Chapter 8.2

“Hoo….”

He steadied his mind, watching the cigarette burn shorter with the flame.

The cigarette also served as an hourglass to measure time. Finally, one-fifth of the cigarette had burned away.

By this time, Eun-sol would have already met Chu Seo-jin.

He rose and stepped out onto the terrace.

From the terrace, he could see the backyard Eun-sol had been glancing at earlier. The backyard had a CCTV blind spot, making it an ideal meeting spot for someone like Chu Seo-jin.

When he opened the terrace door and stepped out, the lukewarm night air greeted him. The early monsoon season was approaching, and the stagnant air felt humid.

He quietly surveyed his surroundings. As expected, in the secluded area of the backyard, untouched by the streetlights, Eun-sol and that man were standing.

The terrace where Jeong-hyeok stood didn’t provide a clear view of the backyard.

As a result, he couldn’t make out the details of their appearance, but he was close to where the two were standing.

Moreover, the surroundings were so quiet that even the faint sound of the wind brushing past could be heard.

“Your injured hand… is it okay?”

The sound of Eun-sol’s voice, filled with concern for another person’s body, reached him.

It was a voice that seemed to carry the scent of tulips. Not high-pitched, but not mid-tone either—just the kind of tone that loosened people’s nerves. That same voice had once asked him the same question when he was eighteen.

“Your injured foot… is it okay?”

It was the first thing Eun-sol, then a young girl, had said to him on the day they first met.

Hand and foot. Except for the difference in those words, even the timing of her worried sigh was identical.

His ribs throbbed with an irritating ache.

He took a slow drag of the cigarette, now reduced to its filter. Nicotine spread through his brittle breath, but the pit of his stomach only hardened further.

“It’s a minor functional impairment, but they say it will leave a permanent disability. Not just the bones, but also the muscles and nerves….”

Chu Seo-jin exaggerated his pain with a pathetic display.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry. I don’t know how I can ever apologize….”

Eun-sol apologized. Even though it wasn’t her fault, her habit of apologizing first hadn’t changed in over ten years.

“…Eun-sol, you don’t need to apologize. Why are you apologizing for something Kwon Jeong-hyeok did wrong?”

For the first time, he found himself agreeing with that bastard.

“Eun-sol, I didn’t come all the way here just to receive an apology.”

Chu Seo-jin’s agitated voice was laughable. At any rate, it seemed he was finally about to reveal his true intentions.

“I’ve missed you a lot, Eun-sol. I still like you, even now. I tried to stay calm, thinking you’d be surprised, but seeing your face, I just couldn’t….”

Jeong-hyeok dropped the cigarette he had been holding and crushed it underfoot. Though the cigarette flame was undoubtedly extinguished, the spark flaring under his foot burned even brighter red.

He wondered if he should endure this wretched situation any longer. There were certainly other ways than just enduring it.

The merger and acquisition wouldn’t fall through over something as trivial as the CEO’s morality, as long as the upcoming memorandum exchange ceremony went smoothly.

If it became an issue, they could appoint a professional manager and have him temporarily step down as CEO.

Or, he could leave Chu Seo-jin half-crippled.

‘Or maybe, I could take Eun-sol and leave for another country altogether.’

A foreign language, one where not a single Korean could understand.

If he were going to leave anyway, perhaps an Islamic country wouldn’t be a bad choice. After all, it was a culture where the husband was effectively the law, and controlling and owning one’s wife was considered normal.

Of course, the company would need to appoint a professional manager for the time being, but if he could thoroughly brainwash Kim Eun-sol into being a woman who only knew her husband, it wasn’t an impossible task.

‘…D*mn it. What the hell am I even thinking?’

He entered the bedroom. To get to the backyard, he had to go through the bedroom and descend to the first floor.

His steps toward the backyard were as large and fast as his raging thoughts. In no time, he reached the back gate.

He quietly opened the back door. In front of the backyard fence, Eun-sol and Chu Seo-jin were still talking. It was too dark to see clearly, but the atmosphere seemed serious.

He swallowed the curses rising in his throat and moved forward.

