Seo Jung-woo went to see Lee Seon-hwa.

“First, explain the situation.”

Lee Seon-hwa explained about the car that had been scratched last night and the front door that was scratched today.

She spoke in a trembling voice.

“Once might be a coincidence, but twice? And on the front door? This isn’t just a stalker.”

Seo Jung-woo asked,

“How many CCTVs are in this building?”

“There are plenty near the entrance.”

“Near the entrance? What about inside?”

“None. The residents here value privacy a lot, so there are no CCTVs inside. Not in the hallways or elevators either.”

“Hmm. Let’s check the car first.”

Seo Jung-woo went down to the underground parking lot and examined the car. A distinctive pattern was scratched onto it.

Seeing it, he instinctively cursed.

“Ha. That bastard.”

The moment he saw the scratch pattern, he knew who the culprit was.

‘That bastard is stalking Lee Seon-hwa here too.’

There had been a stalker in the other world as well. That man had stalked the Lee Seon-hwa of that world. Seo Jung-woo had personally caught him.

And now, the same drawing that stalker had made was scratched onto this world's Lee Seon-hwa’s car.

Lee Seon-hwa grasped her left arm with her right hand, her body slightly trembling.

“I’ve had stalkers before, but none have ever scratched my front door. This time, I’m really scared.”

Seo Jung-woo knew the stalker’s identity.

But he couldn’t reveal it here and now. There was no way to explain how he knew.

‘I’ll have to pretend to investigate first.’

“Tell me about the people around you. Industry people, or maybe—”

This apartment was expensive. Living here required a lot of money.

The stalker in the other world had been wealthy.

“—your neighbors.”

Lee Seon-hwa briefly described the people around her, mainly mentioning movie industry figures who had been rejected for roles or actors she had bad relationships with.

After listening absentmindedly, Seo Jung-woo told her,

“The culprit lives in this building.”

“What? This building?”

“The security here is quite strong, making it difficult for outsiders to break in. That means the culprit is either a resident or an acquaintance of one. I’m convinced he’s a resident. He’s been secretly watching you from somewhere in this building for a while. He can’t see us in the underground parking lot, but otherwise—”

Lee Seon-hwa asked,

“Him? How do you know the stalker is a man? I’ve had female stalkers too.”

Seo Jung-woo made up an excuse.

“I guessed based on the force used to scratch the car and the pattern of the scratches.”

“Wow. You can tell just from that? As expected of Detective Seo.”

The tremor in Lee Seon-hwa’s body vanished. She felt like things were moving in the right direction. Her eyes sparkled as she asked,

“So, what do we do now?”

“Let’s go outside and show him openly.”

“Huh?”

“If we pretend to be a couple, his jealousy will force him to reveal himself.”

He had used this same method to capture the stalker in the other world.

Lee Seon-hwa hesitated.

“That… sounds dangerous…”

Her hesitation was brief. She recalled the way Seo Jung-woo had demonstrated his skills at the filming site earlier and the stories she had heard from the director and other actors today.

‘A detective who takes down armed criminals with his bare hands.’

She smiled brightly.

“Ah. If I’m with Detective Seo, then of course it won’t be dangerous.”

Not only did she smile, but she also linked her arm with his.

“Let’s go. I’ll act like a proper girlfriend, so let’s go catch that bastard quickly.”

Lee Seon-hwa was both beautiful and talented at acting. She had an eye for good projects and had starred in two blockbuster films that drew over ten million viewers.

She treated this café like a movie set and acted accordingly.

‘The camera is rolling over there, the director is shouting from that spot, and this café is a rented set for filming.’

Her performance was incredibly natural. Anyone watching would believe she was really Seo Jung-woo’s girlfriend.

But inside, she was startled.

‘Why is this man so good at acting like a boyfriend?’

Seo Jung-woo’s behavior toward her was completely natural.

For him, the acting came easily—because his partner was Lee Seon-hwa. The Lee Seon-hwa of both worlds looked the same and had similar personalities.

He also knew her tea preferences from the other world.

He took her to a café that matched her outfit and recommended the kind of tea she’d want when feeling uneasy.

