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Chapter 20
I’ll Handle It
Taehyuk took the phone from Nayeong’s hand and checked the post linked in the group chat.
It was about actress Eunbyeol sneaking out of her hospital room and hiding behind a flowerbed to smoke.
No one would have known about Eunbyeol’s smoking unless they had seen it with their own eyes.
“Have you told anyone else what you saw?”
Seunghee had been the first to contact her after finding Eunbyeol, but Nayeong hadn’t said a word about the smoking even to her.
Shaking her head, Nayeong confirmed this, and Taehyuk’s expression darkened.
Even though the post was anonymous, it put Nayeong in a precarious position.
“Oh! But before I found Eunbyeol, I ran into Professor Yoonina.”
“What?”
At the mention of Yoonina, Taehyuk frowned. There was no proof that Yoonina had done anything, but somehow the name itself felt suspicious.
“Professor Yoonina said she had to respond to an emergency call and told me to go toward the research building to find Eunbyeol.”
Following Yoonina’s directions, Nayeong located Eunbyeol.
Taehyuk handed the phone back to Nayeong with a warning.
“Say you know nothing. I’ll handle this.”
“Uh? But—!”
“First, we need to delete the post from the anonymous forum.”
Taehyuk ran off, leaving Nayeong alone. She had no idea what was happening.
But the situation worsened at a speed beyond her imagination.
Within an hour of the first post about Eunbyeol smoking, it spread rapidly, and “Eunbyeol smoking” appeared in real-time search trends.
Eunbyeol’s agency responded quickly, issuing an official statement that the post was malicious and that the smoking allegations were false.
The fact that the “solution” to the already occurred incident was lying only confused Nayeong more.
However, something appeared in the resident group chat that she could no longer pretend to ignore:
Eunbyeol’s side held the hospital strongly accountable, and the hospital pinned responsibility on the GI department, which had discovered her first. They believed Seunghee was the one who initially found her.
And Seunghee had never revealed her name.
Professor Choi Taehyuk had told Nayeong to act as if she knew nothing, but she could no longer do so.
She dashed straight to the GI department.
“I’m the one who found Eunbyeol first.”
Nayeong honestly admitted that she was the source of the incident. Professor Yoonina simply looked at her calmly.
“Seunghee did nothing wrong.”
Nayeong’s first concern was to protect Seunghee from unfair blame, leaving her no time to think of anything else.
“Eunbyeol is very agitated because of this.”
Yoonina’s calm voice sounded even more irritating against the chaos of the situation.
“She’s demanding that whoever posted it be brought directly to her. Can Moon explain it to her?”
In a suppressed voice, Nayeong protested,
“I did not post anything online.”
“But you found her first, right?”
Nayeong glared at Yoonina, her eyes reddened from suppressing frustration.
“I saw Eunbyeol smoking, but I never told anyone nor posted anything about it.”
At her protest, a faint, almost painted smile appeared on Yoonina’s face.
“I trust you, Moon.”
No. Yoonina’s expression wasn’t of trust. It was almost gleeful. She wanted Nayeong to plead in this situation.
So Nayeong decided she would no longer ask Yoonina for help.
“I’ll go and explain it to Eunbyeol myself.”
Even if it meant taking responsibility for the “bomb” that was Eunbyeol and risking a backlash, Nayeong felt it was the better option and headed to the VIP room where Eunbyeol was.
The VIP room was in chaos; items were thrown all over the floor.
The agency staff, exhausted from trying to manage her, were nowhere in sight—Eunbyeol was alone.
“You!”
As soon as she saw Nayeong, Eunbyeol screamed.
“I’m going to sue you! Your life should be ruined like mine!”
Compared to the brave twenty-year-old Oh Eunji, who had battled cancer, Eunbyeol was truly immature. All this over a cigarette.
Eunbyeol lunged at her. Nayeong braced herself, eyes closed, expecting a blow.
But the fierce hand didn’t land. Instead,
“What are you doing?!”
Eunbyeol shouted at someone else, not Nayeong.
Opening her eyes, Nayeong saw Professor Choi Taehyuk holding Eunbyeol’s arm.
Nayeong’s eyes widened in surprise. Eunbyeol also noticed the person Taehyuk had brought and was shocked.
“Ch-Cha-hyun director, is that you?”
