Chapter 5
[I arrived safely, Grandma. Don’t worry.]
After sending the message, Seobin stepped into the columbarium.
Each time she walked in her white shirt dress, the baby’s breath flowers in her arms swayed gently.
Inside the memorial hall, she moved with familiar steps and stopped in front of two urns.
The late Yoo Seon-ae.
The late Bae Seohyun.
“Hi, Mom. Sis.”
She placed a bouquet of baby’s breath in front of each urn.
Her mother had passed away when Seobin was three and Seohyun was five. She had loved baby’s breath, and perhaps because of that, Seohyun loved them too.
“I prefer these to big, flashy flowers.”
After quitting her idol trainee days, Seohyun had taught herself composing and worked as a singer-songwriter. Whenever she performed, Seobin would bring baby’s breath to her concerts.
Without their mother. With a father living overseas for business. The sisters grew up being each other’s mother and father.
And now, on the anniversary of her sister’s death, Seobin stood there again with baby’s breath in her hands.
“Mom, I finished my probation. I’m officially a reporter now. Grandma’s doing well at the nursing home. Dad seems to be doing fine with Aunt Jeonghee. Sometimes I feel a little jealous, but it’s better than him being alone in the Philippines.”
After losing his wife, Seobin’s father had struggled. When Seohyun entered elementary school, he moved to the Philippines through a former colleague’s introduction and began working for a trading company. Later, he started his own small company.
Four years ago, he remarried a woman he met through a Korean community gathering in the Philippines.
Jeonghee, now Seobin’s stepmother, had lost her husband in her twenties and moved to the Philippines, where she ran a study-abroad agency and earned considerable wealth. She was ambitious, cheerful, and independent.
Seobin thought she suited her father well, a man who seemed rough and macho but was actually gentle and lonely.
After speaking to her mother, Seobin turned toward her sister’s urn.
“Sis…”
Her voice trembled more than before.
“I’ll do well, right?”
Holding back tears, she forced a smile.
“I’ll do well. So you won’t be wronged. I promise.”
Tears finally fell from her eyes. She closed them tightly and spoke the words she could never say out loud.
So please help me. Tell me who did it. Tell me who put you in that cold water.
And keep me from wavering.
Because of that man. Because of weak emotions.
If I uncover why you died… maybe then I can be free too.
Like you.
After wiping her tears, Seobin left the memorial hall.
***
It was a humid night.
Hotel Meridian was busy with guests enjoying their Saturday evening. Seobin walked past them and entered the elevator.
21st floor.
The Royal Suite. The place she had agreed to meet him every night at ten.
As the elevator numbers climbed, her heartbeat sped up.
“We need to dig into the Sarim Foundation.”
“Yoo Inha. I have something to repay that bastard for.”
His purpose seemed clear. If he was telling the truth.
But could she trust Kim Sa-hyuk?
“Bae Seobin. …I like you.”
Nineteen-year-old Kim Sa-hyuk, looking at her with desperate sincerity.
“Get a grip. No one here is on your side.”
The same man, cold and indifferent that winter.
Her conclusion was simple.
No.
Kim Sa-hyuk was still one of the suspects.
Maybe even his confession back then had been a way to get closer to her sister.
She remembered Seohyun shyly saying she liked someone.
“Seobin. I like someone. You know him too.”
She also remembered seeing Seohyun with Yoo Inha near their house. And Yoo Inha denying their relationship.
“Your sister liked Kim Sa-hyuk.”
What had Kim Sa-hyuk been to her sister? And Yoo Inha?
Whose words could she believe?
Her thoughts tangled.
But one thing was certain: Kim Sa-hyuk and Yoo Inha were enemies now.
Maybe he proposed working together because he knew she was Yoo Inha’s greatest weakness.
Or maybe she was his.
Either way, she needed to know why he had gone to the United States.
And what had happened between him and her sister.
The tension in her eyes slowly settled into calm determination.
There was only one thing she needed from him now.
Kim Sa-hyuk’s true intentions.
And through them, the truth of that day.
Her hands tightened around her handbag.
The elevator doors opened on the 21st floor.
Standing in front of the Royal Suite, she used the key card he had given her last time.
She stepped inside.
The sitting room glowed softly, and the dazzling night view of Seoul spread before her. It was just as breathtaking as before.
But Sa-hyuk was not there.
She glanced at her phone. 10:03 p.m.
Was he late? He was a busy man. Maybe he had forgotten. Saturday night—he probably had plenty of people to see.
As she stood there uncertainly, a voice came from beyond the wall.
“Let’s set up a joint venture in Saudi Arabia first. If necessary, we can negotiate directly with the Saudi government. …Yes, that sounds good.”
Low. Calm. Cool.
She followed the sound and found a modern study.
She greeted him with a nod. He tilted his head slightly and gestured toward a round table.
After she sat down, he ended the call and took the seat opposite her.
His white dress shirt stretched slightly over his broad chest. Everything about him was composed and precise. Only the faint fatigue around his eyes hinted at how much he worked.
His first words, however, were unexpectedly casual.
“It’s the weekend. Did you rest?”
“…Yes. I wasn’t on duty today.”
“What did you do? Go on a date?”
His eyes swept over her.
Annoyance flashed in hers. Then she realized she was still wearing her simple white linen dress.
To him, it might look like a date outfit.
But how could she say she had gone to the columbarium?
To visit the sister you might have killed. And my mother, who would grieve her most.
She said nothing.
Seeing that she didn’t deny it, Sa-hyuk loosened his tie slightly. A rough breath escaped him.
The air grew tense.
“Let’s get to the point. What do I need to do?” she said firmly.
He tilted his head and smirked.
“First, we should go on a date.”
Her eyes sharpened.
His expression turned serious.
“I’m not joking. You need to come to a party with me.”
“A party? That wasn’t part of the plan.”
“It’s hosted by Yoo Inha. During the day, there was a charity auction for emerging artists at the gallery. Tonight, there’s a VIP pool party at the infinity pool. Just renting this hotel for one day cost two hundred million won. Add event management, catering, and everything else…”
The cost would skyrocket.
With Yoo Inha’s powerful connections in politics and business, this wouldn’t be a small gathering. Everything would be top-tier.
Seobin quickly understood.
“Spending hundreds of millions in one night. For someone who hasn’t been particularly active since graduation, it’s a burden. But with a charity auction involved, it’s easy to disguise it as a public good and funnel Sarim Foundation money into it.”
Sa-hyuk nodded.
“The stated goal is public benefit. But who knows where the funds will actually go.”
Her eyes sparkled.
Watching her, he tilted his head slightly.
“Then let’s get you changed first.”
