chapter 01
Seo-ha wandered through a very long dream before suddenly coming to her senses. Yet, she could not open her eyes. Like the moment she was pronounced dead, all communication between her body and consciousness had completely cut off.
Squeeeak.
The sound of a door opening reached her. Soon after, the footsteps of two or three people approached, soft and measured.
“Miss, we’re here.”
The woman greeted cheerfully—it was Ji-soo Lee.
“Honey, you don’t have to greet us so properly every time.”
The man, Seung-oh Lee, giggled as if overwhelmed by cuteness.
Rage boiled in Seo-ha’s chest. Yet there was nothing she could do. All she could do was lie there like a corpse, listening to the sounds of the two of them being affectionate.
“H-Hey, stop. What if the nurse comes in?”
“She went to eat. She won’t be back for at least an hour.”
“Still… aaah!”
The sounds of intimacy grew more intense. Seo-ha sank into a horrendous self-loathing beyond anger. That she had once loved such a terrible man to the end, while he rolled around with another woman in the same room where his comatose wife lay.
Knock, knock.
Fortunately, someone knocked lightly on the door, and the wretched sounds stopped abruptly.
“Ah, there’s a guardian here.”
It was the doctor. Seo-ha tried desperately to move her eyes, hoping the doctor might notice that she was conscious, but it was useless.
“How is she doing?”
Seung-oh asked, pretending to sound worried.
“Physically, she’s actually healthy. However, we can’t predict when she might wake. In fact, we can’t even say for certain whether she will wake.”
The doctor delivered a nonsensical diagnosis as if Seo-ha, fully conscious, were not even present. She knew it wasn’t the doctor’s fault, yet it still made her resentful.
“And what about what I asked last time?”
Seung-oh asked. Trying to sound secretive, he had asked, but the doctor directly addressed it in plain words.
“If you’re talking about stopping life support, that’s not allowed.”
“But you just said we don’t know if she can wake.”
“It’s only been three months. And whether it’s three months or three years, discontinuing life support is only allowed for patients in an actual brain-dead state.”
From the doctor’s words, Seo-ha realized two things: she had been lying like this for three months, and Seung-oh had wanted to stop life support—essentially her death—even before those three months had passed.
“I understand. I just saw my wife in so much pain…”
Not something a man who had been rolling with his mistress in his wife’s hospital room would normally say.
After the brief check-up, the doctor left. The room was left with only three people: Yoon Seo-ha, Seung-oh, and Ji-soo.
“Nothing ever goes right.”
Seung-oh muttered, and Ji-soo pouted.
“Don’t say it like that. It’s scary.”
“Scary? The truly scary thing is…”
Seung-oh stood and pried Seo-ha’s eyelids open with two fingers. Seeing his reflection in her blank, doll-like eyes gave him no pleasure.
“Seo-ha will open her eyes and suddenly sit up.”
He withdrew his fingers, gently closing her partially open eyelids.
“Then she’ll say: ‘How’s the divorce paperwork coming? Is the alimony ready? Now get out of the company. Leave everything your mother gave you—the house, the car, the watch!’”
Ji-soo grinned and leaned on his arm.
“So what? I only need you, honey.”
“You need those things to make your wife happy, our princess.”
She had suffered so much in her life. Seung-oh didn’t want Ji-soo to suffer further. Of course, he had no intention of suffering himself either.
“That car was too sturdy. How did it survive after hitting a truck? If I’d known, I’d have asked them to hit it with a dump truck instead of a Porter.”
Seo-ha’s spine chilled.
“‘Asked them to hit it with a dump truck’? So the truck accident that left me like this wasn’t an accident?”
“It’s not fine. You can’t even open your eyes.”
“Exactly. Wouldn’t it be nice if it had just ended? You could die peacefully, and I could inherit without hassle.”
“Stop talking about that. I-I’m really scared.”
“Stop stuttering.”
“When I get t-tense… I can’t help it…”
Seung-oh chuckled.
“Let’s go. We don’t have much time if we visit your mother’s ward and then go to the office. We won’t even have time for a coffee.”
“You always say you’re busy. Is being a company president always this hectic?”
“Try it yourself, honey. Even managing just the design team is busy, isn’t it?”
“B-busy….”
“Cute.”
“I’m not cute, you know?”
Ji-soo naturally wrapped her arm around Seung-oh’s neck. Their lips were about to meet again when—
Bang!
The hospital room door burst open. Startled as if burned, Seung-oh and Ji-soo jumped back but sighed in relief when they saw who had entered.
“Mom! You can’t just barge in like that!”
“What about me? I lived twenty years watching every move of the princess. Now I also have to watch the new daughter-in-law?”
Ok-soon smacked Seung-oh’s back without even glancing at Seo-ha.
