What on earth have I done to you?

The suddenly revealed painful reality weighed heavily on Jeho.

After silently looking out the window, he finally turned his gaze and took out his phone from his jacket pocket. When he turned it on, missed call notifications began to fill the screen. Most were calls from Yuri.

She had been calling from quite early, and left messages on voicemail asking him to call back. He hadn’t checked the texts, but they were probably similar.

—And then at the end you pretend to run away trying not to lose the ledger?

Did she have a change of heart midway?

Honestly, Jeho didn’t care whether or not she switched the ledger to get revenge on him. He was going to let her do it if that would make her feel better.

Not that it would make her forgive what he had done to her.

He felt sorry but also angry that she had even gotten hit by Director Kwon while trying to protect the ledger belatedly. Why go that far for something like that?

Unintentionally, he had ended up deceiving her once again because of the ledger. And hurt her again.

Damn it!

He was furious at himself for driving Yuri to such a situation.

Did it hurt a lot?

Jeho gently caressed the text messages on the screen as if stroking Yuri.

He wanted to call her right away and hear her voice. But he couldn’t do that yet.

Due to the guilt of deceiving her once again, anger at himself, and the even heavier sense of guilt from learning the story he had tried so hard to hide, he just couldn’t bring himself to talk on the phone as usual.

“Sigh.”

Jeho sighed and put the phone back in his jacket pocket.

First, he had to finish what he was doing.

Returning to a cool expression, Jeho slowly walked out of the conference room.

[This is the timeline separator]

After leaving the KG Group building, Yuri drove straight to her company. As soon as she entered the office, her coworkers stared at her with wide eyes.

“Oh my, Yuri! What happened to your face?”

“Did something happen?”

“…Ah.”

Yuri smiled awkwardly and covered her reddened cheek with one hand.

She had forgotten to stop by the bathroom to check her face.

But even without looking, she could guess what state it was in. One cheek was probably swollen, and there was likely a scab on her split lip.

“I was half-asleep and slipped on my way to the bathroom and hit the wall…”

“Oh no, that must have hurt. Is that why you’re coming back from the hospital?”

“Yes.”

Yuri sat down and quickly turned on her computer, making up an excuse. She tried to focus on work, avoiding eye contact with anyone as much as possible. Fortunately, no one came up to her desk to ask probing questions.

Even while working, Yuri kept glancing at her phone on the desk.

Although she had left a message asking him to call, there was no contact from Jeho. He hadn’t checked her texts either. It was the same even until the end of the work day.

She wanted to call first, but just couldn’t muster up the courage.

How could she do that shamelessly?

Just then, her silent phone started ringing. Yuri quickly pressed the call button without even checking who it was.

“Hello?”

[Yuri!]

Hyunkyung’s bright and cheerful voice came through the phone.

[Want to have dinner together tonight? Are you free? I’m near your office.]

“Yeah, sure.”

[I’ll pick you up. Come to the front of the building.]

Though it wasn’t a call from Jeho as she had hoped, Hyunkyung’s call was like an angel’s salvation for Yuri. She couldn’t bear to be alone feeling like this.

Yuri quickly turned off her computer and left the office. As she came out of the building, Hyunkyung’s car pulled up.

When Yuri got in the car, Hyunkyung hugged her tightly with a very excited look.

“Hey, do you know how hard it’s been for me to hold back until today…”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Instead of answering, Hyunkyung quickly started driving. Only when she stopped at a red light did she turn to Yuri and speak.

“What else? It was so hard trying not to ask. So how was it?”

“How was what?”

“The gift Jeho gave you. He was so careful in choosing it, saying it had to be a design you’d like.”

“…Oh.”

Momentarily at a loss for words, Yuri just opened her mouth silently. Hyunkyung turned back to look at the traffic light, missing Yuri’s surprised expression.

“How do you know about that?”

“Oh my, didn’t Jeho say anything? Oh no, did I make a mistake?”

Looking troubled, Hyunkyung told the story of shopping together at Jeho’s request.

“…I see.”

“The wristwatch, Jeho chose it himself. Isn’t it so pretty? Only two were imported to Korea.”

Just then, as if eavesdropping on their conversation, a call came in from Jeho. For a moment, Yuri froze up. Though she had been waiting all day, she suddenly felt scared when the call actually came.

Her mind went blank on what to say.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

Hyunkyung asked with a puzzled expression, seeing Jeho’s name on the screen.

Yuri slowly took a deep breath and pressed the call button.

“Hello.”

[I’m sorry for calling so late.]

Jeho said in his usual gentle voice.

[I was so busy all day I didn’t even realize my phone was off.]

His voice over the phone sounded perfectly calm. But that didn’t necessarily mean nothing had happened at the board meeting. Yuri carefully opened her mouth, pushing down the questions she wanted to ask.

“You must have been really busy.”

[Yes, a bit. Actually, I’m in Seoul now. There was a sudden emergency board meeting at KG Group.]

Her heart skipped a beat at the words “emergency board meeting,” but Yuri asked, trying to keep her voice steady:

“An emergency board meeting? Did something bad happen?”

[Well, it might have for some people. But not for me.]

“Ah…”

A sigh of relief escaped Yuri’s lips.

Was it really that nothing happened?

[To be honest, it was quite a satisfying result for me. Let’s pop some champagne together when I get back tomorrow night.]

“Champagne?”

