Chapter 6
“I’m not so free that I’d keep talking to someone I don’t care about.”
It was the answer she wanted, but for some reason, it felt unsatisfying. Hanju couldn’t understand why she was so anxious about such an arrogant guy.
Seokju forced a strained smile.
“Right. If there’s no feeling, don’t lead her on. Let her go early. I can’t bear to see my little sister hurt by an indifferent husband.”
“You’re exaggerating. Anyone would think we’re already married. Just recently, she got another message from a new number.”
“Well, I blocked it so you don’t need to worry.”
Yoon Hanju. That girl, really.
Seokju sighed and closed his eyes tightly before opening them again. With a pleasant smile, he spoke.
“Sorry. I’ll talk to her properly. Don’t worry about the messages.”
Yoon Seokju’s deep affection for his youngest sister was well known. You’d think he was the one who gave birth to Hanju. That’s why Lee Heon understood why Seokju didn’t want to let his sister get involved with someone who had “issues” like him.
With a stiff jaw, Seokju picked up a napkin nearby and wiped his hands. Watching him quietly, Lee Heon finally spoke.
“You’re such a good person.”
Seokju paused and raised an eyebrow, as if to ask what he meant.
There was no reading into Heon’s blank expression.
“If it were me, I wouldn’t even want to see the guy who hurt someone I cherish that much.”
Even so, the way Seokju had cared for him all these years should it be called kindness or foolishness?
That was exactly what Heon found suspicious.
“You’ve been looking out for me all these years like this.”
There was an edge to his tone, and Seokju tilted his head slightly. When he looked up, Heon felt like Seokju’s sharp gaze could see right through him.
No way Did he remember something?
Brother, brother… What should I do?
A phone call, late at night three years ago. Hanju’s teary voice still rang in his ears like a ghost.
That night was unforgettable for Seokju too.
Yoon Hanju! Pull yourself together!
What should I do… what do I do, oppa… what about Heon oppa!
Two cars, completely crushed. His sister, crying her eyes out while holding a man covered in blood with vacant eyes.
That memory was a shackle keeping Seokju from cutting ties with Lee Heon, even though he didn’t like him.
Guilt for doing something inhumane, and fear that the horrible truth might come out at any time.
Both emotions dulled in the face of complicated reasoning.
Whether it was compassion for his own blood or a desire to protect the wealth and status he’d built it was clear now that he had chosen a path with no return.
Recalling that vivid day made his spine shiver.
Seokju lifted his teacup and took a sip. Maybe it would help cover the twisted look that might’ve shown on his face.
“Chairman Cha must be very worried, with his only son not in good health.”
“And the board members are strongly against him too, right?”
Though it was said with a caring tone, the words subtly cut him down but Heon didn’t flinch.
Falling stock prices. Concerned voices from all sides. He never expected it to be solved overnight anyway.
He simply stared at Seokju’s trembling fingertips with blank eyes.
“A one-year gap can be filled in many ways.”
His dry tone sounded like he was talking about someone else’s life. He felt no regret for the memories he had lost.
He lifted a hand to touch his chin and continued.
“Actually, I’m thinking of ending memory treatment around now.”
Seokju paused as he set down his teacup.
“Why?”
“If the memories were going to come back, they would’ve by now. The hospital’s done enough too.”
“Whether I was in the U.S. or back here you’ve done your part, sir. From now on, I’ll manage my own health.”
It was good news, yet not entirely welcome.
It meant Seokju could stop worrying about Heon recovering those memories, but also that he would lose his reason to keep monitoring him.
Heon had no idea that Dr. Shin, who was in charge of his care, had been reporting everything to Seokju.
Maybe the doctor had even been intentionally burying those memories deeper under the pretense of treatment.
No he couldn’t know. He mustn’t.
Heon met Seokju’s intense gaze head-on, unflinching even though he sensed unease in it.
“I have many years ahead of me. Losing just one year it’s not a big deal.”
Saying that, a strange bitterness filled his mouth. At the same time, a woman’s face came vividly to mind.
He tried to ignore the feeling by taking another sip of fragrant tea.
I’ll help you recover your memories. Whatever it takes… I’ll do it.
A lost year that might not even matter. What kind of presence were you in that time, to make such a promise to me?
