Chapter 7.1

“What is that?” Woo-jin asked, pointing to the faint traces on her wrist.

Anyone could guess what those were. Hae-gang quickly dragged the blanket to her arms, hiding an unpleasant memory she didn’t want to remember. “You have a lot of questions,” she muttered.

“Well,” Woo-jin replied, “I am your temporary guardian.”

“I guess breaking your promise is your hobby,” Hae-gang retorted, her words coming out sharper than she’d expected. Her nerves were on edge. Usually, strangers wouldn’t attempt to bring up a sensitive topic, but how could this man, whom she barely knew, be so inconsiderate?

Hae-gang sighed, perhaps she was too sensitive. She was projecting her unresolved resentment onto the person who had saved her.

A piercing silence enveloped the hospital room. Woo-jin didn’t ask her any more questions, which was a good thing. It seemed like he knew he was invading her privacy. Woo-jin observed Hae-gang from his seat for a while. When he noticed that she had relaxed, Woo-jin grabbed a tissue from the table and asked, “Can I come a little closer now?”

Hae-gang shook her head instead of answering. She preferred to have a reasonable distance from other people. At her refusal, Woo-jin chose to extend his arm instead of approaching her.

“All right, then wipe your face first. You look a little out of your mind right now.”

At Woo-jin’s words, Hae-gang finally thought about looking at her own appearance. As she raised her hand and felt herself, she realized her face was wet from tears and sweat. It was the aftermath of the nightmare.

She was embarrassed, so she grabbed the tissue Woo-jin gave her and wiped her face quickly. It was awkward and strange for her to use her non-dominant hand, but that didn’t matter.

Across the room, Woo-jin was staring at the scars on her wrist. He felt quite dismayed; those marks did not suit her face.

Perhaps because the image of his first love had already faded in his memory, there were some moments when he felt like her face belonged to the woman he loved.

Woo-jin rubbed his eyebrows. He was stuck in a dilemma. He had only brought her here to assist her after the accident, but she continued to bother him. Eventually, Woo-jin rose from his seat, unable to stay silent any longer. It was unusual for him, who was indifferent to everything unrelated to the company.

“I’m only hiding you until you’re released from this hospital.”

“I know,” Hae-gang replied.

“Are you sure you know that?” Woo-jin asked. “Then you shouldn’t be napping.”

“I beg your pardon?”

Taken aback, Hae-gang lowered the tissue that was covering her face. Even though he would have noticed the hint of anger in her voice, Woo-jin did not stop talking.

“Korea is a more systematic country than you think. It means that we cannot live with everything hidden as we do now. Do you even have cash with you?”

Hae-gang looked at her hand. There were only wet, tattered tissues on her palm.

“I don’t think so, apparently. Then why don’t you sleep less and start thinking a little more?”

Even though Hae-gang knew he was right in every word, for a moment, her heart was filled with sadness. Woo-jin handed her another tissue and continued to speak.

“People shouldn’t act mindlessly when a real problem is in front of them.”

When Hae-gang stared at Woo-jin without answering, a sigh left his lips. Hae-gang was about to say something to defend herself, but Woo-jin’s voice resounded in the hospital room before she could open her mouth.

“That way, you will have fewer bad dreams.”

Woo-jin’s words carried a hint of sympathy. Thanks to this, Hae-gang could only swallow the words that were about to pop out of her mouth. She merely stared at him, at a loss for words. Tears brimmed in her eyes.

Woo-jin extended his hand, handing her another piece of tissue. Hae-gang hesitated but eventually accepted it.

“But what brings you here?” Hae-gang inquired quietly.

“Oh, that!” Woo-jin exclaimed in realization as he remembered what he had forgotten and pointed toward the table. A scrumptious meal had been prepared for a VIP patient. “The vice president has prepared you dinner, but he left because you were sleeping.”

In a place without “his” monitoring, Hae-gang inevitably fell into a deep sleep for the first time in a long time. Despite being jolted awake by a nightmare, she had the longest sleep she had in a long time.

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