Sponsorship Stigma
Chapter 3
Reunion
Her vision blurred in an instant, but she didn’t care.
All she wanted was to run to where he was.
It happened in a flash.
A shadow fell over her, and a bodyguard blocked Yeonjae’s view.
It seemed his secretary, who had been with him, had called them.
“How did you get in here? Outside visitors are not permitted.”
With displeased expressions, they gestured toward the door.
Yet even at their stern warning, Yeonjae’s entire focus remained fixed on the man.
“I’m not an outsider. It’s me, Yeonjae, CEO!”
Though her desperate voice echoed through the hospital room, Jeheon didn’t budge an inch.
He merely slipped on the suit jacket handed to him by his secretary.
“Jeheon-ssi! Oppa!”
This time, her sorrowful voice calling out with an unfamiliar intimacy rang through the room.
At the heartbreaking sound, Jeheon’s brow furrowed deeply as he straightened his clothes.
“Let’s talk for a moment.”
Only then was Yeonjae released from the rough hold restraining her.
A heavy silence descended as the secretary and bodyguards stepped back with displeased looks.
The man walked across the empty hospital room toward Yeonjae.
Closing the distance between them step by step, he stopped just a pace away.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Yeonjae’s heart constricted under his direct, downward gaze.
Only now, facing him up close after having watched him from afar, did it finally feel real.
Jeheon was awake.
“When did you… wake up? I had no idea you were awake. Do you know how worried I was?”
Overwhelming emotion, longing, gratitude. Countless feelings tangled together without order.
Before she knew it, Yeonjae’s face was a mess of streaming tears.
“I waited for you. I waited with my heart in my throat the entire time.”
“……”
“Are you all right? Are you really okay? I was so worried. No, just… thank you for waking up like this. Really…”
Yeonjae clung to the sleeve of his jacket, weeping aloud.
The tension that had weighed down on her ever since hearing news of his accident finally seemed to melt away.
“I’m so glad…”
She was about to say how relieved she was.
Thud—. Jeheon grabbed Yeonjae’s hand and shoved it away. Pushed back by his force, her hand fell limply into the empty air.
“Ha, what is this now?”
With a look of annoyance, he brushed back his hair.
His eyes, previously veiled by his bangs, were revealed.
The pitch-black gaze fixed on Yeonjae bristled with sharp edges.
“Jung Yeonjae, since when were we on terms to contact each other privately?”
A voice as cold as midwinter frost rang in her ears.
“You’re just the same as ever—tactless and bothersome. I’m certain I told you never to do this.”
With those final words, Jeheon walked right past her.
Bothersome? Me?
Chewing over his words, Yeonjae stood frozen.
A harsh tone that pierced deep into her heart. And an undisguised look of revulsion filling his eyes.
Over the past year, the Jeheon she had known was never this heartless.
Blinking blankly, Yeonjae belatedly looked around.
From the security team to his secretary, everyone was staring at her. Was coming here on her own the problem?
“I’m leaving first, so see her out.”
Jeheon gestured toward Yeonjae with a flick of his chin as if she were a piece of baggage.
Then, he turned away with his secretary.
She reached out to grab him, but her arm was seized by a bodyguard, keeping her from reaching him.
All she could do was watch the man walk away.
The hospital room door closed, leaving behind an empty silence.
Only then did the bodyguards release their grip on her arms. The moment her restrained hands were freed, Yeonjae braced herself against the hospital bed rail.
“When did the CEO… wake up?”
The bodyguards, who were about to turn away from Yeonjae, exchanged glances.
As if it wasn’t a difficult question to answer, the head of security stepped forward and replied.
“A week ago.”
“A week?”
She had assumed it happened just a few days ago, never imagining it had already been a week.
It was longer than expected, but considering he had been lying in a coma like the dead, she thought it made sense.
Unlike her simple life filled with only the piano and Jeheon, his world was complicated.
‘…Still.’
He could have sent just one message. Yeonjae desperately swallowed down the words rising in her throat.
Silently, she fiddled with her phone.
Hoping that perhaps a text might come through.
“Please leave now. We must vacate the room as well.”
Helplessly, she was ushered out of the hospital room by the head of security.
Standing alone in the bustling hospital corridor, Yeonjae stared down at her phone screen.
Ten minutes turned into thirty, then an hour, but there was only silence, let alone a call.
All this time, she had suffered from sleepless nights, consumed by anxiety.
Her hands had trembled so much whenever she pressed the piano keys that she could barely produce a proper note.
Every single day had been a living hell that wore her to the bone, yet they were now in a position where she wasn’t even permitted to see Jeheon’s face.
A surge of emotion welled up inside her at the reality of having to wait for him even though he was awake.
Yeonjae’s trembling hand came to rest over her flat belly.
