Chapter 58

The glow from her cellphone screen cast a soft light in the room, just as the maid had foretold. Hae-gang, wearing a wistful smile aimed at her, carried the phone and made her way towards the guest room, where she and the device had shared a moment.

“Yes, Mr. Min Woo Jin.”

-……

Silence hung in the air. Hae-gang pulled the phone away from her ear, glancing at the screen. Despite the seconds ticking away during the call, there was still no audible response. Hae-gang, with a subtle shake of her head, called Woo Jin’s name once more.

“Hello, Mr. Min Woo Jin?”

Worries crept in—what if he got frightened and disappeared? However, it seemed that her anxieties were misplaced, as the only one feeling apprehensive was herself.

In a parched, almost brittle voice, Hae-gang found herself at a loss for words. It seemed reasonable if Woo Jin viewed her with disdain. Even if he grew weary of her, she was willing to accept it. However, the notion of Min Woo Jin being scared was something she had never considered; it simply didn’t align with his character.

Suddenly, Hae-gang’s eyes welled up, and with trembling breath, she forced the words out, wondering if her quivering lips would convey her emotions.

“Or forget it. Pretend you didn’t hear it.”

How does one pretend not to have heard something already heard? If she let go of her tightly sealed lips, would tears flow, leaving her speechless? A hollow laugh echoed instead.

“I shouldn’t have called. I’m just disturbing someone who’s doing well.”

“Sniff….”

Suppressing her frustration, the tears she had held back burst forth. Though the imprints on her lips from biting down on them would soon fade, the tears showed no sign of drying up, only accumulating.

Hae-gang pulled her sleeve to wipe her face and, with closed eyes, took a deep breath. Erasing any remaining tears, she spoke with the calmest voice she could muster.

“By any chance, really after all this time, by any chance,”

-……

“When it happens, I’ll make sure to tell you beforehand, so Mr. Min Woo Jin doesn’t get scared.”

A sigh or perhaps a laugh, an indistinguishable breath, came through the phone. Was the emotion within a sense of relief or regret?

-In times like these, I should say I won’t go. I can’t keep you from going, even if I wanted to. It seems like this person intentionally aimed to make me cry today. Otherwise, choosing such hurtful words was beyond reason.

She, who had leaned against the anticipated wall only to find it crumble, looked down at her soaked sleeves. How much more crying lies ahead?

When that time comes,.

As she counted the endless days, Woo Jin’s voice cut through the silence. Anxiously, she focused her ears, afraid to miss a single word.

“I’ll wait. Is that too much to ask?”

“I hope not.”

Hae-gang replied after a brief hesitation. Asking him to endure an uncertain amount of time was too selfish.

But Woo Jin, as always, was a person with alternatives.

If I come to you,.

At the calm tone that rang in her ears, Hae-gang’s breath caught for a moment, as if she had forgotten how to breathe.

“That, um,”

Unfiltered emotions spilled out of her like an unstoppable flood.

“Honestly, I would be glad.”

She should have refrained from saying even that. The assumption that someone is looking for her is a first. Unimaginable emotions flooded her face during this unprecedented imagining while trapped there.

Two years after the accident, would it have been different if someone had been looking for her back then?

But considering the uselessness of hypothetical scenarios in the past, Hae-gang’s faint smile, once present on her face, quickly took on a tinge of bitterness.

*****

Ji-woo mindlessly picked at her perfectly manicured nails, seemingly oblivious to the care she had put into them. “Lee Soo-Jin, this unlucky woman. Did you always think of me that way?”

She had called to find out why she wasn’t invited to the ‘Night of Sponsorship’ hosted by TN, and the response was sarcastic laughter.

‘Ji-woo, shouldn’t people grasp the situation well? Things have changed. What if I invite you and Geon-ho dislikes you?’

How infuriating the openly disdainful tone was. Holding the phone tightly, she shouted until her face turned red.

Even now, recalling the irritation bubbling up makes her upset. The strength of her nail-biting intensified. The tips of the reddened nails quickly deteriorated into a messy state. After ruining all but her thumbs, she finally stopped, sat up from the bed, and let out a deep breath.

“Ah, but really, why is that crazy jerk so quiet? This can’t be happening.”

Since her older brother’s death, Yoon Geon-ho has been excessively silent, as if genuinely mourning him. As someone who wouldn’t behave that way, the uneasiness grew day by day, reaching a point where she could hardly get a good night’s sleep. She even worried about what would happen if she found herself in the same state as her brother while asleep.

“All this mess is because of that bastard, seriously!”

She fiercely threw the pillow she had been holding, eventually tossing it away. She vented her frustration, with her shoulders rising and falling with each ragged breath.

“Argh! Nervous breakdown!”

The door, which had been tightly shut, suddenly swung open.

“Why are you making a fuss here?”

