Wishing for Salvation (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 9
They said the struggles of a new employee were predictable: self-loathing from incompetence, abusive bosses, conflicts with colleagues, unpaid overtime, and unwanted after-work gatherings.
That’s what she’d read and heard everywhere.
Of course, none of it applied to her right now.
“Honey, how’s work? Not too tough?”
Sitting between her parents after work, Ji An took turns accepting fruit held right in front of her face, slowly recovering her spirit worn thin over the past few days.
“Yeah, well… my body’s fine.”
Because she wasn’t doing anything at all.
“You don’t sound fine at all. And why’s your face so red? Oh dear, you’re running a fever again. Here we go.”
Jeong Hye pressed her hand against Ji An’s prominent forehead and rummaged through the drawer for fever medicine.
“I guess autumn really has arrived.”
Do Cheol smiled as he popped a segment of tangerine into his daughter’s open, chick-like beak. She hadn’t been this sensitive to seasons when she was younger, but ever since the accident, she’d reliably come down with fevers like this.
“Take your medicine and sleep early. Shouldn’t you rest for the day tomorrow?”
“It’s fine. I’ve only been at the job for how long?”
Ever since she’d come home, her limbs had felt heavy and limp. Her frail body, always complaining—too hot, too cold—was acting up again.
The mysterious man named Choi Do Young, absent from her memories, kept pricking at her nerves, and her heart fluttered uneasily every time she saw Kang Hyun.
It was as chaotic as that day she’d woken up with a blank slate.
She always came down with a fever at the start of a new season. She didn’t know why.
It had just always been that way since she was very young.
“I feel dizzy.”
Kang Hyun sometimes said her body was just too weak. But back then, he’d carry her on his back, hold her close, and stay by her side until her fever broke.
But now—
“Nothing.”
He’d left just one message saying he was busy and hadn’t been heard from for two days.
Was he really that busy, or did he simply not want to see her?
After spending twenty years together in this unconventional relationship, it was only natural he’d grown tired of it.
No matter how hard she tried to soothe her aching heart, the rising sorrow couldn’t be stopped.
If this was how things would turn out, he shouldn’t have taught me anything at all.
He shouldn’t have trained the child I once was—and the child I still am—to look only at Tae Kang Hyun.
Every time she felt his love nearing its end, thick wooden stakes drove deep into her heart.
“I should’ve asked for a smaller place.”
Without him, the house felt far too spacious. Even in broad daylight, flooded with sunshine, it looked like a sunken ruin buried in shadows.
Maybe size wasn’t the real issue. The problem was the person I’d grown into—one who couldn’t do anything without Tae Kang Hyun.
Wiping the sweat-drenched forehead with her hand, Seo Yoon fumbled around for her phone.
—Yeah?
“The house feels too big. I’d rather live in a studio.”
—I’ll look into it. Rest well while I’m away.
Just before the third call could end in voicemail, Kang Hyun answered and calmly responded, even to her oddly abrupt request.
“Oppa, could you come over for a bit right now?”
—What’s wrong?
“I don’t feel well. I think I have a pretty high fever.”
—I’ll send Dr. Han.
—Director, you need to head in now.
The area was bustling with activity, and the urgent call from Do Seok Won drifted in from nearby.
“Got it. Sorry.”
Her throat had dried out from the fever, cracking her voice into something pitiful.
She quickly ended the call before Kang Hyun could say anything more. She deeply regretted impulsively troubling someone who was clearly busy.
Seo Yoon had always been quick to give up.
Just before 4 a.m., Dr. Han, dozing off on the living room sofa, startled awake at the sound of movement.
“Managing Director? Weren’t you supposed to be in Macau…?”
“I came back briefly. How’s Yoon doing?”
Two local workers had died and four others were seriously injured in an accident at the Macau construction site.
As the person in charge, Kang Hyun had jumped into crisis management without a moment’s rest and boarded a flight to Macau.
After hastily inspecting the site and going over the incident details, he rushed back to Korea without even catching his breath—just to check on Seo Yoon, who’d said she was unwell.
“She’s been feverish all day and finally fell asleep around midnight. We gave her a strong fever reducer, which also contains a mild sedative.”
“The fever’s persistent, but nothing seems seriously wrong.”
“Of course. She gets a full medical checkup every six months.”
“Understood. Don’t mention that I stopped by. Come back in about two hours.”
“Yes.”
Kang Hyun stared for a moment at Seo Yoon, breathing slowly, then reached out—but changed direction and headed straight to the bathroom instead.
He was still in his sweat-soaked, now-dry suit and likely carried a load of germs from the construction site. He needed to wash up before touching her.
Wearing a robe and hastily drying himself off, Kang Hyun sat on the edge of the bed and gently cradled her still-warm forehead.
She’d always been prone to illness, a constant source of worry. Even with biannual checkups since before adulthood, he’d never felt fully at ease.
“Please don’t get sick.”
After staying by her side for a while, Kang Hyun fetched a damp cloth from the bathroom and wiped her face and limbs.
As dawn began to break, he lightly kissed her parched lips, then stood—only to stagger slightly.
Exhaustion from two sleepless days crashed over him all at once.
He barely managed to push away the urge to lie beside her and left the house to catch the first flight out.
