The Line She Couldn't Hold Back

Sojin stopped in her tracks.

Wait. No way……!

A dialogue window popped up before her yet again.

What kind of insane——!

Sojin immediately tried to peel herself away from the spot. But her body swung back toward Dohyun against her will.

Her mouth began moving on its own. Her voice came out thin and trembling.

"Executive Director Kang, I'd like a different reward. May I make you a proposal?"

Every team leader's gaze snapped to her at once.

Dohyun narrowed his eyes and answered.

"What is it?"

Please no. Not that, not that!

Sojin hastily clamped her palm over her mouth.

"Mmph……!"

Something clawed its way up her throat, straining to burst free.

"Mm…… mgh…… gi…… give……"

She gritted her teeth. Her fingers dug in until her lips ached from the pressure.

And yet the words still leaked through the cracks between her fingers.

"……to…… me……."

Dohyun's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"Ms. Lee Sera."

He took a step toward her.

"What's wrong with you?"

Sojin shook her head hard, stretching her free hand out toward him. She wanted to tell him to stop coming closer. She wanted to scream that those weren't her words, so don't listen to them, please don't listen.

But her lips kept moving beneath her palm.

"……you……."

The last syllable slipped out like a crushed breath.

The conference room froze in an instant.

Dohyun asked again.

"You want…… what, exactly?"

The moment those words left his mouth, the dialogue window vanished. Sojin ripped her hand away and gasped for air.

It's over. He figured out what I just said, didn't he?

She stole a glance at Dohyun's face. But there wasn't a hint of awkwardness anywhere on it.

……Huh?

Come to think of it, all she'd actually gotten out was "give you to me." Just those three words, no more.

So does that mean it counts even if I don't finish the whole line?

Just as her face began to brighten, something hot surged up from the back of her throat.

"Hk……!"

A wet warmth spread across the palm she'd reflexively pressed to her mouth.

Sojin slowly pulled her hand away. Dark red fluid glistened across it.

"……Blood?"

Her body buckled forward. The harder she tried to hold it in, the hotter something clawed up her throat.

Blood slicked her lips and dripped, drop by drop, down the line of her jaw.

Dohyun lunged toward her. Yuna crashed into his shoulder on the way.

"Blood——!"

"Call 911!"

"Team Leader, stay with us!"

Behind the voices, Sojin's body tipped further and further sideways. Then she slipped under completely.

At the center of the flower on her wrist, a percentage glowed into being and sank to 3%.

Through the haze of her dimming vision, she saw Dohyun sweep her up into his arms.

Sojin opened her eyes slowly.

The first thing she saw was a blinding white ceiling. The faint sting of antiseptic in the air. The steady beep of a machine keeping time. The low murmur of voices somewhere beyond a curtain.

She blinked dully for a while.

Where…….

Then her mind snapped wide awake.

"……!"

She shot upright on reflex. The room immediately began to spin, and her throat burned like she'd swallowed a mouthful of dry sand.

"Ugh……"

She was clutching her throat with one hand, gulping down air, when——

"You're awake."

Sojin turned her head slowly to the side. There sat Dohyun in a flimsy folding chair. His usually immaculate shirt was rumpled, his tie hanging loose around his neck.

When his deep, dark eyes——eyes like the surface of a lake at night——turned toward her, Sojin found herself holding her breath without meaning to.

"……"

The instant their gazes met, her stomach dropped.

For a long moment, Dohyun said nothing, simply watching her. The silence was strangely suffocating.

Sojin finally forced her dry lips apart.

"……Where am I?"

Her voice cracked.

Dohyun's gaze brushed past her lips, across the line of her throat. He answered in a low voice.

"The ER."

"Th-the emergency room?"

"You don't remember collapsing?"

"Ah……"

Now that she thought about it—they'd gathered with just the team leaders for the meeting, and then……

The dialogue window popped up. I tried not to say the line, and then suddenly I was coughing up blood.

It all replayed like a panorama, all the way down to the searing pain tearing up her throat. The memory of that pain alone sent a shudder through her whole body.

So if I refuse a line…… I die?

No. If it were actually fatal, she probably wouldn't have opened her eyes again. Which meant she was being made to suffer pain of the "would rather die" variety.

I'd love to run another experiment, but I'm too scared to try…….

Wasn't there a saying—ignorance is bliss, or something like that? Knowing exactly how much it hurt, she couldn't summon the courage to test it again.

And she had no idea when the next dialogue window might rear its head.

Just then, Dohyun rose from his chair. He picked up his suit jacket, which he'd draped over the seat beside her.

"Now that I've seen you're awake, I'll be going."

"Oh……"

Right—Dohyun had been here the whole time.

So the male lead himself had been keeping watch at her bedside. Had he ever cared this much about his own fiancée?

Don't overthink it. Everything's running according to the original story anyway. This is just part of the script too.

Still, she ought to thank him…… right?

Sojin wet her dry lips.

"Um……"

He only turned his head slightly.

"What is it."

"……Thank you. I seem to be owing you a lot of favors lately."

Dohyun's brow shifted, barely perceptibly.

Sojin averted her eyes, flustered for no good reason. Whether it was her raw throat or something else, her voice came out even smaller.

"When I collapsed…… you're the one who brought me to the hospital. And you stayed until I woke up."

"Don't get the wrong idea."

Dohyun answered without a beat's hesitation.

"An employee had an accident during a meeting. As the person in charge, I simply needed to confirm her condition. That's all."

Not a single word of it sounded tender.

And yet, somehow, Sojin nearly laughed.

The more I learn about him, the gentler he turns out to be. Even more than the glimpses I caught of him in the drama. A little prickly, sure.

The corners of her mouth lifted on their own.

"Even so."

Dohyun's gaze returned to her.

"Thankful is thankful. For all of it."

A short silence passed.

For a long moment, Dohyun just looked at her without a word. Deep in those dark eyes, something unreadable seemed to flicker, just for an instant.

But it was gone as quickly as it came. His face settled back into its usual blank mask.

"If you have the energy to waste on pointless chatter, you have the energy to rest."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"The doctor said not to talk too much today. Apparently there's some kind of damage in your throat—that's why the blood came back up. He says it'll heal in a few days."

Sojin found herself touching her throat without meaning to.

Dohyun turned to go. Then he stopped mid-stride and spoke.

"And."

Sojin looked up.

"If you feel another collapse coming on, don't tough it out. Say something."

"……"

"Unless vomiting blood in front of people is one of your hobbies."

He walked out of the ER. Only after his figure disappeared from view did Sojin finally let out her breath.

"……Seriously? You don't even think of me as your fiancée, but you worry anyway?"

The male lead, of all people. Why would he go this far out of his way for a fiancée he supposedly can't stand?

And yet, somehow, a corner of her heart felt inexplicably warm.

When Dohyun stepped out of the ER, Jihwan was waiting for him, leaning against the corridor wall. Dohyun walked straight over.

"The car?"

"Yep. Parked right out front. Just go hop in."

"Good."

Dohyun gave a short reply and started to move, but Jihwan raised a hand.

"Oh, and—I'm off the clock now, by the way. I'm not Secretary Ji right now, just Jihwan, so talk to me casually."

"Do as you like."

Dohyun brushed past him and headed for the parking lot. Jihwan shrugged, then fell into step right behind him.

They walked in silence for a while. Then Jihwan glanced back once toward the ER, and studied Dohyun's face.

"So what's your deal, anyway?"

"What do you mean."

"You keep saying she's not really your fiancée. That you're not actually getting married."