Chapter 57
“Ha…” A disappointed laugh escaped Geon-ho’s lips. Was that even a coherent sound? Thinking separately from Hae-gang and him?
Despite the neatly arranged sentences in his head, he stood there awkwardly for a long time, feeling the discomfort himself. He wanted to protect a lifetime safely, to prevent any accidents like back then, and to ensure no threats could reach them.
Geon-ho couldn’t understand why Hae-gang found him terrifying. “If you didn’t like it, you shouldn’t have appeared in front of me like that. You shouldn’t have shown up with smooth flesh all puffed up, fair skin turned bluish, and limbs twisted like that.”
He understood what he felt when he saw her—almost like a corpse—and if she hated him, it shouldn’t be. The sense of relief from still being alive, the uncertainty of how long he would stay alive, the fear. She made him experience all those emotions, and she shouldn’t leave him first.
“Seo Hae-gang, Hae-gang.” At that time, he didn’t show any hesitation in eliminating Hae-gang’s status and confining her. Even if he were to go back to that day, he wouldn’t reverse his decision. It was the best he could do to protect Hae-gang.
****
He wondered when it was.
After finishing work as usual and entering the room, Hae-gang grabbed Geon-ho’s collar first. He was pleased; this was the first time since confining Hae-gang in this hotel. The confusing times seemed to be over. Finally, Hae-gang seemed to be adapting to this life.
“Where’s mom and dad? Where’s Oppa?”
However, joy quickly faded at the question that soon reached his ears. Only then could he properly see Hae-gang’s condition. Her eyes were already swollen from crying, and the hand desperately clutching his collar trembled insignificantly. The good feeling sank, and Geon-ho stared at Hae-gang with a frighteningly stiff face.
“Take me to them. Huh? I promise I won’t say a word about leaving here again. I’ll stay quiet just as you want. So, just once, please take me to my family. I haven’t seen the funeral. I haven’t mourned. This is not right.”
The hand that had barely held on as the bridge teetered on the edge finally slipped away, falling from Geon-ho’s clothes. Hae-gang, sitting down, gazed sadly at her collapsed legs as she crawled towards him. The arms that embraced Geon-ho’s legs looked pitifully feeble.
“Seo Hae-gang.”
Watching her pathetic state, Geon-ho called out her name in a chillingly stern voice. Hae-gang quickly released her hands from his legs and, not stopping there, urgently changed the subject.
The tone hinted at concern, as if her words might have somehow unsettled his mood. “Alright, alright. Just tell me. Where was it placed? Did you embalm it? No, you’re sure they’re gone? Not alive?”
Well, at least that’s not the case. Geon-ho inwardly responded somewhat dryly. Of course, he didn’t bother saying it out loud to her. Her condition was not good enough for that.
“Have you found the body?”
He couldn’t answer that either. At that time, Geon-ho was immersed in finding Hae-gang, turning off all interest in the accident as soon as she came back alive. He focused all his attention on her, who seemed on the verge of death. For him, Chairman Se Jongmin, his wife, and Hae-gang’s brother were just about enough. Without Hae-gang, they held no value.
Seeing Geon-ho unable to answer, the light faded from Hae-gang’s eyes. A soft voice flowed through her trembling lips.
“Have you thought about finding my family?”
Excessive delicacy sometimes makes one feel detached. Amidst this, only such idle thoughts crossed his mind.
“Answer me, Yoon Geon-ho.”
The brief silence seemed to be a sufficient answer on its own. Geon-ho thought it worked out rather well. He had been contemplating between falsehood and truth, but Hae-gang, who caught on by herself, even seemed grateful. Perhaps it didn’t feel as burdensome as he feared, hitting the anticipated situation.
“Answer me, Yoon Geon-ho.”
Geon-ho hesitated before answering, “No, I haven’t. Amid your living and dying, other things didn’t catch my attention.”
Hae-gang stared into space with a vacant face. The hands that had just moments ago held a sense of urgency now lay on the floor like a discarded puppet. It wasn’t just the hands; her whole body seemed flattened like soaked cotton.
Not finding Geon-ho’s sitting posture on the cold floor particularly bothersome, she still struggled to align her gaze with his, even though he had bent his knees and sat.
“If someone had found them, I would have received a call.”
“Found them? Lifted them?”
“It’s all in the past. Keeping it in your heart won’t change anything.”
Crack!
A sharp sound cut through the tense air and Geon-ho’s cheek turned red. Hae-gang’s eyes, now refocused, were filled with anger and resentment. Her face, previously defiant, quickly lost its vigor as she swung her arm mercilessly, not stopping even after the first slap.
