Chapter : 54
Joo-hye stared blankly out the car window as she rode with Director Jung. Beyond the gradually darkening evening, neon signs flickered like heat haze.
…Looking back, there had been many suspicious moments.
Dae-hyun had met Eun-jae and acted kindly, but he had never kissed her or shown any overtly intimate gestures. He had only patted her head or lightly tapped her shoulder, and sometimes Eun-jae had been the one to lean on him. Even when he discovered Eun-jae’s age, it had seemed odd, but he hadn’t suspected anything deeper.
‘Of course… half-siblings…’
It wasn’t a family situation one could easily imagine, nor something one could casually reveal to others. Of course, she considered herself not “other” because she had married Dae-hyun, but she admitted that after his marriage, she had never truly felt at ease. That self-protective silence made sense—if Eun-jae’s existence had been discovered by Su-ha or Soo-kyung, it would have been a fatal vulnerability.
“We’ve arrived, Madam.”
“Thank you.”
Fortunately, Director Jung, who had come at the sound of a single call, thankfully knew even the location of the villa. After all, he had been the one who assisted in purchasing it under Dae-hyun’s orders.
“I’ll wait outside.”
After a polite announcement, Joo-hye hurried toward the villa entrance. It had been a place she thought she would never return to. The moment she saw the neat front door, memories of that day resurfaced, making her fingertips tremble.
“Phew…”
But instead of fleeing in pale terror, she hesitated and gripped the doorknob. Dae-hyun’s car was not visible outside, but she checked just in case. Surprisingly, the door turned easily, and with a click, it opened. Joo-hye quickly pushed it open and stepped inside as if running.
“Dae-hyun? Are you here?”
She called out loudly, but there was no answer. Joo-hye scanned the surroundings desperately, searching for traces of him. The bathroom where he had carried her in his arms, the dining table where he had painstakingly fed her when she collapsed in exhaustion… everything remained frozen in that moment, just as it had been. Only Dae-hyun’s presence was missing.
“Dae-hyun…”
Returning to the living room, Joo-hye muttered his name, her head dropping. Her legs ached from wandering for so long. Perhaps because she had realized she was pregnant, her unusually tired body also bothered her. She slowly sank to the floor and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
‘He probably hasn’t gone far. There’s nowhere else to hide, and I’ll see him at the courthouse soon anyway.’
As soon as the deliberation period for their consensual divorce ended, they would have to face each other again. So he hadn’t left Korea.
‘Maybe I should ask Kang-il?’
Joo-hye shook her head firmly. This time, she wanted to hear the truth directly from him. She didn’t want to know it from a third party like Eun-jae or Kang-il. Not about Dae-hyun’s feelings for her either…
“Huh?”
Just as she lifted her head weakly, she noticed something unusual in the display cabinet across the room. It had been empty when she was confined there. Frowning, she slowly got up and approached it.
Inside the cabinet was a large album—a wedding album of the two of them.
“Why is this here?”
Joo-hye flusteredly opened the cabinet and took out the album. It was spotless, as if someone had checked it recently.
The moment she placed it on her lap and opened it, something slipped out from between its pages—a pure white handkerchief, embroidered with a green clover in the bottom right corner. Seeing it, Joo-hye’s eyes instantly welled with tears.
“Ah… this is…”
Her voice trembled as moisture began to gather. Upon seeing the handkerchief, she immediately recognized it as her own. She had made it herself in high school.
She also vividly recalled when it had ended up in Dae-hyun’s hands.
“The fact that he kept this… that means…”
This handkerchief was proof that Dae-hyun had remembered her all this time. A fragment of the distant past played in her mind like a film.
The day they first attended the same liberal arts class together. Joo-hye had seen Dae-hyun’s face in the classroom for two hours once a week.
Seo Dae-hyun had been such a diligent student that it was hard to believe he had almost been late on the first day. He focused on class more than anyone else.
“Tired?”
“A little.”
“Here, eat this.”
Whenever Joo-hye dozed off during class, he would hand her candy or chocolate from his pocket. Watching him while eating something sweet would naturally shake off her sleepiness.
Warm spring sunlight streaming through the window, the gentle breeze, and the scratching of pens as students took notes… Amid a week of university classes by day and heir training at home by night, this was the only time Joo-hye felt her fatigue ease.
Of course, she and Seo Dae-hyun weren’t personally close. He disappeared somewhere after class, and they hadn’t exchanged contacts. Still, she appreciated the distance—they both remained just ordinary students to each other.
“Senior Dae-hyun, about next week’s presentation…”
It was the day before the semester finals. The professor assigned a group project: visit a botanical garden and present your impressions.
“Are you free this weekend? I thought it would be good to gather information then.”
Unlike usual projects done at the library, this one required the two of them to visit the botanical garden together.
“Saturday works? Sunday I’m busy.”
“Saturday is fine. Which garden shall we go to?”
After class, in the now-empty room, they huddled over maps to decide.
“How about the Guro botanical garden? It’s the first established by Seoul City, and its size is like a park, so we won’t have to walk too long.”
Dae-hyun’s careful explanation echoed clearly.
“We can tour quickly and write the report afterward.”
“Sounds good.”
Joo-hye nodded immediately, and Dae-hyun smiled as if he understood her consideration. His handsome face lighting up with a smile looked wonderful.
“Then… shall we meet at the station at 1 p.m. on Saturday?”
“Let’s do that.”
They set the date, and Joo-hye waited anxiously for Saturday.
But that Saturday morning, an unexpected problem cropped up.
“Dad… what should I do? I have an important appointment today.”
She had just sat at her vanity, fixing her hair. Her outfit was perfectly neat, and her carefully applied makeup was flawless. Had Chairman Jin not suddenly entered her room and spoken, she would have left humming a tune.
“Joo-hye, what could be more important than this appointment?”
“But…”
“You know how important today is. Seeing how much you look like your mother, your mother-in-law will be so proud…”
Chairman Jin trailed off, studying her reflection in the mirror. Seeing Joo-hye grow stirred memories of his late wife, evoking raw emotion. Joo-hye, understanding him better than anyone, slowly lowered her head. Each time he saw her, a longing surfaced in his eyes—understandable, as he had been famous for loving his wife dearly.
“Come on, let’s go. Your brothers are waiting outside.”
Joo-hye checked the time anxiously and sighed. She had forgotten a prior engagement in the midst of her busy life; it was awkward to argue. Besides, she knew how happy her grandmother would be to see her. Finally, she asked,
“We’re just having a meal, right?”
“Yes. After the meal, if you need to go somewhere, ask Director Kim. He’ll take you.”
Her meeting with Dae-hyun was at 1 p.m., so if she left after the meal, she wouldn’t be late. Reluctantly, Joo-hye grabbed her bag and followed Chairman Jin.
