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S#87 was the highlight that showcased the unmatched strength of Yeong-wol.

S#88 is the highlight where Yeong-wol’s true identity is revealed.

‘Could this be considered the red pill in some way?’

As Hae-eun prepared for S#88’s shoot, her greatest worry was Yeong-wol’s feelings of being discovered as a woman.

This S#88 was when the unique characteristics of a cross-dressing female character became most apparent.

Like many cross-dressing female characters, Yeong-wol is equally flustered when her identity is exposed.

Furthermore, even with her still-developing body, she desperately tries to hide her femininity.

‘The mask.’

To Yeong-wol, her appearance as a man has been the mask that allowed her to stay by Lee-hyun’s side.

Even knowing it’s too late, she turns her body away from Lee-hyun to hide her upper body for that very reason.

Only the bodyguard Yeong-wol can remain at Lee-hyun’s side.

She must wear that mask of lies in order to be with Lee-hyun.

However, since the mask has already been removed once.

Since her real identity has already been revealed once.

Now, she knew very well that she could no longer hide her identity.

Now, she understood she could no longer be by Lee-hyun’s side.

​

「…Please punish this woman who dared to offend Your Highness…」

She says she will take the punishment for deceiving Lee-hyun all this time, engulfed in deep sorrow.

The outward appearance revealed was more fragile than ever.

Hae-eun had already understood why someone like Yeong-wol would become so weak just from her identity being discovered.

No, one might say she had already known.

‘How could I not be afraid?’

In her previous life, Hae-eun had also masked her true self to gain affection.

She knew all too well the kind of fear that comes when your frail true self is revealed due to an inadvertent mistake.

The extinction of the love she could receive by pretending to be someone she wasn’t.

The abandonment and neglect that filled the void of what she once desperately craved.

Technically, Yeong-wol had not yet been abandoned or neglected.

However, she firmly believed she would soon be cast away by Lee-hyun.

The bitter feelings that Hae-eun had faced countless times in her previous life, she believed would soon become Yeong-wol’s feelings too.

She thought Yeong-wol’s expression could reflect the dark face she had seen through the windows of the hospital.

A pitiful figure that bore no hope.

At that moment, while holding her breath and waiting for Lee-hyun’s decision.

​

-Swoosh.

Warm fingers, rather than a cold voice, slipped through the gaps between Yeong-wol’s scarred fingers.

Following that was a gentle voice that seemed distant from anger.

​

「…You were this small, huh.」

Unknowingly, her gaze met a face that was utterly calm.

There was not a speck of betrayal visible in the expression directed at Yeong-wol.

There was no choice but to be taken aback.

She was a sinner who deceived the Crown Prince.

Only punishment and judgment should have been given.

Mercy and compassion should have been impossible.

Something that must not happen.

Yet.

​

「Thank you for coming back.」

The eyes.

The expression.

The voice.

Even the soft warmth wrapping around her hand.

「And, never… leave again. I command it.」

It was unbearably warm.

What should I say?

What on earth should I say?

A sight unseen even in dreams.

A sight that had not even been allowed in dreams.

It was hard to believe such a dreamlike scene was reality.

She couldn’t believe it at all.

「I am the sinner who deceived Your Highness…」

「You are also the benefactor who saved my life.」

「I simply wanted to stay by Your Highness’s side. Because of my trivial selfishness.」

「It is this trivial selfishness that keeps me alive.」

「I fled, fearing the oppression that would come to my father!」

「It was my sin that made you unable to trust me.」

How could she blame him?

Then the added gentle voice completely broke Yeong-wol.

Her lowered head.

Her slowly heaving shoulders.

Her voice which began to be filled with emotion.

​

「No, Your Highness. You cannot embrace a sinner like me…」

She continued to speak words that contradicted her true feelings due to her guilt towards Lee-hyun.

Yet, the answer that returned from the still gentle voice was.

「How can I embrace the people if I cannot even embrace the one woman I love?」

It was what Yeong-wol had longed to hear more than anything else.

「I cherish you, Wol-a.」

Her breath caught in her throat upon his heartfelt words.

Almost simultaneously, her heart began to race.

Tentatively, she raised her trembling gaze.

Finally, at the very end, she barely managed to ask.

「Since… when…?」

「Since the time you saved me once again. Or perhaps, it could have been since that day in the forest.」

To be exact, it was after Lee-hyun confirmed Yeong-wol’s identity with his own eyes that he became aware that his feelings for her were affection.

However, it remained unchanged that he had cherished her for quite some time.

「Grant me your wish to stay by my side.」

Yeong-wol’s heartfelt confession returned to her in a form she could never have imagined.

Then what welcomed her was a gentle smile.

Lee-hyun’s warm hands still intertwined softly with hers.

In response, Hae-eun began to create a facial expression she had never once shown.

‘…No way.’

‘This will definitely be a hit in ratings.’

‘This scene will absolutely make it into the articles.’

The emotions welling up from deep within her chest were vividly reflected in her eyes.

Eyes that were wet yet did not look sad.

A mouth that trembled, unable to easily utter any words.

All of this was Yeong-wol’s first display of sincerity.

The first reveal of her affection.

What Yeong-wol had to keep hidden and suppressed in the past.

She had thought it would never happen.

Yet, in the end.

「Please be my lord…」

「Gladly.」

The answer she received.

In that moment, the two gazes filled only with affection met in the air.

The distance, once quite close, slowly narrowed between the two of them.

Lee-hyun’s hand gently cradled the back of Yeong-wol’s head.

