Chapter 11
by Gideon“Why do you care?”
Hyewan couldn’t understand Kim Jin-myeong’s attitude.
“We’re nothing to each other. Why are you asking me that?”
“Wan…”
“Don’t call me that. You have no right to.”
Desperate, Kim Jin-myeong pleaded his case. “You know how much I love you, don’t you? Can’t you just wait for me a little longer?”
Her anger flared. “Saying that is an insult in itself! You’ve already picked out a bride and booked a wedding venue. What am I supposed to be waiting for?”
Hyewan had no intention of waiting for Kim Jin-myeong, even if there were no fiancée or wedding venue. She had already seen his true colors. She refused to waste any more of her precious time on a selfish man who wanted it all—to keep both women without losing a single thing.
“I’m only doing this for my mother. Don’t pretend you don’t know that.”
She was sick and tired of this conversation. No matter what Hyewan said, Kim Jin-myeong was too busy making excuses.
“Go.”
“Hyewan! What will it take for you to understand how I feel?”
“I said go!”
“Don’t be like this. Just listen to me.”
Kim Jin-myeong grabbed her arm. A shiver ran down her spine, the sensation like a bug crawling on her skin.
“Let go!”
“Hyewan!”
Kim Jin-myeong tightened his grip on her wrist as she tried to pull away.
“Ah!”
She cried out, her wrist feeling as if it were about to snap.
Right then—
“Ko Hyewan.”
Yundo’s voice reached her like a savior’s.
Was that a hallucination? She turned toward the sound and saw him standing there. She had just watched his car drive away. How was he here?
“You left your bag behind… Lawyer Kim, by any chance?”
Recognizing Kim Jin-myeong, Yundo frowned and strode forward, pulling Hyewan’s hand away. Hyewan bruised easily, and seeing her wrist already turning a faint blue, Yundo stared Kim Jin-myeong straight in the eye.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Kim Jin-myeong looked at Yundo as if he’d seen a ghost.
“V-Vice President? What are you doing here…?”
“I think I should be the one asking that. Why is Lawyer Kim standing in front of my woman’s house? And what the hell are you doing to her?”
Hyewan stared at Yundo in shock.
My woman?
Kim Jin-myeong asked, his expression as if he’d been struck in the back of the head.
“M-my… woman? Hyewan, is that true? Is it really true?”
Hyewan wanted to correct him, to say it wasn’t true, but her pride wouldn’t let her. Yundo naturally wrapped an arm around her waist. In that moment, Hyewan felt a strange sense of relief.
Someone on my side.
She had never felt this way in her entire life.
Kim Jin-myeong asked again, “My woman?”
Yundo looked at him as if he were the one who was confused.
“I-I’m dating Hyewan! She’s my woman—!”
“No, she’s not,” Hyewan cut him off sharply. “I broke up with you three months ago.”
“She says so,” Yundo said, meeting Kim Jin-myeong’s gaze.
“We dated for three years!” Kim Jin-myeong roared, his face flushing crimson as he lost all composure. “We only broke up three months ago! How can she be the Vice President’s woman?”
He lunged toward them, his eyes wild with rage. Hyewan stepped in front of Yundo, a move that made it look as if she were protecting him. The sight only infuriated Kim Jin-myeong further.
“Just as you said, it’s only been three months since we broke up. How could you already have a wedding venue booked with your fiancée? Why is it okay for you, but not for me? Who do you think you are?”
Yundo stood by, listening, but Hyewan couldn’t help herself. She was utterly sick of Kim Jin-myeong, who still refused to understand despite her telling him countless times.
“Hyewan, our breakup wasn’t our choice. You know that, don’t you? You and I—we still love each other, don’t we?”
The same old line, over and over.
“If you come looking for me one more time, I’ll report you for stalking. I hope you’re not so important that I’d risk your legal career over this.”
She grabbed Yundo’s arm—who was watching the scene with keen interest—and turned away.
“Hyewan!”
Kim Jin-myeong cried out, but Hyewan and Yundo didn’t look back.
Yundo leaned in and whispered softly to her.
“So what do we do now? I can’t just leave you alone with Kim Jin-myeong.”
