SS - 41

“What did Jicheol do wrong for you to act like this? He just intervened because he didn’t want to see his younger sister get hurt!”

Mrs. Oh screamed at the top of her lungs, pointing an accusatory finger at Sena. Then, turning around and seeing the blood dripping from her son’s lips, she let out a sharp scream.

Just that reaction alone showed how much she had spoiled and coddled her son, Kangun.

“Why are you still clinging to that bottomless pit when you could listen to your father? If you divorce now, it won’t become gossip, and your father’s business won’t be in further danger, right?”

“Why should I do that?”

“What?”

“Why should I do that for you?”

Sena shouted through tears.

Her hands were clenched into tight fists, and she pressed hard on her eyes as tears streamed down her face.

“Oh my god, is she crazy? Honey, I think she’s finally lost it!”

Mrs. Oh jumped up and down, hiding Jicheol behind her small frame.

The three of them—having never seen Sena behave this way before—stared at her in utter shock.

Finally, removing her fists from her eyes, she glared at them with burning intensity. If she could, she would have thrown those fists at them without hesitation.

“If any of you tell me one more time to divorce Joo-hyuk, I’ll kill all three of you. Got it?”

Grabbing her bag roughly from the floor, she stormed toward the front gate.

From behind her, Mrs. Oh’s voice screeched curses, accompanied by Chairman Kang’s equally furious yelling.

But Sena didn’t look back. She left the house. The clear sky suddenly darkened as if it might rain or snow. Thunder roared loudly.

Sena’s trembling hands gripped the steering wheel as she climbed into her car.

It’s okay. You did well. It’s true—you really will kill them if they push you again.

Twelve years ago, she had run away cowardly, but for Joo-hyuk’s sake—for their happiness—she was now filled with a fearless resolve to eliminate those three people if necessary.

Once her breathing steadied, she quickly drove away.

---

In Joo-hyuk’s memory, the columbarium was always gray. Even though the lighting wasn’t dim, the place always felt shrouded in a hazy gray cloud.

Every time he visited, he wondered if his mother, who must have been lonely during her lifetime, wouldn’t mind being surrounded by so many others in death. Of course, that thought was nothing more than an excuse born out of his helplessness.

“I’ll move you to a sunnier place soon.”

That was what Chairman Choi, his father, had promised when Joo-hyuk married Sena.

Knowing Choi wasn’t someone to rush, Joo-hyuk left things as they were, but he wanted to transfer his mother’s remains to the family burial ground before spring arrived.

At the same time, he questioned whether it was right to bury her among people who disliked her. Perhaps this stubbornness was merely his way of tormenting his father.

He removed the dusty artificial flowers and hung fresh ones, fragrant with life, on his mother’s urn.

“Hey, Joo-hyuk. Did you know your mom wanted to be a news anchor?”

“A news anchor?”

As a child, Joo-hyuk didn’t even know what that meant. He swung on the playground swing while listening to his mother’s stories as she pushed him.

“Yes, it’s someone who appears on TV. Someone beautiful and smart. I wanted to be like that and deliver the news to people someday.”

Joo-hyuk hadn’t noticed the faint tremble in his mother’s voice as she spoke of her dreams.

“But Mom, you’re already pretty and smart.”

“Thank you, my sweet boy.”

Forcing a bright smile after hearing her unknowing son’s words, she wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. Not long after, Chairman Choi discovered the existence of her son.

“How dare you give birth to my child and think you can run away?”

“Chairman, I only have Joo-hyuk. What am I supposed to live for if I lose him too?”

His mother clung to Choi’s pant leg, sobbing.

“My wife will raise the boy well, so don’t worry. You need to find your own path. Do you want to live your whole life labeled as my mistress, pointed at and ridiculed?”

“Please, Chairman…”

“You should’ve taken care of it when you found out you were pregnant. If it was a son, you should’ve brought him to me immediately. But you’re smart, so you know what’s best for you and the child, right?”

To prevent her illegitimate son, Joo-hyuk, from living his entire life branded as the child of a mistress, his mother gave him up.

Only a few close relatives within the Choi family knew the truth, and just like that, Joo-hyuk’s name was swiftly added to Chairman Choi’s official family registry as the legitimate child of his legal wife.

Even at such a young age, Joo-hyuk couldn’t forget his mother and desperately wanted to see her again, but his paternal family forbade it.

“Your mother abandoned you. So forget about that vulgar woman and live your life.”

Chairman Choi had made that painfully clear to Joo-hyuk as he began to mature.

When Joo-hyuk entered middle school, his mother came to see him.

