44. The Darkest Place is Under the Lamp

“You called for me?”

He knocked on the office door, but there was no response from inside. Woosik knocked again and waited, then slightly pushed the door open and poked his head in.

Park Yoon-hwa was sitting on the leather sofa in the center of the office. Her gaze was directed towards the office door where Woosik stood, but Yoon-hwa didn’t even acknowledge his presence.

“Chairwoman, I’m coming in.”

Woosik said loudly once more before stepping inside.

“Chairwoman.”

Even after Woosik entered, Yoon-hwa remained motionless, staring blankly into the air. Woosik sat down on the sofa diagonally across from Yoon-hwa, observing her.

Her brow was heavily furrowed above her seemingly entranced eyes, making her look very menacing.

Woosik sat quietly for a long time, waiting for Yoon-hwa to speak.

“Go away!”

Suddenly, Chairwoman Park shouted and waved her hand dismissively. Startled by the sudden outburst, Woosik called out to Yoon-hwa again.

“Chairwoman! Are you alright?”

“Huh. Huh. Huh.”

Chairwoman Park clutched her head with one hand and panted for a long time. When she raised her head again, the focus had returned to her eyes.

“You, when did you arrive?”

“I just got here, Chairwoman.”

“I keep seeing things that aren’t there, at all hours.”

“May I... ask what it is you’re seeing?”

“No. It’s nothing.”

Chairwoman Park waved her hand to dismiss Teacher Im and took a deep breath.

“...My dreams have been disturbing lately, and I haven’t been feeling well.”

“Shall I rearrange the interior?”

“Yes. I think you should.”

Whenever she felt uneasy, Park Yoon-hwa would often call Teacher Im like this to rearrange the furniture in the office.

Under the guise of warding off bad energy and receiving good energy based on yin and yang and the five elements, she would frequently change the arrangement, but Im Woosik knew best that it didn’t help much.

Park Yoon-hwa was originally a sensitive person and couldn’t sleep soundly.

She might not think so herself, but perhaps the things she had done over the years were causing guilt in her subconscious, giving her nightmares.

“Teacher Im. Does my fortune this year have the sign of death?”

“What are you suddenly saying?”

At Chairwoman Park’s words, Im Woosik asked back with a deliberately nervous tone.

“They say that when a person is about to die, past memories often come back to them...”

“Chairwoman, what are you talking about?”

“Why do I keep seeing someone who’s already dead...?”

As if she hadn’t heard Woosik’s question, Chairwoman Park muttered to herself. Woosik put strength in his voice and said clearly once more.

“Nothing bad will happen to you, Chairwoman, so please don’t worry.”

“I see. I may not know other things, but I trust your words on that.”

“There is someone in the south who makes furniture with wood that has good energy. I will procure it for you.”

“Please do. Money is no object.”

Woosik smiled obsequiously, carefully observing Chairwoman Park’s mood. It was when Chairwoman Park, who had a fierce temper, faced situations she couldn’t logically understand that she would listen to him relatively docilely.

The first time was the night her husband died suddenly from an illness she didn’t even know he had, and the second and third times would have been when she held the funerals for her daughter-in-law and eldest grandson in succession.

“Go on out.”

“Then I will report back soon.”

Woosik bowed to Yoon-hwa and quickly left the office. He then returned to his secluded room.

‘Isn’t this happening too fast?’

Woosik recalled Yoon-hwa’s face from a moment ago. Instead of the sharp and piercing gaze he usually encountered, Chairwoman Park had dull eyes like any other old person.

‘So this day has come.’

He scrolled through his phone and found Jung Jae-eun’s contact information.

Park Yoon-hwa had once mentioned to Woosik in passing that there were considerable assets hidden in a secret room somewhere in the main house.

It was truly untraceable wealth that had never been caught in the financial network.

A treasure trove containing gold bars, all sorts of jewelry and expensive watches collected over a lifetime, and works of art.

In fact, Woosik didn’t care who became the owner of Taeseong. The moment Chairman Park died, his own lifespan of leeching off Taeseong was already a foregone conclusion.

So he had to get what he could from Chairman Park before that happened, but this woman had no interest in the well-being of Woosik, who had lived for her for so long.

While he was pondering how to embezzle those assets, Chairman Park’s youngest daughter, Jung Jae-eun, approached Woosik.

Initially, Woosik’s plan was just to stash away some slush funds, but it grew in scale when he joined forces with Jung Jae-eun.

According to Jae-eun, there was a ledger of Chairman Park’s personal assets hidden overseas and a will in the safe. Jae-eun’s goal was to get her hands on it, which had been created with the help of the legal counsel.

The two agreed that once they made her mentally and physically weak, there would be nothing they couldn’t do once they obtained the will.

‘Mother won’t be satisfied with the prescribed tranquilizers and sleeping pills. If possible, try to induce her to overdose.’

Im Woosik took on the role of inducing Chairman Park to blindly trust and overuse her medication. Park Yoon-hwa often sought advice from Im Woosik, so it wasn’t a very difficult task.

