Wishing for Salvation (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 11
Standing on the stepping stone, Tae Seok Gyu looked around the quiet corridor.
Ri Won, a small Korean restaurant isolated on the dark outskirts, never accepted other customers whenever Chairman Tae had confidential talks.
“Have you cleared everyone out nearby?”
“Yes, Chairman.”
“Not even a single ant should dare wander around.”
Manager Jo, who always handled the dirty work beside Chairman Tae wherever he went, bowed deeply.
“You’ve arrived.”
As he opened the wooden-framed door himself and stepped inside, Representative Kim Seok Hyun, who had been nervously tapping the table, stood up from his seat.
After offering a brief greeting, Tae Seok Gyu removed his jacket and sat down, leisurely shuffling through documents from Shinseon.
“I haven’t had lunch yet at this hour. When you were seated, I assumed it was just a pleasant spot, but I see your workload is truly overwhelming. Please go ahead and eat, Representative Kim. The braised mountain bellflower here is absolutely exquisite.”
“My daughter visited Tae Lee Jun’s house and fell seriously ill afterward. What on earth happened? When I offered to assign someone to keep an eye on things, what exactly did you say? Didn’t you confidently promise you’d handle everything properly on your end?”
So Ye, who had rushed abruptly into the office, kept repeating that she’d seen Han Seo Yoon with a pale, ashen face.
Though she hadn’t taken the lead in the matter, she was nonetheless complicit, and it seemed she struggled to bear the psychological pressure.
“When too many people try to steer the boat, it ends up heading for the mountains. If people are attached from this side and that, even the dullest person would eventually notice something’s off. President Koo Se Jun will take care of it himself.”
“What can such an ignorant brute possibly accomplish? I trusted you, Chairman, and offered my help.”
“That’s exactly why we entrusted it to him. Anyway, we’ve confirmed that the girl hasn’t regained her memories.”
“What if Tae Lee Jun finds out? Can you really handle that?”
Seok Hyun’s narrow chest pressed tightly against the table edge. His flushed, agitated face suggested the alcohol he’d repeatedly downed—to calm his nerves—had backfired instead.
“This was always a risky venture from the start. It’s regrettable that your daughter couldn’t secure Tae Lee Jun’s side for four whole years.”
“Who could have guessed that losing some girl we barely knew would unravel everything like this?”
He now felt a twinge of regret over that past decision. He’d believed that by following Chairman Tae Seok Gyu’s proposal and handling the incident, he could firmly position Tae Kang Hyun as his daughter’s destined partner.
But his expectations had been completely upended. Not only did he fail to gain Tae Kang Hyun as a son-in-law, he’d also wasted four precious years.
That alone was infuriating enough—but now, walking on thin ice, he found it nearly impossible to stay rational.
“She was more special to Kang Hyun than family. Don’t worry too much. It was Koo Se Jun who killed Han Seo Yoon. We’re entirely unrelated, aren’t we?”
Tae Seok Gyu burst into hearty laughter and lifted a porcelain teapot.
Gurgle… a thin stream poured generously into Representative Kim’s cup before gradually subsiding.
“Don’t forget—Koo Se Jun is a card you can discard at any time.”
The ceramic cups clinked cheerfully during their toast, and Tae Seok Gyu’s narrowed eyes gleamed with cunning intent.
Meeting that venomous, resolute gaze—capable of accomplishing anything—Kim Seok Hyun let out a sigh mingled with slight relief.
“I’ll trust only you, Chairman.”
Seok Gyu nodded confidently and lifted the teapot once more.
Even if his nephew Kang Hyun eventually uncovered the truth, he lacked the power to overcome him—a man long trusted for the chairmanship.
* * *
Seok Won, who’d failed yet again to retrieve Ji An’s medical records, mulled over the matter dozens of times even as he rode the elevator upward.
Though uncertain if reporting it was the right move, he hoped it might offer a way to pull his superior out of the abyss.
“She’s clearly hiding something.”
Standing before the front door, Seok Won shuffled left and right, unable to press the doorbell easily.
