Chapter 04…
“What did they say?”
On the hospital terrace, Sojeong and Kangchan were talking. When Sojeong asked again with visible anxiety, Kangchan’s expression darkened.
“It seems his memory has completely vanished. He believes he’s twenty years old right now.”
“Twenty…”
“Yes. I only say this because I was studying abroad with him at the time… Madam, it would be best not to have such precarious conversations with the Chairman as he is now.”
“…”
“He was someone with nothing to lose back then. Reckless, unpredictable… If I hadn’t been here, he really would have smashed the hospital window to escape. That’s the kind of man he was. Still is, really.”
Sojeong could guess that much from talking with him herself. Her amnesiac husband truly was a lawless man.
“Oh, and Madam.”
“Yes?”
“…Do you know someone named Han Sua?”
Kangchan asked carefully. At that, Sojeong quietly nodded.
“I met her once, a few years ago.”
“…”
“It was at a business event. We ran into each other by chance, and even during a casual conversation, I could tell she was strangely mindful of my husband.”
At that event, the two had stepped away to speak alone, leaving only Sojeong behind. But afterward, she never saw Hyun and Sua meet again.
Sojeong hadn’t paid much attention anyway. That was largely because of the conversation she had with Hyun on their wedding night.
“Even though we’ve become husband and wife, I won’t care if you take a lover.”
Not the kind of line one expects from a brand-new groom, but Sojeong had understood. Theirs was a marriage of convenience, devoid of feelings, and anyone could see Hyun was the one who stood to lose more.
So Sojeong assumed Hyun would indeed keep a mistress. Yet surprisingly, he had fulfilled all his duties as her husband without incident.
Was what he had tried to say in the car that day somehow related to Han Sua? No—right now, that wasn’t the point.
Shaking off the thoughts crowding in, Sojeong lightly shook her head.
“That woman, Han Sua, she was his girlfriend, wasn’t she?”
“Yes. Back during our time abroad, they were dating. Then Han Sua broke up with him, saying she was marrying someone else. After that, the Chairman returned to Korea.”
“…They must have been very much in love.”
“At the time, the Chairman was crazy about her,” Kangchan muttered unconsciously, then hurried to add,
“Of course, that was in the past. Since marrying, the Chairman has never once had any improper contact with Han Sua.”
“Yes. It’s all in the past. But to my husband now, it’s the present.”
“…”
“You don’t have to look so worried. What he needs now are the people who were by his side when he was twenty.”
In his memory, she didn’t exist. And Sojeong knew that well. She gave a faint smile, as if to tell Kangchan not to worry.
At that moment, a long, sleek car slid into the hospital drive below. Both of their gazes dropped instinctively, watching as a woman stepped out.
“…The Madam has arrived.”
“So she has.”
At the sight of Mi-ae, Hyun’s mother, entering through the hospital entrance, Sojeong reflexively touched her cheek. The bruise had already faded, but facing her was still unbearably difficult. Kangchan asked cautiously,
“Shall I go in first?”
“It’s fine. Let’s go together.”
She couldn’t ignore a mother’s heart after nearly losing her child. And it was also true Hyun had been hurt worse because of her. So Sojeong had no choice but to bow her head over that.
“Mom’s here, Hyun. How are you feeling? Nothing else hurts, right?”
Inside the ward were Mi-ae, eyes full of worry, and Hyun, lying in bed. Despite her fussing, Hyun’s tone was indifferent.
“No.”
“But after such a terrible accident, how could your body possibly be fine? When you’re discharged, let’s go rest at the villa instead of home. And look at you, you’re skin and bones… I’ll have to prepare some tonics for you.”
By then, Kangchan and Sojeong had entered, but Mi-ae’s focus was only on Hyun.
“What’s all this blood? Don’t tell me it’s from your arm?”
“…”
“Call a nurse right away! What kind of hospital lets a patient end up like this?”
The blood had dried on Hyun’s arm from when he had ripped out his IV earlier. Seeing this, Mi-ae became agitated—and her anger soon turned toward Sojeong.
“You were standing right here, and you didn’t notice a thing? What were you doing?”
“…”
“There’s nothing about you I find acceptable. Where on earth is your head at?”
Now that Hyun had lost his memory, Mi-ae no longer restrained her words toward Sojeong. Kangchan stood by, ready to intervene if needed, but it was Hyun himself who cut through the confrontation.
“Get out.”
“…What?”
