Chapter : 95
“What? Hey, Yoon Haein!”
“Manager. I’ll wear it with A-yeon unnie. Please take care of me.”
Haein said this and walked down the hallway without even looking back. From behind, Baek A-yeon’s voice calling out to her could be heard, but Haein ignored it neatly and stepped out of the building.
The next day.
It was the day of the press conference for The Temperature of Summer.
Haein forced herself to stay awake, rereading the script over and over until it seemed like it would wear out from overuse. Even so, the stylist’s hands brushing through her hair felt unusually warm.
The warm air from the salon’s heater, the gentle music, the soft touch—it all stirred an irresistible drowsiness in Haein, who was trying to manage her extremely tight schedule.
Still, the pressure of the press conference today was stronger, and Haein forced her eyes to blink rapidly, fighting off sleep.
“Haein, rest your eyes a bit. You practiced the group dance this morning and didn’t get any break.”
Today, the group dance rehearsal with all thirty actors had resumed, and after using every joint and muscle she rarely used, Haein felt like her legs might fall off at any moment.
On top of that, she had barely slept two hours, analyzing the character she was assigned.
“I don’t know what questions might come up on set… I just want to get more familiar with the script.”
Since it was her first press conference in a long while, her nervousness wouldn’t easily fade. She hoped her hiatus wouldn’t be too noticeable.
Haein’s gaze returned to the script.
Spring-Summer. She still couldn’t get a clear sense of what kind of character she should portray.
The Temperature of Summer
Spring-Summer: Just mentioning her name made people look at her with peculiar eyes. Her life, blending the unusual surname ‘Spring’ and the season ‘Summer,’ was always like the heat of midsummer.
Born and raised in Jeju Island, she could only gaze longingly at the mainland as if it were a distant fantasy. Dreaming that one day she would step into that fantasy, Summer lived her life busily today as always.
Born in the same hospital, living a life completely different from hers on the mainland—the most successful daughter of Jeju, Ha Young-ju, comes down to Jeju, broken from the dreamlike mainland.
Summer begins to soothe Young-ju’s heart with the warm temperature she carries.
“I don’t exactly know what Spring-Summer feels for Ha Young-ju. I can’t tell what the writer wants to show through this character either.”
“Hmm. How about thinking about it a bit more slowly? If you were Spring-Summer, what would life in Jeju be like?”
Haein pictured the Jeju sea in her mind at Gayoung’s words. She felt she had to discover the intent of the work herself.
She thought that the reason Dojun brought this script to her must be hidden in it.
The connection between her and ‘Spring-Summer’…
“Definitely, it doesn’t seem like the healing-life theme typical of usual human dramas. It feels more complex, perhaps.”
Haein forced herself to read through the script, which blurred in her tired eyes. At that moment, her phone, resting on a small table, began to ring.
Looking down at the phone without emotion, Haein’s eyes widened. A familiar name appeared—unwelcome but unmistakable.
[Let’s talk.]
“Who is it?”
Gayoung, seeing Haein’s expression, looked at the phone in puzzlement. Soon, she muttered a sharp curse.
“W-what! Isn’t this Jin-won Lee?”
“Yeah. Crazy Jin-won Lee.”
The name she had been trying to erase from memory for months appeared on her phone, and Haein couldn’t hide her surprise.
Jin-won Lee—her ex-boyfriend, who had latched onto Baek A-yeon like a bat.
“Are you going to reply?”
“No. I have nothing to say.”
Just then, the salon door opened, and a man in a beige coat walked in. How he knew Haein was there, she didn’t know, but he strode in confidently.
“Hey, Yoon Haein.”
“I… I’ll bring you a drink, sir!”
Sensing the tense atmosphere, a staff member quickly moved out of the way. Jin-won grabbed Haein’s wrist without hesitation.
Haein looked down at her wrist caught in his large hand. She couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.
“What are you doing? Are you taking a role that’s full of vigor?”
“Wow. I heard Yoon Haein has changed. So it’s true. A-yeon said your personality went to hell.”
“Everyone treats me like a fool, but I can’t just take it every time. How did you know I was here to make such a precious trip?”
This was not the old Haein. Not the Haein who had clung to him in Paris, fearing he would break up with her. Just yesterday, she had been clinging, terrified the word ‘break up’ might escape her lips.
Haein, receiving makeup in a glamorous salon while preparing for the press conference, looked like the actress she had dared not even glance at five years ago.
Jin-won stared at Haein for a moment, then ran his hand through his hair. Her dull skin revealed the sleeplessness she had endured.
“…Don’t be sarcastic. I came with a request. I asked the company how I could find you here.”
“A request to me, Jin-won? Wouldn’t it be faster to ask Baek A-yeon?”
The memory of that day in Paris flashed like a ghost. That day, abandoned by him in a five-star hotel overlooking the beautiful Paris nightscape.
“When I’m with you, I feel suffocated. I’m tired of encouraging you, who quit acting using your panic disorder as an excuse. I’m just taking off. Once I started, I realized who I really want.”
She vividly recalled herself, forcing back tears. His cruel words, indifferent to her pain, replayed like fragments of memory.
“Not you, but someone with passion like A-yeon.”
Haein felt infinitely small hearing the words of a man who had used his panic disorder as an excuse. The tears streaming down her cheeks reflected her inability to refute him.
“I want that passion too. I tried everything to start again, but it didn’t work. You were the one who watched all that, weren’t you?”
She sincerely wanted to act again. There were still many things she hadn’t shown the public. She wanted to rise again, but cameras and the audience terrified her.
The day she reached the peak as an actress and then fell into an endless abyss—that feeling was unforgettable.
“I want to see you shine at the highest place. No matter what anyone says, I’m your fan. Your number-one fan.”
“And now, the winner of this year’s Best Actress award is…! Wow! I knew it! I think the public will agree too. Congratulations. Yoon Haein of Enchantment! The work that attracted the first ten million viewers of the year!”
The day her name was called at the highest point, the applause ringing in her ears blurred her mind. Then, fragments of happiness shattered in her memory.
“No…! Ah! Why are you lying here! No, no, no!”
“Someone take Haein! Quickly!”
“Stop. That’s enough. I can’t breathe.”
Haein slowly closed her eyes. Even recalling those memories made her lips tremble.
Perhaps sensing Haein’s hesitation to comply with his request, Jin-won gently swept both her cheeks with his hands.
