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"You have reached a number that is currently unavailable. Please try again later. You may leave a message after the beep." The familiar prompt echoed in the receiver as Andy went missing once again. After the beep, Anna could only leave message after message, hoping to hear from Andy.
"What are you thinking about? Miao PD has called your name several times, and you haven't responded." Dong Wan patted Anna on the shoulder.
Anna snapped back to reality and looked over; Miao PD was indeed calling her name. She quickly got up and ran over.
"Anna, have the train tickets for Chuncheon been confirmed?" Miao PD asked.
"Yes, it's all set. Including three female guests, we have a total of 59 people. There are 74 seats in one carriage, and to facilitate filming, we bought tickets for an entire carriage," Anna replied.
"Good. Once we arrive at Chuncheon Station, you will head to the filming location on the lawn. That shoot will mainly be under your charge; can you handle it?"
Anna smiled and nodded, saying, "I can do it."
"Great, go check how the Camera Crew is preparing. The guests and Members will be arriving in just over half an hour," Miao PD instructed.
"Okay," Anna agreed and went off to attend to her tasks.
Brother Kwangsoo arrived particularly early today. He heard that today's female guests were Snow Hyun, who had recently become popular among the brothers, along with Sooji and Park Ji-yeon. As Kwangsoo got off the bus, his face lit up with excitement unlike any other day. Anna couldn't help but glance at his blushing face with a sigh.
"I heard Miss Snow Hyun is coming today?" This was Kwangsoo's first question after greeting everyone, leaning so close to the filming camera that it seemed like his face might touch the screen.
Miao PD did not answer him directly but said, "Mr. Lee Kwang-soo, please step back a bit; your face is too big for the filming camera."
Everyone laughed as they watched Kwangsoo's face turn red while he stepped back with a smile.
Before long, Gary and Haha came jogging over. Since Brother Jae-seok was absent, Gary appeared particularly dull. To tease him, Miao PD specifically asked, "Mr. Gary, do you know who today's guests are?"
Gary looked confused, and Haha and Kwang-soo burst into laughter at his expression.
"Who is it?" Gary still seemed puzzled. "Is it Brother Jackie Chan again?"
Seeing that he was completely clueless, Haha teased him, saying, "It's Andy Lau."
"Really?" Gary thought he was serious, widening his eyes in surprise and looking particularly earnest.
"Yes, yes, and Joey Wang too," Kwang-soo chimed in jokingly.
It dawned on Gary that they were just messing with him, and he sighed in disappointment, saying, "Oh come on, how could that be? I'm very smart."
Suddenly, Anna's phone rang. She picked it up to see it was a call from Park Chan-yeol. However, Yoo Jae-suk and the others had already arrived, and filming was about to start.
"Anna, get all the cue cards ready. Dong Wan, you go set the board," Miao PD instructed. "All crew members prepare in 3, 2, 1. Filming begins."
The phone continued to ring as Anna hurriedly answered it, saying, "Chan-yeol, I'm busy right now. I'll call you back later."
"Okay."
Anna quickly hung up and joined the filming work.
This kept her busy for the entire day. The concept of calling back 'later' became irrelevant by the time she finally had a moment to herself—it was already time for the last scene to wrap up.
They hadn't seen each other for a long time. Although Park Chan-yeol had been busy before, Anna used to stay at home due to her leg issues and would often run into him. Now that Anna was also involved in work, their chances of overlapping free time had become extremely rare.
Although Anna really wanted to participate in Running Man's activities, she sometimes found herself reminiscing about the days when she would wait at home, knowing clearly that Park Chan-yeol would show up whenever he had time.
Tomorrow was a day off; filming had finally wrapped up. Anna quickly ran to a quiet spot to return Park Chan-yeol's call and tell him about her day off. However, after dialing three times in a row, no one answered.
"Anna, come here!" Dong Wan called out.
"I'm coming!" Anna replied, listening to the still unanswered phone, silently hanging up and putting it back in her pocket.
"What's wrong?" Anna asked.
"Miao PD just notified that we have to work overtime for the initial edit at 8 AM tomorrow. Our break will have to be postponed," Dong Wan said.
Given some other concerns at the moment, Anna felt a bit disappointed but still smiled and nodded, saying, "Got it."
"Let's consider it a rescheduling; this way, our next break can be a bit longer," Dong Wan said with a smile.
"Yeah," Anna replied.
Miao PD had also come over at some point. Although tired, he still recognized Anna's performance in this project and said, "The location planning for this game was done very well. For the initial edit tomorrow, you and Dong Wan will each be responsible for one segment."
