Chapter 13
by GideonBut hope and peace are always tested. Hyewan’s peace didn’t even last a full day.
She had deliberately stayed in bed late, finally getting up around noon to start cleaning. The apartment was small, yet there was always something to do, even if she cleaned every single day.
It never even looks like I’ve done anything…
After showering, she changed into fresh, crisp clothes. Since she had no plans to go out, she left her hair wet. She opened the refrigerator, wondering what to eat for her first meal.
Just then, the doorbell rang. She closed the fridge and looked toward the entrance.
“Who is it?”
The person outside didn’t wait for the door to open. Instead, they started kicking it. The senseless act sent tremors through the entire building.
“Open the door! Open this door right now!”
It was Bae Jeong-ju, Kim Jin-myeong’s mother.
The moment Hyewan heard Bae Jeong-ju’s voice, fury surged within her. But she didn’t want to become the subject of gossip, so she opened the door.
As soon as it swung open, Bae Jeong-ju lunged forward, trying to grab Hyewan’s hair. Hyewan instinctively seized the woman’s wrist and stepped back.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Let go of me! I’ll kill you today!”
What is wrong with her?
“My son—my precious son! You were determined to devour him, weren’t you? What are you going to do about my son?!”
Ugh… Mother and son are both a nightmare.
“My boy took pills because of a bitch like you!”
“And yet, seeing how much energy you still have, it seems your son isn’t dead.”
“What? You… You… Aagh!”
Bae Jeong-ju screamed, struggling to wrench her wrist free from Hyewan’s grip.
“I knew you’d do something to my son! I knew it! You wretched little bitch!”
“I’m thinking the exact same thing, so you’d better leave before I call the police!”
“It’s not fair that only my son has to suffer! I’ll make you feel the exact same way!”
Just then, Yundo’s voice echoed through the hallway.
“Get away from Ko Hyewan!”
Bae Jeong-ju’s expression twisted grotesquely upon seeing him.
“Y-You? Why are you…?”
She clearly recognized Cha Yundo.
Yesterday it was Kim Jin-myeong, and today it was Bae Jeong-ju.
Hyewan squeezed her eyes shut, having been seen by Yundo—the last person she ever wanted to see her like this—twice now. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this humiliated.
Kim In-seop, Kim Jin-myeong’s father, burst in.
“Honey! What are you doing here?”
I can’t live here anymore, Hyewan thought.
“Vice President! I’ll handle this!”
As if sealing her decision to move out, Kim In-seop began to enthusiastically pitch himself to Yundo, his voice booming. Meanwhile, Bae Jeong-ju’s eyes nearly popped out of her head as she glared at Hyewan.
“How do you know the Vice President?”
The couple took turns shouting, their voices echoing through the entire building.
The studio apartments were old, but the area was densely packed with young professionals working at nearby companies. It was a relief that it wasn’t yet the evening rush, but someone was bound to hear the commotion.
“Are you cheating on him?”
First she was throwing a fit for them to break up, and now she’s claiming I’m cheating.
“How dare this bitch cheat on my son?”
Bae Jeong-ju, dumbfounded by her own accusation, seized Hyewan’s hair while she was off guard.
“Look at this!”
Yundo rushed forward in shock and violently pried Bae Jeong-ju’s hand away.
“Director Kim, are you just going to stand there and watch?”
Yundo shielded Hyewan behind his back, his gaze piercing Kim In-seop.
“What? No, no, of course not!”
Kim In-seop grabbed Bae Jeong-ju as she tried to lunge at Hyewan again.
“What is wrong with you? Have you no dignity? Stop this!”
“Dignity? How can you even speak of dignity when your son almost died? My son nearly died because of a low-class bitch like her!”
Bae Jeong-ju shrieked.
“Are you insane? Shut up! How dare you do this with the Vice President right here!”
“Oh, my poor son! He gave his heart and soul to that bitch, never knowing she was cheating on him! What am I going to do about my poor son!”
Hyewan couldn’t take it anymore. She stormed into the house, filled a washbasin with water, and marched back out to dump it all over Bae Jeong-ju.
“Ah!”
Bae Jeong-ju’s scream was followed by a heavy silence. Yundo, whose eyes had been fixed on Hyewan, managed to dodge the water, but Kim In-seop, standing right next to Bae Jeong-ju, got caught in the crossfire and was drenched in the icy water.