“Oh? Director?”
“…Are you heading home?”
“Yes. There’s nothing for me to do, and the person I’m serving has made it abundantly clear—by her expression—that my presence is unwelcome, so I’m leaving early.”
“I see. Uh… Miss Seo Ji An.”
“Yes?”
“Ah—no, never mind. Please go home safely.”
He wanted to ask about Ji An’s accident, but revealing that he’d conducted his own investigation felt impossible.
“Director, may I come into the office tomorrow? The managing director said I should, and I really need to learn how things work.”
“Yes, of course. I understand—I’ll speak with the managing director again.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Finally able to perform proper duties, Ji An cheerfully departed down the hallway.
Seok Won, after another deep sigh, eventually stepped through the entrance.
“Managing director.”
He knocked lightly on the bedroom door, and shortly after, Kang Hyun appeared.
“What is it?”
“I looked into Miss Seo Ji An a bit.”
Kang Hyun, turning away from the hesitant Director Do, showed no reaction and simply opened the refrigerator’s home bar to take out a carton of milk.
“She was hospitalized four years ago.”
His hand, tilting toward a clear glass, paused briefly in midair before continuing its task.
“It was a brief police record, since she’d been found after being reported missing. I tried to get her hospital records first, intending to share more details once I had them, but I hit a wall.”
“A wall?”
“It’s a private clinic on the outskirts, and they wouldn’t even release transfer records.”
“The owner must be stubborn as a mule. After all, it wasn’t exactly legal to begin with.”
“I scouted the area beforehand. It’s a nearly empty clinic that occasionally performs illegal procedures. The owner frequents local gambling dens and carries significant debt. I thought offering compensation would loosen his tongue—but the moment I mentioned ‘Seo Ji An,’ the initially cooperative director clammed up completely.”
Stammering that he didn’t know such a patient, then abruptly hardening his stance and insisting he couldn’t disclose private information, the director seemed highly suspicious.
“The only reason Ji An matters to me is because she’s Seo Yoon’s twin. I’m waiting for the DNA test results, and afterward, I’ll compensate him generously—but there’s no need to dig into the past, is there?”
“It was four years ago. The same season, too. It might be coincidence, but we can’t rule out that it’s not.”
“They never even caught the culprit, did they?”
“For such a coincidence to occur, Seo Yoon and Seo Ji An would’ve had to know of each other’s existence at the very least.”
“They might have known…”
“How could that be? I kept Seo Yoon locked in this house—in that bedroom.”
Kang Hyun turned his back on Seok Won with a bitter laugh.
“Managing director, I’ll investigate further.”
“Seok Won.”
“…”
“Seo Yoon is dead—I killed her. Nothing else matters now.”
“Managing director!”
“If only I hadn’t forgotten her birthday… if I’d just visited Seo Yoon thirty minutes earlier… if I’d simply left the moment I got that call telling me to assign someone… Seo Yoon wouldn’t have ended up buried in cold earth. Right?”
Kang Hyun monotonously recited his sins, staring at the milk Seo Yoon used to drink every morning like clockwork.
“She always hated the cold, so this winter… I’ll go to her.”
“I wouldn’t dare claim to understand—but Miss Seo Yoon wouldn’t want you like this. Nearly five years have passed. It’s time you moved on.”
Seok Won rubbed his dry eyes.
The saying “time heals all wounds” didn’t apply to Kang Hyun. Instead, his will to live only faded further with each passing day.
Seok Won desperately wished for anything to make him feel alive again—even the near-simultaneous accident involving his twin failed to stir him.
It felt as hopeless as pitch-black darkness with no way forward. The only thing that could possibly bring him back would be Seo Yoon returning from the dead—and that was impossible.
“Go.”
Leaving Seok Won behind, Kang Hyun returned to his room and gazed at the cluster of Seo Yoon’s photos.
There were quite a few childhood pictures taken by Seo Won household staff, but after Seo Yoon moved out, photos were only taken on rare special occasions.
“You said only photos would remain, didn’t you?”
