Chapter 3

Raine was more than a little flustered as she looked out into the room.

Eden was sitting back against a plush single-seat sofa.

He was wearing the same robe as Raine and held a glass of whiskey with ice in one hand. With the other, he was reading several sheets of paper.

His silver hair was still damp, as though he, too, had just washed up somewhere.

“W-where are my clothes?”

Eden’s eyes immediately turned toward Raine. His gaze traveled from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Feeling strangely embarrassed under his scrutiny, Raine unnecessarily tightened the front of her robe.

“I put them in the washing machine in the utility room and ran it.”

“What?”

At Raine’s incredulous response, Eden raised one eyebrow at an angle, looking displeased.

“Surely you weren’t planning to put those clothes back on as they were?”

“But if I want to go home…”

“Tsk!”

Eden shook his head and clicked his tongue. Then he put down his whiskey glass and turned to the next page of the letter, speaking nonchalantly.

“They can go in the dryer. Just wait.”

After estimating how long the washing would take, Raine merely bit her lower lip.

Eden gestured toward the sofa beside him with his chin. Understanding what he meant, Raine carefully walked over while drying her wet hair with a towel.

“Whiskey?”

“……”

“You were screaming curses at the top of your lungs earlier. Why are you suddenly so timid?”

Eden filled a crystal glass with ice and whiskey and handed it to Raine.

“Wait here until I finish reading all of this.”

He gestured toward the refrigerator in one corner of the sitting room.

“There are other drinks in there, too. Take whatever you want.”

Raine quietly accepted the glass and gently swirled the whiskey before smelling it.

She didn’t know much about alcohol, but it seemed expensive. Since he had given it to her, she felt it would be a waste not to drink it.

She had already had a bottle of soju, but she figured a little more wouldn’t hurt.

She took a small sip, and her mouth immediately filled with a sweet, fresh floral aroma.

Apples and butter?

It also reminded her of mint and tropical fruit.

It was her first time tasting whiskey, but it was smooth and left behind a clean finish.

After sipping it once, then twice, her body gradually began to feel warm.

The air conditioning kept the room pleasantly cool, while the whiskey warmed her from within.

And the silver-haired man sitting in front of her somehow seemed familiar.

Raine tried to remember whether she had ever met someone with silver hair before.

With such an unusual hair color, she should have remembered him if she had seen him, but nothing came to mind.

Perhaps because she was comfortable now, she began to feel as though everything might somehow turn out all right.

But that feeling lasted only a moment.

The man’s expression was changing from one moment to the next, and there was something unsettling about it.

His eyebrows were gradually twisting upward as though he were becoming increasingly angry.

What on earth is he reading?

Only then did Raine realize that what he was holding was her suicide note.

“Ah! You were reading that?”

Eden found Raine’s horrified reaction so absurd that he gave her a mocking smile.

“Why are you making that face? You were going to die anyway. Why should it matter who reads it?”

Eden flipped through the suicide note as he spoke.

“If you had succeeded in jumping, I would have called the police and 119, then sat here reading this pathetic excuse for a suicide note.”

When she thought about it, that did make sense.

She didn’t like the fact that he had called the letter she had spent days and nights agonizing over writing pathetic, though.

“That’s true, but… still…”

Raine wanted to argue, but she had already caused him so much trouble that she couldn’t think of anything to say.

Eden waved the suicide note in front of her eyes.

“Do you think I came all the way here from America just to read something like this?”

There was a sharp, irritated edge to his voice.

“From what I can see, you were determined to die. You wrote page after page of rambling, pathetic, utterly desperate nonsense.”

“……”

At a loss for words, Raine quietly watched Eden.

His twisted eyebrows rose even higher.

Looking at him again under the bright lights, Raine realized that his eyes weren’t black with just a hint of blue.

They were cobalt blue.

That beautiful color was mixed with anger.

Raine thought that if he really was the owner of the building, he had every reason to be angry under the circumstances.

Eden shook the suicide note again.

“Is everything written here true?”

Raine felt her face burning as though she had been scorched.

Intimidated, she instinctively hunched her shoulders.

“……”

“Say something.”

Pressed again, Raine felt as though her insides were burning.

She drank the whiskey and ice in her glass all at once.

Eden’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You’ll get drunk quickly if you drink it like that. Are you staying the night?”

“No, it’s not that. I just… felt a little parched inside.”

“……”

He let out a small sigh, then placed the suicide note back inside its envelope and returned it to Raine’s crossbody bag.

“I got the general idea from the note, but tell me. What happened to you?”

His tone still sounded somewhat accusatory, but Raine now felt that he was more upset than angry.

However, she couldn’t simply tell him everything based on that feeling alone.

As she hesitated timidly, Eden softened his sharp tone somewhat.

“It’s okay. Tell me. Judging by your suicide note, it seems like you didn’t have anyone to talk to…”

An unbelievable gentleness was mixed into the voice that had been angry only moments ago.

Drawn in despite herself, Raine began telling him about her breakup with Harry Kim Ju-ha.

All while slowly sipping whiskey, the square ice cubes clinking softly inside the glass.

