* * *
Sharp eyeliner and elegantly angled upward eyelashes. Neatly manicured nails and expensive bracelets on her left arm. A luxurious two-piece that shows off her lines.
The person looking at the well-maintained garden with its inaccessible atmosphere was Song Yu-seon, the director of Gayuljae, chairman of Gayoon Hospital, and wife of Gayoon Group chairman Yoon Jeong-hwan.
“Director.”
The man who knocked and entered quietly bowed his head.
Yuseon, standing at the window with her arms crossed, waited for the next words without looking back.
“Lady… … I found Ms. Jin Seo-hee.”
Click..
The sound of Yooseon putting down her coffee cup as she turned around was louder than usual. The secretary standing in front of her flinched and lowered his head even further.
“Really, you’re saying she is alive?”
That was Jin Seo-hee.
Yuseon’s eyes turned cold in an instant.
Who would have thought that Jin Seo-hee, who had been so obedient and docile the whole time, would be preparing to hit the back of her head? I thought she would be trembling in fear that her husband would get hurt, but she was slyly threatening me.
Yoo-seon, recalling her last conversation with Jin Seo-hee, pushed the remaining hair behind her ear.
It was annoying that someone who should have been found dead came back alive, and it was even more annoying that Yoon lee-Hyun was the first to find someone whom she had been searching her so long without a trace.
Yuseon slowly swept her red lips with her index finger, leaned forward, and leaned against the desk.
“sorry.”
Secretary Park bowed his head politely.
“Sorry?”
Yuseon smoothly swept the desk with the tip of her fingernails.
“You’ve already done something you should be sorry for, so you’re just saying sorry. Does that mean anything?”
“Director.”
“No, Secretary Park.”
Yoo-seon fiddled with the golf ball on the desk as if she was going to throw it at any moment. Secretary Park knelt down and opened his mouth urgently.
“They said she was at Ganghae General Hospital. I don’t know how she managed to hide her identity, but… … .”
I don’t know. Hehe, Yooseon caught the golf ball and laughed eerily.
Secretary Park clenched his fist. The whereabouts of a person who had been missing for a month had suddenly been revealed.
‘How on earth did you hide your identity?’
It seemed as if someone had intended it, but Secretary Park couldn’t stop talking here.
If he does that, the golf ball will miss me at least or hit my shoulder somewhere.
“They say that he is moving her to Hanseo.”
Secretary Park, who was thinking of his father who was barely hanging on with life support at Gayoon Hospital, bowed his head.
“Are you sure?”
“I am sure.”
As Secretary Park nodded with confidence, Yoo-seon put down the golf ball and straightened her upper body.
“Except for Gayoon Hospital, is there anywhere Yoon lee Hyun can hide Jin Seo-Hee?”
Should I bring her to Gayoon Hospital where I am the CEO? Yoo-seon roughly pushed her slightly flowing hair behind her ear.
“Hanseo has been in contact with Representative Yoon in many ways―.”
Yuseon cut off the horse’s tail.
“Secretary Park. That’s not what I’m asking.”
“Stop them from being admitted to any hospital. If you can’t stop them, find out which room and which floor they’ll be admitted to.”
There was a strange look in her eyes.
“I’ll find out by the end of the day.”
Yoo-seon turned around as she heard Secretary Park leaving. The recording was so peaceful, but my mind was in hell.
I thought that the day of reckoning was just around the corner. My son would be the chairman of Gayoon Group right around the corner. If Yoon lee-hyun hadn’t shown up as a tiger who was preying closely on his prey, if Jin Seo-hee hadn’t shown up with her arrogant, obedient demeanor, there wouldn’t have been such a big change.
“I underestimated you too much, Seohee.”
It was unexpected that Jin Seo-hee, who had been harassing people, had stolen all the slush fund information and found out the location of the special ward where Yoon lee-hyun’s biological mother was.
When I met her in the ward, I should have killed her then. Yooseon pushed her hair back tightly. Then she scratched the window with her fingernails.
* * *
It was hard to take my eyes off the white clouds hanging like a painting in the clear blue sky. The wide open sea and the houses standing quietly were so peaceful that I couldn’t even feel the speed of the cars passing by.
Lee Hyun, who was quietly looking at the back of Seo Hee’s head as she turned her head outside the window, gently touched her finger.
Seohee faced Lee Hyun with a gaze as clear as the sky.
He tilted his head as he sat back on his seat. The bangs that had been half-covering his forehead fell to the side.
A black shirt gently hugging his broad shoulders, a couple of buttons undone as if he was feeling stuffy, neatly rolled up sleeves, and strong, veiny arms.
A cool watch reminiscent of waves and anchors, and even a ring like mine that wraps around a long, straight joint.
Seohee’s gaze swept over Lee Hyun. The man who appeared before her, was her husband, who was in desperate need of a protector.
Husband. She kept mumbling the same word over and over again.
It was definitely overwhelming. From the moment she first met him in the hospital room until she got into the car, she was overcome by a sense of dizziness, as if all the air had been sucked out of her.
But why does everything feel so pale now?
It was a strange feeling. It was the first time I saw him, but he didn’t seem unfamiliar. Everything that caught my eye felt familiar.
