Chapter 9 (Part 1)

Looking at Seo-hye, who didn’t respond, Do-jin recalled when he was supposed to meet Hwa-woong’s driver.

“But, Do-jin.”

Do-jin snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Seo-hye.

“Why… don’t you ask about that day?”

“Because there’s nothing good in recalling it. Anyway, it’s been revealed that Lee Hwa-woong was the one behind it, and I plan to make sure he gets the proper punishment soon.”

Seo-hye slowly nodded and then lowered her voice a bit to ask,

“What are you going to do about grandfather?”

Do-jin didn’t answer right away but instead looked at Seo-hye’s face for a long time.

“Do-jin…?”

“Can you show yourself to the world, Seo-hye? That you were the one who painted Lee Hwa-woong’s works.”

Seo-hye fell into thought for a moment.

However, how much had she pondered this issue in her daily life? Surprisingly quickly, she came up with an answer.

“Yes. I think I can reveal it.”

“Then there will be some criticism directed at you, Seo-hye. There are always people who think the victim is also at fault.”

“Yes. To regain myself, I have to be willing to bear that much.”

Do-jin spoke as if he was proud of her, looking at her with eyes full of affection.

“Seo-hye, you’re much stronger than you look. No wonder you always say what you have to say to me.”

“……”

“And you stand up to me well.”

Seo-hye buried her face in her ramen bowl, focusing on her meal, telling him not to tease her.

***

After taking Seo-hye to the hospital, Do-jin called Seok-young.

He had contacted him after meeting Eung-soo yesterday, but since he was with Seo-hye and had stayed by his father’s hospital room all night, he had said he would call later.

After a few rings, Seok-young’s voice came through.

• Executive Director.

“Yes, Secretary Yoo. Can you talk now?”

• Yes. Should I tell you now?

“Yes, what did the Chairman say?”

• As you instructed, I informed him that Lee Hwa-woong orchestrated the kidnapping of Seo-hye, but…

“And when you informed him?”

• He said as long as no one was hurt or killed, and since the news is already out, there’s no need to call off the marriage over ‘such a trivial family quarrel.’

Seok-young emphasized ‘that trivial family quarrel’ with a strong tone.

He must have felt disillusioned with Eung-soo while hearing that part himself.

Even Do-jin, who is family, found the absent old man repulsive.

“I’m glad I asked you, Secretary Yoo. If I had gone directly, I might have grabbed the Chairman by the collar.”

• Hmm. Yes, you probably… would have. And I told Ms. Seo-hye exactly what you instructed me to convey.

“Yes, it seems so. She even told me to not bother you, Secretary Yoo, while keeping in touch with me. Anyway, thank you for your hard work.”

• It’s nothing, Executive Director.

“Rest well over the weekend, and I’ll see you on Monday.”

After hanging up, Do-jin looked at the hospital building Seo-hye had entered.

He contemplated going up to see her one more time, but decided against it, knowing that constantly calling out someone who was attending to a patient wouldn’t be right. So he firmly let go of the idea and took hold of the steering wheel.

***

The next day.

Do-jin entered through the hotel’s main entrance.

The driver of Hwa-woong, who had already arrived at the lounge, greeted him first.

“Am I late?”

Before Do-jin could check his wristwatch, Mr. Kim responded.

“No, you’re not. We’re still before the appointed time; I just arrived a bit early.”

“It seems like both of us have a lot to say. Shall we go?”

Do-jin gestured toward the elevator.

After getting into the elevator, an awkward silence hung between Do-jin and Mr. Kim.

It was Do-jin who broke the silence first.

“Today is Sunday, so Lee Hwa-woong shouldn’t have any schedule. Is it okay for you to be out like this?”

“Hmm, yes. Anyway, the artist is not in his right mind now. He thinks the marriage has fallen apart and is avoiding calls from Chairman Won Eung-soo.”

Do-jin smirked.

“He’s quick to grasp the situation.”

“Yes, after losing both Miss Seo-hye and Hyo-young, if he goes to Seonghan’s place… it’s obvious he’ll be treated as a fraud for not being able to produce the paintings the Chairman wants.”

Ding-

The elevator door opened.

The two resumed walking as if they hadn’t just been talking.

They entered the room and headed straight for the sofa in the reception area.

As soon as they sat down, Do-jin began speaking in an even calmer tone.

