Chapter : 33
There was nothing he could even guess at—nothing at all—that a man who was his friend might say about Juhye.
Daehyun fell silent, sinking deep into thought.
Quick-witted, Manager Jung immediately started driving.
The car cut through the dark roads and arrived at the hotel thirty minutes later.
“Sir, I’ll see you again tomorrow morning. Please get some good rest.”
Even after Manager Jung bowed and got out, Daehyun took the elevator up to the higher floors.
He liked the silence inside the elevator.
Only then did Daehyun loosen the tie that had been constricting him. Even so, the suffocating feeling inside him didn’t ease.
It was the same when he opened the hotel room door and came face-to-face with Kangil.
“You’re finally here.”
Kangil greeted Daehyun with his usual relaxed attitude.
Aside from the fact that they were in a hotel room, it wasn’t much different from when they met in an office back in Korea.
On the table sat a bottle of whiskey that looked like it had already been partially drained.
“Why are you here?”
Daehyun walked straight over and snatched the glass right out of Kangil’s hand.
Even after losing his drink, Kangil didn’t look disappointed at all. Instead, he casually pulled another glass closer to himself.
Judging by the way he reached for the bottle, he intended to drink more.
“You start interrogating me the moment you arrive? I came all this way because I was worried.”
“I don’t have time. Get to the point.”
Tsk. Clicking his tongue quietly, Daehyun dropped heavily into the chair across from him.
Instead of answering, Kangil poured whiskey generously into the glass Daehyun was holding.
After swallowing a mouthful of the strong liquor, the tightness in his chest warmed and eased slightly.
“You probably heard the basics from Manager Jung, but… I came urgently because of your wife too.”
“Why Juhye?”
Looking worn out, Daehyun ran a hand through his bangs and let out a long sigh.
Kangil hesitated, thinking about how to begin, then spoke carefully.
“I checked with our secretary. Apparently, yesterday Juyeong went out with your wife.”
“The two of them together?”
So Juhye really had been at Juyeong’s house last night.
Daehyun realized his deduction had been right, but at the same time, the thought that Juyeong had deliberately deceived him made his brow furrow.
“But when they came back, Juyeong returned alone.”
“Juhye probably went to work. I already heard that from Secretary Kim.”
Daehyun replied casually and took another sip of whiskey.
There were plenty of people keeping watch in Seoul, and Juhye didn’t have many places she could run to.
At most, it would be Juyeong’s house—and he already knew that address.
If he returned to Seoul and she wasn’t home… he could just go straight to Juyeong’s place.
“Are you sure?”
Kangil didn’t seem to think so.
“About what?”
“That she really went to the arboretum.”
Kangil adjusted his glasses and shot back calmly.
Daehyun might not know this well, but Juyeong was far more meticulous than she appeared.
Having known her divorce process in detail, Kangil couldn’t help but be suspicious.
“Even if she did go to the arboretum, she could’ve gone somewhere else afterward. The secretary doesn’t follow her all the way inside.”
“……”
“If she moved to another place in the meantime, wouldn’t the secretary lose her trail?”
There were CCTV cameras at the arboretum, but without Juhye’s consent, there was no way to check them.
As that thought hit him, Daehyun’s lips twisted roughly.
Seeing his friend’s face contort with anger, Kangil tapped the table lightly with his fingertips.
“Tell the secretary to double-check.”
“I was planning to.”
Daehyun immediately sent a text. Secretary Kim replied that Juhye hadn’t gotten off work yet and was waiting in the parking lot.
‘No way.’
Sensing something was wrong, Daehyun ordered him to go inside the arboretum himself and look for Juhye.
Secretary Kim sounded briefly flustered, but quickly complied.
After what felt like an endlessly long wait, despite being only a short time, shocking news came back.
Juhye was nowhere to be found anywhere in the arboretum.
“…Damn it.”
Facing his friend’s mercilessly distorted expression, Kangil clicked his tongue low.
Just as he’d expected, Juhye had already moved elsewhere.
“Any idea where she might be?”
One way or another, Juyeong must have helped Juhye escape.
