My Husband's Lover - Chapter 48

I learned for the first time.

Kwaaang!

The fact that even a person with a large build and a strong body toned by exercise can be sent flying into the air like a piece of paper.

“!”

In that split second, less than a second when the airbag burst, the sight of Do Ha being ejected through the door that had been forcibly opened by the impact left a lasting impression like a panorama.

As her consciousness faded, Hae Yeon couldn’t get that scene out of her eyes, her mind, her heart, more so than worrying about the life or death of the child in her womb.

And when she opened her eyes again.

“El- elder sister!”

Everything had changed.

“I really thought both of you would be…”

The first thing Hae Yeon saw when she regained consciousness after the car accident was Do Hee, who was crying as she looked at her.

Do Hee, who hurriedly pressed the nurse call button while tightly grasping Hae Yeon’s hand with her other hand, was like an anxious young child afraid of losing something precious.

“The doctor said you weren’t seriously injured, but I was still worried.”

Seeing Do Hee’s crumpled eyes from so much crying, Hae Yeon’s heart ached automatically. She wanted to say something to comfort her, but she didn’t even have the energy to utter those few words, so Do Hee kept talking busily on her own.

“The baby is fine, elder sister. The doctor said it’s a miracle too.”

Hae Yeon didn’t cry until then. But when she heard that there was no problem with the fetus, she unconsciously shed tears.

When she only silently cried, a startled Do Hee wiped away her tears and quickly changed the subject.

“I wanted to tell Joo Ah unnie that elder sister was in an accident, but Mom made me keep my mouth shut so I haven’t been able to tell her yet.”

Do Hee sniffled and grumbled, but even in this state, Hae Yeon understood Chairman Yoon’s words to some extent. If the news spread that Do Ha, who was set to inherit the group in the future, had been in a life-threatening traffic accident, it would attract a lot of gossip.

The important thing wasn’t that, but the sense of unease that Hae Yeon was feeling right now. In fact, Hae Yeon was using all her strength at the moment. Because there was something she had to ask. Her last memory was clearly…

“Ah, young lady… Do Ha…”

Struggling to move her lips, Hae Yeon made eye contact with Do Hee, who was trying hard to reassure her, and mustered every last ounce of her strength.

Even saying these few short words was difficult, and she couldn’t even properly form a sentence, but her mind was going crazy with worry about Do Ha’s condition that she remembered up until she lost consciousness during the car accident.

When she saw the truck speeding toward them in a chain reaction, Hae Yeon had no choice but to step on the accelerator to try to avoid the car.

But even that wasn’t fast enough. When Do Ha turned his head to pick up her handbag, she had briefly lowered her gaze to operate the navigation system, and the moment she spotted the truck, even if she had moved forward a little, it wasn’t enough to completely turn the car.

– Do Ha!

Hae Yeon calling out like that was instinctive. It was to save him. But as soon as she called out, Do Ha threw his body toward the driver’s seat and turned the steering wheel with all his strength, allowing them to avoid the monster charging straight at them.

As a result, the truck struck the passenger side, and along with the car door that fell off, Do Ha was limply ejected.

All of that happened in an instant, but it was clearly etched in Hae Yeon’s mind like an old silent film. Even now, when she closed her eyes, it would vividly come to mind.

“Where… is he?”

The question she had just asked wasn’t strange at all. They had an accident on the same day and there was a passenger. Asking about that passenger wasn’t unusual at all.

So the person being asked shouldn’t have made that expression.

“Ah.”

Do Hee’s mouth fell open. Only when Hae Yeon asked twice did she, unable to grasp the situation, let out a sigh with wide eyes, and more than anything, the look of dismay and despair clearly visible on her pale face.

That’s when Hae Yeon knew.

That Do Ha’s condition wasn’t good.

– …What?

With unfocused eyes, Hae Yeon stared off somewhere.

– Oppa is in the intensive care unit… They still don’t know when he’ll wake up…

Hae Yeon had known Do Hee for 4 years. Since Do Ha started dating her. Hae Yeon, who remembered Do Hee’s teenage years, had never seen Do Hee cry like that. Do Hee wept as if a flood poured from her eyes.

