A sharp breath burst out of him all at once, as if he’d been holding it in too long. At the same time, the tension in his shoulders collapsed, and every bit of strength drained from his body. Haa, haa… Gasping for air, Yu-jin struggled to steady his breathing as Winston immediately stepped forward and spoke.
“It’s over. Lie down now.”
The tone was as commanding as ever, but Yu-jin didn’t have the energy to be annoyed. He obediently lay down on the bed, closed his eyes, and tried to calm himself. The dizziness from his ragged breathing slowly began to subside. Winston simply stood there, watching him. Yu-jin could feel his unwavering gaze, but he kept his eyes shut, using every ounce of willpower to ignore it. The taut tension only sharpened his nerves, but Yu-jin focused on one thing—pushing Winston from his mind and regaining his composure.
“You didn’t rush things… Was it because you already suspected the truth?”
Once he had settled down somewhat, Yu-jin opened his eyes and asked. Winston answered without hesitation.
“That too.”
It seemed he had no intention of hiding it. Then again, a man like him had no reason to conceal or deny anything. He probably found laws laughable.
A shiver ran down Yu-jin’s spine as he recalled that Winston hadn’t even bothered handing the culprit over to the police—he had planned to take care of it himself. And Yu-jin was no exception. Maybe Winston was only sparing him because he still found him useful.
Because of the will.
In the end, it was Harold who was protecting him now. Ironic, isn’t it? If only Harold hadn’t left behind that damn will, none of this would’ve happened.
Why did Harold…
Yu-jin forced himself to erase the question, dragging it back to the beginning again and again. That wasn’t what mattered right now. What mattered was how to deal with the man in front of him—and this situation.
“When I asked you at the beginning… why did you make it sound like Gordon was the one who took her?”
Yu-jin already knew the answer, but he asked anyway. Some part of him still wanted to believe he might be wrong. But, of course, he wasn’t.
“I figured if you accepted it and backed off, I could handle it my way.”
Once again, Winston responded without the slightest hesitation. That emotionless, businesslike tone only made the reality of it hit harder.
“Is that what you wanted?”
Yu-jin braved the question. Winston tilted his lips into a crooked smile and let out a short, bitter chuckle.
“If you saw her face, you’d go soft and start talking about forgiving her or something.”
Then, with narrow eyes, he looked down at Yu-jin and added,
“Wasn’t I right?”
“…Then why did you wait? If you knew this would happen…”
Yu-jin’s voice turned sharp, almost accusatory. It lacked power, so there was no real weight behind it, but Winston responded as if soothing a child, tilting his head slightly.
“If I’d done it on my own without telling you, you would’ve been angry.”
“You were going to do whatever you wanted anyway, whether I liked it or not, weren’t you?”
Yu-jin’s voice steadied as he spoke, his tone calmer now. Winston looked down at him and replied,
“But I didn’t.”
Just those three words—and suddenly, it felt like the tension inside him unraveled completely. Still, that didn’t mean he was ready to back down.
“So you’re saying you held back because you thought I wouldn’t like it if you just did whatever you wanted?”
This time, Winston didn’t answer. Yu-jin had spoken with full-on sarcasm, but the unexpected silence threw him off. He blinked in confusion. The pause wasn’t long, yet it was enough to stir a twinge of uncertainty within him. Yu-jin stared at Winston, watching as he slowly opened his mouth to speak.
“If I had done it my way, you would’ve said my head was messed up again because of the pheromones.”
For the first time, there was emotion in his voice. Faint, barely there, but it carried a trace of bitter self-mockery. Yu-jin was once again caught off guard, struck speechless. Winston, unconcerned, reverted to his usual tone as he continued.
“Doesn’t matter. Everyone already says I’m insane.”
Yu-jin still had nothing to say. After all, he had said the same thing. Silence fell again, but this time, it was different. The air turned heavy and damp, clinging uncomfortably to his skin. It wasn’t tension now—it was something more oppressive. He felt the urge to break it, to say something, anything. Hastily, he moved his head and forced his voice out.
“Gordon or… Madam Campbell, what did they say? About… all of this.”
There was no way they’d stayed quiet. They must have tried to take Charlotte back. That Winston made a choice for Yu-jin’s sake didn’t make sense. Was it just a public punishment for someone who dared challenge his authority?
“If I’d let them do the talking, I wouldn’t have gotten a straight answer. I had a hunch, sure—but I needed to hear it from her directly to be sure.”
“You didn’t believe your own family? Your mother, your brother?”
