EOFD 34

Chapter 34

The End of First Love

“…Jung-ha?”

Startled by the sudden words, Yeon-woo couldn’t help but let out a sharp voice as she repeated the name.

She knew very well who had caused the accident back then.

Perhaps displeased by the question, Madam fell silent, her crimson, thickly painted lips pressing together and hardening. Seeing that, Yeon-woo quietly lowered her head again.

“……”

“All you have to do is stay by Jung-ha’s side and assist him in whatever he does. After all, Jung-ha doesn’t even remember someone like you, so just quietly support him.”

He doesn’t remember…

At the news of Jung-ha for the first time, Yeon-woo’s eyes widened. Was it because of that accident?

In a way, it was a relief. Perhaps it was better that he didn’t remember her.

Even so, her chest plummeted as if sinking, refusing to rise again. Madam, noticing her paling face, let out a thin laugh between her lips.

“Did you perhaps have expectations, coming all the way to Seoul? That maybe you’d get a touching reunion with our Jung-ha after all this time?”

“N-no, ma’am…”

“You should think about the accident your family caused. Isn’t it stranger if he remembered you perfectly?”

“……”

“Report every single thing Jung-ha does to me. That’s your job.”

If it were Madam’s true nature, she would never deliberately put Seo Yeon-woo beside Woo Jung-ha. She’d rather kill her than allow her anywhere near him.

And yet, the fact that she insisted on putting her by his side must have meant there was a reason.

Unable to hold back the question burning in her throat, Yeon-woo asked,

“…Has something happened to Jung-ha?”

“Something?”

Though Madam tried to sound calm, Yeon-woo did not miss the faint tremor in her perfectly smooth cheek.

Yeon-woo instantly sensed that something was wrong with Jung-ha’s condition. She let out the breath she had been holding.

“…You wouldn’t have called me here otherwise.”

At her words, Madam’s eyes flared wide, glaring at her. Her delicate fingers twitched as though ready to strangle Yeon-woo’s throat any second. The veins on the back of her hand bulged, and Yeon-woo forced herself to breathe through the heavy air.

“If you’re too quick-witted in this world, you won’t live long. So you’d better just do as I say. This is the last chance I’m giving you.”

Her final words were chilling.

“The rest, Director Won you saw earlier will explain.”

With that, Madam abruptly turned her head, a clear sign she no longer wished to deal with Yeon-woo. So Yeon-woo stood up and bowed.

At once, the servants came and escorted her out. In front of the building, a man called Director Won, who had been waiting, put her in a car and began driving somewhere.

But even in the car, Yeon-woo could do nothing but sit in a daze—because of the very first words he spoke.

“Not long ago, the young master tried to hang himself.”

Woo Jung-ha had… tried to end his own life.

In an unfamiliar officetel, Director Won dropped her off and carried her meager luggage inside ahead of her.

Yeon-woo couldn’t even remember how she had come this far. The sudden appearance of the man, Madam, and then… Jung-ha.

When she heard that he had attempted suicide, it felt as though a cord had tightened mercilessly around her throat, cutting off her breath.

“Would you like some coffee?”

“……”

She rarely drank coffee at night. In Haedo, she would have been asleep by now, but with a pale, bloodless face, she nodded.

As she watched Director Won operate the coffee machine with practiced ease, as though it were his own home, she didn’t even have the energy to look around the officetel.

She simply sat slumped in front of the small sofa in the living room, knees drawn up, leaning her back against it in helplessness.

With a low whirr, the scent of coffee spread through the apartment.

Soon, Director Won handed her a steaming cup of Americano.

But Yeon-woo, still dazed, couldn’t even bring herself to drink it. Director Won clicked his tongue softly. In his mind, this clueless woman hardly seemed like someone who would move according to Madam’s designs.

Only after his gaze lingered on her for some time did Yeon-woo finally look up. After the heavy silence, Director Won began to speak.

“From now on, Ms. Seo Yeon-woo, you’ll be working as Young Master Jung-ha’s personal secretary.”

“P-personal secretary…?”

Yeon-woo’s eyes widened. She didn’t even know what that was supposed to mean.

