Sponsorship Stigma
Chapter 6
Something That Makes No Sense
As the steel door clicked shut, darkness settled over the space.
Yeonjae dragged her feet, heavy as lead, and walked inside.
Crossing the small studio apartment felt as exhausting as trudging through thick mud.
She dropped her handbag onto the sofa as if discarding it.
Then, collapsing down, Yeonjae leaned back.
Sinking into the fabric sofa that enveloped her back, she closed her eyes, then opened them again.
Before long, a white object caught her eye, visible through the fallen handbag.
Inside the bright white pharmacy bag were various nutritional supplements.
“It’s a shame you’re moving away. Make sure to get your checkups over there and have a safe delivery.”
The clinic she had forced herself to visit, contemplating whether to give up the baby.
In the end, Yeonjae had returned with nothing but a bag full of supplements after the appointment.
A thread of rationality had urged her to give up the child, but hearing that heartbeat made it impossible.
The throbbing heartbeat had resonated loud enough to fill the entire examination room.
It felt as if the baby was crying out that it was alive right here.
With that heavy presence lingering in her mind, Yeonjae had had no choice but to come back home.
Gazing at the bottle of supplements in her hand, Yeonjae got to her feet.
She found the switch and flipped it on, flooding the room with light.
She took in the small studio officetel piece by piece.
In contrast to the modest space furnished with only a bed and a large desk, one wall featured a built-in cabinet.
The moment she saw the sheet music tightly packed inside the cabinet, the tears she had precariously held back came pouring down.
If there was anything most important in her life, it was undeniably Jeheon and the piano.
All this time, thinking that Jeheon had fallen comatose in an accident on his way to see her recital made it unbearable to play the piano.
And now, even setting the guilt aside, it was hard to endure.
Was there anything she ate, lived on, or wore that Guil hadn’t touched?
Her entire life was full of traces of the Guil Foundation and Jeheon.
Yeonjae lowered her hand and cradled her stomach.
She had no confidence she could forget him while staying here.
And as long as she didn’t give up the baby, she couldn’t remain with the Foundation either.
Even though she had always known there would be an end one day, she had never imagined an ending like this.
Yeonjae’s shoulders heaved endlessly with sobs.
The cool silk of the dress shirt wrapped neatly around his wrists.
Pausing mid-motion as he raised his wrist to fasten his cufflinks, Jeheon lifted his head.
“Who did you say came?”
His gaze locked in the large full-length mirror with the man approaching behind him.
The man with the rather troubled expression was his aide, Secretary Oh Seongjae.
“Well, that is…”
“It’s me, son.”
It was before Secretary Oh could finish his sentence.
The clicking of high heels echoed across the spacious room before coming to a stop right behind him.
His gaze shifted naturally to find Myeonghee standing there.
As she approached, the shop staff who had been adjusting his clothes stepped back one by one.
“Is that the suit for the engagement ceremony? Not bad. Where’s the jacket?”
When Myeonghee asked as she took a seat on the sofa, the tailor shop staff standing nearby hurried over in a flurry.
They brought over the clothing rack holding the suit jackets and laid open the brochures.
Everyone was moving briskly.
“What did you come here for?”
At Jeheon’s blunt question, as low and heavy as his tone, the flurry of movement in the room came to an abrupt halt.
Naturally, all eyes shifted from Myeonghee to Jeheon.
Despite the sudden shift in the atmosphere, Jeheon remained indifferent. He simply finished fastening his cufflinks.
It was just as the silence stretched out awkwardly.
“You’re busy, aren’t you?”
Jeheon lifted his eyes, meeting Myeonghee’s gaze through the mirror.
“What does being busy matter? My son is trying on his engagement suit. How could I resist seeing for myself?”
The taut line of Myeonghee’s lips relaxed into a slight curve.
“A woman should always have a look at things like this.”
Myeonghee gestured toward the staff with a nod.
At once, an employee holding a jacket rushed forward and draped it over his shoulders.
“The fit looks good.”
As the employee buttoned the jacket, Myeonghee rose from her seat and walked over to him.
“You know how important this engagement is. You know what the Chairman expects, right?”
As she seemed to smooth his lapels, she whispered softly.
“Yoeun is a blessing in your life. Your marital compatibility is perfect without even looking. It’s rare to find a match like this; the two of you are fated.”
She wore a deeply satisfied smile.
“Where else would you find a woman who waits for a comatose fiancé? She’s loyal, she’s beautiful, and on top of that, her family background is flawless.”
“……”
“A lovely daughter-in-law. I like Yoeun just the way she is, Jeheon.”
As strength pressed into Myeonghee’s hand smoothing the jacket, Jeheon’s brow furrowed slightly.
Their gazes locked in midair. At the end of the silence, his lips parted as if to speak.
“Oh my, Director! I was so surprised to hear you came all the way to the shop!”
At the sound of someone approaching from behind, Myeonghee released her grip on his clothing.
Breaking away from his gaze, Myeonghee turned around.
“It’s been a while, Manager Jinmi.”
Myeonghee gave a slight nod at the warm greeting from the manager in charge of his suit fitting.
“Did you come by because the CEO is having his fitting? Ah, Director Pyo’s love for her son is truly devoted.”
“It’s an important event. You’ll take good care of it, won’t you?”
“Of course. Think of how long our relationship with the Guil family has lasted.”
Stepping closer, Manager Jinmi looked back and forth between Myeonghee and Jeheon.
“I was wondering where the CEO got such wonderful genes, and it turns out they came from you, Director!”
She clapped her hands together with delight.
“Stop that. We don’t look alike.”
