Chapter 21
21. It Wasn't Free
2023.05.21.
Kim Tae-joon received the photo and video files from the counselor.
Before their departure, Yang Hee-wook and Choi Hyun-ji seemed to maintain a distance from each other at the airport. However, after finishing their business in Japan and parting ways with the headhunter, they linked arms as if seizing the moment and headed to the hotel. The next day, after checking out of the hotel, they kissed in front of it.
Everything as planned.
Now, all that remained was to anonymously send these files to Han So-eun. He had already thought of the message. He would reveal that a man who had been secretly in love with Choi Hyun-ji for a long time had been watching Hyun-ji and Yang Hee-wook, and had hired someone to take these photos.
She was a stubborn and foolish woman who couldn't even make a proper argument to her boyfriend but stood on her pride only to Tae-joon, but this she would find hard to bear.
The plan was all in his head, but pressing the send button on the email wasn't easy.
He kept feeling sick to his stomach as he imagined the truth Han So-eun would learn, the heart she would lose, and the shock she would experience.
But was he just going to stand by?
He couldn't.
Tae-joon got in his car and headed to the airport, thinking about the best time to send the email to Han So-eun. On the way, he received a notification from the Japanese headhunter that the recruitment had failed. This too was part of the calculation. Now, all that was left was to meet Yang Hee-wook and Choi Hyun-ji at the airport, terminate the contract, and settle the travel expenses.
Arriving at the airport, Tae-joon strode forward with wide steps. The information board showed that the flight Hee-wook and Hyun-ji were on had arrived. Tae-joon took out his phone to contact Hee-wook.
But just before pressing the call button, he unexpectedly spotted Han So-eun in the arrival hall.
Tae-joon's finger froze. He put his phone back in his pocket.
When he contacted Yulkyu Law Firm, the on-duty employee had informed him of Hee-wook's return schedule. So-eun, having gone to the airport according to the flight's arrival time, waited for Hee-wook in the arrival hall.
Her eyes darted around, constantly checking the information on the flight returning from Tokyo, while her hands trembled.
She needed to know if Hee-wook knew her sister's blood type, and if he knew, whether he had desperately tried to get So-eun to donate part of her liver.
Of course, he might deny knowing even if he did. If Hee-wook said he didn't know, she would be prepared to fight with Heejin and ask her to reveal the truth. It was a request from the woman he was going to marry, so he would have to grant it.
But, what if he said he knew?
Should she break up with him and file a claim for damages?
Could she even break up with him? Could she win a fight against a lawyer?
She lost confidence. A few days ago, she remembered the conversation Hee-wook and Mal-hee had in the hospital room.
"You're always surrounded by such pretty and smart people. With parents alive and well, and good families."
"Kids with parents alive and well and good families don't donate their livers to our mom."
"Mom is the sinner. Mom got a liver by gambling with our son's promising future..."
Recalling the memory made her feel nauseous.
If everything was a scheme by Yang Hee-wook's family, then what about me? What should I do now?
She felt scared and thought about turning back.
'No. What's wrong must be corrected.'
She couldn't get back the organ that had already left her body. But she had to protect her dignity.
Let's think ahead and deal with this wisely. Don't dwell on what's already given, and just think about getting better from now on. Demand an apology. Receive a proper apology, and forgive him. And get married and become a person who is properly treated. Let's assert my rights.
That seemed like the best way.
As So-eun, having sorted out her thoughts, was about to turn around, the automatic doors of the arrival hall opened. Hee-wook and Hyun-ji, arm in arm, were captured in So-eun's eyes.
She definitely seemed to have made eye contact with Choi Hyun-ji.
Hyun-ji abruptly pulled Hee-wook's arm. Hee-wook smiled and turned his head towards Hyun-ji. Not missing this opportunity, Hyun-ji kissed Hee-wook on the lips.
"Seriously, in front of everyone."
Hee-wook grinned, which didn't match his gentle voice.
"So, you don't like it?"
"No. I always like it."
Hee-wook replied affectionately, as if trying to appease the sulky Hyun-ji. Hyun-ji, with a satisfied smile at Hee-wook's answer, asked.
"So, when are you going to break up with Han So-eun?"
Her voice sounded quite loud.
"Oppa, I'm serious. Do it right."
"A week. I'll take care of everything within a week."
Hee-wook replied immediately when Hyun-ji pressed him. Hyun-ji, satisfied with Hee-wook's answer, raised herself on her toes and kissed Hee-wook on the cheek. Hee-wook also kissed Hyun-ji on the cheek in return.
And a few steps away.
In a position opposite Hyun-ji, where Hee-wook couldn't see if he turned his head towards Hyun-ji.
So-eun was trembling with shock and anger. The knuckles of her clenched fists turned white. The blood vessels in the whites of her eyes burst.
Tae-joon looked back and forth between So-eun, and Hee-wook and Hyun-ji a few steps away.
Thanks to Choi Hyun-ji's performance even in the arrival hall, things became easy. Before leaving the country, they seemed to be careful, but there must have been a big development between them in Japan.
Now that Han So-eun had clearly confirmed this decisive scene with her own eyes, Tae-joon had nothing more to do. Without him having to try, without having to send an anonymous email to So-eun, he was able to separate Yang Hee-wook and Han So-eun.
