Episode 02
Scene: Hospital
“The President was injured while inspecting the factory. A steel structure suddenly collapsed, and he hit his head hard while trying to avoid it.”
Seo-eun hurriedly covered her mouth, but the shock and fear didn’t subside.
Soon, the elevator stopped and the doors opened.
Si-on followed Jang Tae-soo down a quiet hallway.
The distinct smell of hospital disinfectant filled her nose. Every time she smelled it, dark memories came rushing back.
‘Is someone going to leave us again today, like before?’
With each step, her anxiety grew.
Before she knew it, they had arrived in front of the VIP room. Jang Tae-soo stepped aside and said,
“Miss, please go in.”
“Thank you.”
The door opened, and the first thing she saw was Jae-hyun lying on the hospital bed.
Instead of his usual perfectly pressed suit, he was now wearing a plain white hospital gown. A bandage wrapped around his forehead, and an IV was attached to the back of his hand.
Though he still looked cold and composed as usual, his tightly shut eyes and vulnerable expression felt unfamiliar.
“Jae-hyun…”
Seo-eun slowly approached the bed. She reached out her hand toward him, but stopped halfway.
She recalled her mother’s appearance before she passed away from an illness years ago.
“Si-on, take care of Jae-hyun…”
Seo-eun had tightly held her mother’s cold, weak hand and promised.
“Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll take good care of him.”
Back in the present, Si-on’s eyes welled up with tears. Through her blurry vision, she could see Jae-hyun’s pale face.
‘What if Jae-hyun… ends up like Mom…?’
Seo-eun grasped his hand. It was cold. But this time, she didn’t let go. She wanted to hold onto him, even if this was all she could do.
Just then, a doctor entered the room.
“Ah, madam. You’re here.”
“Yes, hello, doctor.”
Seo-eun quickly wiped her tears and looked at the doctor.
The doctor opened the chart and reviewed it carefully before speaking.
“There are no particular issues found in the brain scan.”
“Haa…”
Seo-eun let out a sigh of relief.
But that feeling was short-lived. The doctor’s next words made her face darken again.
“However, he has yet to regain consciousness.”
“Why… hasn’t he woken up?”
The doctor bit his lip, seemingly hesitant.
“At this time, we don’t know the exact cause.”
“What does that mean…?”
“Let’s wait a little longer and observe.”
That vague answer made Si-on’s heart sink. She had heard the same thing before her mother passed away.
It felt like her barely-held-back tears would spill at any moment.
‘It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t stopped him this morning to talk, maybe none of this would’ve happened…’
Seo-eun gripped his hand even tighter.
It had been three years since she’d been this close to him.
All those days of being treated coldly, the times she resented him—memories flashed before her eyes. But at this moment, none of it seemed to matter.
‘You can hate me like before. Ignore me like I’m a stranger. But please… just wake up.’
‘Jae-hyun, please open your eyes…’
She prayed from the depths of her heart.
Miracle?
Maybe that prayer reached the heavens.
Jae-hyun’s fingers on the bed twitched slightly, and Si-on’s eyes widened.
“Jae-hyun?”
Eventually, Jae-hyun’s eyelids slowly opened. His eyes scanned the hospital room.
Seo-eun sighed in relief—but soon noticed something was off.
As he looked around with confusion, his brows furrowed. The unfamiliar agitation in his gaze was something she had never seen before.
“Where… am I?”
“Sir, you’re in the hospital. You were injured during a factory inspection earlier.”
Jang Tae-soo, who had been watching, quickly reported the situation. But Jae-hyun still seemed puzzled.
“An accident? When did that happen?”
Even the doctor’s face turned serious.
“Do you not remember the accident, sir?”
“I don’t recall it.”
“What date is it today?”
Jae-hyun paused, thinking.
Seo-eun, feeling a strange sense of unease, squeezed his hand tighter. Jae-hyun turned to look at her.
But in his gaze, there was no emotion.
“Sir?”
At the doctor’s question, Jae-hyun looked away from Seo-eun and answered,
“August 15th?”
“And the day of the week?”
“Monday.”
“How old are you, sir?”
Jae-hyun frowned at the continuing questions.
“Twenty-nine. But what’s the point of these questions?”
Seo-eun froze at his answer.
Twenty-nine… the age he was three years ago, when they got married.
‘Has he gone back three years in his memory…?’
The room’s atmosphere turned heavy. Seo-eun felt like even breathing needed to be done carefully.
Finally, the doctor spoke in a somber tone.
“This appears to be temporary memory loss caused by the shock of the accident.”
“I have amnesia…?”
Jae-hyun, for once, couldn’t hide his confusion.
It wasn’t just about losing his memory—it was the fact that, for the first time in his life, he was in a situation he couldn’t control.
His entire life had been meticulously planned and executed.
Top of his MBA class. Youngest executive on Wall Street. CEO of Seowon Development, achieving record performance in his first year.
Everything was always within his predictions.
Even when women swarmed around him, he stayed cool-headed. There were no exceptions in his life.
So this situation felt unbelievable.
Three whole years of memory—completely gone?
The doctor’s voice continued, but Jae-hyun barely listened. He was trying to figure out how to accept this first-ever crack in his life.
“Damage to the hippocampus can cause this kind of temporary memory loss. It’s not extremely rare. Recovery time varies—from a few days to a few months.”
What brought a small relief was that his behavior toward Seo-eun wasn’t much different from how he had treated her before losing his memory.
Still, Seo-eun’s hands trembled.
What if his memories never returned?
What would happen to the time they shared?
What about the future?
But what she feared most—was how he would react once he learned who she was.
“We need to review the MRI more closely.”
“So there’s no guarantee his memory will return?”
“That’s right. We can’t say for sure.”
Seo-eun clenched her trembling hands.
Despite preparing herself, she approached him, hoping for even a sliver of recognition.
“Jae-hyun, it’s me. Han Si-on…”
But before she could finish, his cold voice cut her off.
“Who are you?”
Even though she expected it, hearing it directly made her heart race.
“I asked who you are.”
Jae-hyun’s gaze was cold and indifferent—as if looking at a complete stranger.
Seo-eun slowly opened her mouth. She had imagined this moment over and over.
“I’m… your wife.”
Jae-hyun demanded to be discharged quickly, and the doctor had to agree that further treatment at the hospital wouldn’t change much.
As Seo-eun watched Jae-hyun walk down the hospital hallway, her emotions were complicated.
His steps were firm as always, but the cautious look in his eyes betrayed deep suspicion.
‘Did he really lose all his memories? What happens now…?’
A man who couldn’t even remember their marriage obviously couldn’t remember their divorce.
Seo-eun quietly sighed and carefully approached his side.
“Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”
“The fact that I married someone like you—that’s more uncomfortable.”
As expected, Jae-hyun wasn’t ready to accept her existence. Even after Jang Tae-soo, his most trusted aide, explained everything, he looked at Seo-eun with a displeased expression.
His wariness toward this “sudden wife” was intense.
Even in the car on the way home, the heavy silence continued.
Suddenly, Jae-hyun’s cold voice cut through.
“You say you’re my wife, but I don’t remember. And I don’t want to. Three years ago, I never even considered marriage.”
“I know. But you’ll regain your memories slowly.”
“And how can you be sure?”
“I’ll help you.”
“You?”
