Chapter 15: The Snake's Venom and Fading Shadows
Seo-yoon paced across her marble floor, her heels clicking like gunfire. "How dare that little gray mouse mock me!" she screamed, throwing a crystal vase against the wall. The sound of shattering glass did nothing to calm her nerves. "Min-ho is letting an assistant choose the cast? It's a disgrace! I am a star, not some beginner he can toss aside."
She narrowed her eyes, her breathing heavy. "Everyone has a skeleton in their closet. I'm sure 'Ji-soo' is hiding a whole graveyard." She grabbed her phone and pressed speed dial. "Jason, darling! Get in here. Now."
Jason Deroulle entered the room a moment later. A former heavyweight boxing champion, his face was a map of scars and bruises from his days in the ring, but his suit was impeccably tailored and expensive. His motto was simple: 'I fight for you.' He wasn't just a manager; he was a fixer with contacts all over the globe.
"I fight for you, Seo-yoon. What do you need?" he rumbled, his voice like gravel.
"Find out everything about this 'Ji-soo' who works for Ariadne. I want to know where she came from, who she sleeps with, and every lie she's ever told."
It didn't take long for Jason to return with a wicked grin. "There is no Ji-soo, boss. I spoke to Ariadne's actual personal assistant, a woman named Sun. She told me Ariadne is at a secret location writing her next book and hasn't hired anyone new in years. My contacts in the industry have never even heard the name Ji-soo. She's a ghost. A total fraud."
Seo-yoon purred, a predatory smile spreading across her lips. "Good boy, Jason. You did well. Now, go get your star a drink. I have a leading role to reclaim and a fake to destroy."
Later that day, the atmosphere at the production office was heavy. Min-ho sat at his desk, his fingers interlaced so tightly his knuckles turned white. To an outsider, it looked like he was praying. To Mr. Kim, who was watching through the glass partition, it looked like a man watching his world crumble.
Mr. Kim, looking impeccably sharp in his new suit, hesitated. He had never seen his boss this defeated. But the silence was shattered when Seo-yoon rounded the corner, her voice cutting through the office like a blade.
"I need to see Min-ho. Now!" she barked, stopping at Mr. Kim's desk. She looked him up and down. "Mr. Kim? You're still here, you bore? Well, at least you've finally learned how to dress. Now, step aside. I need to speak with my ex-fiancé."
Before Mr. Kim could even reach for the intercom, Seo-yoon swept past him and marched into the inner office. "Min-ho, darling! Forgive the intrusion, but I couldn't stay silent," she cooed, her voice dripping with fake concern.
Min-ho didn't even look up. "Leave, Seo-yoon."
"Not until you hear the truth. That 'Ji-soo' you've grown so fond of? She's a fraud. My intuition told me something was off, so I had her checked. There is no record of her, Min-ho. Not in production, not in Ariadne's office. She doesn't exist. She's playing a dangerous game with you."
She leaned over his desk, a satisfied smirk on her lips. "I'm telling you this for the sake of our history. She's a snake. Get her off the set before she ruins you. And darling? If you need a shoulder to cry on... you know my number."
With a flourish of her designer bag, she turned and left, the scent of her expensive perfume lingering in the air like a warning.
Min-ho stared at the door long after Seo-yoon had left. Her words echoed in his mind like a rhythmic drumbeat: No record. No Ji-soo. A fraud.
"It can't be," he whispered, burying his face in his hands. It didn't make sense. How could the woman who had changed his life with a single, desperate kiss in a stalled elevator be a ghost? He loved her. He had loved her from the moment she started cursing in four different languages.
But then, a memory from Busan surfaced—a flicker of sadness in her eyes when she told him, "There's something you don't know about me."
The pieces of the puzzle were starting to fit together, but the picture they formed terrified him. Was she a liar? Was she hiding from something—or someone? He thought of Lukas, of that shadow in the alleyway, and of Seo-yoon's venomous smile. He couldn't wait any longer. He didn't care about the script or the production anymore. He had to face her. He had to know the truth about Busan, about Lukas, and about who the woman in his heart really was.