YAIMF 32 🍒

Chapter — 32
“If I Say I Love You, Will You Believe Me?”

So, he really did have a first love.
And not just any first love—it was the kind that the whole neighborhood knew about.

Whether that first love was Ji-hye or not didn’t really matter.

“She was pretty famous. Everyone around here knows about it.”

The taxi driver kept talking, sneaking glances at Saena as if he firmly believed she was the main character of that rumor.

“He even jumped into the sea to save that girl.”

After that, Saena didn’t hear anything else.
All the way home, she didn’t know how to deal with the feeling that kept bothering her. She tried to comfort herself, thinking that it would actually be stranger if a man his age had never dated even once.

She tried to brush it off like it was nothing.
But the moment she stepped into the old house, her heart began to twist in a strange way. When she saw the front door, she imagined him opening this door with his first love. The stone steps leading to the garden—he must have climbed them with her too, admiring this beautiful garden together.

Until Saena entered the old house and walked into her room, Ji-woon’s first-love story wouldn’t leave her head. The more time passed, the angrier she became. And right at that moment, a call from him came through.

Rumors always grow, like a snowball rolling through snow.
But from what he said, she realized it was true.

Hearing his words through the phone, Saena let out a hollow laugh without meaning to. So that “best friend since childhood” thing was real. And if that was true, then it meant there had been another woman in his life besides Ji-hye.

“So… you really did have a first love?”

“Huh?”

“Well, everyone has a first love, sure. But I don’t remember mine at all. Meanwhile, yours was so big that even a taxi driver knows about it.”

That was exactly the part that made her furious.
It wasn’t just a quiet love that faded away on its own. If even local taxi drivers knew, then it must have been intense. The thought that Ji-woon had loved someone that much—someone other than her—irritated her.

“No, why are you taking it that way?”

“Don’t dodge the question. Who was she? What kind of person was she, that even taxi drivers know?”

“…Sigh. That’s not it. I mean, I honestly don’t remember very well.”

“What? That’s your excuse?”

She felt pathetic for being this childish, but her mouth moved on its own. And of all times, why did she have to hear this right after kissing him at the karaoke room? The thought made her resentful. Saena tried to recall the brief touch of his lips from earlier, but it only made her more irritated.

“It’s just the past. And when I say I don’t remember, I really don’t. I don’t know her name or where she lives. Just that she’s my age… and that she went to the U.S.”

“That sounds pretty impactful, doesn’t it?”

“Impactful? I’d completely forgotten about it until you brought it up.”

“Really?”

“I’m serious.”

“Liar.”

“Then what do I have to do for you to believe me?”

“Then say you love me.”

It sounded really childish, but for some reason, she desperately wanted to hear it right now. Maybe because they’d been together for five hundred days—long enough that saying “I love you” might start to feel awkward. After blurting it out, Saena felt embarrassed. She expected Ji-woon to say it right away, but his silence lasted longer than she thought.

“What is it?”

“You know…”

His voice felt strangely uncomfortable. She even thought it might have been better if he’d said their relationship was more about loyalty than love now. Ji-woon stopped there, took a deep breath, then spoke like a sigh.

“If I say I love you… will you believe me?”

“What?”

“I don’t remember anything. But if I tell you I love you, will you believe me—just because it’s me saying it?”

This time, his tone was firm.
She had only been sulking out of jealousy, but it felt like she’d crossed a line without realizing it. Saena slowly replayed his words in her head, as if looking back at the line she’d stepped over. It almost sounded like he was telling her not to trust him.

Her heart began to pound wildly, out of rhythm.
When Saena couldn’t answer, Ji-woon laughed lightly, trying to ease the mood.

“Should we go out and eat tonight?”

Im-jae couldn’t focus on the meeting at all.
The main topic was the leadership vacuum at Daum Company. The executives were clearly pushing the responsibility onto him. Normally, he would have pretended to hesitate before accepting it. But Jung-taek’s words wouldn’t leave his mind.

“What if the patient who came here was wearing those shoes? What if it was Saena?”

Shoes. Those damn shoes.
She was never someone who indulged in luxury. So why had he disliked them so much back then? He believed that children from wealthy families should live differently from ordinary people. Saena’s face flashed through his mind—the way she had frowned at shoes that cost only a few hundred.

“So in the end, those shoes are what trip me up.”

He should have just listened to her when she refused them. Just like Jung-taek said, they were a limited edition, with a serial number engraved inside. His heart started pounding like crazy. He gripped the pen in his hand tightly.

“Damn it.”

There was no way she could be alive. It had already been four days since she went missing. If she were found now, it would be as a body. Even if she’d been injured on the head back then, all the evidence had already been destroyed. No one could prove that he killed her.

But… what if she was alive?

Just thinking that made him feel like he was going insane with anxiety. Im-jae kept clicking the pen in his hand. The sound felt like his own heartbeat.

“Director Jung? Director Jung!”

The executives calling him snapped him back to reality. Since he had no idea how the meeting had progressed, his anxious expression was fully exposed to them.

“Are you okay?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. Lately, I’ve just been…”

“Of course. You must be overwhelmed. We were all shocked when we heard about Ms. Saena too.”

Director Kim from Daum Company finally brought it up. Publicly, he claimed that with global attention focused on Daum after their innovative semiconductor production, they couldn’t afford setbacks due to a leadership gap. But in truth, ever since Chairman Moon’s health worsened, Kim had clearly wanted to reorganize the power structure.

“You don’t look well. Maybe you should rest a bit—”

“I’m sorry. The worse things get for the company, the more I should stay focused.”

“No, no. For us, just having you here is already a relief.”

Kim said it casually, words he didn’t truly mean. Im-jae looked at the sly man and forced a faint smile. Without saying anything, that pitiful smile alone was enough to get him through the moment.

“Alright, let’s end today’s meeting here. Once Manager Kim returns, we’ll sort out the CEO position.”

Kim acted as if he were already the head of the company. At his words, everyone efficiently wrapped up the meeting and returned to their seats. Im-jae also stood up, but Kim approached him with a cold expression and stopped him.

“But… is Saena really missing?”

His eyes narrowed into sharp slits, giving off the air of a viper. To Im-jae, it sounded like: I know you killed her. Startled, he stepped back without realizing it.

“Well, Manager Kim is desperately searching for her, and there’s still no body… so I was wondering if she might still be alive. Do you know anything, Director Jung?”

“Ah, well… that is…”

“I’ve heard cases overseas where people survived after falling into the sea. And around here, even if someone gets swept away by the current, there are fish farms and structures where bodies often get caught and found later.”

Kim went on and on, even talking about his fishing experience. Whether Saena was dead or alive didn’t matter to him. He just wanted to figure out which side he should stand on, as quickly as possible.

Im-jae’s racing heart wouldn’t calm down, and Kim’s words barely registered. Instead, Kim’s nonstop chatter irritated him. Finally, unable to listen any longer, Im-jae raised his hand to stop him.

“So….”

Kim stopped talking and looked at him. Im-jae, his face pale enough to collapse at any moment, covered his face with his hands.

“Director Jung?”

“…Ha. Saena is—”

“…?”

“Saena… ha… Saena is… Saena is dead!”