He felt relieved, but watching Han So-eun's suffering was unsettling. Tae-joon couldn't take his eyes off So-eun. Earlier, she was only trembling her arms, but after discovering Choi Hyun-ji and Yang Hee-wook, she was shaking all over.
Did she know everything and come to confirm it with her own eyes because she was suspicious?
After a while, So-eun seemed to stagger and clutched her chest as if she was suffocating. It seemed difficult even to breathe.
Hyun-ji and Hee-wook were walking towards the airport exit, arm in arm. Hee-wook, distracted by Hyun-ji, didn't seem to notice that So-eun was nearby.
A moment that made even the onlookers nervous. So-eun, who had been hesitating while looking down at her bag for a moment, took something white and blunt out of her bag.
Tae-joon, who had been watching So-eun without taking his eyes off her, felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
So-eun, having taken something out of her bag, walked towards Hee-wook without hesitation. Tae-joon moved immediately.
Thud.
Tae-joon grabbed So-eun's arm and turned her around.
Huff, huff, huff.
So-eun turned around, gasping for breath. So-eun was briefly surprised to recognize Tae-joon's face, but soon questioned him with reddened eyes, as if he was not important.
"What is it? Why."
"Ms. Han. Just a moment."
Tae-joon coaxed So-eun, trying to be as calm and gentle as possible.
So-eun shouted as she tried to pull out her grabbed arm.
"Let go. What are you doing!"
People began to watch, one by one.
Tae-joon, as calmly as possible, confirmed that Hee-wook and Hyun-ji had left the airport and let go of her hand.
"Ms. Han, calm down a bit. Put that thing in your hand back in."
"What is this, what is this!"
So-eun held what she was holding in her other hand in front of Tae-joon's eyes as if questioning him.
Tae-joon's eyes widened as he nimbly avoided So-eun's other hand.
Ah…….
The thing he thought was a weapon was just a wad of tissues.
Han So-eun is a different person from me. She wouldn't be the type to chase after someone she didn't like with a knife.
"...Why are you running with that."
"Because it's mine!"
"So why are you holding it like that..."
"To wipe away tears if they come! To wipe them away right away!"
"……."
"Because I can't cry in front of them!"
So-eun retorted, panting.
Tae-joon felt like he had been hit in the back of the head.
It was the first time that Kim Tae-joon, who was thorough, calculating, and always calm and composed, had lost his judgment.
So-eun, saying that she had missed Yang Hee-wook, panted for a while longer before gritting her teeth and asking.
"Why is the director here?"
"I went to Taiwan for a while. To eat beef noodle soup."
So-eun narrowed her eyes as if she couldn't believe it and looked at Tae-joon. Sweat ran down Tae-joon's spine at her suspicious gaze, as if she suspected he was following her.
"...I'm always like this. If I'm bored, I go to Naples to eat pizza."
Even as he said the words himself, Tae-joon couldn't understand why he was making up such excuses.
So-eun and Tae-joon argued for a while before belatedly going outside the airport. Hee-wook and Hyun-ji were nowhere to be seen, having already left.
Tae-joon took So-eun back to the car.
So-eun was silent. At the airport, So-eun had been trembling all over even before discovering Yang Hee-wook, and after recognizing the affectionate appearance of Yang Hee-wook and Choi Hyun-ji, she seemed to be in so much pain that she couldn't even breathe properly. Now, So-eun had no expression, as if she had lost her emotions.
"I'm sorry."
"……."
"If I hadn't stopped you, Ms. Han would have taken care of everything, I was wrong."
Tae-joon, who had been silent, apologized.
"No. It's okay."
"Are you really okay?"
"Yes. I'm okay."
She wasn't okay, but So-eun politely replied that she was.
Right now, she even thought it was fortunate to have met Tae-joon. She had come to ask Hee-wook if he knew that Yang Heejin was type O, but she had faced an even more shocking truth. Words were tangled in her head and heart. If she had faced Hee-wook as he was, she might not have been able to speak calmly and would have cried like an idiot and said strange things.
She needed time to calm down and think calmly on her own. Although she didn't have the strength.
"But the director doesn't have any luggage."
So-eun, who had been staring blankly at his side, asked indifferently.
"You said you went to Taiwan."
"I went to eat, so I came out lightly."
Tae-joon replied without looking at So-eun.
Somehow, it didn't sound sincere. But So-eun didn't really want to pay attention to his answer. Now that she had no strength in her legs, she wanted to take advantage of the director's kindness in offering to take her home.
The car quietly started.
The scenery she was staring at quickly moved backwards. New scenery filled the space where the previous scenery had disappeared, filled, filled. The car, running smoothly and coolly, seemed to be urging her to 'please come to your senses and live a new life.'
Now that things had come this far, she realized how foolish she had been.
The beginning of the relationship, the proposal, the family greetings, the wedding preparations were all too fast. When she thought about it, everything was too sudden, and she had been captivated by the free kindness that had come upon her without her being aware of it.
It wasn't free.
Having given everything away so foolishly, she was afraid of being abandoned, afraid of being thrown away, so she endured and endured, and even while being used, she told herself that she wasn't being used.
While staring blankly out the window, she arrived in front of her house. The world had become dark.
Tae-joon, who had parked the car in front of the house, carefully opened his mouth.
"I don't know what to do in this situation, since this is the first time for me."
"……."
"If you think you're going to have strange thoughts, I'll stay with you."
A transparent film of tears formed in So-eun's eyes again. So-eun strained her eyes to avoid crying.
