Chapter 22: A Quiet Night

“Wake up.”

Even after arriving at the house, Hae-in remained lost in sleep, unable to open her eyes.

When Soo-hyun nudged her, she briefly opened her eyes before collapsing limply in the opposite direction.

“What on earth did you do to fall asleep like this?”

Despite wearing what looked like an uncomfortable outfit, Hae-in had simply leaned against the car window and drifted off, breathing softly.

“Should I call someone to help, sir?”

The chauffeur, who had parked the car in front of the house, glanced at Soo-hyun through the rearview mirror and asked hesitantly.

“No, it’s fine.”

Soo-hyun stepped out of the car and opened the door on Hae-in’s side. As her body tilted forward from leaning against the window, Soo-hyun quickly caught her in his arms.

“Just bring her luggage inside.”

In the trunk was the bag Hae-in had brought with her. Since she’d agreed to move into Soo-hyun’s house without much preparation, they’d decided to leave her belongings packed until after the wedding day.

While the chauffeur opened the trunk, Soo-hyun lifted Hae-in into his arms. Though she appeared thin, when he held her, she felt almost weightless.

“...Does she even eat anything?”

Looking down at her, her hands folded primly like a baby’s, he noticed her bony wrist peeking out from beneath the hanbok sleeve.

“Sir, is this one bag all there is?”

“Is that everything?”

As Soo-hyun stood holding Hae-in, the chauffeur confirmed by showing him the single small carry-on suitcase. For someone moving in, it seemed unusually light—an entire life condensed into one modest piece of luggage.

After glancing at it briefly, Soo-hyun furrowed his brow and turned toward the front door.

The chauffeur, having received the card key from Soo-hyun, unlocked the door. Without hesitation, Soo-hyun strode inside.

“Kim Chauffeur, leave the bag and go home.”

He gave the order for the chauffeur to leave, then carried Hae-in straight to the master bedroom without looking back. In the dimly lit room, he gently laid her down on the bed.

Light from the bright living room spilled into the darkened bedroom. Seeing Hae-in lying on the bed where he usually slept alone stirred a strange feeling within him.

“...Why would you come here? What were you thinking?”

Though he could have simply left the room, his feet refused to move. His gaze lingered on Yoon Hae-in, who had arrived at Taesung with nothing but a small suitcase.

“Mmm...”

As he stared at her sleeping face, Hae-in shifted slightly, turning her head in the opposite direction. The crumpled fabric of her hanbok rustled uncomfortably as her body moved.

The ribbon tied around her waist loosened slightly under the pressure of her shifting body. Unconsciously drawn to it, Soo-hyun reached out and pulled the ribbon further.

Sssshh.

Her jacket parted slightly, revealing the tightly bound flesh beneath. The constriction had pushed her chest upward, creating a pronounced curve above the tightened sash.

“Huh.”

He could feel the heat rising in his breath. Letting go of the ribbon, Soo-hyun watched as the smooth fabric slid effortlessly from his hand and fell softly onto Hae-in’s chest.

With his hands stuffed into his pockets, Soo-hyun stood like a statue, observing Hae-in’s sleeping form for a long while.

Holding his breath as he watched her sleep, he waited for the pounding in his chest—so intense it seemed to shake his whole body—to subside. He could feel the flush creeping up his own cheeks.

“Ha, Yoon Hae-in...”

A deep sigh escaped his lips repeatedly.

In contrast to Soo-hyun’s troubled expression, Hae-in’s sleeping face was serene.

If he thought about how despondent she had looked throughout the day, her peaceful countenance now felt like that of another person entirely.

He recalled how stiff and tense she had been during the wedding ceremony.

When he took her hand from her father, her fingers were ice-cold, as if she’d just held onto something frozen. Her father hadn’t released her hand easily, forcing Soo-hyun to practically yank it away.

And on the father’s face—a look of loss, as though mourning the departure of his daughter.

“You and your family... really...”

Soo-hyun narrowed his eyes, lowering his gaze.

Hae-in and her family had looked more suited to a funeral than a wedding.

Hae-in’s mother, especially, had seemed utterly miserable—as though burying her daughter rather than sending her off to a new home. Every time their eyes met, Soo-hyun couldn’t help but frown.

“...You shouldn’t have come to a place like this.”

What bothered him most was Hae-in’s strained smile, which seemed forced despite her best efforts.

He wondered if her reaction might have been more genuine—and perhaps livelier—if Chairman Park had caused a scene, making her flustered instead.

“But you’ll get used to it. Just like everyone else here.”

Soo-hyun sighed deeply, then sat down on the floor, leaning his back against the bed.

He remembered Oh Hye-yeon’s first days at Taesung—how she had looked when she first entered the household.

Chairman Jung Tae-hoon remarried less than a year after Soo-hyun’s mother, Kang Yeon-hee, passed away. And when Oh Hye-yeon stepped into the house as the new wife, tears streamed endlessly down her face.

