Chapter 3
“…I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
Who would care if I had held the teacup upside down? It made no sense at all.
Yes. It was undeniably absurd…
“Do you really not know?”
Looking into those deep black eyes, it felt as if he could see straight through every thought I had.
“Yes, I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
Still, denying it outright had to come first. There was no solid evidence, after all.
“Hm… this is troubling.”
Dokyung raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t even know where to start.”
His dark eyes scanned Ye-eun’s face.
“You resemble her so closely that I can barely tell the difference. I admit it—I almost got fooled myself.”
It seemed Dokyung had already realized that Ye-eun wasn’t Y-eun.
But… how…?
“A hidden older or younger sister?”
Dokyung murmured, crossing his arms, as if intrigued.
“Ah, twins, perhaps.”
“…Director.”
“Or a doppelgänger? I wonder what would happen if Secretary Chae saw this…”
“Director!”
Only when Ye-eun raised her voice did Dokyung stop speaking to himself.
“Secretary Chae didn’t call me ‘Director.’”
His expression completely blank, Dokyung spoke coldly. Ye-eun felt her stomach twist with unease.
“I will explain everything.”
Yet, she still had an excuse left—the one that had worked on the staff.
“…I lost my memory after a high fever.”
“Lost your memory…”
“For now, I apologize. I should have informed you in advance to avoid complications, but I failed to do so.”
Ye-eun took a small breath and continued.
“I thought it would be fine since my memory was gradually returning. If I made any mistakes…”
“Do I seem stupid to you, perhaps?”
Dokyung, who had been listening silently, cut her off mid-sentence.
“If I appeared that way, my apologies.”
His cold voice carried no emotion.
“I happen to be rather observant.”
Seeing the frozen expression on Ye-eun’s face, Dokyung smirked slightly.
“Which one are you—the younger sister, or the older?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand. I’m just me. As I said, I was very ill, which made me appear different from usual…”
“Hahaha!”
Suddenly, Dokyung laughed, tilting his head back as the sound spilled out.
“Your effort is admirable, but let’s leave it at that.”
He quickly composed himself, removing the laughter.
“You claim your memory was lost, but only your unconscious actions changed. Doesn’t that strike you as strange?”
“……”
“Fine, let’s say you were severely ill. But considering how sick you supposedly were, you seem far too well. Almost as if you were never ill at all.”
The sharpness in Dokyung’s expression was like a blade.
“Unless you were struck by lightning, there’s no explanation. And even if you were struck, one week is far too short a recovery period.”
Ye-eun fully understood the trapped feeling of a mouse in a snare. The invisible trap was tightening around her neck.
“So, which is it? The older sister or the younger?”
Dokyung’s lips curved gently.
“…It’s almost time to leave for work. We’ll continue this later.”
“Are you going to let me go and switch back your act?”
“…It’s not that…”
“My observational skills are sharp, but my patience is lacking.”
Dokyung shrugged slightly.
“This little trick of yours was amusing enough, but I doubt the Chairman would see it the same way.”
Though his tone was light, there was an unmistakable threat behind it.
“Last question. Are you the older sister, or the younger?”
He made it clear he wouldn’t step aside until he got the answer he wanted.
“Th… th—”
Dokyung tilted his head slightly, as if he hadn’t heard.
Ye-eun squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again.
“Ah, the younger sister. I’m the younger sister!”
She had already lost anyway; she decided to go all out.
Startled for a moment, Dokyung soon burst into laughter.
“Pfft… Ah, I see. Secretary Chae’s younger sister… hahahaha.”
Ye-eun, trying to appear gentle, snapped her eyes up irritably.
Dokyung continued laughing as if he found everything endlessly amusing.
“…Ah. We’ll need to have a proper conversation.”
He glanced at the sofa.
“Sit and wait.”
If she was going to have a conversation, then what had all this been until now? Ye-eun felt like shouting.
