Everything was gray. The body was rapidly shot somewhere regardless of will.

Seo Ha soon realized that she was lying on a patient bed being carried somewhere. The sound of people shouting something loudly rang in her eardrums.

“Seo Ha!”

Among them, a familiar voice cried out her name as if sobbing.

“Get a hold of yourself. Please open your eyes!”

Among the many noises, only his voice clearly struck her heart.

Lee Seung Oh.

My husband, my first love, and…

“Honey, honey! Seo Ha!”

He’s barking well. That son of a bitch.

The son of a bitch was making a fuss calling Seo Ha’s name. She sincerely wanted to get up and punch him in the mouth. She even regretted not hitting him back then at the cafe.

“Seo Ha! Seo Ha, my daughter!”

It’s mom.

Seo Ha tried her hardest to open her eyes.

“Seo Ha, mom’s here. Hm? Seo Ha. Try to open your eyes. Mom’s daughter, please… Please try to open your eyes, Seo Ha!”

Don’t cry like that, mom. If you cry too much, your head will hurt. I’m fine. I’ll get treatment and be up soon.

“Doctor, please save our daughter. I’ll give you as much money as you want! Take organs and blood from my body as needed, just put them in our daughter. Doctor, please, please save our daughter…!”

Hae Sun begged the doctor incoherently, crying and wailing. She never imagined that her mother, who had protected the company and family alone after losing her husband, would collapse like this.

It’s because of me. If only I hadn’t driven the car.

Her heart was torn with regret and guilt.

“7:20 PM. Yoon Seo Ha-”

A heavy voice spoke Seo Ha’s name through the wailing.

“… has passed away.”

What did you say?

“Seo Ha!”

Lee Seung Oh burst into loud sobs. Then Kim Ok Soon’s scream was heard.

“Madam Sa! Get a hold of yourself! Madam Sa!”

“Move aside! We need to lay her on the bed!”

“Mother-in-law, mother-in-law!”

It seemed her mother had finally collapsed. It was unbelievable. I’m alive here. The sound of Seung Oh sobbing, the doctor saying he’s sorry, the vibration of all those sounds and even the fluorescent light shining on my closed eyelids can be felt.

She remembered a news story she had seen before. An incident where someone who had fainted was mistakenly declared dead and was about to be buried in a coffin when someone noticed and barely saved them.

Seo Ha’s situation now was much worse than that news protagonist. Not burial, but cremation. She was about to be burned alive.

Mom, I’m alive. I’m really okay. Get up. Don’t cremate me.

Seo Ha tried her best to let them know she was alive. She focused all her nerves on her stone-stiff fingers, putting strength into her eyelids.

Move, Yoon Seo Ha. You have to move!

If she could just twitch even a little, just a tiny bit, that would be enough. Being put in a coffin and burned alive is too horrific.

Perhaps that effort paid off. Suddenly, a loud shout was heard.

“Doctor, over here! Jo Seo Ha patient’s finger moved!”

“Vital signs confirmed! Prepare for emergency surgery immediately!”

Though she didn’t know who Jo Seo Ha was, at this moment Seo Ha was incredibly envious of that person with the same name as her.

Lee Seung Oh was still wailing hypocritically. Her mother seemed to have not woken up. As if her brain was avoiding this tremendous stress, suddenly an overwhelming drowsiness poured over her.

“Huh? Doctor, Yoon Seo Ha patient…!”

In her hazy state, she thought she heard her name for a moment.

“Ryu Kyung Jun. It’s Ryu Kyung Jun.”

Lee Seung Oh mumbled that name in front of the miraculously functioning broken phone.

While Kyung Jun is a common name, the surname is not. If there’s a Ryu Kyung Jun with any connection to Yoon Seo Ha, there’s only one.

“Secretary Ryu Kyung Jun.”

“Huh.”

Lee Ji Soo put down a plate of fruit on the table with a worried face.

“The, the master’s secretary? The tall person with a pale face?”

“Have you seen him before?”

“Yes. I, I’ve seen him greeting the master in front of the house a few times. Umm, and also…”

“And?”

Seung Oh pressed. Ji Soo carefully continued, pretending to give in.

“I’m, I’m not sure, but… That day, you know. I think I saw this person at the cafe. He, he was sitting at a different table, I think… I was too nervous, and I only glanced quickly, so I’m not certain…”

“What? Why are you telling me this now!”

Seung Oh unconsciously yelled at the unexpected words. Ji Soo’s eyelashes trembled.

“I’m, I’m sorry. I thought I might have seen wrong, and I was so confused…”

How pitiful those downcast eyes that couldn’t even speak properly. Seung Oh immediately regretted yelling and comforted Ji Soo.

“I’m sorry. I’m not angry at you.”

“I know. It’s okay if you get angry.”

“I told you I’m not angry.”

Seung Oh glared at the phone and fell into thought.

Why did this come out of Yoon Seo Ha’s car?

He regretted throwing away the black box memory long ago to hide his relationship with Ji Soo.

“Um, oppa. Maybe…”

Ji Soo gently held Seung Oh’s hand as he was anxious, unable to easily reach a conclusion.

“This is really, really just a maybe. If this is really Secretary Ryu’s phone, and it came from the young lady’s car, maybe, the two of them are… um, in a deep… that kind of relationship?”

Ji Soo’s voice, getting smaller and losing confidence towards the end, sounded so loud and clear to Seung Oh.

“… Right. That would make sense.”

