Chapter 46
It felt like she had had a brief nightmare.
She couldn’t remember the content of the dream, but the sound of someone desperately calling out while massaging her arms and legs lingered in her ears.
Her whole body was drenched in cold sweat, and at times it felt like it was on fire.
When she finally opened her eyes after enduring a pain she had never experienced in her life, she was greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling.
“Are you alright, Madam?”
Joo-hye turned her head toward the voice.
There stood Dae-hyun, looking almost lifeless, and the attending physician, letting out a sigh of relief.
The physician worked at a hospital affiliated with the Jinju Group, so she was someone Joo-hye knew well.
“Professor…?”
“Ah, you shouldn’t move. We’ll remove the tubes first.”
The physician quickly checked her arms.
It seemed she had been receiving IV fluids the whole time, and only now did the sharp pain register.
Weakly blinking, she reached out to Dae-hyun, who had come closer.
His trembling hand gently touched her forehead for a moment before pulling away.
“Representative, Madam’s fever has completely subsided.”
“…”
“You just need to rest like this.”
After giving him a few instructions, the physician quickly stepped back.
A heavy silence settled over the hospital room, now left with only the two of them.
Dae-hyun, unable to bring himself to sit, stood quietly staring at her limp figure.
“Sit down.”
“…”
“If you keep staring like that, I can’t rest properly…”
When Joo-hye spoke first, his expression crumbled.
He ran his right hand over his face, then covered his eyes.
Through the palm, she could see his teeth clenched and trembling.
“I thought… I was going to lose you.”
“Dae-hyun…”
“You collapsed all of a sudden, couldn’t even open your eyes, your body was getting hotter… but your face was turning pale.”
She was a little surprised at how much pain she had been in. It had only felt like a short nap.
Even after she softly told him she was okay, Dae-hyun couldn’t calm down.
Through his slowly lowered hand, the redness around his eyes flickered.
“Dae-hyun, please sit down first…”
“Joo-hye!”
Before she could organize her words, the door slammed open.
Joo-hye jumped and looked toward the door, while Dae-hyun just turned his head blankly.
Su-ha and Soo-kyung staggered in, breathing heavily, standing side by side by the door.
“Joo-hye, are you… okay? When did you wake up?”
Su-ha spoke first, while Soo-kyung went around and approached the right side of the bed.
Joo-hye gave a shy smile at Su-ha’s hand touching her cheek.
“Just now. I’m okay now, oppa.”
“Okay? But look at your face…”
She hadn’t eaten properly, and the only sleep she’d gotten was while receiving IV fluids.
Her appearance was probably a mess, almost impossible to look at with eyes open.
Just as she was about to insist she was fine, Su-ha turned fiercely.
Smack!
With a sharp slap, Dae-hyun’s face turned sharply to the left.
“O-oppah!”
Joo-hye tried to sit up in shock, but Soo-kyung held her shoulder to stop her.
Looking back, Soo-kyung was glaring at Dae-hyun with a sharp gaze as well.
Despite the chaos, Dae-hyun didn’t move, and Su-ha muttered curses under his breath.
“How dare you do such a thing and think you could get away with it?”
“…”
“If you’d been just a little later, it could’ve been terrible. Where on earth were you while Joo-hye’s fever reached this point?!”
Dae-hyun’s face grew paler as he remained silent.
Su-ha raised his hand again in anger, but Dae-hyun didn’t even try to dodge.
The only one who moved was Joo-hye.
“Oppa, stop it!”
She managed to push Soo-kyung aside, but as soon as she touched the floor, dizziness hit.
Seeing her staggering, Dae-hyun, who had been frozen the whole time, stretched out his arm like lightning.
Leaning on his arm as he supported her waist, Joo-hye faced Su-ha, who looked shocked.
“Don’t hit him…”
“Joo-hye…”
“Stop it…”
She turned, pleading, and saw Dae-hyun’s face crumpled like paper.
Seeing his cheeks red and swelling, her heart sank.
Joo-hye had once felt pain as if it were her own whenever his fingers were scratched.
