SRP 12

Chapter 12

“…Let’s do it again.”

As she fumbled with the chair and sat back down, Geon lifted the wooden tray. Since it was a video that would be hard to edit midway, they had to start over from the beginning.

“Did your heart flutter?”

So Min-nam wouldn’t hear, Geon whispered into Bom’s ear while grumbling and checking the screen. When she glared at him, he smiled.

Bom bit her lower lip and sat back down.
And they started again from the beginning.

She barely endured the cursed segment where she had to feed him a biscuit.

“Sitting like this reminds me of when we were trainees. We used to meet by the emergency exit because we were afraid people would find out we were dating.”

Even though this was the second time hearing it, Geon was still handsome.

“When we sat on the stairs talking, the motion-sensor lights would turn off and it’d get dark. The neon signs from the food alley would shine through the window, setting the mood. We were afraid we’d gain weight if we ate snacks, so we carefully shared an Americano and some crab sticks.”

As he reminisced about the past with a shy, dreamy look, Bom found herself getting drawn in more and more.

“No matter how good the food is, I still think about the crab sticks we ate back then. Sometimes I buy them at the convenience store.”

She didn’t even notice him leaning closer.

His face tilted slightly, and through the strands of hair falling forward, she could see his eyes.

In them was Bom.

“But the taste wasn’t the same. Because you weren’t there.”

“Eeeek! S-stop! Goosebumps! Ugh, that’s so cringey!”

Startled, Bom jumped up and rubbed her arms with her palms. She paced around the room in a fluster, trying to hide her flushed face.

The goosebumps were real.

At his whispering voice, the hair on her arms stood on end.

“Y-you’re really good at saying stuff that makes people cringe!”

She turned around with a laugh, trying not to show how shaken she was—

“Ms. Lee Bom.”

Min-nam let out a heavy sigh. Geon rested his chin on his hand and smiled with his eyes.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“W-what are you talking about? Enjoying what?”

“Well, I get it. Being confessed to while monopolizing a guy like me—you’d want to redo it again and again. I understand that feeling.”

“That’s ridiculous! Who would—! I’m just not used to it!”

The playful look on Geon’s face changed.

“How long has it been since we broke up? Didn’t any of the guys you dated after me ever say things like this?”

“…I was busy working.”

“So you didn’t date anyone at all?”

“…”

Geon’s smile deepened.

Under the table, Bom clenched her fist. Was he mocking her for not being able to date anyone? It felt humiliating.

She was an idol who’d disappeared because of bad press.

She’d been overwhelmed just trying to adjust to a new life, and with rumors of violence and bullying attached to her, the people who approached her were all questionable. Even when they treated her well, their ulterior motives eventually showed, and nothing ever developed into a relationship.

“Same here.”

As if. Who would believe that?

She turned her head—and saw Min-nam looking at her steadily.

“S-sorry. I’ll do better this time.”

“I feel like it’ll happen again.”

“I’ll try to hold it in. Or tie me to the chair. Should I tape my mouth shut?”

She meant it as a joke—to lighten the mood because she felt bad.

She didn’t mean literally tie her up and tape her mouth!

“Should we?”

Min-nam glanced around, then went and found a roll of tape.

Il-ju stared with his mouth open, then pointed at the laptop screen.

Knowing exactly what was coming, Bom closed her eyes and just nodded.

“…So you were tied to a chair? In this situation?”

“I was tied together with the chair so I couldn’t jump up. Wrapped all around with tape.”

“Gasp!”

Il-ju quickly covered his mouth with his hand, his shoulders shaking. His face was getting redder and redder. Then, as if something clicked, his eyes widened even more.

“W-wait. Don’t tell me the reason your voice didn’t come out and it was all subtitles wasn’t intentional either!”

“…Yeah. They taped my mouth shut…”

Pffft! In the end, Il-ju collapsed onto the table, wriggled, and even slid down to the floor.

And that utterly embarrassing scene was witnessed by someone else.

Yeona stood quietly in front of the open room, watching. She soon pulled out her phone and called someone on speed dial.

“Ah, yes. Manager. You should come home for a moment. My husband and son have kidnapped a woman and committed a crime. Yes, the son is an accomplice too. You’ll need to come and clean this up.”

“Ms. Yeona! No! She consented! It’s not a crime!”

