PON 09

Chapter 9

For Jeong-oh, America had felt like another world.

A place where she could live freely, do whatever she wanted, and rise through her own effort. Each year her salary grew, and with it, her sense of satisfaction. Life had been good—

—until that incident.

“It was my choice to go to America.”

It all happened in an instant.

At the height of her career, she was assigned to protect the heir of a Korean conglomerate. But a sudden assassination attempt left her client dead before her eyes.

And just like that, she became the prime suspect.

Evidence—too perfect, too precise—surfaced one after another, tying her to the assassin’s network. The more she denied it, the deeper she sank.

Even her seniors and friends, the ones who’d once sworn loyalty, turned their backs.

Even the person she’d loved most.

Perhaps she had been too greedy. If she hadn’t gone to America, she might never have been caught in such a mess. She might have even been at her mother’s side during her final moments.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to contact you,” she murmured. “I simply didn’t have the chance.”

“Back then, when I heard you were imprisoned,” said Baek-seok, his voice low, “I went to America myself. But…”

“I told you not to come.”

Jeong-oh laughed bitterly.

“I just… didn’t want to see anyone.”

Baek-seok looked at her with a twisted expression.

“Why would you? You were thrown in prison for failing to protect your client—what’s there to be proud of?”

“Hey, come on.”

“I’m not blaming you,” he shot back. “You were punished because you failed your duty as a bodyguard. Nothing more.”

“That’s not fair!”

Baek-seok was angrier than she was.

“No bodyguard could have stopped a man determined to kill! Not me, not anyone! And besides… you went to prison on purpose, didn’t you?”

He had been the only one who investigated the truth after her arrest—tracking down witnesses, digging through records. He was the first to suspect that someone was deliberately framing her.

Jeong-oh had thought the same. There was no other explanation for the absurd “evidence” linking her to the assassination.

“How could they accuse you just because their heir died?” Baek-seok growled. “All those chaebols are the same—blame the powerless, let the real culprits walk free!”

Jeong-oh gave a faint smile.

“Funny. You’re working for Jeong-il Group now, aren’t you?”

Jeong-il Group.

The very name twisted her gut.

Baek-seok had long believed that Jeong-il Group orchestrated her downfall. So did she. Only an organization of that power could forge such convincing evidence.

There had been no proof—but instinct told her the truth. The murdered heir had been the chairman’s beloved grandson, the pride of Jeong-il Group.

A single gunshot in a foreign country had shattered everything.

And someone had to pay for that.

If only I hadn’t gone… if only I’d been faster…

She’d thought those words countless times.

Even so, to make her the scapegoat—it was madness.

“Jeong-oh, I’ve got a contact inside Jeong-il Group,” Baek-seok had told her years ago. “If you’d just let me—”

“No, don’t. If they really did this, then there’s nothing you can do. It’s America, not Korea. I didn’t commit any crime, and nothing bad will happen.”

But it had.

Even with a lawyer, she never got a proper trial. Jeong-il’s reach stretched far beyond what she’d imagined.

Now, looking at Baek-seok’s wristwatch—engraved with the words Jeong-il Group Founding Anniversary—she could only laugh at the irony.

“Jeong-oh, that’s not what you think—”

His startled face confirmed it before he spoke.

“So it’s true, then. You didn’t get me out after all.”

“I couldn’t have, even if I wanted to! The chairman must’ve changed his mind and pulled some strings. I swear, I never wanted to work for them. Our company got absorbed into Jeong-il. I couldn’t quit—I’ve got twins to feed.”

“Who said I blamed you?”

She shrugged lightly, feigning indifference.

“You’ve got your own life, senior. We’re not family.”

“Hey, you punk! You are family. Like a brother to me!”

He sounded almost hurt.

But Jeong-oh had no strength left for resentment. There was no undoing the past.

“Anyway,” she said, “what brings you all the way down to Namhae?”

“That’s… classified.”

“Oh, come on. How classified could it be?”

“I’m just… looking for someone. Can’t say more than that.”

Jeong-oh accepted that with a nod. She downed the last of her drink and stood.

“Senior, I still can’t stand the sight of Jeong-il’s logo. Can’t even use their electronics. So do me a favor—get out of my hometown before I throw up.”

“Now that’s just cruel.”

“Kidding,” she smiled.

Her laugh—light, teasing—softened his expression. For a fleeting moment, he saw the old Jeong-oh again.

“I worried about you,” he said quietly. “It’s good to see you alive.”

“Me too. I mean that.”

She meant it. Whatever their paths, she was glad he’d survived.

“Jeong-oh, wait—”

As she turned, he caught her wrist.

“Have you ever thought of coming back to work?”

She blinked.

“Don’t tell me you mean at Jeong-il Group.”

“God, no! I just… think it’s a waste. You were the best.”

“Senior,” she said with a faint smile, “I start trembling when I see blood now.”

His face went pale.

“What? What do you mean?”

“Sometimes I still hear the gunshot in my sleep. I see him bleeding out, over and over.”

He was silent.

“So yeah,” she said softly, “I look fine on the outside. But inside? I’m wrecked.”

“Jeong-oh…”

“My career ended two years ago. Now I’ve got family to care for. I hated this hometown, but somehow… I’m back. And I don’t regret it.”

She had no room left in her heart for dreams—only the will to keep breathing.

“Thanks to you, I saw another world. That’s enough for me.”

She started to walk away again, but he stopped her one last time.

“At least give me your number.”

She hesitated. The idea of staying in touch with someone from Jeong-il Group made her uneasy. But Baek-seok was stubborn.

“You want me to search your house instead?”

He grinned, and she sighed, surrendering. She gave him her number.

Then, as if remembering something, he added lightly—

“Oh, and Kyung-ho’s working with me now.”

The name froze her where she stood.

“He wanted to see you.”

Her heart dropped, cold and hollow. But Jeong-oh forced herself to smile and turned away.

Baek-seok didn’t follow.

After meeting him, life settled back into its uneasy rhythm.

[You’ve got a beggar in your belly, don’t you?]

[A beggar? That’s flattering.]

She honestly couldn’t tell if that voice in her head was a curse or a blessing. Between the troublemaking man and her grandmother, she barely had time to breathe.

And now, a few hours after breakfast, the man was sprawled across the porch, groaning.

[Jeong-oh, I’m starving to death.]

[Do you even realize how much you’ve eaten? The month’s worth of food is gone in days!]

The rice jar was empty. The fridge, stripped bare of eggs, tofu, and meat.

There was only one culprit.

The man blinked innocently up at her.

[Come on, Jeong-oh. That wasn’t really a month’s supply, right?]

Her fury hit its limit.

[And stop feeding me weeds. I’m not a rabbit! I think I used to eat meat—lots of it—before I lost my memory…]

That did it. She hurled a straw hat and rubber boots at him. He caught them both effortlessly and smiled like a fool.

A handsome fool.

But that face wasn’t going to save him.

[You’re working from today.]

[Working?]

He stared at her as if she’d spoken another language.

[You’re going to earn your meals, understand?]

[…Earn… my meals?]

His eyes sparkled with sudden enthusiasm.

[So what do I have to do?]

And Jeong-oh, arms folded, wondered—not for the first time—how on earth her quiet little life had turned into this.