Chapter 24: You’re Quite Skilled

On the way home after leaving Daejin Hospital, a call came in.

Seo Jae-Ha—my finger, reaching toward the screen, froze at the sight of his name on the navigation display.

“Hello?”

– Are you still out? On your way back from the hospital?

“Yes. There’s no traffic, so I think I’ll get home soon.”

It was close to midnight, and the roads were completely clear.

– That’s rough. How did the audition go?

His low, deep voice flowed through the speaker. I remembered how he had left the studio not long after the camera test began.

His casual question about my day weighed heavily on my chest.

“…Maybe okay.”

– Maybe?

The events of the afternoon flashed by like a revolving lantern. Considering how hastily I’d prepared, I’d wrapped up the audition without any mistakes.

Especially when reporting the breaking news—it was smooth, just like a real broadcast, enough to earn admiration from those watching.

It wasn’t a complete disaster.

“I might have lost… Honestly, I’m not sure.”

– Lost? You did, Yeo-Jin?

He burst out laughing, as if it was ridiculous.

But there were probably other applicants who had delivered their segments just as smoothly, without a single slip.

Chae Seo-Rin was likely one of them.

Still, I hadn’t gone down exactly the way Seo-Rin had hoped, so it wasn’t all bad.

As I remained silent, Jae-Ha spoke again.

– Did you mess up? Or did you not get enough time? I mean, you’ve been an anchor for years.

– I thought ten minutes would be enough. Ah—maybe it was because I disappeared in the middle.

There was a teasing tone in his voice.

He clearly didn’t believe me when I said I might’ve lost the audition.

“Mistake? Come on. I used to be the nation’s anchor, you know.”

– ……

“And besides, I didn’t even notice you were gone, Mr. Seo Jae-Ha.”

He let out a quiet laugh as he listened to me.

– Liar.

His voice came through, low and firm.

I let out a small, dry laugh at his flat-out denial. ‘How would you know? You were the one who left in the middle.’

Of course, he was right—I was lying. But I felt oddly compelled to push back.

Like I was always getting caught up in his pace.

“It’s not a lie. I was so focused on the test that I didn’t notice you’d—”

– I saw you immediately start looking for me as soon as the camera turned off.

His voice coming through the speaker was sly.

Wait… He was watching?

I stared ahead at the road and then reflexively glanced over at the speaker.

“You were watching?”

He didn’t answer right away and then let out a low chuckle.

– You were glancing around like a baby bird looking for its mother.

“……”

– But really, Yeo-Jin, you’re quite good at lying.

My face instantly turned red.

If Jae-Ha had been standing in front of me, he would’ve surely made another comment about my flushed cheeks.

The longer this call went on, the more it felt like I was getting swept into his pace.

“Brother-in-law, please stop teasing me.”

– Only when it suits you, huh? But I don’t like that title.

His voice in my ear turned serious. He genuinely seemed bothered by being called “brother-in-law.”

– Makes it sound like we’re doing something inappropriate.

For some reason, the moment I had been in his arms flashed through my mind. Flustered, I opened my mouth, then forced a response.

“Okay. It just slipped out.”

– I know. And… I didn’t comfort you very well.

Was that why he’d been teasing me a bit just now?

As I shifted my gaze from the road, a bandage on the hand gripping the steering wheel caught my eye.

‘But I think I’ve already been comforted by you.’

– I’ll congratulate you properly later.

****

When I stepped out of the elevator, I locked eyes with Seo Ji-Han, who was leaning against the front door.

The last person I wanted to see was standing there.

“Just getting home?”

He pushed off the wall and asked me.

I didn’t even think it was worth answering. I glanced at him coldly and walked toward the door.

“Where were you?”

He spoke as if he were my husband. I couldn’t believe it—I turned around.

“Go home. This is my house.”

As I tried to go inside and close the door behind me, he reached out and stopped it.

“What are you doing? Let go.”

“I left something behind.”

“Impossible.”

I’d already thrown out everything connected to him. What could he possibly need?

Despite my protests, Ji-Han forced his way into the house.

‘I guess I’ll have to move. Somewhere he can’t find.’

My head throbbed.

I didn’t want to give up the house my grandfather had personally chosen for me.

But the thought of sharing space with Ji-Han made me want to stand there in the entrance and go no farther.

As he passed through the entryway and walked down the hallway, he looked at the bare wall and asked coldly, “You even took down the photos?”

He hadn’t visited often, yet he noticed the missing wedding pictures.

“You’re really going to break off the engagement?”

“Yes.”

“You won’t regret it?”

His face clouded over as he looked down at me—so firm in my answer, with not a hint of hesitation.

I’d regretted it countless times. Even in that moment, dying in front of the courthouse.

‘There wasn’t a single moment I didn’t regret it. Every second was so awful I wanted to deny it all.’

A bitter smile touched my lips. I met his gaze with unwavering eyes.

“Why do you regret it?”

As I slowly shook my head, Ji-Han’s lips twitched.

“That’s not for you to say.”

Not marrying you, ending this miserable relationship—I’m so happy I could scream. I barely swallowed the words that almost spilled out.

“You think the family elders will allow us to break off the engagement?”

“……”

“You think our relationship can be undone just like this?!”

Of course. I’d already experienced a marriage shattered overnight, no matter how desperately I tried to hold onto it.

