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Chapter 6
“What do you think?”
At Taeuk’s question, Dr. Min removed the glasses he was wearing.
As he wiped them with the cleaning cloth he kept in his pocket, he clicked his tongue.
“What do you mean, what do I think? At this rate, she’ll rot away and die.”
“You mean her wounds are festering?”
Taeuk frowned as he asked. Dr. Min, whose gray hair was streaked with white, leaned back against the sofa and looked at him.
With his thick brows, sharp eyes, and straight nose bridge, Taeuk looked like an actor—
“How did someone as indifferent as you even get married?”
—but his tightly sealed lips only emphasized his expressionless face.
Taeuk narrowed his eyes at Dr. Min, who refused to answer him directly.
“Dr. Min.”
“What, why?”
“I asked whether Han Gyeoul’s injuries had worsened.”
“Tsk. Those kinds of wounds heal quickly with treatment!”
Annoyance spread across Taeuk’s face at the vague answer.
“Are you going to make me ask the same question three times?”
“Then are you going to make me give the same answer three times?”
“Doctor.”
“It’s an illness of the heart.”
Dr. Min put his freshly cleaned glasses back on and continued in a frustrated tone.
“Even these glasses—once they get scratched, they’re hard to clean properly.”
“……”
“But what about your wife?”
“……”
“I heard both of her parents died in a car accident when she was young.”
“……”
“And then the only family she had left, her younger sibling, also died in a car accident. She herself nearly died in it too.”
“……”
“In that kind of situation, do you really think some physical wounds are what matter?”
Dr. Min shook his head at the silent Taeuk.
“I understand how you must feel. You left your bride alone on your wedding day, and this accident happened. Maybe you feel guilty too.”
“……”
“But your wife doesn’t need this kind of treatment. What she needs is treatment for her heart.”
Dr. Min stood from his seat, looking at Taeuk, who still kept his lips tightly shut.
“If you really want to know whether your wife is okay, don’t ask me. Ask her yourself.”
“……”
“Is she eating properly? Sleeping properly? Don’t just hear about it from others—watch over her yourself and take care of her.”
“……”
“What your wife needs isn’t treatment like this. She needs your warm concern and love.”
“……”
“That’s my opinion as a doctor.”
Leaving those final words behind, Dr. Min exited Taeuk’s office.
Taeuk mulled over what the doctor had said before finally standing up.
As he grabbed his coat and left the CEO’s office, Sangwoo immediately rose from his seat.
“Where are you going? I’ll drive you.”
“I’m going home, so there’s no need to follow me. Secretary Lee, you should head home too.”
“Yes, sir.”
Sangwoo let out a worried sigh as he watched Taeuk leave the company after those short words.
Love.
He had overheard Dr. Min’s voice from inside the office earlier.
Did Taeuk really love Gyeoul?
Until not long ago, Gyeoul had been nothing more than one of the actresses signed under Taeuk’s agency.
That day when Taeuk’s father had come to visit—
If Sangwoo hadn’t overheard the argument between Taeuk and his father, who had been pressuring him into an arranged marriage… if Gyeoul hadn’t proposed marriage to him afterward… would the two of them ever have gotten married?
The troubled expression on Taeuk’s face as he left the office lingered in Sangwoo’s mind, and the ominous feeling wouldn’t go away.
“There was Summer’s car not far from the accident scene.”
“You were heading toward your car together with Summer when the accident happened, right?”
There was nothing wrong with what Won said.
That day, my sister and I had been heading toward my car, and we failed to notice the vehicle approaching us.
“Just in case, I checked the black box in Summer’s car.”
“The moment of the accident was captured from a distance.”
The black box.
Why hadn’t I thought of that?
Maybe the accident hadn’t been an accident at all.
“What is it? Did you see something?”
“Huh? Ah, no. It’s nothing. Let’s just go to the car together.”
“What’s with you today? Seriously?”
“Stop talking nonsense and come on already!”
Looking back, everything about that day had been strange.
My sister had looked terrified, like she’d seen something, and unlike usual, she’d been stubborn about staying with me.
“Summer appears to have been murdered and the incident disguised as an accident.”
Was it because of me?
Did my sister die because of someone who held a grudge against me?
“Han Gyeoul!”
“I told you I was okay, but I guess you contacted her anyway.”
“What bastard did this? Who was it?!”
“I’m okay, Summer. So don’t worry.”
It wasn’t the first time.
A year ago too, my sister had been hurt because of someone who bore resentment toward me.
In the vanity mirror at the foot of the bed, my sister’s reflection appeared.
Han Gyeoul stood there with long black hair and an exhausted face, staring at me.
After silently meeting the gaze of the figure in the mirror for a moment, I took a deep breath.
If my sister really died because of me—
If she died because she got caught up in my problems—
At that moment, the electronic beep of the door lock echoed through the room.