[Yes, champagne.]

He started laughing, sounding pleased. At his soft laughter, Yuri’s heart ached as if being squeezed. He was laughing, but she felt like crying.

[Anyway, it’s good news, so look forward to tomorrow night.]

After hanging up, Yuri wore a confused expression.

He must have known the ledger was switched, so why…

Was he being sarcastic now?

Lost in thought, Yuri leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes.

What was the use of all this anyway?

Either way, tomorrow night would be their last.

Whether she wanted it or not.

Just imagining breaking up with him made her heart feel like it was splitting in two, but like rotten flesh needing to be cut off before it was too late, their relationship had to end before it became more twisted.

That was the wisest decision she could make right now.

Even though she knew that better than anyone.

“Sigh.”

A sorrowful sigh filled Yuri’s dry chest.

[This is the timeline separator]

The next day, on her way home from work, Yuri stopped by the market to buy smoked salmon, smoked ham, fresh cheese, chocolate, and various fruits.

He hadn’t said exactly what time he’d be back, but since he said tomorrow night, he probably meant after dinner.

Still, she wanted to prepare something simple for him. Since it would be the last time.

She bought a top-grade champagne at a liquor store, and got a strawberry cream cake from a hotel bakery.

She also prepared flowers and candles in various colors to beautifully decorate the table.

“Hah.”

Yuri paused while filling plates with colorful fruits, fresh cheese, smoked salmon, smoked ham, and chocolates, and laughed bitterly.

If I had known it would end so quickly, I should have had more times like this…

She felt pathetic for wasting time on thoughts of revenge. It was never going to work with him anyway. She knew that from the start.

Is it fortunate that I realized it now, at least?

After decorating the table, Yuri headed to the guest room to change clothes.

She wanted to dress up prettier, not just in a shirt and pants, but this time too she hadn’t brought anything other than her work suit. There was only the silver dress she had prepared as a couple outfit with Hyunkyung.

She didn’t want to wear the same outfit again, but this was her only dress, so she had no choice.

—You’re so beautiful. If your mother were alive, I would have thanked her. For giving birth to and raising such a beautiful daughter.

Suddenly, his words came to mind.

—I’m serious. Later, please let me visit and pay my respects.

—Let’s go to your mother’s columbarium together sometime.

—Okay.

He had said that, but there would be no chance to visit her mother’s columbarium together. Perhaps he never intended to go there from the start.

Yuri changed into the dress and headed to the study. She took out a wooden box from the safe and put on the wristwatch. Since it was the last day, she wanted to show him her wearing the gifted watch.

Returning to the table, Yuri put the champagne bottle in an ice bucket filled with ice.

All preparations were perfectly complete, and now all that remained was to toast with champagne.

Yuri glanced at her wristwatch to check the time.

Their last night together was already drawing near.

[This is the timeline separator]

“What happened to your face?”

Despite the time and effort she had put in, Jeho’s gaze went to her face rather than the table when he returned home. He must have noticed right away even though she had applied heavy makeup to try to hide it. He frowned as if very angry.

“Are you hurt?”

“It’s nothing. I bumped into the wall on my way to the bathroom while still half-asleep…”

Yuri repeated the same excuse she had given her coworkers earlier. Jeho just stared at her silently without saying anything. Then, after a moment, he muttered as if to himself:

“That must have hurt.”

“A little.”

Jeho raised his hand and very gently stroked her swollen cheek. The stinging sensation was almost gone now, but the cool touch of his hand felt so good that Yuri closed her eyes without realizing it.

“So you called because it hurt? To let me know you were in pain like we promised?”

He said that, but he must know that wasn’t it. But for now, she just wanted to go along with whatever he said until he brought it up first. Since it was the last time.

Yuri nodded silently and leaned her face into his cool palm.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know and didn’t answer your call.”

“It’s okay.”

When she slowly opened her eyes and looked at him, Jeho smiled softly and lowered his head to kiss her lips.

She could feel him being careful not to touch her split lip. In the end, Yuri cupped his cheeks with both hands and approached him more actively.

She could never be satisfied with such a bland kiss when it might be the last.

After a long while, Yuri finally pulled away and caught her breath. When her breathing returned to normal, this time Jeho lowered his head first and sucked on her lower lip as if eating candy.

A sharp pain shot through her lip, but with it came an even greater ecstasy. All the emotions she had been holding back were now pouring out uncontrollably at once.

“…Ah, Jeho.”

This time too, Yuri pulled back first, taking in deep breaths. Jeho just stared at her silently. He looked like he had something to say but was holding back.

Was he going to talk about the fake ledger?

They should both stop pretending now.

But instead of speaking, Jeho reached out and pulled her into his arms. Just being held made Yuri tremble with emotion welling up inside her.

His warm body heat and the sweet, fresh citrus scent brought tears to her eyes.

“I’m sorry the business trip was so long. I thought I’d go crazy missing you.”

And his low, soft voice too…

“…Did everything go well with work?”

“Yes.”

Yuri tilted her head back to meet Jeho’s gaze as he held her.

She knew she should ask about the emergency board meeting, but the words just wouldn’t come out. The moment she asked, this rosy happiness would shatter.

But she couldn’t keep pretending not to know until the end.

She had to find out what had happened to him because of the ledger she had switched.

Yuri steadied her trembling voice and carefully opened her mouth.

“The emergency board meeting yesterday…”