Chapter 95
- The True Meaning of Countless Promises
2023.08.03.
After learning about So-eun's surgery, Tae-joon doesn't torment her more than once.
Although that one time tends to be excruciatingly long.
After lightly washing again and leaving the bathroom, So-eun quickly went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. Tae-joon always took care of it whenever So-eun's lips got dry, so it wasn't strange that she took care of it first.
A glass of water. Everything ends with a glass of water.
Her heart seemed to be pounding even in the hand that offered the water glass. She had to repeatedly moisten her constantly drying lips, tucking them in several times.
Tae-joon, who had returned after washing, raised the corner of his lips and accepted the water glass.
"What is it? Is it like a birthday?"
It meant she was being treated well both in and out of bed. Was there any reason to be so moved by just a glass of water?
She secretly hoped he would refuse, saying he was fine and not thirsty, but he emptied the water glass cleanly.
Now it's done.
It's over. She felt the blood draining from her entire body. Her hands quickly turned cold. So-eun clenched and unclenched her empty fists, feeling a tingling sensation in her fingertips.
So-eun quickly washed the water glass that Tae-joon had placed in the sink. Tae-joon wrapped his long arm around So-eun's neck as if telling her not to do such things, but So-eun immediately cleared away the water glass.
"Shall we watch a movie and sleep?"
"No. I have a favor to ask besides that. Can I go with you to exercise tomorrow?"
So-eun made a false request to Tae-joon, who made a light suggestion as if he regretted today passing by like this. It was to put this man to sleep quickly.
"I want to see the director exercising, and I want to try exercising too."
Tae-joon tightened his arm around her neck as if he was dying of cuteness at So-eun trying to live diligently. So-eun also wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Let's go to bed early today and wake up early to exercise tomorrow."
"Then I guess we should."
Leading Tae-joon to the bedroom was so easy. But putting him to sleep was another new challenge.
Tae-joon had never fallen asleep before So-eun. He always went to sleep after confirming that she had closed her eyes.
Still. He said he would fall asleep within an hour if he took that.
So-eun lay down next to Tae-joon, looking at him looking at her.
He was slowly becoming drowsy, blinking slightly, but he couldn't fall asleep before her, so he soon lifted his eyelids again. She loved that he couldn't take his eyes off her. She wanted to keep those shining eyes in her mind for longer.
He spoke slowly in a languid voice.
"Come to think of it, Han So-eun's birthday is coming up soon."
"It's still a month away."
"A month goes by quickly. Is there anything you want to do?"
"……."
"Let's take a vacation together and go play then."
"……What if we get caught?"
"Tell Park Bo-bae to take a vacation too."
To her, who didn't rashly bring up the future, he spoke of the future so easily.
He would take her to Bryce Canyon. He would get expensive alcohol when she recovered her health. She could wear the new summer clothes next year. Let's date for 10 years and then get married.
Now I understand. The meaning of those countless promises, pledges, and requests about the future. It meant, stay by my side.
Stay by my side. Stay by my side until that blurry future becomes a clear present.
I understand that feeling now.
He gave an easy answer and blinked his eyes. His long eyelashes were so pretty.
Looking back, pretty days that were nothing but love unfolded like flipping through a photo album over his face. In So-eun's life, who didn't even have an album, he was the only person who could become a shining album.
My beloved love.
It hurts, but I think I can overcome it. The memory of someone loving me so warmly and desperately will be a great strength to me for the rest of my life. Every time something difficult happens, I think I can cheer up by flipping through this album in my head.
I'm sorry. That I'm taking this good memory with me alone.
So-eun stared at Tae-joon's closed eyes and quietly held her breath. His regular breathing sounded comfortable.
Closing the album of her heart that she had opened, So-eun slipped out of bed. It was time to organize.
The person leaving needs to be cruel. Cold-hearted and ruthless. What's left for the person left behind should be resentment, not beauty.
So-eun chose a watch.
The wristwatches displayed in the display case on one side of his dressing room. The dozen or so wristwatches that she had casually seen while passing through the dressing room without a second thought were worth more than So-eun's one-room apartment deposit.
If she took about half of them, it would definitely be noticeable.
So-eun entered the dressing room and opened the wristwatch display case. The owner of the house had fallen asleep without a care in the world, and her heart was pounding as if an earthquake had struck, as it was her first time stealing. So-eun rubbed her throbbing chest hard and picked out only those that seemed to be the latest products. It was based on the judgment that older watches would have deeper memories. She shouldn't touch his other memories.
I hope you're more angry about these watches disappearing than about me leaving.
While moving the five watches she had picked out, she saw a shabby envelope hidden on the edge of the display case. She had to take out the envelope first to close the drawer properly again. So-eun carefully picked up the envelope so as not to damage it.
So-eun's eyes trembled finely as she checked the front of the overturned envelope.
- Korean Embassy in the Philippines. To Han So-eun.
The envelope with her name neatly written on it had come from the Philippine Embassy.
'Why does this person have this…….'
Her heart, which had already fallen far below, was now in a state of being kicked around under her feet. She was surprised for a moment, but the question didn't last long.