Even if I ask you to sleep with me would you do it?
You said something that desperate and still accepted such a cruel offer.
You…What were you thinking?
The formal dinner that began in the late afternoon ended only after nightfall.
Nothing useful came out of the conversations. Heon felt like he’d get a cramp in his cheeks from forcing polite smiles.
Leaning his head back against the headrest in the car’s backseat, Heon’s brow showed his fatigue.
“Shall we head to the hotel?”
“Let’s go to the office. I have things to finish.”
“It’s the weekend. You’ll ruin your health. Please take care of yourself.”
The concerned voice, like that of a parent to a child, warmed Heon’s heart. He had never heard that tone from his own father.
“Mr. Kang.”
“Yes, young master?”
“How long have you been working at Taesung?”
Mr. Kang, who was smoothly turning the steering wheel, widened his eyes a bit, as if sensing the meaning behind the question.
He paused to calculate, then replied after a moment.
“I joined when the chairman passed on the role and you had just learned to walk Including my time as a secretary, it’s been over 30 years now. Haha.”
Thirty years.
That time alone proved Kang’s loyalty.
Chairman Cha wasn’t someone who easily kept people close unless he truly trusted them.
“Then you must remember what I was like as a child too.”
“Of course.”
Kang’s eyes curved warmly as he answered.
Even though it must’ve been uncomfortable working under someone younger, he never showed it and always stayed respectful.
“What was I like, in your eyes?”
“Sorry?”
“Well, it’s all a blur to me now. I was wondering what I was like through someone else’s eyes.”
Now, after all this time.
The unspoken words showed plainly on his face. He had never cared how others saw him. There was never a reason to.
Kang looked in the rearview mirror, puzzled, but then fell into thought, eyes tracing memories that had no clear form.
“You were always mature. Even when your mother passed away, you didn’t shed a single tear. That was when I first saw the chairman cry.”
His joke turned into a memory.
Heon vaguely remembered it too his father’s secret tears when no one else was watching.
He was young, so the memory was faint, but the endless line of mourners in a black-and-white world weighed heavy in his mind.
His mother had died after a long illness. He knew there was no avoiding it, but stale resentment still clung like a foul odor.
She had been kind to everyone. The absence of her warmth became even clearer after her passing. Death always left behind a hollow in the hearts of the living.
Were his father’s tears real or a lie?
“You’re very good with sweet words, Mr. Kang.”
“What? Not at all.”
Mr. Kang chuckled at the comment.
“People often said you were more mature than your age. You didn’t cry easily, but you didn’t smile much either. I’ve known you since you were little, but others always found you intimidating. Even your youngest sister.”
It had been a long time ago, but his distant relationship with Cha Yihwa still felt fresh. She was intimidated by him not just because they were half-siblings.
From a young age, Heon was pressured to be mature. He never showed his emotions easily, not even to those closest to him.
That’s how he had always lived. And would continue to live.
A monotonous, predictable life. Even his feelings were shaped by routine.
Each day was so ordinary, there was no need to look closely. So he never tried.
The time he had lost he felt sure it didn’t matter.
“But if I may say so Just before the accident, you seemed a little softer. You started making personal plans, smiling more. Your whole vibe changed.”
At those words, Heon looked up.
A gentler Lee Heon. One who smiled more.
Those descriptions felt foreign. That version of himself didn’t exist in his memory.
“At that point, you finally looked like a young man your age.”
“That time was”
“Just after you graduated, so maybe when you were 27 or 28?”
Twenty-seven, twenty-eight.
Ironically, the exact period that had vanished from his life as if it were never there.
The time people said he changed but he couldn’t even imagine it.
“You don’t know why?”
“How would I? You never shared what was in your heart.”
Mr. Kang’s steady, low voice echoed in the car, full of trust and weight.
There were no more words between them after that.
“Young master.”
As the car pulled up in front of a tall building in the city, Mr. Kang turned toward him.
“Don’t push yourself too hard.”
As if asking what he meant, Heon turned back toward the driver’s seat just before stepping out.
“Things that must not be forgotten always come back. That’s how it works.”
How it works. He repeated the word and felt his stomach twist.
Such a common, obvious phrase yet today, it stirred something strong in Heon’s heart.
“Go home for today.”
He shut the door before waiting for a reply.
