The bitter wind whipped around the rooftop, stinging my eyes. I could hear Mr. Lee's ragged breathing, his despair a thick, suffocating thing in the darkness.
"You just had to follow me to the rooftop, didn't you...?" I muttered, not a question, but a cold statement. I hadn't wanted to see this raw, weeping mess. "Are you going to just ignore everything I ask of you now?"
His shoulders were shaking beneath his expensive suit. He took a choked breath, his voice cracking. "What's making you go this far...? I don't understand you anymore. You have enough already, so why…?"
"No matter what you say to justify your actions, that is not the right way to get what you want!" he pleaded, his voice rising, tearing the quiet night. "Please think this through. You won't be happy, even if you marry him this way!!"
I felt a surge of pure, icy scorn. Happiness. He spoke of happiness as if it were a common currency, something I could simply pick up.
"You'd never understand…" I said, my voice dangerously calm, the words slicing the air. My lips felt dry, the taste of blood metallic on my tongue from a nervous bite I hadn't noticed. "Because you were born with it all!"
My gaze flickered down, remembering the phone call I'd just ended, the one where I told 'Mr. Lee' I'd call him back. He was still standing there, begging me to listen, still believing he could save me. He was wasting his time.
"But not me…" I continued, the old wounds aching open, raw and familiar. "I was born with nothing. I didn't even have a family to love me. All I ever wanted was a safe place to be. Every day, I had to keep quiet, gauge the situation around me, and struggle to survive." I threw my arms out slightly, challenging him. "Is it so wrong of me to want the things I've never had?!"
He was silent, only his sobs audible. He saw my desperation as a reckless mistake, a childish pursuit. He couldn't see it was my lifeline.
I drew my shoulders back, the determination in me hardening like steel. "I won't be happy, but I will be reborn." My voice rang with conviction, a vow made to myself. "I'll have a new family, a new home, and a new fence around me to keep me safe."
I looked out over the city lights, the glittering, unattainable world that was finally within my grasp. "In that fortress of mine, I'll climb to the top. Marriage is a tool to me. It's nothing more and nothing less."
A sudden, fierce WHOOOSH of wind, as if to underscore my terrible finality, slammed into the rooftop.
My call with the other Mr. Lee had been cut short, but I didn't care. Now, there was only the cold man weeping before me, and the dark path ahead. He was still calling out, "Hello...? Ms. Baek? Are you still there...?" but his words were losing their meaning, echoing into the empty space I had already made between us.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Lee," I murmured, a mechanical apology for his futile suffering. "But I'll have to call you back later."
His eyes, wide and drenched, reflected the single, dim lantern above us, his last words an unbelieving whimper: "Oh, uh... sure. I'll talk to you soon."
Soon? I thought. No. Not soon. Never again. He was the past, and my rebirth was only moments away. I turned my face into the wind, letting the cold erase the last of my regret.
The cold air felt like a cleansing fire on my skin. I stood tall, letting my final words hang in the space between us. "Marriage is a tool to me. It's nothing more and nothing less."
Junseo's weeping faltered, replaced by a shuddering gasp. His feet shuffled closer to the edge of the roof, the heavy sound of his dress shoes a hollow echo. "Is that why you want to marry Dohyeok... knowing all the risks?"
He spoke of risks as if I hadn't already calculated them all. He, an artist revered for his fleeting popularity, could never understand my world. "In my field, you could be as popular as Inkang Heo... and still somehow end up at rock bottom with a little slip."
My voice was low and gravelly, born of a life lived on the razor's edge. "I'm just trying to find a way to survive... before people throw me on the chopping block and cut me into pieces."
His face, when he finally lifted it, was a mask of despair. "What about the baby you're carrying?! OUR BABY!!"
The words were a physical blow to him, but for me, they were simply an obstacle that had to be mentioned, then dismissed. He was clinging to this last, flimsy anchor.
"What do you expect from me, Junseo?" I asked, looking directly into his tear-filled eyes. I didn't flinch. "I have no morals."
He reeled back, stunned, a broken "What...?" escaping his lips.
I watched him struggle, his hope crumbling. "I know you've been having doubts about me and the things I've been doing," I stated, a plain fact. "How long do I have to overlook it for? If you don't want to help me, then don't. I can't stand watching you falter."
He stared at me, his handsome face contorted in disbelief, the realization of my betrayal finally sinking in. "Are you abandoning me...? After everything we've been through...?"
