Chapter 08
Spread Out on the Bed
Ignoring Woojin’s words, Iyeon walked over to the medical cabinet mounted on the wall. Among the neatly arranged small medical tools and various medicines, she took out an anti-inflammatory and a painkiller.
To take the medicine, she needed water.
“Could you move?” Iyeon said to Woojin, who was blocking the doorway.
But he didn’t budge.
“Mother wasn’t originally like that.”
“Really? Then what kind of person was she?”
“She was gentler and calmer than anyone. Soft-hearted, kind, and thoughtful.”
Woojin seemed gripped by a sense of duty to excuse his benevolent mother’s violent behavior.
“You’ve really used up every nice word there is. Then how are you going to explain this face?”
Instead of apologizing on his mother’s behalf, Woojin was defending her, and Iyeon found it ridiculous. She deliberately took a step closer to him and thrust her face right in front of Woojin.
Because the sutures were black, the stitched wound under her eye was starkly visible.
At that moment, Iyeon, who had been standing on her tiptoes, lost her balance and staggered. Woojin’s large hand reflexively caught her. As he firmly wrapped an arm around her back, the distance between them narrowed.
The warmth she felt from his back was different from the coldness of his face. Woojin’s eyes, fixed intently on the injured area around Iyeon’s eyes, wavered slightly—his gaze mixed with unease and pity.
For a split second, Iyeon almost mistook it for concern.
When she was hurt or in pain, enduring it had always been solely her burden. There was no way someone else—especially Kwon Woojin—would care about the wound on her face.
Startled by the subtle stirrings in her heart, Iyeon pushed him away. Only then did Woojin’s tightly closed lips part.
“Don’t provoke Madam Oh Jinhwa. She’s a pitiful person.”
At his words, Iyeon suddenly burst out laughing. Did he even know that the reason the gentle, kind Oh Jinhwa had been furious enough to throw a glass at her face was because of that very phrase—pitiful person?
It seemed Woojin didn’t know what his mother hated most.
“Why are you laughing? Have you lost your mind?”
“Move before I lose it completely. I need to take a painkiller.”
Iyeon shoved past Woojin’s shoulder and went out. Overwhelmed by the pain as she tossed the pills into her mouth, she didn’t know how long Woojin stood blankly alone in the empty treatment room.
It wasn’t until 9 a.m. that Iyeon finally got out of bed. Since she was used to waking up at 6 a.m., she hadn’t bothered setting an alarm. She must have been groaning in pain all night even after taking the painkillers, only falling asleep late and oversleeping as a result.
Hurriedly changing her clothes, Iyeon tightly tied up her long hair that reached her shoulders.
She should have checked the mirror before leaving. In her rush, she forgot to put a bandage on her face.
Knock, knock, knock—
“Come in.”
Entering the room, Iyeon bowed her head to Oh Jinhwa, who was standing by the window.
“I’m sorry. I overslept today.”
“It’s fine, don’t make such a fuss.”
“Do you have any muscle pain? You walked after a long time.”
“How would walking around the yard once do anything to me?”
Jinhwa turned her head to look at Iyeon, clearly startled by the sight of her face stitched with black sutures.
“Are you trying to protest against me?”
“What?”
“What’s with that face of yours!”
Only then did Iyeon realize she had forgotten to put on a bandage.
“The treatment was perfect. Once the skin heals, I’ll remove the stitches.”
“You did it yourself?”
“There was excellent equipment at the house.”
Jinhwa slowly walked over and sat down on the sofa.
“I should receive an apology for what happened yesterday.”
“Yes? Did I hear you correctly?”
Iyeon firmly believed she was the one who deserved an apology.
“Did you forget calling me a pitiful old hag hiding away with a monster’s face?”
“Madam… are you serious?”
Iyeon fidgeted with the chart in her hands.
“What? Are you going to write something down again? That I’m crazy?”
“Delusions. That I would dare say such things and point fingers at you.”