She cried because Soo-hyun treated her coldly, and because her husband couldn’t forget his late wife.

Soo-hyun still vividly remembered Hye-yeon’s gaunt eyes, filled with tears as she stared at him all day. That was when he began to despise women who cried.

At first, Hye-yeon leaned on alcohol, then later turned to pills. Within a year of marriage, she transformed completely.

Her eyes grew venomous, her smiles artificial. She became someone who manipulated others with tears.

This was Taesung—a household where even sane people went mad. It was a cursed land where only poisonous mushrooms thrived, created by Park Yoon-hwa.

“Hae-in, do you know? Only the cruel and malicious survive here at Taesung.”

Soo-hyun’s lips twisted bitterly. Was he destined only to watch her change, to lose the girl who once felt like his first love?

He heard Chairman Park’s voice echo in his mind like a hallucination: “You don’t stand a chance. Soon, you’ll become just like me. You share my blood—you’re my reflection.”

Remembering those words, Soo-hyun clenched his teeth.

“Yeah, maybe it’s better if you stain yourself here too, become tarnished like the rest. Then you won’t seem so special anymore.”

Muttering to himself, Soo-hyun leaned his head back on the bed and gazed at the ceiling, exhaling a long sigh.

[Hyung, aren’t you coming over tonight?]

A message flashed on his phone from one of the friends he’d hung out with since college. Soo-hyun stared at it blankly before setting the phone back down.

His original plan had been to attend their drinking party and stay out all night.

That way, the sneaky rats hiding in the shadows would report back to Chairman Park. Whatever his intentions had been, they were already spoiled.

He had intended to deliberately create the appearance of leaving the house on their wedding night. But here he was, unable to take even a single step outside the room where he’d laid Hae-in down.

The puppet master—the one who controlled everyone beneath him, especially those of his bloodline.

Perhaps, in Chairman Park’s eyes, Soo-hyun was the most irritating thorn. For years, the chairman had searched tirelessly for a suitable bride to torment and manipulate, using her as leverage against his rebellious grandson.

The goal was clear: to use the daughter-in-law to provoke and control Soo-hyun.

Park Yoon-hwa was far from the typical grandmother figure.

Thinking about how meticulously she must have sifted through families connected to Taesung made Soo-hyun shudder. He even felt betrayed by Director Seok, who had spearheaded the search.

“Hoo hoo...”

Soo-hyun let out a hollow laugh, trembling slightly. No matter how hard he struggled, was he truly destined to remain trapped within Chairman Park’s grasp?

The darkness offered no answers, and Soo-hyun continued to sigh.

It was a quiet night.

The sound of another person’s breathing in this space felt unfamiliar yet oddly calming.

It was a strange sensation.

Since the deaths of his mother and older brother, he had never shared personal space with anyone. Perhaps that was why the presence of another person in his familiar surroundings felt foreign. Yet knowing that it was Yoon Hae-in somehow didn’t bother him.

Closing his eyes, he listened to the rhythmic sound of Hae-in’s breathing. One by one, the thoughts cluttering his mind began to settle, as though he’d entered a different realm.

Sleep crept over him. His body slowly sank into unconsciousness. How long had it been since he’d felt such peace?

On most nights, he worked himself to exhaustion before collapsing into sleep without realizing it.

Without pushing himself to the brink, he rarely fell asleep. Sleeping pills had become routine. If he didn’t drive himself to extremes, nightmares would haunt him.

Dreams of his dead brother and mother accusing him of surviving alone, questioning the purpose of his existence.

“But tonight, no thoughts are surfacing.”

Matching his breathing to Hae-in’s steady rhythm, Soo-hyun exhaled slowly. Somehow, tonight, he felt he wouldn’t dream, even without taking medication.

Leaning against the bed, he closed his eyes.

________________________________________

Late into the night, Hae-in woke, feeling suffocated.

Reaching to her chest, she found the tightly cinched ribbon of her hanbok pressing against her sternum. Her jacket’s bow had come undone during her restless sleep.

Sitting up and looking around, she noticed Soo-hyun leaning against the foot of the bed.

“...Sunbae, come lie down and sleep.”

Hae-in gently shook Soo-hyun’s shoulder. Still leaning against the bed, he didn’t budge. After calling his name softly several times, Hae-in carefully straightened herself and slipped off the bed.

Kneeling in front of the sleeping Soo-hyun, she called out again.

“Sunbae... Soo-hyun sunbae.”

Soo-hyun’s lips twitched faintly in his sleep. Hae-in leaned closer, trying to catch what he was murmuring.

“Sunbae, I can’t hear you.”

Almost cradling him, she pressed her ear close to his mouth and listened intently. A sleepy murmur escaped his lips.

“...Hae-in...”

“Yes. What is it?”

“Hae-in-ah...”

Though tinged with a sigh, she recognized the voice calling her name clearly. Gazing at Soo-hyun, Hae-in pouted slightly.