"No," I corrected, a swift and cutting denial. "You abandoned me first. You don't want to help me anymore, right? I have enough on my hands as it is, just trying to fix my miserable life."
His last desperate plea was a scream of agony, aimed less at me and more at the cold, uncaring sky. "You're pregnant with my baby and are trying to marry someone else...! How could I, when you say you're going to abort my baby as soon as you're married?"
I gave him nothing—no comfort, no apology. The fate of the child was sealed; it would not be a burden on my new, secure life. The fortress I was building had no room for weak points, no matter how small or how precious they might be to him. I had made my choice, and I would not look back.
Junseo's screams echoed in my ears, but they barely registered. He was shaking, clutching his stomach where our child—my leverage, his tragedy—was growing.
"YOU'RE PREGNANT WITH MY BABY AND ARE TRYING TO MARRY SOMEONE ELSE...! HOW COULD I, WHEN YOU SAY YOU'RE GOING TO ABORT MY BABY AS SOON AS YOU'RE MARRIED?"
His desperation gave him a sudden, clumsy strength. He lurched forward, gripping my arms with a suffocating force. "TELL ME, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO HELP YOU?!"
I didn't fight his grip. I simply stared at him, my expression vacant. "Did you really think I've come this far with you just because of my guilt?!" I retorted, the sharp edge of truth cutting through his emotional haze. "I... I... I!!" he stammered, unable to form a coherent thought.
I shook my head slowly, pity a fleeting, bitter taste on my tongue. "You're not planning on telling me that you love me, are you?" I challenged, knowing he couldn't. Love was too weak a word for the obligation and misery he felt for me.
"That's why the guilt you feel toward me isn't real. If you really felt bad for me, you should have been able to put that past you." He didn't feel true remorse for my life; he only felt the pressure of responsibility, a guilt easily shed once I was out of his hands.
I sighed, a long, weary sound, and gently pulled my arms away. I needed to end this. "I think we both need some time..." I suggested, my voice softening just enough to sound reasonable, utterly final. "Let's not see each other for a while. If you ever feel like helping me again, give me a call."
It was a dismissal, a final abandonment disguised as a temporary pause. I walked away, my boots clicking softly on the asphalt.
I didn't need to look back to know he was crumbling. "I should have stopped you a long time ago..." I heard his broken whisper. "I shouldn't have left you be as soon as I realized that you were walking down the wrong path."
His regret was monumental, crushing him under its weight. He finally understood.
"What the hell have I been doing all this time... while you became so broken?"
I kept walking, leaving him to the darkness and the cold reality of my new, chosen life. His guilt, his love, his misery—they were no longer my concern. My fortress was waiting.
The Rebirth of Ajin Baek
Months turned into a year. The memory of the rooftop faded, tucked away like a shameful secret I had to keep to live. I was no longer the desperate woman climbing a rickety fence; I was now firmly established inside the walls of my gilded cage. The marriage to Dohyeok had been secured, the necessary measures taken, and the world had shifted to serve me.
The media adored me. My name, AJIN BAEK, was everywhere.
A news headline flashed brightly: AJIN BAEK RECEIVES TWO BEST ACTRESS AWARDS FOR ROLE IN "HUMAN VINE".
Another followed, proof of my soaring popularity: AJIN BAEK'S DOMESTIC FAN MEET AND GREET TICKETS SELL OUT AS SOON AS IT OPENS.
My trajectory was unstoppable. I was the phoenix, risen from the ashes I had meticulously burned down. I was now a contender for the very highest honors, a power player in the family I had married into, and a star in my own right.
The final screen on my phone confirmed the new world order: 52ND YEJONG FILM AWARDS TO BEGIN ON THE 20TH OF THIS MONTH!
My hands, once shaking with fear and desperation on a cold rooftop, were now perfectly steady, ready to accept the trophy. Happiness remained a distant, irrelevant concept, but the sheer, overwhelming power of survival tasted sweeter than any fleeting joy. I was reborn. And I had finally, truly, climbed to the top.
Ajin's Ascent
The world celebrated my success, the spectacular, glittering facade I had worked so hard to build. My marriage to Dohyeok had given me the foundation; my ruthless ambition and acting talent had done the rest.