“Mr. Kim, I’ve looked into Lee Hwa-jun’s car accident and found some suspicious points.”

Mr. Kim slowly nodded with his gaze lowered.

“I thought you might know something about that accident since you’ve been assisting the artist for a long time.”

Do-jin’s sharp eyes caught Mr. Kim’s trembling hands.

He continued speaking while keeping his gaze on those rough hands.

“I suspect you know something that no one else could.”

“……”

“Or perhaps, you might have helped make the accident favorable for the artist.”

A rough sigh escaped from Mr. Kim’s lips.

As the tension eased at that moment, Do-jin adjusted himself into a more comfortable position.

The clue is here. Or it should be.

Mr. Kim hesitated for a long time.

Do-jin was confident that he would eventually get the answer he wanted, so he waited patiently.

By the time the air in the reception room was filled with their breaths, Mr. Kim finally spoke up.

“You were right in your expectations.”

Then he pulled something out of his pocket.

It was a USB.

He placed the USB on the table in front of the sofa and pushed it toward Do-jin.

Do-jin glanced at the USB and then looked at Mr. Kim.

“It contains the truth of the accident day… it’s a black box.”

It was an unexpected windfall.

Having concrete evidence like the black box footage from the accident would make things much easier to resolve.

“As you might have guessed… the driver that day was not the Young Master Hwa-jun, but the artist himself.”

“I see.”

“Yes. The two of them had a big argument over Miss Seo-hye’s issue, even on the day of the accident, at the Hwaseong studio. Young Master Hwa-jun came to Seoul first, but in the middle of the night, the artist called him.”

“Please continue.”

“He said he agreed to cancel the plan to bring Miss Seo-hye, so he asked his son to stop being angry and come have a drink with him.”

“……”

“So Young Master Hwa-jun went back to Hwaseong in the middle of the night. Since he couldn’t drink, he tried to humor the artist by drinking a glass or two, which was the problem.”

“……”

“He’s someone who can’t handle alcohol, so after a glass or two, he wasn’t in his right mind. The artist forced Young Master Hwa-jun into the car and drove.”

“Were you in the car with them, Mr. Kim?”

“No. I was at my home in Seoul at the time. The artist had given me some tasks related to an exhibition, so I was handling those late into the night. Then I got the call at dawn.”

“Did they tell you to come and handle it because there was an accident?”

“Yes. When I hurried over, there had been an accident. It hit a roadside tree, but if the seatbelt had been properly fastened, it wouldn’t have been fatal.”

“Are you saying that Lee Hwa-woong deliberately caused the accident without fastening Hwa-jun’s seatbelt?”

“Yes. It’s hard to believe, but… everything is recorded on the black box footage from both the artist’s car that I drove and Young Master Hwa-jun’s car that had the accident.”

“……”

“It recorded the artist forcing Young Master Hwa-jun, who couldn’t even walk properly, into the passenger seat without fastening his seatbelt, and it captured the deliberate collision with the tree in detail.”

“……”

“Also, the black box from the car I drove captured the artist walking out perfectly fine and manipulating the accident scene with me.”

Do-jin sighed.

“By handing me this black box footage, Mr. Kim, you’ll also suffer significant consequences.”

“I’ve prepared myself for that. It’s been a heavy burden on my heart for too long. Above all… I can’t stand feeling sorry towards Hyo-young.”

Do-jin exhaled deeply and asked,

“But despite the disagreement between the father and son over bringing Seo-hye, why did the artist insist on bringing Seo-hye to Cheongun-dong?”

“Because of Miss Seo-hye’s talent. At the time, the artist… had severe symptoms of alcohol addiction. As a side effect, his hands trembled badly.”

Do-jin’s expression turned icy cold.

He asked in a lowered voice, as if struck by a blow to the back of his head,

“……So, it wasn’t the accident that caused his hands to tremble?”

“No, it was an act. He had been lamenting for a long time that his painting career was over because his hands shook so badly.”

“……”

“At that time, I inadvertently… made a slip of the tongue to the artist. Jokingly, I said if Young Master Hwa-jun and Miss Hae-mi couldn’t paint, wouldn’t Miss Seo-hye be good at it? Since that day, the artist frantically searched for Hyo-young and Miss Seo-hye.”

“……”

“Once he realized Miss Seo-hye had talent, he brought her into the house.”

Even to the point of killing his son.