Being independently responsible for editing a segment was something Anna had not tried before, as it required a grasp of the overall atmosphere of the entire segment. The previous initial edits had been collaborative efforts, making this a new challenge from Miao PD.
Seeing that Anna had not responded for a while, Miao PD asked, "Are you lacking confidence?"
"No, I have it," Anna said.
"Then that's fine. Just go ahead and do it. Anyway, I'll review the edited video afterward, so don't worry," Miao PD said with a smile.
"Okay."
Peter was almost five months old now and growing exceptionally fast. Anna could barely hold him anymore, yet he still acted like he was little, shamelessly cuddling into Anna's arms.
"I'm about to be exhausted. Peter, do you miss me?" Anna said while rubbing his chubby cheeks.
The phone rang; it was a call from Park Chan-yeol, and Anna happily answered.
"Hello, Chan-yeol."
"Anna, I couldn't answer earlier because I was recording. Were you missing me?" Park Chan-yeol asked with a smile.
Peter seemed to recognize Park Chan-yeol's voice and became particularly excited, vigorously wagging his tail and panting with his pink tongue out.
"It's so late; are you still not done recording?" Anna asked, noticing the fatigue in Park Chan-yeol's voice.
"Almost done, just one more scene... Alright, I can't talk anymore; they're about to start. I'll hang up now."
"Okay, then you..." Before she could finish saying "take care of yourself," the line went dead.
Seeing Anna's disappointment, Peter stopped wagging his tail and sat in front of her, gently placing a paw on her leg and quietly staring at her. Peter's reaction warmed Anna's heart; she patted his head and smiled, saying, "Silly boy, thank you."
Having never owned a dog before, Anna truly experienced the innate spirit of such creatures since Peter arrived. He was very smart, knowing who genuinely cared for him and remaining loyal to his owner. Yet he was also quite foolish, remaining steadfast regardless of how his owner treated him.
Peter looked at Anna with eyes full of warmth and love, as if his entire world revolved around her.
What a wonderful feeling it was—truly magical.
"Let's go to bed," Anna said as she stood up. Peter got up too and started wagging his tail again.
Suddenly, there was a sound of the door opening, startling Anna. She turned around quickly to find Andy had returned.
Anna let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and broke into a relieved smile. "Andy, you're back!"
Peter glanced at Andy and immediately lay down in place, no longer daring to move, letting out a soft whimper.
Andy stumbled in, his cheeks flushed and his eyes bloodshot. He did not respond to Anna's words but instead glared at her fiercely. The smell of alcohol surrounded him, and he held a half-finished bottle of brandy in his hand.
Anna thought Andy was just drunk and had no idea what was about to happen. "Have you been drinking?" she asked as she stepped forward to help him, but he pushed her away. Losing her balance, Anna fell to the ground.
Seeing Anna being bullied, and fueled by his own animosity towards Andy, Peter's fear dissipated the moment he saw Andy push Anna down. He lunged at Andy, biting into his arm.
"Beast!" Andy cursed, shaking his arm but unable to shake Peter off. He picked up the bottle and swung it hard at Peter's head.
The sound of shattering glass mixed with Peter's scream.
"Stop!" Anna cried as she scrambled to her feet, but it was too late. In an instant, Andy lifted the fallen Peter and attempted to throw him aside. Anna, fueled by an unknown strength, jumped up and wrapped herself around Peter, and they both tumbled to the ground, rolling twice before Anna's back hit the wall, leaving her momentarily dazed.
"Damn it, how dare you bite me!" Anna shouted as she picked up a fruit knife and approached unsteadily.
Seeing this, Anna tightly wrapped her body around Peter, whose blood soaked her clothes.
Frustrated that Anna wouldn't let go, Andy grew even angrier. He threw the knife aside, where it lodged firmly into the wall. "Get out! Both of you!" he roared with bloodshot eyes. Anna felt that if this continued, they would be killed by Andy...
Without time to think further, disregarding her thin t-shirt and lack of money, Anna desperately lifted Peter and grabbed the keys and phone from the nearby table before fleeing the large room.
Holding Peter tightly, Anna ran without looking back, tears streaming down her face. Her bare feet were covered in blood from Peter's head injury. It wasn't until the villa disappeared from sight that Anna stopped, sitting on the cold ground of early spring Seoul at midnight. The skin on her feet had peeled away, leaving them battered. As she relaxed for a moment, her arms lost strength from holding Peter so tightly.
