ITSN 09

Chapter 9

“Listen carefully. I’m not marrying you.”

With dimmed eyes that looked as if he wanted to tear her apart, Seo Taejo continued.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to pull here, but nothing’s going to change because of this.”

His voice was sharp, each word laced with thorns and ice.

Whatever the late Yoo Haein might have felt, it was clear how much Seo Taejo despised his fiancée.

“Did you really lose your memory? Your eyesight’s back, and since it’s obvious you’d be dumped, maybe you’re just trying to play some trick?”

Seriously. How could he even misunderstand it like that?

It felt incredibly unfair, but she couldn’t refute a single word.

She wanted to say, “Yoo Haein is dead, so your engagement doesn’t even exist anymore.”
But of course, she couldn’t.

“From the start, if you hadn’t gone blind, there would never have been an engagement.”

He’d said something like that before too. That it only happened because she lost her sight. Now that she could see again, there was no reason to continue.

So in the end, it was because of Seo Taejo that Yoo Haein had lost her vision, and that was how she’d been forced into an engagement.

“You, back then, Ro…”

Just as he was about to hurl another sharp-edged word, Seo Taejo suddenly shut his mouth.

Ro… He seemed to have more to say after that, but he clenched his jaw as if he couldn’t bear to. For a moment, he looked wretched.

“Forget it.”

It was as though he had smothered the anger boiling inside him in an instant. His expression went blank, but his face was still icy cold.

Those pitch-black eyes, filled with thick contempt, flickered under the streetlamp.

“What’s the point of holding onto you and saying anything? Talking to someone who can’t even reason like a human being.”

“I don’t have any interest either.”

Was he saying Yoo Haein wasn’t even someone he could talk sense to?

She admitted it.

Yoo Haein was unreasonable, arrogant, selfish, and only ever thought of herself—trash, really.

That was the kind of person Juhong had chased for three years.

So even if this man treated his fiancée with scorn, she had no desire to take her side. Instead, she wanted to root for him to break off the engagement. That was why she’d give him exactly what he wanted.

“I don’t… I mean, I don’t have any feelings for you, senior.”

He was sharp, cold, and as cutting as a blade, but compared to Yoo Haein, he was far too good.

“After eating together today, I’m certain. I don’t fit into your family.”

Nor into Yoo Haein’s world.

“I didn’t hear it properly earlier.”

So it was only right to clear things up once and for all.

“…If I had, I wouldn’t have gone along with it.”

She meant it.

“If there’s another chance, I’ll tell your mother myself.”

This was the end of Yoo Haein’s connection to this man. A clean break.

“That I won’t be marrying you.”

To be honest, Juhong added silently, this was cruel for her too. Because hearing all these insults aimed at Yoo Haein while wearing her skin hurt far more than she expected.

They were so different. Completely different. Not a single resemblance. Well, perhaps the tall height and a faint trace of scent. But strangely, someone kept coming to mind, and her chest ached.

So this too—had to end.

Enough.

The evening air was cold now that the sun had set. Juhong pulled her trench coat tighter and said,

“I’m sorry for everything today.”

Her voice was calm.

Having done what she needed to do, she gave a small bow of farewell and turned to leave.

It felt strange.

Her chest stung as if she’d just been dumped herself. Something inside her surged, like ripples spreading across her heart.

Maybe it was because the very first person she saw after opening her eyes again was Seo Taejo. Or maybe because he reminded her of someone else.

To be honest, when she had run into him while trying to feed the cat earlier, she had felt a little happy. Even a little fluttered.

She had even forgotten she was inside Yoo Haein’s body, her heart pounding for no reason.

That was a dangerous sign.

A signal so dangerous it could make her forget her mission—to finish this game within 49 days.

So she needed to keep a safe distance from Seo Taejo.

Turning her back on him, Juhong hurried her steps, trying to put as much space between them as possible.

Even though the two houses shared a wall, they were so large that the gates were set far apart.

Having parted from Seo Taejo, Juhong almost ran all the way home, trying to calm her pounding heart. Her feelings were a mess.

The moment she opened the gate and stepped inside—

“Where have you been?”

A voice came with the acrid sting of cigarette smoke, startling her.

“Goodness!”

It was Yoo Haein’s brother, Yoo Donghyuk.

“You scared me.”

In the dark garden, the glowing red tip of his cigarette hissed and burned. Smoke billowed around him.

Yoo Donghyuk’s slick eyes rolled over her from head to toe.

“You’re speaking formally again?”

His eyebrows slanted, full of suspicion, sharp and sensitive.

“I told you… since I don’t remember anything, even if you’re my brother, I don’t feel comfortable. It’s like… like you’re a stranger.”

“A stranger, huh…”

He chewed over her words and gave a chilly laugh.

“Fine. I don’t mind you being formal if that’s easier. But tell me where you’ve been at this hour.”

Juhong met his eyes directly.

“Next door.”

“Seo Taejo’s place?”

“Yes.”

Yoo Donghyuk was four years older than the twenty-eight-year-old Yoo Haein.

Three years ago, the same year Juhong had lost her family, Yoo Haein had lost her parents as well. From then on, Yoo Donghyuk had acted as her guardian.

At twenty-eight, she was technically an adult, but because she couldn’t see, she had been treated almost like a ward.

But did Yoo Donghyuk truly care for his only remaining sister?

She doubted it. Judging from the past week, his feelings toward Yoo Haein were closer to resentment than affection.

Maybe even something twisted, like a master-servant relationship. You’re my sister, so you must always obey me.

This was one of those times.

“Why’d you go there?”

His eyebrow crooked even more.

“His mother invited me to dinner.”

“His mother?”

Yoo Donghyuk stubbed out the glowing cigarette with his fingertips and strolled closer.

“You mean Lee Sookyung? Seo Taejo’s mother?”

“Um… yes.”

“Then you should call her Mother.”

He corrected her tone like an elder teaching a child.

“But we’re broken off. Seo Taejo said he absolutely…”

“Absolutely?”

“He said he absolutely wouldn’t marry me.”

His twisted brows twitched.

“That bastard. Who the hell does he think he is…”

Fury at Seo Taejo was plain in Yoo Donghyuk’s face. He tossed the dead butt aside and pulled out another cigarette.

“You don’t need to listen to him. Marriage isn’t up to him anyway. His father and I will decide. It’s business.”

“I don’t want to either.”

Why would she marry a man who so openly despised her?

“Just let me break it off.”

“Haein.”

The way he spoke her name as he flicked the lighter was ominous.

“Just do as I say. It’s all for your sake.”

For my sake? More like for your own.

Hiss— The cigarette lit again.

Watching him, Juhong slowly spoke.

“…I want to ask something.”

She didn’t really want to ask Yoo Donghyuk, but there was no one else.

“Since I don’t remember anything… did I really like Seo Taejo?”

At her question, his expression shifted strangely. Displeased, yet faintly intrigued.

His thin lips moved slowly, choosing his words.

“I don’t know if you liked him. But you wanted him.”

“Wanted him?”

“Since childhood, you always said you wanted him because he shone so brightly.”

Shone brightly. That was accurate. She had felt it earlier too—he radiated like he was glowing.

Nodding, Juhong asked another question.

“Then do you know why Seo Taejo got engaged to me? From the looks of it, there wasn’t a trace of affection.”

“Well, that’s because of the lift accident…”

“Lift accident?”

Her eyes widened, and Yoo Donghyuk stared at her intently. Then, very slowly, he asked:

“You… really don’t remember anything?”