He didn’t even hint at his visit, let alone seek any praise.
He thought words weren’t necessary.
Because they’d always occupied the same place.
As expected, her condition had hit rock bottom.
Inside the bus, chilled with an early autumn cold, she shivered—only for her fever to climb heavier and heavier on her forehead instead of subsiding.
This chronic, seasonal cold had grown utterly tiresome.
“What’s hurting you?”
“Well, I suppose you could call it a quarterly event. Whenever the seasons shift, I always catch a fever. Sometimes it hits really hard—but today’s relatively okay.”
“You two really do share a lot.”
Kang Hyun, fiddling with his tablet and listening to her cheerful chatter, swished cold water in his bitter-tasting mouth.
The more he let his guard down, the more this woman resembled Seo Yoon—so much so he’d almost call out her name and cling to her.
“Should I leave early if you’re not feeling well?”
Ji An, noticing the deep furrow between his narrowed brows, firmly pressed the nose wire of the white mask she’d bought at a convenience store on the way in.
She couldn’t tell what had soured his mood this time, but the oppressive heaviness around him was as gloomy as storm clouds blotting out the sky.
They say sadness and despair are contagious.
How long could she last in this environment?
Her random worry spiraled, even leading her to consider the possibility that she might end up resembling Managing Director Tae Kang Hyun.
“When can I get a genetic test?”
“I’m still thinking about it.”
“I see.”
Ji An’s head drooped lower and lower as she watched Kang Hyun, who seemed busy getting ready to go out.
“Where are you headed?”
The sight of him preparing to step outside intrigued her so much she couldn’t look away.
“To see Seo Yoon.”
A flicker of life brightened his otherwise expressionless face. It felt strangely ironic—the very reason he didn’t live like a normal person was the same reason he moved like one.
“Can I come with you?”
“Let’s go. Seo Yoon would like that too.”
Ji An didn’t bother denying Kang Hyun’s remark about them being twins, simply watching his retreating back.
Sitting on the sofa waiting for Kang Hyun, Ji An picked up her phone as it buzzed insistently.
—Honey, is it okay to talk?
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
—You know about your counseling appointment next week, right? Mom completely forgot this morning.
“Of course, I remember.”
—Dad has a site visit that day, so he won’t be able to go with you. I already asked Ha Jun to go with you.
Ever since the accident, she’d been attending regular counseling sessions.
Officially, it was to treat anxiety stemming from memory loss—but in truth, it was her parents’ earnest hope to protect her from any dark chapters of the past that might wound her from within.
“I can go alone. Why drag a busy civil servant into it?”
—Ha Jun’s off duty that day. After the hospital, grab something nice to eat before coming home.
“Got it.”
—How’s your body feeling? If it’s tough, just leave work early.
“I’m perfectly fine.”
—That’s my girl. Mom’s always grateful for you.
“I’m the one who’s thankful. You take it easy at work too, Mom. Love you.”
Giggling softly as she lowered the phone after hearing Jeong Hye’s reply, Ji An flailed in surprise at the sight of Kang Hyun standing there like an old oak tree.
Was he a real ghost or what?!
Mom! Ji An had quietly watched Kang Hyun as she—wearing Seo Yoon’s face—uttered that unfamiliar term. Now, he wordlessly picked up the phone that had slipped from her hand and handed it back.
“You get along well with your parents.”
“Yes, we do.”
Ji An gave a small nod. Standing before him—a man who’d lost both lover and father—she suddenly felt awkward, as if she’d been careless.
As they headed down to the parking lot, Ji An felt embarrassed all over again when she took the passenger seat, effectively reversing their usual superior-subordinate dynamic.
“Should I learn how to drive?”
“No need. Let those who know how, do it.”
“At this rate, this place really is a dream workplace.”
Aside from having a broken boss who couldn’t let go of his dead lover, it truly was an ideal company.
“A dream workplace.”
The tendons in his hand, casually turning the steering wheel, tightened visibly.
Kang Hyun murmured the word “dream” a few times before letting out a faint, wry laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“I was just wondering… what my dream used to be.”
“…A promotion?”
“I did want to reach the very top.”
So no one could ever take Seo Yoon away from my side.
“The process never mattered to me. Whether it was work or marriage, I thought that if I quickly settled all the tedious obligations, Seo Yoon would be waiting at the end. I was so foolish.”
No matter how fast I moved, regret always arrived too late—and yet, I still resent everything that never even gave me one chance.
I resent the god who took you from me, you for leaving me behind, and even myself for foolishly wandering while keeping you—the dream of my life—right beside me all along.
“Why are you crying?”
“Huh? Oh….”
Tears fell helplessly, gathering at the tip of Ji An’s chin and trembling precariously.
“…I must be losing my mind.”
Was her empathy failing her? Or was this delayed trauma finally catching up to her heart?
Ji An pulled down her stifling mask.
Once the tears started, they overflowed like a breached dam, soaking her face completely.
She was flustered by this sudden wave of emotion that had swept in uninvited.
It shouldn’t have been possible—her chest shouldn’t have ached so sharply from hearing a story that had nothing to do with her.
Even a bolt from the blue couldn’t have shocked her more.
“Hic….”
Her heart burned too fiercely, and raced too fast.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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