Embedded Files
Psst! We're moving!
His once clear pupils swirled in an instant.
Haejoo cornered Dojun, their faces so close they could almost touch.
“You knew me from the start, didn’t you? Didn’t you!”
“I asked if you remembered me.”
Haejoo’s mind and body were tangled in a web of confusion, wondering if she had fallen into a nasty trap.
If that were the case, she had to get out of there immediately.
However, there was no hostility in Dojun’s eyes. Rather, he looked at Haejoo, his eyes sparkling like a child’s, capturing her in his gaze.
“I don’t know Mr. Dojun. Nor do I know your brother.”
“I see.”
Disappointment flickered across his face as he straightened up.
Just as he turned to leave, Haejoo’s hand grabbed his arm.
“Don’t avoid the question. How do you know me?”
“Just passing by… that’s all.”
“What did you say?”
“Since you and I lived in the same area, wouldn’t it be possible we crossed paths at least once?”
“Speak plainly.”
“It really is just that.”
Dojun didn’t forcefully shake off Haejoo’s hand. Instead, he lowered his arm slightly so she could hold on longer.
His small actions like these occasionally threw Haejoo into confusion.
He seemed like a bad guy, but then again, he didn’t.
His rough exterior hid a subtle thoughtfulness that made Haejoo’s withdrawn spirit bloom like a feverish rash.
He turned his head slowly. The thorns in his gaze had vanished, replaced by Haejoo.
“If you distrust me that much, you can leave this house.”
“……”
“Whether it’s a divorce or separation, I’ll do whatever you want.”
Dojun’s attitude was distinctly different from how he treated Jinhan.
In front of Haejoo, he was just a large, subdued beast.
Could it be a delusion that this side of him made her feel like she shouldn’t leave?
His first impression had been sharp, almost arrogant. But while he possessed a cold charisma, the look in his eyes for Haejoo felt heated.
It was a subtle vulnerability.
“Don’t feel pressured. Just live comfortably here.”
Haejoo thought of the movie Edward Scissorhands. The protagonist, with scissor hands and a peculiar appearance, lived hidden away in a large castle.
Somehow, this house felt like that.
High walls and cold, modern architecture on the outside, but the interior blended strangely with wood.
“Do you live in this house alone?”
“It was originally built for my father, but I moved him to a nursing home recently.”
“I see.”
“I’ll show you your room.”
“……!”
In the living room, two housekeepers were carrying luggage, and Secretary Song was also there.
He could have had Secretary Song do it, but he was personally going to show her around the house.
Whether this was also a planned move or not, it was unexpected.
Dojun walked ahead and urged Haejoo, who stood there blankly.
“What are you doing?”
“Let’s go.”
“The first floor is set up for leisure.”
It was a three-story building.
No wonder the walls looked so high from the outside, reaching all the way to the roof.
Reaching the second floor, he chose one of the many doors.
“This is your room, so if you need anything while living here, just tell Secretary Song.”
Dojun personally opened the door. A large window, close to the garden’s trees, captivated Haejoo’s gaze.
From the bed to the decorations, there were clear signs of meticulous care.
In particular, the elegant lighting placed throughout the room harmonized well with the wooden furniture.
“This is the dressing room. That door on the opposite side connects to my room.”
Half of the dressing room was a space for Haejoo.
Looking around at his clothes and accessories, mostly in neutral tones, Haejoo asked,
“Did you deliberately clear everything out because of me?”
“These are all my things. I’m not interested in shopping.”
“Ah.”
“This is my room.”
Dojun’s room had only a bed and a lamp.
It was smaller than Haejoo’s room and felt empty.
“This is Mr. Dojun’s room?”
“This is enough for me. Follow me.”
Leaving the room, they headed to the third floor. The third floor had an impressive structure with attic-like windows and a ceiling reminiscent of a European loft.
“This is the study and the third-floor terrace. Feel free to use it.”
Secretary Song quietly followed whenever Dojun showed her around the house. He waited until the house tour was over before conveying his business.
“Madam, please have your meal.”
“Just me?”
Haejoo stared intently at Dojun.
Standing with his back to the terrace, he laid out his still unfinished schedule.
“I have to go out again. I might have a drink.”
Dojun checked the time, saying he had an appointment.
Haejoo stepped aside, feeling like he had come even though he had work.
“From now on, I’ll take care of myself, so please go about your business.”
“You really talk like a stranger.”
“In reality, we are strangers. Is there anything else you want?”
“Perhaps.”
Jinhan had said that Dojun was obsessed with money. Haejoo was on edge, thinking that his ambition could reveal its true colors at any moment.