Dizziness came over me as if it was going to swallow me up. I slowly shook my head and sank back onto the seat, and he responded as if he has seen a ghost.
“Seohee.”
Lee Hyun straightened up and placed his hand on Seo Hee’s forehead. She unconsciously reached out and lowered his hand as she met his pitch-black eyes.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
Lee Hyun muttered as if talking to himself.
It was a very serious voice, as if he was telling to stop the car right away. As my body turned halfway, I instinctively grabbed his wrist.
Then Lee Hyun sat down quietly and faced me.
He might pull away his hand because it’s uncomfortable, or you might get angry at me and ask what’s going on.
But why does this man wait so obediently until I speak?
Suddenly, that thought occurred to me.
When I stared blankly at him, his black eyes were filled entirely with my face.
My heart kept getting warm and then hot.
Still, Lee Hyun waited patiently, his wrist still held in her hand.
Seo-hee avoided eye contact and instead of speaking, she just spun the ring around. After spinning it around a few times, a strong knuckle grabbed her hand.
It was Lee Hyun. Seohee stopped moving for a moment.
‘We were a couple. Us.’
It just didn’t feel real.
When I turned my head slightly, Lee Hyun came close to me and looked at me as if he had been waiting for me.
Seohee, who had been watching quietly, raised her hand and swept away Lee Hyun’s eyes.
Neither the ring he showed me nor the marriage certificate he handed me could touch me, but I couldn’t shake off those eyes.
Whenever I faced the dizzying pupil that seemed like it would swallow me up at any moment like a black hole, I felt at peace.
The emotion flashing in his eyes was neither anger nor rage that seemed ready to explode. What his cold eyes clearly depicted was longing.
You want me.
The hand that was placed on his face trembled. Lee Hyun placed his hand on the back of her hand as if it were natural.
My heart was pounding. It was hard to handle the warmth that had been flowing through my mind, which had been cold from anxiety all along.
When I was told to be discharged with nowhere to go, my mind turned bright yellow.
A small hospital in Ganghae received a request for power, and the hospital’s explanation that they had no way of knowing my identity fell on deaf ears.
When I woke up, the doctor asked if I knew I was pregnant, and at the hospital, he spoke with a serious face about settling the hospital bill.
Seohee just breathed because it was too much to handle alone.
It would have been anyone but him. I would have followed without a second thought if there was someone who came looking for me.
She was that desperate and at the same time hopeless. She desperately needed a protector, whatever or whoever that was.
At the time, I thought that was enough, but the person who found me was my husband.
And this is a husband who longs for me so much.
All the sadness and unexpressed emotions rushed in at once. I couldn’t breathe and had to close my eyes.
“Is it very difficult?”
Only after a heavy voice rang out did Seohee realize that she was leaning against the window as if she was about to collapse.
As I slowly opened my eyelids, worried eyes greeted me.
As I lowered my gaze at the tingling sensation, I saw his fingers secretly rubbing my ringed hand.
That small action made my heart pound. A tension that was more than just ticklish ran through my fingertips.
If I moved my hand even a little, it felt like he would tightly intertwine my fingers.
“Shall we rest and then go?”
Seo-hee, who had been thinking for a moment, shook her head. Lee-hyun’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Okay.”
He nodded and brushed her hair aside, while brushing her cheek gently.
Seohee was speechless at the very natural action. Incredibly, the tension was released and her body relaxed.
As I looked out the window at the clouds, I felt drowsy. I leaned my head against the window as I felt Lee Hyun cover the back of my hand.
The vast expanse of sea disappeared and tall buildings came into view. At first glance, it seemed like a signpost for Hanseo Special City.
“Seohee.”
Did I fall asleep? When I opened my eyelids at the soft voice, I saw a large hospital. Lee Hyun looked at Seo Hee, who was lying limply, and hugged her as if it was natural.
As I slightly raised my face, I saw Lee Hyun’s wrinkle-free neckline. As I raised my gaze slightly higher, I met his pitch-black eyes.
Seohee was startled and buried her face in his shoulder. His arms, which were tightly wrapped around her, were filled with strength.
Seohee buried her body in him, trying to hide her expression, unaware that Lee Hyun’s throat was becoming increasingly stiff with the rustling. When she came to, she was already on the bed.
“Are you tired?”
Looking at the shadows under Seo-hee’s eyes, Lee Hyun asked softly. Tired. Seo-hee couldn’t shake her head in denial to his question.
“Excuse me.”
Before she could answer, people in white gowns rushed in with a sharp voice. They were the medical staff, including Director Gayoon of the hospital.
“Mr. Chairman.”
Those who bowed their heads to Yoo-seon bowed their heads to Lee Hyun as if it were natural. They even went so far as to treat Lee Hyun as the hospital chairman.
In order to swallow up Gayoon Group, Lee Hyun also reached out to Gayoon Hospital, and when his succession became a faint accomplishment, the hospital director had no choice but to quietly let go of Yoo Seon’s hand.
“Not the chairman, not yet.”
Lee Hyun sharply corrected the incorrect title.
The medical staff flinched at the warning remarks telling them to wait for their time and not to act rashly.