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Chapter 14
It was just as Do-jin had said.
Even while choosing the dress, finalizing the wedding invitation wording, and coordinating the wedding venue schedule, there were hardly any occasions to meet Do-jin one-on-one.
He was always busy, and Seo-young was also spending frantic days preparing for the wedding. On the rare occasions he called, their conversations consisted of only a few brief words regarding the wedding.
[Did the dress turn out well?]
“Yes.”
[Is there anything uncomfortable?]
“No, nothing.”
Seo-young tightened her grip on her phone. Even though they were about to be married, an awkward air still lingered between them. Neither of them really knew what to say or how much to ask.
[That’s a relief.]
Do-jin’s low voice resonated. As if those words were the end of it, silence fell once again. After a few seconds passed, Seo-young spoke up first.
“What about you, Do-jin? Are you very busy?”
[I have some matters to attend to.]
“I see.”
Both of them suddenly felt a strange sensation. Rather than a phone call between an engaged couple ahead of their wedding, they sounded more like people politely exchanging pleasantries before finalizing a major contract. After an awkward silence, Do-jin signaled the end of the call.
[Then get some rest.]
“Yes. You too, Do-jin.”
After hanging up, Seo-young stared at the phone in her hand for a long while. Even though the screen had already turned off, she couldn’t bring herself to put it down.
Is it really right to get married like this?
A corner of her chest throbbed with a cold ache. Yet, Seo-young slowly exhaled. It was too late to turn back now. Although it was not a path she had chosen out of her own desire, she had already come too far.
She quietly closed her eyes and opened them again. In just a few days, everything would truly change. Her fingertips grew cold at the thought, but Seo-young finally put the phone down.
And she forced herself to gather her resolve.
Before she knew it, the wedding was right before her eyes.
When she thought about it, she and Do-jin had never even had a proper date. She didn’t truly know his basic preferences—what food he liked or what he did on his days off. Unlike Joo-young, she hadn’t even bumped into him while moving about the same company. The only time they had spent together was briefly facing each other for wedding preparations.
Yet, in a few days, the two would become husband and wife.
It felt as though they had arrived here far too quickly. She stared blankly into space.
Soon, she would become Do-jin’s wife.
Her reflection in the mirror still felt unfamiliar. It was clearly Han Seo-young’s face, yet it was now a face that had to live on as Han Joo-young.
Two days before the wedding, Hyeong-jin called Seo-young aside. A few sheets of paper were placed on the dining table, and Hyeong-jin’s face was visibly flushed with excitement.
“The investment money came in from Taesan Group yesterday.”
He handed over the documents with trembling hands.
“To think it’s such a massive sum of money. An amount we wouldn’t even touch in our entire lifetime.”
Seo-young looked down at the documents in silence. The numbers were so large they felt surreal. Unbothered by Seo-young, who couldn’t hide her heavy expression, Hyeong-jin lowered his voice.
“So you must never get caught. The moment it’s revealed that you aren’t Joo-young, we’re all finished. The company, our family—everything will be ruined.”
Seo-young’s face slowly hardened. Hyeong-jin didn’t care about her reaction at all. Sighing, he continued.
“The hospital says Joo-young won’t easily regain consciousness. So you must have a child and somehow establish your place in that house.”
In an instant, Seo-young’s heart sank.
To have a child and secure my place…
While her sister was still lying in a hospital bed, her father was already calculating what came after.
He let out a long sigh.
“That way, no matter what happens later, they won’t be able to throw you out easily.”
Seo-young slowly lowered her head. Her throat tightened with a burning sensation. For whose sake was she standing in this position right now? It didn’t seem to be for her sister, nor for herself.
It felt as though she had merely been pushed all the way here for someone else’s greed and desire. Yet in the end, she couldn’t say a single word.
And on the day before the wedding.
Seo-young visited the hospital alone. As the elevator doors opened, the familiar scent of disinfectant brushed past the tip of her nose.
Her footsteps walking down the hallway were unusually heavy. Arriving in front of the hospital room door, she stood there for a long while without even grasping the doorknob.
Tomorrow, I will become the bride instead of my sister.
At that thought, a heavy lump formed in her chest. Originally, that spot did not belong to her. The person who should wear the wedding dress, receive congratulations, and stand by Do-jin’s side was Han Joo-young.
Yet now, she was substituting for all of that.
Seo-young slowly closed her eyes.
For the first time, she found herself wishing tomorrow would never come.
What will my sister say when she opens her eyes?
Will she be angry? Or will she just look at me without saying a word?
When her thoughts reached that point, her heart grew heavy. At least today, she wanted to tell her sister:
That she was sorry. And that she was scared, too.
That while replacing her sister’s spot, she had never felt comfortable even for a single moment. Letting out a trembling breath, Seo-young finally placed her hand on the doorknob.
The moment she opened the door slightly, the sound of someone sobbing leaked from inside the room.
“…Joo-young.”
Seo-young’s hand on the doorknob froze completely. Soon after, Su-ae’s trembling voice trickled through the gap in the door.
“Tomorrow is your wedding… If you’re lying down like this, what is your mother supposed to do? You should be going to the wedding venue, wearing a pretty dress, and smiling. So why are you lying here like this?”
Clasping Joo-young’s hand, Su-ae eventually broke down into tears.
“My daughter… my daughter, please just open your eyes once.”
Seo-young’s fingertips trembled faintly. Her vision blurred in an instant.
Mom, you were the one who told me to get married instead of my sister.
No matter how much Seo-young tried to deny it, it seemed that only Han Joo-young existed in Su-ae’s world.
‘My daughter.’
That single phrase painfully gouged deep into her heart. Seo-young bit her lip. She tried desperately to hold it in, but something hot streamed down her eyes.
Am I… not your daughter, Mom?
The question that swelled up to her throat couldn’t make a sound in the end. Separated by a single door, Seo-young swallowed her tears in secret.
As if stabbing through Seo-young, Su-ae’s sobbing echoed again from inside the room.
“Joo-young, please open your eyes. It’s the wedding you waited for so eagerly. But if you’re not here, what is Mom supposed to do? Please… just open your eyes once.”
Seo-young slowly closed her eyes.
She wanted to say that she was scared too, that she was struggling too. But inside that room, there was no place for her to step in. The daughter Su-ae was desperately calling for was Han Joo-young.
Seo-young covered her mouth with trembling hands. She felt as though her cries would leak out.
After standing in that spot for a long time, she finally took her hand off the doorknob. Then, she slowly turned around. Her feet refused to move easily. As if she were a person left all alone in this world, a corner of her heart felt completely hollow.
Tomorrow, she would marry in place of her sister.
Yet no one actually asked with what kind of heart ‘Han Seo-young’ was standing in that place.
Seo-young wiped away her tears.
However, where she wiped them away, another stream of tears flowed down.