As they drew nearer and nearer.

-bang.

Once they could no longer close the distance, they fully closed their eyes.

At the same time, a warm tear dropped down Yeong-wol’s left cheek.

S#88.

A reunion.

It was a perfect finish that suited that title well.

*

“What does Seong-jae think?”

“It seems to have turned out well? Especially the emotional lines.”

“What about Hae-eun?”

“It… looks well-shot.”

Honestly, I didn’t have the courage to suggest a reshoot.

After all, it was Hae-eun’s first attempt at skinship acting in her 18 years of life.

I had known the existence of the skinship scene for a long time.

The difference between knowing it in my head and actually acting it out was more significant than I had thought.

Of course, it wasn’t really something worth worrying about since it was acting.

Even so, it might be a bit difficult to keep reshooting skinship scenes over and over.

It was hard enough to pull up the feelings Yeong-wol had just reached peak emotion.

Well, whatever.

It seemed from Jin-kyu’s perspective that there weren’t any particular issues.

No, it was actually a near-perfect shoot, enough to wonder if we could recreate the same scene again.

“Thank you both for your hard work today.”

The two lead actors of <Cleaving Clouds>, Yoo Seong-jae and Hae-eun.

And, announcements were made to all other staff, indicating that today’s shooting had concluded.

However, Seong-jae and a few other male actors had to stay at the filming site.

The reason being.

“Um, it’d be better to just put the speaker on and practice, right? Anyone have a Bluetooth speaker?”

“Hiseong just went to get one.”

The special dance video shoot for promoting <Cleaving Clouds> was fast approaching.

Since both Yoo Seong-jae and the other male actors had their schedules, it was better to practice while everyone was gathered at the filming site, just like now.

In the end, it was all for the success of <Cleaving Clouds>, so the actors were doing their best.

After that, the dance practice continued for about 30 more minutes.

And throughout that dance practice, one person had been watching closely.

“Isn’t that Hae-eun?”

“Hasn’t her manager shown up yet? Why hasn’t she gone home yet?”

Not long after those comments, after being pushed by other actors – who were almost the age of her father – Seong-jae stopped the dance practice momentarily and approached Hae-eun.

But before he could even ask why Hae-eun was still at the filming site.

“Can I join too?”

“Dance video? Or the dance practice?”

“Um… both?”

Hae-eun first wanted to join in the dance video.

Looking back, the special promotional video for <Cleaving Clouds> had become quite the topic of conversation.

That video had surpassed 10 million views, so she thought that if Yeong-wol appeared in it, there would be even more buzz.

After some moments of contemplation, Seong-jae called over the staff in charge of the promotional video to ask if Hae-eun could participate.

“Hae-eun can’t join.”

She was immediately cut off by Jin-kyu, who heard that while standing nearby.

It was due to concerns that Yeong-wol’s image, which needed to show strong charisma in the earlier part of <Cleaving Clouds>, could be harmed.

Hae-eun didn’t think it would be that big of a deal.

However, since the director Jin-kyu said so, she eventually gave up on being in the dance video.

But.

“Then, can I at least practice together?”

“I wouldn’t stop you from practicing… but why would you want to?”

“Oh, that’s… because it looks fun.”

She insisted on participating in the dance practice.

‘Who else can say they’ve danced with Yoo Seong-jae?’

It was a very personal reason.

Then the dance practice resumed with Hae-eun included.

Unlike the male actors, with whom they had already practiced several times, Hae-eun had never practiced the dance with them, but she decided to join in for the sake of participating.

‘Why is she good at dancing?’

Since Hae-eun had practiced dancing to some extent for the recent Fantasia audition video.

And because the special promotional video for <Cleaving Clouds> remained fresh in her memory, she managed to blend seamlessly among the male actors.

“I think this can be included in the making film, right?”

A crew member proposed this as they watched Hae-eun’s flawless dancing skills.

Since there was no particular reason to object this time, Jin-kyu accepted the staff member’s suggestion.

The official meeting regarding <Cleaving Clouds> promotion began several days later.

“Rather than Seong-jae appearing alone on <2 Nights 3 Days>, it would be better if Hae-eun appeared together too, don’t you think?”

In the following discussions, additional ways for the actress Hae-eun to contribute to <Cleaving Clouds> promotion were suggested.

Among them, the idea involving the KBC’s representative variety show, <2 Nights 3 Days> gained the most support.

These days, the show’s ratings were slightly low, but

it was still an adequate program to achieve the goal of promoting the drama.

However, the fact that Hae-eun was still a minor weighed on Jin-kyu’s mind.

The fact that <2 Nights 3 Days> was a bit rough of a variety show also caused Jin-kyu’s concerns.

If Hae-eun were to appear clumsy on <2 Nights 3 Days>, Yeong-wol’s image would naturally take a hit as well.

For that reason, Jin-kyu expressed concerns about Hae-eun’s participation in a show like <2 Nights 3 Days>.

“Oh? Director, you really don’t know? Hae-eun is great on variety shows!”

“…What are you talking about?”

After hearing that Hae-eun had exceptionally performed as a guest on a famous variety show called <Don'tStopPeople> a few years ago.

More specifically, after seeing the viral meme titled <Han Yoo-hwa.gif Educating the JP by Physical Education> that heated up internet communities for a while.

Jin-kyu shifted to the stance of supporting Hae-eun’s appearance on variety shows.

The sight of Hae-eun in that meme had been quite shocking yet refreshing for Jin-kyu.