At first, he refused to meet her, believing she had abandoned him, just as his father had said.

But upon seeing how thin and frail she looked, he skipped school and chased after her, eventually sitting down to talk.

“I wanted to see you again, at least once.”

“When you abandoned me, why didn’t you care then?”

“A-abandon? I… I didn’t abandon you.”

His mother broke down in tears, explaining the anguish she felt when forced to send Joo-hyuk to his father.

Enraged at the realization that Chairman Choi had deceived him and torn apart his relationship with his mother, Joo-hyuk tried to storm off. But his mother grabbed hold of him.

“Don’t go, Joo-hyuk.”

“Let go of me.”

“Mom doesn’t have much time left.”

“...What?”

That day, cradling his mother and crying endless tears, Joo-hyuk couldn’t remember how he made it back home.

According to what I heard from my older brothers, he collapsed as soon as he got home and was bedridden for three days due to a high fever.

When he finally came to his senses, he went to his father and desperately begged him to save his mother.

“Father, you can save Mother, right?”

Joo-hyuk still couldn’t forget the look in Chairman Choi’s eyes when he glanced down at him that day. It was filled with disgust, as though he were looking at a cockroach.

Utterly despaired by Chairman Choi’s cold turn away, Joo-hyuk stole all the pocket money he had saved up along with his brothers’ emergency funds and ran off to the shantytown where his mother was said to live.

And there, he found his mother’s lifeless body, cold and stiff.

“Why didn’t you ever ask for more? Why did you come so late?”

Staring at his mother’s bright, smiling photograph, Joo-hyuk shed tears.

After his mother’s death, he came to hate everything his father did.

He tried not to rely on his father’s support beyond basic necessities, doing everything he could on his own. As soon as he entered university, he moved out of the house.

Throughout his four years at university, he never lost his position as the top student in his department. Even while founding KMS and being overwhelmingly busy, he managed to stay ahead.

It wasn’t just about becoming an announcer or anchor—it was about creating a media company to fulfill his mother’s dream of becoming an announcer herself. That was why he founded KMS.

“Don’t worry. No matter what happens, I’ll protect KMS with my own hands. It’s my gift to Mother. I won’t let it be taken away.”

Joo-hyuk clenched his fists tightly. For his mother’s sake, it was time to steel his resolve and push forward on this path.

“I’ll come again with Sena. I’m sure you’ll like her.”

He added another promise.

---

When the counseling room door opened and she saw who it was, Sena was startled. It was Kang-un, whom she had seen at the wedding—and more recently, when he had visited their house parking lot.

“Ah...!”

“Hello, Sister-in-law.”

“Ah, yes.”

Though he was one of Joo-hyuk’s long-time friends, he also seemed somewhat awkward around Joo-hyuk.

“I heard that you’re a counselor, so I thought it was perfect timing and decided to visit.”

“You must have something you’d like to talk about?”

“There’s been something I’ve been suffering from for a very long time.”

“You’ve come to the right place. Please, take a seat.”

Sena closed the counseling room door and offered Kang-un a chair.

As he unzipped his jacket and sat down, glancing around the room, she observed his face and mannerisms.

What could this long-standing source of suffering be?

“I’m not sure where to start…”

Kang-un smiled, stroking his sharp jawline with his fingertips. He clearly looked uncomfortable, likely because this was his first time seeking psychological counseling.

“Just speak freely. You don’t need to follow any specific structure. Start wherever feels right.”

“I see. But… will what I say here be shared with anyone else…?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Not even with Joo-hyuk?”

“Of course not. Counseling sessions are legally protected. If anything is leaked, you have the right to sue me.”

“I see.”

It was common for people to fear that their stories might be shared with others. Even though they were assured of legal protection, some still couldn’t trust the process and eventually left.

Sena believed Kang-un wasn’t one of those people, so she waited patiently. But after a long silence, he still hadn’t spoken.

Just as she was considering whether she should encourage him again, putting down the pen she had been holding, he finally spoke.

“Because of one person, I lost both my parents. Someone I trusted betrayed me. Since that day, my entire life has revolved around revenge.”

“Revenge?”

“My ultimate goal is to bring that person—and their family—to ruin, no matter what it takes.”

“Hmm…”

“But… I haven’t been able to sleep well.”

Pressing his palms firmly over his tired eyes, Kang-un continued.

“It’s already been 11 years since that day, but I haven’t had a peaceful night’s sleep since then.”

“Are you suffering from insomnia?”

“Yes. Even medication hasn’t helped.”

Medication-resistant insomnia.