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Chairman Kang’s palm slammed down on the glass table.
“Surviving comes first! What is this nonsense about love? How could she throw her life away just because she was betrayed by a man? She should’ve found a way to endure and survive!”
“Really… Why have you become like this?”
Sena wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks. The tears she had shed until now felt wasted. Her hope that he might feel even a shred of guilt over her mother’s death now seemed utterly futile.
“Let’s go.”
Suddenly, a male voice interrupted. Sena looked up to see Joo-Hyuk standing silently beside their table.
Though partially hidden by his bangs, the unmistakable anger in his eyes was glaring.
“Joo-Hyuk?”
“Mr. Kang?”
Both turned to him simultaneously, confused by his sudden appearance.
“If this is the kind of conversation you came here for, I’ll take Sena with me.”
“No, young man—”
“Let’s go.”
Joo-Hyuk gave a slight bow to Chairman Kang before firmly gripping Sena’s wrist and pulling her to her feet.
The warmth of his large hand on her wrist felt like being pulled out of deep water, gasping for air after nearly drowning.
“Young man! Let go of my daughter’s hand! I was planning to separate her from you anyway—”
Chairman Kang quickly rose from his seat and blocked Joo-Hyuk’s path. In response, Joo-Hyuk glared at him with icy eyes.
“Do you still have more pain to inflict on Sena?”
“What?”
“I won’t let Sena be dragged back into your hell.”
With that, Joo-Hyuk pulled Sena out of the café.
Behind them, Chairman Kang flailed his arms wildly, spouting incoherent nonsense as he pointed accusingly at the two.
Sena’s heart raced as she followed Joo-Hyuk, who strode ahead with long, determined steps.
She prayed they were heading toward a paradise where they could live together, far from all this torment.
---
Hell.
From the moment he faced his mother’s death, Joo-Hyuk had thought of the place he lived as hell.
This hell was like a swamp; the more you struggled to escape, the deeper it pulled you in. As a child, powerless to resist, he had learned how to survive within it.
When he married Sena, it felt like a breath of fresh air. To him, living in hell, she was an oasis, a paradise on earth.
He wanted no trace of hell to touch this paradise. Even if her life had been another version of hell, he believed that with him by her side, she would be okay.
At least, that’s what he thought just an hour ago.
When the call came from the Simahn Center, Joo-Hyuk was on his way to meet Prosecutor Lee.
“Who came?”
[Chairman Kang.]
Why? What did they talk about?
After hearing from Seol-Young that Sena had taken Chairman Kang out, Joo-Hyuk turned his car around and headed toward Simahn.
He sent a message delaying his meeting with Prosecutor Lee and scoured every possible place near Simahn where Sena and Chairman Kang might have gone.
And when he finally found them—
“Because Mom loved you that much.”
“Does love put food on the table?! Survival comes first! What is this nonsense about love? How could she throw her life away just because of betrayal by one man? She should’ve endured and survived somehow!”
Sena was still trapped in hell.
The next moments were a blur. Barely containing his boiling rage, Joo-Hyuk grabbed her wrist.
“If this is the kind of conversation you came for, I’ll take Sena with me.”
“No, young man—”
“Let’s go.”
Chairman Kang stood up, bewildered, pushing his chair back.
Out of the corner of his eye, Joo-Hyuk noticed the other café patrons whispering and stirring upon recognizing him, but his gaze was fixed solely on Sena.
When he saw her look of relief, another wave of anger surged through him.
“Young man! Let go of my daughter’s hand! I was already planning to separate her from you—”
Damn it!
There was something about Chairman Kang that made people’s blood boil. Just like before, when he had laid hands on Sena, Joo-Hyuk couldn’t help but intervene.
This time, it wasn’t just absurd—it was unbearable.
How dare he try to take away his paradise? No, drag Sena back into hell?
Joo-Hyuk’s trembling hand barely restrained itself from lashing out at Chairman Kang, but then he felt a calming touch.
Sena, who had been relieved just moments ago, now held onto his sleeve with her free hand, worry clouding her eyes once more.
Let’s leave here quickly.
Her eyes pleaded silently.
“Do you still have more pain to inflict on Sena?”
“What?”
“I won’t let Sena be dragged back into your hell.”
Leaving behind a fuming Chairman Kang, Joo-Hyuk pulled Sena out of the café.
Even as he strode ahead with long, confident steps, she kept pace without falling behind.
After walking in silence for a while, he suddenly stopped and turned around. To his surprise, she was smiling.
“Are you… smiling right now?”
It was a relief, but it also left him feeling drained.
Still, he couldn’t help but smile faintly along with her.
