Chapter 211 - Hired Boyfriend

"You can only be kidding, Ye Rim!" Dr. Kim's look left no doubt astonished. "Do you want me to sign a contract for a public relationship? Do you want me to be a hired boyfriend?"

"Not quite," even embarrassed and pressured, Ye Rim tried to explain. "You will not be paid for this."

"HA! And I was supposed to work for free!"

"Well, I can always make it up to you..." she purred and added a wink to her plea. Still, Dr. Kim laughed,

"Oh, that would be great, but I don't want to think you would make that offer to any other candidate."

"I wouldn't! This offer is exclusive!" Ye Rim crossed her arms, feeling herself blush. "And besides, what's the problem? We are already in a relationship, aren't we?"

"I don't want to sign a contract with your agency on this. It is not clear enough?" Jun Hyeon also crossed his arms, and this time he wasn't laughing.

Ye Rim had insisted that they talk somewhere other than the hotel, so they were in a tourist spot, watching the cold night. The conversation, which had started while Dr. Kim and Ye Rim walked around hugging and snuggling, and had reached this point where Ye Rim had to admit, she was not doing well.

"Oppa! Be understanding! The Director has already invested a lot in me and he doesn't want to lose his money, not even his company's good name, because of Dae Won! He's adamant about it. I managed to convince him to let me try with celebrities I know, before he even picked anyone. He told me that I have until the end of the week for this. He believes that we can't wait long to make it public. I have a boyfriend and it's not Dae Won."

"But this is the point. Do you have a boyfriend! Did you tell him that?"

"Ah, well ... not yet. Because I needed to talk to you first!" Ye Rim was getting upset now. Honestly, she didn't think it would be that hard to convince him.

Jun Hyeon sighed,

"I don't like the idea of ​​having to sign a contract on this, my dear. We don't have to fight. We just have to take over our relationship, don't we?"

"Well, I told him that, too. I asked, 'Dear director, what if I had a relationship, but without a contract?' "

"And what did he say?"

"That he needed to ensure that the other person wouldn't go back or expose us, so it was common for there to be a contract. Of course, with confidentiality clauses and etc. It's for six months."

"Ye Rim! This is ridiculous!"

"We are not innocent of how things work in show business. This is pretty normal."

Ye Rim took a copy of the contract out of the bag and handed it to her boyfriend. "You could at least read."

Jun Hyeon took the contract, and waved it in the air, "If I don't sign this crap, then will he find a guy with some reputation to be your fake boyfriend? Just to untie your name from that bastard's name?"

"That's what he said. He even suggested some names. But he admitted that it would be easier if I already had some connection with that person. He commented that it could be Baek Woo Geun..." she wrung her hands.

"Give me a pen," Jun Hyeon made up his mind.

Ye Rim restrained the urge to shake her head in disbelief. If she had known that saying the candidate for a false boyfriend for the media was Baek Woo Geun was going to do the trick, she would have started with that information.

"Don't you want to read with your lawyer?"

"I can read it by myself. But I already say that six months is too little. Two years of dating is the minimum I require," he returned the papers to her, with a smile full of bravado. Ye Rim loved that devilish, victorious smile.

"Two years?! Are you crazy?!" 

"Of course not. It's just to avoid gossip about how we rushed our marriage."

The singer laughed,

"You fool, you deceived me too well with your resistance to fake dating."

"Who said I was kidding? It is ridiculous that you have to fake a relationship and get a false boyfriend because of all this mess. And even more ridiculous that I can be the candidate. By the way, does that make any sense? I am neither an actor nor a singer."

"But you are a celebrity. Don't play the modest. And the best part, you are my real boyfriend!"

Jun Hyeon sighed, "Then tell your boss the search for a boyfriend is over, and tell him that we are really dating. And let him know I will sign the contract for two years. I don't want him to come with other contracts with more fashionable celebrities after six months."

Ye Rim had to agree that this was also her fear. She threw herself into his arms and kissed the tip of his nose,

"You are right. Oppa is so experienced with contracts!"

Wrapping her waist around, he smiled,

"Yes, enjoy fully calling me oppa while our relationship is personal and not professional! I don't usually mix pleasure with business!"

"Uhum ..." she mumbled, doubting his words. His eyes were smiling, even if one brow was raised arrogantly to match his words.

Ye Rim was happy.

That rare moment when Jun Hyeon was smiling and being playful would surely become a good memory when all this mess was finally over. And she hoped it would be over soon.

Jun Hyeon's phone started ringing in his coat pocket. Ye Rim reached out and fished it from there, handing it to him, while she held herself hugged and protected from the wind by his broad chest. 

It was close enough to hear,

"Dr. Kim. This is Gi Myung Dae, director of your call center. We got a call. We believe it could be Kim Ji Hyeon," the voice on the other side spoke cautiously. "Can we put the recording on for you to hear? With your authorization, we will pass the call on to the police."

"Yes please."

Jun Hyeon's heart was beating fast now, just like Ye Rim's.

She held her breath, looking up at Jun Hyeon's face. He could even see his Adam's apple in motion, swallowing.

The call was paused for a moment and there was a click. And after that, the call lost its quality and became full of noise.

A woman's voice, shaky and trailing, was heard,

"Er… hello. This is Kim Ji Hyeon. This is the number on the TV for information on my whereabouts, so I called. I will arrive at Gangnam station at 9 pm today. Pass that call on to my brother and mother. They will recognize my voice. It's me, Ji Hyeon. Please, I need the police's help. I'm in danger, but I'm going there now. I'm hanging up now."

Ye Rim saw Jun Hyeon's eyes go red immediately. He had difficulty speaking when the call came back to the person responsible for the phone lines.

"Pass the call on to the police. I need to hang up. Thank you."

"Oh! Yes!" the person on the other end was surprised and genuinely happy, but Jun Hyeon hung up before he heard anything else and called another number.

Ye Rim didn't have to be a genius to deduce that he was Detective Ji.

She looked at her watch. It was 20: 32h.

ººº

Jae Ik handed the wide hooded sweatshirt to Ji Hyeon, who wore it over his clothes. She put a pollution mask on her face.

He also took the money out of the wallet,

"Take this, and throw my wallet outside. Did you decorate the path? "

"Yes. Right for two blocks, left for one block, pass the supermarket and the bank, turn right again. Subway station, "Ji Hyeon felt his chest ache with anxiety, moments before his planned escape. "Jae Ik, I will not forget you. After I get to my family, we will meet in a month at the Seoul Tower. "

"Okay, but now hurry up. Here, "he handed the heavy cleaning bucket to Ji Hyeon to hit. 

The woman's hand shook as she took the object. It had been hard to hit someone as despicable as Dae Won before trying to escape. Hitting a friend was even more difficult. Seeing this, the ex-convict encouraged her,

"Come on! Without this part, I will be in a lot of trouble."

Taking a deep breath, she did, with all the strength she could. Hit him in the back twice, as they had agreed. I wouldn't risk killing him by accident with a blow to the head, but it would have been enough to get him out of action and run.

And she ran away. 

The doors were open, but she closed the outside door of the shed as planned. Then, running through the dark alley, she reached the street and saw lights and people.

Her hands shook in panic.

She couldn't back down now, however, and she didn't want to. 

Struggling to walk at a normal pace, she put her hands in her coat pockets and lowered her head, walking down the sidewalk in the direction indicated. Each step away from her captivity seemed to urge Ji Hyeon to simply run towards the subway station, but she couldn't get attention.

The fugitive turned the corner when she felt a hand pulling her clothes from behind, hard. Ji Hyeon froze, and turning around, found that her nightmare was not over.

She raised her eyes to face Dae Won.