“You’ll follow the executive’s schedule. If at any time he seems… unstable, you must stop the situation and contact me immediately. I’ll have his doctor on standby.”

“……”

At the word doctor, Yeon-woo squeezed her eyes shut before opening them again. So Jung-ha was still under treatment.

Where, and how, was he hurting so badly?

A dry thirst rose in her throat.

“Jung-ha… what is wrong with him—”

“The young master is, for the most part, normal.”

Director Won cut her off coldly before she could even finish.

For the most part normal.
That meant, of course, that sometimes he wasn’t.

“…Only at times, he loses control of his emotions. Just as when he attempted to hang himself.”

As he said this, Director Won raised one eyebrow meaningfully.

“How bad must it be, for someone to try to—”

“Ms. Seo Yeon-woo.”

“…Yes.”

Her anxious words were cut short as he showed his displeasure immediately.

“You’re only here to do as you’re told.”

It meant her concern and curiosity were already excessive.

Chilled by his tone, Yeon-woo could only shut her mouth. Then Director Won continued his explanation.

“The biggest disruption to his daily life at present can be described as impulse control disorder. Since the accident, there are times he becomes excessively sensitive. We must make sure no one knows. Secrecy—that’s the main reason Madam called for you.”

“……”

“The chairman has an illegitimate son. Naturally, that side wants to push him into the company over the young master, so they’re eager to find any pretext to use against him.”

Director Won spoke as though Woo Jung-ha were perfectly fine, and it was only others scheming against him.

But to Yeon-woo, all of this sounded unbearably twisted. The boy she remembered at nineteen had nothing to do with company politics or illegitimate heirs.

The world Jung-ha lived in had completely changed.

“Fortunately, that other son is still young. It’s practically confirmed that the young master will take over as president after this project, but even a small mistake could ruin things.”

What was it, really, that had tormented Jung-ha so much?

Director Won’s explanation focused only on the company’s affairs, not on Jung-ha’s heart. As if everything would be solved once he inherited the presidency.

Though Yeon-woo’s expression hardened, Director Won carried on indifferently.

“This arrangement will last until the Yedun City project is finished and the shareholders’ meeting is held. Madam added a little gift, as well.”

“……”

The so-called gift he handed her was a photograph.

Yeon-woo’s arms trembled as she took it.

It was her aunt.

There were dozens of photos of her going in and out of the hospital. Gone was the lively expression that had always scolded Yeon-woo with sharp words—her shoulders now drooped, her face weary.

Director Won explained briefly,

“She’s undergoing cancer treatment. Seems it’s too much for her to be alone.”

“…Cancer?”

When had she last seen her aunt? Years ago.

Yeon-woo once secretly returned to Gojung-eup with the ten thousand won she owed her aunt, only to hear she had already left. Ever since, she had carried the guilt of not repaying that debt.

“Then… where is my aunt now?”

“I’ll tell you that once all this is over.”

It wasn’t a gift—it was a hostage. Such a method was so very like Madam that Yeon-woo was left speechless. She turned to look out the window.

Only now did she realize how much she had lost in those ten years.

Even the massive, brightly lit structures in the distance—she hadn’t known such things even existed in Seoul.

But it was too late to run now.

With her aunt’s life in Madam’s hands and her debts already erased, trying to return to Haedo would change nothing.

Yeon-woo shut her eyes tightly, then opened them. With a trembling voice, she asked the one last thing she most wanted to know.

“…Why me? You despise me, don’t you?”

“You wonder why Madam chose you.”

“…Yes.”

“Because your strengths are clear. You’ll work for the young master with devotion. And…”

“……”

“…Because you know better than anyone that no matter how close you get, you’ll never be able to cross the line.”

It meant, in short, that she was the easiest one to use and control.

Her face went pale, as if suffocating. Watching her, Director Won delivered his final words in a low voice.

“The young master is… very different now from the boy you remember.”

“……”

“If anything happens, call me.”

Yeon-woo would only understand later—after meeting Jung-ha the next day—that those words were both a warning and a kindness.

Only when the memory of Woo Jung-ha’s radiant smile under the summer sun shattered in her mind like broken glass did she realize—

That the first love only she remembered would throw her straight into the storm.