Together with her unidentified savior, Eunji broke away from the reporters, who were still shouting questions at her. They tried following them, but the person who had pulled her out of that crowd was quickly weaving their way through the hospital, leading her through doors, hallways, and staircases that she had not known existed. Her ankle screamed with protest as they moved, but Eunji didn’t care. She just wanted to get out of there.

They finally stopped in an empty stairway, panting heavily, like they had just ran a mile. Eunji collapsed tiredly on the steps, her sore ankle throbbing with pain. Now that they had successfully escaped the mob of reporters, Eunji could finally see that the person who had saved her was a man. He had also slumped onto the steps, but he hung his head low as he tried to catch his breath, so Eunji couldn’t see who it was.

“Thank you,” Eunji said breathlessly, pulling down her mask.

Slowly, the man lifted his head.

Eunji’s heart dropped.

Sitting in front of her, gasping for air and dabbing at beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead, was Kim Junwoo.

He must have sensed the change in the atmosphere, because he replied with notable stiffness, “You’re welcome.”

“Why are you here?” The question came out more incriminating than Eunji had intended.

“I came to visit Chorong,” he answered in between heavy breaths. 

“What?” Eunji blurted out. “Why? Didn’t we warn you to lay low?”

“Yeah, but I wanted to visit her at least once. It felt wrong, not seeing what...what…,” Junwoo’s words trailed off as though he struggled and failed to find the right words.

“Seeing the damage you caused?” Eunji filled in for him. Now that was definitely meant to sound incriminating. 

Junwoo flinched, like her words had cut straight through him. “It felt wrong not seeing her just once.”

“How did you know where she was staying?”

“Your CEO told me.”

“Of course,” Eunji sighed, leaning her head against the railing behind her. 

“I saw the reporters in the lobby, but I didn’t think that they’d bombard you like that. To be honest, I didn’t even know who they were crowding around. I just pushed my way to the front and held out my hand.”

Eunji’s attention snapped forward. “What were the reporters doing in the lobby?”

“I don’t know. They seemed pretty lost, though. They were just waiting around for something, so I didn’t think that they were here for Chorong.”

“Did they see you?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Did you go up first or did they?”

“I did. When I entered the hospital, I didn’t stop to look at them. I just passed by and―”

“You led them here,” Eunji murmured lowly. Something in her gut churned.

“What?”

“You led them here,” she repeated louder through seething teeth. Suddenly the hand that Junwoo had tightly grasped during their escape began to burn, as if trying to rid itself of something it didn’t want. She felt her cheeks growing hot with anger as the pieces of the puzzle clicked together.

“I don’t see how―”

“The reporters were there because they were trying to confirm whether or not Chorong-unnie was staying at this hospital. They were waiting for some sign that she was. You were the sign. They saw you and recognized you right away and followed you up to Chorong-unnie’s floor. You led them right to her.” Eunji tried her best to keep her voice low, but it was growing increasingly difficult with her rising anger. “We’ve tried so hard to keep her safe from the press. We went through such great lengths, only to have it ruined by you. Did you not think to take a different entrance? If CEO Choi told you of Unnie’s whereabouts, then he must have told you about the back entrance that all her visitors use. Did he mention that at all to you?”

Junwoo’s face was full of despair. Good. He knew what he did wrong. 

“He...he might have mentioned it,” he replied.

“Why didn’t you take it?” Eunji hissed.

“I didn’t think that I needed to.”

“Are you serious?” Raw, molten rage flowed through Eunji like lava, and she couldn’t help the harsh tone in her voice. “Your interview was just released a few days ago. You face is still fresh in the public’s minds, and you thought that you could just waltz through the front door of the hospital without arousing suspicion? You didn’t even bother to cover your face, for God’s sake!”

“I’m sorry, I―”

“I’m tired of hearing that from you! You’ve said time and time again that you’re sorry for all the trouble you’ve caused, and yet here you are, causing even more trouble. Now the press knows where Chorong-unnie is, and soon, the whole world will know. All because you ignored our warnings to stay away from the public! Do you have any idea what we’re going to have to deal with now because of your stupid mistake?”

“If there’s anything I can do to help, I’ll do it,” Junwoo offered desperately.

“All we needed was for you to stay away from the public eye, but you’ve made it obvious that that was too difficult of a task for you.”

“It won’t happen again,” he promised. It almost sounded like a plead. 

“You’re right. It won’t.” Eunji stood up, leaning heavily on the railing as her ankle roared with searing pain. “Because you won’t be trying to visit Chorong-unnie ever again. You don’t deserve that right.” 

Every word that came out of Eunji’s mouth was laden in pure contempt, and she didn’t care if Junwoo was recoiling at everything she said. She didn’t care if Junwoo looked like he wanted nothing more than to disappear from the world. 

Junwoo had said it himself. 

He didn’t deserve any mercy.

“Eunji-ah!” Bomi cried the moment she opened the door. She looked out of breath, her eyes wide and brows arched up. 

Eunji blinked back at her, confused. “Were you not expecting me?” 

Bomi stepped aside, and Eunji limped in tiredly. After she had left Junwoo to wallow in his own despair, she had struggled to leave the hospital without being seen. What should have taken five minutes became a thirty minute ordeal. The easy part had been getting to her car because she had parked in the back, where only certain people had access to. 

Getting out had been a different matter. Her windows were tinted and she was careful to hide her face as much as possible with her hat and scarf, but there was no way that the reporters wouldn’t recognize her car or clothing. She had even discarded her mask; even though its sole purpose was to hide her face, it would have been an obvious giveaway of her identity. After all, who didn’t see someone wearing a mask and automatically think that they were a celebrity trying to cover their face? She might as well have been wearing bright neon clothing and blaring lights.

She had had to wait for the crowd of reporters outside the hospital to disperse, which they never did completely. Some left, but some remained persistent, even when security came out to force them away. Eventually, Eunji couldn’t wait any longer, so she had just left when most of the reporters’ backs were to her. She didn’t know if she had been seen or not.

“Are you okay?” Bomi asked, following Eunji to the couch, which Eunji flopped down onto exhaustedly. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I saw the news.”

Eunji sat up straighter. “What news?”

“You didn’t see?” When Eunji just gave Bomi a blank look, the older girl sat down next to Eunji and showed her something on her phone.

It was a picture of her. But that wasn’t the horrifying part.

It was a picture of Junwoo holding her hand as he helped her escape the reporters. She looked down at the hand that Junwoo had held and balled it into a tight fist. The burning sensation had returned.

“This isn’t the only picture, is it?” Eunji said, her voice tight.

Bomi shook her head. “No. A bunch of news sites are posting their own photos and articles.”

“What is the public saying?”

“Eunji,” Bomi said carefully, “I don’t think―”

Eunji looked at Bomi with desperate eyes, red and glassy from the sinking realization of the hell that she had dug herself into. “Please, Bbom-ah.”

Reluctantly, Bomi conceded and showed Eunji her phone again.

Several of the comments were attacking Junwoo, but Eunji skimmed over those. Those were old and expected. The newer ones were different.

They had found a new person to scorn and hate, claiming that they felt betrayed by someone that they had once trusted and adored.

All of the angry comments, the malicious kind that would tear apart a person just with their hateful intent―they were all directed at Eunji.