Chapter 33
―“Your parents had an accident.”
Seung-eon was twenty-five when he heard those thunderous words that struck like lightning from a clear sky.
「Want to hear something surprising? Seung-eon, you’ve got a little sibling on the way.」
It had only been ten months since his mother—gentle and bright in nature like flowers in a garden—had shyly told him this, just as he was preparing to study abroad after graduating from university.
“This is… a joke, right?”
When he received the call from his grandmother, he naturally assumed it would be news of his mother’s delivery. Seung-eon gave an awkward laugh.
It had to be a lie.
His mother was heavily pregnant, just about to give birth—how could there be an accident?
―“A truck from behind rammed into the car your parents were driving. The driver, Mr. Jang, barely survived, but the back seat… Luckily, they managed to take the baby out of your mother’s body, and the child’s at the hospital. I’m going to see now, you should hurry too…”
His grandmother was saying impossible things.
Not only had his heavily pregnant mother passed away, but to think they took out the sibling he had only ever seen in an ultrasound photo.
He can barely remember how her words ended, or how he rushed to the hospital.
“Don’t collapse.”
But one thing was clear: as he stood over his parents’ bloodless bodies, it was his grandmother’s calm, unwavering voice he heard.
“Now that your father is gone, all eyes will be on you.”
“……”
“For your younger sibling… for that child, you cannot break first.”
Even after losing her beloved eldest son and daughter-in-law, she spoke with a stone-cold expression.
Seung-eon wanted to scream, to clutch her clothes and bawl like a child asking what on earth she meant.
Waaah! Waaah!
But the wail of the newborn filling the funeral hall silenced him.
Under his grandmother’s harsh training, he entered HG Group, starting at the bottom, climbing step by step until he finally acquired Lukin.
The reason Seung-eon never stopped, never looked back, was because of his sibling who lost their parents before even being born.
I must not collapse.
I must not fall.
I must not lean on anyone.
I must handle everything myself.
I must.
‘I must accomplish everything.’
He never needed anyone’s help.
Because he could do it.
People said it was too hard because he was still so young. Because he was a woman. Because he lacked experience.
Nosy bystanders repeated it endlessly, but he never listened.
He had to succeed.
「I know you’re not weak, Director. I know you can overcome anything on your own. You have the ability to do that.」
Kang Seung-eon was strong, and she was capable.
And so, she worked even harder to live up to the expectations placed on her.
She had to endure without falling, stand tall without breaking.
But then—
「But when the day comes that it’s too much, you’ll need someone to lean on.」
When she heard Seo Isu say that, it felt like something struck her head hard.
「I’m glad it’s me who can reach out my hand when you need help.」
Looking at him smile faintly as he said those words, he seemed—surprisingly—sincere.
“……”
Seo Isu.
Seo Isu.
…Seo Isu.
Seung-eon scribbled those three letters onto a blank white sheet, then finally set the pen down.
“He’s confusing me.”
The chances that Team Leader Seo Isu was her “secret boyfriend” weren’t just zero, they were practically negative.
And yet, the things he said—
‘And that incident at the mart too…’
He seemed like a surprisingly decent person.
‘Is it because I’ve seen a side of him I never expected?’
What if Jung Hee-do or Yoo Hyun-joon had said those words to her?
「Don’t hold it all in. Tell me too. I hate watching you suffer alone.」
That’s probably how Jung Hee-do would’ve put it.
He couldn’t sugarcoat words, so he would’ve shown his raw feelings.
More likely he’d scold or snap at her, never offering sweet comfort.
On the other hand—
「Sunbae. Don’t forget you’ve got me too. Remember I’m your loyal dog who’ll come running anytime you call.」
That’s exactly what Yoo Hyun-joon would say, with a straight face.
He might even bark “woof-woof” as a joke just to make her roll her eyes.
But Hee-do and Hyun-joon could only say such things because of the long years they’d spent by her side, and because—even with her aversion to physical closeness with men—she made exceptions for them.
‘But this time… it really felt like comfort.’
To hear such warm words from someone not close to her at all—someone practically a stranger—was so foreign.
「Then, I’ll see you tomorrow.」
Still dumbfounded, unable to form a reply, Seung-eon just stared as Seo Isu bowed lightly and left.
By the time she gathered herself to answer, he had already gone into his room.
“Noona. Noona?”
Mmm…
Someone tugged at her cheek. As her eyelids fluttered open, a familiar, beloved face filled her view.
“Noona!”
With his red lips right by her ear, Woojin shouted, “Wake up!” His sharp voice made her frown.
“Woojin-ah…”
“Noona, you have to go to work!”
Work?
The last thing she remembered was scribbling Seo Isu’s name on a blank sheet a few times, unable to get it out of her head.
“What’s that? Seo I…”
Gasp.
“I’ll get up! I’ll go to work!”
She sprang up. Woojin, who had spread his arms as if to hug her, quickly pulled back when he noticed the A4 paper on the desk.
‘Oh no.’
She hastily hid it behind her back, but not before Woojin glimpsed it—full of “Seo Isu” written over and over.
She could’ve sworn she only wrote it three times, so when did it multiply like that?
“Noona, you’re acting suspicious.”
“Suspicious? What time is it?”
“Seven o’clock.”
“Already? Did you wash up?”
“No. I was going to after waking you.”
“That’s sweet of you, but hurry up and get ready. I’ll drive you to school today.”
“Okay!”
Given the circumstances, special measures were necessary.
Normally, she’d have entrusted Woojin’s commute to the family driver. But after being unconscious for half a year, waking up, surviving an unexpected fire at home, and even ending up in this temporary cohabitation with Seo Isu, Seung-eon changed her mind.
「For now, I’ll take Woojin to school myself.」
「You, Director?」
「Yes. I have some free time in the mornings anyway. With all these strange things happening, I’m worried.」
「…Will you be alright?」
「What do you mean?」
「Driving.」
Perhaps uneasy, Secretary Chu wore a worried expression, which was unlike him.
But Seung-eon just laughed and waved it off.
「You think I’d have aftereffects from the car accident? Don’t worry. I’m perfectly fine.」
She could barely accept her memory loss, let alone some “lingering trauma.”
There was no way.
“Just a quick wash and I’ll be ready! You too, Noona!” Woojin shouted as he ran off toward his room.
There were two bathrooms in Seo Isu’s house: one in the master bedroom beside Woojin’s guest room, and one near Seung-eon’s guest room by the entrance.
‘Still sleeping?’
As she opened her door, her eyes instinctively flicked toward the master bedroom. Then she startled at herself and quickly looked away.
‘None of my business.’
Sleeping or not—
‘Kang Seung-eon, why should you care?’
Maybe it was because of last night. She found herself strangely aware of the name Seo Isu.
Shaking her head vigorously, she reached for the bathroom doorknob.
Click.
Before she could turn it, the tightly shut door swung open.
“Ah.”
And there, emerging through the cloud of steam, stood a man.