His steps, which crushed the grass beneath them, suddenly halted when he heard Eun-sol’s voice.

* * *

Seo-jin let out a tangled breath. Ever since his sudden confession of love, his words had been spinning in circles without direction.

“Ha, I’m sorry for getting so worked up.”

Seo-jin pressed his plastered hand against his forehead.

“It’s alright. It’s just… I’m sorry.”

Eun-sol answered softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

“No. Eun-sol, you don’t need to apologize for Kwon Jeong-hyeok injuring my hand.”

“No, it’s not that. I’m sorry, but… I don’t remember you at all, Mr. Chu Seo-jin.”

Eun-sol’s voice was quiet, but her tone was clear.

“I know you have amnesia, Eun-sol. That’s something you can’t help, so don’t worry abou—!”

“No, that’s not what I mean.”

Eun-sol clasped her hands together and carefully let her voice flow.

“What I mean is, I don’t feel any regret about not remembering you, Mr. Chu Seo-jin. I don’t feel any need to remember you, either.”

Seo-jin let out a low groan, as if he’d been struck by an unexpected blow.

“I’m truly sorry.”

Eun-sol wore an expression of genuine apology, completely unaware of how much more cruel that made her words.

“So, Mr. Chu Seo-jin, I think it’s best if you spend your time finding another good woman. That’s the best thing I can do for you.”

Seo-jin struggled to choose his next words. His heart ached, but this was how Eun-sol had always been, even in the past.

“More importantly, isn’t there something you should be asking me?”

More than anything, today, he hadn’t come empty-handed.

“Ah, right. I have something to ask.”

Chu Seo-jin steadied both of his legs firmly. He had a trump card that would shake Eun-sol to her core.

Seo-jin, having regained some composure, waited for her next words. He was contemplating how to deliver it in the most shocking way possible to destroy their relationship.

“Did you perhaps put something like a sleeping pill in my husband’s drink?”

But the direction of Eun-sol’s question was far from what he had anticipated.

Sleeping pills were not the issue right now.

“…Yes, that’s true… I’m sorry. I had no choice since we had to meet today.”

Seo-jin admitted it honestly and attempted to steer the conversation back.

“No, there’s no need to apologize. In fact, I’m grateful that you helped put my husband to sleep today.”

What on earth was she saying?

Seo-jin’s eyes widened. 

Could it be that she, too, had been waiting for an opportunity to escape Kwon Jeong-hyeok’s forced confinement?

Just as his heart began to race.

“Actually, I was genuinely starting to worry because he hasn’t been sleeping at all.”

“…What?”

It felt as though a hammer had dropped on his heart, which had been floating like a cloud. 

What had I just heard? She was thankful for putting him to sleep? She was worried about him?

“You said earlier that I didn’t need to feel sorry about the injury on your hand, right?”

Seo-jin barely managed to nod stiffly. No words came out.

“Since you said that, I’ll say this boldly. I do think it’s unfortunate that you hurt your hand, Mr. Chu Seo-jin. But please don’t mess with my husband’s food again. And don’t call me out like this anymore.”

Seo-jin’s mouth opened, but no words came out.

Eun-sol wasn’t originally like this. She was someone who endured even when wronged, someone who never said a harsh word to others.

But the way she firmly said only what she needed to say—it reminded him of Kwon Jeong-hyeok. 

They say couples start to resemble each other when they live together.

Or had her personality changed after sustaining brain injuries in the car accident?

“What I’m trying to say is that I hope we won’t have any reason to see each other in the future. In case you’ve forgotten, I’m a married woman, and I love my husband.”

Seo-jin’s chest ached. The way she said she loved Kwon Jeong-hyeok was as natural as eating a meal. As if she had confessed her love ten times a day, every day, yesterday and the day before. It carried an atmosphere that couldn’t exist unless it was genuine.

“Anything else…? Is there nothing else you want to say?”

It was clearly written on the note that there was something important to discuss about their married life. So why wasn’t she asking about it?

“I just came out because I wanted to say this.”

Eun-sol bowed politely and turned away.