting was Jinsu, who suddenly rushed into the office with his eyes squeezed shut.
Yura grabbed her forehead and shouted at him.
“Jang Jinsu! What do you think you’re doing right now—!”
“It’s President Joo!”
“…What?”
“It’s a call from JT Entertainment’s CEO Joo Taeuk!”
* * *
“I’ve never experienced anything like that before.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Though I’ve heard things like that happen a lot in the idol industry. There are sasaeng fans and all.”
“…Ah, well, I guess that makes sense.”
“But Gyeowool, are you asking because something like that is happening to you right now?”
“Huh?”
“Stalking. I mean, are you being stalked?”
At Jihoon’s question, Gyeowool realized that he really hadn’t known about her sister’s stalker situation either.
Her sister had never been someone who talked much about herself, so Gyeowool had half expected that.
Still, hearing the answer she anticipated somehow left her disappointed.
“That’s not why I asked.”
“Gyeowool.”
“And honestly, even if there really was a stalker now, I probably wouldn’t even notice.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“I’ve already been completely exposed now. To reporters, to people… everyone.”
“……”
“Taeuk said there are probably still dozens of cameras following me around.”
“Gyeowool.”
“So what difference would it make if one stalker was mixed in among all those cameras?”
“……”
“They all look the same to me. So you don’t have to worry.”
She’d only meant to brush it off casually so he wouldn’t worry unnecessarily, but Jihoon’s expression visibly hardened.
Seeing his stiff face made her regret saying it at all.
“Uh, Jihoon…”
“Sorry, I’m a little late.”
The one who cut off her words was Taeuk, entering the office.
With a relaxed smile tugging at his lips, Taeuk walked in naturally and took the seat in the middle.
Seeing him smile at her, Gyeowool unconsciously scrunched up her face, and he asked with amusement,
“What were you talking about?”
“…Nothing much.”
“Really?”
His smiling face still felt unfamiliar to her, and just then Sangwoo entered the office carrying coffee.
As he set a cup down in front of her, she thanked him with a small glance.
Sangwoo flinched slightly at her gesture before giving a faint smile and lowering his head.
And at that moment—
Jihoon’s lips twisted upward when he saw the coffee cup Sangwoo had placed down.
It wasn’t a pleasant smile.
Sangwoo and Taeuk both turned their gazes toward him.
Meeting Taeuk’s eyes, Jihoon sneered.
“President Joo, you’re quite an amusing person.”
“……”
“Down in the lobby earlier, you snatched away the bouquet I gave Gyeowool and deliberately held her hand for everyone to see. And now you’re acting affectionate in front of me again here in the office.”
“Choi Jihoon.”
“Did you really think I’d find that funny?”
At Jihoon’s hostile tone, Taeuk’s expression hardened.
Not only Taeuk’s, but Sangwoo’s expression darkened as well.
Apparently either unaware of the frozen atmosphere—or simply unconcerned—Jihoon silently picked up a paper bag beside him and placed it on the table.
This time, his sharp voice was directed at Sangwoo.
“Gyeowool doesn’t drink coffee.”
“……”
“If you don’t even know something this basic, I can already imagine how this company’s treated her all this time.”
Jihoon spoke with open sarcasm.
Gyeowool could only blink in shock at this side of him she had never seen before.
“These are tea leaves Gyeowool likes. There are tea bags too, so I’d appreciate it if you used these from now on.”
With a look that said why aren’t you taking it already?, Jihoon gestured toward Sangwoo.
Looking flustered, Sangwoo bit his lip before taking the bag and leaving the office.
“Choi Ji—!”
Feeling like Jihoon was crossing a line, Gyeowool was about to stop him, but Taeuk slightly raised a hand as if telling her to wait.
The smile that had lingered on his face only minutes ago had disappeared completely, replaced with an icy expression.
Jihoon glared at the coffee cup in front of him as though merely looking at it irritated him, then turned his gaze back to Taeuk.
The frozen atmosphere in the office felt suffocating.
“I think I already know what your answer will be, but I’ll ask anyway.”
“……”
“Did you know that Gyeowool was being stalked?”
Today, Jihoon felt strangely unfamiliar.
Seeing this side of him for the first time made her wonder if he was really the Jihoon she knew.
The man who had always been endlessly kind, gentle, and soft toward her sister.
Or maybe… because he had been so devoted to her sister, that was why he was this angry now?
Was it because of the story about the stalker that she herself had brought up?
“Jihoon…”
“As Gyeowool’s agency representative, don’t you think you’re being irresponsible?”
He was definitely more agitated than usual today.
Even cutting off her attempts to stop him, Jihoon continued speaking to Taeuk.
“Gyeowool’s going through a difficult time right now. Instead of telling her there are dozens of cameras following her, shouldn’t your first thought have been to get rid of those cameras?”
At Jihoon’s sharp voice, a shallow sigh escaped her lips.
So that was what had been bothering him.
She regretted bringing it up even more now.
The atmosphere felt ready to explode at any moment, and she cautiously glanced at Taeuk.
Taeuk was silently staring at Jihoon.
His eyes seemed to say, Go ahead. Keep talking.
Or maybe that was just her imagination.
“I seriously have to wonder whether you truly care about Gyeowool, or if you’re just trying to use the accident that happened to her as noise marketing.”
“……”
“Then again, why even ask? I already knew from the beginning.”
“……”
“If you’d truly loved Gyeowool, you never would’ve married her. To trap an actress who was only beginning to bloom inside the shackles of marriage—”
Jihoon, who had been pouring out one sneering remark after another at Taeuk as if he had prepared for this confrontation, suddenly stiffened when he saw Taeuk smiling.
“What exactly are you doing right now?”
Looking completely unbothered, Taeuk smiled and answered,
“I was just wondering if that was everything you wanted to say.”
“President Joo!”
Even when Jihoon shouted angrily, Taeuk didn’t so much as blink.
In fact, the louder Jihoon became, the colder Taeuk seemed to grow.
“Looks like you didn’t take what I said seriously.”
“……”
“I told you the same thing at the hospital last time.”
“President Joo.”
“Don’t overstep your place.”
His voice had become shorter, sharper—dangerously cold.
Jihoon visibly flinched.
Fixing Jihoon with a savage glare, Taeuk spoke.
“Han Gyeowool is my woman.”
