Chapter 19
“At first, I couldn’t believe it.”
Jian pressed her lips tightly together and tensed her jaw before continuing.
“You may not remember, Director, but I was originally a data analysis researcher at the Future Strategy Research Institute at headquarters.”
Saheon listened to her silently without answering. After taking a sip of beer, Jian fell into thought for a moment before drawing out a quiet, “Hmm…”
“The day before my brother-in-law passed away, he sent me a text saying there was something important he needed to tell me. Nothing like that had ever happened before, so instinctively, I wondered if it might have something to do with the company. But then he suddenly took his own life the very next day. Isn’t that strange?”
Jian ran her finger over the condensation on the surface of the can and let out a small sigh.
“At first, it was nothing more than a suspicion. After all, I couldn’t just assume what kind of troubles he might have been dealing with simply based on the bright image he showed on the outside.”
“That’s true.”
Saheon nodded in agreement. Jian bit her lip for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh.
“But all of my brother-in-law’s research materials were classified. Even things that seemed completely insignificant. People from Hyungang Tech even came to the house and searched through everything. That’s when I found his notebook.”
“What did he write?”
“That he felt guilty.”
Jian’s voice grew quieter.
“It was only one short sentence, but I knew that what he had been researching recently was related to AI targeting. So I wondered if that might have been the reason something happened to him. I even contacted the police, but all they could do was reinforce the conclusion that he had taken his own life because of psychological pressure.”
“I see.”
“Yes. In the end, the case was closed as a suicide… but something felt wrong. So I formally reported it to the company’s Ethics Management Office and asked them to look into it one more time.”
She gave a bitter, regretful smile.
“Looking back, I was an idiot.”
“What happened?”
“My research institute was punished for it. Our entire team underwent a security audit, and a major project we had been developing was handed over to another team. Most of my teammates didn’t receive their performance bonuses and were passed over for promotions.”
“Did pressure come from Hyungang Tech?”
“I can only assume so.”
“Hmm.”
Saheon brought the beer can to his lips and fell into thought.
If it was Lee Jae-sung, he’d certainly be capable of something like that.
And perhaps Lee Jae-kwon had known about it too.
“That was why I was ostracized so badly. I was practically treated like a criminal. Even when people bullied me, all I could do was endure it quietly, thinking that perhaps I was paying for what I’d done.”
“Tell me their names. I’ll fire every one of them.”
Jian gave a small laugh at that.
“That’s why I submitted my resignation… although you don’t remember that.”
She lifted her lowered head and met Saheon’s eyes.
“You were the one who contacted me first, Director.”
Saheon’s hand stopped for a moment as he lowered his beer can.
“I did?”
“You said you’d been impressed by my report on our Middle Eastern expansion strategy, and you offered me a position in the secretarial office.”
Saheon slightly furrowed his brows as he fell into thought.
He wanted to remember what he had been thinking back then, but his mind was still nothing but darkness.
“Did we know each other before that?”
“I worked on a project once with Hyungang Aeros’ Strategic Business Division. But we never spoke personally.”
Then had he already taken an interest in this woman back then?
As Saheon continued rummaging through his hazy memories, Jian went on.
“I don’t know how you found out that I’d submitted my resignation, but you offered me the position, and that’s how I ended up in the secretarial office. To be honest, I also felt uneasy about simply leaving the company like that. I wanted to stay a little longer and make sure that my brother-in-law really had taken his own life.”
“So, did you find anything?”
“No.”
Jian gave a small shake of her head.
“I just… I’m trying to accept it now. That it was his choice.”
She gazed into the distance and smiled with resignation.
“Even though I know the right thing is to let him go properly, I still had so much lingering attachment. Just like when I desperately clung to our father’s pant leg after he abandoned my sister and me.”
Saheon fell silent for a moment, lost in thought.
At first, his feelings had been nothing more than casual curiosity.
He had simply been curious about this woman, and while he had lost his memories, he found it interesting that he had somehow mistaken her for his lover.
He’d even thought about messing with her a little, trying some pathetic tricks to get a reaction out of her because she seemed like the sort of soft-hearted woman who could easily be shaken by someone pretending to be pitiful.
But the heavy, honest story she had opened up about had made Saheon serious as well.
What was it about this woman? Why was she so innocent and sincere about everything?