He said he knew everything about me from the beginning.
'He was afraid I would find out about my dad.'
So-eun opened the envelope with trembling hands. Another shock was waiting for her there.
- As you requested, the Philippine Embassy has located your father, Han Hong-gyu, but we regret to inform you that Han Hong-gyu passed away last April.
Haa. A sigh burst out.
A stream of water flowed down her cheek quickly, as if drawing a sharp wound. Her mind was a mess, so she herself couldn't understand what the tears meant.
Dad passed away.
She felt like even the one hope she had vaguely held onto had disappeared. Now she really felt like she was alone in this world.
Why did you, what were you going to do, hide even this?
She even had the urge to shake the sleeping man awake and ask him, but strangely, she didn't resent him.
She had already come to understand his desperate heart. It would have been enough to just tear up and forget about this kind of mail, but even the time of conflict that he had carefully hidden and kept.
Kim Tae-joon's first priority was 'Han So-eun's wounds'. He was worried that she would be hurt or shocked, so he built a defensive wall around her on all sides.
She couldn't hate this pathetic man at all.
So-eun went out to the living room, left a letter for Tae-joon, and returned to the bedroom, picking up his cell phone. It had a fingerprint recognition device, so she put the cell phone on his sleeping thumb and the lock was quickly released. So-eun went straight to the photo album.
The faces of herself that Tae-joon had taken seemed even more beautiful than in reality.
When did I ever make this expression? I don't even make this expression when I look in the mirror alone.
Her lovely face, as if she had grown up only receiving love, was unfamiliar as if it wasn't hers. So-eun deleted all the photos of her face.
She only shed a single tear after hearing about her father's death, but when she checked the photos of herself that he had taken, tears flowed non-stop. Memory is so scary. Even that feeling was a first experience for So-eun.
The person who made me cry with a few kind words, when I didn't cry even when I cut out my liver, or when I was betrayed by the man who made me cut out my liver.
The person who made me cry because I liked him so much. The owner of my tears.
The faint light outside the door created a clear shadow over his face. The peacefully audible breathing made her smile even in the midst of tears filling her eyes.
"I love you."
So-eun quietly put down the words she couldn't bring herself to say while he was awake. It was a small voice so that it wouldn't flow into his dreams.
*
So-eun came out, cutting through the midnight air. The cold wind that touched her face cooled her heated head.
The car was waiting near the apartment. The person named Department Head Lee Han-sung, whom she had seen in President Oh Gap-soo's office a few days ago, was there to greet her. He had So-eun confirm the bag she had moved to room 403 of the one-room villa and then opened the car door for her. As soon as the car door closed, the car started.
Department Head Lee Han-sung immediately handed So-eun the plane ticket.
The plane ticket was a one-way transfer ticket from Incheon to Tokyo and from Tokyo to New York. The ticket to Tokyo was economy class, and the ticket from Tokyo to New York was business class. It seemed that Kim Jae-pil had calculated that Tae-joon might be able to track her if she boarded a direct business or first class flight from Incheon to New York. Chairman Kim Jae-pil was chillingly thorough in every way.
Perhaps because her emotions had dried up, So-eun didn't want to show any great discomfort and remained still. However, she kept worrying about the person she had left behind, who was moving further and further away behind her.
"Is the sleeping pill safe for my health?"
"You don't have to worry about that, Han So-eun."
"Yes. I guess so."
Even the short conversation ended like that.
A little later, Han-sung asked So-eun, who was listlessly staring out the window.
"The chairman asked you to call him. Would you like to talk to him?"
He's already made the call, what's the point.
So-eun gave him an uncomfortable look and accepted the cell phone that Han-sung handed her.
[Hello.]
The chairman's voice alone was like a generous landlord. At the sound of Chairman Kim Jae-pil's voice, So-eun reported in a businesslike manner.
"I've left Director Kim Tae-joon's house and I'm on my way to the airport."
[Okay. You must have had a hard time. Thank you for your hard work.]
A voice that sounded generous and benevolent. Yet, it was a voice that made her unable to move.
[Don't worry about things here anymore, and go to a good place and live comfortably.]
Is that place really a good place? The person I love most is here.
Her stomach churned at the polite tone that seemed to be cheering for her future. In the end, So-eun, driven by anger, blurted out what was in her heart.
"Actually. I don't believe that Director Kim Tae-joon killed someone. The director told me that. He said he didn't do it. I also came to the conclusion that no matter how I think about it, he's definitely not the kind of person who would do that."
I'm going to say everything I want to say. What do I have to be afraid of when I'm throwing everything away and leaving?
"I'm just trying to understand it that way because you, Chairman, are insisting on it. I understand your intention to separate me by making your grandson a murderer."
Because I want to be loved too. Even someone like me should be respected. I can never be happy as long as you oppose it. I can't change an adult.
"Chairman, who is widely respected by many people. Goodbye. Stay healthy."
That's why I'm leaving. Because I don't want to beat you.
"I'm so sorry for causing great pain to the chairman and the director."
So-eun, who swallowed the tears that seemed about to burst out, greeted him boldly, rebelling against the chairman's hypocrisy.
