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Chapter 25
At the hospital in Gangwon Province, they had misunderstood, thinking she wanted to marry Jaeseok. But if they had realized she couldn’t recognize him because of her amnesia, wouldn’t they have wanted to tell her family the truth right away?
“Why didn’t you tell my parents? If you could track me down no matter which hospital I moved to, and if you’ve known me since I was young, then surely you must know my parents too, right?”
“First of all, your parents trust Jo Jaeseok far too much. Even if I spoke badly about him, they might not believe me. Besides… if you don’t remember anything, then you probably don’t know your mother is actually your stepmother, do you?”
“…Stepmother?”
Surprised by the fact that Myunghee was a stepmother, Hyeonjeong’s reaction made Taegun let out a long sigh.
“She’s a good person, isn’t she? If you thought she was your birth mother, that might upset you.”
He seemed to blame himself a little for not thinking it through, but Hyeonjeong didn’t feel the same. Myunghee’s words and actions were gentle, and she called her daughter “lovely,” but there was something in her gaze that subtly made it impossible to refuse her.
It was only now that the strange tension of that relationship started to make sense.
“I’m not sure, but since she brings me homemade snacks every day—the ones I supposedly liked—she seems like a good person.”
“Supposedly liked?”
Come to think of it, she wasn’t sure she ever really liked those foods. They didn’t exactly suit her taste.
“If you don’t remember, don’t force yourself to fit the pieces together.”
Taegun was strange. He only ever said the words she wanted to hear—as if he had gone inside her mind and come back out again.
“At home, they’re trying to marry me off to Jo Jaeseok right away.”
Maybe that was why she found herself opening up to him. Hyeonjeong rubbed the canned coffee in her hands for warmth, steadying the cold shivers that ran through her. She wasn’t really cold under the thick blanket, but her insides still felt chilled.
“They want me to marry as soon as I’m discharged… but honestly, I don’t know. I want to postpone it. I have neither certainty nor memories about him.”
“Tell me honestly. Do you just want to delay it, or do you not want it at all?”
Hyeonjeong closed her eyes and tried to picture Jaeseok. If she were to marry him, she would have to share love and live under the same roof whether she liked it or not. Could she do that with Jaeseok? Even putting aside her memory loss, she had heard that he once abandoned her and ran away to live alone.
Even if she hadn’t heard that story—that he left her behind—she still wouldn’t want him. His clammy touch felt like insects crawling on her skin, and just the way he looked at her gave her goosebumps. How could she live in such intimacy with him?
“…I don’t want it.”
Listening quietly, Taegun nodded as if to respect her answer.
“I’ll help you to the end.”
Hyeonjeong desperately wanted to believe in the reassuring strength of his words.
No matter what, even parents couldn’t force someone into marriage. Yet her parents were pushing Jaeseok on her just because they were her parents. Could that really be called normal?
“Mr. Kang Taegun, you seem to worry about me a lot.”
“That’s right. I’m so worried I can’t even sleep properly.”
“I don’t think that’s true.”
His complexion was healthy and his skin looked fine—like someone who slept soundly. But Taegun looked a little offended.
“I can’t prove it, but it feels unfair.”
“You couldn’t help losing me at the accident site, but at the Gangwon hospital—or even when I was moved to the Seoul hospital—couldn’t you have taken me away?”
“In my heart, I wanted to take you out immediately.”
The words from Taegun, with his deep-colored eyes, felt like they carried no lies.
“But you didn’t remember me. You would’ve been wary of me. Taking you away like that wouldn’t have been for your sake—it would’ve been kidnapping. Wouldn’t you have been afraid?”
“……”
“No matter how much your parents wanted you to marry Jo Jaeseok, I didn’t think they could force a wedding on someone with an injured leg. I thought I could at least buy some time.”
His words—that he had been waiting for the right moment—made Hyeonjeong naturally nod. He was right.
Out of mere curiosity, she wouldn’t have been able to follow him.
Now, she could talk comfortably with Taegun, but just yesterday she had still doubted him a little.
Of course, she didn’t fully trust him yet. But compared to Jaeseok, she felt Taegun was far more genuine.
Only her parents’ constant insistence on marriage weighed heavily on her mind.
“If Jo Jaeseok tried to register the marriage without your consent, I was ready to stop him.”
What kind of person was she to Taegun, that he prepared so thoroughly for her sake? The more she thought about it, the more she wanted her memory to return quickly, to understand what kind of relationship they had.
“Are you helping me because you expect something in return? Money, perhaps? Or maybe… before the accident I had important information, and you want me to remember it? Or maybe there’s a valuable item only I know the location of?”
Hyeonjeong seriously considered various possibilities. But compared to her seriousness, Taegun’s expression was oddly unimpressed.
“You watch a lot of movies, don’t you?”
“…What?”
“Your caution toward strangers is admirable.”
Like praising a well-trained puppy, his large hand reached out and patted her head through the blanket.
“From now on, whether it’s strangers or people you think you know, you need to carefully scrutinize everything—front, back, and sides. Especially with kind men.”
“You’re included in that too, right, Mr. Kang Taegun?”
“Not me.”
“Why not?”
“It’s true that there’s no such thing as kindness without a price. But I’m different.”
“That sounds contradictory. So you’re really saying you’re doing all this because of that childhood promise?”
Taegun gave a casual nod, as if it was obvious.
“That promise—that no matter where I was, if I was in danger or needed you, you’d come to me?”
“Exactly.”
“But why did you make that promise to me?”
“Ah… well, that’s a long story.”
His eyes softened with nostalgia, as though recalling a time they once shared. Oddly enough, Hyeonjeong found herself more curious about those childhood memories with him than about the memories she’d lost in the accident. Her eyes shone brightly, just like his.
“You really liked me. You used to call me ‘oppa’ and followed me around all day.”
“What? Wait, me?”
“Yes, you. You followed me around so much I could barely even go to the bathroom in peace.”
“Even if I have amnesia, you shouldn’t make up stories!”
Though he sounded annoyed, the corners of his lips were slightly upturned. Somehow, it felt believable—that she had once followed him around relentlessly. Her face flushed with embarrassment at the thought.
“Believe it or not.”
Taegun closed his mouth, saying nothing more, as if he wouldn’t bother if she found it hard to believe. But that only made Hyeonjeong restless. She wanted to know the rest of the story. If she couldn’t hear more, she felt she wouldn’t be able to sleep that night.
“Okay, fine. I’ll stay quiet. Please keep talking.”
When she sat still like a cat waiting for a treat, Taegun looked amused.
“Back then, you were really a nuisance. Boys don’t usually play with kids six years younger than them.”
“So I was six years younger, and you were twelve?”
“That’s right.”
“Then how old are you now, Mr. Kang Taegun?”
“Thirty.”
When he said thirty, his mature presence felt almost overwhelming. Jaeseok was probably around the same age, yet how could the two men feel so different?
“Even though you were a nuisance, I had no choice but to play with you. Whenever I went out with my friends, I had to take you along. And then… I lost you once.”
“What? How could you lose a child while playing?!”
So caught up in the story, Hyeonjeong nearly jumped up in outrage.
Like watching a soap opera, she was fuming, and Taegun looked startled by her reaction.
“…I’m sorry.”
In the middle of her anger, his unexpected apology made her burst out laughing. His normally cold, sharp appearance suddenly looked like that of a puppy with drooping ears after making a mistake.
“It’s in the past.”
Though it was long past, she felt embarrassed for reacting so emotionally.
“Go on. What happened next?”