The once-hysterical voice was now shy, and Nayeong felt dizzy from the sudden shift. Too much had happened in such a short time.
Step by step, Cha-hyun walked forward, smiling at Nayeong.
“This isn’t really the right moment for greetings, but I’m glad to meet you.”
Nayeong, unsure why the director was at the hospital, looked at Taehyuk.
Taehyuk released Eunbyeol’s arm and got straight to the point.
“To calm the uproar over the smoking, it seems Eunbyeol needs an image transformation, so I brought Cha-hyun here.”
Both Eunbyeol and Nayeong were too shocked to understand. Their brains couldn’t process it after the day’s events.
Cha-hyun continued.
“Her agency lied saying she never smoked. Now, even if she admits to it, the public will scold her for lying.”
“Wait! You want me to honestly admit I smoked?”
Eunbyeol’s face hardened, unwilling to accept even Cha-hyun’s words.
Cha-hyun crossed his arms, looking at her.
“I don’t need a teen star who just smiles in my movie. But a rebellious, smoking twenty-year-old Eunbyeol might interest me.”
Cha-hyun’s films were famous for casting actors who could dominate the camera with their skills. Eunbyeol had never expected to be cast in one.
“So… does that mean I have a chance to be in your movie?”
Eunbyeol’s excitement was palpable.
“You need to improve your acting. Acting grows when you face yourself honestly, not by avoiding or ignoring it.”
Even Nayeong found Cha-hyun’s advice serious—directed at the actor Eunbyeol, not the star.
“Don’t act like the world is over just because of a cigarette. If you act properly, this is nothing.”
For the first time, someone gave Eunbyeol words like this, and her eyes glistened.
“Think of this as an audition. I’ll see how you handle this and decide if you can be in my film.”
Eunbyeol clasped her hands like a rookie actress on her first audition.
“I really want to be in your movie! Please watch me!”
Nayeong couldn’t believe how a cigarette scandal could end on such a hopeful note.
“Thank you so much for helping today, director.”
As Nayeong bowed to Cha-hyun, Taehyuk interjected firmly.
“You should be thanking me.”
Nayeong glanced at him coldly.
“You just brought the director, professor.”
It was Cha-hyun who moved Eunbyeol’s heart.
“I insisted that Eunbyeol act in the film. But this guy just treated it as an audition. If I hadn’t, it could have gone wrong.”
Taehyuk belittled his friend Cha-hyun mercilessly, leaving Nayeong stunned. Cha-hyun chuckled awkwardly.
“If you had made a movie with Eunbyeol using your own money, you’d be bankrupt.”
Nayeong looked at Taehyuk in shock.
“Investing in a movie? Are you crazy?”
Just as Taehyuk was about to die of frustration from not getting gratitude, the elevator opened and Oh Seungjun appeared.
He had come to see Eunbyeol since his sister Seunghee was in trouble, but seeing Taehyuk with another man, he raised his eyebrows.
He had thought only he could get close to Taehyuk, but here was an unexpected rival.
“Professor Choi. Who is this?”
Cha-hyun, noticing the tension, draped an arm over Taehyuk’s shoulder, showing their friendship.
“He’s my friend. Who are you?”
“I’m Oh Seungjun, Professor Choi’s closest medical school classmate.”
“Oh! Just a colleague then.”
“Just? We meet every day, not just sometimes.”
Nayeong watched the subtle power struggle between the two men with Taehyuk in the middle and thought, This is ridiculous.
Yoonina stared at the real-time search trends online.
The scandal over Eunbyeol smoking had shifted to a combination of Cha-hyun and Eunbyeol.
Yoonina clenched her fists. She had heard Taehyuk brought the director personally. Smart.
A knock sounded, and Yoonina closed the browser calmly.
“Come in.”
The person entering made her genuinely surprised.
“It’s the first time you came to find me first,” she said, her face showing unmistakable happiness.
Taehyuk spoke without emotion.
“Do you want to have dinner with me?”
In the past, Nayeong had been angry at him over rumors, feeling only unfairness. This time, she realized he had indeed been at fault.
If he had corrected the rumors back then, Yoonina might have changed. But because he ignored them, Yoonina became even more cunning, and Nayeong suffered.
This time, she couldn’t let it slide.
