Part 13

“First of all, I’m sorry.”

His apology carried no sincerity whatsoever. Seowoo’s eyes were filled with suspicion about what he was about to say.

“Uh…”

Hyeong-gyeong’s face flushed as he tried to speak. He pursed his lips and let out a sigh.

Seeing his wavering gaze, Seowoo clenched her fist, trying to calm her erratically beating heart.

“Nothing really happened with your mom.”

“……!”

Surprised by the unexpected revelation, Seowoo’s eyes widened even further. 

What are you talking about…….

She didn’t know why he was suddenly bringing this up.

“I was heavily drunk, and I almost made a mistake, but nothing really happened. I can stake everything, even K Group, on that.”

“W-why are you suddenly saying this?”

She was curious about his intention, and why he was bringing up a story from over 20 years ago out of the blue. Seowoo stared at him with eyes full of suspicion.

“Jiwook insisted that I must apologize to you, not only for that but also for being against you before the marriage.”

His rambling and disjointed statements were simply bewildering.

“That’s why I wanted to apologize.”

It was also a situation she hadn’t dared to directly inquire about. The face of Myeong-hye, who had used this incident as leverage to manipulate her, flashed before her eyes.

Seowoo remembered all the times she had to suffer through Myeong-hye’s threats to tell everything, that it was her mother’s fault, and Seowoo had no way to find out for herself, leaving her with no choice but to endure it.

She had decided to divorce because she was tired, because she didn’t want to be caught in Myeong-hye’s grip anymore. 

Among the many reasons for the divorce, this was one of them, and now she knew the truth of it. It was truly disheartening.

“Please, just do me a favor.”

“…….”

“You’re pregnant, and I’m sure you’re going to do it anyway. You can get married again, but I want you to change his mind.”

Seowoo’s face softened. Hyeong-gyeong lifted his gaze to meet hers.

“That kid said he’s going to quit the company. If Jiwook leaves, the company will be in serious trouble. I haven’t actually accepted his resignation, or rather, I have no intention of accepting it, but he’s saying he’s going to start a new company.”

It was a story Seowoo had never heard before. Her pupils shook slightly.

“He said he would think about it if I apologized to you…… Well, it’s not really because of that reason alone…”

Hyeong-gyeong rambled on and on, his words scattered and lacking coherence. It was disappointing to see him, who had always seemed so confident, in this state.

“So can you just convince him once? Right now, things are strained with his mother, and I can’t really blame him for feeling that way.  While he was in the U.S., Myeong-hye caused an accident on purpose, that’s why Jiwook couldn’t even come to Korea, and was just bedridden.  It’s only natural he’d be angry.”

“……!”

“But that wasn’t my fault, it was because of your mother-in-law.”

“An accident…?”

“Jiwook couldn’t get up for about a year. It was because of the accident, but she didn’t mean to cause a big accident on purpose… It just happened, and his condition got worse.”

She wondered what Hyeong-gyeong was talking about. 

Even hearing it firsthand, Seowoo couldn’t understand these stories. She clasped her trembling hands tightly.

“Please try to convince him. If it’s you, he’ll listen. Just do this one favor for me.”

Hyeong-gyeong pleaded with her several times before leaving. Seowoo sat in the living room, dazed, for a long while.

***

She needed to verify the facts. 

Even after roughly summarizing Hyeong-gyeong’s stories, it was difficult to grasp the exact details. Seowoo pondered how to confirm this and eventually contacted Nam Cheol-hoon, Jiwook’s closest associate. He had been by Jiwook’s side from the time they were partners until now, so he was probably the only one who knew everything that had happened.

Nam Cheol-hoon, who had previously refused to speak, felt awkward in the face of her earnest request.

‘I’ll take responsibility. It’s important to both me and Jiwook. So please tell me. Everything, without leaving anything out. I beg you, Secretary Nam.’

Seowoo pleaded with Cheol-hoon several times. After much consideration, he eventually told her everything that had happened.

The lawyer who handled Jiwook’s divorce was hired by Myeong-hye. On the day he was supposed to return to Korea to take care of matters and reunite with her, he had a major accident. And that the accident was schemed by Myeong-hye to prevent him from returning to Korea.

She was also told that Jiwook didn’t wake up for a year.

‘It was a one-sided ending. I never wanted that divorce.’

‘If that was the case, you should have come to hold onto me then.’

After their reunion, Jiwook had always told her. That he didn’t want the divorce. Now she understood the true meaning of his words. Jiwook truly didn’t want the divorce because the lawyer handled everything while he was lying in bed, unconscious.

‘There was a reason for that…’

‘I hope so, because that’ll give you an excuse.’

‘I’ll tell you- Why it happened, why we got divorced, and what happened to me.’

She had thought it was a lame excuse. It didn’t make sense why he hadn’t come to Korea for 2 years if he didn’t really want the divorce. 

Now she finally felt like the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.

Jiwook hadn’t told her, but Seowoo hadn’t wanted to hear his story either and that’s why this happened.

“Sigh.”

Seowoo buried her face in her hands. Suddenly, she was startled by the sound of the doorbell and lifted her head abruptly. She stood up from the sofa and approached the intercom.

When she saw Soon-ja’s face on the screen, a sigh of relief escaped her lips. As she opened the door, Soon-ja entered the house.

“Hello.”

“Did you rest a bit?”

“Yes.”

“Why does your face look like that? Did something happen?”

Seeing Seowoo’s pale face, Soon-ja furrowed her brows with concern. When she took Seowoo’s trembling hand, it felt as cold as ice. Soon-ja pulled her hand and made her sit on the sofa.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

Overwhelmed by the worried tone, Seowoo choked up. It was as if she was finally seeing the image of him enduring alone all this time too.

“After a funeral, you just want to cry when you feel like it.”

Soon-ja seemed to think that Seowoo was crying because of her father’s death. As she offered comfort, Seowoo’s tears began to fall. Soon-ja wordlessly patted her shoulder.