Mr. Mah:
"Yeah, but yours isn't."
Damian (calm):
"Come on, it's not my first time. Remember that scandal with the actress from one of my dramas? Everything went back to normal, didn't it?"
Mr. Mah (frustrated):
"That was different. She was an actress. But Ella? She's a nobody."
Damian (annoyed):
"She's not a nobody. She's a scriptwriter."
Mr. Mah (surprised):
"What?"
Damian:
"Nothing... It'll settle in a week or so. Not a big deal, right?"
Mr. Mah:
"Well, we'll see. I'll try to suppress the news as much as I can. And I'll ask her not to come in for a few days."
Damian (concerned):
"Why?"
Mr. Mah:
"If you two are seen together again, it won't just be a fire. It'll explode like a bomb. It's better for both of you. Let's pause the work on her drama too."
Damian:
"Why should we? If there's really nothing between us, then why are we so scared?"
Mr. Mah (serious):
"Because these netizens can love you like heaven… and hate you like they want to drag you to hell."
(Damian angrily looks at his tablet, clutching it tightly after reading a comment: "What a gold digger. I can't believe he fell for a girl like her.")
Damian (furious): Fine.
Mr. Mah: Damian, I'm doing all this for you.
Damian: Why only me? Doesn't Ella work with us too? You were the one who brought her in, didn't you?
Mr. Mah: Why are you defending her? Your image matters. Hers doesn't.
Damian (hurt and angry): Because she may be a nobody to you, but to me—she's my medicine.
You brought her in to help me heal.
Now that I'm recovering, she's suddenly of no use?
So, she doesn't matter anymore?
Mr. Mah: It's not like that, Damian…
Damian (voice cracking, on the verge of tears): Then what is it?
Why is everyone blaming her?
Even if we were in a relationship, wouldn't the blame fall on both of us?
And why would it even be considered a fault?
Aren't I human too?
Is someone related to me not human?
(He clenches his fists, tears finally falling.)
Why can't I live like a normal person?
Tell me—was I born to be nothing but a puppet for the world to play with?
To entertain them so much that my own feelings no longer matter?
I never asked them to imagine me as their husband, did I?
Then why…?
Tell me!
why can't I love someone?!
[Pause. Mr. Mah stays silent, stunned.]