The shadows of the airport clung to me, a cold comfort after the long flight. I checked my phone again, but still nothing. "Why aren't Junseo and I picking up...?" I muttered to myself. I was back in Korea, but the people who were supposed to meet me weren't answering.
Suddenly, the phone vibrated, startling me. It was Jaewoong.
"Hey, where are you? Are you still at the airport?" he asked, his voice tight with concern.
"I'm already at Aunty's house. It's uncle's birthday today. You're gonna come for dinner, right?"
A heavy silence followed. I could hear his shallow breathing on the other end.
"Jaewoong... I'm sorry. I can't come," I finally forced out. The words felt like sand in my mouth.
"What?" His voice cracked, the disbelief palpable.
"I practically begged Aunty and Uncle to let you come. You have to show up, okay?"
"I don't think I'll be able to make it for the rest of my life," I admitted, the full weight of my decision crushing me.
"What's wrong...? Did something happen...?" Jaewoong pressed, a frantic edge creeping into his tone.
"Hey... I'm only asking 'cause I'm curious..." he continued, though his curiosity sounded more like desperation. "But when you land in Korea, are you gonna go see your brother first... or Broomstick first? Who're you gonna run to? Jaewoong..."
I took a deep breath, trying to steady my resolve. "Don't wait for me."
Before I could hang up, a chilling memory flashed through my mind:
If the documentary that's being aired really was orchestrated by Junseo... When they called to interview me while I was still in Hong Kong, they said Junseo gave them my number.
Junseo. My former protector, the man who was everything to me. If he's turned his back on me... I am--
The phone dropped from my hand as a figure emerged from the darkness, the glow of car lights behind them.
"I know you better than anyone because... I turned you into the monster that you are," the voice said, cold and familiar.
"What...? Junseo..." I whispered, staring into the face of the man who was once my anchor. He was here, but not for me. He was driving away, his words echoing in the empty night air.
The familiar coldness of Junseo's voice was a greater shock than the broadcast that had just aired. He was standing there, the glow of the car lights illuminating his face as he drove away, and his words were a final, devastating blow: "I know you better than anyone because... I turned you into the monster that you are."
I stared after the car, gripping my phone, a frantic call in progress. "What the hell did that broadcast prove about me anyway? They're all just one-sided accusations!"
My career, my life, was in ruins. The documentary—orchestrated by the one person I thought was my eternal ally—had exposed me. I was desperate to fight back. "I could hold a press conference tomorrow," I planned aloud. "Saying that it's all a scheme to defame me, and that the producer asked leading questions to get people to corroborate his unfounded assumptions." I pounded my fist against the car. Squeak! "How could they air this without any proof?!"
My friend's pleas were frantic on the other end. "If I could stop, I would have a long time ago! If you knew the kind of man Dohyeok is, you wouldn't have done this to me! If I can't put this fire out, my life is over!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face. "It's too late! Wake up! Do you think Ms. Seo will let this go? No, she's going to sue everyone involved!"
What did I do so wrong...? I cried internally, the pain of betrayal and desperation overwhelming me. Is it so wrong that I lived for myself? Did you want me to take it lying down? Crawl and beg for others' mercy? My voice was raw as I spoke into the phone, "I told you, there's no going back now!"
A different voice cut in, low and cold—Junseo, still listening, still in control. "Let's stop... pretending. We've been walking down the wrong path... for far too long."
Then came the final, crushing blow, the ultimate proof, the undeniable truth: "I did an interview in my real name. I told them everything myself... including the fact that you're pregnant, and that the baby is mine. That should be enough proof to the public."
A wave of nausea hit me, but a new, terrifying calm settled in. I picked the phone back up. "So you want to go all the way, huh...?" My resolve hardened.
On the other end, Junseo was silent for a moment. He was sitting on a bed in a room somewhere. He hadn't seen the end of the broadcast.
"Since when were you such a fool, Junseo?" I hissed. "You didn't watch it to the end, did you...?"
"What?" he responded, the single word thick with sudden dread.
"If you want to play that game, you go ahead. Once people see that you're pregnant, they'll believe me. And the rest of the things I said about you." I hung up, leaving him to face the total wreckage he had orchestrated.
The line went dead. I stood alone on the bridge, the cold night air whipping my hair around my face. I could hear Junseo's panicked shout in my memory: "AJIN!!"
