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Chapter 09
“Keep it with you and call me.”
“Huh?”
“Even if you’re talking nonsense, call me.”
I let out a small laugh as Taewook’s voice came back to me while handing over his phone.
He gave me his phone and then told me to call him—where exactly was I supposed to call?
Come to think of it, he had a strangely cute side to him too…
Han Yeoreum, are you seriously losing your mind?
“Unni, this must be really hard for you, right?”
I looked up at the woman’s question, snapping out of my ridiculous thoughts about Taewook being cute.
She was staring at me with a worried expression, and I carefully forced a smile onto my lips.
At this point, I still didn’t know exactly what kind of relationship she had with my sister, so I had no idea how I was supposed to answer.
My mind scrambled to find clues from the short conversation she and Taewook had shared earlier.
‘Hello, CEO Joo. I’m Kim Arin. We met at an awards ceremony a few years ago, and briefly at the broadcasting station not long ago…!’
‘Could I talk to unni for a moment?’
‘I wanted to go to the funeral hall, but because of the reporters I tried to avoid the crowds… and ended up arriving too late.’
‘The funeral was already over by then.’
Even after replaying their conversation, the information I could gather about her was limited.
Her name was Kim Arin.
Han Gyeowool was “unni” to her.
She had visited Han Yeoreum’s funeral hall too late.
And she was an actress, just like my sister.
Thankfully, I also remembered that Arin had been the female lead in a drama where my sister once appeared in a minor role.
Arin let out a faint sigh and looked at me anxiously.
“I honestly don’t understand what’s going on. They still haven’t caught the culprit, right?”
“…Yeah. I guess not.”
I met her gaze and smiled weakly.
I couldn’t tell whether I was doing a convincing enough imitation of my sister. My palms were already slick with sweat.
I could feel her eyes subtly studying me.
Pretending not to notice, I lowered my head.
“Don’t worry too much. They’ll catch the culprit soon.”
Her cautious reassurance reminded me of the woman who had lingered in front of my funeral altar.
‘Prosecutor Han.’
‘Yes, sunbae.’
‘Ever heard the saying that criminals always return to the scene of the crime?’
‘Of course. It’s in every comic, drama, and movie.’
‘Right. But it happens in real investigations too.’
‘What?’
‘The ones who regret what they did, or are terrified of being caught—they always come back.’
‘Prosecutor! The culprit has appeared at the scene!’
‘See? I told you.’
Why did that conversation with Minjun suddenly come back to me now?
I stared at the woman before me—the exact same clothes, the exact same hairstyle as the woman I’d seen at the funeral hall.
Was I jumping to conclusions?
Was I just being overly sensitive?
As countless possibilities spun through my head, a sharp headache suddenly crashed over me.
Arin’s face filled with concern as she saw me grimace in pain.
“Unni, are you okay?”
“…Ah, yes. I’m okay. I guess my body still hasn’t fully recovered.”
I smiled faintly at her worried expression.
Even after I reassured her, the concern didn’t leave her face.
“At least it’s good you have someone living with you. Being alone when you’re struggling just makes everything lonelier and harder.”
“That’s true. I don’t know what I would’ve done without Taewook.”
“…Exactly. I was honestly shocked earlier. Seeing the CEO hugging you that tightly.”
I raised my head with a gentle smile.
Looking mischievous now, she asked:
“So marrying someone who truly loves you really is nice, huh?”
“…What?”
“You always said you’d marry a man who loved you more than anything. That’s why you married CEO Joo, right?”
“Right. Taewook was that kind of person to me.”
The questions were becoming increasingly personal, and my head grew more complicated by the second.
This was dangerous. Talking to one of my sister’s acquaintances without preparation had been a mistake.
Keeping my voice calm, I checked the time on Taewook’s phone.
It had gotten much later than I thought.
I smiled apologetically at Arin.
“Arin-ssi, I’m sorry, but can I head home now?”
“……”
“I think I overdid it a little. I’m pretty tired.”
But strangely, she didn’t answer.
At some point, I realized the eyes staring at me were no longer smiling.
“Arin-ssi?”
“Who are you?”
Inside the silent car, where even the ticking of a clock couldn’t be heard, she asked me in an ice-cold voice.
“You’re not Han Gyeowool.”
The phone in my hand hit the floor with a heavy thud.
* * *
The moment Taewook saw Arin stepping out of his car, he opened the door without hesitation.
After scanning the quiet underground parking garage once more, he pulled his cap lower and adjusted his mask.
With long strides, he walked toward the car—then stopped when he saw Arin standing there motionless, staring inside.
No… was she looking at Han Gyeowool?
“Are you finished talking?”
Only after his formal question did Arin finally turn toward him.
She dipped her head lightly, as if thanking him for giving them privacy.
Compared to thirty minutes ago, the atmosphere around her had changed completely.
Her expression was hidden beneath the mask and hat, making it impossible to read, but—
Something about her felt off.