Geon-ho took the hits without flinching, except for the initial slap. Aside from the first strike, he felt no significant impact, allowing her to hit him as she pleased. Even when Hae-gang struck with force, it felt no different to Geon-ho than being touched with a soft cloth. Eventually, Hae-gang’s strength waned, and she slumped on the floor with both arms supporting her. As she struggled to breathe with a gasping rhythm, her neck muscles tensed and relaxed repeatedly. Geon-ho’s eyebrows were slightly furrowed, a faint glint of concern appearing as her breath seemed on the verge of fading away.
“Geon-ho, please.”
“…”
“I don’t want to be here. I want to go to my family. Our family, my family, ugh. Can’t we be together?”
Hae-gang, barely able to stand, kneeled and pleaded. The guards, who couldn’t bear to watch her drenched appearance, averted their eyes. Only Geon-ho watched her completely.
“Your family is here.”
Hae-gang’s head shook violently as if asserting that Yoon Geon-ho was not Seo Hae-gang’s family.
“Please, take me to my mother. Even if you’re worried, you can cut off my legs. Please.”
Despite the pitiful words interspersed with sobs, Geon-ho didn’t blink an eye. Hae-gang’s head hit the ground. The emotion of disgrace is felt only when there is still pride left. That wasn’t something given to her. She had one wish. She was prepared for anything, as long as Geon-ho would be merciful to her this time, just this time.
“How do you even know where it is?”
In response to Geon-ho’s sharply voiced words, Hae-gang lifted her head. Words came out without passing through her brain, or even if they did, they probably wouldn’t have been much different. She spoke hesitantly, stumbling through whatever came to mind. In reality, Hae-gang hadn’t been in her right mind for quite some time.
“I don’t know, I don’t know. But you can do it. There’s nothing you can’t do. You still say you love me. It’s not a difficult request, so just—”
“Stop talking.”
“Just kill me.”
Yoon Geon-ho had no intention of taking Hae-gang out of here. Realizing this fact painfully, Hae-gang buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Even placing hands on her trembling shoulders didn’t cause any resistance; it seemed she had no strength left. The room echoed with Hae-gang’s crying for a while.
*****
A heavy sigh escaped Geon-ho’s lips as he recalled the past. On that day, Hae-gang cried until she fainted, and since then, she has kept her mouth shut and treated him as if he didn’t exist.
Perhaps it would have been better to lie to her that day. If he had just taken her to any random grave let her send off her family and made that one promise for her to be quiet, the current situation might not have occurred. He wiped his face with his hand, feeling the grimness. Time couldn’t be turned back, and the words he spoke to Hae-gang that day couldn’t be taken back either.
Geon-ho closed his eyes, organizing his thoughts. Meanwhile, his hands moved slowly, buttoning up the first undone button and adjusting the tie back to its proper position. Even if someone passing by happened to see him, his precise movements seemed surprisingly ordinary, considering the storm inside his mind. Everything appeared normal, and Geon-ho walked the same path Hae-gang had taken.
The sound of the loafers rubbing against the floor faded away, and the only things left in the silent hallway were the two pairs of shoes Hae-gang had worn.
****
The next day, as Hae-gang sat alone in the quiet house without Woo-jin, the maid approached her.
“Madam, your face is quite bruised.”
In response to her words, Hae-gang looked directly at the lifeless image of herself on the blank TV. The face that had become swollen overnight almost looked like that of a person destined to die tomorrow.
Disliking that sight, she quickly washed her face with cold water. Despite rubbing her face multiple times with her small, white hands, her watery eyes remained fixed on the lady of the house.
“Does it look bad?”
After a moment of hesitation, the maid nodded slowly. It seemed the situation was beyond the point where she could say it was okay, even if it was a lie. A muffled sound of frustration escaped Hae-gang’s lips.
“Ah…”
Then Woo-jin, whom she had met in the morning, would surely recognize her. He said nothing to her; he just brewed two coffees as usual, handed her the lighter one, and sat across from her for about fifteen minutes.
Come to think of it, today there was no tablet in Woo-jin’s hands, which was always present during coffee time. As Hae-gang searched her memory, her eyebrows creased.
He must have recognized me, even though he didn’t say anything.
****
“Is it not pitiful,” Hae-gang wondered in the privacy of her thoughts, “that I couldn’t pull myself together after just one encounter? Could it be that my attitude, which I can hardly call an improvement, is becoming tiresome?” The stream of negative thoughts continued to dominate her mind.
“Madam,” the maid called out to her.
Caught up in self-reproach for exposing her unsightly face after just one meeting, Hae-gang, amid her dark reflections, was brought back to the present by the maid’s voice. She raised her head.
“There’s a phone call for you.”
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