Dokyung returned in less than ten minutes.
Even though it was well past the usual start of the workday, he showed no intention of actually going to the office.
“…Aren’t you going to work?”
Unable to restrain herself, Ye-eun spoke.
“I’ll be coming in this afternoon.”
Dokyung said calmly and took a seat in front of the sofa where Ye-eun was sitting.
And he had a file of documents in hand.
Sitting across from her, he began flipping through the papers.
Ye-eun had dealt with many types of people before, but never anyone like Cha Dokyung.
She couldn’t read a single thought from him. The more she spoke, the more she felt dragged in.
Even now, it was the same.
He suggested a conversation, yet here he was, doing this.
She didn’t exactly welcome talking with him, but she hated being kept in suspense like this even more.
“What are you going to do?”
“Do what, exactly?”
His gaze never left the documents.
It was as if he were telling her: “The worry is yours alone.”
Ye-eun felt her patience boiling over.
She knew she had no right to get angry. Her lies had been exposed, and begging wouldn’t even suffice.
But still…
There was a limit to how much one could endure.
If he had simply threatened her like earlier, she might have understood. But sitting there silently while she worked as if nothing happened… what was that about?
Technically, there was still no evidence against her.
Y-eun was safely hidden, and Ye-eun wasn’t listed as family in the documents.
So, shouldn’t she be confident?
…No, no. Still…
“I know you’re angry about my lies and actions. I… I understand that part.”
Ye-eun clutched the remaining shreds of reason.
“Angry? I’m not angry. It was amusing.”
“…Then I truly apologize for that part…”
“It was amusing, so there’s no need to apologize to me.”
Cha Dokyung was like a wall—or rather, a spring. Everything said just bounced off. A terrifying spring.
“…There’s no excuse left…”
“I’ve already made plenty of excuses, haven’t I?”
There was a snap, the sound of her restraint breaking.
“Ah… I’m really sorry. Sorry. Yes? I’m sorry. But… isn’t it true there’s no proof I’m not the older sister? I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’m not just going to let this happen passively…”
Watching Ye-eun spew words as if she’d been waiting, Dokyung covered his mouth to laugh.
Ha ha, hahaha.
She had felt it before, but his laugh was strangely pleasant to hear. Listening to it gradually brought back some of the reason Ye-eun had lost.
“Haha, definitely different. I almost feel embarrassed for having been confused for a moment.”
Dokyung removed the smile from his face.
“Personally, I prefer this side much more.”
His casual tone sent chills down her spine.
One thing was certain—Cha Dokyung was completely unhinged.
“What’s Secretary Chae’s younger sister’s name?”
Ye-eun clamped her lips shut instead of answering. Her usual brazen defiance, anger, and pleas for forgiveness were useless. Her will had crumbled.
“How old is Secretary Chae’s younger sister?”
She remained silent. Dokyung tilted his head slightly as if he expected this, then hardened his expression.
“Is Secretary Chae dead?”
“…W-what did you say?”
Her heart skipped. Ye-eun scrutinized Dokyung’s face warily.
Cha Dokyung might not be the prime suspect, but he was certainly suspicious. She had been careless.
In retrospect, it all felt strange. How he had immediately realized she wasn’t Y-eun, and now his behavior…
Could it be… you?
“No.”
“…?”
“That’s not what you’re thinking.”
“You know what I’m thinking?”
Ye-eun snapped back fiercely.
“You’re suspecting me of harming Secretary Chae, aren’t you?”
Instead of answering, she sharpened her gaze.
“Well, it doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me. It will be proven soon enough.”
Dokyung seemed confident, as if he had nothing to hide.
“And I’m neither incompetent, unable to find evidence, nor petty, using evidence to threaten.”
“……”
“I generally prefer mutual agreements or cooperation.”
He had set the documents down and leaned slightly forward, meeting her gaze.
“So, Secretary Chae’s younger sister. How about we make a deal?”