He might not welcome her reaching out, but she couldn’t bear to wait any longer.
After taking a deep breath, she found Jeheon in her contacts and pressed call.
A steady dial tone rang endlessly. And right until the automated voicemail kicked in, the call went unanswered.
[It’s Yeonjae. I’ll wait at the residence. I’ll stay there until you come.]
Even after sending the message, an uneasy feeling drove her to send one more.
[So please, you have to come.]
Clutching her phone tightly, Yeonjae moved.
Her feet, slowly pushing off the floor at first, began to pick up speed.
“You’ve arrived? The Madam is in the dining room.”
As Jeheon walked through the familiar garden into the main house, Minyoung was there to greet him.
When he handed over his removed jacket, Minyoung took it with practiced ease.
He brushed past her and made his way toward the dining room.
Inside the wide-open dining room, a large table sat in the center.
As he stepped inside, Minyoung followed behind and hung his jacket on the dining room coat rack.
Scanning the room, Jeheon’s gaze settled on one spot.
A figure seated at the end of the reddish-toned wooden table.
“Are you here?”
Myeonghee asked evenly, looking up at Jeheon as he pulled out the chair across from her.
“Yes. Traffic was heavy, so I’m a bit late.”
“Well, that happens. I heard you were discharged. Are you heading straight to Samseong-dong after dinner?”
“I should.”
Samseong-dong was the apartment where Jeheon lived independently.
At his simple answer, Myeonghee nodded in understanding and gestured to Minyoung, who was standing nearby.
Minyoung stepped forward and placed dishes filled with his favorite side dishes in front of him.
“This will be enough. Please eat.”
“Manager Joo, you may leave.”
Having fulfilled her duties, Minyoung stepped out of the dining room and closed the door.
Looking around the now quiet dining room, a satisfied smile touched Myeonghee’s lips.
“Let’s eat. How long has it been since we’ve shared a meal?”
Pausing with a spoonful of soup in hand, she stared across at Jeheon.
“Son, Dr. Kim said your prognosis was so poor that we should prepare for the worst. You have no idea what a relief it is to see you awake like this.”
“……”
“Still no word from the detective? I was told Detective Lee would contact you regarding the accident. Review the CCTV footage and organized files later.”
“Yes.”
As Jeheon listened in silence, Myeonghee chattered on and on.
Whenever her emotions welled up mid-sentence, she smoothed a hand over her chest.
Even as Myeonghee talked about how she thought she was going to lose him just like she had so futilely lost her husband, Jeheon remained indifferent.
Just then, as he continued his meal, Jeheon’s gaze shifted to the side.
His phone resting on the table flashed with light, displaying a missed call.
For a brief second, Jeheon’s reaching hand froze like a paused frame.
Then, at the shrill voice ringing in his ears, he moved again.
“Who is calling someone who was just discharged from the hospital?”
“It’s nothing.”
He promptly picked up the phone and turned it face down.
“Ah, right. I heard Jung Yeonjae came to see you.”
When the unfamiliar name slipped from Myeonghee’s lips, Jeheon raised his head.
“It’s truly chilling. Manager Joo told me she’s had a one-sided crush on you for ten years. At that point, it’s not love—it’s obsession.”
“……”
“I hear she visited your room several times while you were asleep. Don’t keep her close. It only degrades your stature. This is why people like that should never be invited into the house. It was my mistake.”
Myeonghee grimaced in disgust as she spoke.
“Focus on your recovery and prepare thoroughly for your engagement. We’re fortunate their family was gracious enough not to call it off.”
Having listened silently, Jeheon set down his utensils.
“Don’t you have an appetite?”
“No, I don’t feel like eating.”
After keeping silent, he rose from his seat.
Inside the quiet restroom, amid the endless rushing sound of running water, Jeheon gripped the edges of the sink with both hands.
His smooth brows furrowed deeply as he cradled his forehead.
Throughout dinner—no, ever since noon, when he had encountered Jung Yeonjae while preparing for his discharge—a persistent headache had refused to subside.
“Ha.”
His lips twisted as a ragged breath escaped.
Whenever he recalled the look in her tear-filled eyes, the headache flared up with even greater intensity.
“Have I gone crazy?”
“……”
“Or is there something wrong with my head?”
Lowering his gaze, his phone lying on the counter caught his eye.
The single call that had come in during dinner loomed before him.
Jeheon picked up the phone and unlocked the screen.
A few taps brought up the missed call log.
Among the unsaved numbers sat a single, unfamiliar name.
Looking down at it, his brow furrowed sharply.
[Yeonjae]
It was a name that had no reason to be in his phone contacts.
As the memory of Jung Yeonjae from the hospital room resurfaced, another sharp throb of pain struck his head.
