Upon arriving at her accommodation, Heavenly Yuah let out a long sigh and threw herself onto the bed.
How long had it been since she wandered the streets without caring about what others thought?
She had ended up completely exhausted from her overenthusiastic exploration.
Considering the immense stamina of this body, this was an unprecedented case of overdoing things.
“But the results were quite impressive. Truly, a harvest beyond expectation.”
Although enjoying some private time with just the two of them was nice, what made her happier was realizing his true feelings.
Thinking back, this opportunity for a “favor” was a golden chance that needed tangible returns, and squandering it due to mere irritation and frustration felt excessive. However, given the current situation, she was confident they had made more than enough progress.
“I didn’t expect you to be thinking in this way. Why exactly did you hesitate? Was the reason that your existence in this world, which is different from my restored memories, signifies another form of awakening?”
When she first regained her memories, her goal was to capture his heart. And when she realized he also remembered her, she was certain that, in one way or another, his choice would come to her. She merely believed that it would take some time. It was obvious that a significant amount of effort would be necessary to mend what had been broken between them, but she was convinced that she alone could fully understand and accept all of him.
“And then, I got blindsided.”
Her leisurely attitude came to an abrupt halt when their worst rival literally resurrected.
From that point on, everything felt precarious. The fact that someone else could embrace all of him the way she did represented a lethal threat.
“She’s such a difficult woman.”
Had the rival been an enemy, she would have eliminated her in a heartbeat. But things were more complicated because the game here wasn’t about excluding competitors—it was about winning his heart. Considering the feelings he had for this other woman and his reluctance to let go of her memorabilia, excluding her arbitrarily meant losing him altogether.
He had the option to exclude her, but she could not. It was an inherently unequal game—one that began when the other woman awakened her memories. At that moment, it was already clear that she would remain connected to him forever.
“All of this made me angrier.”
When she saw them kissing while she wasn’t around, it felt like glimpsing her own future. She had experienced something similar before, making it even harder to bear, though she herself had forgotten initiating a kiss upon her awakening.
“For me, the only thing that mattered was discovering whether his heart was ready to accept me. Everything else, truly, was insignificant.”
Despite her ongoing sense of unease, Heavenly Yuah finally found an answer today: He too had feelings for her and was ready to accept her.
Moreover, once he made his decision, she was confident she could fully control the situation, as the rival’s choices were quite predictable due to her own sense of destiny.
“Up to this point, she’s been waiting for her karma, right? But so have we.”
Until now, she refrained from making a decisive move to prevent losing him through an overly assertive choice. Now, she no longer had such concerns since the rival’s predictable actions aligned with her own plans. The unexpected emergence of the word “choice” momentarily confused her, but she quickly decided to view it charmingly.
“What on earth has he learned in the martial forest, where having multiple wives is commonplace? This world isn’t much different either.”
While monogamy is considered proper in many societies, it is rarely strictly adhered to. Many people have multiple households, with some openly adding more partners. Her own family was a prime example. Her father even had another wife and son, and had her capabilities been less dominant, there might have already been debates over her succession.
In most nations, while monogamy is ideal, breaking that norm brings only minor drawbacks; the marriage might not be legally recognized, and there might be some social backlash. But if no one catches you, no problem. If push comes to shove, moving to the United States and retiring would suffice.
“Social protections are ultimately for the weak. Should anything serious arise, we can always ask the Al Sheypf prince for new citizenship.”
Thinking about it all, this situation posed no problem at all.
“Rather, it worked for the better. We should give the heir our family name and let him continue the work.”
From the start, White Siu and Heavenly Yuah were on entirely different scales of thinking. The fake madness of martial arts enthusiasts like White Siu was no match for the true madness found in someone like Heavenly Yuah.
After accompanying Heavenly Yuah on her outing, her mood seemed much calmer than before.
The tension between them had eased, even turning into a closer, friendlier relationship.
Honestly, she still didn’t fully understand why. Replaying their final conversation in her mind didn’t shed any clarity either. How was it that someone talking about the difficulty of choosing between them became a source of joy?
“Hmm… I don’t understand why?”
“Why?”
“Yuah has become very generous. She decided to overlook the mistake I made last time.”
