DYEH 04

Chapter 4

Seohui couldn’t immediately grasp what Isu was saying. What did she mean by “you need to get a grip on the situation”?

“Isu, what do you mean by that? You mean I still haven’t figured out what’s going on…?”

Seohui had thought Isu had come all this way because she was worried about her, but the way Isu looked at her now was different from usual. It seemed Isu was disappointed in her.

“You’re not seriously believing all of this, are you? I didn’t kill grandfather…”
“I know. I know you didn’t kill grandfather.”

At Isu’s answer, color returned to Seohui’s face. Even if there was only one person who believed her, that person would put effort into proving her innocence.

Yes — that was enough. That would do.

Just as Seohui was about to ask what she should do next, Isu moved up close to Jaemin. Seohui’s eyes followed her.

Seohui’s gaze froze at Isu’s next move. Not avoiding Seohui’s fixed stare, Isu slipped her arm into Jaemin’s and linked her arm with his — as if to show, tenderly and openly, that they were a loving couple.

“Oppa, you’ve got lipstick on. I told you to check the mirror before you left.”

A broad smile spread across Isu’s mouth when Seohui’s embarrassed expression didn’t fade. That smile carried mockery, contempt, dismissal — all unpleasant feelings mixed in.

“What are you so surprised about? You didn’t know until now?”

Isu’s tone shifted suddenly.

“Really?”
“…….”
“You really didn’t know?”

She asked as if she couldn’t believe it. With a furrowed brow and a laugh that sounded like air escaping, she clearly enjoyed the situation.

“Well, you always were a bit clueless, sister.”

Grandfather’s death, the accusation of murder, Isu’s true feelings, Jaemin’s affair — so much had happened in just one day that Seohui couldn’t steady herself.

Isu took pleasure in watching Seohui’s disorientation, as if she had been waiting for this moment.

She leaned subtly against Jaemin and linked arms ostentatiously. The warm, sisterly manner in which Isu used to call Seohui “unnie” and follow her around was completely gone; now she acted like the lover of Seohui’s husband.

“This can’t… be true.”
“I hate you for this.”
“Isu…”
“You must still want to believe it’s not true. You act innocent with that naive, sweet face, pretending you don’t know. It’s disgusting.”

Disgusting? She’d thought Isu felt that way about her all this time? Had all the affectionate behavior been an act?

Which of them was more disgusting, she wondered. Swallowing the bile rising in her throat, Seohui bit her lower lip hard. Isu kept on with her cruel words.

“I hated you since I was little. We were born into the same Han family, yet you got granddad’s love all to yourself.”
“…….”
“You had things you got only after endless effort, while you got them without any effort at all.”

Isu was the daughter Han Taegyu had after remarrying. Because the new wife was not to Chairman Han’s liking, Taegyu always kept a certain distance — and Isu, though carrying the Han name, had been treated differently from early childhood. She had resented the fact that someone he met in a bar had become his daughter-in-law, and that led to a real difference in how Isu and Seohui were treated.

Still, Seohui had never suspected Isu held such deep resentment; Isu had always smiled and brushed off worries.

“If you were upset with me, why didn’t you say so back then…”
“Why would I have said anything back then?”

She cut Seohui off before she could finish. Clicking her tongue as if scandalized.

“I was busy playing the dutiful daughter while watching you act like a princess. Even if I had said something, would anyone have listened?”
“That’s a misunderstanding.”
“Whatever. It’s past now.”
“…….”
“From now on, I’m going to take what I can. Everything that should have been yours. I deserve it.”

Even as Isu spoke, Seohui’s eyes kept going to Jaemin. Whatever Isu said, she wished Jaemin would explain.

Please, let all this be a lie. Let me have misheard. She looked at Jaemin with pleading eyes.

Contrary to her hope, Jaemin’s expression — which had previously shown concern — had changed. His face now held the same mixture of sneer and contempt Seohui saw on Isu.

“Jaemin, can’t you say something? That’s not true, right?”

