***
“Hah…”
He barely hid at the end of the hallway and exhaled a sigh of relief.
She could have caught him had he just looked at her carelessly.
He carefully put his head out and looked at the Kids’ Fan office entrance.
A short time later, the door opened, and he saw her heading to the elevator, supported by the emergency medical technicians.
“Hah…”
He smiled bitterly and watched her leave until she was out of sight.
“Can I really forget her…”
He leaned against the wall and mumbled to himself with a sigh.
No matter how far away she was from him, her pain always reminded him of her.
“Should I go to Santiago too just like she did?”
Smiling bitterly, he walked towards the CEO’s office weakly.
“But, where did this dude go?”
On the way to his office, he wondered about Ojae’s whereabouts, for he was untraceable all day long.
“Is he doing something stupid again somewhere?”
Suddenly, he felt worried and pulled out his cell phone.
***
In the emergency room of the hospital.
The doctor was checking the x-ray and said while looking at her,
“There is no cartilage damage, no rotator cuff injury. Fortunately, it’s just a simple bruise.”
“Hah. I’m so glad.” Ari was relieved as if it were her injury.
“It seems your muscle became a little tight when the box hit it, so give it a heated massage and return to the hospital if the pain worsens. You should be fine soon.”
“Thank you.”
When Sun departed from the doctor’s office, he explained a little more about the prescription and moved to another patient.
Once the doctor walked away, Ari pinched Sun’s arm like she had waited for the moment.
“Ouch!”
“Oh! So you feel pain after all, huh?”
“What are you talking about?”
“If you’re sick, just say that it hurts! Don’t make people around you guess.”
Sun avoided Ari’s gaze, feeling sorry for her.
“I thought it would be okay soon, and honestly, the doctor also said that I’m okay. It’s just a bruise.”
“Is that why you’ve been carried here to the hospital by the ambulance because it’s just a simple bruise? I’ve done all kinds of extraordinary things all my life, but I’ve never been in an ambulance. Thank you for that.”
Hearing Ari, Sun was briefly lost in thought.
“By the way, who was it?” Ari asked.
“… What do you mean, who?”
“The person who called 911.” Ari furrowed her brow and thought genuinely. “… I guess somebody made a prank call, and it actually worked out just fine coincidently.”
“Did it?”
Whoever it was, the person knew too much about her situation.
Looking at Sun with a darkening face, Ari didn’t ask her any further.
Ari looked at her phone with a shallow sigh.
“But where did the boss go?”
“Don’t you even think of contacting her. I don’t want her to know about this.”
“Sorry. I’ve already done it.”
“Hey!”
“I won’t listen to you anymore. I don’t want someone to blame me later.” Ari crossed her arms and said while pouting her lips.
“Hah…” Sun exhaled a long sigh in frustration.
‘Bzzzz.’
Then Ari’s cell phone rang.
“It’s the boss.”
Ari quickly glanced at Sun once she read the text from Eunyoung.
“Now, what I’m going to tell you is the boss’ instructions, so I want you to listen to it very carefully, okay?”
Sun smiled weakly.
“You’ll go home immediately and relax. That’s it.”
“No, you know we have to confirm the storylines.”
Sun was frustrated.
“Hey, that’s my job. You, the designer, should go home and relax today.”
“Hey.”
“Just listen to me today. Come on. We need to get your medicine.”
Ari quickly rose from her seat, seemingly unwilling to wrestle with her anymore.
“Hah…” Sun was left alone and sighed for a long time.
She didn’t understand why the more she tried to not worry people around her, the more significant accidents would happen.
“Come on, what are you doing?” From a distance, Ari called her.
“Coming.”
Sun weakly rose from the bed.
***
On Sangsu-dong street.
Eunyoung sighed sadly once she sent a message to Ari.
“What the hell did Mr. Choi make Sun do at his store?”
Even thinking of his face made her so upset.
“As soon as the situation gets better, you will be the first one cut out from our business, you bastard.”
Eunyoung bit her lips, furrowing her eyebrow like she was determined.
Then, a message came to her cell phone.
‘Different buyers have already bought the place that you want. I’m sorry.’
It was a text from a real estate agent she had visited a while ago.
She had given up on Gangnam and checked a rental she had been before. However, the contract was already assigned to another tenant.
She has visited other real estate offices with the money she had, but it seemed to be impossible to find a new office.
“I don’t know if things will be better…” She was exhausted, and her expression sank. “No. I can do this. We’ve made it through worse things than this before.”
Eunyoung tried to catch her breath to keep her mind calm.
Then, her phone rang.
“Oh, my. I’m surprised.”
She carefully checked the caller.
It was Ojae.
She was breathing a sigh of relief, but soon, her eyebrow furrowed as she saw his name on her phone.
“But why the hell does he want to see me now?”
Eunyoung recalled the phone conversation she had with Ojae a while ago.
‘I have things that I need to discuss with you.’
His urgent voice didn’t feel like a prank. The shabby bar where she was supposed to meet him began to appear at the end of the alley.
***
Ojae was sitting at the innermost area of the bar while drinking a glass of beer.
“Khu…”
He winced because of the stinging sensation running down his throat, but he finally emptied the glass.
“Hah… Excuse me, one more beer, please.”
He had already finished the third glass, but Ojae still ordered another beer, feeling that he hadn’t had enough.
“Why is she so late?”
Ojae looked anxious and checked the doorway.
He came here five minutes earlier. His eyes showed urgency.
“Here it is.”
After a while, the waiter brought him a glass of beer.
Ojae picked it up quickly as if he were thirsty.
While drinking the beer, his eyes were continually staring at the door.
‘Ring, ring.’
Then, with the sound of the doorbells, Eunyoung entered.
“Ugh.”
When Ojae hurried to put the glass down on the table, the beer went down the wrong pipe
“Khuk, khuk.’
He raised his hand toward Eunyoung even while coughing.
After Eunyoung recognized him, she approached him with a firm expression.
“What is this?”
“Khuk, khuk. Just a minute.”
Ojae caught his breath and cleared his throat.
“You’re not going to change your mind?”
“What do you mean to change my mind?”
“Like, we can’t move out of the building anymore, or you’re going to remove our products or something.”
“No, don’t worry. That won’t happen.”
Ojae seemed to be in rare form; he was resolute, unlike his usual self. Eunyoung nodded while looking at him with doubt.