Chapter : 06

“Haah. So this is what you meant back then.”

She had wondered if that could possibly be what he meant, but she never imagined that he really wouldn’t show up.

Taeha did not appear at the court on the first date scheduled to confirm their divorce.

As a result, their marriage period was naturally extended until the second confirmation date.

While waiting for the elevator after returning to the broadcasting station, Jaein pressed a hand against her forehead.

She had even taken a half-day off to go to court, only to come back empty-handed, so a sigh escaped her naturally.

“Don’t wait. I’m not going.”

The man’s low voice from when he had held onto the front door echoed in her ears.

She had thought that perhaps those words referred to the divorce confirmation date.

But after confirming it for herself, the trembling in her heart wouldn’t stop.

‘Could it be that I really won’t be able to get divorced?’

If their mutual divorce failed, she would have to proceed with a lawsuit.

Money was one thing, but she was especially worried because of the background supporting the man.

Would it really be easy to file a divorce lawsuit against him?

Even if she gave up her right to a division of property, if he didn’t want a divorce, she wasn’t confident she could win.

‘I don’t want things to go as far as a dirty legal battle, either.’

Above all, if his memory returned in the middle of all this, he would leave her without the slightest hesitation anyway.

‘…When I needed him.’

With her father’s death approaching, Jaein had been afraid. She couldn’t escape the swamp of despair caused by the thought of losing her father.

Even if their relationship had been nothing more than a show-window marriage, they had known each other for years, and now they were husband and wife.

Even if he had been overseas, wasn’t it too much that he hadn’t even come to his father-in-law’s funeral?

Not a single member of the Daeha family had come.

Except for her brother-in-law, who came before the funeral procession departed.

They hadn’t contacted her when she needed them so desperately.

And now, what was she supposed to do if he suddenly said he didn’t want a divorce?

Thinking of her father, Jaein suppressed the surge of emotion rising in her chest.

She had already made up her mind.

She would shake off everything like Woo Taeha. Everything like the Daeha Group, leaving it all behind and standing on her own.

She wouldn’t be shaken by anything!

‘So, Sunbae, I’m going to get divorced.’

It was just as Jaein was about to step into the elevator that had arrived at the broadcasting station.

Her phone began to ring.

“Yes, this is Seo Jaein—”

Before Jaein could finish speaking—

“—Seo Jaein! Where are you?”

The booming voice of the main PD, Seongho, filled the entire space.

His voice was extremely angry.

“What happened? I’m in the parking lot of the broadcasting station right now.”

“Didn’t you see the mess with the Geumsil Couple on YouTube? They’re saying it’s child abuse, for f*ck’s sake. We’re in the middle of editing! What are we supposed to do with this?!”

“I’m in front of the elevator. I’ll come up right now.”

Until the very moment she hung up, Seongho’s furious shouting continued from the other end of the phone.

“What the hell is this?! Huh? You’re saying they’re suddenly being dropped from the show?”

The conference room door flew open with a deafening crash, as though it might break off its hinges.

The person who soon appeared was the director of the variety entertainment department.

At the appearance of Director Lee, everyone sitting in the room swallowed their groans.

“W-Well… the ordinary couple that PD Seo recruited has reportedly been reported to the police for child abuse.”

“What? Those people called the Geumsil Couple or whatever?”

At the director’s question, Jo PD nodded with a pale expression.

“Damn it! So what are we going to do about it? It’s not like those cameras have only been running for a day or two! Fine, forget about throwing away the edited footage, but the broadcast is just around the corner! What are you going to do about this massive disaster?!”

This time, Director Lee raised his voice toward Seongho, the main PD, making everyone around him flinch.

And Jaein, who was there with them, was no exception.

The program <깨알 부부>, which she was in charge of as the youngest PD, was a reality-variety show that observed real married couples.

It was a program that observed various couples, and after becoming a huge hit from its first broadcast, it had gone on to have a second season.

Three married couples appeared in each season.

Celebrity couples, famous couples from the political and business worlds, and even ordinary couples.

Every couple who appeared became a topic of conversation, to the point that there was even a saying that if you wanted to become famous, you should appear on <깨알 부부>.

Because the show had gained enormous popularity by boldly revealing the various sides of married couples, the production team was desperate to find couples who could generate buzz.

And so they had carefully selected the cast for Season 3.

Being an ordinary couple didn’t mean they were ordinary in every sense.