The headlines were a daily confirmation of my triumph:
AJIN BAEK RECEIVES TWO BEST ACTRESS AWARDS FOR ROLE IN "HUMAN VINE"
AJIN BAEK'S DOMESTIC FAN MEET AND GREET TICKETS SELL OUT AS SOON AS IT OPENS
I was on the cusp of an even greater victory. A new headline dominated the entertainment pages: ACTRESS AJIN BAEK CONFIRMS ATTENDANCE AT YEJONG FILM AWARDS. WILL SHE ACHIEVE TRIPLE CROWNING OF BEST ACTRESS AWARDS?
The 52nd Yejong Film Awards was the final step of my climb. I was at the peak, untouchable. Or so I believed.
Mr. Mun's Discovery
While I planned my grand entrance at the awards show, a quiet, chilling discovery was being made in an anonymous office high above the city.
Mr. Mun, a man whose influence was measured in silent nods and hushed conversations, stood by a massive window, the city lights far below mirroring the coldness in his eyes. He held a sealed envelope, a confidential report. Secretary Lee, looking anxious, stood respectfully behind him.
"Mr. Mun, the results of the paternity test arrived today," Secretary Lee announced, his voice tight.
"Really? Let's see it," Mr. Mun commanded.
He opened the envelope and scanned the single sheet of paper, a thin smile forming on his lips. "It says here that it's 99% likely to be my child." He glanced over his shoulder at his aide. "Secretary Lee..."
"Yes, Mr. Mun?"
"Does anyone else know about this paternity test?"
"No, sir. I did it as quietly as possible so no one would find out."
Mr. Mun's smile widened into something predatory. "Is that so? Then doesn't that also mean that no one would know if you altered the results of this test?"
Secretary Lee's face went pale. "Sir...?"
Mr. Mun spun around, eyes hard behind his glasses. "Why are you acting so surprised? You didn't really think that I believe this crap, just because I danced to your tune for a bit, did you?"
He stepped closer, his demeanor changing from sharp to utterly terrifying. "M-Mr. Mun..." Secretary Lee stammered as Mr. Mun closed the distance. The older man grabbed the lapels of his subordinate's jacket. "I know what you've been doing behind my back in my name, you poor, witless bastard." He punctuated his words with a terrifying, intimate stare. "I'm going to mull over the things I want to do to you... But for now, go and get the car ready."
The Journalist's Offer
Later that night, in a dark car parked far from prying eyes, a tense conversation took place between Junseo, the shattered man from the rooftop, and a world-weary journalist. Junseo was driven, no longer the broken man who wept on the roof, but a man seeking retribution.
The journalist, a pragmatic man of middle age, looked at Junseo. "Did anyone follow you…?"
Junseo, holding a stack of papers that likely detailed Ajin's past and her marriage-of-convenience, replied, "If there was, I wouldn't have come here. I've got quite a few years behind me as a journalist, you know."
He was Junseo, the journalist—the man who knew all my secrets.
"How are things going so far?" Junseo pressed, anxious to see his plan for vengeance set in motion.
"I've looked over all the documents you gave me. The production is set to begin soon," the journalist replied, studying the car's rearview mirror. "The programming is up to the director of the broadcasting station, so I can't control that."
He gave Junseo a grave look. "I've been proposing it to the stations I have connections at... but this could create a lot of repercussions so I'm not sure they'll bite. There's nothing we can do if they aren't interested in airing it." He hesitated. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"
Junseo's resolve was steel. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy I have a chance at vengeance, which is why I accepted your offer in the blink of an eye." The bitterness was clear in his voice. "I have much to discuss with Ajin today."
The paths of these powerful men—Mr. Mun with his compromised paternity test and Junseo with his explosive documents—were about to converge on the one woman who believed she had finally escaped her past.
The Final Cut
The night wind on the rooftop was a physical echo of the chaos in my soul, even as I presented a face of cold, unyielding resolve. I had to dismiss Junseo—the man clinging to the hope of our child—before he could truly break me.
"You just had to follow me to the rooftop, didn't you...?" I muttered. "Are you going to just ignore everything I ask of you now?"
He was weeping, his body shuddering with incomprehension. "What's making you go this far...? I don't understand you anymore. You have enough already, so why...?"
"You'd never understand... Because you were born with it all!" I lashed out, the old bitterness fueling me. "But not me... I was born with nothing. I didn't even have a family to love me. All I wanted was a safe place to be... Is it so wrong of me to want the things I've never had?!"
I made my stand: "I won't be happy but I will be reborn. I'll have a new family, a new home, and a new fence around me to keep me safe. In that fortress of mine, I'll climb to the top. Marriage is a tool to me. It's nothing more and nothing less."
