Chapter 188
Eunseong was sitting alone in the recovery room. Director Nam, who had returned after finishing his work, asked the back of his tired-looking figure:
“Has the CEO not woken up yet? The doctor said he would wake up soon.”
“Not yet.”
Director Nam examined Yoo Siwoon’s condition as he lay motionless on the bed, checking his blood pressure, pulse, vitals on the monitor, as well as his complexion and breathing, before stepping back.
Eunseong’s eyes, fixed detachedly on Yoo Siwoon, were swollen. It seemed he had been crying while Director Nam was away.
“…Shall we step outside to talk for a moment?”
The eyes that had been fixed solely on Yoo Siwoon turned to look at Director Nam. Eunseong’s eyes were bloodshot from crying so much.
As if careful not to wake the sleeping Yoo Siwoon, they quietly stood up and went out to the recovery room corridor.
Director Nam, having overcome a major crisis, had finally caught his breath, but Eunseong still looked dazed. Director Nam thought about how much worse it must be for Eunseong when even he was still shaken inside, though he couldn’t show it. However, now wasn’t the time to be sentimental. Though he wondered what meaning his words would have to Eunseong whose eyes were swollen from crying so much, he still needed to wrap things up.
“It’s not too late yet.”
“…”
“If you go now, you can still catch the plane. This is your only opportunity.”
The bloodshot, reddened eyes blinked slowly. Eunseong seemed to think his crying wasn’t noticeable.
“Go now, even at this point.”
Eunseong had promised to leave right after saving Yoo Siwoon. He had promised to leave once he confirmed that Yoo Siwoon was safe. He had promised to part ways with him.
For them not to harm each other, to prevent further damage, Eunseong needed to leave, to disappear. That’s what they had said. Eunseong had decided to leave Yoo Siwoon and had acted on it. This was the result of that action.
“Rather than continuing to hurt each other like this with the CEO, leaving now would be… if not now, you may never be able to leave.”
“If I go… ahjussi will die.”
“That won’t happen anymore. This all happened because of my mistake. The CEO won’t get hurt again.”
That wasn’t what Eunseong meant. Director Nam didn’t understand. Yoo Siwoon’s injury wasn’t due to his carelessness.
Without Eunseong, Yoo Siwoon would choose to end his life at every opportunity. No matter how much Director Nam supervised, protected, and guarded him, it would be a meaningless effort for someone with no will to live. Given the chance, Yoo Siwoon wouldn’t miss even the most trivial coincidence to end his life.
Suddenly, Eunseong felt sorry for Yoo Siwoon. He felt pity for Yoo Siwoon, to whom he was everything. He felt sorry for his foolishness in believing what wasn’t right and being convinced that Eunseong would bear his child.
As he helplessly wiped away the tears flowing down his pale cheeks, Director Nam said:
“I know you’re distressed. Don’t think about anything, don’t worry, just go. I’ll be by the CEO’s side. The things that happened to you and your parents… while not entirely the CEO’s fault, he can’t be said to have no responsibility. Can you forgive him? You’ll end up hurting each other whenever you remember.”
“…”
“The CEO will continue to apologize as if he’s sinned, and seeing that will make you more frustrated. For some people, being together only means reopening wounds.”
Eunseong understood the meaning: end this painful relationship and disappear from Yoo Siwoon’s life. It meant Director Nam didn’t want to see both Eunseong and Yoo Siwoon being damaged anymore.
Hearing these veiled words urging him to leave from the person closest to him made his chest feel like it would burst. He felt frustrated because he needed to leave but couldn’t, and felt foolish for knowing deep down that he wouldn’t be able to abandon Yoo Siwoon when he should.
“Don’t worry and go.”
“…I don’t think I can.”
“…”
“If there’s a way… I want to find it. If there’s a way in this world to forgive ahjussi, I want to forgive him. But I can’t find it right at this moment.”
“…”
Director Nam was momentarily speechless at the unexpected response.
It meant that though he couldn’t forgive him right now, he might be able to someday, and it also meant he didn’t want to leave him.
It was understandable that he found it difficult to leave after witnessing such a scene, but Director Nam noticed that a change had occurred in Eunseong’s heart.
“This is the last and only opportunity. The CEO will never let you go first. He’s been that way for twenty years, still is, and will continue to be.”
“…”
Director Nam found it strange that he could speak so calmly about Yoo Siwoon’s irrational obsession. Even as he said it would probably be that way forever, he didn’t feel the same creepy impression toward Yoo Siwoon as before. It was strange.