“I’m sorry for making you work so hard. But hang in there just a little longer.”

Whenever Ju-ha saw Raine in his tiny studio apartment, he would say that almost like a habit.

At the time, Raine was working three part-time jobs in addition to her regular job to support him, but she didn’t find it difficult at all.

Because Raine was the kind of person who would do anything for the person she loved.

Anyway, that day, Ju-ha seemed different from usual.

His face was strangely flushed with excitement.

“Just a little longer?”

At Raine’s questioning tone, Ju-ha’s eyes lit up as he smiled shyly.

“I have a feeling we’re really not far away now.”

“Really?”

At his hopeful tone, Raine sat halfway up and leaned against the headboard of the bed.

Ju-ha also draped an arm around Raine’s shoulders.

“I imagined it.”

Kim Ju-ha began talking about his dream again, as he always did.

He imagined himself receiving an award at the Grand Bell Awards.

But this time, there was a promise attached to the fantasy.

“Promise me. When that happens, I’ll tell everyone.”

With a blissful smile, as though he had really won the Grand Bell Award, he began acting out the acceptance speech he imagined himself giving.

“I have a beloved partner who gave me everything she had without holding anything back to help me stand here today.”

He turned his gaze toward one side.

“Lee Raine.”

Raine imagined herself sitting somewhere near the front of the Grand Bell Awards audience, watching the ceremony.

“I send my love and gratitude to her, as she sheds tears of joy with me.”

When his magnificent imaginary acceptance speech ended, Raine felt the corners of her eyes growing hot.

Harry Kim Ju-ha’s success was an incredibly moving thing for her, too.

“It’ll be such a romantic and wonderful day. Don’t you think?”

“Yes. I think it really will.”

As Raine agreed, Ju-ha repeatedly whispered words of affection, clearly pleased.

That was how it had been.

Ju-ha’s dream had become Raine’s dream.

Even if he didn’t contribute a single ten-won coin toward their living expenses, seeing him smile like sunshine was enough to make Raine happy.

She loved the fact that Ju-ha loved her.

Raine was always cheering him on.

Harry Kim Ju-ha succeeding as an actor.

Him clutching the Grand Bell Award for Best Actor and becoming the star of the ceremony.

That was a dream they shared.

For the eight years Ju-ha chased after his dream, Raine worked herself to the bone to earn money and support him.

Her salary wasn’t particularly small, but it took a lot of money to turn him into a star.

Raine gritted her teeth and never hesitated to work two jobs, even three.

She poured every penny she earned into him without holding back.

Filming is exhausting. Acting is exhausting. He needs to stay healthy, so I have to make sure he eats well, right?

During his years as an unknown actor, stamina was everything, so Raine paid particular attention to what Ju-ha ate.

An entertainer’s appearance is everything. He needs to stand out.

Whatever else happened, she couldn’t let him feel intimidated or be looked down upon because of his clothes.

Raine did everything she could to dress Kim Ju-ha from head to toe in luxury brands.

She even made sure the phone he carried was always the newest model.

She thought he needed regular skincare, too.

So she purchased an expensive skincare package for him and hired a professional personal trainer to help him maintain his health and physique.

She also made sure he only went to a hair salon frequented by famous celebrities.

“Raine, do I really have to go to that salon?”

“Why?”

“It’s expensive, and it’s far away…”

“But they’re famous for styling. I heard even top stars only go there.”

“Come on, I can just do my hair myself. It’d be better to buy a Vacheron Constantin with that money.”

“I already bought you a luxury watch.”

“That one’s too cheap.”

“The one you’re using right now cost five million won.”

“I know. But if it’s a luxury brand, it should cost a little more.”

Ju-ha even tried to persuade Raine to buy him a watch worth tens of millions of won.

But that kind of money was beyond Raine’s means.

“Ju-ha, I’m sorry. I want to buy it for you, but I can’t afford that.”

“……”

“And I think it’s better to have a professional handle your styling.”

“……”

“You never know. If someone with an important role suddenly drops out, they might even give a prepared actor like you a chance as a replacement.”

At Raine’s words, Ju-ha pouted, clearly displeased.

“…Do you really think something like that would happen?”

“You never know what the future holds. And if you happen to meet a celebrity or someone from the industry while going to the salon, it could turn into a valuable connection.”

“I don’t understand. It seems like it’d be better to just buy another watch.”

“I told you. I can’t afford it. If you become successful, then we’ll buy it.”

“……”

“And just in case, memorize and analyze every line for the main and supporting characters in your scripts.”

At Raine’s words, Ju-ha reluctantly nodded.

“…Okay. I’ll do that.”

“I’m sorry I can’t buy it for you. I’ll work harder and earn more, too.”

And so, Raine worked herself to the breaking point to make sure Ju-ha could shine whenever the opportunity came, and so that he could focus entirely on acting without ever feeling intimidated wherever he went.

Before she knew it, she was often sleeping only two or three hours a day.

Chronic fatigue soon became her constant companion, and cheap junk food she ate just to fill her stomach became Raine’s closest friend.

Then one day—

“Raine. You were right!”