Hyun-su raised his eyebrows at the sight of the two of them so close together. Ara dropped her hand immediately, stepping back to clear her throat.

"Jungsu, are you okay?" He trailed off as he looked up and down at Jungsu, blinking a couple times at the distressed state Jungsu was in.

"I... ah... saw the videos..." Officer Hyun-su trailed off.

"There's videos?" Ara's brows raised in surprise as she moved closer to Hyun-su as he pulled out his phone to show her.

Ara felt her face fall as she took in the sight. There were far more people in that crowd than she had imagined. In fact, they appeared to be more of a mob than a crowd, for the way the bodies were thrashing and pulling at Jungsu made them seem like animals.

Now she understood why he looked so unlike his usual assured self. His eyes still looked wild, and he looked more alert than he always was.

"Jungsu... are you hurt anywhere else?" She asked apologetically without looking into his eyes.

"I'm fine." He responded, his lips as sealed as they usually were.

"We won't take you to the doctor for sh*ts sake!" Hyun-su shouted at Jungsu.

Jungsu cleared his throat then and said quietly, "I think I may have pulled a muscle in my shoulder. No that doesn't sound right. I didn't pull anything, they did." Jungsu corrected himself.

"Is it near your injury?" Ara squirmed as she now felt guilty looking at him.

"Yes." Jungsu nodded his head.

"Come on. Let's get out of here." Hyun-su grabbed onto Jungsu's arms and pulled him outside.

Jungsu leaned back, tugging himself out of Hyun-su's arms. Picking up the edges of his ripped sweatshirt, he held his arms against his chest.

"Where are we going?" He asked with wide eyes, looking like a child at that moment.

"Nowhere of importance." Hyun-su responded as he pressed his lips together.

"You're taking me to the hospital, aren't you?" Jungsu asked as he looked at Hyun-su with perceptive eyes.

"We won't inject you with anything. That's my promise. Just...please comply this time." Hyun-su said seriously as he stared at Jungsu.

Jungsu nodded his head reluctantly as he noticed how serious Hyun-su had gotten.

"And on the way there, we need to have a serious chat with Kangsoo Entertainment. Is this how they protect their artists? And what the hell were you thinking leaving your house?"

"There was a minor inside my house-"

"That's why?! You should have just pushed her out? What's wrong with you?" Hyun-su shouted at Jungsu.

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Jungsu shook his head, furrowing his brows as he responded, "I can't just touch a girl. And what if somebody misunderstood what was happening and had me arrested?"

Ara narrowed her eyes at his first statement, wondering why he had no problem squeezing her neck.

"Nobody would have misunderstood, Jungsu." Ara let out a sigh. "You need to realize that you are a star now. People will follow you for no reason, that is to be expected."

"But still, touching-"

"Okay, let's move now. Investigator… you can handle the situation here. I saw more than a cpuple bodies on the floor by the lobby." Ushering Jungsu outside, Hyun-su threw on his jacket over Jungsu as he once again took in the pitiful state he was in.

_______________________

Jungsu's shoulder was once again newly wrapped as he sat down on his sofa, turning off his phone after scrolling through images and videos of himself being mobbed. Needless to say, he would not be returning to the internet again anytime soon.

It was not only the videos and photos that disturbed him, but also the comments. They didn't seem to see anything wrong with what had happened, making Jungsu feel as if perhaps this was a normal occurrence in South Korea.

Instead, there were various comments expressing that they wished they were also there. Some asking about how he looked in person, while others asked about how he felt.

Jungsu wasn't sure if they were referring to his feelings or something else. He didn't want to think about that.

He sat with a bewildered and inexpressible feeling as he read through those comments.

Still, Jungsu felt reassured that not everyone was mad when he read comments that berated other users for their lack of morality.

Placing his phone face down on the table, he thought about his conversation with Hyunwoo. He'd told Jungsu that they needed to do some damage control, whatever that meant, and that he should lie low for a couple of days. Jungsu nearly huffed out a laugh then as that was what he did every single day. But perhaps Hyunwoo meant for him to not leave his house at all.

He had offered for Jungsu to live in the company apartments. Jungsu didn't know whether or not to accept as while he was glad that he would not have to pay for rent, he didn't know how he felt about the company having the keys to his house. That would mean that Jungsu would have to be more vigilant even in his sleep.

But then, Jungsu thought of the mob and how he was quite vigilant in his sleep even now, and considered taking up the offer. Although he would miss Grandma's food, along with the kids, it was not wise to stay in a location that had been compromised.

Picking up the script from the table, he flipped through the first few pages. He had already read through and memorized all the lines, but not simply his lines. The lines of every actor. Memorizing came easy to him as he had a photographic memory.

He had to be prepared, otherwise he didn't know what to expect from the filming process. Jungsu did not like to be played a fool.

There were several holes in some scenes that did not make sense to Jungsu, however, he figured the director knew what he was doing and that he better keep his mouth shut.

The movie was an action and thriller mixed in with a little bit of romance.

The story followed an ordinary office worker who stumbles upon the dead body of his boss, causing him to fall victim to a sick plot devised by the villain of the story. It was a game of cat and mouse in which the office worker unraveled the pieces of a twisted puzzle. Of course, the movie ends with the villain dead after he shoots himself.

Apparently, the villain in the story was actually the son of the boss. Later on when they find the will, they find out that the father had left behind everything in the name of the son.

That was quite contradictory to Jungsu, as why would a son who is set to own everything kill his own father?

His skepticism was later cleared, however, when he began to understand the twisted logic of the villain. He was not of stable mind, yet Jungsu felt he could understand him in a way. He'd always been made to understand the roles he took on.

He was a son whose obsession with seeking his father's approval led to him trying to rid himself of the urge to please his father. He accomplished that by killing him.

It was clear that the villain's childhood was not a good environment as his father would constantly beat him up. His mother would come home late after drinking and the parents would fall into a routine of bickering and fighting, with the mother always ending up on the floor.

Jungsu was startled to realize that it reminded him of his own childhood in London.

But while the poor villain had managed to get away with only a couple murders, Jungsu had gotten away with far more.

That was where the similarities ended, however.

Despite the director telling him to act like himself, Jungsu didn't see any similarities between himself and the character the villain presented himself as in public. And while some of the scenes were shot in private where the villain could be himself, half of the scenes required Jungsu to act in a charming manner which was very unlike his usual demeanor. Jungsu was not charming. But, for the sake of his mission, he would try to be.

From the movement within Kangsoo Entertainment, he had concluded that Kang Haeun was starting to take cautionary actions in retaliation of Jungsu's presence in his company. Jungsu had felt more eyes on him than before when he'd visited the company today. While it was mostly the curious eyes of the workers that he felt, he also felt the more calculative eyes of more powerful and connected figures.

Jungsu knew that it was only a matter of time before he would encounter the man. Though Jungsu wasn't sure how much Kang Haeun knew about him, he would not be coming in unprepared.

Jungsu remembered seeing Kang Haeun's file as he was sifting through some files in preparation for his escape. Kang Haeun seemed to have left the North after he was already involved in a mission with the Italians for drug distribution. It seemed that he was still in contact with them, as his activities seemed to suggest that he was still in the same business. But now he was using it for his own profit.

Jungsu let out a breath as he skimmed his eyes over the pages of the script, shaking his head as he tossed it back onto the table in front of him.

Jungsu tried smiling charmingly then, but it came out more as a grimace than anything else. He couldn't do this alone. Even when he was out on the field, he would be acting for people, in front of them. Now he was not fooling anyone. Not even himself.

The script reading was in less than a week from now. Jungsu figured he would test it out then.

Whether or not he could fool them.