“You were incredibly cool back there, you know?”
“I wasn’t trying to be cool.”
“It was like a prince coming to rescue his princess.”
“So you’re saying you’re the princess?”
Embarrassed, he tried to change the subject, but Sena continued to gaze at him with sparkling eyes.
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Even so, thank you for doing what was right.”
Sena tightened her grip on his hand, which was already holding hers firmly. Her fingertips were icy cold, so Joo-Hyuk quickly clasped her hand more tightly.
“While following you here, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.”
“What thought?”
“If I’m with you, even becoming a mother doesn’t seem so scary anymore.”
“...What do you mean by that?”
“Yes, I want to have a child. A child who looks like both you and me.”
For a moment, Joo-Hyuk doubted his ears.
He had understood intellectually when Sena hesitated about having children, but deep down, it had made him feel a little disheartened.
He wasn’t unfamiliar with fear, but he hadn’t expected her thoughts on the matter to be so negative. Still, he didn’t want to force her or make it an issue, so he buried those feelings. After all, Sena alone was enough for him.
“...Really?”
“Yes, I mean it… Ah!”
Before she could finish her sentence, Joo-Hyuk pulled her into a tight embrace.
He didn’t know how she had come to this decision, but he knew it was the biggest one of her life—a decision that would completely change the course of her life—and she had made it for him, trusting him fully. That made him incredibly grateful.
“Joo-Hyuk... I can’t breathe...”
“Thank you.”
He loosened his hold slightly to convey his gratitude before pulling her back into another hug.
He never wanted to let go of someone so precious.
“Does it make you this happy?”
She wrapped her arms around him and whispered softly.
“Yes, I’m happy. I feel so guilty for being this happy.”
Sena buried her face in his chest. She pressed her ear so close to his heart that he worried she might hear its frantic beating.
“Not at all. I’m so happy right now.”
Her soft voice resonated deeply within him.
---
As time passed, public opinion gradually began to shift in Joo-Hyuk’s favor.
Stories from his childhood were unearthed, and while they exposed painful truths, they also sparked sympathy: how could he have done anything but expose his father after enduring such injustice?
Still, the prosecution’s investigation wasn’t unfolding exactly as Joo-Hyuk had anticipated.
“It’s touch-and-go. They’ve been walking a fine line,” Prosecutor Lee said, tilting his palm downward and swaying it slightly side to side.
“They did secure contracts through lobbying and connected other companies while profiting, but there’s not much evidence left. What little remains likely won’t even make it to trial.”
“Nothing at all?”
“Nothing substantial. Much of it is past the statute of limitations.”
Joo-Hyuk sighed involuntarily.
Despite his efforts to shake up his father, it seemed he wouldn’t have much to show for it in the end.
“It’s disappointing, but the best outcome will be proving that KMS has no ties to political corruption.”
“To be honest, that’s satisfying enough for me...”
“Are you worried about me?” Prosecutor Lee chuckled, pointing at himself.
“The Chief Prosecutor’s interference in the investigation is a separate issue. That’s clearly illegal, and we have the recorded evidence you provided.”
“That’s at least fortunate.”
“This side might blow up bigger, but even so, Chairman Choi won’t suffer significant damage just from that.”
“It’d be a relief if he’d just retire.”
“What about Representative Choi? He’s probably taking the brunt of the criticism right now.”
“My brother... he’ll be fine.”
Joo-Hyuk trailed off, recalling his meeting with Joo-Chan a few days ago.
When Joo-Hyuk reached out to ask how he was doing, Joo-Chan suggested they have lunch together. Since Sena was at work, Joo-Hyuk invited him over, and the two sat side by side eating instant ramen.
“It feels nice to take a break. I can finally have lunch with my younger brother.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
They ate in silence for a while, adding pickled radish sent by Sena’s aunt to their piping-hot ramen.
“What’s the party saying? Your approval ratings are at rock bottom.”
“They’re going to field a different candidate for this mayoral election. I was just one of many candidates.”
“But you were almost guaranteed to win.”
“Well, yes.”
Joo-Chan gave a faint, powerless smile.
“I don’t have much to say to you. By exposing everything, it feels like I turned the arrow toward you. I’m sorry.”
“You know something? I’ve always been skeptical about politics.”
Joo-Chan spoke as if he hadn’t heard Joo-Hyuk’s apology.
“Father always pressured us to have a politician in the family, so I prepared for it from a young age, but I never found it interesting. Still, I felt lucky that people liked and supported the policies our party proposed.”
“I always thought you were a natural-born politician.”
“Did you? I just approached it like a task—thinking about how certain policies could improve people’s lives.”
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