Arin had been waiting for Jaehyuk, who had not come in for an hour already.

Even if he’s late, he’ll come, but when she asked where he was, it somehow felt like she was urging him. But it was uneasy to stay like this. She repeatedly picked up and put down the phone that she couldn’t make a call with.

‘Why is this happening?’

As if something was wrong, anxiety rushed over like a tsunami.

Around 1 hour and 10 minutes later, her phone started ringing.

-Director Han

It was a call from Director Han. Arin quickly answered the phone.

[Miss Arin.]

Director Han’s voice sounded strange. Her heart sank.

“Director, where is my brother right now…?”

[He’s currently at Kyungmin University Hospital. You should come quickly.]

“…Kyungmin University Hospital?”

Her voice sank, and her heart started beating abnormally fast.

[The Vice Chairman had a traffic accident…]

Director Han couldn’t continue, his throat seemed choked.

[He’s undergoing emergency surgery. It seems like a difficult situation…]

“What? What on earth are you talking about…?”

[…You should come quickly. I’ve already informed Mr. Seo a while ago. Come with him.]

Arin dropped the phone she was holding.

She couldn’t understand why she went to the hospital in such a daze. When she arrived at the hospital, Director Han, who had been waiting, approached with a deeply sunken face.

“Uh, where is he?”

“I’ll take you.”

Director Han supported her and stood in front of the operating room.

During surgery.

Arin’s heart sank in the bright light of the operating room.

Her legs trembled. She hoped this situation wasn’t real.

“Uh, what happened?”

She asked trembling, her body shaking.

Until a moment ago, they had a normal conversation.

The person who wanted her to come quickly, saying to be careful, why…!

He was lying there, what on earth…!

She didn’t want to believe it. No, she couldn’t believe it. Her thought process seemed to have stopped as if the accident circuit had shut down.

“There was an accident. He was trying to save Miss Rachel.”

“Ra-Rachel?”

Why is her name mentioned now?

Arin’s mind gradually whitened.

“Yes. We’ll know more after the police investigation is over.”

“The police?”

And the police too?

In the short time, what happened to Jaehyuk?

“It’s his birthday today… It’s his birthday today.”

Today was his birthday.

How excited she was to spend the first birthday they could sincerely celebrate together, thinking about his favorite things and preparing a gift for him.

“This can’t be true.”

Arin burst into tears and sat down. She was afraid something might go wrong with him.

“No, this can’t be. Director, this can’t be. How could something like this happen to my brother?

It felt like she would be swallowed by fear. Tears flowed down her cheeks without a break.
Someone approached Arin, who was crying, and sat down next to her. The arms wrapped around the slender shoulders, trembling like a weeping willow, were also shaking roughly.

“Miss Arin….”

She turned her head.

“I’m sorry. Because of me….”

Euna was looking at her with teary eyes.

“Sob, Madame.”

But Arin didn’t blame Euna.

If she herself had been in a dangerous situation, she might have made the same choice.

Moreover, blaming Euna wouldn’t change the situation.

“…No.”

A voice cracked through her lips.

“You don’t need to apologize, Madame….”

Her brother did a good thing, and God wouldn’t take away someone who had done a good thing.

‘After going through countless hours, finally, just now, he became happy… So, there’s absolutely no way he’ll be taken away. Please don’t take him.’

In a short time, she prayed with all her might.

It was seven hours later that he could come out of the operating room.

After the surgery, his condition was not good, and he was immediately moved to the intensive care unit.

In the intensive care unit where Jaehyuk was admitted, only one visitor was allowed for 20 minutes once a day.

The next day, as the designated visiting time approached, Arin headed to the intensive care unit.

As she opened the door to the intensive care room and entered, Jaehyuk, connected to numerous tubes, had his eyes closed.

He had a ventilator in his mouth, and without the heart rate monitor, it wouldn’t have seemed like he was alive; he quietly continued his vital signs.

“…Oppa.”

Who could have imagined a loved one lying in such a state?

As she saw his face, she finally burst into tears and sat down.

She had never imagined he would leave like this.

In the happiness she had finally found, she always believed he would be by her side unchanged.

‘Without Oppa… I can’t live properly.’

Some might look at her and think she had no self-esteem, and others might point fingers, calling her a weak and dependent human, but it didn’t matter.

His presence was so overwhelming for her that it was unimaginable.

She held Jaehyuk’s motionless hand with trembling hands. It was still warm. Tears that she had forcibly held back burst out at the faint warmth.

When she came out of the intensive care unit, Euna and Director Han approached her.