Chapter 43

The aftermath of the name “Hae-gang” was tremendous. The laughter was stolen from Geon-ho’s lips, who had a retort ready, and it completely diverted Ji-Woo’s attention from figuring out how to deal with the situation.

In the midst of it all, Sun-woo was the only one who was still smiling.

“There was no way you could have ignored it. The moment you claimed that she was your wife, your sin would have been exposed to the world.”

“……”

“That man said the same. Could he claim to be Seo Hae-gang?”

Among the names that regularly appeared, Ji-Woo was the first to raise her voice. She grabbed Sunwoo with a puzzled expression.

“Hold on, Oppa! What’s all this about? You met Seo Hae-gang? Who is this man again?”

Ji-Woo was the only one with a strong reaction, while Geon-ho remained quiet. His eyes sank deep, reflecting a darker shade.

Geon-ho, who had erased Hae-gang’s name from the documents. Yun -, who knew that and let his killer instinct resurface, and Ji-Woo, who gave away Geon-ho’s weakness by renting a hotel suite. Nobody here was free from the entanglement of that incident.

Sun-woo moved Ji-Woo’s hand away and approached Geon-ho. The whisper that only he could hear was nothing short of mockery.

“That woman, Hae-gang, is really lucky. She escaped recklessly, yet she happened to run into Min Woo-jin.”

Geon-ho’s grip tightened around Sun-woo’s neck. The veins on his hand trembled as if they were about to burst, and Sun-woo’s face contorted gradually due to the difficulty in breathing.

“Let go, stop it! What are you doing? Let go!”

Geon-ho let go of Ji-Woo, who clung to his arm with a bitter laugh, and then looked at Sun-woo, whose face was turning pale.

“All the scandals you cleverly staged and sent to the reporters during that time. The things that I had to painfully remind my father of, so they wouldn’t be forgotten. Even though I knew everything, do you know why I stood by and watched?”

The tone of the question did not expect an answer. Geon-ho, who was watching Sun-woo struggle with some amusement as his swollen wrist showed signs of turning white and blue, provided an answer.

“It’s because it was a waste. A mere waste of my time to indulge in you.”

He loosened his grip on Sun-woo, whose face was turning pale, and coughing. Geon-ho exchanged disdainful glances between Sun-woo, who was gasping for breath, and Ji-Woo, who couldn’t move beside him.

“Honestly, it was amusing how hard you tried for something that would never happen.”

They were like temporary residents in his house, bothersome and ambiguous beings. They were neither pleasant to coexist with nor easy to get rid of.

However, things have clearly changed today. Geon-ho made up his mind to sort things out once and for all.

“Don’t think it ends here. I’ll prepare a suitable ending for you.”

****

Hae-gang realized that her own bravery was not enough. Once she stepped outside, her desire to roam around vanished completely. All the outfits and shoes that Woo-jin had bought for her when she came here became useless.

It was the same today. Before Woo-jin could grab her wrist, she couldn’t even put on her shoes. Dragged along with a reluctant expression, she practiced driving while wearing a deathly pale face.

Strangely, her focus improved, perhaps proportional to her displeasure. The practice ended fairly quietly. As she was about to turn the steering wheel to go home, Woo-jin interrupted her.

“You don’t seem in a good mood. Let’s go for a drive.”

It was not a very appealing suggestion. If she kept encountering someone she knew in unexpected places, her sanity might truly collapse. But Woo-jin was persistent.

“Let’s go to the suburbs. It’s not like the people from the family would have attached tracking devices to your body.”

Hesitatingly, Haekang’s hand turned the wheel again. The car smoothly entered the highway, and she accelerated without hesitation.

Feeling the refreshing coolness as she wanted to open the window, the sound of the wind brushing against her ears became strong. However, she couldn’t hear any complaints from Woo-jin sitting next to her.

The place they arrived at, passing through the highway quickly, was a café where they could have a simple dinner and coffee at the same time. The sun seemed to be stretching out, indicating that spring was about to begin.

Hae-gang finally turned her gaze from the slightly fading sky to Woo-jin. His finger was pointing at a particular spot on the menu that read “BEER & WINE,” with a cute drawing of a wine bottle.

“Do you want to have a drink?” he asked.

Looking at Woo-jin with a bewildered expression, she couldn’t believe he was so nonchalantly suggesting alcohol. He must not have considered his own alcohol tolerance at all, given the way he was offering it so readily.

Looking him straight in the eye, she firmly shook her head. “I’m not going to drink with Min Woo-jin.”

“I didn’t say you had to drink. One of us has to drive, after all.”

“What’s the point of drinking alone? I don’t want to.”

He looked noticeably disappointed. He usually didn’t show his emotions on his face, so she couldn’t help but be suspicious of his sudden expression.

