Chapter 164
“Is it really all right for you to stay here?”
“……”
“I’m asking because I’m genuinely curious. And a bit… worried.”
At the mention of worry, the area under Si-heon’s eyes twitched.
“This is my first.”
“…What is?”
“You, Ga-eun, speaking to me like this.”
Ga-eun drew her lips inward.
It was only months ago that he had gently whispered promises to buy her Earl Grey tea bags, while describing them as insomnia medication to Chairman Kwon.
Even as winter approached, she hadn’t lowered her guard.
Because she never knew when Si-heon’s heart might change again.
While she felt anxious, she also found herself feeling reassured.
Still… because he was her husband.
And the father of her child.
More honestly, she enjoyed seeing him focus all his attention on her.
Even if they parted someday, these memories would sustain her and the child.
“Chairman won’t be pleased about this.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
“…Yes, I won’t.”
Frowning slightly in thought, he slowly spoke.
“I meant don’t dwell on things that trouble you. Not that you shouldn’t concern yourself with my affairs.”
Ga-eun’s eyes widened.
This was my first.
Si-heon had never spoken like this before.
“I admit. My words were like—”
Looking at Ga-eun’s belly, Si-heon stopped and rubbed his face.
He seemed to be filtering out harsh words.
That even such small efforts felt significant probably meant she still loved this man.
“When I was twenty.”
Ga-eun, who had been self-deprecating, looked up at his voice.
“There was an incident.”
An incident?
“A child who was dear to me died”
His tone was flat, but the pain in his eyes was unmistakable.
“Because of me.”
Ga-eun drew in a breath.
She never imagined she would hear about his past from him—something she thought would remain unknown forever.
“A woman kept following me. Director Noh called her a stalker.”
A stalker…
“She was quite persistent. Whatever caught my eye, she would either acquire it or destroy it.”
He explained that at the time, Hwanhee Group was trying to transform its image into a socially friendly corporation, and Chairman Kwon’s proactive stance drew much attention, making it impossible to openly remove her.
Moreover, the woman came from a prominent family, which complicated matters further.
However, the typically indifferent Si-heon paid little attention, and those around him assumed she would eventually give up.
There had never been any major issues before.
But that was a miscalculation.
As his indifference persisted, her anger accumulated steadily.
It just wasn’t visible on the surface.
“I became close to a little boy I met during volunteer work. He was quite attached to me, and I found him endearing.”
Memories Si-heon had tried so hard to suppress came flooding back.
“I wish you were really my big brother. I want to grow up to be a cool adult just like you. Then maybe I’ll have a family too?”
“You’re already cool. If only you’d eat your vegetables.”
“Aww, but I hate vegetables! I just want ice cream. When I grow up, I’ll buy you ice cream! So for now, buy me some!”
“Look who’s being demanding. Hold my hand – if you wander off alone and get lost, there won’t be any ice cream.”
“Okay! I love holding your hand! Hehe. You’ll come visit me often, right?”
He met the child outside the facility a few times, treating him to meals or taking him to the zoo.
“When she saw that, she had a breakdown. She demanded to know why I would give my time to a child who was beneath my status, but not to her.”
The woman who kidnapped the child contacted Si-heon.
She said she was taking the child to the sea.
If Si-heon wouldn’t accept her, she would drown herself along with the child.
“I’ll kill you- no, I’ll kill myself!”
“Help me, save me, big brother!”
Though he rushed there desperately, it was already too late.
That day, he witnessed the red car plunging off the cliff into the dark blue sea below with the child inside.
That’s when his sleepless nights began.
“That’s when I learned that what you cherish can become your weakness.”
The child’s gravestone was placed in the most prominent, finest spot in the memorial park where the crematorium was located.
Si-heon was still keeping his promise to visit the child often.
People began making their own assumptions about Si-heon’s frequent visits to the crematorium.
Eventually, it became accepted as fact that he disposed of those who opposed him at the crematorium.
Following his grandfather’s words that ‘it’s better to be feared than laughed at,’ Si-heon never dispelled these rumors, instead using them when necessary.
“So after that day…”
Si-heon stopped speaking.
Ga-eun was crying silently.
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