Her loved one had been struck by her loved family; there was no way she could feel good about it.
“Thank you for worrying, oppa. I’ll talk to Dae-hyun myself.”
If she worried about Dae-hyun now, her brothers would surely think she had gone crazy.
“Talk?”
Even now, their expressions didn’t change.
Just defending Dae-hyun for a moment made Su-ha’s face contort angrily.
Soo-kyung seemed to think the same and snapped as he sighed.
“Joo-hye, do you think we don’t know what that bastard did to you?”
“Soo-kyung oppa…”
“If he locked up someone’s precious younger sister and made her like this, he has to take responsibility, no matter if he’s your husband now.”
Nodding in agreement, Su-ha glared fiercely at Dae-hyun.
Joo-hye could only chew her lips, unable to stop her worry.
“He won’t even be your husband soon, yet he acts like he knows nothing…”
The chilling words froze the air.
Even if spoken out of concern for Joo-hye, it was harsh.
Holding tightly onto Dae-hyun’s cooling arm, she pleaded.
“Please, oppa.”
Su-ha seemed at a loss for words as he saw his sister’s dried-up face.
During the time she had gone missing, he must have worried endlessly; fatigue showed around his eyes.
“Let me end this relationship.”
“You don’t have to. We can help you.”
“Please. If I don’t end it, it’s useless.”
Joo-hye looked at Su-ha and Soo-kyung in turn, begging desperately.
“Marriage is between a couple, right?”
Unable to argue further, Su-ha walked out into the corridor.
Soo-kyung glanced at Dae-hyun once, then also went out.
After they left, the hospital room door closed, finally leaving silence.
“Dae-hyun…”
Joo-hye placed her hand on the arm that was still supporting her.
He looked at her with a disheveled face, and she was sure her own face looked similar.
“How did we end up here? There were chances to resolve this properly.”
“…Joo-hye.”
“Even if it didn’t get this messy… there were many ways to see it through.”
If she had explained the reasons properly when she first mentioned divorce, would he have agreed quickly?
But she didn’t want to see him admit he loved another woman.
So she chose to end it like this.
Holding his hand and stroking him gently, even if this kind of moment would never come again…
“You understand, right? It can’t be undone now.”
Dae-hyun slowly shook his head.
His desperate gestures tried to deny her words.
But the resignation in his eyes showed he had already realized it.
“I’ll try.”
“Trying isn’t enough. Even your brothers know now.”
There was no way to undo the situation.
“If your brothers demand it, you’ll have no choice but to step down from Jinju Construction… but I’ll persuade them. It’s a company you built with your own strength.”
“Even if the company ends up ruined, I don’t care.”
Though her voice was calm, her eyes were desperate.
Joo-hye silently looked up at his face.
Perhaps reading the refusal in her calm expression, his voice lowered.
“I only need you… then will you reconsider?”
If one saw only his calm face, they might think his desperate pleading was an act.
But Joo-hye, who had been closest to him once, immediately understood.
“No.”
Even knowing his sincerity, she refused.
She knew it would hurt him, but it was the best decision.
She couldn’t risk giving him a bigger wound by ignoring the smaller one.
“I chose this so I wouldn’t get hurt anymore. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“…”
“I was a woman who could never benefit you.”
Sometimes, even for mutual growth, one must endure pain.
So Joo-hye said words that would probably hurt Dae-hyun the most.
Words meant to strike his conscience so he would never even think of rejecting her.
“Let’s just think that way and part ways.”
Thankfully, Dae-hyun, still within her expectations, didn’t try to stop her and bowed his head deeply.
His eyes, staring at the floor, sank gradually into darkness.
Messy hair, unshaven marks, swollen face from being hit…
“Lastly, there’s one thing I want to ask of you.”
She didn’t want this scene, which could be their last, to be the memory she carried.
Carefully holding Dae-hyun’s hand, she made one request.
“You’ll do it, right?”
Dae-hyun’s hand was ice-cold, and it hurt Joo-hye’s heart until the very end.
