Chapter 50
by GideonHe was Hyewan and Yundo’s first baby, and Madam Park’s first grandchild. They had been so grateful—overjoyed, even—that an angel had finally visited their gloomy household.
And yet, are you really happy? Madam Park thought. While everyone else is grieving the loss of this precious child, you’re actually happy?
“Did you call Yundo?”
“I tried calling him on the way here, but he didn’t answer. I left a message with Chief Lee.”
“What about Chief Ma?”
“She saw the younger madam fall out of her wheelchair and just ran away without helping.”
That was so like Chief Ma. She always acted more like a daughter-in-law than Madam Park herself. She had probably rushed straight to Chairwoman Kang by now.
“I need to go to the hospital immediately. Have Driver Kim wait for me.”
“Yes, Madam.”
Terror and tension hammered at Madam Park’s heart. A massive storm was about to break.
Yundo couldn’t remember how he had gotten out of the car and made his way up to the hospital room. His mind was a chaotic mess.
He snapped back to his senses when he saw the caregiver pacing anxiously outside the room. The thought of Hyewan being alone inside sent a wave of dread through him.
“Why are you out here?” he demanded.
“The Madam ordered me to leave,” the caregiver replied, her face etched with worry. “Please, go in and see her.”
Yundo took a deep breath before pushing open the door. The darkened room was silent, the oppressive weight of the stillness pressing down on him. Hyewan sat in her wheelchair, staring out the window at the deepening gloom.
“Hyewan.”
“When did you find out?”
Her voice was flat, devoid of any inflection. Yet, Yundo felt a surge of anger and sorrow more profound than any scream. He had endured three great losses in his life, and each time, he had been plunged into despair. His father, his brother Yun-seok, and Haetsal. He hated his own helplessness—the fact that he couldn’t save any of them.
But in this moment, emotions as terrible as falling into hell washed over him. He couldn’t lose Hyewan too. Losing her would be like losing everything. Yundo couldn’t endure that. He couldn’t live.
“Hyewan, I’ll explain everything. I can explain.” Yundo said urgently.
“Was it before the wedding? Or after? Before Kim Jin-myeong got involved?”
“Meeting for the first time was an accident. You know that…”
“Answer my question.”
“I knew her before the wedding, before Kim Jin-myeong got involved. But that’s not what’s important.”
Hyewan laughed hollowly.
“That’s the most important thing. I married you because you solved the Kim Jin-myeong incident. I felt a sense of responsibility for it. You know that, don’t you?”
“Why does that even matter now? Hyewan, we love each other.”
“It probably doesn’t matter to you, since you weren’t the one deceived.”
Finally, Hyewan’s fury erupted.
“I’m the one who gets to decide what matters! I’m the one you deceived!”
Stupid Ko Hyewan. A stupid girl who keeps getting played over and over. Stop pretending to be so smart!
She was angrier at herself than anyone else.
“Did your mother and Yun-woo know too?”
She laughed as Yundo’s silence confirmed her suspicion.
“Did it feel good to make a fool out of me?”
“You’re just my wife. You know how much I love you and Haetsal, don’t you?”
“But you hid the truth.”
Hyewan’s voice was cold.
“Your family was glad Haetsal was miscarried.”
They were glad my Haetsal died?
Yundo was reeling from the shock.
“Your grandmother tricked me into taking birth control, telling me it was a vitamin supplement. So when Haetsal was conceived, how much must she have hated it? She only planned to let you live with me for three years before divorcing me—so a child would have been a huge problem.”
What is she even saying?
Yundo had no idea Chairwoman Kang had done something so horrific. He’d had a bad feeling at times, but he’d always dismissed it. He’d believed that no matter how much she disliked him, she was still family—the mother of the father he loved. He’d trusted she would at least maintain a minimum level of decency.
I was so foolish.
Birth control. A three-year marriage.
His body trembled with shock and rage.
“I trusted you. I loved you. And now what? You’re telling me you only married me to use me as a charm against bad luck?”
Hyewan let out a hollow laugh, her face streaked with tears.
“So that’s why you were so good to me. Because I’m your aekmak—your spiritual shield.”
“That’s not it!”