“Do you want me to drink?” she asked.

Without saying anything, Woo-jin nodded. It was a subtle nod as if he didn’t want anyone else to notice.

“Why?”

“I have something I want to ask, but I don’t think I’ll say it sober.”

Hae-gang frowned. She had a feeling she knew what he wanted to ask without even hearing it.

“If it’s something you shouldn’t say, whether you’re sober or drunk, then don’t say it.”

“Dawn.”

His serious tone gave off an unusual nuance, and this time, she couldn’t easily back away. She didn’t want to hear anything from him and just wished he would decide on the menu already.

“This time, I’ll tell you beforehand and then do it.”

Even though his voice was direct and unwavering, it felt ominously foreboding. She could already guess that he was going to say something that would stir up emotions inside her. As the ominous feeling grew, she clenched her lips tightly to prevent any words from escaping.

“Is it really something I have to do?”

Even though she expressed her dislike in a roundabout way, she knew it wouldn’t faze him. He was skilled at manipulating people, and it didn’t seem limited to just his employees at the company.

As expected, he nodded much more vigorously than before.

“I’ll do whatever it takes, but I don’t want to take the easy way out.”

A wry laugh escaped her lips at his absurd words. He didn’t seem to care about the easy path, even though it would be better for him to ignore me completely.

It was she who wanted to grab him by the collar and ask for help. She had struggled to suppress the desire to immediately nod her head in agreement to Woo-jin’s confession last night, and he probably wouldn’t even guess how much effort she had put into it.

If she declined so firmly, there must be a reason, yet he still wanted to get involved and bury himself in my problems. People could be so exasperating.

Her eyes restlessly wandered, unable to settle on one point. Sensing Hae-gang’s hesitation, Woo-jin brought up the main point without delay.

“Do you know anything about Yun Sun-woo? Even the smallest detail would be helpful, but…”

“……”

“Preferably something fatal, something he can’t recover from even if he tries twice.”

Woo-jin’s words, mixed with Sun-woo’s voice, deeply imprinted themselves in her mind. Despite that, his gaze was fixed on me and didn’t waver. He was determined to get a positive answer from me today, no matter what.

In the end, Hae-gang gently shook her head and pointed to another part of the menu.

“Besides that, I’ll have this.”

Tapping the part just above where Woojin pointed, she sighed heavily. Why were there only men around me who refused to give up?

“I’m really going to try not to talk about it, but if I’m heavily intoxicated, I might not be able to hold back.”

“Feel free to order whatever you like.”

Woo-jin pushed the menu toward her with a willing expression.

Hae-gang called a staff member over to place the order and mustered her determination several times. She had to keep herself together, and never rashly answer Woojin’s questions. But what she overlooked was that Woojin had an air of dominance about him; that was why he never realized he wasn’t particularly good at drinking either.

“Dawn, are you okay?”

At the sound of someone calling her name, Hae-gang lifted her heavy eyelids. Where was this place? After blinking a few times, her hazy vision began to clear up.

“Oh, how did we get here?”

This was their home’s parking lot. There was no doubt about it, with the bright blue sports car parked right beside them.

Just as they arrived, Woo-jin turned off the ignition, and the car interior plunged into darkness. Haekang turned her body towards Woo-jin, keeping her seatbelt slightly extended as she squinted at him.

“Did I say anything just now? About, that monster. About the monster’s child.”

“Hae-gang, you didn’t say anything about the monster’s child.”

“Oh, really? That’s a relief.”

Hae-gang’s body slumped against the seat like a lump of slime.

“Min Woo-jin shouldn’t know anything. It’s better that way.”

“Well, I intend to find out somehow.”

“No, you can’t! I won’t let Min Woo-jin get tangled up in this mess too.”

Hae-gang’s words were met with a strong push on the back of her head from the cold leather seat. Woo-jin inserted his hand between her and the seat, trying to prevent her from getting overwhelmed.

“I have no intention of getting tangled up in this mess. Why do you keep persisting? Disgusting.”

With a quite resolute tone, Haekang raised her eyes, which were almost closed, to look at Woo-jin.

“Then why do you keep pleading like that? You’re putting me in such an awkward position.”

Woo-jin’s hand, lodged between her and the seat, rounded out, embracing her cheeks more softly. It wasn’t as soft or cool as the seat, but just the fact that it was touching her made her not resist.

“I hope Dawn comes out of that mess as well.”

Hae-gang’s pupils, half-covered by her eyelids, were fully focused on Woo-jin. She held his hand, which was wrapped around her cheeks, but didn’t let it go.

“You’ve been acting strange since the last time. Do you really like me?”

Still struggling to find her balance, she leaned closer to Woo-jin and decreased the distance between them.

“I do like you.”

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