At Kangil’s question, Daehyun replied coldly,
“It’s your wife’s doing. She’s the one who knows the location.”
“Then we can’t find her right away. There’ll be another way, so wait. Finish your schedule first and return home. I’ll have someone look into my wife’s movements at least—”
“I need to go back.”
It was an earlier return than planned, but there was no other choice.
Startled by the unexpected words, Kangil blurted out,
“Go back? What do you mean?”
“I’ll call Manager Jung and have him book a flight. You should head back too.”
“Seo Daehyun!”
Seeing the fierce light in his eyes, Kangil hurriedly stepped in front of him.
Even though it wasn’t his own issue, Kangil knew how important this was to him.
“Have you lost your mind? Have you forgotten what this deal was for?”
“Move.”
“You invested a full year into this deal! If you cancel like this, how are you going to handle your schedule for the second half of the year?”
But none of his shouts reached Daehyun.
All he could see was Juhye’s back as she pushed him away and ran from the arboretum like she was fleeing.
If that ended up being the last time he ever saw her, he would never be able to stay sane for the rest of his life.
And if the place she ran to happened to be by another man’s side…
‘No matter what it takes, I’ll have to catch you and bind you to me, Juhye.’
With that cold resolve, Daehyun slowly clenched his fist.
Juhye, trying to move away from him, felt like grains of sand slipping through his fingers.
Juhye had planned to wake up early, but she ended up oversleeping.
She’d gone to bed early on purpose because she kept feeling tired, yet the drowsiness wouldn’t fade.
Staring at the unfamiliar ceiling, Juhye let out a small yawn.
‘Right. I slept here last night.’
This villa felt excessively large and lonely for her to stay in alone.
At first, she’d wondered if she’d even be able to fall asleep, but her worries had been pointless—sleep kept overtaking her.
She hadn’t even exerted herself physically, so she couldn’t understand why she felt this way.
‘This keeps happening lately.’
The puzzling thought lingered.
Once everything settled, she felt she should probably get a health checkup at the hospital.
It was true that the divorce was draining her mentally, but even accounting for that, the fatigue felt excessive.
“The arboretum’s quiet too.”
As she fiddled with her phone, Eunjae’s face suddenly came to mind.
What was she doing now, sitting at the arboretum desk?
Unlike herself, was she anxiously waiting for Daehyun’s call?
A sticky feeling of jealousy—something she’d never thought she’d experience—clung to her composure.
“If some ridiculous affair rumor starts going around, imagine how upset Father would be. I’m worried, as your son-in-law.”
The words Daehyun had once whispered like a warning kept echoing in her mind.
That warning would apply to him as well.
If Woo-hyun were to leak this information to the media first…
‘Then even if it’s not me, my brothers would tell me to get divorced.’
Suha or Sugyeong would spend huge sums of money to block the articles somehow, but the responsibility would surely fall squarely on Daehyun.
That was exactly the ending Juhye wanted to avoid.
Since they’d managed to keep their marriage quiet for two years, she wanted the end to be quiet as well.
Daehyun was stubborn now because he’d developed ambitions regarding Jinju Construction… but she believed his heart would change soon.
If he truly loved and cherished Eunjae as a woman.
“……”
Shuffling into the living room, Juhye checked her phone.
Whether fortunate or not, there had been no calls or messages overnight.
She’d already blocked Daehyun’s number, so in a way it was only natural.
Aside from him, the only people who ever called her were family—and the only person she might call a friend was Junhwi.
Bzz. A short vibration snapped Juhye out of her daze.
“Ah…!”
Looking down at her phone, she saw a freshly arrived message glowing on the screen.
[Madam, I’ve placed the materials you requested in the mailbox.]
It was from Manager Park. It seemed the investigation was finally complete.
Juhye hurriedly threw on a robe and rushed outside.
Just as he’d said, a document envelope was tucked into the mailbox beside the door.
She quickly brought it inside and tore it open—and as if they’d been waiting, photographs spilled out onto the floor.
Every single one of them was of Song Eunjae.
