The final shot was intense. I sat there in the drab, concrete room, my hands cuffed on the table. Blood spatter felt close, even though it wasn't visible in my frame. A chilling thought ran through my head, the dialogue I was about to deliver: "If no one... ...protects me..." I took a breath, letting the despair and calculation settle in my eyes. Then, the line that had felt so provocative in the script: "...Wouldn't it just be easier if I became the monster?"
A beat of silence. Then, a sharp, exhilarating sound: "AND... CUT!"
The immediate tension broke. I watched the camera lens retract a bit, and a voice boomed, "GOOD WORK, EVERYONE!"
Crew members started to murmur. "MURMUR. Did you see that...? Her acting has gotten even better." Another whisper drifted to me as I was uncuffed: "MURMUR. Her new movie 'HUMAN VINE' did really well in the box office too." The most scandalous one of all: "MURMUR. The article said she's even dating a chaebol. Ugh, I envy her life."
I was on my feet now, shaking a crew member's hand, offering a polite smile. I caught my reflection in a dark monitor—a profile of success, a manufactured calmness.
A little later, I was back in civilian clothes, talking to the director, a man with a friendly, bespectacled face and a cup of something warm in his hand.
"GREAT WORK TODAY, AJIN (I)," he said, his voice a soft WHISH of appreciation as he offered me the cup.
"It was no trouble at all. It was just a cameo after all," I replied. "Please let me know if I can ever be of help again. My schedule is quite free once my movie wraps up."
The director smiled, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Would you like to come to our crew dinner, then? I'd love to treat you out."
"Oh no... I have a meeting tonight..." I paused, then offered the necessary pleasantry with a wide, practiced smile. "Let's have dinner some other time."
"Of course," he conceded, still smiling. "I'd hate to impose. You must be busy with your new relationship too. I saw the article that you're seeing Dohyeok Mun, the CEO, and are thinking of marrying him."
I felt a slight flush, but managed to cover it quickly. "Oh, yes... it just kind of happened... I'm a little embarrassed."
He gave a genuine, grandfatherly chuckle. "POOR INKANG... YOU HAVE GREAT LUCK, AJIN (I). You should make the most of it while luck is still on your side. You know how it is in our field; your popularity can wear off overnight."
"HAHA," I laughed, a sharp, slightly hollow sound that felt exactly like the character I'd just played—the successful woman with an edge. "Of course... Thank you for the advice." I gave a brief, respectful nod, already calculating my escape. The conversation, the good wishes, the warnings—it all blurred into the background noise of a career I had fought tooth and nail to build, and that I was determined to protect.
My lips pulled into a thin, cool line as I left the studio. "THANK YOU FOR THE ADVICE, DIRECTOR." His caution about popularity fading felt less like helpful guidance and more like a curse. I scoffed under my breath, walking toward the exit. "MY POPULARITY CAN WEAR OFF OVERNIGHT? HA! HE MIGHT AS WELL JUST CURSE ME TO MY FACE."
My steps led me to a building, and soon I was standing outside a quiet door marked ROOM 13. I pushed it open, the advice of the director still stinging in my ears. Stepping inside, I settled at a small table, the silence in the room heavy and deliberate. I let a curse escape my lips, a soft, bitter sound. "A**HOLE..."
"Ms. Baek?" a voice cut through the air.
I turned my head. There was another woman standing there, composed and observant. She was petite, with a striking, no-nonsense look.
"MY NAME IS YUMI CHA," she said, her voice smooth. "MAY I SIT?"
I simply nodded, my eyes narrowed as I watched her take the seat opposite me. The air grew thick with unspoken history.
"NEVER COULD I HAVE IMAGINED THAT... I'D BE SITTING HERE CHATTING WITH MY EX-HUSBAND'S NEW GIRLFRIEND." I took a sip of my coffee, letting the statement hang between us.
"YOU WANTED TO MEET WITH ME?" she asked, a slight surprise in her tone. "I'M IMPRESSED. I'M NOT EXACTLY THE EASIEST PERSON TO GET IN TOUCH WITH."
"Secretary Lee helped me get in touch with you..." I admitted. I watched her eyes widen in realization.
"SECRETARY LEE...?" she whispered, then clarified, "DOHYEOK'S LACKEY—NO, HIS HEAD SECRETARY?" She leaned forward slightly, suspicion hardening her gaze. "YOU'RE UP TO SOMETHING ELSE, AREN'T YOU? YOU MUST HAVE MADE A DEAL WITH HIM THAT I DON'T KNOW ABOUT. DOES DOHYEOK KNOW YOU'RE SEEING ME?"
I kept my face perfectly neutral. "IS THERE A REASON TO TELL HIM...?" I paused for a beat. "THAT'S TRUE. I DON'T PLAN ON TELLING DOHYEOK ANYWAY, SO DON'T WORRY."
