Chapter 2 (Part 5)

That night, In-ah left her hotel room dressed in a black dress that accentuated her silhouette. The high-heeled black sandals, which she rarely wore, highlighted her stunning legs.

Her graceful smile complemented her elegant movements, completing her look of ultimate beauty.

When the elevator doors opened, Jinwon, who was inside, was so surprised that he froze in place.

“Aren’t you getting off?”

“Oh? Oh.”

As Jinwon stepped out of the elevator, he couldn’t take his eyes off In-ah. Meanwhile, In-ah, with a confident stride, brushed past Jinwon and got into the elevator.

“Where are you going?”

“Oh, you know Matteo, right? I’ve been invited to his party.”

Eager to boast to someone, In-ah replied as if she had been waiting for the question. Then, she elegantly raised her finger to point at the elevator door.

“I’m running late, so could you move your hand?”

Jinwon then realized he had been holding the elevator door and quickly moved his hand. The elevator doors closed, and Jinwon stood there, staring blankly at the spot where In-ah had disappeared behind the doors.

“Party? At Matteo’s house?”

Jinwon wondered if his brain had suddenly stopped working. In-ah’s response kept echoing in his mind.

***

The taxi carrying In-ah stopped in front of Matteo’s house. As she got out of the taxi, In-ah’s head tilted back involuntarily.

As rumored, Matteo seemed to be a man of considerable wealth. After all, it was a grand mansion straight out of a movie. Having achieved worldwide fame as a furniture designer in his early thirties, it made sense that wealth would naturally follow.

However, it was puzzlingly quiet despite the time for the party having passed.

“Has the party already ended? I’m not that late.”

Puzzled, In-ah approached the mansion’s entrance. Standing at the door, she took a deep breath to calm her nervous heart, then exhaled. Just as she was about to cautiously raise her hand to knock on the closed door, it swung open, revealing Matteo with a bright smile across his face.

“Welcome!” he exclaimed, enveloping In-ah in a hug. Though momentarily taken aback, In-ah suppressed her surprise, attributing it to a Western-style greeting.

Following Matteo’s lead into the mansion, In-ah was once again awestruck by the vast interior.

Seeing In-ah unable to close her mouth in amazement, Matteo gently led her to the living room. In-ah, maintaining her smile, sat on the sofa as Matteo directed.

Accepting the wine glass Matteo handed her, In-ah tried to politely inquire why there were no people at the party.

Matteo, sitting beside her, attempted to explain the situation with a mix of gestures and broken English.

Judging by his explanation, it seemed the party had been abruptly canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. He placed one hand on his chest, displaying a deeply apologetic expression.

In-ah repeatedly assured him, “I’m okay.” Matteo didn’t know her contact information or which hotel she was staying at, so it would have been impossible to inform her of the cancellation.

Suddenly, Matteo moved closer to In-ah. Startled, she instinctively leaned back.

Seeing In-ah’s reaction, Matteo quickly moved away, apologizing profusely. In-ah smiled wryly, deciding she would finish the wine in her hand and then leave.

But then Matteo led In-ah to another area. Following him, she discovered a display of Matteo’s unreleased furniture designs.

Wide-eyed, In-ah began to admire the furniture, taking in every detail. Listening to Matteo’s brief English explanations, she sipped her wine, and Matteo promptly refilled her glass.

His gentlemanly demeanor, combined with In-ah’s long-standing admiration for Matteo’s furniture, had her face blushing like the wine she drank. Just then, In-ah felt a dizzy spell.

The next moment, In-ah struggled to lift her heavy eyelids. A strange ceiling came into view.

Before she could grasp the situation, Matteo’s face filled her vision. Shirtless, Matteo was above the lying In-ah. Frightened, In-ah tried to push Matteo away.

However, her body wouldn’t respond. She mentally commanded herself to shove the half-n*ked Matteo off, but her arms wouldn’t budge. In-ah sensed something was terribly wrong but couldn’t think of what to do.

‘What do I do? What should I do?’

At that moment, a tremendous noise, like thunder and lightning, erupted. Despite her blurred vision and difficulty focusing, the noise was so loud it shook her head.

Matteo cursed and got off In-ah. The deafening noise subsided, replaced by even louder chaos.

Determined to regain her senses, In-ah squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. When she finally reopened her eyes, Jinwon had burst into the room.

“In-ah!!”

Jinwon’s face, twisted with rage and shock, was one she had never seen before. Matteo, who followed, was knocked to the floor by a single punch from Jinwon.

Yet, Jinwon’s fists didn’t stop. He paid no mind to his cast-covered, bloodied finger. Matteo was on the brink of losing his mind from fear under the relentless barrage, and Jinwon, having lost his composure, was in a frenzy.

In-ah tried with all her strength to get up and intervene. But her body wouldn’t cooperate.

***

When In-ah opened her eyes again, she was lying in a hospital bed. As she blinked laboriously, a stranger, an Asian woman, and an Italian police officer approached her.