“Then why did you even come?”
How embarrassing.
“I brought this to you so it wouldn’t interfere with your tutoring,” he said.
“Well… thank you.”
She was mortified that Yundo had seen her at her absolute lowest. She had never been more humiliated in her entire life.
In the end, Hyewan had no choice but to let him into her apartment. As he stepped into the cramped studio, the space seemed to shrink around him. She hastily cleared away the clothes she’d tossed aside.
“Sit on the chair.”
She pointed to the only chair in the room. As he sat, the old chair let out a loud, strained groan. Hyewan’s face flushed crimson all the way to her ears, feeling as if her very soul had been exposed.
How did things even get like this?
Hyewan let out a deep sigh.
“I appreciate the help, but calling me your woman?”
“It was the most perfect solution for that situation.”
Hyewan’s head throbbed.
“You work at the same company as that man. What if rumors spread? How do you expect to clean up the mess if the Chairman and his wife find out? How can you say something like that so casually?”
“Do I need to clean up a mess?”
“Ugh, seriously…!”
She was speechless. Had he always been this reckless? Hyewan warned Yundo.
“This is 100% your fault, Mr. Cha Yundo. You’re the one who jumped in, so don’t you dare try to change your story later.”
“If I don’t change my story, will you be my woman?”
“…What?”
Hyewan couldn’t believe her ears.
“I like you, Ko Hyewan. What about you?”
She couldn’t say a word. It felt as if the world, which had been spinning so busily, had suddenly stopped.
“I’ll contact you at the time you mentioned.”
Within an hour of posting her resume on the tutoring job site, she had already received DMs from two parents—one with a ninth-grader and another with an eleventh-grader.
Tutoring Yun-woo alone wasn’t enough to save up the money she needed. If she couldn’t save, she might as well move her plan to enter law school up by a year. If she couldn’t save money, she had to save time.
She decided to take on regular tutoring jobs, which were less mentally draining than high-paying ones, and dedicate the rest of her time to preparing for the Legal Education Eligibility Test (LEET) in July.
The LEET was a mandatory exam for anyone aspiring to enter law school. She needed the highest score possible to get into Hankuk University Law School, her dream school.
Yet, her mind was completely consumed by Cha Yundo.
“Will you be my woman?”
“I like you, Ko Hyewan.”
Why would he say that? Why on earth?
What does he even know about me to like me?
All Hyewan knew about him was that he was the handsome, arrogant Vice President of Sewon Group who was good in bed.
“…Isn’t that enough to know?”
Personality, looks, job, and even sexual compatibility—what more could there be to know?
In truth, it didn’t matter whether she knew everything or nothing about him. Through Kim Jin-myeong, she had learned that when a family was determined to find a problem, even a tiny hangnail could become a fatal flaw.
Besides…
The biggest flaw Hyewan had realized was that her maternal grandmother had been a shaman. The profession of a grandmother she had never even met, who was already dead!
“Kim Jin-myeong’s family hated that so much… His family will be even worse.”
She shook her head as she muttered to herself.
“Get a grip, Ko Hyewan. You’re already in the gutter because of Kim Jin-myeong, and you’re seriously considering dating another man? How pathetic.”
Just as she was berating herself, her phone buzzed.
Jump scare.
“Hello?”
– Hyewan. It’s me, Auntie Gyeong-ae.
Gyeong-ae had been Min-suk’s best friend since childhood. They were still so close that they ran a side-dish shop together.
“Hi, Auntie. How have you been?”
– Oh, you know, the same as always. But Hyewan, have you talked to your mom lately?
“Mom? Yeah, she seemed normal. Why?”
– Really?
Hyewan caught the ominous tone in Gyeong-ae’s voice.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen to Mom?”
– Are you sure Min-suk hasn’t said anything to you?
“No, she hasn’t. That’s why I’m asking you. Please, just tell me.”
– I don’t know if I should be the one to tell you. Your mother isn’t the type to speak up about this kind of thing… Ugh, I can’t stand it. I’m so frustrated. That bastard’s mother came to see me.
In an instant, Hyewan’s heart turned to ice.
0 Comments