For the past few years, he had been subtly persuading her that mental and physical stability was the top priority. It was advice close to brainwashing.

‘It’s just a way to survive.’

Woosik repeated to rationalize himself.

Frankly, Woosik was certain that no one would feel sorry even if someone like Chairman Park died miserably. Rather, there would be more people who would rejoice at Chairman Park’s death.

So he felt no pangs of conscience at all.

‘By the way, Jung Jae-eun wouldn’t be able to stand the sight of her son playing around with Seyoung.’

He had once thought of using Seyoung to leech off Taeseong for generations, but Im Seyoung was clearly not the right material for that.

Even now, all she could think of was seducing a married man and settling down.

It was pathetic.

Rrrrr.

-Hello.

“It’s me. I think the time is almost here.”

Woosik reported in detail to Jae-eun about Yoon-hwa’s condition that he had just seen.

***

“Excuse me, Im Seyoung came by today.”

Haein received Soohyun’s briefcase as he came home from work.

After that night, Soohyun consistently came home early for dinner.

They would sit across from each other and eat without much conversation, but Haein found a lot of comfort in just that. At least she didn’t have to throw away food every day anymore.

It had been as painful as throwing away her own feelings, so she was relieved that it stopped.

“Im Seyoung?”

Soohyun asked back as he walked towards the dressing room. Haein scurried after Soohyun into the dressing room.

Attending to Soohyun after he came home from work had now become natural.

“She came to deliver the documents that Sunbae sent home.”

“Documents?”

Haein handed the envelope to Soohyun, who looked puzzled. Soohyun glanced at Haein and ripped open the envelope. Inside were a few sheets of A4 paper.

“I didn’t send Im Seyoung...”

Soohyun’s face instantly crumpled.

Haein recalled Seyoung’s confident face as she said Soohyun had sent her. She didn’t seem like an honest person, and it seemed she had even lied about the reason she came.

Thinking of Seyoung, the unpleasant feeling she had felt when she met her resurfaced.

“She said it seemed like quite important documents.”

Haein subtly probed Soohyun, throwing out the words casually. Soohyun placed the documents nearby with an indifferent attitude.

“It’s nothing that important, just a summary of the content for a guest lecture at Korea University.”

“Our alma mater?”

“Why?”

“Just... I was happy to hear that.”

Soohyun loosened his tie and smiled slightly at Haein.

“Do you want to go?”

“Yes.”

She didn’t have many good memories of her alma mater, but she was feeling stifled just staying at home.

Haein’s daily routine consisted only of visiting her younger sibling in the hospital a few times a week, visiting the OB-GYN once a month, and occasionally visiting her parents’ house in her spare time.

“It’s next month. Do you want to go too?”

“Wow. Thank you.”

Soohyun, who was watching Haein smile brightly, stopped taking off his shirt and asked back.

“Did Im Seyoung say anything else when she came?”

For a moment, Haein wondered if she should tell him everything or say nothing had happened.

“She said she’s a very close friend of Sunbae’s.”

“Close friends, indeed.”

Looking at Soohyun’s scoffing face, Haein thought that maybe not everything Seyoung said was a lie. If so, what was she trying to find out from Haein by even resorting to lies? Her thoughts became complicated.

“Should I not take what that person said too seriously?”

In fact, that you’re preparing for a divorce.

This was the question Haein most wanted to ask. But when she thought about what answer she would get if she asked, there was no real need to ask.

From the beginning until now, and in the future, the period they would live together in the same house was fixed.

Once Haein became pregnant, the end of this marriage would be in sight.

‘So, there’s no need to feel unnecessarily upset just because I heard those words.’

As she lowered her head and organized her thoughts for a moment, Soohyun approached her.

“What else did you hear?”

“Ah, just that you’re very close... that was all.”

“It doesn’t sound like that’s all.”

Soohyun bent down, brought his face close, and quietly looked into Haein’s eyes. His breath tickled her cheek, and Haein’s face instantly turned red.

“That’s all.”

“Ignore whatever Im Seyoung told you.”

“Okay.”

Even after hearing Haein’s answer, Soohyun didn’t move his face away. His gaze moved from Haein’s pupils to the bridge of her nose, and then down to her lips.

“When is your hospital appointment?”

“Next week.”

“Then I probably won’t be able to sleep for a few nights soon.”

Soohyun already knew about her hospital schedule without her having to tell him. And he had said that he would come home early without her having to ask when the doctor’s predicted ovulation date approached.

Soohyun seemed to be subtly looking forward to her hospital visits.

However, just as he had said about keeping a proper distance, he didn’t hold Haein at all at other times. He didn’t even give her a light kiss.

So, when Soohyun’s face came close like this now, Haein’s heart pounded, but she also knew that he wouldn’t do anything.

“Let’s eat.”

Sure enough, Soohyun stared silently at Haein’s lips before straightening up and going downstairs.

“Haaaah...”

Her legs felt weak for some reason, and Haein leaned against the wall as she watched the place where Soohyun had disappeared for a moment.