That didn’t mean he treated her exactly like the other world’s Lee Seon-hwa. In fact, he was more considerate and kind to her here.

He wouldn’t have done this much in the other world.

Lee Seon-hwa’s mood gradually lifted.

Seo Jung-woo had brought her to the perfect café, offered her tea that had just popped into her mind, and casually tossed out jokes the other world’s Lee Seon-hwa used to love.

But to this world’s Lee Seon-hwa, those jokes were completely new, making them even funnier. She burst into laughter.

Even when he held her hand for the act, he timed it precisely when her heart was just starting to flutter.

At the same time, he positioned himself to be able to protect her if the stalker attacked.

She felt completely safe.

She had been terrified earlier, but now she wasn’t scared at all.

She knew it was just acting, but it didn’t feel like it.

It was fun and comforting.

All her tension melted away.

‘Today is really nice.’

She traced her fingertip over the back of Seo Jung-woo’s hand—not as an act, but out of genuine affection. She liked how it felt.

‘I really like this.’

Just then, Seo Jung-woo spoke.

“Let’s go home now.”

Startled, Lee Seon-hwa quickly pulled her hand away.

“Huh?”

She belatedly realized what he meant and was surprised again.

“Huh? To my home?”

“Let’s go inside together. That’ll make him follow us.”

“Ah. I see. Huh?”

Now she was shocked for a different reason.

“Follow us home? How do you know he will?”

“Because I found him.”

Lee Seon-hwa swallowed hard.

“W-Who is it?”

“The guy living across from you.”

“What?”

“He’s been peeking at you through his window curtains for a while now. With the provocation we’ve given him, he should be reaching his limit by now.”

The stalker in the other world had also lived near Lee Seon-hwa’s home. Seo Jung-woo had suspected the same would be true here. So he set the bait, and the stalker reacted.

“If we pressure him carelessly, it’ll be a problem. We don’t have enough evidence to arrest him yet. We need to catch him when he takes the bait. So let’s go home.”

“Ah, yes.”

Lee Seon-hwa, slightly scared, clung tightly to Seo Jung-woo’s arm.

Seo Jung-woo spoke.

“You're doing great. Seeing this will make that bastard even more impatient.”

Her face flushed slightly.

As they walked from the café across the street toward the building entrance, she spoke.

“You need a lot of money to live here. Why would someone like that act like a stalker?”

Seo Jung-woo advised her.

“Money doesn’t represent a person’s character.”

“Oh, I know. I know that… but I guess I had some prejudice.”

Inside the elevator, Lee Seon-hwa looked ahead nervously. There were only two doors facing each other.

Seo Jung-woo wrapped his left arm around her shoulder as they stepped out of the elevator. He positioned himself to shield her, hiding her anxious expression.

From the opposite door’s perspective, it looked as if they were half-embracing.

Choi Sun-hyung gritted his teeth as he stared at the monitor.

“That bastard!”

He had modified the front door’s visitor camera—to keep an eye on Lee Seon-hwa’s entrance.

On the monitor in front of him, Seo Jung-woo was shown half-embracing Lee Seon-hwa in front of her door.

“How dare he lay a hand on Seon-hwa? How dare he!”

In the room, there was a digital camera with a high-caliber telephoto lens.

It was connected to a 32-inch monitor beside it, displaying a live feed of what the camera captured.

That setup had been installed by him, specifically to capture footage of Lee Seon-hwa whenever she moved near her home.

Just moments ago, he had been watching her from the camera, smiling as she drank tea outside the café. Seeing her smile at Seo Jung-woo had already made him grind his teeth. And now, she was entering her home with that man.

“This has never happened before!”

It was the first time he had ever seen her enter her home alone with a man.

Jealousy erupted within him, making his hands tremble violently.

Then, he noticed that her front door hadn’t closed completely. It was mostly shut, but there was a slight gap.

His eyes gleamed.

“The door stopper! The door didn’t close because it hit the stopper!”

Seo Jung-woo looked around after stepping into Lee Seon-hwa’s home, genuinely impressed.

“Wow. This place is really nice.”

Lee Seon-hwa sighed.

“I moved here because of the security, but look at this. I’m moving out immediately. It’s too easy to break in.”