I felt the power shift to me. The meeting had been my idea, and I knew exactly what she was here for. "I also have a feeling why you wanted to meet. YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY I DIVORCED DOHYEOK... RIGHT?"
She didn't deny it, the truth etched on her face. "YOU'RE RIGHT... I'D LIKE TO KNOW THE REAL REASON, NOT THE REASON YOU GAVE TO THE PRESS." Her intense stare seemed to pierce right through me.
I decided to meet her honesty with my own calculated truth. "The articles said you might marry him. There must be some truth to it if you're asking me this. BUT I'M GUESSING YOU ALSO DON'T WANT TO END UP DIVORCED LIKE ME EITHER."
The challenge was laid out. She was here seeking intel on the man she was about to marry, from the woman he'd discarded. I had her right where I wanted her. I just had to decide what price to set for the truth.
"Alright, I'll tell you why..." I began, leaning in conspiratorially. "But please keep it a secret. I'd hate to end up with a lawsuit on my hands."
She nodded, her eyes wide with anticipation.
"People think I divorced him to get back to being a news anchor... But the truth is that I miscarried three times after I married him."
Yumi Cha's expression shifted from guarded curiosity to shock. "MISCARRIED?"
I continued, the words coming out flat and cold, devoid of the pain I once felt. "His greatest wish is to have a son who's just like him, but it wasn't easy. At first, I thought it was my fault. So I just took it whenever he'd berate me." My mind flashed to a silent, black-and-white memory of me curled up on a bed, defeated. "BUT THEN IT TURNED OUT THAT IT WASN'T ME AT ALL."
She stared at me, urging me to continue. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN...?"
"After the third miscarriage, the doctor ran all kinds of tests because he suspected that I had recurrent pregnancy loss. That's when Dohyeok was diagnosed with infertility." The truth was a blunt weapon.
"He rarely slept and was a total workaholic, and it must have killed off all his sperm." I paused, letting the harsh biological reality sink in. "But even after he was diagnosed, he kept blaming me for the miscarriages."
I finally looked her straight in the eye. "So I divorced him. I had a feeling that if I stayed, my mind and body wouldn't survive him." I could see the wheels turning in her head, putting together pieces she hadn't known existed.
She was clearly struggling with the information, a mix of disbelief and dawning horror on her face. "He never had any kind words for me... even while I was pregnant and shaking in fear that I'd miscarry again." She clenched her jaw. "I noticed he was very lax with birth control, but who knew that was the reason why...? He didn't even console her? But he seemed—"
I cut her off, my voice sharp with warning. "My ex-husband... may seem handsome and sweet... but he's not as great a person as you think. You should be careful too, Ajin (Yumi Cha)."
I then changed tack, hitting her with the real question. "May I ask why you want to marry him? You don't seem like a hopeless romantic. IS IT THE MONEY?"
She hesitated, then spoke, her voice defensive. "WOULD YOU BE DISAPPOINTED IF I TOLD YOU THAT IT IS?"
I gave a bitter laugh. "OF COURSE I WOULD BE. WHY DO YOU THINK I TOLD YOU THE REAL REASON BEHIND OUR DIVORCE? I told you in the hopes that you'd aim a little higher... It would be great if you made a mess of..." I trailed off, letting the implication hang heavy in the stale air of Room 13. I had planted the seed of doubt; the rest was up to her.
Yumi Cha's question about the money was a direct challenge. "WOULD YOU BE DISAPPOINTED IF I TOLD YOU THAT IT IS?"
"OF COURSE I WOULD BE. WHY DO YOU THINK I TOLD YOU THE REAL REASON BEHIND OUR DIVORCE?" I responded, leaning back, the floral centerpiece between us a stark contrast to our cynical conversation. "I TOLD YOU IN THE HOPES THAT YOU'D AIM A LITTLE HIGHER... IT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU MADE A MESS OF HIM AND HIS HOUSEHOLD." I watched her face, searching for the flicker of ambition.
She didn't flinch. Instead, she laid out her own goal, a business deal of her own making. "I'D LIKE TO RUN CROSHOE... THE SHOE BRAND I'M MODELING FOR, ONCE I MARRY HIM."
"AH, I SEE." I gave a small nod, a genuine, cold appreciation for her ambition. "I'M ROOTING FOR YOU, BUT IT WON'T BE EASY. MARRIAGE IS A BUSINESS DEAL FOR PEOPLE LIKE US." I pointed out the obvious hurdle. "PLUS, AFTER OUR DIVORCE, DOHYEOK WILL BE VERY CAUTIOUS." I offered a cautionary tale from our industry. "THAT ACTRESS, YEONA SEO, DATED A CHAEBOL... ONLY TO BE BROKEN UP WITH RIGHT BEFORE THEIR WEDDING."
Yumi Cha dismissed the warning with a wry smile. "DON'T WORRY... SHE USED TO BE A ROLE MODEL OF MINE WHEN I FIRST DEBUTED... BUT I DON'T PLAN ON WALKING THE SAME PATH WHEN IT COMES TO MY LOVE LIFE."
