Chapter 112
Time flowed unbearably slowly.
Hawon felt as if he were submerged in a viscous liquid, struggling to breathe.
It was an uncharacteristic and ridiculous thought for someone like him.
Since regaining consciousness, not a single day had passed without him coming to this place.
Not to the official office on the first floor, but to a private space known only to a select few like Jiwoon—a deeply personal area.
In truth, it was his second office, where he spent the most time.
Connected to it by a single door was this bedroom, a place he rarely used.
It was a space his father had once occupied, and Hawon had never been able to rest there comfortably.
Yet, before he knew it, he found himself here again.
Staying up through the night until sunrise had become almost a daily occurrence. He had never been so unable to control himself.
But he also didn’t see a reason to stop.
It wasn’t as if he was clinging to her or sneaking glances at her sleeping face. He was simply standing in his place, alone.
Any fleeting expectations or faint hopes had been left behind in the place where he had let her go—or so he believed.
“The young lady has arrived.”
Yeonbyeol had sought him out the very day after she woke from her long sleep.
Yet, ten days had passed without him meeting her face-to-face. If he could, he wished to never see her again.
Because he thought he knew what she would say.
And because he didn’t know what he should say to her.
So why, even at this moment, was he standing here? Why had he handed her the key to that room?
He couldn’t stop his gaze from wandering toward the door, which should have remained forever closed.
All he could do was come to this place at dawn, carried on the unceasing flow of time.
Had he known this moment would come at the end of it, he wouldn’t have done so.
“……”
Their gazes lingered in silence for a long time. The sound of her calling his name felt like a distant dream.
Yeonbyeol, who had finally opened the door and appeared before him, looked no different than she had in his memories.
She never did. From the moment she burst through the door that should never have been opened until now, she had never changed.
Hawon’s eyes shifted to the key in her hand.
“…Boss?”
Yeonbyeol, her wide eyes scanning the surroundings, finally broke the silence. Her face was full of confusion.
At the faint tremor in her voice, Hawon became acutely aware that this was reality. His lips twisted into a wry smile.
“I didn’t expect you to crawl in like a rat.”
The one truly unprepared for this situation was Yeonbyeol.
She had never imagined that beyond the hidden door and at the bottom of the stairs, such a place would exist.
And certainly, she hadn’t expected to encounter Hawon the moment the door opened.
Struggling to regain her composure, she tried to figure out where she was.
The room was as spacious as the one she currently used.
Beyond the glass wall that stretched along one side, the view was the same as what she saw from her own room.
Next, her gaze fell on a large, untouched bed, its sheets unwrinkled.
There was a plush-looking sofa, a small round table, and a wardrobe.
No matter how she looked at it, this was clearly a bedroom.
The room, filled with such incongruous items, stood in stark contrast to Hawon, who stood there impeccably dressed in a black shirt buttoned all the way up, with not a single detail out of place.
‘Why is it connected to the boss’s bedroom of all places…?!’
Yeonbyeol was internally appalled but quickly deduced the answer.
‘Ah, the previous boss must have used this room. It must have been built for discreet access between husband and wife.’
Deciding to act confidently, Yeonbyeol stepped forward. Though abrupt, the situation was ultimately what she had wanted.
After all, she was finally face-to-face with Hawon.
“Is it acceptable for someone of your stature to blatantly avoid people like this?”
Smiling, Yeonbyeol let go of the doorknob and walked toward him. She ignored the heavy gaze that seemed to cling to her with every step she took.
“You wouldn’t meet with me, Boss, so I had no choice but to come through this door.”
The smile on Hawon’s lips deepened. His expression had the unsettling stillness of a sculpture, evoking an inexplicable unease.
It felt as though uncovering what lay beneath it would cause the already fractured surface to crumble entirely, leaving something irreparable.
“Indeed.”
Hawon lowered his head, letting out a soft, bitter laugh. The peculiar sound of it made Yeonbyeol flinch and shrink back slightly.
“So you came to me on your own, after all.”