Gasping for breath, Do Hee barely managed to continue her explanation. That Do Ha’s condition was serious enough that he could die at any moment. That he was barely clinging to life with surgery due to excessive bleeding and organ rupture, but his condition was so critical that his breath could stop at any time.

Unable to listen to his condition with a clear mind, Hae Yeon ended up sending Do Hee out and was left alone in the hospital room. She wanted to see Do Ha right away. She wanted to run to him and tell him to wake up soon, to not leave her and go far away.

But there was the fetus. If she was shaken, the fetus would also be in danger. The doctor said it was a miracle that the 3-month-old fetus could survive such a big accident, but Hae Yeon knew.

“Do Ha.”

If he hadn’t sacrificed his body, neither she nor the fetus would be here.

“Sob-”

She had to control her emotions for the sake of the baby in her womb, but how could she do that? Do Ha might die. He could leave her side at any moment.

Hae Yeon buried her face in the pillow. Even if she didn’t make a sound, the fetus would know, but she muffled her cries into the pillow in case it could be heard.

Clack.

Someone roughly opened the hospital room door and strode in. With blurred vision from her tears, Hae Yeon couldn’t tell who the intruder was.

“You!”

The voice clearly rang out. The initial shock at the sudden intrusion was brief, and Hae Yeon, who found it difficult to even speak due to lack of energy, struggled to sit up.

“Fa-”

Slap!

Before the sound of the slap on the cheek had fully faded, Hae Yeon’s head was mercilessly turned to the right and at the same time, a sharp pain was felt inside her mouth.

Hae Yeon had an exceptionally fair complexion. The violent slap left a vividly red mark on her cheek that was already pale from the accident, and even that single slap seemed to have torn the inside of her mouth as she tasted blood.

Swallowing the tears that reflexively welled up from the physiological pain, Hae Yeon lowered her head. She was indeed a sinner. Because she had insisted on driving. If she hadn’t, she would have been sitting in the passenger seat and the handbag would have been obediently placed on her lap.

If so.

If so, Do Ha wouldn’t have had to unfasten his seat belt, and if he had been driving, he could have reacted faster than her. So Hae Yeon thought that even if someone were to cut her cheek with a knife right now, she shouldn’t scream even once.

“I knew you would cause an accident someday! How dare a lowlife like you enter our family and ruin my son!”

Hae Yeon was grabbed by the collar by Cha Ki Jung and shaken back and forth like a rubber doll. Even though Cha Ki Jung knew about Hae Yeon’s pregnancy, he didn’t care and Hae Yeon took it all in.

What hurt wasn’t the physical pain.

What hurt so much was those words, “ruining my son.” Hae Yeon was robbed of the last bit of willpower remaining from those blunt words. Cha Ki Jung’s outpouring of words sounded to her like he was saying Do Ha would die at any moment, and it was unbearable.

At the thought of losing Do Ha, of him leaving her side, of the fear of never being able to see him again, Hae Yeon felt the pain of her body being thrown against a rock, unable to move an inch.

It wasn’t her body that was bruised and bloodied. The pain of her heart falling into the abyss and being torn apart created bruises here and there.

“How could you-!”

What stopped Cha Ki Jung’s outraged voice and actions was a resolute voice.

“Enough!”

Cha Ki Jung’s anger, which seemed like it wouldn’t stop, was easily quelled by a single word from Chairman Yoon who followed behind.

For a mother who had heard the news that her son had been admitted to the intensive care unit, there was no sign of any agitation in her appearance. Unlike Cha Ki Jung, Chairman Yoon slowly walked in.

“You finally cause trouble.”

The words that followed, spat out as if she would chew Hae Yeon up, revealed a glimpse of Chairman Yoon’s rare emotion.

After seeing Chairman Yoon for 3 years, Hae Yeon knew. That Chairman Yoon’s current expression wasn’t one of grief at the possibility of losing her son, but closer to rage at the problem that had befallen the successor who would fulfill her aspirations.

But whatever it was, Hae Yeon couldn’t raise her head. Because the fact that she was a sinner remained unchanged.

* * *

3 weeks had already passed. Do Ha was still in the intensive care unit, relying on life support. He was in a comatose state with no response or reflexes to external stimuli, but he continued to breathe faintly on his own.