“You’re noisy. Both of you, get out.”
Pressing a hand to his forehead, Hyun frowned. Mi-ae hurried closer in alarm.
“Why, does your head hurt again? Should I call your doctor?”
“Forget it. Just take that woman and get out. She’s making me even more irritated.”
His hand pointed squarely at Sojeong. Seeing this, Mi-ae grabbed Sojeong’s arm.
“Fine. You need peace and quiet, and I was being thoughtless. But if you feel worse, you must call a doctor right away, understood?”
“…”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Out.”
Under Mi-ae’s unyielding pressure, Sojeong had no choice but to leave. Even as the ward door closed, she glanced back at Hyun—but all she saw was his turned back, lying pointedly away from her.
“…”
“…”
The silence in the hallway grew heavier, pressing down on them. Glancing at the ward door as if mindful of Hyun inside, Mi-ae lowered her voice.
“From now on, you’d better not come here anymore.”
“…Pardon?”
“Look at the boy’s condition. He suffers more when you’re around. What reason is there for you to stay? There are caregivers here.”
It was true Hyun displayed sharper hostility toward Sojeong than anyone else. And Mi-ae, fully aware of that, wanted her daughter-in-law nowhere near him.
“We’ll handle everything here. You should go home and take care of your child. Shouldn’t you?”
“I already see Harim every day at home. My sister is there too, and we have help watching him.”
“Still, a child needs his mother. Do you think that troublemaker will behave himself otherwise? He’s already such a handful.”
At Mi-ae’s thinly veiled disparagement of Harim, the faintest crease appeared on Sojeong’s brow for the first time. But Mi-ae continued, unbothered.
“By the way, have you told Hyun about the child?”
“No, not yet. We haven’t had a chance for a proper conversation.”
“Good. Keep it that way. Don’t mention the child for now.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Why burden a boy who’s already overwhelmed by telling him he has a child too? You think he’ll be pleased?”
‘You’re my wife? I don’t accept that.’
Hyun’s earlier words echoed painfully in her mind. Sojeong imagined what it would be like if he said something similar in front of Harim.
If a father rejected his own child… there could be nothing more devastating. Just the thought of Harim hearing such words left Sojeong’s lips dry.
“…All right. I’ll do as you say.”
“Of course. Why make things harder for him when he’s already struggling?”
“But he needs to recover his memories. I’ll do everything I can to help him.”
If Hyun’s amnesia dragged on, it would be agony for them both. That was why Sojeong was determined to help him remember.
“I plan to reach out to people from his twenties. Once he feels more emotionally stable, it might be easier for him to recover.”
“You mean that woman, Han Sua?”
“Yes. For now.”
Mi-ae clicked her tongue.
“You really are slow. What kind of wife goes running to her husband’s ex-lover for help?”
“…He’s the one asking for her. And I promised I’d find her for him.”
“Forget it. I’ll go see this Han Sua myself. You worry about something else.”
“You, Mother? Personally?”
Given Mi-ae’s personality, she was not one to go searching for people. At her daughter-in-law’s surprise, she snapped irritably,
“My son is looking for her. As his mother, of course I have to step in. Don’t you agree?”
“….”
“So leave that to me and just go home. There’s no reason to crowd around in a tiny hospital room.”
Standing firmly in front of the ward door, Mi-ae was clearly intent on sending her away. Realizing this, Sojeong bowed her head.
“All right. I’ll go first, then.”
After days of coming and going, the hospital felt familiar to Sojeong. Yet the ward containing her husband and mother-in-law never felt any less suffocating.
Their eyes, their voices, their tone, their attitude—
Even the polite smiles of the nurses greeting her in the hallway felt warmer by comparison. With a hollow laugh at the irony, Sojeong quietly walked away.
“…”
And as she left the hospital, someone was watching her. Hyun.
“Is it really okay to let her go like that?”
“I told you not to speak so formally.”
“…Then only when we’re alone. But are you truly not going to stop her?”
“Why would I? That woman’s nothing but a nuisance.”
The so-called wife showed no expression no matter what happened. Even when his mother lashed out at her, she only bowed her head.
“Her presence just makes me uncomfortable. And besides…”
A woman who only endured everything, showing no real feelings—that was never Hyun’s type.
“Whatever. She just irritates me.”
Every time he saw her, his headache seemed to pound worse. Pressing his palm against his forehead, Hyun kept his gaze fixed on Sojeong’s retreating figure.
