“Miss Hae Yeon. Did you finish the task I asked you to do yesterday? Some parts were difficult and the deadline was tight, so I’m a bit worried.”

“Ah, if it’s that, I’ve completed it.”

When Hae Yeon politely replied and handed over the finished documents, So Jung’s expression brightened. Pointing a thumb towards the other colleagues, she boasted, “See? Our new employee?” but was met with snide remarks.

“Wasn’t it just yesterday that Lee So Jung was the youngest in our team?”

Department Head Choi Jung Hyun commented sarcastically, and the employees laughed in unison.

“Don’t laugh, seniors. These days, I really look forward to coming to work thanks to a new employee like Min Hae Yeon.”

“Oh, is that so? You’re acting as if there were other juniors before. So Jung, go and do the inventory properly.”

Department Head Choi assigned work like a cold shower, and laughter erupted in the office.

Amidst the small commotion, Hae Yeon felt warmth in her heart. Surely not all companies work in such a great atmosphere. Thinking that way, she even felt grateful, and that feeling continued until she left work.

“Good work today.”

When Director Sul signaled the end of the workday, team members hurriedly said their goodbyes and rushed out. Hae Yeon, caught in that group, headed to the parking lot.

The destination was the restaurant where she had met Yoon Ho before. The staff member was the same as last time, so when Hae Yeon asked if Yoon Ho had arrived, the man politely answered.

“He has not arrived yet.”

Following the staff’s guidance, Hae Yeon entered the room and saw neatly arranged dishes. Yoon Ho must have instructed them in advance. Hae Yeon quietly waited with the food in front of her. Before long, there was a sound of movement outside the door.

“I apologize. I’m a bit late due to traffic.”

Yoon Ho entered the room holding a brown briefcase and apologized. Hae Yeon couldn’t respond right away. All her attention was on the briefcase Yoon Ho had brought, so his words circled her ears without sinking in.

As if sensing that, Yoon Ho gave his characteristic gentle smile. Then he deliberately hid the briefcase behind his back. Hae Yeon’s eyes grew more and more impure at that mischievous action, but Yoon Ho paid no mind and changed the subject.

“Haha. Let’s eat first.”

“…Yes.”

A deflated voice leaked from Hae Yeon’s lips. She realized it was no use to urge Yoon Ho now. It might be better to just eat. After all, once she looked at those documents, she wouldn’t be in the right mind to have a meal.

Like last time, the Korean food at this restaurant was delicious. However, Hae Yeon couldn’t savor the taste in detail. She just ate out of a sense of duty, while Yoon Ho leisurely enjoyed his meal and talked about this and that.

“It’s a pity. If I had known Hae Yeon would be working, I would have recommended our company.”

“……”

The conversation went like this. Most of it was small talk that didn’t really require a response from her, and Yoon Ho, who even ordered dessert, seemed quite satisfied.

When Yoon Ho, whose mouth had been curled up the whole time, finally emptied his dessert plate, Hae Yeon put her spoon down on the table with a clank.

“Now please hand over the documents.”

Hae Yeon’s determined face had a forceful air about it. Even in the face of her strong demeanor, Yoon Ho drank his tea leisurely without batting an eye. To Hae Yeon, that time felt like a whole day had passed.

Finally, Yoon Ho brought forward the briefcase he had been hiding behind him during the entire meal. He smiled brightly.

“Before I give the documents to Hae Yeon, I have something to say first.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

What was he going to say? Hae Yeon couldn’t guess what Yoon Ho would say in this situation, but she immediately agreed, wanting to receive the documents quickly.

“These documents are not complete.”

“What do you mean…?”

Hae Yeon, who immediately understood the situation, frowned.

“There is some missing information about Hae Yeon’s whereabouts during the last month before losing her memory. That part was not easy to trace, so we haven’t found out yet.”

Unlike the smile on Yoon Ho’s face, Hae Yeon’s expression was grave.

If it was just a matter of taking a little more time to find her whereabouts, he could have postponed meeting her for a few days.

However, handing over only a portion of the documents in advance like this meant that the incident was hidden to the extent that it was difficult to uncover even with Yoon Ho’s level of information power.

“……”

“I will inform Hae Yeon of the rest as I find it, so please take this for now.”

“…..Yes.”

Hae Yeon slowly grasped the file Yoon Ho took out from the briefcase. Although it was just a stack of light papers, it felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. After looking down at the received file for a moment, Hae Yeon carefully put it in her bag.

“Ah.”

Hae Yeon, remembering something belatedly, opened her bag again and took something out, showing it to Yoon Ho. He furrowed his brows.

“What is this?”

“It’s the price I mentioned before.”

It was the ‘price’ she had spoken of at this place during their last meeting.

Originally, she intended to exchange it for all the information Yoon Ho had investigated, but it couldn’t be helped. She felt that Yoon Ho was sincere about his contract with her, so it seemed okay to give it to him now.