“Isn’t that just fine?”
“No, it’s strange. A mistake like that would usually result in a penalty like ‘skip my favor!’ So, what did our Siu do to deserve such generosity?”
“Nothing, as far as I know.”
“Could it be…?”
“Could what?”
“Could it be a scheme to send me away?”
“Nothing like that…”
“Suspicious. Very suspicious.”
If Moon Suyeon noticed this as well, it meant something was definitely strange. Perhaps it was the calm before the storm? While she harbored suspicions that something major was coming, she decided to stay optimistic for now.
“Wow, do you think we’ll hit ten million?”
“Hyun-ho will definitely remove the -40,000 mark.”
“True, it was quite lucky. That nickname might have stuck forever if not for good fortune.”
Amidst all this, the number of audiences for our movie kept growing.
Nam Hyun-ho would always check the audience count daily, grinning all the time.
I felt the same way. Now that we’re nearing the ten-million mark, the sense of achievement is undeniable. This was, after all, largely due to Yoo-a’s efforts. Without her push to secure the seven-day extension, we would have probably topped out around 9.5 million.
“Wow, Revenge has finally crossed six million?”
“They benefited from the rescheduling too.”
“The world is such a strange place…”
The delay of Guardian’s release by one week was clearly unexpected, even for the Korean distributor.
Regardless of how the contract was written, the event actually occurred.
In the void, both our movie and Revenge successfully filled the gap.
Sensing something amiss, the TS side eventually noticed and used Tae-kyu to urgently reverse the backlash, improving the public opinion around Revenge.
It was a bit late, as the manipulation began much earlier.
However, it was difficult to pinpoint the exact timing. What happened was largely due to D-Pictures’ ignorance of the true extent of their die-hard fans and Flame’s ability to exploit that.
Even TS, experts in this field, might have struggled to spot the manipulation unless they were fully aware.
After all, someone like Heavenly Yuah had been active for a decade without significant opposition, proving Flame’s effectiveness.
Such a company is undeniably exceptional.
In these areas, even D-Pictures and TS find it challenging to compete against our company.
Despite a few issues, the fact remains that it was a well-made noir action blockbuster, and their final effort was evident.
Eventually breaking the six-million mark, they managed to surpass the breakeven point and survive.
Without the delay, I doubt they would have even reached the breakeven point.
“Our Yoo-a saved many people.”
Using Tae-kyu for publicity was either a case of giving and then taking away, or vice versa.
However, since the first move came from the opponent, it could simply be seen as self-inflicted.
“Wow, America is really vast.”
“Right?”
“Recently, it seemed like owning a ranch in America isn’t such a bad idea. The open landscapes were amazing.”
“Will language be a problem?”
“But Daddy’s English is native-level, remember? I’ve worked closely with American buyers.”
“Even so… it’s still a bit risky.”
“True. Everyone seems to have firearms on their ranches…”
After traveling to America, her father seemed enchanted by the vast ranches, passionately praising them during their conversations.
At this stage of his life, such a dream might not be surprising.
Though dreams and reality are different things, her father seemed like someone who could thrive even in America, thanks to his friendly nature.
“By the way, I heard Ha-young is having a tough time lately.”
“Is that so? What’s wrong with her?”
“Something about a difficult song the company gave her. It’s very finicky.”
“Ah…”
“It’s a lot of practice, practice. She might be close to collapsing. It reminds me of her preparation for the debut selections.”
“She’ll handle it well.”
“Yes, trust our daughter.”
As the call ended, her father mentioned her niece’s situation, clearly indicating she was under immense pressure. This was likely the explosion of issues we had planted in PMC as landmines.
Since PMC isn’t foolish, this was all too natural. They had already informed us about the contract’s progress, but as expected, performing Luna’s guided track perfectly is no small task, even for someone like her.
Or, did she think she could breeze through a song composed and guided by Luna herself?
Without doubt, this song will feature Luna’s name in the promotion, and any Luna fan would be furious if they didn’t take it seriously. Still, if she perseveres and toughs it out, the resulting fruits will be sweet. So, keep going.
“Will it be easy for Mo-jiri and Suyeon to catch up?”
“They’ll manage.”
PMC isn’t dumb either.
