The Edge of the Rooftop
Sojin swallowed hard.
The wind whipped through her hair, tangling it into a mess — just like her heart.
I should step down from this drama before it truly begins. That's the right call.
She placed her hands on the railing and looked down. At that dizzying height, her heart pounded like mad.
If I die here, will I be able to go back?
Sojin's hands trembled violently. The tips of her fingers were turning ice cold.
This is a drama. It's not real. Even if I die here, it won't be a real death.
She was terrified — terrified that in trying to escape a death ending, she might actually die for real.
But if she just stood there doing nothing, she would die as 'Lee Seira' without ever accomplishing a single thing.
And honestly? I don't want to live here anymore. I want to go back to my own world.
Her friends, her career — everything she had existed in the real world, outside the drama.
Somehow, the conviction that she *could* go back grew stronger and stronger.
Mind made up, Sojin climbed onto the railing.
Just a few more steps forward, and she would either die or return home. One or the other.
The harsh wind swept across her body. The scarf around her neck came loose and fluttered away behind her, dancing into the sky.
Two steps. No — I only need one.
Sojin drew in a breath and closed her eyes. After a long moment of resolve, she opened them again.
It was the exact instant she lifted her trembling foot.
THUD!
Sojin whirled around reflexively.
There stood Dohyun, pushing through the rooftop door.
Why is the male lead here of all places……?
His gaze traveled slowly toward her. Then, belatedly grasping the situation, his face hardened in an instant — the color draining from it entirely.
"Step away from there. Now. What do you think you're doing?"
Dohyun approached her slowly, every movement careful and measured, as if afraid she might startle and lose her footing.
Sojin stared at him blankly. Then she collected herself and asked, "Why are you…… here?"
At her words, Dohyun's fists clenched. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
"Get down. Right now."
"Like I said, why are you……"
"It's dangerous, so get down!"
Dohyun's voice tore out of him through gritted teeth. Sojin, cowed by his terrifying intensity, shrank back without thinking — completely forgetting, for the moment, that she was standing on a railing.
"Ah— ah!"
"……!"
Sojin lost her balance and tipped backward.
In an instant, the world fell silent, as if a vacuum had swallowed every sound. Everything moved in slow motion — and Dohyun was already sprinting toward her.
The flower pattern etched on Sojin's wrist glowed a brilliant white, then dimmed and faded away.
Am I really… falling like this?
Seira's final moments from the drama flashed before her eyes like a man's life passing at death's door. Seira, who had tried to destroy the female lead and died for it. Seira, too, had fallen from a rooftop.
Come to think of it…… why did I even come to the company?
Sojin's expression froze in an instant. The realization crashed over her like a tsunami.
I fought so hard not to end up like Seira — and in the end, I acted exactly like her.
Regret came flooding in too late. It seemed the moment had already passed.
But then — as if an invisible hand had shoved him — Dohyun lunged forward, and that fraction of a moment was just enough for him to snatch her arm and waist.
He pulled Sojin tightly into his arms and rolled across the rooftop floor.
Only then did the sounds of the world come flooding back.
"Hahk……!"
"Ha… hah……"
Dohyun's ragged breathing brushed against her ear. He pulled her closer still, as if confirming that she was truly alive.
Only now did Sojin's heart lurch into overdrive.
I really… almost died.
"Wow. That was way too close……" Sojin breathed out, half a sigh, half a lament.
Dohyun released her roughly.
"Are you out of your mind? What on earth is wrong with you!"
He gripped her shoulders and shouted, his voice dark and trembling. Sojin flinched and looked up.
A chill fury burned plain in his eyes. The man who always maintained perfect composure looked, for the first time, on the verge of coming apart. He looked terrified.
Terrified……?
Only then did it dawn on Sojin — from his perspective, he had just witnessed someone attempting suicide.
Her voice crawled out of her throat, small and shaking.
"I… I'm sorry……"
"If you want to die, at least don't do it here. Do you have any idea how much of an inconvenience you're being to me right now?"
"……"
"If you die, who's supposed to deal with your corpse? I'm telling you — don't go making your mess other people's problem!"
Dohyun's chest rose and fell noticeably.
Sojin looked at him with cool, dead eyes.
Cold-hearted male lead, through and through. Right. Why would you ever worry about a fiancée who's nothing but a thorn in your eye? Still — sorry is sorry.
She added, almost defensively, "…Strictly speaking, I wasn't trying to die. Sorry for startling you."
I was only trying to get back to reality — I really wasn't trying to kill myself. Though, sure, from where he's standing, there's plenty of room for misunderstanding. And fine, maybe I did regret it the second I started falling……
Dohyun raked a rough hand through his hair. Something raw and feral radiated from his eyes.
"Don't tell me — is this some kind of stunt to get my attention?"
"Excuse me?"
"If it is, forget it. It won't work. It disgusts me."
Dohyun shot to his feet — then swayed, clutching his head, and sank back down, his face ghost-pale. His breathing came in short, labored gasps.
Come to think of it, Dohyun's condition was far too strange. The cold sweat, the alarming pallor of his face — none of it was normal.
"Wha… what's wrong with you?"
Leaning against the railing, Dohyun closed his eyes and forced the words out with difficulty. "…Go. I'm going to stay here for a moment."
"How can you say that! Is it something else — did something happen……"
"Ha…… Just go. Please."
Sojin hesitated. Was she really going to leave him like this?
He did just save my life, after all.
She pressed her hand to his forehead, checking for a fever — but he didn't seem to have one. Dohyun, too drained to even resist, simply hung there limply, breathing hard.
"Do you have some kind of chronic condition?"
"……"
"Or something psychological?"
Dohyun answered none of her questions.
Then, suddenly, something flashed through Sojin's mind.
That post mentioned it. That there was a knife attack in the Executive Director's office.
Could it have actually been real? I just assumed it was baseless gossip…
Sojin's eyes swept over his condition. At a glance, nothing seemed obviously wrong.
Then her gaze snagged on Dohyun's right hand.
Beneath his shirt cuff, blood was running in a red line down the back of his hand. Drops gathered at his fingertips and fell, plip… plip, onto the floor.
Sojin stared at his hand, stunned.
Only then did she understand. Dohyun hadn't been leaning on the railing out of simple exhaustion. He had been enduring the pain.
The moment the blood pooled and spread across the rooftop floor, her face went white.
With trembling hands, Sojin took his bleeding hand in hers. Red stained her fingertips.
Dohyun yanked his hand away.
"Let go."
"You're… you're bleeding——"
"I told you to leave. There's nothing for you to worry ab——"
"How can you be like this! A person is! Bleeding!"
Sojin's voice cracked and wavered. Dohyun let out a long sigh.
"It's just a scrape, so……"
"It's a knife wound and you know it."
Dohyun slowly opened his closed eyes. His cold gaze settled on her.
"How did you know that?"
Sojin's breath caught.
Wha… what is this? That was supposed to be a secret? It was posted right out in the open on the intranet!
She stammered, her voice small with fear. "I saw a post on the company intranet…… It said the stabbing happened in the Executive Director's office……"
"So you read that post."
Dohyun's eyes sank even colder.
"Fast work, considering I had it deleted."
He dragged his left hand down his face, again and again, as if something had just become a massive headache.
Sojin scrambled to her feet and pulled her phone from her pocket.
"First, I'll call Secretary Ahn. And then 911, and——"
Dohyun seized her arm.