Peter sat beside Anna, licking the tears off her face while blood continued to flow from the deep red wound on his head. Anna cried; it was the first time she felt such fear—fear of Andy just moments ago and fear that Peter was hurt too badly...
With trembling hands, Anna took out her phone. The screen quickly became smeared with blood, obscuring the text. She wiped it on a clean part of her shirt and dialed Park Chan-yeol's number.
But once, twice, three times—there was still no response.
The phone was about to die, and Anna had no other choice; she had to reach someone who would definitely answer her call. Ultimately, she chose Hogga—the one who had not appeared for a long time...
Sure enough, as soon as the call was made, it was connected without any waiting.
"Hello, Anna."
"Hogga." Anna cried pitifully and said, "Help me."
"Where are you?" Hearing Anna's sobs, Hogga frowned.
Anna looked around; she was not far from the subway station at Hope Park.
"Hope Park."
"Okay, wait for me."
After hanging up, just as expected, her phone battery died completely, and the screen went black. In the early spring night of Seoul, the temperature had dropped to around zero degrees. Not only was she done crying, but she was also freezing. Anna had no tears left, and her lips were already turning purple from the cold. She held Peter tightly in her arms, fearing that if he closed his eyes due to blood loss, he might never wake up again.
Why had such a calamity struck? Anna didn't understand; Andy had changed little by little until he became this person she no longer recognized.
Feeling someone trying to take Peter away from her, Anna tightened her grip and looked up defensively to see Hogga's frowning face.
"It's me," Hogga said.
Only then did Anna slowly loosen her grip. Hogga placed Peter in the car first. Anna tried to get up, but the pain in her legs and the stiffness in her limbs from the prolonged cold prevented her from succeeding.
Hogga took off his coat and wrapped it around Anna, lifting her into the passenger seat of the car. He checked to make sure she wasn't injured and then fastened her seatbelt. After sitting in the driver's seat, he turned on the heater and started the car.
"Thank you, Hogga."
"You don't need to thank me, Anna."
Without Anna saying a word, Hogga found the nearest pet hospital. The on-duty doctor was startled to see Anna barefoot and covered in blood. After asking about the situation, he quickly took Peter for an examination and prepared for surgery.
"Is he going to be okay?" Anna asked cautiously.
"The wound is deep, and he's lost quite a bit of blood. We'll clean out the glass shards from the wound, stitch it up, and administer some nutritional IV fluids. He should be fine after that," the doctor said.
Anna finally showed some emotion, tears streaming down her face, but she nodded with a smile.
"Thank you."
Hogga disappeared for a while and returned with a pair of cotton slippers. Anna didn't ask where he had bought them; she knew Hogga always had a way. The stitching was done, but the anesthesia still hadn't worn off. Anna stayed by Peter's side, burying her head in despair.
Andy was her only family in this world. Losing him meant losing her only relative. They had relied on each other since childhood. Why did Andy become more distant and frightening every time he disappeared and returned?
What had he gone through to change so much?
In the past, even if Anna made mistakes, Andy would never truly be angry with her. What was different this time?
Before long, the on-duty doctor fell asleep at his desk again. Peter finally opened his eyes, but the IV fluids were not finished yet; he still needed to lie down. Anna comforted him.
"Where's your boyfriend?" Hogga asked.
"Busy," Anna replied, stroking Peter's head.
"Where are you going later?"
Anna paused for a moment before saying, "Home." She smiled bitterly and added, "Back to the home that truly belongs to me."
Until early morning, they finally set off on the road home. However, this road did not lead to the villa but to the small house where they had lived for twenty years. At that moment, Anna realized that was truly home. The Andy from their time in that small house was the real Andy.
Using the long-unused key, she opened the door. Everything in the room was as it had been, only covered with cloth. Hogga held Peter in one arm and pulled back the cloth on the sofa with the other, placing Peter down on it. Then he walked over and pulled Anna, who was standing there, to sit on the sofa. Anna tried to get up but was pressed back down by him.
"I..."
"Don't move, I'll handle it."
"But..."
"If you don't want to make things difficult for me and let me stay here overnight, just sit quietly," Hogga said with a smile. As he leaned in a bit closer, he seemed to remember something and asked, "Do you remember our first meeting?"
Anna certainly knew what he was referring to, her face flushed.
Hogga chuckled and said, "Just sit there; I'll be done soon." He then went to turn on the water heater and stepped outside. Rolling up his sleeves, he appeared somewhat clumsy from not having done housework before, but his movements were quick. Before long, the room returned to its previous state.
