YAIMF 45 🍒

Chapter — 45
Their Long and Tangled Connection

“…The suspect, Mr. C, involved in the robbery that occurred in ○○-dong, is an employee of a third-tier financial institution… (omitted)… The victim was taken to the hospital immediately on the day of the incident, and it has been confirmed that their life is not in danger.”

“Damn bastard. I should’ve twisted his neck right there.”

Yongsik glanced at Saena and turned off the TV. For something that happened in such a small, quiet town, it had become a big incident. The local stations talked about nothing else all day.

As soon as Saena heard that Jiwoon’s surgery had gone well, she had collapsed. The moment she regained consciousness, she ran straight to Jiwoon’s hospital room. Now, her face looked worse than Jiwoon’s, who was lying unconscious on the bed. Watching her like that, all kinds of thoughts ran through Yongsik’s head.

Kid, you should’ve told her the truth before it got this bad.

Everything had become hopelessly tangled. Feeling awkward for no reason, Yongsik rubbed the tip of his nose and spoke carefully.

“He’ll shake it off and wake up soon.”

At his calm words, Saena nodded slightly. Truly wishing that were the case, she held Jiwoon’s hand tightly. Seeing that only made Yongsik’s heart feel heavier. Jiwoon had to wake up quickly. Only then could this knotted mess be untangled.

“But why isn’t he waking up?”

Her voice, heavy with tears, trembled and seemed to grab Yongsik by the back of the neck. Startled, he turned around. Saena was staring blankly at Jiwoon, as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

He didn’t know how to comfort a woman, so Yongsik scratched his head, feeling uneasy.

“This happened before.”

“…?”

“When we were in high school, I think. He jumped into the water to save a girl and hit his head on a yacht. Back then, he was unconscious for a whole week too. Then he woke up like nothing had happened. It’ll probably be the same this time.”

Those were words Haman-daek had once told her. Saena looked at Yongsik with tear-filled eyes. Her vision blurred, so she wiped her tears with the back of her hand and nodded.

Watching her like that, Yongsik’s chest ached for some reason. He could understand, just a little, why Jiwoon had suddenly said he would tell her everything.

So he loves her.

The reason Jiwoon abandoned his dark resolve to use her for revenge against his parents was clear in her eyes.

Ha… I don’t know anymore.

If Jiwoon woke up and brushed it all off like before, Yongsik was willing to help with anything.

“But that man…”

“…Yes?”

“The person who did this to Jiwoon. Why did he do it?”

Come to think of it, Saena hadn’t seen President Cheon for the first time that day. She had seen him when he stormed into the office with a group of men. It was natural for her to be curious.

Yongsik let out a low sigh, sounding irritated just thinking about it.

“He said he needed money.”

“Money?”

“Yes. I don’t know all the details either, but he used to learn the ropes under our chairman. When the chairman bought the office building, that guy invested too, I guess. Officially, the investment was already paid back with interest. But back then, everything was done in cash. He was probably trying to find proof that the money had been returned.”

“So that’s why…”

“Yeah. Why he came to the office. Why he broke into that house.”

That was the reason for everything. No matter how he thought about it, it was stupid. Chairman Lee, who had climbed this far in the money world—especially as a woman—would never have handled repayment carelessly.

Stupid bastard.

When President Cheon was handed over to the prosecutors, he looked half out of his mind. Just seeing that made Yongsik furious. If he could, he wanted to beat him twice as badly as what Jiwoon had suffered. Even now, Yongsik clenched his fists, unable to forget that vacant face.

“So he noticed, didn’t he?”

“…What?”

“When he called me. He already knew everything.”

Saena’s eyes, as she looked at Jiwoon, were filled with painful longing. She looked like she might start crying at any moment. Unable to bear watching her, Yongsik turned his gaze away as he spoke.

“He’s always been smart. Did well in school, even went to a top university. You’d wonder why someone like that was living the way he did.”

“…I see. I still don’t remember anything about him. Why won’t those memories come back?”