It was Madam Choi who entered. Ji-woo, frozen with irritation on her face, blinked rapidly at the fully annoyed woman. Then she faced a series of scoldings.

“You are an adult; are you going to sit there the whole time?”

“Sorry, I’m sorry.”

Ji-woo quickly got up from the bed, and Madam Choi scrutinized her from head to toe with a disapproving click of her tongue. It was nearing lunchtime, and she still wore her pajamas, which was the reason for the scolding.

“Enough. What more is there to say? Considering your background, did you ever have the chance to learn manners? Nevertheless, you, my dear, should now find your path in your brother’s absence in this courtyard.”

Ji-woo, who had been staring at the floor, raised her head abruptly at the mention of Sun-woo from Madam Choi’s lips.

“What do you mean? What are you saying, Mother?”

Attempting to maintain her usual tone, Ji-woo belatedly altered her words. However, it seemed evident that she was trying to disguise her usual way of speaking. Smirking as if she saw through it all, Madam Choi clenched her fist and spoke.

“Mother? What’s with that? Why do you keep calling me that? Let me ask you. How long do you think you can endure in this house without your brother?”

“Well, naturally-”

“At most, until our Geon-ho becomes the chairman.”

Interrupting her words, Madam Choi entered, and Ji-woo’s mouth snapped shut. Even as Ji-woo contemplated a response, Madam Choi continued, undeterred.

“Can I give you a piece of advice? Leave this house on your own before Geon-ho takes that position. I wouldn’t want to see how disgraceful you’d become without your brother holding you back.”

“….”

“Why no answer? Did you understand what I said?”

Ji-woo lowered her head again and clutched her pajamas. Her instincts, rather than her mind, indicated that nodding in agreement or rebelling against it would not be favorable.

“Well, what do you expect a fool like you to understand? You should at least think of doing something before Geon-ho takes over as the chairman. What are you doing, not even going to work at this hour? Get a grip on yourself.”

With a critical last remark, Madam Choi left, leaving Ji-woo alone, who clenched her lips tightly. Now, what should she do? Whenever faced with such situations, she would seek advice from Sun-woo, and the answer would come naturally. But now, trying to think for herself felt like her head was about to split.

*****

“Huh….”

In front of the familiar mansion, Hae-gang let out a frustrated sigh. The place where she stood was the mansion where she used to live with her parents before the accident, a particularly sentimental place for her.

Since the mansion came into view, she has had a strange feeling. Two years had passed, yet the old brick wall looked worn, and the vines climbing up were tangled and far from neat. It was evidence of someone’s touch.

Despite noticing these signs, Hae-gang chose to ignore everything and cling to her hopes.

“Who is it?”

However, those hopes were short-lived. After nervously pressing the doorbell and waiting for a moment, Hae-gang found herself unable to speak when asked who she was. She never imagined a day would come when she would hear that question at the front gate, making the seemingly harmless inquiry more impactful than she anticipated.

Just before the sensor on the doorbell turned off, she managed to utter the words,

“Here, um… is this Mr. Seo Jong-min’s residence?”

The response she received was firm: “No, you’ve got the wrong place.”

“….I’m sorry.”

Even after the sensor’s red light went out, she stood there for a while. How long has it been? Only after the colors of the sunset darkened did she manage to move away from the front gate. As she retraced her steps toward the car, Hae-gang stared blankly into the void.

It wasn’t unexpected. The likelihood of this happening was much higher. Yet, for a brief moment, her hopes had soared, rendering all those feelings useless. Knowing that Yoon Gun-ho wasn’t that kind of person, she still couldn’t help but entertain fleeting expectations. Her heart sank deeply.

“How far do they have to push me to get satisfaction?”

Wasn’t a plane crash enough? Was this person capable of doing this much to her?

Hae-gang struggled to control her increasingly ragged breath. This feeling had been absent for far too long. Half of the two years trapped in the hotel had been spent living with this feeling.

During those two years, she held on to this feeling, despite her family’s survival becoming more uncertain with each passing day. She had never prayed for something she had never experienced before, praying incessantly and hoping that her family would return, even if it meant their bodies were found dead outside the hotel.

She had stopped lamenting the plane crash in the Pacific halfway through. She hadn’t left the hotel at all.

More than half of her time at the hotel was spent in this state. The news clippings, the dwindling hope for her family’s survival, and the prayers for their return—everything had crumbled over time. The Pacific, where the plane had crashed, was deserted, and she had stopped regretting not being able to go outside the hotel.

The funeral for her family was held in Moon Ik. After the accident, about six months later. To others, it might seem like an appropriate time, but she knew those six months weren’t enough time to find her family.

That period marked the time from the day she woke up after the accident until the day the fate of the Seo Hae-gang was determined by Yoon Geon-ho.