I pulled my gaze from the mirror and looked at the clock on the nightstand.
Even on holidays, Taeuk usually returned home late at night, but for some reason he had come home earlier than usual today.
The man who had been my sister’s husband, and now my brother-in-law.
He hadn’t noticed that his wife had changed.
Even though we lived together after marriage, our relationship was worse than strangers.
So of course he hadn’t realized that Han Gyeoul was no longer truly Han Gyeoul.
Pushing aside the chaotic thoughts filling my mind, I rose from the bed.
As I walked toward the door, knock knock—the sound of knocking echoed through the quiet room.
He opened the door and stepped inside, frowning when he saw me standing there.
Looking at his creased expression, I slowly spoke.
“Lend me your car.”
“What?”
“I need to go home for a bit.”
“It was you, wasn’t it?”
“Huh?”
“You told the CEO, didn’t you?”
“What? Ah, no! It wasn’t me!”
Why did his voice have to crack at a moment like this?
Walking behind Arin, Jinsu quickly clamped his mouth shut in embarrassment at his squeaky voice.
Feeling his guilty conscience poke at him, he glanced at Arin, only to find her looking at him like she’d expected this all along.
If he tried denying it any further, he probably wouldn’t survive.
At the horrifying scenario that suddenly came to mind, Jinsu hurriedly clasped his hands together and apologized.
“P-Please let me off just this once, noona!”
“Why should I?”
“Come on, please… I’m just a salaried employee too.”
Apparently truly angry this time, Arin snorted dismissively despite his pitiful whining.
Usually, she treated him like a younger brother, so seeing her upset made Jinsu sidle closer to her and speak more sweetly.
“Noona, where are you going? Want me to drive you?”
“What? So you can report me to the CEO again?”
“What? N-no! Absolutely not!”
“How am I supposed to trust you?”
“I’m serious this time! I really won’t tell anyone!”
Though he filled his eyes with sincerity, Arin no longer trusted him.
To uproot the deep distrust rooted in her heart, Jinsu decided to bring out his ultimate trump card.
“Noona, you know I don’t swear on this lightly, right?”
“On what?”
“I swear on the hair of my next three generations!”
“……”
“I seriously won’t tell anyone this time.”
Arin, who had been striding ahead, suddenly stopped at his words.
Jinsu removed his hat and added desperately when she looked at him suspiciously.
“You know how precious my hair is to me!”
“……”
“Look, with my family’s balding genes, every single strand is precious! And I’m betting my hair on this!”
“…Really?”
“Really. I’ll even bet the hair of my future children who haven’t even been born yet.”
After hearing his repeated solemn vows, Arin finally smiled as though she’d forgive him this once.
“Fine. If you’re going that far, I’ll trust you one last time.”
“Really? Really?”
“But this is truly the last time. Remember that.”
“Yes! Of course!”
“Good. Let’s hurry. It’s already late.”
“Huh? Late?”
Jinsu tilted his head as he looked at the clock, which had only just passed six.
As he hurried after Arin, who was walking quickly ahead, he abruptly stopped at her next words.
“My sister’s a patient. It’d be nice if we could see her… Well, if we go near the house, we’ll figure something out.”
A bad feeling crept over him.
For some reason, it felt like a cold chill ran down his spine.
Alarm bells blared loudly in his head.
“Uh… Noona, don’t tell me your sister is… no way, right?”
“What?”
“I mean… not the person I’m thinking of, right?”
The corners of his mouth trembled.
It even felt like he could hear a voice somewhere asking whether he had gambled his precious hair far too recklessly.
Arin stared at him blankly before the corners of her lips curled mischievously upward.
“Oh no, of course not.”
“R-right?”
“Yeah. It’s not like you were thinking of Gyeoul unni, were you?”
“Right! Han Gyeo— huh?”
The heart that had only just settled dropped again with a loud thud.
Looking at Arin, who was smiling innocently as though she knew nothing, Jinsu realized the truth.
Once again, he had been completely fooled by the genius actress standing before him.
“What a relief. Honestly, I was wondering what to do since I didn’t even bring my car!”
“Noona!”
Even when he shouted in resentment, Arin only laughed.
Seeing how carefree she looked, Jinsu suddenly felt a surge of despair.
The woman who had completely tricked him was smiling brighter than ever.
“It’s good you’re giving me a ride. I actually had something I wanted to ask Gyeoul unni.”
“You’re not joking? You’re really going? Seriously?”
At Arin’s unexpected words, desperation now colored Jinsu’s voice.
Arin looked at him as though he might burst into tears at any moment, then smirked slightly.
“Keep your promise.”
“N-noona…!”
“If you don’t want to go bald.”
Arin’s long, slender finger pointed at Jinsu’s precious hair.
At the sight of her finger aimed toward his hair, Jinsu felt a chill run down his spine.
If demons truly existed in this world, he thought they probably looked exactly like that.