“You do! The CEO inherited your exact charisma, Director. His eyes are especially similar.”
Myeonghee waved her hand at the manager’s chattering flattery.
“She’s right. You two really look alike.”
As the staff chimed in one after another with praise, the corners of Myeonghee’s mouth slowly turned downward.
Just as Myeonghee’s lips parted to say something.
“I don’t think we look alike at all.”
A low scoff of a laugh rang out.
The gazes directed at Myeonghee shifted over to Jeheon, who stood facing the mirror.
Having adjusted his attire, Jeheon turned around.
Bypassing the blinking staff, his eyes settled steadily on Myeonghee.
“Unless you mean my late father, that is.”
Myeonghee’s opaque brown eyes stared hard at Jeheon.
“Ah, the Vice Chairman! Come to think of it, I see the Vice Chairman’s face in you as well. He was famous for looking like an actor, wasn’t he?”
The brief silence was broken by the manager’s exclamation.
Then remarks that he looked just like the late Vice Chairman burst out in scattered murmurs.
As the topic shifted to his father, Vice Chairman Gu Hyungwook, the corner of Jeheon’s mouth curved upward slightly.
“He was exceptionally handsome, after all.”
Jeheon slipped past Myeonghee’s piercing glare.
Then he drew back his jacket sleeve to check his watch.
“I think that should do for the fitting. I have a schedule to keep, so I’ll be taking my leave.”
At Jeheon’s declaration that the fitting was over, the staff hurriedly began tidying up around them.
Only Myeonghee remained sitting motionless in her place.
“Director, since you’re here, would you like to have a cup of tea downstairs before you go? It’s been so long since your last visit.”
Sensing the shift in the air, the manager linked arms with Myeonghee.
“We have delicious desserts. Please come down and tell us how you’ve been.”
Manager Jinmi guided Myeonghee away.
As the door to the fitting room area closed, Myeonghee disappeared completely from sight.
After letting him know he could change out of the suit now, the staff withdrew as well.
Jeheon yanked his tie loose in one swift motion.
With the suffocating tightness around his neck undone, he could finally breathe.
“Should I bring you something to drink? You don’t look well.”
Secretary Oh, who had remained by his side, stepped forward and asked.
Seeing his worried look, Jeheon waved his hand dismissively.
“I’m fine.”
Answering dryly, Jeheon handed over the suit jacket he had taken off along with his tie.
Next, shedding his vest, Jeheon raised his wrists.
And just as he began unfastening the buttons at his cuffs,
a woman’s face suddenly overlapped his vision.
At the vision of Yeonjae’s face, rising as naturally as flowing water, Jeheon’s hands froze in place.
“Jeheon-ssi, you will regret this. Because you’ll know once your memories return.”
The woman who had cried out with a devastated face, looking as if she were on the verge of tears.
When she was nothing more than an intruder who had entered a Residence no one knew about and waited for him.
The woman who had shouted up at him had looked undeniably wronged.
Despicably so.
“That’s not true, right? What are you talking about? You and I, Jeheon-ssi, we loved each other. Do you truly not remember?”
“……”
“This place too! The key! You’re the one who gave that to me. We were here together. Don’t you rememb—”
The master key that had rolled across the floor where Yeonjae stood, as if standing in for her.
The two sets of tableware sitting in the kitchen as if carefully prepared.
Everywhere his eyes fell, unfamiliar items were in place—things that looked as though someone had deliberately placed them there.
“It makes no sense.”
There was no way the absurd, far-fetched words that woman uttered could be real.
It couldn’t be true.
He scrunched one eye shut at the sudden surge of a headache.
Again.
The moment he recalled what had happened, a throbbing pain flared near his temples.
“Pardon? What do you mean by that, sir?”
At the out-of-context murmur, the secretary blinked and asked back.
Watching the secretary step closer, Jeheon shook his head instead of answering.
Catching his breath, Jeheon looked up at the secretary and asked,
“Seongjae, where is my house?”
“It’s in Samseong-dong, of cour—”
Cutting himself off, Secretary Oh’s eyes trembled faintly.
“Do you not remember? Should I call the doctor?”
Secretary Oh hurriedly rummaged through his inner jacket pocket.
Seeing him pull out his cell phone as if to place a call immediately, Jeheon’s brow arched.
“Never mind. Anywhere else besides there?”
“Pardon? Do you mean the family mansion in Cheongdam-dong?”
Jeheon gazed steadily at Secretary Oh, who was blinking at him in confusion.
Then, the sleek line of Jeheon’s mouth twisted into a hollow smile.
Jeheon rubbed at the crease between his brows.
“Right. This is the normal reaction.”
Officially, Jeheon’s residence was the Samseong-dong Apartment.
And anywhere else meant the Cheongdam-dong mansion where his mother lived.
This was the expected response.
The existence of the Residence, unknown even to Secretary Oh, who was Jeheon’s right-hand man.
A place not even Myeonghee knew about.
“That’s enough. I’ll finish changing and head out, so wait outside.”
At Jeheon’s dismissal, the secretary tilted his head in wonder before stepping out of the dressing room.
As the door closed, a suffocating silence washed over the room.
When no one knew like this.
No, it was a space made entirely for him, deliberately kept hidden from everyone.
Yet Jung Yeonjae knew about such a place.
“How?”
The question scattered helplessly into the air.
Touching his lips, he shifted his gaze to stare at the nightstand.
As if possessed, he picked up his phone, only to set it back down.
Jeheon dragged a dry hand over his face.
Once something began bothering him, there was no end to it.
“She’s out of her mind.”
None of this was possible unless someone had lost their mind.
