Chapter 51
by GideonHis face drained of color as he stood rooted to the spot by the hospital room door.
“Yundo.”
Chairwoman Kang, spotting him, approached and scanned the room. “Where is she? Chief Ma must have made a mistake. It’s all a misunderstanding. He didn’t know what he was saying, so let me explain.”
He wanted to kick both Chairwoman Kang and Chief Ma out of the room, but Hyewan was his priority. Turning his back on the Chairwoman, he sent a message to Dong-yeong.
Don’t ask anything else. Just ask Bora if Hyewan is with her.
The few minutes he spent waiting for Dong-yeong’s reply felt like years. He couldn’t hear a word Chairwoman Kang was saying.
“What is it? Where did she go?”
She.
Yundo felt as if he’d been struck hard in the back of the head.
He realized that since his marriage to Hyewan, Chairwoman Kang had never once called her by name when speaking to others. She hadn’t even referred to her as “my granddaughter-in-law” or “our baby.” It was always “that girl.”
Chairwoman Kang had never acknowledged Hyewan as Yundo’s wife. She was merely a tool, useful for the moment. Just as Hyewan had said…
His vision blurred with a rage so intense it felt like it would burst from his chest.
Just then, a reply from Dong-yeong arrived.
[ I’m on my way to see her now. What’s going on? ]
Yundo felt a profound sense of relief.
Chairwoman Kang pressed him again. “I asked where that girl went.”
“Not ‘that girl.’ Her name is Hyewan. She is my wife, and she was the mother of my son.”
He ground his words through clenched teeth.
“You tricked her into taking birth control, pretending it was vitamins?”
Every detail about what had happened to Hyewan was shocking, but the birth control was simply unimaginable.
“That’s a crime. A crime!”
“So what, was she going to go to law school pregnant? What would she have done after giving birth? Do you think raising a child while studying is easy? I did it all for her sake…”
“Stop it!”
Not that girl. Hyewan. My wife, Ko Hyewan!
“Yundo, calm down and listen to me. You have to stay with Hyewan for three full years. Only then will your curse vanish.”
“I told you to stop!” Yundo finally exploded. “That damn curse! Aren’t you sick of it yet?”
“You foolish boy! I’m saying all this for your own good!”
“If you care about me, then shut your mouth! If I die, it won’t be because of some damn curse. I’ll be the one to kill myself!”
“What?”
Chairwoman Kang stumbled, shocked, but Yundo didn’t move to support her.
“How can you say such a thing to your grandmother?”
“Why can’t I? You stab everyone you meet in the back, so why can’t I do the same to you? Why? Does it sound like a threat? Should I just die right now then?”
Losing all reason, Yundo grabbed a paring knife. He remembered the scar carved into Hyewan’s palm. Damn this curse! Damn this superstition! As he gripped the blade, a sharp pain shot through his hand, and blood began to drip.
“Yundo!”
Chairwoman Kang shrieked, her voice catching in her throat. Chief Ma, who had been outside the hospital room, rushed in and immediately shouted for a doctor.
Pain twisted into a perverse pleasure.
Yundo stared at Chairwoman Kang, a madman’s grin plastered on his face.
“See? I hold my own life in my hands. So go. Please, just go and stay out of my way—act like you’re dead!”
“You… you bastard!”
“Don’t see Hyewan. Don’t call her. Don’t send anyone to her. If you disobey me, I’ll make you suffer far worse than this.”
Yundo turned away, his eyes still glaring with a terrifying intensity at Chairwoman Kang Ok-seon.
“How dare you do this to me? You arrogant brat!”
“Chairwoman, let’s leave for today.”
“This is all your fault, Chief Ma!”
“My apologies.”
Chief Ma dragged Chairwoman Kang out of the hospital room.
Hyewan couldn’t feel the cold, even though the temperature had plummeted below freezing. Her body was stiff and frozen, yet she felt no chill.
How long had she been waiting? Finally, a familiar car appeared.
Bora must have seen her, because she slammed on the brakes. She practically leaped from the driver’s seat and ran toward Hyewan.
“Hyewan!”
