Chapter 36

Chapter 36

“Wanyi, since it’s come to this, just forget everything you went through here and live well…”

“Okaay…”

“Let’s go.”

Saying goodbye to someone who didn’t exactly hate me—but didn’t like me either—left me with mixed feelings. Maybe there’s truth in the saying that even resentment can grow into affection.

But that surge of emotion didn’t last long. I’d thought the ballerina had come alone to fetch me, but that wasn’t the case. The bob-haired woman, who seemed to be Shin Chi-woo’s close aide, was waiting for me.

“Uh…”

“What? Happy to see a familiar face?”

“Not really, I mean… but why are we getting in a car?”

“What, you wanna walk instead?”

“I mean, it’s nighttime, but it’s not like we can’t walk there…”

“Enough talking. Get in.”

Late at night, a car was parked in front of the dorm. The bob-haired woman was already sitting in the driver’s seat. We weren’t exactly on greeting terms, and feeling a bit awkward, I tilted my head slightly to the side. The only thing that felt strange was that, unlike before, she gave me a polite nod when she saw me.

Even though one of Shin Chi-woo’s people had shown up, I couldn’t quite shake my unease. Then I saw the bob-haired woman bow to the ballerina too. That alone was enough to confirm that she and the ballerina were definitely on the same side, which gave me a little peace of mind.

“It’s going to be a bumpy ride.”

“Okay.”

I wasn’t sure if the bob-haired woman knew the truth about my fake pregnancy, so it was best to be cautious. I gently placed my right hand over the padded coat around my navel. Even if this charade were to be exposed later and I ended up humiliated, for now, this was the best move. But then—

…Wait, this road… doesn’t feel right.

Since it was an isolated island far from the mainland, the roads weren’t exactly top-notch. But as far as I knew, the path between the living quarters and the dock was in decent shape. They had to transport supplies every day, so of course it made sense to keep that road well maintained.

“…Hey.”

“What?”

“Isn’t the dock the other way?”

“Yeah.”

It was cold and still dark before dawn, so I couldn’t deny that walking to the dock would’ve been hard. So this was why they brought a four-wheel drive SUV, usually reserved for bad weather or long-distance travel.

Sitting in the backseat, I found myself fastening the seatbelt and gripping it tightly. The car had entered the restricted area behind the golf course—a place I’d never been and had been told never to go.

And yet the driver handled the wheel skillfully, showing no signs of confusion. It was an unpaved road, but a road nonetheless. The bob-haired woman didn’t look like it was her first time here either.

“Then why… are we going over the mountain?”

“You’ll find out when we get there.”

Hearing the ballerina’s curt reply to my brave question made me feel like I’d made a mistake. Had I once again been too naive, too trusting of people? Ah… how did I overlook this?

“I heard what happened, so I immediately contacted someone in Seoul through another person.”

If the ballerina had reached out to someone outside around the evening, then yes, there was enough time for them to come down from Seoul to Geoje and take a boat here. But the timeline still felt a little off.

This wasn’t the southern tip of the mainland where someone could just drive straight through—it was an island. Crossing the sea by boat in the dead of night couldn’t have been easy. How had the bob-haired woman managed to get here in just a few hours? Anyone from Pyeon Jae-ho’s side would notice that the timeline didn’t add up.

I heard Dad’s voice too—no way… Could this all be a lie?

Could it be that Shin Chi-woo, whom I’d trusted until now, had finally revealed his true colors and betrayed me? Or maybe Chairman Pyeon had figured out the lie and was taking me to the back of the island to kill me?

Driving through a pitch-black mountain path with no lights except the headlights was terrifying. If we suddenly hit a cliff or something, we’d all die… The doubt I’d tried to suppress was now flaring into fear, making me tense and on edge.

Then, as if we had reached the peak, the car began descending. Going downhill on a bumpy mountain road felt like riding a roller coaster. Holding on tightly to my seatbelt, I closed my eyes.

Hoping that all of this was just a horrible nightmare. Please, when I open my eyes, let me be back in my old life, rushing to the lab in a panic because I’m late again.

