Yu-yeon pouted.
Two years and four months ago, this woman had bristled and flatly rejected his offer to meet privately, yet here she was, looking utterly earnest out of concern for her sister. Hyeon-myeong found it amusing.
‘Go on. Keep going.’
Hyeon-myeong masked the persistent tickle in his chest and answered haughtily.
Oblivious to what was passing through his mind, Yu-yeon pushed out her lower lip.
The man seemed to be subtly enjoying himself. His aloof demeanor was hardly any different from two years ago, yet strangely enough, he felt like a completely different person.
Though that was probably just because she was seeing him in a new light.
“…”
Unable to contain her curiosity, Yu-yeon pressed him.
It wasn’t as though he were the greedy Nolbu from the folk tale, breaking a swallow’s leg just so he could heal it. Why on earth would someone this kind have treated her like that back then?
The man looked at her with a blank stare, as if he truly had no recollection of the matter. So she offered a few more details to jog his memory.
Though the corners of Hyeon-myeong’s mouth had curved gently, his face had remained close to an impassive mask—until now. His brow twitched slightly, and he blinked in disbelief.
Yu-yeon knitted her brows just like him. It was baffling how he acted as if he truly had no recollection of it. Then again, two years and four months had passed.
When he admitted to even that much of the past, Yu-yeon’s voice rose.
Yet that was all he gave her.
Now it was Yu-yeon whose confidence wavered.
Right then, a soft snicker escaped him. He covered his mouth, stifling a laugh. Clearly, something had just come back to him. His reaction left Yu-yeon dumbfounded.
He made no reply. Not that he looked particularly troubled, but he clearly seemed to have something to say.
Putting together what her sister had said and what he had said, it boiled down to him helping her through thick and thin out of guilt over what happened two years ago, coupled with suspicion that Optimum Path had somehow ended up in another company’s hands.
Neither explanation was entirely convincing. It felt as though something vital had been left out.
‘Hmm.’
Yet piecing together today’s conversation, Yu-yeon felt she finally understood the real reason.
Narrowing her eyes, she asked with a mischievous grin,
You didn’t do this out of guilt—you were terrified that I might run my mouth. That’s why you’re pretending not to remember.
After all, to someone among society’s elite, their reputation would be as precious as life itself.
You were afraid I might tarnish your name.
His eyes widened at Yu-yeon’s confident deduction.
Certain she had hit the nail on the head, she put on an even smugger look, only for a burst of laughter to puff past his lips once again.
Amusement lit up the man’s face even more.
Yu-yeon didn’t mind their banter either. This light sparring seemed to replenish her energy.
She had completely forgotten how bitterly she had just been weeping, and a laugh slipped out.
Just then, he took a long stride closer.
Bending over the motorized hospital bed, the man caught her gaze.
Beneath double eyelids drawn with the delicate precision of a single brushstroke—neither too deep nor too shallow—his neat eyes held a dark, intense gleam.
It was a color that brought to mind the dead of night at sea. Calm eyes that seemed ready to swallow whole whatever was thrown into them cast a spell on her, pulling her back to that exact day and hour.
“…”
Yu-yeon’s wide, round eyes slowly narrowed. Hyeon-myeong’s helpful guidance became a shortcut to the past. The memory found its way back to that moment with surprising ease.
“…”
“I decline. I’m sorry, but I already have someone I’m going to marry. I came here to sell my program, not myself.”
Yu-yeon’s lips parted, fluttering wordlessly.
‘I cut him off.’
As the memory rushed back, her cheeks turned the color of ripe watermelon flesh.
Mortified enough to wish she could crawl into a hole and hide, Yu-yeon stammered out a feeble defense.
“…”
He let out a long sigh.
One guy had asked to sleep together just two days after they started dating, while another had tried dragging her to a hotel when they weren't even seeing each other.
Frustrated that she couldn’t lay out every sordid detail, Yu-yeon let her head droop. Her voice fell noticeably softer.
“…”
When the man readily yielded to her criticism, Yu-yeon’s deflated pride instantly flared back to life.
Yet she couldn’t bring herself to retort with a triumphant ‘See? I told you!’
Wait, what? What did I just hear?
At his candid confession, Yu-yeon’s cheeks burned an even deeper crimson.
His voice dropped lower, and Yu-yeon could hardly breathe.
The eyes watching her still resembled the depths of the sea. The kind of gaze that made her feel he could torment her entirely at his whim without having to lay a single finger on her.
He was a man who could turn the atmosphere on a whim, with effortless ease.
By now, heat seemed to rise through her entire body. She knew she could not keep talking to him any longer. Yu-yeon turned her head away to avoid his eyes.
“…”
Whatever fierce momentum she had held while confronting him was gone; Yu-yeon was the one backing down first.
At her words, she heard Choi Hyeon-myeong push himself up to his feet.
When she turned her head back, he had already walked some distance away. Toward his retreating back, Yu-yeon spoke in a small, fading voice.
He paused for a moment before pushing the door open.
Even as that broad back receded, for some reason it felt dependable, as though he would keep watching over her.
Yu-yeon had thought he would leave just like that, but he stopped once more right at the doorway.
Her sister had returned.
At Choi Hyeon-myeong’s brazen reply, Yu-yeon protested from where she lay in bed.
Completely ignoring Yu-yeon's voice, the two carried on a cordial conversation.
Yu-yeon trembled at the sheer audacity of the two, busily exchanging her contact details without a single care for the owner's opinion.
It was infuriating. Even in such an unfair situation, she could not do a thing.
Yu-yeon resolved to recover as quickly as possible and escape their clutches.
Yet even as she stewed, she found herself turning his words over in her mind.
‘It wasn’t because I felt embarrassed about what happened back then that I looked after you all this time.’
Then what was it? Why on earth had he been helping her?
The unanswered question continued to gnaw at her.
Leaving the hospital, Hyeon-myeong’s pace slowed.
A glance at his watch told him an hour and a half had flown by. The fact that time could pass so quickly felt entirely foreign to him.
Hyeon-myeong got into his car, recalling the woman's voice he had heard in the hospital room.
A dry chuckle escaped him at first.
He had no idea she had misunderstood what happened that day two years ago in quite that way.
True, he did believe that asking outright to sleep together wasn't much different from asking to date while hiding that very intention.
Still, it was undeniably true that his mind had been twisted back then. It was also true that he had been openly rude. Two years and four months ago.