The strong wind—WHOOOSH—seemed to signal the end. I had to sever the last emotional tie.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Lee, but I'll have to call you back later," I said, giving him the final, cruel dismissal. I heard his broken, yielding response: "Oh, uh... sure. I'll talk to you soon." Click. The phone call from my other, more important life had been my shield.
I walked away from the ruin of our shared past, leaving him behind.
The Journalist's Vengeance
The years passed, but for Junseo, now going by Mr. Yun, the journalist, time had only sharpened his desire for vengeance. In the dark of the car, he passed documents to his ally.
"Oh, and here... This is a list of people for you to interview. I put down their contact information and a few notes about them for you."
His eyes, dark with resolution, were set on my destruction. "If this airs, she won't just be stopped. She will be eaten alive. She won't be able to come back from this." He justified his actions with a chilling moral clarity: "She got to where she is by sacrificing others. It's only right that I put things back to the way they should be."
He was ready to fall with me. "If I need to be punished too, I'll gladly take it. I'll stand next to her and endure the consequences."
His ally warned him, though, with the cold voice of experience. "Listen, Mr. Yun, I read your book, 'Partners in Crime.' The story ends with the two main characters dying... Let me give you some advice as someone with a bit more life experience. Life isn't a novel. It doesn't get wrapped up with a nice little bow on top like a story. It's not that simple. If you think things are going to go the way you will them, like in your book... you're wrong."
Junseo's planned vengeance was a fictional plot in a world far more dangerous than he imagined.
The Fortress Cracks
I had won. I had the awards, the fame, the power. I had my fortress. But when I returned home, the master of that fortress, Dohyeok, was waiting. He sat in my lavish living room, holding a glass of wine, his face deceptively genial.
He began, his voice dangerously soft: "You must be wondering how I figured it out."
I stood in the doorway, suddenly feeling the weight of the elaborate gown I wore. HMM? I thought, my mind racing. I said nothing, offering only a tense silence. ...
"You told me that I passed out after a glass of wine, spent a hot and steamy night with you that I have no recollection of... and impregnated you. I had my doubts."
My stomach twisted. This was it. He knew.
"I woke up and went to the washroom for a shower, but there..." He paused, his smile growing into a cruel leer. "Was it fun... putting on that elaborate show?"
My breath caught. I was trapped.
He leaned forward in his chair, the glass of red wine catching the light. "I thought I warned you through my secretary... that if you screw with me, I'd do my worst to you. Didn't you hear?"
The walls of my fortress had just dissolved. The price of my rebirth had finally come due, and it was being collected by the man I married and the man I betrayed.
I stood frozen in the doorway, the glittering veneer of my Best Actress career stripped away by Dohyeok's soft, knowing smile. The air in the expensive living room, which I had believed was mine, felt thick and suffocating.
"I thought I warned you through my secretary... that if you screw with me, I'd do my worst to you. Didn't you hear?" he purred, the words laced with menace.
I felt a cold rage bloom beneath my fear. He was mocking me, yet I would not cower. I lifted my chin. "So this is the real Dohyeok Mun..."
He took a slow sip of his red wine, his eyes never leaving mine. "You must be wondering how I figured it out." He chuckled. "You told me that I passed out after a glass of wine, spent a hot and steamy night with you that I have no recollection of... and impregnated you. I had my doubts."
My throat went dry. How? How did he know?
"I woke up and went to the washroom for a shower..." He leaned forward, detailing my failure with relish. "But there was no towel, or even water to suggest that it had been used the night before... which is funny, because you were laying next to me with a fresh face."
He shook his head, a gesture of faux-disappointment. "Well, even up to that point, it was just a suspicion... But as soon as Secretary Lee started prattling off about the paternity test procedure, it became quite clear to me."
Secretary Lee. The poor, ambitious fool. Dohyeok had only been playing with him.
"HA HA. He's a terrible actor, you know. You should've given him some pointers." Dohyeok laughed, a low, cruel sound. He set his wine glass down, the clink on the table loud in the silent room. "I think you're the one that had fun putting on a show... so shouldn't I be the one to ask you if you had fun playing with me?"
I saw it now. The game was never mine. I was merely a piece on his board. I had planned a life of security through marriage, believing my cunning was superior, only to discover I was married to a predator far more calculating than myself.
He rose from his chair, a man of lethal confidence. "Let's call it even since we both had fun. Though I think I have a right to be angry with you. Oh, but don't worry, I'm not going to go easy on you."