“Or should I pay rent?”
Dojun gestured for Secretary Song to go downstairs.
Only the two of them remained on the third floor.
“You want me to pay rent?”
“Just tell me if you need anything, no matter how much.”
“Are you rich?”
“Enough to take care of myself.”
“Will that be enough?”
“How much rent are you thinking of charging?”
Dojun chuckled.
He lightly ran his hand down his face and inhaled, his chest expanding greatly.
Soon, his relaxed gaze tightened sharply.
“I have no children to inherit my wealth, and my father is in a nursing home.”
“……”
“Once my father passes away, I plan to let go of everything and leave.”
“Leave?”
“Then the things I currently possess will only become a burden.”
“Mr. Dojun…”
“In my life, besides you, would there be another woman? Even if it’s on paper, we’ve been married for a whole three years.”
Haejoo, who had been wary of Dojun, began to soften.
When she first saw him yesterday, the fact that he seemed to have no lingering attachment to life wasn’t just her imagination.
Moreover, his words didn’t sound like something a person obsessed with money would say.
“Choose. Become a divorcee in your prime in a year, or receive the inheritance I leave behind.”
“Are you saying you’re going to die?”
“I’ve made money, and even had a marriage, albeit a superficial one, so isn’t that enough?”
“How can you say that right now?”
“I’m saying that when the time is right, I’ll disappear on my own. So!”
Dojun’s voice cracked harshly. He walked forward and brushed the hair covering Haejoo’s shoulder with the back of his hand. The slow touch made her heartbeat still.
“You take it all.”
“……!”
“I’ll give you everything. Got it?”
“Don’t act like you’re about to die!”
It was terribly ironic.
Even if he were an enemy, she couldn’t just run away from a dying person.
To Haejoo, his words sounded like a desperate threat. It stirred her emotions even more than being tied down.
Dojun roughly swept back his hair. After a few deep breaths, he calmed down somewhat and met Haejoo’s eyes.
“You’re the one who shouldn’t be so impatient. What’s the rush?”
“Mr. Dojun.”
“I have to go now. Get some rest.”
Dojun turned and went down the stairs.
Leaving Haejoo behind, he left such a large void.
“It feels like I’m the only bad person here.”
No matter how hard she tried, Haejoo couldn’t remember where she had seen Dojun before.
Frustrated, Haejoo rubbed her burning throat. His scent still lingered, brushing against her nose with every breath.
“Annoying.”
The marriage scandal was like a disaster for Haejoo.
To protect the success she had barely grasped, she had to thoroughly analyze and calculate, preparing for any possible mishap.
Compared to that, Dojun was so easy.
Even if he had other intentions, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
“I need to pull myself together.”
After changing clothes on the second floor, she went down to the first floor where dinner was set. Dojun was already gone, and she sat alone at the table.
She only wanted to rest quickly.
Perhaps because the void he left behind was too large, she kept feeling strange.
“He’s going to disappear.”
If Jinhan heard this, he might rejoice.
But Haejoo couldn’t.
Even if they divorced, she didn’t want anything bad to happen to Dojun.
Haejoo had been able to leave her house thanks to the fifty million won that CEO Park had given her. Although she was suffering from the scandal, she had to acknowledge this part.
His expressions were rough, but Dojun hadn’t driven Haejoo into a corner.
She had preemptively judged that he was just a beast covered in raw energy, not knowing how else to express himself.
As her stream of consciousness reached this point, her usually upright spirit wavered slightly.
Nevertheless, she could still endure it.
For now.
________________________________________
Dojun, in a car driven by Secretary Song, sped towards Sinsa-dong. His phone rang, urging him as he was already late for his appointment.
“I’ll be there soon.”
Contrary to his words, Dojun hoped the traffic would delay his arrival as much as possible.
Besides CEO Kim, several wealthy investors who had entrusted large sums to the Jino Group were gathered at the scheduled drinking party.
Today, they hadn’t called him for work.
They were all middle-aged fathers with daughters and had been keeping a close eye on Dojun.
They had been subtly playing a game of who would connect their daughter with Dojun, only to be blindsided today.
The husband of the actress who had suddenly been embroiled in a marriage scandal was none other than Dojun.
“Do I really have to go?”
“Just go and play along appropriately.”
He felt uneasy leaving Haejoo alone at home. He wanted to turn the car around and go back right away, but the situation didn’t allow it.
“Father’s business registration should be closed now.”
“Understood.”
There was still one debtor who hadn’t repaid CEO Park’s money.
That one person was Kyung-ae.
After Haejoo left home, Kyung-ae’s cafe business struggled, and she borrowed more money.