Upon receiving the price, Yoon Ho’s attitude was serious unlike before. Yoon Ho, who was concentrating so hard that he even frowned while looking at Hae Yeon’s hand, calmly opened his mouth.

“It’s a voice recorder.”

What Hae Yeon handed to Yoon Ho was a portable mini voice recorder. On the day she first received a call from Lee Su Rin, whom she had never met before, she had bought it and recorded the contents of their conversation here.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t record the first phone call, but she had recorded everything on the day of their appointment. The content where Lee Su Rin voluntarily admitted to having an affair with someone else’s husband.

“Hmm……”

Unexpectedly, Yoon Ho didn’t take the evidence she handed over and just looked at it, then chuckled.

“I don’t think I’m qualified to receive it yet, Hae Yeon.”

“Pardon?”

Hae Yeon, who questioned back, quickly understood. It meant he couldn’t accept it because he hadn’t perfectly completed the documents yet.

“Let’s meet again after Hae Yeon finishes reviewing the documents.”

With those words, the two got up from their seats. Hae Yeon, who came out, headed home, constantly aware of the bag on the passenger seat. The house lights were off because Do Ha had gone on a business trip today as well.

Hae Yeon, who changed clothes, calmly opened the bag. Unlike when she checked Do Ha’s scars in the middle of the night, this time she was fully prepared, so her emotions were calm.

“……”

Rustle.

The first thing she checked was the date written on the documents. Below the number ‘April’, it was detailed what happened on that day.

The heart that had been calm started to flutter. Hae Yeon took a deep breath, put strength into her trembling hands, and barely read the text.

“…Collided…with a vehicle…coming from…the front…”

The intermittent words that came out choking were often cut off. How difficult could it be to read one letter at a time? Hae Yeon’s voice was hoarse and husky, enough to feel like someone being strangled.

“The passenger…seat…Do Ha was riding…and.”

Her breath caught in her throat. Hae Yeon, whose vision blurred and breathing became difficult, hurriedly lifted her head from the paper and ran to the bathroom as if escaping, lest tears fall on the documents. It was undoubtedly the same as when she checked Do Ha’s body.

Hae Yeon, who washed her face in a hurry with the water gushing from the faucet, slapped both cheeks hard with her palms.

“…Calm down.”

Hae Yeon, who took a deep breath and regulated her breathing, returned to the bed and picked up the paper. Having collected her emotions, Hae Yeon read only the facts and finally learned what had happened that day.

“-Min Hae Yeon suffered only minor injuries.”

The tears that had welled up in her eyes finally flowed out.

“Ugh!”

Soon, Hae Yeon felt nauseous from the surging self-loathing. Hae Yeon, who ran to the bathroom again, grabbed the toilet bowl in a hurry. Even though she tried to vomit what rose to her throat, only gastric juice came up, and Hae Yeon helplessly sat down.

“If only I hadn’t left my cell phone in the back…”

…he wouldn’t have unfastened his seat belt.

It was explained that according to the police records at the time of the accident, Do Ha had unfastened his seat belt to get the phone for her when it rang in the bag she had put in the back seat just before the accident.

Do Ha, who discovered the truck rushing toward them as soon as he unfastened his seat belt, quickly turned the steering wheel to prevent a head-on collision with the driver’s seat, but he himself was exposed to the impact unprotected.

“If only he had kept his seat belt on.”

The traffic accident was an unavoidable force majeure that she could not do anything about. However, there was a separate reason why Do Ha was so seriously injured.

If I hadn’t left my cell phone in the back seat.

So if Do Ha hadn’t unfastened his seat belt.

Such a terrible major injury wouldn’t have happened. Even in that situation, Do Ha tried to save his wife, putting aside his own life, and Hae Yeon herself couldn’t do anything while such a tremendous incident occurred.

“Hic!”

If Do Ha saw her current state, he might ask why she was being so sensitive about something that had already happened and that even the victim, the party involved, didn’t say anything about.

But no matter how much she comforted herself, it didn’t erase the pain Do Ha had experienced. Just like the scars that had settled on Do Ha’s body.

Rustle.

The tendons bulged in Hae Yeon’s hand holding the paper. The injuries Do Ha sustained from the traffic accident remained in the form of ordinary text and posed no threat to her, but it was enough to fully face what had happened to him.

– Hae Yeon. That incident is already in the past.

“No. How can I just let it go like that?”

It wasn’t that she didn’t understand in what sense Yoon Ho was trying to be considerate of her. But when she actually read the secret from a year ago, she couldn’t easily overlook it.

Hae Yeon gritted her teeth. Just as she was about to be engulfed in endless self-loathing, she froze at the last sentence that caught her eye.

Unlike her stiffened body, Hae Yeon’s pupils trembled violently.

PTSD, even though she knew what it meant, it was a word she couldn’t possibly understand.