His hand, which was tilting towards the clear glass, paused momentarily in the air, but then continued with his task.
“She was found in a missing state, so it was a brief record left with the police. I was trying to get hospital records to find out more, but I was blocked.”
“Blocked.”
“It’s a private hospital on the outskirts and they wouldn’t even give me transfer records.”
“Seems like the owner’s temperament is tough. It wasn’t a legal thing in the first place.”
“He had already scouted the surroundings. It was a hospital with hardly any patients, known to occasionally perform illegal surgeries. A man who often visited local gambling dens and had a fair bit of debt. I thought if we offered him a reward, he’d spill the beans, but the director, who was initially cooperative, clammed up as soon as he heard the name Seo Ji An.”
The director who hesitated, claiming he didn’t know such a patient and sternly refused to share personal information, was indeed suspicious.
“The significance of Seo Ji An to me is that she’s Seo Yoon’s twin. I’m waiting for them to perform a genetic test, and I’m going to sufficiently compensate afterwards, so there’s no need to worry about the past.”
“It was four years ago. Same season, too. It could be a coincidence, but I think we can’t rule out the possibility that it’s not. The culprit was never caught.”
“For such a coincidence to happen, at the very least, Seo Yoon and Seo Ji An would have to have known about each other’s existence.”
“They might have known……”
“Is that likely? I was the one who confined Seo Yoon in this house, in that bedroom.”
With a cynical laugh, Kang Hyun turned his back on Seok Won.
“Sir, I’ll look into it a bit more.”
“Seok Won.”
“……”
“Seo Yoon is dead, I killed her. It’s not important anymore.”
“Sir!”
“If only I hadn’t forgotten her birthday, if I had come to see Seo Yoon just thirty minutes earlier, if I had only gone out when I was called to bring someone, Seo Yoon wouldn’t be buried in the cold earth. Isn’t that right?”
Every morning, Kang Hyun stared at the milk that Seo Yoon used to drink habitually, listing his sins monotonously.
“She was susceptible to the cold, so I have to go this winter.”
“I can’t presume to understand, but I believe Seo Yoon wouldn’t want you to be like this, sir. It’s been almost five years. You need to live now.”
Seok Won rubbed his dry eyes.
The saying that time heals all wounds did not apply to Kang Hyun. On the contrary, it gradually erased his will to live.
I hoped he would cling to something to stay alive, but even the twin’s accident, which happened around the same time, didn’t seem to be much of a stimulus.
It was as hopeless as not being able to see an inch ahead in the dark. To bring him back, Seo Yoon would have to come back alive, but how could that be possible?
“Go.”
Leaving Seok Won behind, Kang Hyun returned to the bedroom and stared at the photos of Seo Yoon crowded together.
There were quite a few childhood photos taken by the Seo Won household’s servants, but after Seo Yoon became independent, there was no reason to take photos unless it was a special day.
All that’s left are photos, they said.
Only after enlarging the ID photo and leaving it as a memorial did Kang Hyun fully grasp the meaning of that phrase.
One is dead and the other is missing.
If one splits into two, is it destiny to even resemble each other?
Unable to take his gaze off the woman with a face eerily similar to one that he had seen before, Kang Hyun frowned, feeling uneasy due to his heart beating erratically.
Even after Seo Yoon had left, he was always curious if his heart would function normally. But the late realization of a sense of pressure had a peculiar effect on his mood.
Arriving at an immense complex known as Seo Won Complex, where major subsidiaries, industries, and research parks were gathered, Ji An was astounded and gaped as she passed the entrance of Seo Won Construction.
“Truly a conglomerate.”
The employees passing through the gates in an orderly fashion to match the start of the workday were objects of admiration for Ji An.
It didn’t feel real when she used to go to work at Kang Hyun’s house.
Entering the head office, she felt like a real, proper office worker.
“Hello.”
“Yes, hello. Have you lost your employee card?”
“No, I’m a newcomer to the executive office, and I haven’t received my employee card yet.”
“The executive office?”
The desk officer, a little dazed from standing guard since early morning, widened her eyes upon hearing the nearly forgotten position.
“Yes, I’ve come to see Manager Do Seok Won.”
“Oh, just a moment please.”
The woman who picked up the intercom nodded a few times, then opened the transparent entrance gate.
Squeezed in a crowded elevator, Ji An stood straight and looked around until she found the executive office upon leaving the elevator.
“Manager!”
“Have you arrived?”
Seok Won stood up suddenly to greet Ji An.
He looked somewhat lonely, sitting alone in the empty secretarial office, staring at the monitor.
“Good morning. What should I start with? I’ll work hard at whatever you ask.”
“But Ji An, I haven’t yet spoken to the executive……”
He hadn’t had a chance to say anything.
Even though they had a conversation about Ji An, he hadn’t conveyed the news of Ji An’s head office start to the executive. Seok Won was about to add something when a loud bell rang.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, take your call comfortably.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Seeing an unfamiliar number, Ji An tilted her head and pressed the call button.
“Hello……”
This is Tae Kang Hyun.
“Yes, yes? Yes, executive.”
What time do you start work?
“Excuse me? I came to the head office today.”
Ji An’s brown eyes rolled towards Seok Won.
Why did you go there?
“You said I could go if I wanted.”
Oh.
Oh?
Ji An lost her words to the unexpected answer.
“I’m sorry, Ji An. I was out of my mind yesterday.”
No, really, these people.
Ji An, who had suppressed her rising feeling of being wronged, forced a smile to keep her composure.
“Do you have anything you want me to do?”
Come home.
“Now?”
Yes.
Click. Even after the call ended, Ji An, who was still holding her phone to her ear, slumped her shoulders.
Whenever she needed to, it was as easy as looking at a small chicken, but today, of all days, she couldn’t understand Kang Hyun who came looking for her.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