"Alright, that's about it. After I leave, you should take a shower and then go to bed," Hogga said.
Anna understood how comforting this politeness was. In the late hours of the night, alone in a room together, if Hogga had told Anna to take a shower earlier, she would have felt uncomfortable.
"Thank you, Hogga," Anna said.
"You don't need to thank me," Hogga replied with a smile, something flickering in his eyes.
"I'll pay you back for Peter's treatment in a couple of days," Anna said.
Hogga raised the corners of his mouth and said, "Okay. Then I'll take my leave; you should rest early."
"Alright, goodbye."
The room fell silent again as she returned to her familiar environment. There were no expansive spaces, no luxurious furnishings, no summoned servants; yet Anna truly felt an immense sense of comfort here. Even the scent of this place was what she was accustomed to.
She still didn't know what had happened to Andy, but she was very clear by now that even if she asked, Andy wouldn't tell her anything. Moreover, what Andy did today frightened her and left her heartbroken.
Anna glanced at her phone, which had run out of battery and shut down a long time ago. She didn't know if Park Chan-yeol had called her back, but now there was no way to call him again; she could only wait until tomorrow to buy a charger.
After chatting with Peter for a bit and telling him to rest well, Anna took off her blood-stained clothes and went to wash away the dirt. Lying down on the bed, Peter, although still uncomfortable, slowly walked over to Anna's bedside and lay down beside her before finally falling asleep peacefully.
Early in the morning at the office, Dong Wan immediately noticed that something was off with Anna. She looked extremely haggard, and her eyes were swollen. He teased, "Anna, did you have a fight with your boyfriend?"
"No," Anna replied.
"Then why are your eyes so swollen? You must have cried a lot," Dong Wan said.
Anna patted her face and forced a smile as she said, "I watched a movie yesterday; it was so touching that I cried a lot."
"Crying that much just from a movie? You're impressive," Park Seok chimed in jokingly from the side.
Anna shyly lowered her head and smiled, feeling relieved.
"By the way, does anyone have a phone charger? Can I borrow it?" Anna mischievously stared at the phone charger on Park Seok's desk.
"You only said that because you saw I had one," Park Seok muttered as he tossed the charger to Anna.
Anna caught it and smiled, saying, "Thanks, Park Seok. You're the best."
"Come on, you only call me 'brother' when it benefits you. You're clearly older than me by a year but never call me brother," Park Seok complained with a laugh.
"Isn't it because you look so young?" Anna replied with a smile.
After plugging in the charger, after a while, her phone finally powered back on after being off for so long. As soon as it turned on, messages started coming in one after another, all from Park Chan-yeol.
"Where are you? Why did you turn off your phone?"
"Call me back when you see this message."
...and there was another message from this morning: "Where did you go? Andy said you left."
Anna's mind instantly exploded; Park Chan-yeol went to her house and even ran into Andy.
Quickly unplugging the charger, Anna picked up her phone and stood up. Dong Wan and Park Seok, who were busy with something else, were startled.
"What are you doing?"
"I have a stomachache; I'm going to the bathroom. Miao PD will be here soon, so please let him know," Anna said as she ran out of the studio.
Dialing Park Chan-yeol's phone number, this time it finally connected. Before Anna could say anything, Park Chan-yeol's anger came through.
"Where have you been?"
Hearing his angry tone, Anna quietly replied, "I... moved back to my old place."
"Why didn't you tell me? Do you know how long I've been looking for you since last night?"
Originally wanting to explain things to him properly, Anna felt both stubbornness and grievance rise up inside her at Park Chan-yeol's shout. She bit her lip to keep him from hearing her cry.
"Then why didn't you ask me why I called you? What have I been through?"
Park Chan-yeol realized his tone and fell silent for a moment before saying, "I'm sorry; I was just too anxious."
Anna wiped away the tears on her face.
"Where are you living now?" Park Chan-yeol asked in a low voice.
Anna forced a bitter smile and said, "Do you have time?"
"Anna... I don't want to argue with you during the little time we have," Park Chan-yeol replied.
"Yeah, we've already started arguing."
"Where are you living now?"
"305 Pingtan-dong."
"Okay, I got it."
"Let's hang up."
After the call ended, Anna felt exhausted. She walked out of the booth and splashed cold water on her face. Standing in front of the large mirror in the restroom, she waited until the redness around her eyes faded before pretending to be nonchalant as she returned to the Running Man studio.
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