He thinks he's won. He thinks he's brought me to my knees. He doesn't understand that for me, this isn't an ending; it's the beginning of my greatest performance.
"I can't lose it all because of one broadcast. Don't be ridiculous." I looked out at the dark, rushing water below. "I can't fall here. I fought to get here, tooth and nail..."
My face was set, my eyes gleaming with manic resolve. "I have to turn this around..."
"Okay. Fine. I have nothing to lose now," I whispered to the empty air. "I'm going to convince people that I'm innocent, even if I have to jump off a bridge to do it."
I had to be more dramatic, more desperate than my enemies. My plan was simple: turn myself into the ultimate victim. "As soon as people start thinking, 'Gosh, she must have felt so wronged to jump off a bridge like that,' I'll seize that opportunity to turn the tide. I won't let you win."
I dialed a new number, my voice regaining its dramatic edge. "To the end, I'm going to go all the way." I spoke into the phone, projecting the sound of a woman pushed to the brink. "I'm going to jump off in ten minutes. If you don't want to see my dead body tonight, send the ambulance to this number."
This last move was aimed at the one person guaranteed to react—Junseo's mother.
"Why don't you try saving me this time since you could do it in that bathroom all those years ago?" I challenged, a venomous smile touching my lips.
The phone clicked, and a new, furious voice answered. It was her. "HOW DARE YOU THREATEN ME WITH MY SON'S LIFE...?" she screeched.
"You're so full of yourself, aren't you?" I responded, watching the headlights of a car approach in the distance.
"Fine. Let's wait and see... if my son jumps off a bridge first... or if you end up sinking into the bottom of a cold, dark river first," she spat.
I didn't wait for her to finish. I tossed the phone to the side. With one last glance at the approaching car, I walked to the edge.
"I'll put my life on the line and put on a show. That will turn things around."
Then, I took the plunge.
SPLASH!
The icy water swallowed me whole, but I didn't panic. I was in control. The performance had begun.
Do you want to continue the story from the moment I hit the water, or do you want to see Junseo's reaction to the news?
The frigid water was a shocking wake-up call, but it was nothing compared to the shock of seeing who was in the car that had pulled up to the bridge.
He actually came. He rushed here, just like he did all those years ago.
I fought the initial disorientation of the plunge, my body already calculating the angles and the audience. I had to look like a desperate, wronged victim.
Suddenly, a voice boomed across the bridge, cutting through the night. "AJIN, STOP!!"
I saw him. Jaewoong. He stood by his car, his face a mask of horror and disbelief.
"Jaewoong... How did you...?"
He must have found my location using the tracking app I'd forced him to install a lifetime ago. A painful wave of memory hit me, a ghost from my past.
"Pass me your phone, Ajin. If you download this app and connect it to another phone, you can track their location."
My eyes narrowed. Jaewoong was supposed to be my safe harbor, my brother who never abandoned me. He was the one I should have gone to first, but I'd pushed him away, knowing I couldn't drag him into the abyss.
Before I could say anything, he shouted, "AJIN!!" his voice raw with fear. He clearly thought I was about to jump back in.
I climbed out, the sodden trench coat clinging to me, the water dripping off my face, but my eyes were steady.
My mind raced, connecting the dots of my entire life.
The day I was abandoned and no one came to my aid, I promised myself... that I would only live for myself. I will never fall. I... will never stop.
This conviction, this survival instinct, had been forged in fire. And it was all because of people like them. Like my stepmother, who had once sat across from me with a sneer.
"The world may seem like your oyster right now... but there will be a day that you get stabbed in the back. Remember that."
I looked at Jaewoong, his worried, earnest face blurring the line between my past and my present.
"You have no right to criticize me, Junseo," I thought, the resentment for my ex-ally burning through the chill. "This is how the world is. I have no choice but to be like this."
My battle was not just for my career; it was for the very right to exist on my own terms. "I will show you that you were wrong, Jiseon Hwang," I promised, a silent, chilling vow to the woman who was trying to sink me.
I looked at the water again, then at Jaewoong, then back down the road where Junseo's car had disappeared. The world was watching, and I was about to give them a performance they would never forget.
"Even if it means having to lose everyone around me--" I stepped fully out of the shadows.
"DON'T WAIT FOR ME," I'd told Jaewoong on the phone, before the betrayal and the plunge. It was a warning, but also a declaration. I was on my own path now, and no one could follow me.