CEO Park lent her the money even though he knew he wouldn’t get it back.
At the time, Dojun questioned why, and CEO Park had said,
‘I gave it because she’s a bad person.’
‘Huh?’
‘In case she harasses my daughter, who barely managed to leave to survive.’
‘…….’
‘That woman, her mother, won’t be able to say a word to me after borrowing more money, so it’s settled.’
After Yijun passed away, CEO Park delayed reporting his death as much as possible. He couldn’t bear to send his son away in his heart.
It was only when he belatedly reported Yijun’s death that he found out Dojun and Haejoo had become a couple.
After pondering alone, CEO Park conveyed this fact to Dojun after he was discharged from the military.
‘Dojun-ah, even now, find that child and….’
‘No.’
‘What?’
‘Leave this alone. I’ll take care of it.’
Dojun, with some unknown thought, didn’t correct the flawed marriage. He left home determinedly and jumped into business.
“Finally, Father’s tiresome life of giving everything away is ending.”
“You’ve worked hard all this time.”
There were still those who mocked Dojun as the son of a low-level loan shark.
He planned to crush those who wore masks of dignity while harboring cheap jealousy.
“We’ve arrived.”
Dojun got out of the car and tightened his tie firmly.
With his handsome appearance drawing everyone’s attention, he headed to the gathering of wealthy individuals.
________________________________________
Past 10 PM, Haejoo had roughly finished unpacking.
In the house, which was quiet to the point of being desolate, the only sound was the rustling of tree branches in the wind.
“Is it going to rain?”
The night sky was heavy with dark clouds. Sensing that it would rain soon, she closed the glass doors she had left open.
She lay down and covered herself with the blanket, but sleep wouldn’t come.
Just as she was tossing and turning, Jinhan sent her a message.
[Is it okay for you to stay there?]
[Yes, I’m fine.]
[CEO Park Dojun’s personality doesn’t seem like a joke, I’m worried.]
[Please don’t worry too much.]
[Okay. Sleep well, Haejoo-ssi, and see you tomorrow.]
Haejoo put down her phone and tried to force herself to sleep. She had an important meeting scheduled for the morning, so she needed to be in good condition.
At some point, her body became weary.
Just as she was falling asleep, Haejoo’s consciousness found itself in the middle of the neighborhood where she had lived with Kyung-ae.
It was an incredibly vivid dream.
The passing people and buildings felt real.
The situation changed in an instant, and soon a wave of sorrow washed over her.
Before she could even grasp the situation, a piercing shout rang out.
‘Go die, you thief!’
In the dream, Kyung-ae had been screaming for two hours straight. Haejoo endured it painfully, sobbing, while Yura plugged her ears as if she were bored.
‘I didn’t steal anything.’
‘Then why is thirty thousand won missing from my wallet?’
‘How would I know that?’
Now she remembered what had happened in the dream.
That day, thirty thousand won had disappeared from Kyung-ae’s wallet, and Haejoo had suffered because of it.
Haejoo swore she hadn’t stolen the money.
But Kyung-ae’s brutal anger had driven the twenty-year-old her to the brink.
‘I don’t need someone like you, so just die! You have to die for me to live!’
Haejoo was exhausted by all the harsh words.
She even had the wrong idea that her family might be happier if she really died.
She was chased out barefoot and wandered the streets.
She cried so much that she got a headache, and eventually, she felt dizzy and wanted to rest anywhere.
In a daze, she found herself on the rooftop of a seven-story building.
That day, the wind was so strong that Haejoo staggered.
‘It’s hard.’
Her chest felt tight, and she wanted to see the world from a high place.
She hadn’t intended to do anything bad.
But when she actually arrived, she felt like she wanted to fly in the sky.
She stepped onto the ledge with her dirt-covered feet.
Her eyes lost focus, and there was no one to protect the girl who hadn’t even fully blossomed.
It was when Haejoo, who had been leaning over the highest part of the rooftop railing, lifted her back up.
Suddenly, a gust of wind swept over Haejoo.
‘Ah!’
Her weakly supported legs faltered.
Losing her balance, Haejoo’s body swayed precariously.
In that fleeting moment, she reached out her hand, but her body was already tilting outwards.
That was when it happened.
“Save me!”
Haejoo screamed and woke up with a start, her eyes wide with terror.
When she came to her senses, Dojun was tightly holding the hand she had desperately reached out in her sleep.
He pulled the tearful Haejoo towards him with force. He held her tightly in his arms, cradling her so she wouldn’t fall.
“You won’t die. I’ll hold on to you until the end.”
Google Sites
Report abuse