Calista sat down with her own bowl. "They'd say poor Yura was forced to lie to save face. That she's covering for Haejin's cheating. That you're the other woman who broke up a relationship and then had the audacity to make the victim lie about it being fake."
"That's not what happened—"
"Doesn't matter. That's the story they'll write." Calista reached across the table, squeezed her hand. "The narrative writes itself: 'Idol's ex-girlfriend nobly takes the fall, claims relationship was fake to protect cheating boyfriend's career.' It's perfect tabloid material."
"So even though it was fake..."
"The timing makes it look like a cover-up," Joonwoo said. "Yura announces it was fake shortly before the reality show and you and Haejin go public. People will connect those dots wrong. They'll think she was protecting him from a cheating scandal. That her undying love for him made her willing to sacrifice her own reputation."
