Meanwhile, at Dohyun's apartment, the CEO and Sarah arrived, only to find dried bloodstains on the floor. Both of them panicked and were about to call the police, but Miran stopped them. He advised them to stay calm and investigate privately, to avoid making a scene that would hurt the company's reputation and its stock price.
In reality, every one of them had their own ulterior motives behind that worried look.
Back at Seo's house, Dohyun texted her to complain that he was hungry. Seo said they were completely out of rice, so she had left some money there and he could go to the shop and buy it himself.
Dohyun whined again. "Oh my god, I'm a superstar. What if fans recognise me on the street?"
Seo said coldly, "I'm busy with work now. If you want to eat, get in the kitchen. Otherwise, just starve."
Left with no choice, the big shot had to disguise himself completely to go to the grocery store for rice. He trembled as he walked, not just because he was afraid of crazy fans recognising him, but because his biggest fear was that the masked killer might be lurking somewhere in the dark, ready to strike again.
A superstar who used to live in the spotlight was now sneaking around like a thief just to buy a bag of rice, which was both pitiful and funny. Dohyun even wore an old helmet he found on the side of the road, so he'd be fully covered.
Just as he got back to Seo's door, he froze. Miran was walking out of the house.
Since Dohyun was wearing the helmet, Miran didn't recognise him, so Dohyun faked his voice as a rice delivery guy to trick him, and then ran away.
After Miran was gone, Dohyun finally dared to go back inside, but his heart was full of confusion. He wondered why Miran knew where Seo lived. He remembered that the night he was attacked at the bar, Miran had been there too. Now Miran had turned up here, and Dohyun started to suspect that this close brother of his was the masked man who wanted to kill him and take his place as a superstar.
Meanwhile, Seo was screaming when she saw her credit card bill. Besides the money for Dohyun's fancy food, she and Namu had also secretly overspent, because they had been planning to skip the debt and run away for good.
Dohyun heard that and mocked her. "You really are a master scammer. From kidnapping to skipping credit card bills, you don't lack any tricks."
While he was looking through Seo's work documents, he saw photos of Miran shooting for projects that he himself had turned down. Seo said that Miran had taken all those projects, and that he treated her very well, even driving her all the way home. She was even dreaming that Miran must be into her and was about to ask her out.
Dohyun felt his stomach turn with jealousy as he listened. But he also realised a bitter truth. If he disappeared, Miran would be the one to benefit the most. It was painful to think that the person he saw as a brother was the one who wanted to harm him.
Seeing Seo struggling because the bank kept calling to demand payment, Dohyun took her phone and called the CEO directly. He told him to immediately transfer an amount of money to pay off all of Seo's credit card debt.
After that, Dohyun even secretly met a reporter to drop some shocking news. He was officially retiring and leaving show business.
The CEO was beyond furious, because Dohyun had made the decision on his own. But Dohyun explained that it was a baiting game. He wanted the person hunting him to think he had given up and was no longer a threat, so they would let their guard down, making it easy for him to catch them.
After that, Dohyun took both Seo and Namu back to his mansion. He declared, "From now on, you two have to stay here with me."
Seo strongly protested, because she didn't want to get involved any further. But Dohyun had a dirty trick ready.
"I've already paid off all your credit card debt. Now you're my debtor. So if you don't have the money to pay it back, you have to stay here and be my bodyguard to work off the debt."
Seo was speechless and had to sadly accept living with the superstar to pay him back bit by bit.
Dohyun even threatened her that if she didn't listen and stay at the mansion, he would sue her in court for the money he had used to pay off her credit card bills. "I have full proof of the transfer, so just think about whether you want to listen to me or go to court to pay it back," he said, and then walked off smugly.
Namu saw that and came closer to whisper to him. "Hey, are you keeping her here really to protect you, or is it because you like her now?"
Dohyun was caught off guard and stuttered his denial, but Namu just smirked. "All right, I believe you," he said, and turned and walked away.
Stepping into a top superstar's mansion for the first time, Seo was blown away by the extreme luxury. While she was sitting blankly on the sofa, Dohyun suddenly came closer and leaned his face right in. She thought he was going to kiss her, so her heart started pounding and her legs shook. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited.
Who would have thought? He just reached across her to grab the TV remote. Seo's face turned beet red, and she wanted to find a hole to crawl into and hide.
On TV, there was breaking news. Fans were protesting everywhere because Dohyun had announced his retirement. Seo wondered why he had done it.
Dohyun explained, "I'm taking one step back to take three steps forward. The one who wants to hurt me will think my time is over and show their face."
Right after that, Dohyun suddenly announced his comeback, and took back the projects that Miran had taken over for him.
Miran was furious and came to find him. "Why did you steal my work?"
Dohyun replied coldly. "No matter how much of my work you do, you'll never, ever be able to take my place."
Miran stomped off in a huff, but not before inviting Dohyun out for drinks that night, as a challenge.
Dohyun told Seo he was messing with Miran on purpose to find out whether he really was the masked killer.
The photo shoot for the new project happened right at Seo's company. Seeing her getting bullied by her co-workers and the manager, and forced to do all the heavy lifting, Dohyun felt bad for her, but he couldn't help her out in the open, because he had to keep their relationship a secret.
When Seo was working on a ladder and almost fell off, he rushed over to catch her. Then he acted like a diva superstar and chewed out the manager. "Why are you letting an inexperienced staff member do such dangerous work? If she fell on me, who'd be responsible? From now on, do this work yourselves."
Using that trick, Dohyun saved Seo from being picked on. Finally, he shocked everyone by declaring, "Seo is quitting soon."
Seo was furious, because she was broke, and now she was being forced to quit.