Episode 40
Seeing Aunt Aeseon’s trembling shoulders, Serin’s eyes filled with confusion.
“What’s happening with Dongmyung?”
After thinking briefly, Serin turned on her phone. Missed calls and messages flooded the screen. Most were from Taeyoon, but there were a few from Aeseon and the hospital as well.
Ignoring them all, Serin opened the portal site and checked the news section. As soon as the page loaded, she saw a familiar company name: Dongyoung Food, her father’s company.
With trembling fingers, she tapped one of the headlines. Unbelievable articles spilled onto the screen.
> [Foreign substance found in Dongyoung Food products – identified as a rat’s head…]
> [Osung Group cancels planned investment this month. Is there any hope left for Dongmyung Food?]
> [The light and shadow cast over Dongyoung Food’s 50-year legacy]
Just reading the headlines made her fingers tremble and her mind reel.
“Auntie… what is this? Are these articles really true?”
Serin asked in a shaking voice. Aeseon wiped her tears and nodded.
“That’s why everything went crazy. Even Osung Group said they’re pulling out. Public opinion turned against us too. Your father—despite his condition—tried to rush out to confirm the situation himself, and then…”
Aeseon wiped her tears again.
“How could this happen…”
Serin felt like all the blood had drained from her body. She staggered, barely staying on her feet by holding onto the wall.
“This can’t be real. There’s no way our company’s products… something like that…”
Dongyoung Food had always prioritized cleanliness and hygiene above all. A foreign substance? A rat’s head? Never. Not once had this happened.
“I don’t know either. I’ve been at the hospital nonstop since your dad collapsed—I didn’t even have time to think.”
Osung Group pulled away. Youngsook gave up. What would become of Dongyoung Food now? What would become of her father? Was there any way to save the sinking company?
Serin couldn’t see a way forward. No matter how she looked at it, there didn’t seem to be a way to save everyone.
Her gaze sank into the endless darkness.
> “That article—it was Osung Group that leaked it first. As soon as the foreign substance story broke, they pulled their investment immediately, like they were waiting for it.”
Aeseon’s words echoed in Serin’s mind as she sat beside Seunghyup. Aeseon had heard the information from a friend after going to work late one day.
Foreign substance scandal. Pulled investment.
All of it happening right after the MOU with Osung Group—it felt like a deliberate setup. Was it too paranoid to think someone had orchestrated it all?
> “Contamination… pulled investment… and Osung Group…”
Osung Group. And Yoo Chahee.
Serin sat silently in the dim hospital room and muttered Chahee’s name. Her eyes, murmuring that name, were vacant and hollow.
Was there something else she could’ve done? What should she have done to save Dongmyung Food?
She had given everything—her pride, her dignity, even her body—to turn things back. But things only got worse. That truth dragged Serin deeper into despair.
Suddenly, the quiet hospital room door opened. She didn’t move, assuming it was a nurse. But slow, deliberate footsteps stopped beside her.
The air changed the moment the person entered. A heavy musk scent hung in the air.
Even without turning, she knew exactly who it was.
“What are you doing here?”
She asked. Taeyoon’s emotionless voice replied:
“You left home, they said.”
A bitter smile tugged at Serin’s lips.
“More like I got kicked out. By your mother.”
“You shouldn’t have done that. I would’ve found you no matter what, Eun Serin.”
He pulled something out and placed it in front of her—a deep green velvet case. Inside was a bracelet he had once gifted her.
“You left it behind.”
It was something that once brought her happiness, but now she couldn’t even stand the sight of it. Serin tightly closed her eyes and turned her head.
“I don’t need it.”
“Even if you don’t, it’s still yours. I gave it to you.”
“Hah. So you came all the way here… just to give me this?”
She was furious. That he came to her sick father’s bedside just to dangle this in front of her? Her anger boiled over, and her blood rose to her head.
Serin swept the case off the bed with her arm.
Clatter. Thud.
The case hit the floor and rolled. Taeyoon’s eyes narrowed. Serin glared at him.
“You did it on purpose, didn’t you? Yesterday.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Her throat burned with heat. Swallowing that rising fire, she asked:
“All those traces you left last night… you did it deliberately, didn’t you?”
It had felt wrong. Taeyoon was always selfish, but he had kept some boundaries while she was staying there. But suddenly calling her to his room, flaunting their relationship in front of Yoo Chahee…
Then yesterday, in the warehouse, tearing her clothes, leaving marks all over her body. It was as if he wanted people to see. Like he was desperate to expose them.
As Serin glared, Taeyoon smirked.
“Yeah. It was on purpose. And you’re only realizing it now? You’re slower than I thought, Eun Serin.”
“On purpose…”
She repeated his words and bit her lip so hard that it bled. But she couldn’t even feel the pain through the storm of rage.
“I wanted the world to know we’re tied together. That I finally got what I always wanted—Eun Serin.”
Serin was speechless.
She had desperately tried to protect their secret from the world. But he wanted to reveal everything. Her struggle meant nothing. It had all been for nothing.
His pathetic need to boast, to claim her as a trophy, had cost her everything. The chance to rebuild Dongyoung Food. Her recovering father collapsed again.
Everything she tried to protect was shattered. Because of one man—Seo Taeyoon.
Her fury surged, but she had no energy left. It felt like all her strength had evaporated. Worse still, her father lay in front of them.
Even if he wasn’t conscious, she didn’t want to fight in front of him.
“…I don’t want to talk anymore. Please leave.”
Serin lowered her head and whispered weakly.
Taeyoon, seemingly still wanting to say something, rolled his tongue inside his mouth. He wanted to say not to worry. That he would protect Dongyoung Food no matter what. But Serin had no space left in her heart to accept his words.
“…I’ll come back.”
He swallowed his words and turned away. Silence returned behind the closed door.
How much time passed after that?
It could have been hours. For a long time, Serin was trapped in endless guilt and self-blame.
Sometimes it felt like a punishment for taking Taeyoon’s hand. Other times, it became a desperate justification that she had done everything she could.
But one thing was clear—she was not innocent in how all of this had come to be.
Floating in those tangled emotions, Serin suddenly heard a faint voice calling her.
She lifted her head. Her father was looking at her. His eyelids had opened halfway.
“Dad?”
Serin jumped to her feet without realizing it.
“Dad, are you awake?”
“Yes…”
He smiled weakly, and Serin shut her eyes tightly.
Thank you. Thank you so much for letting my father come back to me. Thank you to every god that exists.
As she silently prayed, she opened her eyes again.
“I’ll get the doctor right away.”
Just as she was about to rush out, Seunghyup grabbed her hand.
Looking back in surprise, Serin saw her father part his dry lips.