“It’s strong against external intrusions but weak when it comes to crimes committed by residents inside.”

After checking the living room layout and clearing a few things off the floor, Seo Jung-woo picked up a pen lying next to a script on the table.

The pen gleamed gold.

“Don’t tell me… is this real gold?”

“No, of course not. It’s just gold-plated. I use it for making notes in my script. If you like it, you can have it.”

“I wouldn’t go that far, but…”

‘It has a sharp tip and is made of metal, so if I stab someone hard enough, it should go in easily.’

She glanced toward the front door and asked.

“You left it unlocked on purpose, didn’t you?”

“By now, I’ve provoked him enough that even if the door were locked, he’d find a way to break in. But I need to speed things up. We can’t stay here too long. Ah, here he comes. He’s not very patient.”

Lee Seon-hwa tensed and spoke in a hushed voice.

“Be careful.”

“That small camcorder… does it work?”

A compact camcorder, much smaller than the video cameras from his world, was set up in the back.

“Of course. I use it for practicing my acting.”

“That’s better than a phone recording. Turn it on. We need to capture evidence.”

Lee Seon-hwa placed her hand on the camcorder’s record button.

“Ready.”

She pressed the record button, then pointed her finger forward and whispered.

“Action!”

Seo Jung-woo stared at her, dumbfounded.

Lee Seon-hwa grinned.

“I’ve always wanted to say that at least once.”

The door slowly creaked open.

Choi Sun-hyung, the man living across from her, stepped inside.

“Seon-hwa? Seon-hwa?”

Seo Jung-woo stood in the middle of the living room and asked.

“Who are you to just walk in here?”

Choi Sun-hyung immediately raised his voice.

“And who the hell are you to be here? Huh?”

“Me? I’m Seon-hwa’s boyfriend.”

“Bullshit! Seon-hwa doesn’t have a boyfriend! She can’t! I checked everything!”

“Starting today, she does.”

“You bastard!”

Choi Sun-hyung drew a gun from his waistband and shouted.

“You’re dead, you piece of shit!”

From behind, Lee Seon-hwa screamed.

“Kyaah! A g-gun!”

Seo Jung-woo, however, was delighted.

“Wow. A gun.”

Seo Jung-woo was an awakened marksman and a firearm expert.

“A .38 caliber, six-shot revolver.”

The camcorder captured the scene from behind him.

Seo Jung-woo quickly formulated a plan to deal with Choi Sun-hyung.

‘It looks like a toy, but a gun is still a gun. First, I’ll act startled when I see it. Then, I’ll rush forward, grab the gun, hook my finger inside the trigger guard so he can’t fire, struggle for a moment, and then—when the camera can’t see properly—I’ll make it seem like he accidentally pulls the trigger and shoots himself in the crotch… Huh?’

He had been enthusiastically plotting how to neutralize Choi Sun-hyung, but he suddenly realized something.

‘Wait… It’s not just toy-like. It’s an actual toy. The inside of the barrel is plastic.’

It wasn’t just the inside. Just by looking at the exterior, he could tell if a gun was real or fake. The one in Choi Sun-hyung’s hand was an intricately crafted replica.

‘Judging by how he’s holding it, it’s also much lighter than a real gun.’

A real metal gun would have made his hand movements slower and heavier.

Seo Jung-woo felt slightly disappointed.

‘That guy is supposed to be rich, even in this world. How does he not even have a single real gun? The Knife gang gets their hands on them so easily.’

Choi Sun-hyung pointed the realistic-looking replica at Lee Seon-hwa.

“How dare you bring a man into your home?!”

Terrified by the gun, Lee Seon-hwa screamed.

“Kyaaah!”

Seo Jung-woo adjusted his plan.

‘I can’t shoot him, but I can still use this situation to get him locked up. A suspect pointing a gun at a detective? That’s more than enough.’

For that, he had to stand in front of the fake gun first.

Seo Jung-woo smoothly stepped between Choi Sun-hyung and Lee Seon-hwa.

“You. Don’t pull that trigger. It’ll be a big mistake.”

To Lee Seon-hwa, it looked like he was shielding her with his own body.

“It’s dangerous!”