“I know. You didn’t say it out loud. But you thought it in your head!”
Jinhwa trembled with anger once more.
“Why don’t you rewind the situation a little further back?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Did you forget calling me a criminal who’d been to jail, an orphan, a person with no ability or worth?”
“So what?”
Jinhwa truly looked as if she didn’t understand.
“I have feelings too. Talking back to you was my fault, but it’s hard for me to endure humiliation as well. An orphan? Of course it’s pitiful. But I think I’m better off than someone who grows up under horrific parents. I was good at studying from a young age, and I got a perfect score on the CSAT. That’s why the Kwonseong Welfare Foundation gave me a scholarship.”
Jinhwa scratched her ear as if bored.
“Do you understand? I didn’t receive charity because I was poor. It was an investment in my ability. As for going to the detention center—just wait. I’ll apply for a retrial and clear my name.”
“You don’t have any friends, do you?”
“What?”
“Don’t people tell you you’re unpleasant?”
“I hear it sometimes.”
At that, Jinhwa burst out laughing.
“You know, when you stay locked up in a room by yourself for too long, your personality gets nasty. You grow spiteful when you see a pretty, sparkling young thing.”
“You said I looked like someone who couldn’t even get a bowl of thin porridge.”
“See? Always clinging to the last word.”
Even Iyeon knew her once-docile personality had changed a little since returning from the detention center. Not wanting to be scolded again, she pressed her lips tightly shut.
“Maybe because I walked a bit yesterday, I’m in quite a good mood today. I slept well too. I think I’ll keep up those walks.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ve selected a few medications I’d like to try. If you give permission, I’ll prescribe them.”
“Fine. Do it.”
“Yes. Then I’ll take my leave.”
“Treat it properly so it doesn’t leave a scar. Money is no object.”
You’re saying the same thing as your son.
Swallowing those words, Iyeon stepped outside.
For several days, peaceful routines continued. Woojin visited the main house every other day to walk with Oh Jinhwa, and on the days he didn’t come, the butler accompanied her. Iyeon diligently checked Jinhwa’s condition morning and evening, faithfully fulfilling her role as the resident physician.
One day, after confirming that Woojin had left, Iyeon removed all the remaining sutures around her eye in the treatment room. There was still a scar, but because the suturing had been meticulous, the wound was healing well.
In this house, now free of tension, an uneasy feeling stirred within Iyeon. She felt she shouldn’t sink into this peace, like the calm before a storm.
With that thought, she opened Woojin’s bedroom door again. Perhaps because she had opened it once before, it opened more easily than last time.
Illuminating the room with her phone’s flashlight, she noticed the easel that had been there before was gone. Slowly scanning the room, Iyeon felt along the bedside table. Her hand touched a thick book, and she brought the light closer.
Janson’s History of Art.
That was the title of the book. Flipping through it briefly, it seemed to be about Western art history. It reaffirmed that Kwon Woojin, despite majoring in business administration, had a strong interest in art.
A pencil came into Iyeon’s hand. If that was the case, there had to be a sketchbook somewhere.
Shining her phone’s light around, Iyeon finally found a sketchbook spread open on the bed—the same one that had contained Woojin’s drawings before. Had he been drawing recently as well?
Flipping through the sketchbook, Iyeon stopped on one page. On it was the face of a woman with needle marks around her eye.
Why did Kwon Woojin draw my face?
Her heart, which had been calm until moments ago, began to race. Woojin’s sketching skills were exceptional. Even the small mole on her cheek—something you wouldn’t notice unless you looked closely—was depicted accurately.
Perhaps the sight of her face marked with stitches had left a strong impression on him. Still, the fact that Woojin had locked his door and drawn her face unsettled Iyeon.
Thud, thud—
At that moment, footsteps were heard outside the door.
Thud, thud, thud, thud—
The sound, which had been distant, gradually drew closer to the room, matching the pace of Iyeon’s heartbeat.
Soon, the door opened.
It was Kwon Woojin.