“Bora. Thank you for coming.”
“Why are you out here in this cold? And what are you wearing? If you were going to wait outside, you should have at least thrown on a jacket!”
Bora hurriedly slipped off her own coat and draped it over Hyewan’s shoulders. Only then, feeling the lingering warmth of Bora’s body heat, did Hyewan realize she was shivering.
“I’m sorry for calling so late. You were the only one I could call. I didn’t want my mom to know…”
“You did the right thing, you did the right thing! But how long were you in there? Your face is pale as a ghost.”
“…I don’t know.”
The question—What the hell happened?—was on the tip of Bora’s tongue, but she swallowed it. The reason wasn’t what mattered right now.
“Let’s get you in the car. Can you get in? Should I call someone to help?”
“I’m okay.”
“You’re not okay. Watch your leg.”
Bora helped Hyewan into the backseat.
“What if you strained yourself moving like this? No, you couldn’t stay in there any longer, right? You did the right thing. Just trust me. I’ll take care of everything.”
Though she had no idea what had happened, Bora’s instincts told her she needed to reassure Hyewan. She quickly climbed into the driver’s seat and cranked the heater to its highest setting.
Now what? What do I do?
Bora, panicking on her own, finally called her father for help. She remembered he had a friend who was an orthopedic surgeon. Fortunately, her father sorted everything out immediately.
“One of Dad’s friends is the chief surgeon at a specialty hospital. Let’s go there. They offered to send an ambulance, but I told them I’d just drive you myself. Can you hold on?”
“Yeah. Thank you. I’m always the one in your debt… what am I going to do?”
“Stop being so pitiful,” Bora said firmly. “Just pay me back later. That’s all you have to do.”
But Hyewan didn’t answer. A wave of fear washed over Bora.
“Ko Hyewan. You’re paying me back, okay?”
The Hyewan Bora knew never made promises she couldn’t keep. Whatever was happening, it was clearly bad. In the rearview mirror, Hyewan looked as pale and fragile as a wax doll. Bora was terrified Hyewan might be thinking something drastic. That was why she’d pressed her so hard, demanding an answer.
“I said answer me! Are you just going to screw me over?”
“…I’ll pay you back.”
“You’d better keep your promise.”
Bora gripped the steering wheel, her hands trembling.
When they arrived at the hospital, the medical staff they’d contacted in advance were already waiting. Hyewan was rushed to a room for an immediate vitals check. For her treatment, they absolutely needed her medical records from Hankuk University Hospital.
Back in the hallway, Bora started to call Yundo, then changed her mind and dialed Dong-yeong instead.
“This is Ju Bora.”
“Yes, Bora. Have you seen my sister-in-law?”
Sister-in-law, my ass.
“I saw my friend. I’ve moved her to another hospital.”
“What do you mean? Why would you move her?”
“Ask your brother. And send me Hyewan’s medical records. I’ll text you my email address and fax number.”
“Bora, wait. What’s going on? Why did she transfer hospitals? My senior didn’t say a word about this.”
“Ask your silent senior why. And let me know what he says, because I’m dying to know myself. All I know is that Hyewan was waiting for me in this freezing cold, wearing nothing but a hospital gown.”
Bora ended the call, her voice cold.
She sent the email address and fax number in a message, then opened the hospital room door just as the medical staff were leaving.
“We’ll have the records from Hankuk University Hospital soon.”
“Yes, you can go in now.”
“Thank you. I’ll visit the director personally to express my gratitude. Please let him know.”
Bora gave a polite bow, closed the door, and walked over to the bed.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine thanks to you. But why’d you get a private room? You should have gone with a shared one.”
“Hey, don’t say things like that.”
Bora pulled a chair close and sat down.
“Do you still have a fever?”
“A slight one. They’ll start the medication as soon as the records arrive.”
Bora nodded. Now that the immediate crisis was over, she wanted to know why.
“Did Cha Yundo let you leave the hospital?”
“I didn’t need his permission. He said he’d kill himself if I came with him.”
Startled, Bora grabbed Hyewan’s hand.
“What?”
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