“……”

But as always, my desperate wish was nothing more than a futile fantasy. When I felt the car level out onto flat ground, I opened my eyes. In the distance, a bright light came into view, and the car was steadily approaching a place I hadn’t expected.

“A helicopter? There’s a helipad on this island?”

“You think that’s the only thing here?”

“There’s more? What kind of place is this…?”

“As you know, it’s a saccharin factory.”

“A saccharin factory? Who wears gas masks to make saccharin?”

“…They might. Raw materials are always harsh, after all.”

“Well, that’s true.”

“Concentrated, even medicine becomes poison, and poison diluted can become medicine.”

What she said wasn’t wrong, but she had a way of twisting things, skillfully skirting around the core of the issue. Listening to her speak, it was uncanny how much she sounded like Shin Chi-woo.

I found myself wondering what kind of relationship the two of them had to be this alike, but I didn’t have the courage to ask. I was afraid of the kind of answer I wouldn’t be able to handle. It was one of those moments where it felt like opening Pandora’s box would only make things worse.

“Wanyi, have you ever used saccharin before?”

“No… I’ve never cooked before, so I don’t even know what it’s used for.”

“Then maybe I should give you a little tip.”

“…Sure, go ahead.”

“Never use too much saccharin. If you try to make something sweeter by adding more, it only turns bitter.”

“……”

“Doesn’t it sound just like love? No matter how sweet it is at first, you have to stop there. The more greed you add, the more bitter it becomes in the end. And eventually, it all just falls apart.”

That didn’t sound like love—it sounded more like obsession. But I didn’t say what I was thinking out loud. I had a feeling the ballerina wasn’t just spouting poetic nonsense. It seemed more like she was talking about herself, about a failed affair she’d once had, likening it to saccharin.

“Let’s get out.”

“Okay. Wait—just a moment.”

The SUV carrying us slowed down and came to a stop in front of the helicopter. And at that moment, I felt relieved to realize at least one of my guesses had been wrong.

If the bob-haired woman had taken that helicopter to come get me, the timeline actually did work out. Of course Shin Chi-woo wouldn’t have overlooked something that basic.

“Hey.”

As the bob-haired woman stepped out of the driver’s seat, I reached out and grabbed the ballerina’s arm. I wanted to thank her properly one last time, now that we were alone.

“This… it’s not much, but I want you to have it.”

“Oh, the sugar-coated thing?”

“You told me to save it and use it when I needed to save myself, remember?”

“Did I say that?”

“That’s why I’m giving it to you now. In case I end up coming back here someday, I’m asking you to help me then.”

I took off the diamond-studded wristwatch I’d been wearing all along and offered it to her. If everything went wrong, I could end up dead. But like her, I could also end up imprisoned here forever. So I needed to lay down a move for my future too—just in case.

“You’ve grown a lot in three months.”

“Then you’ll take it?”

“Let’s say I’m just holding on to it for a while.”

“Shall we?”

“I’ll give it back at Pyeon Jae-ho’s funeral.”

“Alright, sounds good.”

“Stay safe until we meet again.”

“You too, take care of your health.”

The dry farewell, without even a handshake or a hug, wasn’t so bad. Maybe it was because I had a hunch that I’d see her again—there was no sadness in parting.

I gave her a small bow, then stepped out of the car. Following the bob-haired woman toward the helicopter, I saw someone I never expected waiting for me.

09. Reunion

Maybe because it was winter just before Christmas, the man was wearing a dark ash-gray coat. The weather was bitterly cold, but since there was no wind, his neatly styled hair remained perfectly in place, as if it had just been combed.

The Shin Chi-woo in my memory matched the man standing before me, but something about him felt unfamiliar, almost like I was seeing him for the first time, and I felt a little shy. We were never particularly close, and we had only met once, but for the past three months, he had been deeply entwined in my life. Compared to the image I had formed in my mind based solely on that one day, the real thing felt far more graceful and sharp, which only added to the sense of distance.

And yet, even if his words could be harsh, the subtle gentleness unique to him seemed unchanged. He removed the black scarf wrapped around his neck under his coat and gently wound it around my face, speaking in that smooth voice of his.

“What am I supposed to do if you’ve gotten even prettier since I last saw you?”