When Lee Seung Oh mumbled lost in thought, Lee Ji Soo’s eyes flashed briefly before returning to their usual gentleness.

“That, that’s just a possibility. Don’t be suspicious. Anyway, the young lady is terribly hurt right now.”

“Hurt? She might as well be dead, but she’s not. What the hell did those bastards do?”

“What?”

This time Ji Soo raised her voice.

“What do you mean? O-oppa. Don’t tell me, the young lady, you…!”

“Shh.”

Seung Oh covered Ji Soo’s mouth with his hand and grinned.

“It’s okay. There will be an emergency board meeting tomorrow, and I’m the only one who can sit as interim representative.”

Ji Soo’s eyes widened.

“Mmm? Mm, mm…”

“You said you wanted to do design, right? I’ll make it happen. Lee Ji Soo the designer, how about that?”

Ji Soo nodded her head slightly. Seung Oh slowly removed his hand.

“Oppa…”

A few seconds later, Ji Soo jumped into his arms and shouted.

“Oppa, thank you! My dream has finally come true. It’s all thanks to you. You’re the best. You’re the greatest gift in my life!”

“You’re not stuttering at all?”

“I, I won’t stutter anymore! Because I’m Designer Lee Ji Soo!”

So simple. Cute.

Seung Oh looked at Ji Soo, who was hopping like a child meeting a Christmas puppy, with affectionate eyes. His mind was busy thinking about Yoon Seo Ha and Kang Hae Sun lying in the hospital, and the phone in front of him.

Kang Yoon’s shares are held by Kang Hae Sun and Yoon Seo Ha respectively. In case of their death, he would be the heir to those shares.

‘But, if Yoon Seo Ha wakes up.’

It would be best if she just died like this, but he had to consider the possibility of her waking up and presenting those damn divorce papers.

Lee Seung Oh put the phone in a thick envelope and hid it deep in a drawer. It was to use as evidence of Yoon Seo Ha’s affair in case the worst should happen.

Arms and legs crudely encased in casts, face covered with dried blood scabs like barnacles, and even that half-covered by an oxygen mask.

And a name tag that didn’t match any of this.

The Yoon Seo Ha who had thrown divorce papers at her cheating husband, smiled while looking at the sea, talked about her dreams with sparkling eyes, and walked prettily even while drunk, was lying there looking miserable as if dead.

“Ms. Yoon Seo Ha.”

Kyung Jun called her name idly, knowing she couldn’t hear. That sound swirled through the air and drilled a hole in the middle of his chest.

Plop.

A large dewdrop fell from the tip of his chin to the floor. He couldn’t remember the last time his heart had hurt this much. Maybe it was the first time in his life.

“This won’t do. It’s troublesome.”

Kyung Jun closed his eyes for a moment. It was to exclude emotions from his thoughts as much as possible.

Yoon Seo Ha had ‘almost died’. Somehow, vital signs were detected after the death declaration, and she fell into a coma state. CEO Kang Hae Sun, who collapsed from the shock, still hadn’t regained consciousness.

All this happened just yesterday. Other executives had rushed over and already left, but Kyung Jun was a day late because he had lost his phone.

The sound of a door opening came from behind. Kyung Jun quickly wiped his eyes and turned around, nearly cursing out loud.

“Secretary Ryu?”

The ‘idiot’ was acknowledging him with a suspicious expression.

“What brings you here? The CEO’s room is upstairs.”

Kyung Jun erased the look of contempt without a trace and greeted with his usual expressionless face.

“I came down while I was here. I’m also acquainted with Team Leader Yoon.”

“I see. Thank you for coming.”

He had already heard that the lost phone was found in the accident vehicle. But suspiciously, Lee Seung Oh didn’t mention a word about it and only rambled on about other things.

“As you know, with my wife’s accident and mother-in-law collapsing, I’m completely out of it. You know the CEO’s office work best, right Secretary Ryu?”

“I suppose so.”

Lee Seung Oh pulled the curtain in front of Yoon Seo Ha’s bed and sat down on the sofa.

“Since we’ve met, I’ll notify you in advance. A replacement will be coming in this week, so prepare for the handover. After all, the secretary position is closest to the CEO whether you like it or not, so I need to find someone who suits me. It’s not a firing, just consider it a position change.”

His attitude was already arrogant as if he had taken over the CEO’s office.

Wait. The CEO’s office?

A faint wrinkle appeared between Kyung Jun’s brows.

Yoon Seo Ha had a major accident. The very next day after throwing divorce papers at her husband, the sole heir. Could that really be an unfortunate coincidence?

“Secretary Ryu? Aren’t you going to answer?”

Lee Seung Oh urged. There was no trace of sorrow for his wife becoming a vegetative state in his expression.

-‘I’m a married woman. Don’t approach me. How much our husband…’

He remembered Yoon Seo Ha waving her hands even while drunk, saying she was a married woman. That woman who pretended to be smart while actually being the biggest fool in the world.

The mood became extremely foul.

“Lee Seung Oh.”

When Kyung Jun called his name in a strangely disrespectful tone, Seung Oh flinched.

“Is that all you have to say? Aren’t you curious about anything from me?”

Hiding his bewilderment, Seung Oh asked back unpleasantly.

“What do you mean, Secretary Ryu?”

“You must be f***ing curious inside, so why aren’t you asking?”

Kyung Jun smiled slightly and bent down to look into Seung Oh’s eyes at an angle.

“They found it in Yoon Seo Ha’s car. My phone.”