It was fortunate that he wasn’t in a brain-dead state, but during those 3 weeks, Hae Yeon went through the gates of hell every day, every hour, every second.

“Madam, please go in carefully.”

Hae Yeon, who had exchanged greetings with the housekeeper seeing her off, headed toward the heavy front door. Hae Yeon, who had only suffered minor injuries, was discharged from the hospital after two days, and Cha Ki Jung, who was displeased with this, frequently summoned her to Daechi-dong despite her being pregnant.

Hae Yeon did what Cha Ki Jung wanted. What he desired was for her to come anytime he wanted to eat and make side dishes or boil soup for him.

If she had a car, it wouldn’t have been a big problem. However, Hae Yeon developed a trauma after the car accident and couldn’t drive, so she had to take a taxi each time.

She was always anxious when summoned from Daechi-dong. Because she didn’t want to leave the hospital. In case Do Ha woke up during that time, and his condition worsened or something went wrong.

– It’s all your fault that Do Ha unfastened his seat belt!

Cha Ki Jung would yell at Hae Yeon like that whenever he drank or whenever he was in a low mood. It wasn’t wrong. It was because of her that he had unfastened his seat belt, put the handbag in the back, and she had insisted on driving despite being pregnant.

– It’s not elder sister’s fault, so please don’t blame yourself.

Do Hee comforted her countless times, but the deeply ingrained guilt didn’t disappear.

“Sigh.”

Hae Yeon, who sighed as she stepped out onto the main road to catch a taxi, recalled the first time she took hold of the steering wheel again.

– Gasp, gasp. Sob…

The moment she gripped the steering wheel, she broke out in a cold sweat and her heart raced. Her breath didn’t come easily as if her mouth was forcibly blocked.

‘It will get better.’

Hae Yeon repeated clenching and unclenching her empty hands a few times and went down the alley again.

And it didn’t take as long as she thought to solve that problem.

“Hah, hah. …I came to my senses a little earlier today.”

Hae Yeon, who had lost her mind and fallen into confusion whenever she got into the driver’s seat, had gradually reduced the time of her episodes through repeated practice.

“Now it’s 10 minutes.”

Compared to the initial hour of wandering, it was a great improvement now. However, even though it was reduced by 10 minutes, it was still too much to sit in the driver’s seat.

‘If I try a little more, I can do it.’

If she tries a little more, she can drive. Hae Yeon believed that. Not knowing that while time solves many things, it can’t cure everything.

The incident happened not long after that.

Hae Yeon, who had reduced the time she spent in the car to 5 minutes, hit a plateau. No matter how hard she tried not to lose her mind in the car, she couldn’t step on the accelerator pedal.

‘But at least I can sit in the driver’s seat now.’

Thinking like that was careless. She had overlooked the fact that there was no point in sitting in the driver’s seat if she couldn’t start the car. Time passed like that.

One day in the height of summer. It was another day when she cooked for Cha Ki Jung in Daechi-dong.

It was after finishing the cooking and going home to check on things. She stopped by once a week to inspect the house in case Do Ha could be discharged at any time, but by the time she came out to the street, more than four hours had already passed.

Hae Yeon was wiping her sweat to avoid the sun beating down on her head when she suddenly froze upon checking her ringing cell phone.

The call was from Dr. Moon, Do Ha’s attending physician and the doctor who had been in charge of him during the car accident. Hae Yeon’s heart sank. Just because Dr. Moon personally contacted her didn’t necessarily mean it was bad news. But that day, Hae Yeon had a premonition.

An intuition that something had gone wrong with Do Ha.

“…Yes, Doctor.”

Hae Yeon carefully answered, hiding the tremor in her voice. In her mind, she repeatedly denied that it couldn’t be, over and over again. But contrary to Hae Yeon’s wish, the other person was in a hurry.

Dr. Moon wasn’t a hasty person. The fact that he was calling her so urgently meant that a problem had definitely occurred, and when she realized this, Hae Yeon’s heart pounded. She tried to ask more, but to make matters worse, her cell phone battery died.

Hae Yeon fell into despair. She didn’t even have time to borrow a cell phone from a passerby to make a call. But what should she take to get there? It was absurd to take public transportation when Do Ha’s condition was critical, and that day, no empty taxis were stopping either.

