Chapter 48
“Where does it hurt? Have you been examined? What did the doctor say?”
The moment Seungtae arrived, he immediately inspected Sara carefully, then touched her head with a thoughtful expression.
“Your head? The injury from back then hasn’t fully healed yet, has it? Well, you didn’t even get to rest and went straight to filming. No wonder something went wrong.”
“It doesn’t hurt. Really. Hey, get off me a little.”
“Then what’s this IV in your arm for?”
“Vitamins. Just to fool someone like you who doesn’t know anything.”
“…I see.”
Only after confirming that Sara’s condition wasn’t serious did Seungtae’s excitement calm down a bit.
“Are you really okay? I saw the statement your agency released…”
“‘Severe stress makes normal life difficult,’ right? That way, you won’t ask me what my situation is anymore. And Seungtae…”
Sara crossed her arms and stared at him intently.
“What’s with all this free time? Aren’t you working for your company? Are you just a figurehead?”
“Figure… haha. I’m working properly. It’s just that today’s Saturday, so I didn’t go to the office. I need to rest on weekends too.”
“Oh, today’s Saturday?”
Sara felt a little embarrassed and uncrossed her arms. Since her weekdays and weekends were all mixed up like a regular office worker, she hadn’t even realized it was Saturday.
Once he got a better grasp of the situation, Seungtae sat on the auxiliary chair next to the bed and spoke calmly.
“I was worried because I couldn’t reach you.”
“There were too many calls from reporters, so I just turned off all my phones.”
“I see.”
Sara found his fussiness and concern a little ticklish. She turned her head away and muttered half-heartedly.
“By the way, I’ve been in the hospital less than three hours—how did you find out? You didn’t actually put a GPS on me, did you?”
“No. I saw the news article and contacted nearby major hospitals. It just happened that you were admitted here.”
“‘Happened’?”
“This hospital is owned by my uncle.”
“Oh, really?”
By now, she wasn’t particularly surprised. She thought that even if Seungtae randomly pointed to a building while driving and said, ‘That’s mine. Got it as a birthday gift,’ she wouldn’t doubt it at all.
“So, you came here to avoid the reporters? Not because you’re sick?”
“Exactly.”
“How long are you planning to stay?”
“Well, I’ll leave once things calm down a bit. I still haven’t found the person who wrote that post…”
“Oh, about that… we found them.”
Seungtae said it so casually that she didn’t immediately understand what he meant.
“What do you mean?”
“The person who posted about you, Sara.”
“Really?”
Sara slightly opened her mouth in surprise. Yet compared to what she had been told earlier, her reaction was somewhat dull and plain. Even though this person’s post had caused the entire mess, she remained unusually calm.
“How did you find them?”
“They didn’t ask who I was.”
“Of course I’m curious. But I’m even more curious how you found them.”
Instead of answering, Seungtae stared at her face. A subtle tension lingered between them.
He laughed lightly to break the tension.
“Money makes things easier. Even people who kept their mouths shut eventually talk.”
“I see.”
“You said it wasn’t a big deal, Sara, but I was worried. And seeing the article come out made me even more determined to find the writer. But…”
“But?”
“The investigation led to an unexpected person.”
“Really? Who?”
Sara blinked innocently as she asked. Seungtae, knowing the truth, found her look genuinely pure and naive.
“Why did you do it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why did you have that reporter post such an article?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Seungtae.”
“Reporter Go said everything. You asked for it, and you even got paid for it. Want me to play the recording?”
He took his phone out of his pocket. In just a few seconds, Sara’s expression shifted from an innocent, clueless girl to something else entirely.
“Thanks to you, Seungtae, I learned a lesson.”
“What lesson?”
“If you don’t handle things properly, it’ll come back to bite you. I should have been more thorough in silencing it.”
“Huh.”
Seungtae exhaled a breath he didn’t even notice. It had been a while since he laughed out of sheer incredulity.
“When I first learned Reporter Go posted it, I assumed Kim Seyeon had ordered it. But the name that came out was completely unexpected.”
Honestly, at first, he didn’t believe it. He thought Kim Seyeon had anticipated being caught and instructed the reporter to say Sara’s name. But after reviewing their messages, calls, and proof of payment, he couldn’t deny it.
“Why did you do it?”
Seungtae still couldn’t understand Sara’s actions. Why would she deliberately hurt herself like that?
Right now, her name was plastered all over the portal sites. People were scrutinizing, mocking, and criticizing her relentlessly.
Sara smiled calmly at his question.
“Do you know why people watch dramas?”
“Dramas?”
“Because the good protagonist suffers at first but eventually finds happiness, and the villain gets punished. People want that kind of moral justice that rarely happens in real life.”
“I don’t quite get it. Are you saying you’ll become the villain and get punished?”
“The villain gets punished, yes.”
It seemed like she had some ulterior motive, but he couldn’t guess it.
Just as Seungtae was about to probe further, his executive assistant called.
“Oh, Director Oh. I’m at the hospital now. Can we talk later?”
[A news article about Sara Seo just came out.]
“Hundreds of articles come out every day. One more doesn’t make a difference. I’ll call later.”
He tried to end the call nonchalantly, but Director Oh added hastily:
[No, it’s completely the opposite. It’s a revelation from Kim Seyeon’s manager. I’ve sent the link via text.]
Sara peeked at the phone from the side.
“Looks like the articles are starting to come out. Let’s click it. I’m curious what it says.”
She looked excited, like a child expecting a birthday present.
Seungtae glanced at Sara’s profile, then clicked the link sent by Director Oh.
The word “revelation” immediately caught his eye.
<Revelation from Kim Seyeon’s Manager, Black Box Audio Released: Sara Seo Is the Victim>
The manager of actress Kim Seyeon, who is currently appearing in TEW’s drama Rockstar, released black box audio, sparking controversy.
A few days ago, a post about actress Sara Seo appeared online. Now, a post titled “I’m Kim Seyeon’s manager” has drawn much attention.
Manager A claimed that it was not Sara who shouted at other actors or ran personal errands for staff—it was Kim Seyeon. He uploaded an audio file as proof.
An excerpt from the audio:
― “Seyeon, have you memorized the lines? Want to run the scene twenty times?”
― “Senpai.”
― “Huh?”
― “Did you already forget what I said? Why do you keep trying to teach me?”
― “I wasn’t teaching, just trying to rehearse the lines.”
― “Not teaching? Did I ask you to help me? Why do things I didn’t ask for?”
― “But, Seyeon… the words sounded a bit off. Still, I’m the senior here.”
― “A senior should act like a senior for me to treat them as one.”
― “I just wanted to run through the lines since we’d have to anyway…”
― “We’ll rehearse on set anyway, right? And can’t you see I’m memorizing lines? You’re distracting me.”
― “Ah… sorry.”
― “Why are you so clueless? Act like a proper supporting actor. Even with a few lines, you make a fuss at readings. It’s annoying.”
The people in the conversation have been confirmed as Sara Seo and Kim Seyeon, shocking many.
Manager A stated, “Sara never behaved as described in the original post. She was always cheerful with staff and had no major conflicts with fellow actors. The real person in the post is Kim Seyeon, who mocked Sara despite her kindness.”
Kim Seyeon’s agency, Lesa Entertainment, declined to comment, saying they could not verify the claims.
Sara is currently reported to be hospitalized.