Taewook quietly observed her before glancing at the watch on his wrist.
This was Gyeowool’s first outing since being discharged from the hospital, and it had already gone on longer than expected.
Worried, he decided to check on her first.
“Well then.”
Just as he turned toward the passenger seat, Arin grabbed his wrist.
Taewook frowned.
“What are you doing?”
“I… actually…”
As he silently watched her hesitate, the sound of a car door opening made him turn his head.
Even though he’d told her to stay inside until he returned, Gyeowool had apparently forgotten and climbed out herself.
Trying to get out while carrying luggage with an arm still in a cast, she ended up dropping all the documents onto the floor.
Seeing the papers scatter everywhere, Taewook quickly pulled his arm free from Arin.
“If it’s not urgent, let’s talk later.”
Throwing her a brief response, he hurried around the hood of the car toward Gyeowool.
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s why I told you to stay in the car. Leave it—I’ll pick them up.”
Gyeowool smiled gratefully as Taewook quickly gathered the papers.
“There. Got everything. Let’s go home.”
As he helped her walk away, a sudden uneasy feeling crawled up his spine, and he turned around.
Arin, who had unexpectedly come looking for Gyeowool, stood frozen in place as though rooted to the ground, watching them.
Was it that look?
A bad feeling settled heavily in his chest.
* * *
After finishing her conversation with Gyeowool and getting into the car, Arin’s face remained stiff the entire time.
Jinsu glanced at her through the rearview mirror and cautiously spoke.
“Noona.”
“……”
“Noona Arin!”
“Huh? Ah… what?”
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
Even though she clearly heard him, Arin didn’t answer.
Concerned by her unusual silence, Jinsu carefully asked:
“Did you maybe fight with Han Gyeowool-ssi…? No, wait. Don’t tell me you grabbed her by the collar?”
“…What?”
“Well, you usually can’t even say harsh things to her. And since you’re the fiery type, there’s no way you’d actually fight with her.”
“……”
“So if anything happened, you probably grabbed her by the collar and demanded she stop bottling everything up.”
A cold chill spread across Arin’s face at Jinsu’s words.
“Why would I grab unni by the collar? There’s no reason for that.”
“Who knows? Maybe you got frustrated because she keeps suffering silently.”
“You really think of me that way?”
Only then did Jinsu realize how icy her tone had become.
Seeing her frozen expression, he forced an awkward smile.
“I-it was a joke, noona.”
“Jinsu.”
“Yes, noona!”
“I think our relationship ends here.”
“N-noona!”
Jinsu smacked himself on the head while staring at the furious Arin.
Again, his mouth was the problem.
“Noona, I was seriously joking!”
“……”
“But honestly, this is the first time you’ve come back from meeting Han Gyeowool looking like that!”
“……”
“When someone who never acts like this suddenly does, I just tried to lighten the mood. I never actually thought you were violent or crazy or—”
“Stop.”
“Noona…”
“If you say one more word, today will really be our last.”
After finally silencing Jinsu’s endless excuses, Arin quietly replayed his words in her head.
‘When someone who never acts like this suddenly does.’
Right.
That was exactly it.
The strange sense of discomfort she’d felt since meeting Gyeowool came from that.
At first, she thought it was because the accident had changed Gyeowool emotionally.
That was why she seemed like a different person.
But—
“A person changing after nearly dying is one thing. But becoming an entirely different person is another, isn’t it?”
“……”
“The way she acted toward me before, her tone, everything—it wasn’t just change. It was like she’d become someone else entirely.”
“……”
“And when she got out of the car earlier, it almost felt like she deliberately dropped those papers…”
Even after her quiet muttering, the car remained silent.
Arin frowned at Jinsu, who had suddenly clamped his mouth shut.
“What? Are you ignoring me?”
“……”
“Jang Jinsu!”
“B-but you said if I said one more thing you’d fire me!”
Jinsu burst out defensively, sounding genuinely wronged.
Only after yelling did he seem to realize his mistake, cautiously checking her expression through the rearview mirror.
Trying to change the subject, he spoke carefully.
“R-right… Oh! By the way, did you ever find that lipstick you lost at the funeral hall?”
“……”
“You said some famous designer—André? Anglé?—personally designed it for you, right? That there was only one in the world…!”
“……”
“It was precious, so should I maybe go ask around at the funeral hall?”
“…An Ri.”
“Huh?”
“His name is An Ri. Not André or Anglé.”
“Ah… right. An Ri.”
Jinsu quickly turned his head away after glancing at her nervously.
At this rate, her anger was definitely going to last a while.
Meanwhile, Arin watched him through the rearview mirror as he pretended to focus on driving.
“Clear your schedule tomorrow.”
“Huh?”
“There’s somewhere I need to go.”
“Ah, okay!”
It had finally been one of his rare days off, but Jinsu could only swallow his tears in resignation.
If he ever got himself killed someday, he was certain it would be because of this mouth of his.