Seohui asked, voice breaking, but Jaemin showed neither apology nor embarrassment. Even without an answer, the truth of their relationship was obvious to anyone watching.

So that was why Jaemin had been cold to her. She realized she’d been the fool, played by the two of them.

“How could you do such a shameless thing… it’s an affair. A blatant affair!”

Overcome with emotion, Seohui accused them. The smile drained from Isu’s face. Slap! The crack of palm against skin echoed loudly through the hospital room.

If Jaemin hadn’t called out Isu’s name, her hand would have struck Seohui’s cheek again.

“Don’t throw around the word ‘affair.’ You’re the one who came between me and oppa, sister.”
“What? What do you mean…”
“Are you really so dumb that you still need me to say it out loud for you to get it?”
“……?”
“No matter when I and Jaemin started our relationship, one unchanged fact is—”
“…….”
“That we love each other. In the past, now, and in the future.”
“You really…”
“So instead of obsessing over that unchanged fact, why don’t you worry about something else? Like who framed you for murder.”
“…….”
“Or what will happen to you next.”

Isu’s words set Seohui’s mind racing; her eyelids fluttered faster.

“What do you mean? So you know who killed grandfather?”

Seohui asked without taking a breath.

“Then go tell the police. Hurry and catch the criminal, Isu!”

Despite Seohui’s desperation, Isu’s expression didn’t budge.

“Why would I do that?”

She answered coldly.

“Why…?”

Seohui couldn’t understand the situation at all. If Isu knew who the killer was, why would she let Seohui be treated as the murderer?

“You don’t need to tell any more,” Jaemin interjected. His tone was gentle toward Isu, but the look in his eyes was icy. There was no trace of sympathy.

“Jaemin…”
“It’s a blessing there’s no child between you and me. If there had been, it would have been harder to cut you off like this.”

Those words made something hot well up in Seohui’s throat. She remembered all the time she had spent trying to have Jaemin’s child — the hospital tests, the injections she gave herself, the IVF attempts, the miscarriage after finally conceiving, and how hard it became to get pregnant afterward.

“Oh, come on. That’s a nasty thing to say. You never planned to have kids with me anyway. The child would be mine.”

Isu’s words turned into another knife in her chest. An attack while she was defenseless caused deep damage.

Smiling sweetly at Seohui, Isu delivered the final blow.

“You remember the medicine I gave you when you were pregnant, right?”

At the word “medicine,” Seohui searched her memory. She’d gotten pregnant after IVF but had spent time bedridden with fluid buildup. Around that time, worried, Isu had given her some herbal medicine — saying it was from Director Kim, who always took care of the family’s health.

“So you remember.”

Isu’s words deepened the wrinkles between Seohui’s brows.

“No way…”
It can’t be. No — she wanted to believe it wasn’t true.

Isu smiled slowly, folding her eyes a little. The chill that ran through Seohui made her skin crawl.

“That medicine was actually—”
“…….”
—a drug to induce miscarriage.”

No words came out, overwhelmed by betrayal and emptiness. She was stunned; tears felt dried up. All that escaped was a hollow sigh.

“How about going to join that child now?”

Isu signaled with a nod. Then a nurse who had been waiting behind the curtain stepped forward holding something.

“Don’t worry. The pain will be brief. You wouldn’t want to live in this situation anyway, right?”
“Isu….”

The nurse grabbed Seohui’s arm and swiftly injected something. It happened so fast Seohui had no chance to resist.

“This—”

Seohui blinked to steady her blurring vision, but her body was already reacting to the injection.

“Goodbye. Don’t worry about Jaemin.”
“…….”
“Oh, and you asked who made grandfather like that, remember?”

She tried to say anything, but no sound came out.

“Think of this as the last gift on your way out. As for the killer—”

She fought to hold on to consciousness, but her ears went muffled and her fading sight was being swallowed by darkness.

“You’re not really thinking I did all of this by myself, are you? The culprit is all of us.”

Isu’s muttered words looped faintly by Seohui’s ear. One by one, familiar faces appeared behind her.