What do you think Jaewoong will do now that he has found you? Will he help you with your new plan, or try to take you to safety?
The river water was still dripping from my coat, soaking the pavement, but I didn't feel the cold. I only saw Jaewoong's face, etched with pure panic. I had just climbed out of the river, having staged a suicide attempt to win back public sympathy, and now my brother stood there, the living proof of my old manipulations.
"Jaewoong… How did you…?" I was genuinely shocked. The look on his face told me he'd rushed straight here.
He didn't answer my question, only pointed at his phone, the screen displaying my exact location. The tracking app—a pathetic, desperate measure I'd insisted he install years ago—had betrayed my final act.
"I'M COMING OVER THERE, SO DON'T YOU DARE MOVE!" he yelled, his voice rough with tears he hadn't shed.
I wanted to scream at him for ruining the performance, for showing up and turning my dramatic victim-hood into a messy, real-life rescue. "WHY ARE YOU HERE—?" I started, but stopped myself. He was my audience, and a better one than the news cameras.
He took a step towards me, and I braced myself for the hug, the lecture, the futile plea for me to seek help. But he paused, his eyes falling to the ground, then back to my face.
"I called your office. They told me everything. You've been gone for months."
The Collapse of the Empire
My mind flashed back to the headlines that had chased me out of the country. Even from Hong Kong, the digital collapse of my life had been undeniable:
DIMHEART'S 180 MINUTE SPECIAL ON AJIN BAEK SURROUNDS HER IN CONTROVERSY AND CRITICISM
LongStar Entertainment Breaks Contract with Ajin Baek, Deletes Her Profile From Website
[EXCLUSIVE] Ajin Baek Leaves Country for Hong Kong with Unknown Man
My management had tried to fight: "Official Statement From Ajin Baek's Management: 'Heavily Distorted' Malicious Episode Has Seriously Damaged Baek's Reputation, Company Will Be Taking a Hard Line Response." But the tide had turned too quickly.
[EXCLUSIVE] Dohyeok Mun of Hyeseong Trading Co. Admits, "Ajin Baek Pregnant With Someone Else's Baby," and Ends Relationship
"Brand has been hit hard, we are looking into legal recourse."
[HOT] Ajin Baek, Centre of Controversy, Must Pay Back an Astronomical Sum in Penalty Fees for Broken Contracts!
Fans of Inkang Heo Break Into Actress Ajin Baek's Home And Assault Her
"Under Suspicion of Murder of Father," but Case Cannot Be Re-Opened as There Is No Way to Prove the Charges
The final hammer blow had been the state intervention that temporarily silenced Junseo's attack.
Korea Communications Standards Commission Determines Dim Heart Has Breached Objectivity and Defamation Clauses. The Plug Has Been Pulled, and Producers Have Been Suspended.
But it was too late. The damage was done. The headlines were clear: "Baek's Whereabouts are Unknown, Rumors are Abound."
The Confession
Jaewoong's face was close now. He wasn't here for the drama; he was here for me.
"I will fly here at a moment's notice if it's to save you," he whispered. It was a promise he'd always kept.
I looked at him, my brother, the last piece of true loyalty I had left. I had broken his heart earlier, telling him, "I don't think I'll be able to make it for the rest of my life." His panicked response still echoed in my ears: "WHAT'S WRONG...? DID SOMETHING HAPPEN...?" and his pathetic, desperate question, "Hey... I'm only asking 'cause I'm curious... But when you land in Korea, are you gonna go see your brother first... or Broomstick first? Who're you gonna run to? Jaewoong..."
I had chosen neither. I had chosen the stage.
Tears welled in my eyes—real tears this time, not for the audience, but for the man in front of me. I remembered Junseo's cold, triumphant face: "I know you better than anyone because... I turned you into the monster that you are."
He was wrong. I turned myself into the monster. And in that moment, seeing Jaewoong's devotion, I knew I had to push him away one last time to protect him from the wrecking ball I had become.
I took a shuddering breath. "DON'T WAIT FOR ME."
I had sunk to the bottom. Now, with Jaewoong's unwitting help, it was time to climb back to the surface.
What's the next step in my plan? Will I allow Jaewoong to help me disappear and prepare a real comeback, or will I immediately use his presence to spin the media narrative?
The moment I saw Jaewoong, the plan shifted. He was my wildcard, my last, honest audience. He rushed to me, his breath ragged from running.