There was no answer he could give. No—he couldn’t answer. Everything she knew was a lie Jiwoon had created. Yongsik shut his mouth tightly.

Watching him with a sorrowful look, Saena let out a quiet sigh and pressed Jiwoon’s hand to her forehead. Seeing that, Yongsik decided to step out. Only after closing the hospital room door did he finally feel like he could breathe. Leaning against the door, he shut his eyes tightly.

You idiot. When you wake up, you have to give the lies back. So wake up already.

“We confirmed that she received inpatient treatment at that hospital. And yes, the diagnosis of memory loss is correct.”

It was information obtained for a small amount of money. Just confirming that Saena had lost her memories made him feel like he could finally breathe. Still, one thing was disappointing—she hadn’t been found as a cold corpse.

“What about the chances of recovery?”

“The previous records say it’s uncertain. And she didn’t come in for today’s appointment.”

“She didn’t?”

“Yes. It seems something happened to the man she’s living with.”

Now that he thought about it, he had heard that a man had taken Saena with him. For some reason, it didn’t feel right. There was no way he had saved Saena for no reason. On top of that, he paid for her hospital treatment too.

Something’s going on.

He didn’t want things to go wrong again. First, he needed to find out who that man was. If the reason he approached Saena was because he knew who she really was, things would become complicated.

Just when he thought he’d solved one problem, another obstacle appeared, and irritation surged up.

“Find out everything you can about that man.”

The other person agreed and hung up, but Imjae, still tense from the call, tossed his phone onto the desk. The phone landed with a dull thud and, ironically, stopped right in front of a framed photo from their engagement day.

In the photo, he was smiling brightly. Saena, on the other hand, wore only a faint smile.

Damn it. Couldn’t you smile just a little for me?

Thinking back, Saena had never once smiled for him. Clicking his tongue in resentment, Imjae sank back into his chair.

When was it again? The day he first met her. It was early summer, just before the heat became unbearable.

…Was she a sophomore in college?

When he returned from the U.S., Kyungjun suddenly introduced Saena to him, saying she would be his future fiancée. Saena was much younger-looking back then, and she wasn’t particularly friendly even then. But strangely, that cold, reserved attitude captured Imjae’s heart.

Back then, there was some guy.

Once, to celebrate Saena’s birthday, CEO Moon took them to the seaside where the yacht marina was, saying he would gift her a yacht. Since it was vacation, Imjae spent his days either taking the yacht out in Saena’s place or reading at the villa.

He ran into Saena often, but she never once looked at him. Then, one day, she started going out every afternoon and only came back around dinner.

…Yes. That was when it happened.

The first time he saw Saena smile.

She was smiling shyly in front of some guy. The moment Imjae saw it, his heart rang loudly. It was the most beautiful smile in the world. And he felt jealous of the man who made her smile like that.

I can’t remember his face.

All he remembered was that, unlike himself, the man had very fair skin. But one thing was clear. Looking resentfully at the photo of Saena’s almost expressionless face, Imjae thought:

Yeah. Why the hell do you only smile in front of other people?

He told himself it was because of that guy’s clumsy yacht skills. But even now, he remembered it clearly. To retrieve Saena’s shoe that had been swept away by the waves, the boy swam desperately. Imjae deliberately steered the yacht into him.

The dull impact and vibration still echoed vividly in his ears. Imjae stared at his own hands. They were trembling.

“Damn unlucky.”

He didn’t know why that memory came back now. But he finally understood why Saena always kept her distance from him.

The boy was lucky—he was taken to the hospital quickly and survived. Saena, however, fainted from the shock. There was nothing physically wrong with her, but perhaps because she believed the boy had been hurt because of her, that memory never returned.

At the time, Imjae thought it was fortunate. But it seemed her unconscious mind had remembered. Saena’s clear, upright gaze felt like it was silently condemning him.

“So what? It’s all in the past.”

As if he could no longer bear to meet her eyes, Imjae snapped the frame shut with a sharp sound.