This time, they wanted to find a cast with even more impact, so they recruited a “large family couple.”

In an era of extremely low birth rates like this, they were an extraordinary couple with no fewer than ten children.

They were a couple whose marriage period was practically the same as their childbearing period, and they had been filming them under the theme of being an icon of marital harmony.

But apparently, that supposedly loving couple was beating their children.

To make matters worse, an anonymous eyewitness account from an acquaintance had been posted on an online community for office workers, and news of the abuse had spread far and wide.

‘I should’ve known when they kept whining about having no money while using their kids as an excuse.’

Jaein pressed firmly against her temples, which were throbbing painfully.

“If we can’t find replacement cast members, the show is screwed. The broadcast is screwed!”

Everyone groaned at the director’s scolding.

“Even if we find someone right away and start filming, we’re already running out of time! Huh?! Who was the one who said we should recruit this ticking time bomb of a couple?!”

Everyone’s gaze soon turned toward Jaein.

Seongho had reviewed and approved them, while Jaein, being the youngest member, had made the recruitment calls.

Everyone knew that she had no authority to choose the cast.

Yet whenever a problem like this occurred, they always blamed her.

Perhaps because the director knew he couldn’t scold her too harshly because of Taeha, it was even worse.

“The show’s promotion has already gone out! What are we going to do about this?!”

“Director. Haah… I did tell Jaein that there seemed to be something questionable about this couple’s behavior. And sure enough, something like this happened.”

At Seongho’s words, Jaein’s head snapped toward him.

“I’ll take responsibility and make sure we find another cast member somehow.”

Watching Seongho slip away as though he had done nothing wrong, Jaein couldn’t hide a hollow laugh.

“Find someone, no matter what it takes!”

With those words, the director stormed out of the conference room.

The people who had been looking back and forth between Jaein and Seongho, carefully gauging the situation, began leaving one by one.

Soon, only the two of them remained.

Seongho approached her.

“PD, it is true that I recruited them, but you were the one who approved it.”

“……”

“You know that I don’t have the authority to make the final casting decision.”

Jaein looked up at Seongho with a sharp gaze.

Her tightly pressed lips trembled with betrayal.

This wasn’t the first time he had stabbed her in the back like this, but she had never imagined that Seongho would avoid responsibility even in the face of such a huge disaster.

“Haah. There was nothing I could do either. Jaein, you know I’ve already been assigned my next program, right? It’s my ambitious project. It’d be a problem if it fell apart here.”

He continued with a deeply troubled expression.

“You’re not going to get fired anyway. Try to understand, okay? I’ll help you out next time you need something!”

“……”

“And tonight, even if you have to stay up all night, contact the additional candidates. Got it? You have to find someone!”

With that, Seongho patted Jaein on the shoulder a couple of times before leaving.

I want to quit.

Even though it was a difficult job, she had never once thought about quitting because it was something she loved.

Perhaps everything she had accumulated over time had finally burst out, because the bridge of Jaein’s nose turned red.

Swallowing back the tears that were rising in her eyes, she left the conference room.

She could feel people’s gazes following her.

‘This is really too much.’

Not a single person stepped forward because they were afraid of getting dragged into the mess.

Everyone knew perfectly well that the youngest PD had no authority, so all they could do was look at her with sympathetic eyes.

It was just as Jaein swallowed a sigh and left the office.

“Seo Jaein.”

Her footsteps stopped at the familiar voice coming from behind her.

“What… is it?”

Why is Sunbae here?

Jaein’s wide-open lips refused to close.

After leaving the family court, she had called him.

She had wanted to ask why he hadn’t come, but the call had simply gone unanswered.

He hadn’t responded to her messages either.

‘Why now, of all times?’

Jaein quickly turned around and wiped at the corners of her eyes.

He didn’t see me crying, did he?

No. Could he have heard what happened in the conference room just now?

“Why did you come to the broadcasting station?”

“Why do you think? I came to see you.”

As it was, she already felt as though everyone was looking at her.

And what would happen if Taeha were added to the situation?

She didn’t even need to imagine it.

“I have work, as you can see, right? I’m busy. Let’s talk later.”

Jaein turned around and was just about to head toward the restroom.

But before she had any chance to avoid him, a hand grabbed her wrist, and her body was pulled toward the emergency exit.

Click.

The emergency exit door closed behind them with a resounding sound.

When Jaein finally came to her senses, she found herself standing with her back against the closed emergency exit door.