"Jaewoong… How did you…?"
He didn't explain the tracking app—that old ghost of my manipulation. He just pulled me into a fierce, desperate hug, his strength grounding me after the shock of the cold river water.
"I will fly here at a moment's notice if it's to save you," he whispered, a promise and a confession.
I knew what I had to do. I couldn't use him here, not in the spotlight. I had to disappear, to prepare my comeback. He was the only one I could trust to make that happen.
"DON'T WAIT FOR ME," I told him, not as a goodbye, but as a command to escape the danger I brought. I had already made my choice to survive, no matter the cost. "I will show you that you were wrong, Jiseon Hwang," I vowed, remembering the wicked prophecy of my stepmother. "This is how the world is. I have no choice but to be like this".
I let him lead me away, a silent pact made between us: he would save me from the river and from the cameras. We would disappear, and the public would be left to draw their own conclusions about my staged suicide attempt.
Junseo's Reckoning
I left the wreckage for my former partner, Junseo. He had turned on me, confessing to a reporter about my pregnancy and claiming the baby as his own, thinking that was enough proof to destroy me. He had left me standing alone on the road, echoing his cold dismissal: "I know you better than anyone because... I turned you into the monster that you are".
Now, he was alone, too. He was sitting on his bed when his phone rang, startling him from a fitful sleep. It was his former accomplice, Mr. Lim, calling with a disastrous update.
"Hello? Yes, this is Junseo speaking," he said, weary.
"It's about me," Mr. Lim said. "We lost my trail in Hong Kong".
A pause. Then, the hammer fell. "I left... with Jaewoong. I won't be back for a very long time".
Junseo sank, clutching his face in despair. He had been so wrong.
"I was wrong, Mr. Lim. I thought I'd stop once the broadcast aired," he confessed. He had hoped I would regret my actions, but realized, to his horror, "She was ready to go all the way to turn the tide".
Mr. Lim tried to offer a solution: "It's fine, you can stop looking for her".
Junseo could only whisper his pain: "I don't want to feel any more disappointed in her. This has all been very hard on me, to be honest". He was shattered by the realization that even if he found me, "She'll probably be the same person".
My last, cold, triumphant thought came to him as a flash of red on the dark-tiled floor. He was too late. "You were late again, Junseo".
Now that I have disappeared with Jaewoong, what country will I hide in to plot my next move, and who will be the first person I contact to start fighting back?
The wind outside the car window was a clean counterpoint to the adrenaline still pumping in my veins. Jaewoong drove with a silent, focused intensity, his grip white-knuckled on the steering wheel. I leaned back, my soaked coat chilling the seat, but I was already plotting. The jump was the dramatic curtain call; now came the long, grinding work of rebuilding the stage.
We didn't head for the airport. That was too obvious, too easily tracked. Instead, we drove to a remote coastal town I remembered from my childhood, a place no one would ever associate with the former "Queen of Advertising."
"I'm sorry," Jaewoong finally broke the silence, his voice rough. "I know you told me 'Don't wait for me', but I couldn't lose you again."
I reached out and touched his hand, a rare gesture of genuine feeling. "Thank you. You saved the performance. Now, you have to help me disappear."
The next morning, we were tucked away in a tiny, rented cottage. The local news was predictably sensational: Top Star Vanishes After Attempted Suicide on Bridge. It was exactly the narrative I wanted. While the media obsessed over my mental state, I would be working.
My first order of business was to connect with my most loyal, most discreet contact—Jiseon Hwang's rival, the Chairwoman of D&G. I had already sent her a cryptic, pre-arranged message. I needed an ally with serious power, the kind of power that could go up against my ex-manager, Junseo, and the entire LongStar Entertainment machine.
I held the phone, my damp hair already dry, my eyes hard and calculating.
"Hello?" a familiar, sharp voice answered.
"It's me. I've left Korea, and I won't be back for a very long time," I stated, skipping any pleasantries. "I know you're fighting Junseo and LongStar. I want to give you what you need to completely crush them."
The Chairwoman chuckled, a dry, satisfied sound. "Ajin... I knew you'd call. Tell me everything. I will only live for myself. And for you, I'll clear the board."
I took a breath, a genuine smile—one of malice, not fear—spreading across my face. The performance was over. The counter-attack had begun.
What critical piece of evidence or information will I offer the Chairwoman to "crush" Junseo and LongStar?