Perhaps it was because he now knew that Yoo Siwoon’s intention to kill the children was a misunderstanding, or perhaps he had belatedly realized that interfering in their affairs was overstepping his bounds.
Moreover, because Yoo Siwoon had nearly lost his life, Director Nam could no longer be certain that everything he was doing was right.
“I need to discuss something with the doctor, so I’ll be gone for a moment.”
Director Nam changed the heavy atmosphere, leaving the choice entirely to Eunseong. In a much lighter tone, he continued:
“If it weren’t for you today, the CEO might have died.”
“…”
“I used to complain that you never listened, but today I’m really glad you didn’t listen to me. Thank you.”
If it hadn’t been for that, Yoo Siwoon might have died. Those words of praise, of gratitude, were sincere.
“Here.”
Director Nam returned the note Eunseong had given him. Eunseong, who had fallen silent as if lost in thought, took the note he offered.
“I don’t think you’ll need this anymore.”
He patted Eunseong’s shoulder and turned away.
∞ ∞ ∞
After several days, Director Nam was interviewed as a witness.
The interview lasted well over four hours before it finally ended. Lee Joon-seung took Director Nam to the Metropolitan Investigation Unit’s break room. He walked to a vending machine placed against one wall and got a drink.
“Their target probably wasn’t Yoo Siwoon but to take Eunseong. It’s fortunate he wasn’t there at the time… The CEO was away on a business trip, so there was a gap in security. If I had been alone… It’s terrifying just to think about it.”
He shuddered as if he didn’t want to recall it, reminiscing about that day. Lee Joon-seung tried to hand him the canned drink, but he declined with a gesture. Lee Joon-seung opened the can and drank it himself as he sat down beside him.
“They must have had animosity toward Yoo Siwoon, and judging by how they messed up the house, they also intended to take the scripture copies that the breeders supposedly had.”
“Sigh, I should have been more cautious about the CEO’s security… I made a mistake even though I knew what those bastards might do. It’s my fault.”
Recalling what happened to Yoo Siwoon, Director Nam roughly rubbed his face as if frustrated and distressed. It was a fierce gesture blaming his own incompetence. There was also a reason why Yoo Siwoon’s condition was worse than what the doctor had said.
“But those bastards consistently claim it wasn’t their doing.”
“What are you saying?”
“…That Yoo Siwoon harmed himself. Self-inflicted stab wounds, they say.”
Director Nam frowned with one eye and turned to look at Lee Joon-seung with an almost glaring intensity, asking what on earth he was talking about.
“They claim the abdominal wound was inflicted by Yoo Siwoon himself, and the thigh wound occurred while they were trying to stop him from stabbing himself. I heard that the thigh wound was actually much more dangerous than the abdominal one. They say it wasn’t intentional, that they had no reason to kill the only remaining breeder.”
“…”
“Why do I find their story somewhat credible?”
Lee Joon-seung asked tentatively as he drank his beverage.
“Are you believing those cult fanatics instead of me, Team Leader? The CEO had no reason to do that. The CCTV clearly shows them kidnapping a perfectly normal person who was on his way to a business trip and putting him in a car. Do you believe that? The CEO was trying to eliminate those damned heretics and ended up being retaliated against like this! It’s terrorism! Terrorism! He’s the victim!”
Director Nam harshly demanded to know how he could believe such an absurd false claim, if he was still doubting Yoo Siwoon’s sincerity. He was the one who had doubted Yoo Siwoon. The cause of this disaster was also his, so his roar was more like self-reproach rather than questioning Lee Joon-seung.
“Well… that’s true.”
Lee Joon-seung wasn’t blindly believing their claims either. Looking at it objectively, as Director Nam said, Yoo Siwoon had no reason to do such a thing. He had everything in his grasp.
“The CEO almost died! And that’s not all! Now he’s likely to walk with a limp!”
Director Nam painfully held his head at the fact that due to his mistake, Yoo Siwoon’s life had been endangered, and he had even acquired a disability.
Yoo Siwoon’s femoral artery had been severed and his nerves damaged when he was stabbed in the thigh. The doctor’s opinion was that while he would have no problem walking, he wouldn’t be able to run.
Moreover, there was even a gun in his study. The thought that the gun might have fallen into their hands made his head spin. If that had happened, Yoo Siwoon would already be dead.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