Hae Yeon, who was fidgeting anxiously, took out the car key that she always carried but never used. Seeing her own car parked in the garage, she unconsciously let out a sigh.

“Ah.”

How can I express the emotion I felt at that moment? The reason she could only stand there dumbfounded even though Dr. Moon had called directly and shouted, indicating that Do Ha’s condition was urgent.

It was because she was reminded of how powerless she had been when Do Ha turned the steering wheel at the time of the accident.

Nothing had changed at all. Despite her daily efforts, she was still incompetent and unable to help Do Ha, rendering her efforts meaningless.

“…How long are you going to be like this?”

He was in critical condition. Thinking of Do Ha, who had thrown his body to save her and the baby, Hae Yeon came to her senses as if she had been hit on the head with a hammer. Once was enough for regret.

Click. Hae Yeon opened the car door, sat in the driver’s seat, and only then was she able to step on the accelerator pedal. It was all a matter of determination. Once she actually grabbed the steering wheel, only one thing came to mind. Do Ha!

When she arrived at the hospital, Hae Yeon went straight to Do Ha without even catching her breath. Fortunately, Do Ha, whose condition had briefly worsened, had returned to stable breathing by the time she arrived at the hospital.

“Hah.”

Only then did Hae Yeon let out a deep breath. Fortunately. Really fortunately. There was one more thing that was fortunate. Because the urgent call had allowed her to drive again.

The season had somehow already turned to August. Somehow, at the peak of summer, Do Ha was still in a coma and the baby in her womb was now 5 months old.

– Do Ha. When our little Donggeul is born, let’s definitely name the baby together.

Calling the baby’s prenatal nickname that she had chosen together with Do Ha, Hae Yeon dreamily told him about her and the baby’s small daily life every day as he slept.

Among those familiar stories were also stories of her short dating period with Do Ha. There weren’t many episodes, but knowing he would like it, she didn’t leave them out.

Of course, it was also so that it would reach the fetus. Day by day, Hae Yeon affectionately shared stories that each other didn’t know about Do Ha and the baby, in the brightest voice possible.

When washing Do Ha’s body as he lay there all the time, she never borrowed anyone else’s hands. Even with her pregnant body, she did everything herself without a single caregiver, and while directly nursing him, she conveyed the love she hadn’t been able to express and deliver.

At the same time, she also begged for forgiveness. Even after two months had passed, Hae Yeon was still buried in the past. This probably wouldn’t change until Do Ha woke up.

“Please. Please…”

Sometimes she knelt and prayed. Did someone hear that earnestness?

“…Hae… Yeon.”

A miracle happened.

She heard about it later, but they said that was the first thing Do Ha said after regaining consciousness. It was a sudden event, to the extent that even the medical staff expressed it as a miracle. Hae Yeon couldn’t believe it. It was the first time she realized that God existed.

The joy was short-lived. Hae Yeon became scared.

Now she just needed to see him. But her heart dropped several levels. Even though she had been in and out countless times for two months, she had never been so nervous, so trembling, so overwhelmed, and so anxious before.

Could she have heard wrong? Could he have fallen into a deep sleep again in that short time? Or, or…

When she actually saw Do Ha’s face, Hae Yeon couldn’t bring herself to go inside. Because she couldn’t breathe well.

‘What should I do? What should I do?’

‘If Do Ha resents me.’

‘Or if a bigger problem arises…’

Her husband was alive.

He had come back.

But why was her body like this? Now that she had just entered the middle of her pregnancy, her body wasn’t heavy, but Hae Yeon found it difficult to move her body that felt as heavy as a stone. Even parting her lips once was too much of a burden.

The moment her head felt like it would explode with all sorts of questions and imaginations, anxieties and burdens.

“…Hae Yeon.”

The voice she had longed to hear so much. It was slightly hoarse from not speaking for a long time, but still gentle.

“I… can’t go. You come…”

It was like a dream. To Do Ha, who even joked, Hae Yeon let out the tears she had been holding back along with the breath that had been stuck. When she raised her head, she saw his eyes curved into crescents.

“Not… listening.”

Smiling and laboriously raising his arm, Do Ha gestured.

Hae Yeon had no reason to hesitate any longer.