“My story is pretty cliché.”
Saheon crushed the empty beer can and placed it on the wooden platform.
“My mother had practically been sold off into marriage to a man who already had two illegitimate children, so she never gave me much affection.”
He gave a self-deprecating chuckle, then shrugged and continued in an indifferent voice.
“All I have left are twenty-one years of memories. And there’s not much worth reminiscing about in them. Even if my memories come back, I imagine they’ll be filled with the same predictable things.”
He paused briefly.
“But if you ask whether it was difficult… not really. That’s simply how I lived. Every single day, fighting to survive.”
Jian nodded as though she understood.
He spoke so plainly and calmly, but he didn’t realize that sometimes, that very composure could hurt someone’s heart even more.
“As soon as my mother died, my father brought my brothers home. Like I told you before, they beat me a lot. I was still young back then.”
“……I see.”
“Back then, a gardener used to tend the garden every morning. Once, because of my brothers, I nearly had my fingers cut off by a weed trimmer.”
Gasping softly, Jian looked startled.
Saheon let out a quiet laugh.
“Back then, the only thing in my head was, I need to seize power as quickly as possible, crush those bastards, and rise above them. I don’t think I had room for anything else.”
“……”
“The idea of liking someone felt strange even to me. And as for wanting someone else to love me…”
He gave a faint shrug.
“I’d never even considered it.”
Silence descended between them.
From somewhere in the distance came the faint chirping of insects. A gentle breeze brushed against their cheeks.
It was a quiet summer night that seemed capable of holding even their heavy stories in silence.
Jian toyed with her lukewarm beer can, unable to take her eyes off Saheon.
He tilted his head back and gazed up at the sky before turning his eyes toward her.
His eyes resembled the depths of the night.
When Jian had worked as Saheon’s secretary, whenever their eyes happened to meet, she would invariably tense up and freeze.
He was undoubtedly the same person as the Saheon standing before her now.
So why did he feel like an entirely different person?
Realizing that she had been staring at him far too intently, Jian hurriedly tilted her head back and shifted her gaze toward the sky.
“There are so many stars.”
“There are.”
Saheon looked at her with a faint smile.
“They’re beautiful.”
“……”
The atmosphere suddenly becoming awkward, Jian tucked her windblown hair behind her ear.
“I think I’ll…”
She was about to say that she should get up when Saheon slowly placed one hand on the wooden platform and leaned toward her, shifting his weight.
With every inch the distance between them narrowed, her heart began pounding harder and harder.
Her lips had gone dry, and she unconsciously moistened them with the tip of her tongue.
He didn’t miss the tiny movement.
The corners of his lips lifted into a crooked smile.
“Why are you nervous?”
His words hit the mark so precisely that she became speechless.
Jian unconsciously held her breath.
Before she knew it, the surroundings had grown completely silent.
The sounds of insects and the wind that had been audible only moments ago seemed to fade into the distance.
It felt as though only the sound of their breathing remained, filling the night air.
He reached out and cupped Jian’s cheek.
His hand was large and hot.
“I’m going to kiss you now.”
A sharp current seemed to run along the rim of her ear.
His deep eyes, straight nose, and masculine, angular jawline…
Jian stared at the confident, slightly shameless smile playing at the corners of his lips before lowering her trembling gaze.
“If you don’t like it, hit me.”
Saheon tilted his head slightly.
Their lips met, and he gently drew her lower lip between his.
Ah…
A small gasp escaped between Jian’s lips, and he didn’t miss the opening, deepening the kiss.
It was a kiss that seemed capable of melting a person.
Their lips moved slowly against each other, and Jian’s palms prickled with warmth.
“Ah…”
Something deep inside her seemed to be slowly boiling over.
Without realizing it, Jian clutched the front of his T-shirt.
At that, Saheon’s large hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her tightly against him.
The beer can Jian had been holding slipped from her hand and hit the ground with a dull thud, liquid spilling across the floor.
Yet their lips still refused to part.
Saheon kissed her as though he’d lost himself in the moment, his movements growing more urgent as he held her waist firmly.
And then, once because of the sweetness of her lips,
once because of the delicate tremble running through her body from tension and excitement,
and finally, once again because of the pounding of his own heart, which felt as though it might burst—
Saheon was startled.
Ah.
This…
I was more serious about her than I thought.