“Ms. Seo In-ah, are you regaining consciousness? You’re in an Italian hospital.”

In-ah weakly moved her eyes. She still couldn’t fully grasp the situation.

“You were rescued from Matteo’s house and brought to the hospital. Do you remember?”

In-ah nodded with difficulty.

“I’m Lee Young-ran from the embassy, and this is a local police officer. I know it’s difficult to give a statement right now, but….”

In-ah shifted her gaze to the embassy staff, who was speaking with a hint of unease. The staff continued, speaking clearly as if explaining to a child.

“…We need your statement. Mr. Lee Jinwon is currently detained at the police station for assault.”

The embassy staff’s voice seemed to come from a great distance. No, it wasn’t that she couldn’t understand. It was just that she struggled to comprehend the situation.

In-ah slowly closed her eyes instead of responding. A moment later, she fell into a deep sleep.

At that time, Jinwon was locked up in a police station cell. The tall Asian man with his head hung low drew the attention of the people inside the cell. One of them, who had been watching Jinwon for a while, approached him to pick a fight. Jinwon, who had been sitting quietly, responded in a low voice without even lifting his head. It was an Italian curse.

The man who had tried to provoke Jinwon flinched and returned to his place. It wasn’t the curse that intimidated him; it was the brief, fierce look in Jinwon’s eyes.

“Mr. Jinwon! You’re being released!”

It was the embassy staff who had been in In-ah’s hospital room. As the staff spoke, the cell door opened. Jinwon slowly rose from his seat and walked out of the cell.

The embassy staff handed Jinwon a bottle of water and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

“You’ve been through a lot. We were worried you might have to stay the night, but thank goodness.”

“What happened?”

“In-ah reached a settlement with the designer.”

At that moment, Jinwon’s brow furrowed deeply.

***

In-ah’s hotel room door was being pounded on with a loud ‘bang, bang, bang!’ Dragging her feet weakly, In-ah finally managed to open the door.

“You almost got into big trouble, you know? Why did you settle with someone like that?”

Without answering, In-ah turned and walked towards the bed. Jinwon, still agitated, followed her, demanding answers.

“If you let someone like that go, he might do it again to other women….”

In-ah interrupted Jinwon’s words.

“I did it because I’m more important than those other women.”

“What?”

“I don’t want to feel guilty towards you, Jinwon.”

Jinwon’s face turned pale at In-ah’s unexpected words. In-ah continued, avoiding his gaze.

“I don’t want to do it anymore, in any way. Giving you a place in my life! I’m not going to do it anymore.”

As In-ah was about to turn away, she stopped. Jinwon had grabbed her arm roughly. In-ah shook off Jinwon’s hand.

As they pushed and pulled, with Jinwon trying not to let go and In-ah trying to break free, they both ended up falling onto the bed beside them.

Even as they lay side by side on the bed, Jinwon was still holding onto In-ah’s wrist, his face looking as if he might cry at any moment.

In-ah once again pretended not to notice and tried to pull her wrist free. Then Jinwon’s low voice reached her ears.

“Am I that terrible?”

This time, In-ah didn’t avoid his gaze and looked directly into Jinwon’s eyes. Their eyes painfully locked as they lay facing each other on the bed.

“…….”

In-ah didn’t say anything. Jinwon abruptly got up and left the room without looking at her.

Left alone on the large bed, In-ah sighed deeply. Then she steeled herself with a determined expression.

‘I have to be strong. If I waver here alone, I’ll just make a fool of myself.’

A moment later, In-ah got up and walked to the window. Thinking that some fresh air might lift her spirits, she drew back the curtains and opened the terrace window.

Her gaze inadvertently fell on Jinwon leaving the hotel. In-ah glanced at the clock. It was past 9 PM.

She looked outside again. Jinwon had already crossed the street and was moving further away from the hotel.

“Where is he going in the middle of the night when he’s so bad with directions?”

In-ah muttered to herself and tapped her head in exasperation.

“Why should I care? I should mind my own business.”

She placed her tired and weary body on the bed. The cozy bedding of the hotel seemed to embrace her.

It had been an unusually long day, and a night she never wanted to remember. In-ah closed her eyes tightly, trying to sleep.

“Oh, I’m going crazy!”

In-ah’s eyes shot open. She was too exhausted, yet sleep wouldn’t come. Jinwon’s words from earlier on the bed kept running through her mind.

‘Am I that terrible?’

She had been tossing and turning in bed for so long. Unable to fall asleep, In-ah checked the time. It was past midnight.

She picked up her phone and soon displayed “Team Leader Lee Jinwon” on the screen. Even then, In-ah stared intently at the screen for a long time. Then she sighed, placed her phone face down on the bedside table, and lay back down.

But she quickly got up again and pressed the button to call Jinwon. She rationalized that she couldn’t sleep because she was worried whether he had returned to his room, so she needed to eliminate the source of her concern. But.

-The customer’s phone is turned off.

The same recorded message repeated. In-ah collapsed back onto the bed and spent the night with her eyes wide open.