“I came because you didn’t answer the phone. There are reporters at Seo-ha’s mom’s room. Go meet them quickly. If you’re not going to meet the reporters, why come in and out of the hospital in this busy schedule?”
Mom is in the hospital? Why? What on earth had happened all this time?
“Okay, okay! Honey, take mom and go wait in the car. Love you.”
The three people, who Seo-ha wanted to crush to pieces, left the room. Finally alone, Seo-ha reviewed the conversation in her mind with a cold head.
“That car was too sturdy. How did it survive after hitting a truck? If I’d known, I’d have asked them to hit it with a dump truck instead of a Porter.”
“Wouldn’t it be nice if it had just ended? You could die peacefully, and I could inherit without hassle.”
“Is being a company president always this hectic?”
“Try it yourself, honey. Even managing just the design team is busy, isn’t it?”
“There are reporters at Seo-ha’s mom’s room. Go meet them quickly. If you’re not going to meet the reporters, why come in and out of the hospital in this busy schedule?”
No deduction was needed. Everything was painfully clear.
Seung-oh had tried to kill her to take over the property and company. Her mother was in the hospital from the shock. During that time, Seung-oh had taken the CEO position at Kang Yoon Company and handed over the design team to Ji-soo.
The man she had chosen, the woman he loved, and even his mother had not only betrayed her but also taken everything from her and left her mother broken.
She wanted to scream, to confront Seung-oh, to hurl every curse, beat him mercilessly, tear him apart, gnash and wail—but she could do nothing. Her heart was torn apart, her anger boiling, yet she could not shed a single tear. Seo-ha struggled in silent agony, trapped within her own body.
Wake me up. Let me move my eyes and body. Seung-oh, if I could just tear you apart first, I’d stay trapped forever. Please, please!
The first time Seo-ha met Ji-soo was on a lightly rainy evening. Seo-ha later imagined that Seung-oh and Ji-soo’s love probably started that day.
Seo-ha and Seung-oh stood arm in arm by the long fence in front of the gate. This was the house where Seo-ha had been born and raised, where the two had lived together since childhood.
“Mom’s going to be surprised. Right?”
Not contacting her beforehand would double her delight. Seo-ha imagined Haesun’s surprise and felt a thrill of anticipation. Seung-oh remained calm, as always.
‘Always calm’ held years of memories, far more than words could convey.
Seo-ha and Seung-oh knew each other better than anyone. They had shared everything since their kindergarten days, when the employer’s daughter and the helper’s son first met, all the way to now.
When the drizzle grew slightly heavier, Seung-oh tilted his umbrella toward Seo-ha without concern for the expensive suit he was wearing.
Seo-ha smiled and leaned slightly on him. She loved his left shoulder that quietly got wet in the rain, his long shadow striding ahead while carrying her school bag, his scarred fingers offering a birthday gift from his part-time job, and the kitchen chaos he caused while promising to pack her college exam lunch, earning a scolding from Ok-soon.
She had never imagined loving or marrying anyone but Seung-oh.
“Honey.”
When she whispered, Seung-oh looked down at her.
“I love you.”
“Me too.”
She loved the slightly blunt tone of his usual reply.
Ding dong, ding dong.
Seung-oh pressed the doorbell. Before the sound ended, the door creaked open and Ok-soon appeared as if waiting for them.
“Came for dinner? You should have called first!”
“I was worried we’d break the table if we called.”
Seo-ha stepped into the garden while Seung-oh closed the gate behind her.
“I came because I wanted home-cooked food. Our princess never cooks for me.”
“Hey now. How could you, Seo-ha?”
Ok-soon frowned but held Seo-ha’s hand tightly. Having lived long with her son Seung-oh in a small house converted from a servant’s rest space, Ok-soon continued living there with Haesun even after Seo-ha and Seung-oh married.
But much had changed. She had gone from being a servant to being a family member. Their home moved from the small garden house to a two-story house with a living room and bathroom. Seo-ha now called Ok-soon “Mother” instead of “Aunt.”
“Good timing. I was going to eat dinner alone. It’s nice you came.”
“Mother eats alone? And Mom?”
“She had a separate dinner meeting.”
“And Aunt Nan-joo? Is she off today?”
Seo-ha looked for Park Nan-joo, who now managed the household after their marriage.
“She’s off today and tomorrow.”
“Mother must have been lonely. We should’ve come sooner.”
“Oh, you still feel awkward saying ‘Mother,’ huh? You barely say ‘Madam’ too. You’ve been married for three months already.”
Laughing, Seo-ha joined Ok-soon in strolling through the garden. They passed the pine tree Seo-ha’s father had planted the day she was born, the pond with colorful fish, and the unusually shaped garden stones.
