Ji-Eun's POV
The mansion was too quiet.
Joon-Hyuk had returned last night, but he'd locked himself in his study, ignoring even Halmeoni's threats of disinheritance.
Ji-Eun busied herself making tea—Soo-jin's favorite, Halmeoni had mentioned absently—when the doorbell rang again.
Not her. Please not her.
But it wasn't Min-ah.
It was a deliveryman holding a sleek black box. "For Han Ji-Eun."
Her stomach twisted. She hadn't ordered anything.
Inside the box lay a single item: a news tablet, its screen already lit.
BREAKING: KANG JOON-HYUK'S NEW PLAYTHING—A GOLD-DIGGING INTERN FROM THE SLUMS?
Beneath the headline was a photo of her leaving the police station with Min-jae, Joon-Hyuk's coat draped over her shoulders.
And worse—a second photo. Her mother, gaunt and frail in a hospital bed.
The attached article was a masterpiece of cruelty, detailing her family's debts, her "convenient" internship at Kang Enterprises, even her brother's arrest record.
Min-ah's work.
Her hands shook so badly the tablet clattered to the floor.
---
Joon-Hyuk's POV
Joon-Hyuk heard the crash from his study.
He found Ji-Eun on her knees, scrambling to gather the shattered pieces of the tablet, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
Then he saw the headline.
Rage, white-hot and blinding, seared through him. He reached for his phone—his lawyers would burn every media outlet involved to the ground—but Ji-Eun grabbed his wrist.
"Don't." Her voice was hollow. "They're not wrong."
He froze. "What?"
"I am poor. My brother did get arrested." A broken laugh escaped her. "And I am here because I owe you."
Something inside him cracked.
"That's not—"
"True? Isn't it?" She stood, wiping her eyes furiously. "You bought my debt. Now everyone knows."
The resignation in her voice gutted him.
He stepped closer. "Ji-Eun—"
She flinched.
That tiny movement shattered him completely.
---
The Storm Breaks
Rain lashed against the windows as Ji-Eun packed.
Halmeoni had tried to stop her, but Ji-Eun couldn't stay—not when her presence was now a weapon for Min-ah to wield against Joon-Hyuk.
Her phone rang Min-jae
She picked it up and answered it , she heard her brother Min jae had shaky voice trying to be strong which broke her heart "Noona, w..hat the hell is g..oing on? Reporters are outside our apartment—"
Her heart stopped. *Mom.*
She was about to move but Joon-Hyuk was already there, his own phone pressed to his ear. "—secure the hospital wing. No press. No visitors." He hung up and met her gaze. "Your mother's safe. My security team is with her."
Min-jae
Joon-Hyuk's eyes locked on Ji-Eun. "You're not leaving."
She laughed wetly. "Or what? You'll sue me?"
"I'll beg."
The raw desperation in his voice stilled her.
Then he did the unimaginable.
Kang Joon-Hyuk, the untouchable tycoon, dropped to his knees.
---
**The Confession**
"I brought you here because I'm selfish." His voice was rough. "Because for the first time in seven years, I wanted to wake up in the morning."
Ji-Eun's breath caught.
"You think you're indebted to me?" He shook his head. "I'm the one drowning in you, Ji-Eun. In your laugh. Your stubbornness. The way you look at me like I'm not a monster."
Joon-Hyuk didn't move. "Stay. Not because I own your debt. Because I'm yours."
The admission hung between them, fragile as a heartbeat.
Ji-Eun reached for him—
His phone rang. Hospital.
The moment shattered.
---
*Halmeoni's Collapse*
The drive to the hospital was a blur.
Halmeoni had fainted, the doctors said. A minor stroke.
Joon-Hyuk stood frozen outside her room, his face ashen. Ji-Eun recognized that terror—the fear of losing the last person who loved you.
Without thinking, she grabbed his hand. "She's tough. She'll fight."
His fingers tightened around hers like a lifeline.
A doctor emerged. "She's asking for you both."
Inside, Halmeoni looked small in the hospital bed, but her eyes were sharp as ever. "Idiots," she croaked. "Took a near-death experience to get you to hold hands?"
Joon-Hyuk choked out a laugh.
Halmeoni patted Ji-Eun's cheek. "You're staying, yes?"
Ji-Eun glanced at Joon-Hyuk. At the hope flickering in his stormy eyes.
"Yes," she whispered.
Halmeoni smirked. "Good. Now get out—I need beauty sleep."
---
Joon-Hyuk's POV
In the hospital hallway, Joon-Hyuk finally broke.
Tears streaked down his face as he pulled Ji-Eun into his chest. "I can't lose someone else."
She clung to him, her own tears soaking his shirt. "You won't."
For the first time in years, he believed