UYFM 07

 Chapter 7

Eden mercilessly cut off Raine’s protest.

“You may have felt that way. But it was the worst choice you could have made. And you would have caused an incredible amount of trouble for everyone else. How could you even think of jumping from there? Is there anyone in this world more precious than yourself?”

There was genuine concern for her in Eden’s words. But when he used the word trouble in such a sharp tone, Raine shrank into herself, her shoulders drooping.

Eden tapped his fingertips forcefully against the table, hard enough to make a tap, tap sound.

“Besides, this building is going to be used as a premium medical examination center for various high-ranking professionals. It’s a promising medical center that’s about to open, and you’re talking about making a scene here right before its opening.”

His words made Raine feel ashamed.

She wanted nothing more than to find a hole and hide inside it.

Embarrassed, she gathered up the chocolate wrappers she had been piling up and moved them to the side of the table.

“Is this really the time to clean up chocolate wrappers? Don’t change the subject. Answer me. Are you going to die? Or aren’t you?”

Raine felt sorry for him as he relentlessly pressed her, and tears began to fall from her eyes.

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t know this was that kind of place. I won’t jump from here.”

Although she sincerely apologized, Eden didn’t seem satisfied.

“You won’t jump from here? Does that mean you’re going to jump somewhere else? Will that solve anything? You need to swear that you’ll never think about doing something like that again.”

His voice was extremely displeased.

Yet Eden’s hand was gently pulling a soft tissue from the box and handing it to Raine with a snap.

Although the atmosphere was cold, there was a strangely warm sense of affection in his actions, and Raine unconsciously nodded.

As he quietly watched her dab away her tears, Eden soon interlaced his fingers and rested his chin on his hands.

“Stop crying and think about it, Ms. Raine. Think about how you can get productive revenge. If necessary, I’ll help you.”

That was as far back as Raine’s memories went.

Raine scratched her forehead with her index finger.

‘There was something more when we were talking about ways to get revenge….’

Since her memories of the previous night were so vivid, she had thought she hadn’t been very drunk.

But now that she tried to recall everything again, there were parts she couldn’t remember.

Raine deliberately repeated Eden’s words about productive revenge in her mind.

‘Become successful and more famous, become richer, date and marry a better man… Huh?’

Then she suddenly remembered signing some kind of contract and frowned.

‘What did I sign? Could that be why that man ended up spending the night with me?’

It felt as though it had been something extremely important, but no matter how hard she racked her brain, she couldn’t remember what kind of contract she had signed.

‘If he said he was opening a premium medical examination center… Surely not? Did I sign some kind of organ-trading agreement?’

She knew organ trading itself was absurd, but in a strange way, it seemed like the most convincing explanation.

Perhaps when Eden had told her that she was precious, he had been talking about her internal organs.

After all, compared to jumping off a building, it would certainly benefit Eden more if she calmly signed an organ-donation agreement and gave him, say, her liver or kidney.

And Raine’s sturdy flesh probably protected her internal organs quite well, too.

Realizing that her imagination had gone completely beyond common sense, Raine quickly shook her head.

Still, no matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn’t remember what she had signed that had led to what happened.

“What could I possibly have to offer you in a deal?”

Raine was still among Ju-ha’s fans, desperately trying to recall the missing portion of the previous night’s memories, when—

“Eeeek! He’s here! He’s here!”

The fans who had been huddled beneath the shade canopy, anxiously staring down the ten-lane road, suddenly began screaming.

A spotless black van stopped by the roadside.

Men who appeared to be security guards and managers got out of the van first.

“Please clear a path for a moment.”

They began setting up ropes from the van to the building’s main entrance, creating a path.

The headquarters actually had an underground parking lot.

But it seemed H/N Entertainment was providing a special service of sorts for Harry Kim Ju-ha’s fans.

“Kyahhhhh!”

“Oppaaaaa! Harry!”

The fans began screaming like dolphins, calling out Harry Kim Ju-ha’s name.

The rope being put up by the staff passed right in front of Raine as well.

The fans’ screams grew even louder.

“Ahhh! Oppa! Harry Oppa! Look over here!”

“Ju-ha! I love you!”

The fans cheered at the black van with all their might.

Soon, a face that was extremely familiar to everyone appeared.

Harry Kim Ju-ha stepped out of the van with a confident smile tugging up one corner of his mouth. He gently adjusted the left sleeve of his shirt with his fingertips.

On his wrist, revealed by the slightly rolled-up sleeve, the watch he loved so much gleamed in the sunlight.

Raine unconsciously focused on his watch.

It wasn’t the model she had bought for him for the enormous sum of five million won.

That was an expensive model Kim Ju-ha had desperately wanted.

He raised his left hand, the one wearing the watch, and waved it toward the fans.

“Hello, everyone. Thank you for waiting for me like this and for loving me.”

Ju-ha greeted the fans beyond the rope with a smile as bright as sunlight.

He shook hands with the fans and even gave some of them autographs.

Whenever someone asked to take a photo together, he willingly obliged.

It was excellent fan service.

He didn’t forget to make eye contact with each of his fans as he made his way toward the building’s main entrance.

Then his eyes met Raine’s directly.

For a moment, Raine was so startled that she felt as though she had stopped breathing.

She had only intended to see him from a distance.

She hadn’t expected their eyes to meet.