“You should be grateful for your age,” Hyewan’s voice trembled with rage. “Because if you weren’t so old, I would have slapped you across the face.”
“Your son is getting married to another woman—the invitations are already out. How dare you throw such filthy, vulgar words at me?”
“W-What is the meaning of this!”
Bae Jeong-ju, finally snapping out of her shock, shrieked as water dripped from her clothes.
“It’s a drop in the bucket compared to what you’ve done. Why? Want another splash?”
“I’ll never let you get away with this!”
“Go ahead and try. But for now, you need to leave. If you won’t, go fetch some water. Which will it be?”
Kim In-seop, equally drenched like a drowned rat, glanced warily at Yundo. He was furious about being caught in the crossfire, but when Yundo gestured to him, he grabbed the struggling Bae Jeong-ju’s arm.
“We don’t have time for this! Let’s just go see Jinmyeong.”
“You’re supposed to be on my side! Whose side are you on?”
“What’s with all this ‘sides’ nonsense at our age? Get a grip!”
Kim In-seop forcibly dragged Bae Jeong-ju, who was glaring at him as if she wanted to kill him, down the stairs.
“Remember this! I’ll make you pay for this humiliation!”
Bae Jeong-ju screamed one last time before storming out of the building.
Hyewan stared at herself, washbasin in hand, and let out a bitter laugh. She had to scrub the floor before the other guests arrived. Turning back inside, she grabbed a towel and returned.
“Give it to me.”
“Go to the car, Yundo.”
“Hyewan…”
“I’ll just wipe the water and then head to your car. Just go, and don’t say another word.”
“…Alright. I’ll wait for you. Take your time.”
Yundo descended the stairs.
As he left the building, a startling silence fell.
Hyewan felt a wave of misery wash over her as she crouched on the floor, scrubbing. As she wrung out the soaked towel from the washbasin, her heart seemed to be squeezed by the same crushing pain. A cocktail of unprecedented humiliation, rage, and shame coursed through her, making her entire body tremble.
Her life had crumbled in an instant.
Yundo had been there to help her, but she knew she would have felt less humiliated if he hadn’t been. She fought back the tears, forcing them down. If she cried here, she knew she would never forgive herself.
Yundo returned to the car, glanced up at her house for a moment, and then got into the driver’s seat. Shortly after, his secretary, Chief Secretary Lee Dong-yeong, called.
– Things have gotten messy. The labor union has filed a formal complaint with the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
They’re really making a scene, Yundo thought.
His head throbbed with a headache, but his voice remained calm. “I expected this.”
– We’ve managed to block the press for now, but I’m not sure how Lawyer Kim Jin-myeong will respond. It doesn’t look like Director Kim In-seop can stop his wife.
“It’s not that he can’t stop her. He’s unable to.”
In the middle of all this chaos, that was the one thing Yundo knew for certain.
“The will mentions both the company and me. We can’t just settle this quietly.”
It could be risky if we take the first step, his assistant’s voice came through the phone. Approaching Lawyer Kim directly is dangerous too. It might look like a chaebol family trying to bully or bribe him.
“I know.”
The only way to resolve this was to expose Hyewan’s relationship to the world. Once by Kim Jin-myeong, then again by Yundo. Even if they won this fight, the scars would remain.
Swallowing a sigh, he checked the time.
“I’ll be back soon. Have the legal and PR teams on standby—everyone except Director Kim In-seop. And tell HR to dig up every scrap of information on Director Kim and Lawyer Kim Jin-myeong’s attendance and performance records. I want a full report.”
Understood, sir.
If they were going to fight, they had to win.
Shortly after hanging up, he saw Hyewan emerge from the building. Yundo stepped out of the car and opened the passenger door for her.
“Thank you.”
Hyewan climbed into the car, her exhaustion plain to see. He shut the door for her before sliding into the driver’s seat. A heavy silence hung between them for a moment.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m fine. I just let my guard down at the end and let him grab my hair.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m fine, except for the fact that I’m dying of embarrassment.”
She shook her head slowly, then asked, “I heard Kim Jin-myeong took pills. Is that true?”
“Yeah. He swallowed a bunch of sleeping pills in the company parking garage. It was total chaos—ambulances, fire trucks, police cars, the whole lot.”
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