That was the last thing Yu-jin expected to hear. He’d assumed Winston trusted them deeply. Bewildered, Yu-jin stared up at him. Winston let out a dry, breathy laugh through his nose.
“Sweetheart, I stopped trusting people a long time ago.”
Then, in a voice that was suddenly soft and sweet—completely unlike before—Winston asked gently,
“Care to guess who taught me that?”
Yu-jin said nothing. Those once love-filled eyes were now hollow. Even the person he had loved most was no longer someone he could trust. Then who did he believe in anymore?
At least I still have Angie…
The thought of his child—always there to comfort him in his worst moments—made his chest ache. He quickly shifted the subject, blurting out a question about Angela.
“What about Angie? How is she? She can’t find out I got hurt—what if she cries—ah!”
Without thinking, he tried to push himself off the bed, only to suck in a breath and freeze in place. Haa, haa… Harsh breaths racked his chest. As he trembled, Winston looked down at him and finally spoke.
“She’s staying at the hospital for a bit because of the baby.”
“…Baby?”
At first, Yu-jin didn’t understand. He asked between shallow breaths, and Winston replied simply,
“Yeah. Our baby. The one inside you.”
In that moment, Yu-jin felt grateful for his pain. It gave him a reason for going pale, for the look of shock on his face. It gave him cover.
…Would Winston really believe that?
Since regaining consciousness, he hadn’t asked about the baby even once. Was that even possible? When you’re pregnant and get into an accident, the very first thing you’d worry about is the child. Yu-jin had been the same. Just recalling the time he nearly lost Angela was enough to make his breath hitch and his whole body tremble.
Winston watched him in silence for a while before speaking.
“I haven’t done any tests. If you’re not feeling well, then tomorrow morning we could—”
“I-it’s fine.”
Yu-jin hastily cut him off.
“The baby’s okay… The injury was to my chest. My stomach wasn’t hurt.”
Was that too fast? Would it sound suspicious? What if it made him even more doubtful…?
His heart was pounding wildly. Cold sweat trickled down his back as Yu-jin nervously watched Winston’s face. A few seconds passed—but they stretched on like an eternity—until Winston finally opened his mouth.
“If that’s what you want, we’ll leave it at that.”
What?
Yu-jin blinked, wondering if he’d heard wrong. Slowly, he looked up, only to find Winston staring back down at him with that familiar blank expression.
“If you’re fine, then there’s no need to do anything. Like you said, the injury wasn’t to your stomach.”
Yu-jin stared, dazed by how easily Winston gave in. He was… acting strange. Maybe he really had lost his mind. But if he was going to back off, Yu-jin would gladly take it. He decided to go with whatever was most advantageous for him. What did it matter, anyway? He’d planned to deceive this man from the start. As long as the lie held on the surface, that was enough.
“…I want to rest now.”
Yu-jin murmured. This time, he meant it. He was exhausted. He felt as though his entire body was soaked in cold sweat as he weakly lay back down on the bed.
“I want to be discharged tomorrow…”
“No.”
His voice was still feeble, barely audible, but Winston’s reply came back sharp and resolute.
“You need to stay here for at least a week. Once you’ve stabilized, I’ll bring Angie. For now, your only job is to focus on recovery.”
“I can’t go a whole week without seeing her! I’ll die!”
Yu-jin’s outburst was met with a cold retort from Winston.
“If she saw you like this, she’d bawl her eyes out. Do you really want to see her cry?”
Yu-jin had no response to that. Winston pressed on as he faltered.
“Right now, she just thinks you’re resting for a few days because of the baby. She’s handling it well. Shouldn’t you be able to handle it better than Angie?”
There was still no room to escape. No point in digging in his heels—Winston wasn’t the type to be moved by stubbornness. In the end, drained and defeated, Yu-jin let out a long sigh and offered a compromise.
“I’ll stay for three days. That’s enough.”
“I’ll decide what’s enough, not you.”
And just like that, Winston reverted to the arrogant authoritarian he always was. It completely crushed Yu-jin’s will. He had no strength left to argue. He simply closed his eyes and shut his mouth.
He could feel Winston’s gaze lingering on him for a moment—but not for long. Footsteps followed, and Yu-jin assumed it was finally over. Winston must have left the room. At last, he was alone.
Thud.
At the sound of a chair scraping against the floor, Yu-jin instinctively opened his eyes and turned his head. To his surprise, he saw Winston dragging a folding chair over and sitting down beside the bed.
“W-what… What are you doing?”