The conversation circled back to the heart of the matter, the secret I had just handed her. "YOU SOUND VERY CONFIDENT," I remarked.
"I AM, THANKS TO YOU. YOU SAID HIS GREATEST WISH IS TO HAVE A SON. I CAN MAKE THAT HAPPEN." She was bold, but misguided.
I lowered my coffee cup, my eyes widening slightly as I countered her audacity. "HE'S INFERTILE, REMEMBER?"
She laughed, a sharp, knowing sound that suggested she had a plan for that, too. "EVEN IF YOU WERE TO GET PREGNANT, HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU WON'T MISCARRY?" She threw my own past back at me. Then, she adopted the same saccharine-sweet tone the director had used earlier. "SOMEONE TOLD ME THAT LUCK IS ON MY SIDE. I'LL HAVE TO SEE WHERE IT TAKES ME THIS TIME."
I simply watched her, her ambition a reflection of my own. I had given her a key, and now I had to wait and see if she would unlock a cage or a prize.
Aftermath
I left Room 13, the words echoing in my mind: "MY EX HUSBAND MAY SEEM HANDSOME AND SWEET... BUT HE'S NOT AS GREAT A PERSON AS YOU THINK."
Later that night, I was back in my own space, sitting at my vanity, the city lights a silent backdrop to my thoughts. The conversation was over, the warning delivered. I knew my words wouldn't stop her; they would only sharpen her focus.
You should be careful too, Ajin (Yumi Cha). I repeated the words, a final, internal caution. My own life was a high-wire act, and I had just encouraged someone else to try walking the line. I gazed out at the high-rise apartments dotting the night sky, their lit windows little boxes of unknown dramas. I had a movie to wrap, a new CEO fiancé, and a reputation to protect. My luck, I knew, was a fragile thing. I just had to make sure it lasted long enough.
My conversation with Yumi Cha had confirmed my deepest fears about my current, precarious status. I remembered the actress Yeona Seo, who dated a chaebol... "...ONLY TO BE BROKEN UP WITH RIGHT BEFORE THEIR WEDDING." I sat alone, flipping through a calendar, the smooth paper cool under my fingers.
"DON'T BE SILLY. I'M NOT A FOOL LIKE THAT WOMAN who lost her chance right under her nose," I muttered to my reflection. "I didn't want to go this far either, but... ...he'll have to marry me if I get pregnant."
I looked out the window, the concrete jungle surrounding me a reminder of the unstable ground I stood on. "BEING A CELEBRITY ISN'T STABLE ENOUGH. I CAN'T KEEP THIS UP FOR LONG."
What I needed was leverage. "WHAT I NEED NOW IS... ...A STURDY LADDER TO TAKE ME EVEN HIGHER." That ladder was my relationship with Dohyeok Mun. I needed something "THAT WILL HELP ME GAIN CONTROL OF THIS ONE-SIDED RELATIONSHIP."
A small, grim notebook was open before me. I looked down at the scribbled notes. I was planning an entire future, a fortress of stability.
DOHYEOK MUN
ELDEST SON OF [VAGUE NAME]
CEO OF CROSHOE
CURRENTLY...
I knew the key to the chaebol world was lineage, not fame. I thought about the family structure, the pressure on Dohyeok for an heir.
A much earlier event flashed in my mind, a memory of a man working intently at a whiteboard, a diagram connecting names and points—an investigation. The man was Secretary Lee, working on what was likely a case regarding the Mun family. I remember the profile of another man, a younger man, framed in a funeral photo, a man named Junseo.
I put the past away and focused on the present, calculating my next, most critical step. My finger traced the lines of my own family secret, a piece of knowledge I'd gathered and held onto for this very moment. It was the ultimate leverage.
I looked at the notes of the blood types I had somehow obtained:
"MY BLOOD TYPE IS O... DOHYEOK'S IS TYPE A... ...AND JUNSEO'S IS ALSO... ...TYPE A."

Three Years Later
THREE YEARS PASSED.
A lot happened in that time...
The media spoke for me, charting my unstoppable rise:
HOT TOPIC, AJIN BAEK, IS A BOX OFFICE HIT GUARANTEE
[Photo Shoot] Ajin Baek and Her Career-Defining Role Results in a Box Office Home Run
AJIN BAEK PROVES HER ACTING CAPABILITIES IN MOVIE "HUMAN VINE"
Human Vine Named Blockbuster Hit of the Year... Set to Reach 10,000,000 Viewers
I was at the peak of my profession, an "I" who was a box office guarantee. My luck hadn't worn off; I had reinforced it with iron will and strategic moves. The shaky ground of being a celebrity had been temporarily stabilized by box office numbers and, more importantly, by the private, carefully guarded secret about Dohyeok and Junseo. The ladder was sturdy. The question wasn't if I would reach the top, but what I would do to stay there.