My eyes narrowed. He wasn't going to destroy me; he was going to use me.
"You're clever, capable, and most importantly, we're the same type of people." His voice was persuasive now, selling a terrifying partnership. "It's not easy to find a partner like you... that can understand the kind of human being I am."
He paused, a dark flicker in his eyes. "Yumi Cha was... a rather emotional woman compared to someone like you. That's why..."
He reached into a sleek box on the table, opening it with a graceful SLIDE to reveal a magnificent, diamond ring.
"...I'm thinking of proposing a deal." He took a step toward me. "I'm thinking of working with an entertainment company to create a few global brands... use the opportunity to bulk up the parent company, Haeseong, increase my shares in it... and get ready to inherit it."
His plan was grand, ruthless, and absolutely intoxicating. And he needed me for it.
"And you want my help pushing your plan forward, is that it?" I asked, my own voice now steady, the actress in me taking center stage. My panic was gone, replaced by the thrill of the ultimate gamble.
He grinned, an undeniable triumph in his face. "That's right. So put that ring on your finger..."
He wasn't proposing a loving renewal of vows. He was offering a seat at the table of true power, a permanent contract to be his partner in crime, bound not by love or guilt, but by mutual ambition and cold, shared self-interest. My fortress had fallen, but in its place, he was offering me a war room.
I looked at the diamond, the symbol of the new game. The war with Junseo and the journalists was waiting, but now I would fight it with Dohyeok Mun at my side.
I didn't flinch as I stared at the diamond ring in the box. Dohyeok Mun, the man I had tried to trick into being my shield, had seen through my elaborate lie—the fabricated pregnancy, the feigned affair, the calculated marriage. He saw the core of who I was: a clever, capable manipulator, someone not unlike himself. He didn't want a wife; he wanted a partner.
"Then I'll give you everything that marrying me could bring." he said, his voice a low, commanding presence in the room. His ambition was naked: he wanted to work with an entertainment company to create global brands, use that leverage to bulk up the parent company, Haeseong, increase his shares, and inherit it.
The diamond sparkled. It was not a token of love, but a badge of war. I had climbed into a fortress, only to discover the master of the house intended to use me as his weapon.
"And you want my help pushing your plan forward, is that it?" I asked, my voice calm, the actress in me delivering the line flawlessly.
"That's right. So put that ring on your finger... and take my hand," he finished, holding out his hand.
In that moment, I saw my options:
Fight Dohyeok: A futile attempt that would end with me on the "chopping block" with nothing.
Surrender to Junseo (Mr. Yun): Allow the vengeful journalist who was happy for a chance at vengeance to air my secrets, guaranteeing my public demise.
Accept the Deal: Join forces with the devil I knew, using his power to neutralize the devil I didn't.
I reached out and took the ring, sliding the heavy diamond onto my finger. It fit perfectly.
"I won't be happy but I will be reborn," I had told Junseo on the rooftop. I had sought a new home, and a new fence around me to keep me safe, seeing marriage as a tool. My path of survival had led me from a broken life to an unholy alliance with a powerful, dangerous man.
"What do you expect from me, Junseo?" I had once challenged him. "I have no morals.".
I smiled, a genuine, cold smile that held no fear, only hunger. "The 52nd Yejong Film Awards are set to begin on the 20th of this month. I believe I have a triple crowning to secure."
The Journalist's Warning
I didn't know it, but as I was shaking hands with my new partner, Mr. Yun (Junseo), was finalizing his plans for my downfall. He had gathered documents and a list of people for his colleague to interview, intending to expose my past.
"If this airs, she won't just be stopped. She will be eaten alive. She won't be able to come back from this," Mr. Yun insisted, blinded by his own pain and self-justified righteousness. "She got to where she is by sacrificing others. It's only right that I put things back to the way they should be.".
He was seeking poetic justice, the kind found in the dark novel he authored, Partners in Crime, a story that ends with the two main characters dying.
His journalist colleague, however, offered a sobering warning: "Life isn't a novel. It doesn't get wrapped up with a nice little bow on top like a story. It's not that simple. If you think things are going to go the way you will them, like in your book... you're wrong.".
But Mr. Yun was determined. He had a discussion to have with "Ajin". The stage was set: the newly crowned Best Actress and the heir-apparent were now in a marriage of power, and the vengeful journalist was about to detonate the scandal that would either destroy me, or forge me into something unbreakable.