“……”

Seeing Raine frozen in place, Ju-ha casually extended his hand and offered to shake hers.

Raine was startled once again by Kim Ju-ha’s unexpected behavior.

The Kim Ju-ha she saw now appeared extremely friendly toward Lee Raine.

Perhaps she still had lingering feelings for him, because the moment he behaved that way, hope bloomed in her heart.

‘Could our relationship become good again?’

She even wondered if Kim Ju-ha might apologize to her for what he had done.

The thought made her secretly excited.

Of course, Kim Ju-ha would never do such a thing, and Raine knew how foolish she was for thinking that way.

But they had spent so many years together.

Seeing him approach her so confidently made it impossible for Raine not to hope.

Even though he had made her cry like that, she couldn’t help feeling happy to see him again.

Raine cautiously extended her hand and accepted the handshake he was offering.

As though he had been waiting for it, Ju-ha immediately pulled Raine toward him.

Raine felt as though her heart were about to stop, and she pressed her lips tightly together.

Ju-ha brought his lips close to Raine’s ear.

At the same time, an enormous commotion erupted around them.

“Kyahhhhh! Oh my God!”

“That woman is so lucky!”

With an angelic smile on his face, Ju-ha whispered into Raine’s ear.

“You’re seriously creepy. How did you even think about coming all the way here looking like that? I told you not to cling to me, didn’t I?”

“……”

The brief hope she had felt became a torture straight out of hell.

She didn’t want to believe it, but Ju-ha had definitely whispered those words to her.

Like a cold and cruel devil.

The Ju-ha with the face of an angel slowly pulled away from Raine.

Then, wearing a relaxed smile, he made a large sweeping motion with his hand as he greeted the fans.

Naturally, the fans went wild.

“Oppa! Do that to me too!”

Ju-ha calmly looked around before turning back toward the building.

As his eyes briefly met Raine’s once more, there was unmistakable contempt in his gaze.

‘Don’t ever appear in front of me again.’

Even without saying a word, his vicious coldness was clearly conveyed to Raine.

But when Ju-ha turned his gaze elsewhere, his expression became bright and friendly, as though he had never looked at her that way.

“Everyone! I love you! I’ll repay your love with even better projects! See you next time!”

“Kyahhhhh!”

Ju-ha called out a grand farewell to his fans, who adored him beyond reason, and entered the headquarters.

“……”

Raine stood there in a daze for a long time.

By the time she finally came to her senses, the area around her had already become quiet.

Although there was a shade canopy, the pavement beneath her feet felt even hotter under the midsummer sun.

The heat was so intense that it was difficult to breathe, and her throat was parched.

The thought of walking home in this condition filled her with despair.

‘Should I go back inside and get my bag?’

After hesitating for a moment, Raine eventually gave up on retrieving it.

Whatever contract she had signed, she didn’t have the courage to face Eden again.

‘If it’s an important contract, he’ll send me a certified copy or something eventually.’

That was something to worry about later.

Raine began trudging home beneath the blazing sunlight.

Whenever she came across a bank along the way, she went inside, drank cold water from the purifier, and stood beneath the air conditioner, which felt as though someone had just opened the door of a refrigerator.

Once she had cooled down, she continued toward home.

But the coolness lasted only for a moment.

The instant her feet touched the scorching, sticky asphalt, there was no escaping the blazing heat.

Sweat poured down her body like running water, soaking her from head to toe.

As a result, the clothes that had been freshly washed were once again damp like they had been the day before, making her feel miserable and uncomfortable.

Raine felt like a fish that had been pulled out of water.

She felt as though the scorching heat was cooking her alive and suffocating her to death.

Panting from the heat, Raine continued moving her feet, which were beginning to swell from exhaustion.

After enduring the unexpectedly long journey home, she gradually began to regret her decision.

‘Shouldn’t I have found out what kind of contract I signed?’

She had been so embarrassed about what happened the night before that she had run away.

But now that she thought about it, she would have to see Hayden again at least once anyway.

Whether she saw him now or later made no difference.

‘Ah, I should’ve just quietly gone back inside and grabbed my bag. That man might still have been asleep, too. Ah, they say if you’re stupid, your body has to suffer for it….’

By this point, she was certain she had made the wrong choice and deeply regretted it.

But it was already too late to turn back.

Later, Raine couldn’t remember at all how she had managed to make it home.

When she thought she could no longer walk because the soles of her feet felt as though they were about to burst from the pain, she was simply grateful that she had finally arrived.

The sun had set, so the heat of the scorching day should have subsided.

But Raine’s rooftop room, sitting all alone atop the old building, was always as hot as a frying pan left over a flame.

The moment she entered the room, the hot air waiting to greet its tenant was suffocating beyond anything she had expected.

Raine immediately threw open the window to ventilate the room.

The one saving grace was that, at least here, she could open the window as wide as she wanted.

No one ever came here at this hour, and there weren’t even any neighbors nearby with whom she might accidentally make eye contact from a distance.

She immediately went into the bathroom and took a cold shower.

She wished the water would greet Raine with an icy chill.

Unfortunately, the rooftop room’s water tank had been heated beneath the midsummer sun, so the water was merely lukewarm.

Even so, to Raine, it felt much cooler than the temperature outside.

After washing herself thoroughly, she stepped out and saw her naked body reflected completely in the old mirror.