Only after her official portrait—enlarged from an ID photo—was left behind did Kang Hyun fully grasp the weight of those words.
One twin had died; the other was missing.
Born from one into two—had their fates mirrored each other, too?
Kang Hyun couldn’t tear his eyes away from the face before him—identical to that woman who walked freely in front of him now—and furrowed his brows, annoyed by his own unsteady, fluttering heartbeat.
Even after Seo Yoon’s death, his heart had remained so placid he’d wondered if it still worked at all. Yet now, this delayed pressure unsettled him in a strange way.
* * *
Arriving at the massive Seo Won Complex—a hub of key subsidiaries, industries, and research parks—Ji An passed through the main gate of Seo Won Construction with her mouth agape.
“Truly a big corporation.”
Employees streaming through the gate in neat lines during rush hour seemed like figures of admiration to Ji An.
She hadn’t truly felt it while commuting to Kang Hyun’s house—but now, stepping into headquarters, she finally felt like a legitimate, accomplished working professional.
“Hello.”
“Yes, hello. Did you lose your employee ID?”
“No, I’m a new hire for the Managing Director’s Office—I haven’t received my ID yet.”
“The Managing Director’s Office?”
The front desk staff member, slightly dazed from holding down her early-morning post, widened her eyes at the nearly forgotten title.
“Yes. I’m here to see Director Do Seok Won.”
“Oh—just a moment, please.”
The woman immediately picked up the intercom, nodded a few times, and opened the transparent access gate.
Cramped inside the bustling elevator, Ji An straightened her posture and, after stepping out on the final floor, looked around until she located the Managing Director’s Office.
“Director!”
“You’ve arrived?”
Seok Won sprang up to greet Ji An.
Sitting alone in the empty secretary’s office, staring at his monitor, he looked slightly lonely.
“Good morning! What should I start with? Just tell me anything—I’ll work hard on it.”
“But, Miss Ji An… I haven’t yet told the managing director…”
…that you were coming.
Though they’d discussed Ji An, Seok Won hadn’t actually informed Kang Hyun about her arrival at headquarters—and as he tried to add this, a loud ringtone interrupted him.
“Oh gosh—sorry!”
“It’s fine. Please take your call.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Ji An tilted her head, puzzled by the unfamiliar number, and pressed the call button.
“Hello…”
—This is Tae Kang Hyun.
“Yes—what? Oh, Managing Director.”
—What time did you clock in?
“Huh? I came to headquarters today.”
Ji An’s brown eyes rolled toward Seok Won.
—Why did you go there?
“You said I could go if I wanted to.”
—Ah.
Ah?
Ji An was speechless at the unexpectedly flat reply.
“I’m sorry, Ji An. I was out of it yesterday.”
Seriously—these people.
Suppressing a surge of frustration, Ji An forced a polite smile to maintain her subordinate stance.
“Do you need me to do anything?”
—Come home.
“Now?”
—Yes.
Click. Even after the call ended, Ji An kept the phone pressed to her ear, her shoulders slumping.
She couldn’t understand Kang Hyun at all—why he’d suddenly sought her out today, of all days, after ignoring her like a stranger before.
Male lead first thought she played hard to get, only to realize she
really disliked him
Short intro:
What she can’t stand the most is the streets full of effeminate men, especially that so-called top beauty whom she avoids at all costs.
Shen Yaoxing looks at Jiang Mingyue, who keeps approaching her with coy shyness.
Shen Yaoxing: Bro, don’t be like this, I’m really about to throw up!
She fears nothing in heaven or earth, except for him getting close to her.
*
At first he thought she was just using the trick of feigning indifference to attract his attention. Later, he learned that she truly despised him.
This dealt a heavy blow to Jiang Mingyue, and he vowed to make her, like everyone else, fall at his feet in worship!
***
Synopsis:
Before transmigrating, Shen Yaoxing only wanted to find a reliable man to spend her life with. Who knew that after transmigrating, she would become a reliable woman herself…
A forced misandrist, highly skilled, and reliable female lead
vs.
An initially aloof and arrogant, later morbid, obsessed male lead
_____
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