When their gazes met again, his eyes were like a pitch-black abyss, reflecting nothing. She couldn’t dare to peer into their depths.
Instinctive caution froze Yeonbyeol in place. She couldn’t move a step, her eyes fixed on him.
“I’d decided never to see you again…”
Another laugh escaped from between his twisted lips. It sounded like a mix of mockery—whether directed at someone else or himself, she couldn’t tell.
Hawon’s gaze shifted sideways, landing on a red rose he hadn’t realized was there. It was sheer coincidence that his eyes found it.
If asked when it all began, the starting point was clear.
The moment she had suddenly barged into his world. He couldn’t even remember what she had been like before then.
That day, that afternoon—it had all begun then.
The door opened, their eyes met—her deep black eyes stealing all his senses in an instant.
Her unconventional boldness, her every glance and word had pulled at him like gravity.
And before he knew it, he had been dragged helplessly to this very spot.
“So now that you’ve gone and opened another door that should’ve stayed shut, what am I supposed to do?”
Nights spent in this room were filled with ridiculous thoughts, despite himself.
Some days, he wished she would remain forever unaware of the hidden door’s existence.
On others, he hoped. Perhaps, knowing her, with her constant ability to defy his expectations…
Maybe she would find that door and appear before him.
He couldn’t discern what he truly wanted.
But now, standing face-to-face with her, his heart was undeniably filled with a vivid realization:
Through all the slow-moving hours as the sun rose and fell, what he had desperately longed for was this very moment.
The rose in the vase crumbled in Hawon’s hand, its crimson petals scattering like drops of blood on the white marble floor.
Turning his head, Hawon fixed his gaze on Yeonbyeol. His piercing stare wrapped around her heart like a noose, constricting it.
‘What should I do with you?’
Though he didn’t speak, his eyes seemed to ask the question.
“I, I just…”
The vibrant red of the crushed petals at his feet and the mingling scent of roses made Yeonbyeol dizzy.
Her thoughts tangled, and she stammered without realizing it.
“I wanted to make sure… that you’re okay after being shot.”
“……”
“You’ve been avoiding me, Boss, so I had to check for myself.”
She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was making excuses.
Suddenly, a gunshot echoed faintly in her memory. The scene of him taking a bullet in her place flashed before her eyes and vanished.
The lingering image made Yeonbyeol close her eyes tightly before opening them again.
“…Please don’t do that again.”
The words, suppressed and swallowed countless times, burst out before she could stop them. She tried to cover the raw truth with an awkward laugh.
“It wouldn’t make sense for the boss of Baekcheon to die because of me. You can’t die without leaving an heir behind, right?”
As she forced a smile, a faint flicker of emotion passed through Hawon’s dark eyes.
“Why?”
Hawon began walking toward her.
“Why don’t you ask why I took that bullet for you?”
With every slow step he took, the rose petals beneath him were crushed. Yeonbyeol tried not to focus on his movement as she replied.
“Well… we’ve shared the same ground for a long time, haven’t we?”
“No.”
Hawon let out a sigh-like laugh. It was the kind of laugh that disrupted the gentle flow of the air around them.
“You know the reason.”
“……”
“That’s why you put a bullet in your own heart, isn’t it?”
In the silence that followed, which felt as though time had frozen, Yeonbyeol hurriedly opened her mouth to speak, but her words caught in her throat.
“What truly enrages me…”
Another step.
Hawon stopped so close that a stray breeze could’ve brushed her hair against him.
Though the sunlight shone behind him, his expression was clear. Yeonbyeol couldn’t look away from his gaze.
“…is that it was me who put that gun in your hand.”
He reached a hand toward her but stopped just short of touching her, his hand hovering near hers.
Without moving further, he clenched his fist tightly. His knuckles turned white, and veins bulged under his skin as his hand trembled faintly.
“Even in this moment, I can’t lay a finger on you because I’m afraid I might destroy you.”
His face, shadowed by rage, was chilling. Yet, with that same face, he smiled bitterly and muttered in self-derision:
“Even I think I’m utterly pathetic.”
