Chapter 26: Cracks in the Facade
Haneul approached the office cautiously. Ever since the scandal broke involving Hyunjin, the atmosphere around her was starkly different. Coworkers who used to greet her warmly now hardly glance in her direction before they murmur among themselves. Some of the trainees were watching her out of curiosity, others with thinly veiled disdain.
She braced her shoulders, trying to tune everything out. But the hushed voices behind her still burned with fine needles prodding her in the back.
In the meeting room, Hyunjin sat with his jaw set. Before him, the CEO of Stardom Entertainment stared at him facelessly.
"You brought me here for a purpose, didn't you?" the CEO's voice was icy.
Hyunjin shook his head slowly. "I do."
"Your debut is coming soon. But this scandal can ruin everything. I highly advise you avoid Jung Haneul. This isn't a suggestion. It's a warning."
Hyunjin clenched his fists. "I didn't do anything wrong."
"It's not right or wrong. It's perception. This business doesn't handle the truth—only what the public thinks. If you keep getting entangled with her, you may lose everything."
At the staff room, Sunwoo spotted Haneul sitting alone in the corner, staring blankly at her laptop. He walked over, placing a cup of coffee in front of her.
"Drink this."
Haneul let out a sigh. "I'm not hungry."
"It's coffee, not food. And I'm not asking you to eat, just drink." Sunwoo sat next to her, staring ahead. "You have to watch out. The entertainment world will never be fair to people like us."
### Instruction:
Haneul frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Every movement you make is being monitored now. If you wish to stay, you must be wiser." Sunwoo hesitated before going on, "And that means staying away from Hyunjin."
Haneul said nothing. Although she hated to admit it, Sunwoo was correct. Everything was turning into a cage.
Hyunjin phoned Haneul that evening. His tone was hesitant, not the normal him.
"Let's talk on the rooftop?" he inquired.
Haneul took a breath but complied.
When she arrived, Hyunjin was already there, gazing out at the city's twinkling lights. He turned when he saw her, smiling weakly. "Are you okay?"
Haneul shrugged. "Still breathing, at least for now."
Hyunjin let out a short laugh before turning his eyes back to the sky. "I don't regret anything. But I hate that you have to go through all of this because of me."
Haneul looked away, not at him.
"It's not your fault."
Words danced in the air, unspoken.
In her apartment, she opened her phone and found an email from management.
The subject line made her heart pound: "Status Employment Review - Urgent."
Haneul read the screen, her mind in a whirl.
Would she fight to stay—or finally leave it all behind?
Chapter 27: The Breaking Point
The message sat unopened in Haneul's email inbox, its title burning before her eyes like a hot blade. Her fingertips hovered above the screen, but she couldn't bring herself to make contact. She knew what it would say already.
Termination. Warning. Last opportunity to get out before things could get any more terrible.
She switched off her phone and buried her face in her hands. Inside her small room, the air was stifling, walls closing in.
The knock on the front door made her jump.
Haneul stood back for a moment before opening the room up to Sunwoo, his face gloomy as ever.
"I assumed you wouldn't read it," he said flatly, stepping in without asking permission. He looked at the darkened room, then at her. "They're offering you two choices, aren't they? Resign or be pushed out."
Haneul swallowed hard. "Something like that."
Sunwoo sighed, rubbing his temple. His eyebrows were furrowed, and his voice dropped lower, laced with irritation. "You understand what this means, don't you? So what are you going to do about it, then?"
Haneul crossed her arms, grasping her own elbows as if holding herself together. "I don't know."
Sunwoo observed her, then leaned against the wall. "You should. The management isn't blackmailing you alone—they're also pressuring Hyunjin."
Haneul's head snapped up. "What?"
"His debut's on me," Sunwoo continued. "They're telling him he needs to stay away from you, or he won't debut at all."
The words hurt like a punch to the gut. She had known the scandal was terrible, but she hadn't realized it had reached this point.
She didn't have time to respond before the phone on her desk rang. She answered, hesitating when she saw Hyunjin's name.
Taking a deep breath, she answered.
"Meet me," his voice was quiet, almost pleading. "I'll send the location."
Sunwoo exhaled through his nose but didn't stop her as she grabbed her coat and left the house.
The destination led her to a quiet, secluded park beyond the city boundaries. It was the kind of place where humans did not linger after nightfall—a place where no human would look in their direction. Hyunjin had arrived first, sitting on a bench under a faintly illuminated streetlamp, his face hood up and low over it. When he saw her, he slumped over in relief.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
Haneul's parched laugh. "I don't think that's the question anymore."
Hyunjin's scowl. "Haneul—"
She grasped her phone in her palm, heart throbbing in her ears. This was it? The moment she'd dreaded, yet somehow known to expect? She drew a quick breath, then stared at him, voice steadier than she was. "They're forcing you to decide, aren't they? Me or your debut."
His silence said it all.
She clenched her teeth. "Then don't. Choose your dream, Hyunjin. That's what you've always wanted."
His expression hardened. "And you're going to expect me to leave you behind like that? Like all of this doesn't count?"
"It's not about what counts," she retorted back, voice trembling. "It's about what can be. You know how it is in this business. You knew this would be the outcome."
Hyunjin exhaled sharply, his annoyance evident. "So that's it? You're telling me to forget everything? Just like that?"
Haneul swallowed the lump in her throat, preparing herself to look him in the eye. "I'm telling you to do what you've prepared for your whole life. Don't let me take that away from you."
His jaw tightened. "You think staying away from you is that easy? That I can pretend like nothing ever occurred?"
She bullied a small sad smile. "No. But I want you to pretend instead."
Neither of them uttered another word. The weight of those unspoken words was between them, choking and crushing.
She went first, walking away from the park, leaving Hyunjin to sit alone under the muted light.
And for the very first time, she felt that she was utterly coming apart.