The ride back from the café was silent, but Jiyeon's mind wasn't.She leaned back in her seat, staring out at the blurred city lights.He lied. He smiled like it meant nothing. And that woman.Her nails curled slightly into her palm.I should've known better than to let my guard down for a second.
Her phone buzzed.
Unknown Number
"Thank you for meeting me. I hope you don't misunderstand."
She blocked the screen with a swipe. Too late.She had no time for actors with charming smiles and unclear intentions. Her crew didn't need scandal. And neither did her family name.
Joon sat at the edge of his bed, phone still in hand, the message unsent.She hadn't replied.Not that he expected her to.
But something about her eyes… the way they shifted when that woman appeared, it bothered him more than he thought it would. He let out a sigh.You should've explained, he told himself.But how could he explain something that wasn't true?
The woman who showed up? She was someone from the past. Persistent. But not someone he ever loved. And Jiyeon…He barely knew her.But she wasn't like the others.She didn't want attention. Didn't try to charm him.She wanted respect and she had earned his.Even if she didn't believe a single word from him.
The article was everywhere. Photos of him leaving the studio late at night, followed by that popular singer. Again.Jiyeon didn't need explanations. She needed control.
In the director's office, her tone was sharp, clipped. "It's too risky. We're not just selling a show. We're selling a reputation. He's done."
The director flinched. "He's talented…"
"So are a hundred others. I want someone clean. We can't afford drama off-screen."
The meeting ended. Decision made.Or so she thought.
Later that day, Jiyeon exited the elevator, high heels clicking like warning shots.Until a voice called out behind her.
"You really believe I'm that kind of man?" She turned.
He was there.Disheveled , chest rising like he'd run up the stairs. "I told myself I wouldn't care. I've heard worse rumors before. But you? You cutting me off without even asking?" He shook his head. "That hurt more than I thought it would."
Her lips pressed into a line. "Then maybe you should've been careful who you're seen with."
He let out a bitter laugh. "That singer? She's nothing to me. But she wants people to think otherwise."
Jiyeon stayed silent.Until suddenly…He took off his cap and mask. Standing there fully exposed in front of security, staff, whoever walked past. "You want truth? Ask me anything. Right here. I've got nothing to hide except maybe this."
He stepped forward. His voice was quieter now, more sincere. "I've been in this industry long enough to know how fake it is. But you… the way you looked at me that first day? It wasn't fake. So don't throw me away over a lie someone else is desperate to spread."
She didn't respond.And then… he did something unexpected. He leaned forward and gently fixed the loose button on her blazer.Not a kiss.Not a grab.Just… an almost tender, deliberate touch. A quiet gesture. Intimate. Disarming. Her heart jumped, and she hated that it did.
The metallic chime of the elevator faded behind her.Her heels clicked sharply across the cold cement floor. Her heart beat faster, not from fear from fury.He's just like the rest. I should've known better.
She waved off her driver. "Give me the keys. I'll drive myself."
"Miss Han—"
"I said, give it."She didn't wait. Slamming the door shut, she took off into the dark road ahead.
Wind blew through the half-open window. The city lights blurred in her teary vision.I trusted the way he looked at me. What a joke. Her phone vibrated on the passenger seat.
Then—headlights.
Too close. Too fast. She swerved. The wheel jerked in her hands. The car spun. The world tilted. Blurred. The road disappeared beneath her.Everything was muffled. Her ears rang. Her head throbbed. Airbag deployed. Windshield cracked.She blinked through the foggy air.And then…
Her driver's door was suddenly wrenched open.A warm, strong arm reached in.She gasped weakly. "W-What—"
"It's me. You're safe. I've got you."She looked up.It was him.
Her eyes widened in disbelief. He… was here? He saw everything? He pulled her into his arms without hesitation, holding her like she was something fragile and precious. "I didn't want to follow you," he murmured, his voice unsteady. "But I couldn't let you leave like that."
Her lips trembled. "You didn't have to come after me." He smiled softly, brushing glass from her shoulder. "Does it count if I came when it mattered most?"
She hated hospitals.The antiseptic scent. The quiet beeps. The white lights too bright for her aching pride.But what she hated more… was the look in his eyes when she opened hers.
He wasn't supposed to be there.And yet, there he was…Lee Joonseo. The actor she thought she had figured out.
His voice was too soft for someone always on-screen. "You should've just gone with the driver."
She looked away first. When she finally spoke, her voice barely held steady. "You followed me." It wasn't a question. It was a quiet stab.He didn't deny it.Just sat there, hands clenched between his knees, looking like a man who hated himself for caring too much.
"I didn't want you to get hurt," he said. "I wasn't following. I just… couldn't let you drive off like that."
Her heartbeat betrayed her. It was faster than it should be…as if her body had made a decision before her mind had caught up. She turned her face away. "Why do you keep doing this? Making me think you're different?"
He was quiet for a moment. Then "Because I am."
She looked away like she always did. Cold. Composed. Beautiful like winter. But he knew better now. He saw the tremble in her hand when the nurse adjusted her IV. He saw the way she gripped her phone,still cracked from the crash… like it was the only thing anchoring her to herself. Like she needed something to hold because her world had started to slip.
"You think I'm like them."
His voice was low, steady… but he couldn't quite hide the wound underneath. "The men you've seen. The rumors they print."
She didn't respond. Didn't flinch. Didn't meet his gaze. That silence… it answered everything. He let out a sharp breath. Not in anger. Not even in disappointment. It was something softer. Sadder. A quiet kind of surrender.
"You don't have to like me," he said, rising slowly to his feet. His tone was controlled, but something in his eyes …in the slight pull of his jaw..said otherwise. "But please… don't decide who I am before you know who I've been."
And then, before she could speak, before she could build another wall, he stepped closer. He reached out. Fingers brushing her cheek… tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear like it meant everything. Like she was something fragile he wasn't sure he had the right to touch.
His breath was barely above a whisper when he said, "You weren't wrong to look at me that day… just… don't stop looking."
Then he walked out. And with him, the room lost its warmth. But he left something behind. A silence that hummed. A line in her heart that hadn't been there before something tender, unwanted, terrifying.
Ji-yeon sat there, still. Drenched in white sheets and unsaid words. And for the first time in so long, she felt small. Not because she was weak. But because someone saw her. Truly saw her.
The accident wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to be reckless. And Joon… he wasn't supposed to be the one dragging her out of the wreckage with blood on his hands and panic in his voice.
Now, even in the stillness of the hospital room, she couldn't forget it. The headlights. The screech. His voice, breaking through the smoke… calling her name.