Min-nam, who had been checking that Bom was securely taped so she couldn’t escape, rushed over when Yeona called her family’s future strategy office manager—the one in charge of handling aftermaths. He snatched the phone and desperately explained the situation, breaking out in a cold sweat.

If a misunderstanding arose with a family even more powerful than the Daehyeon Group, he could end up divorced at his age.

The only reason the Daehyeon Group chairman prioritized his youngest son, Go Min-nam, who ran an entertainment company, was because of Yeona. He’d married into a good family. If they divorced, he’d be pushed out of the inheritance—and not just the inheritance, but even his shares in Able Entertainment would be at risk.

—“I see. Then please put Madam on the phone.”

“Come on, just believe me already… Fine.”

Min-nam’s words alone weren’t enough for the loyal manager. He handed the phone back to Yeona.

“Fortunately, it’s not the situation we were worried about.”

Yeona ended the call, but the suspicious look in her eyes remained.

Min-nam brought Yeona over to Bom, who was still tied up.

So embarrassing.

Bom’s ears burned red as she bowed her head. With tape over her mouth, she couldn’t speak.

“It’s good you came, Ms. Yeona. I needed someone to hold the wine glass.”

Though it looked like a crime scene, he earnestly tried to show that everything was fine.

Yeona, arms crossed as she looked down, spoke in an even tone.

“If you’re being threatened or didn’t consent, nod your head.”

“No, Ms. Yeona, really—Ms. Lee Bom consented…”

Bom stayed still. She was dying of embarrassment.

She’d said it was fine to tie her up, but when Min-nam actually brought the tape, she’d insisted they try just one more time—and if she messed up again, he really could tape her mouth and tie her up.

But she failed even that last chance.

She’d tried to endure it, but she couldn’t withstand Geon’s gaze and ran away. With his face and eyes right in front of her like that—what woman, no, what person could endure it?

So she failed, and ended up voluntarily tied like this.

“All right. What do you need me to help with?”

Understanding Bom’s silent response, though perhaps still harboring a trace of doubt, Yeona stayed beside them and helped.

That was how the video was made.

“Haa…”

Wiping away tears clinging to the corners of his eyes, Il-ju lifted his head with a refreshed expression. They say laughing well makes you healthy and stress-free—at this rate, he’d live past a hundred.

“So in this video, the woman’s hand holding the wine isn’t yours, but your future mother-in-law’s.”

“Not my future mother-in-law—Actor Geon’s mother.”

“And when Geon approached and the camera tipped over and it went dark for a moment…”

“…I couldn’t take it anymore and bolted while still tied to the chair.”

“Wow… Pff! It was a comedy clip! Hahaha! What do I do—every time I watch this video, that scene is going to pop into my head.”

Bom left Il-ju laughing to himself. It was time to go home.

Today, she had a public date with Geon.

I should grill the beef in the fridge.

After filming at Geon’s family home, Yeona handed Bom a neatly packaged gift set of beef. She held Bom’s hand tightly.

‘Next time, come visit again—definitely. You can come alone, even without Geon.’
‘Ah, thank you.’

The way Yeona looked at Bom was strange.

She’d thought Yeona was a blunt person who didn’t show her emotions, but ever since Bom had run away from the filming site and come back, her gaze had changed.

Like she was looking at an adorable puppy.

Sometimes Yeona would even make little “pfft” sounds for no reason.

As Bom stood up to leave work, Il-ju spoke.

“Ms. Myeongjo starts filming tomorrow—you’re going with her too?”

Go Min-nam had kept his promise to Bom. On the day the contract was signed, Myeongjo returned to a historical drama.

“Yeah.”

“Will you be okay?”

“What’s there not to be okay? I’ve got Geon backing me now.”

“It’s a fake relationship, but still, it’s a relief that things are getting sorted out like this.”

“I’m not sure yet.”

If the public found out, things could change—she was anxious.

But Il-ju shook his head.

“You look healthier. You said it was fine to be cursed at, but compared to now, you didn’t look good back then.”

Is that so?

Bom tilted her head, then shrugged.

“Have a good trip. Eat lots of good food.”

Il-ju watched Bom leave the meeting room, greeting coworkers as she headed out. Then he turned his gaze back to the screen.

“Something’s fishy.”

One of the highly upvoted comments stood out to him.

└ Geoni-geoni, you look genuinely happy. If our Geon-nim is happy, I’m happy tooㅠㅠㅠㅠ