Yundo felt suffocated by a mixture of guilt and frustration. He was a fucking idiot, able to do nothing but deny it. There was no excuse.
“Let go!”
She wrenched her arm from his grasp.
“Grandmother…”
She gasped for breath, unable to finish her sentence. Hyewan laughed like a madwoman.
“No, the Chairwoman told me to have a baby later. She said to enjoy our honeymoon and take our time… There was a reason for all of it. And I was so grateful, not knowing any better.”
She struck her chest in belated realization. If she had only suspected it a little, she would have known!
“We should have let you marry me, but we should have never let you have a child. Shamanism can be inherited, can’t it? A child born to a woman destined for divorce is a problem that needs to be dealt with, right?”
“Don’t talk like that.”
Don’t talk about our Haetsal like that.
“Then how should I talk? You treated me like a product with an expiration date! You’re glad my son is dead!”
“Please, just calm down and listen to me.”
Hyewan screamed. “Don’t say another word! It’s all just excuses and lies!”
She clutched her chest. She couldn’t breathe. Her heart felt like it was going to burst.
“You’re hyperventilating. It’s okay, Hyewan.”
Yundo tried to soothe her as she writhed in agony, her hands gripping her chest and neck. Even then, Hyewan shook off his hand.
“Hyewan, please!”
Yundo finally found the oxygen mask and forced it over Hyewan’s face.
“Breathe! Hyewan, breathe!”
She struggled, fighting him, until she finally went limp.
“Hyewan!”
Nurses, alerted by the commotion, rushed into the room.
Her body was on fire. She felt the excruciating agony of her bones and flesh melting, as if she’d been thrown into lava. The pain in her head was so intense her eyes felt like they were being pushed out of their sockets.
“Hyewan, can you hear me?”
The voice was urgent and anxious, yet tinged with a strange sense of relief. The events before she’d passed out flashed through her mind like a panorama. The crushing sense of betrayal and terrible despair returned to haunt her.
“Don’t touch me.”
Hyewan shook off his hand. Rage gave her strength.
She pushed herself up, refusing his help.
“Hyewan, are you okay?”
Yundo’s voice was thick with desperation, but Hyewan ignored him and called for the caregiver.
The door to the hospital room opened, and the caregiver stepped inside cautiously.
“You called?”
“Please bring me a wheelchair.”
The caregiver glanced warily at Yundo before returning with the chair.
“Where are you going? You need absolute bed rest right now.”
“If you thought I’d just stay here, you don’t know me at all.”
“I’ll leave instead,” Yundo pleaded.
Hyewan didn’t answer. With the caregiver’s help, she managed to settle into the wheelchair. She cursed her body for refusing to obey her will.
“Where are you going?”
“None of your business.”
“Hyewan.”
“If you want to watch me die, follow me.”
Without looking back, Hyewan wheeled herself out of the room, forbidding the caregiver from following.
As she stood before the elevator, one arrived just in time. The moment she pushed the wheelchair inside, a familiar voice called out from the elevator next to it, which had just arrived.
“Chairwoman, please, slow down.”
It was Chief Ma. His words were immediately followed by a voice laced with fury.
“How can you even say that after causing such a disaster?”
Chairwoman Kang had arrived.
A shiver ran down Hyewan’s spine, and she unconsciously held her breath. If she were caught, she knew she’d be dragged back and imprisoned again. Like a madwoman, she hammered the close button.
Only when the elevator doors shut did she finally feel a flicker of relief.
The elevator descended to the first floor, and Hyewan pushed the wheelchair through the exit. The moment they stepped outside, a bone-chilling wind swept over them, but she had no time to feel the cold.
She had to escape.
Hyewan had told him not to follow, but he couldn’t leave her alone when she was so frail.
“Vice President, what should we do?” the caregiver asked, her voice trembling with anxiety.
“I’ll go,” Yundo replied.
He grabbed a blanket to wrap around Hyewan and stepped out of the hospital room, only to spot her just as she was boarding the elevator.
“Hye—!”
He choked back her name as he saw Chairwoman Kang stepping out of the adjacent elevator, supported by Chief Ma. He couldn’t let Hyewan and Chairwoman Kang run into each other.
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