The fact that he didn’t understand how fragile the institution of marriage could be was almost laughable.

I looked up at Ji-Han, who had approached and was now shouting down at me, and calmly asked, “Why not?”

Wasn’t it he who had ended our marriage with a single sentence?

He cut off five years of marriage in a heartbeat—how hard could it be to break off an engagement that lasted barely a year?

“You’re the at-fault party, remember?”

“…Ha. I told you it won’t happen again. I said it was a mistake!”

“Save that for my lawyer. Did you get the stuff I sent?”

Ji-Han’s brow twitched, probably recalling that his secretary had come by.

As I kept talking, his face grew increasingly red with rage.

“Look. As you can see, the house is empty.”

I tilted my chin toward the bare living room and kept going.

“There’s nothing left for you to take, so why don’t you leave?”

“You…”

Ji-Han stepped closer, pressing his body against mine and lowering his head.

The look in his eyes, so close to mine, was sharp enough to cut.

“If I walk out like this, I might just end up sleeping with your junior. You are okay with that?”

I let out a laugh of disbelief, and his cold gaze pierced through me.

“I really don’t get what you want, Ji-Han. Do you want me to get jealous? Or angry?”

“……”

“Do whatever you want with Chae Seo-Rin. I just don’t want to be tangled up with you anymore.”

He clenched his teeth, realizing there was no getting through to me.

“I know you said you wouldn’t regret it—but you’ll regret saying that. I guarantee it.”

And then he slammed the door shut behind him.

****

Company Cafeteria.

I was poking at the side dishes on my tray but eventually put my chopsticks down.

“Shall we get going, if you’re done?”

I’d been lost in thought, remembering Ji-Han fuming last night.

Snapped back by a voice, I saw Senior Yeong-Joon looking at my empty tray.

“Yes? Yeah. I’m done.”

I stood up.

Ji-Han showing up whenever he wanted had been bothering me, and last night confirmed it—I’d have to list the apartment and start looking for a new place.

We returned to the Programming Department’s office just as lunch break ended.

As we crossed the noisy office, I could feel eyes pricking into me from all directions.

“Uh, wait a sec. What is this?”

“…?”

I was turning on my computer to check the afternoon schedule when my senior suddenly spun around in his chair.

His face twisted in shock as he stared at his phone.

At the same time, the screen of my phone next to the keyboard lit up brightly.

“You use the broadcast company app, right? Delete it. No, actually—don’t open it.”

He reached for my phone.

But before his hand could touch it, I picked it up myself and checked the screen.

“What is it?”

“Ah… I told you not to look. Why do popular posts always send alerts at the worst times?”

His voice trailed behind, but my eyes were already scanning the screen faster.

A post had gone viral on the broadcast station’s anonymous community board.

It had been posted just before lunch and already had over a hundred comments.

“Wow… ‘A cold-hearted bitch not even her parents could love,’ seriously.”

We had actually been talking about the rumors swirling around me just earlier at lunch.

He, too, had heard the unkind whispers and stares from others.

“It’s obvious who they’re talking about. Guess I’m really hated, huh?”

The content was outrageous.

A post bluntly airing all the rumors being spread about me.

[Honestly, is it okay for Yoon Yeo-Jin to become an anchor? Everyone’s heard the gossip. – Anonymous, 12:29:13]

[No way. If it’s on the community board, it’s only a matter of time before viewers hear too. – Anonymous, 12:29:56]

As I scrolled through the filthy comment section, another post popped up:

[Check the board now. Anchor appointment just posted. News9 is doomed. – Anonymous, 12:49:59]

My eyes stopped at the words :anchor appointment.

Appointment…?

Then Senior Yeong-Joon’s urgent voice called out.

“Wait—Yeo-Jin!”

I looked up from my phone.

He was staring at me, eyes wide, pointing at his monitor.

“Look at this! You’ve been appointed!”

I turned and looked at the screen he was pointing to.

The moment I saw the personnel announcement on the internal bulletin board, my jaw dropped.

[Personnel Transfer. Radio News Team host Announcer Yoon Yeo-Jin—reassigned to KBC News9 Team (Anchor).]

I didn’t expect the results to come out this quickly.

Even more eyes were fixed on me than when I first returned to the office.

It really happened…?

Guess you really don’t know the outcome until it’s officially announced.

I suddenly recalled Seo Jae-Ha’s voice from last night, when he casually said he’d congratulate me.

“Ha… haha.”

A hollow laugh escaped my lips.

I should call him after work.

The thought came involuntarily, and I gasped. I was surprised by the fact that the first face I pictured after hearing about my appointment… was his.

Am I losing it?

Even though no one could hear my thoughts, I found myself awkwardly brushing my lips.

“Congrats! That’s amazing. I told you you’d make it.”

“Thanks.”

Maybe thinking I was still shaken from the online post, my senior offered a kind word.

I gave a sheepish smile at his congratulations and made eye contact with Seo-Rin, seated diagonally from me.

Her face was flushed with rage.

Even after pulling all that, she still lost.

She must’ve been suffering from how unbearable it all felt. As if she knew exactly why I was smiling, Seo-Rin clenched her fists tightly.

Just then, the Programming Department door opened. Someone entered, scanning the room as if looking for someone, then their gaze settled on me.

“Announcer Yoon?”

A familiar face waved at me with a bright smile.