Chapter 10

Leaving the Taesan family residence, Seo-young’s car headed toward home, but it suddenly deviated from its path and pulled up in front of a hospital.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, Seo-young hesitated for a moment, her stiff hands resting on the steering wheel. Beyond the tightly closed car window lay a gray sky, its cold hue reflecting her inner state.

‘Sigh…’

A long, heavy sigh escaped her lips—a desperate attempt to shake off the suffocating tension and everything else all at once.

It was a deep sigh mixed with profound exhaustion and resignation, let out after absorbing with her whole body the overwhelming pressure she had just endured and the weight of the unknown future ahead. Her shoulders rose and fell slightly.

Click. Unbuckling her seatbelt and stepping out of the car, Seo-young trudged forward. As she walked down the empty hallway, she felt a strange tightness in her chest.

Even the sharp scent of disinfectant seemed to penetrate deep into her lungs. Every time the elevator numbers changed, her heart sank to the floor, as if weighed down by the heavy burden of her life.

Walking along the familiar ward corridor, she stopped in front of a hospital room door.

Seo-young’s eyes were fixed on the nameplate beside the door, as if spellbound.

Han Seo-young.

Three clearly engraved characters. The moment she read that name, Seo-young involuntarily let out a dry, hollow laugh.

‘Right. Now I am Sister, and Sister is me.’

The hollow laugh quickly faded. Replacing it was an indescribable, suffocating emotion that somehow resembled joy. Seo-young took hold of the door handle and slowly opened the door.

The room was no different from her last visit. Only the mechanical rhythm of the life-support system filled the quiet space, and inside the bed, Joo-young lay with her eyes closed, seemingly trapped in a long sleep.

This cold mechanical sound and the faint rising and falling of her chest were the only clues proving she was still alive.

Seo-young approached the bedside and sat in the familiar caregiver’s chair.

Unable to say anything for a long while, she simply looked down silently at Joo-young’s face. Joo-young looked no different than before.

It was the same proud, haughty face that looked as though it could hold the entire world beneath its feet—the very face Seo-young had practiced countless times in front of the mirror.

“Sister.”

Seo-young called out to her in a low, forced voice. Knowing no answer would return, she had no choice but to call her name anyway.

“The wedding isn’t far off.”

As news that might be a tragedy for Joo-young and an opportunity for Seo-young settled into the quiet room, a heavy lump formed in Seo-young’s throat. Narrowly suppressing her choked breath, she parted her dry lips once more.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to come see you anymore, Sister.”

Her fingertips carefully rested on the blanket covering Joo-young. A meaningless temperature—neither cold nor warm. That lukewarm feeling felt just like her own heart.

“I still don’t really know why you wanted a life like this. Or if the ending you truly desired was really something like this…”

Seo-young stopped, unable to continue. A surging warmth blurred her vision, but she fought back her tears and held her head high. As if she didn’t want to show any weakness in front of her sister.

No. Knowing full well that once she chose to live her sister’s life as her own, she had no right to shed tears in front of Joo-young.

“What you couldn’t achieve, I’ll do my best to accomplish. I will definitely survive in that place.”

Seo-young carefully, yet firmly, wrapped her hands around Joo-young’s cold hand. That touch reminded her of the warm, confident hand of her sister that had once pulled her along so fiercely ahead of her.

“I’ll do a proper job playing your role, Sister.”

Those words were not a simple promise. It was a solemn declaration that she would shoulder Joo-young’s share and throw herself into the battlefield of the Taesan family, as well as a firm vow to herself.

“So you just lie right here. Up until now, you’ve enjoyed enough of life anyway.”

Until the moment she stepped out of the hospital room door, Seo-young did not look back even once. As if turning her back on her past self and all her weakness, choosing only to move forward.

When she returned home, the living room lights were still brightly lit. Sitting side by side on the sofa, Hyeong-jin and Soo-ae turned their eyes toward Seo-young simultaneously, as if they had calculated her arrival time down to the exact second. Curiosity and expectation were mingled on their faces.

“Did the greeting go well today?”

Hyeong-jin spoke first. His voice held a cautious expectation tinged with anxiety. Seo-young took a brief breath and gave a concise nod.

“Yes.”

At that single word, the tension clouding Hyeong-jin’s face melted away as if it had never been there. A smile of clear relief and satisfaction spread across his lips.

“They sent over a whole load of gifts from the Chairman’s house. I knew you’d handle it well.”

“They suggested we hold the formal meeting between our families this Friday.”

“I heard.”

He didn’t hold back on his praise. Bestowing upon Seo-young the admiration that had always been reserved for Joo-young, he wore a satisfied expression as if he had already predicted the outcome. Seo-young simply received their gazes calmly.

“Though looking at her like this, Seo-young really seems like Joo-young.”

Soo-ae scanned Seo-young up and down. Her voice carried a complex emotion—unclear whether it was admiration or another hidden layer of expectation beneath it.

It seemed Soo-ae was still searching for the shadow of Seo-young’s sister, Joo-young, within Seo-young. To her comment, Hyeong-jin replied nonchalantly.

“What’s the surprise? They’re twins, so of course. They look identical. Ah, well, I suppose now that she’s finally pulling her weight like Joo-young, she might actually look the part.”

It sounded like a compliment, but those words were insidiously laced with a massive burden of responsibility and a warning that she wouldn’t be let off easily if she failed. Hyeong-jin stood up abruptly, looking down at Seo-young with a cold gaze as he drove the point home.

“You are Han Joo-young now.”

His voice was more than stern; it was a command. In a cold, solemn tone, he nailed it down once more, allowing not an ounce of doubt or rebuttal.

“So do not forget that fact for even a single moment.”

Seo-young’s spine went rigid. She barely managed to nod her stiffened head, but the movement was like a puppet suspended on strings—a reflex rather than her own complete will.

Just then, Soo-ae, who had been watching the entire scene expressionlessly, blurted out something unexpected.

“Let’s go shopping together tomorrow, Mom and you.”

For a moment, Seo-young couldn’t respond properly.

“Shopping…?”

The question repeated from Seo-young’s lips sounded more like a mutter to confirm reality.

She was someone who had never affectionately reached out her hand first. Her mother’s touch had always been directed only toward Joo-young. To Seo-young, who had always stood behind her sister like a shadow, Soo-ae was now extending a hand.

“We need to look at clothes for the family meeting, and there’ll be plenty of things we need.”

The moment those words landed in her ears, a strange, thrilling sensation seeped into a dried-up corner of her heart—like spring water found after a long drought, and yet sweet and poignant like a forbidden fruit.

Not knowing how to accept such unfamiliar affection, Seo-young kept her head lowered, curled up tight, and completely failed to notice Soo-ae silently mouthing the name ‘Joo-young’ with eager intent.

She barely managed to answer with a trembling voice.

“Yes.”

After returning to her room and lying on her bed, her heart—a chaotic mix of excitement and anxiety—refused to settle down.

Her eyes remained wide open, and the word ‘tomorrow’ spun continuously in her mind as if engraved into her brain.

Shopping with Mom.

An anticipation she had never felt in her life and a nerve-wracking tension shook her heart alternately like rough waves. A faint smile spread across her lips.

A dreamlike reality she had never even dared to imagine.

‘It’s my very first time going shopping with Mom.’

And so, Seo-young spent the entire night wide awake, tossing and turning in excitement.