13. So Help Me
After the accident, Do-heon asked Ji-hyun and the other members of his family about the female employee he had supposedly saved, but he always received the same answer.
She was simply a female employee at the company whom he had no personal relationship with, and since she had left Kwonseong after the accident, they had no idea what had happened to her.
Yoon-kyung had visited his hospital room not long after Do-heon regained consciousness, but at the time, he had been so confused not only by his injured body but also by the fact that he had lost his memories that he had even forgotten she had come to see him.
By the time his body recovered and his mind had settled, he had already gone to the United States.
When Do-heon decided to return to Korea after finishing his life in America, he had planned to look for that female employee. Three years had passed, yet his lost memories had not returned, and the gap in his memory remained exactly as it was.
‘Oppa, it’s only two years.’
Just as Ji-hyun had said, he had only lost two years. Yet somehow, the woman who had once been nothing more than his mother’s friend’s daughter had become his fiancée.
Do-heon simply wanted to find what belonged to him.
He wanted to know the memories that had originally been his, the time that had disappeared.
And what Do-heon had lost was not merely two years.
There was someone he had known since a much earlier, distant past.
Through fleeting sensations that remained in his body and hazy memories that suddenly surfaced, Do-heon had been able to realize that there was someone he had forgotten.
Every time he tried to recall those memories, an excruciating headache forced him to give up. But perhaps because of someone’s prayers for him, he was eventually able to learn that there truly had been someone he had lost in the accident.
It was hardly enough to celebrate, though.
Like a diary that had been burned in a fire, only the outline remained.
‘Secretary Kim came by today. He said he was supposed to get the résumé of one of the former employees…….’
‘The female employee Executive Director Kwon saved?’
Do-heon never imagined that the very employee he had been searching for would appear before him.
‘Are you really doing this because you want to see Mom go crazy?!’
‘We agreed that I would be Kwak Ji-hyun’s mother, not Kang Yoon-kyung’s mother. So stop bothering me and go take care of your own daughter.’
He certainly never expected that woman to be his fiancée’s older sister.
‘You don’t have another hidden child, do you?’
‘Why are you asking something so obvious? You know Ji-cheol oppa is my only sibling.’
It had been Ji-hyun and Seong-hee who had driven Yoon-kyung out of his hospital room.
When he had asked who she was, the only answer they had given him was that she was the person responsible for injuring him.
They must have known about Yoon-kyung when she came to the hospital room.
No, they must have known about her even when the accident happened.
And so must the madam of the household, who cherished and adored Ji-hyun as if she were her own daughter.
Do-heon grabbed his tie and pulled it tight.
In other words, he had been the only one who didn’t know.
Ji-hyun’s biological mother had passed away and her stepmother had entered the family more than ten years ago. Their families had known each other for a long time, even if there had been no affection between them.
Do-heon couldn’t understand why they had hidden their relationship from him, but more than anything, it was strange that none of his previous memories remained.
‘I wondered why the place after Kwonseong was somewhere like this…… But I can understand why you got in through connections now.’
‘How did you know?’
‘Shouldn’t you tell me the object of the question first?’
Do-heon had asked Yoon-kyung in return, but she hadn’t answered.
Both the reason she had asked and the object he had asked about were already clear to both of them.
‘I saw it at the hotel. To be precise, I saw and heard it.’
‘That…….’
‘For your information, they don’t know that I’ve figured it out. You’re the first person I’m telling.’
He couldn’t completely understand the situation, but if Yoon-kyung was Seong-hee’s daughter, then her working at KD Health made some sense.
‘I have no interest in other people’s family affairs.’
Especially when those family affairs were complicated.
‘But if those people are my fiancée, that’s a little different. And if they deceived me, I can’t just let it go.’
‘I’m not taking their side, nor do I want to. But maybe they didn’t tell you because they didn’t consider me family in the first place. To me, my family is only my father. He gave birth to me, but there was never any real family affection or anything like that. I just lived with them because of circumstances…….’
‘Did I know?’
‘…….’
‘Did I know about this before I lost my memories?’
‘……I don’t know.’
She knew.
Unlike her immediate answer before, Yoon-kyung’s delayed response made Do-heon certain.
‘I’ll ask you one more thing. Were we acquainted?’
Do-heon didn’t notice the fist trembling on Yoon-kyung’s thigh.
‘According to your employment date, you’ve been there for quite a while…….’
‘We were on different teams. We just happened to see each other a few times while passing by.’
If that was true, then Do-heon understood even less why he had saved Yoon-kyung.
‘I’m late in saying this…… Thank you.’
‘If you’re grateful, repay me.’
‘Executive Director.’
As if she had finally made up her mind, Yoon-kyung raised her head.
‘This may sound selfish, but honestly, facing the Executive Director who was injured because of me makes me uncomfortable. I left Kwonseong, yet having to work with people from Kwonseong, including you, is painful. So…….’
‘I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to put up with it, Ms. Kang Yoon-kyung.’
‘Pardon?’
Perhaps his answer was completely different from what she had expected, because Yoon-kyung’s lips parted helplessly.
‘Even if it’s uncomfortable and painful, put up with it. I saved you, and because of that, you’re alive and well now. When you look at the result, I’m your lifesaver. Am I wrong?’
‘That’s…….’
‘So help me.’
Do-heon didn’t ask why Yoon-kyung continued working at the company while being treated the way she was.
Knowing meant carrying responsibility for what you knew.
This was Yoon-kyung’s business and her circumstances.
‘Just cooperate with me for six months.’
The next six months.
It was both the responsibility given to Do-heon and the amount of time he would spend with Yoon-kyung standing before him.
‘Ms. Kang Yoon-kyung, keep doing the work you’re given in the position you’ve been in until now, just as you always have. I’ll do what I have to do from my position.’
‘Executive Director.’
‘If you’re finished eating, let’s go.’
Because Do-heon had stood up first with the bill in his hand, he hadn’t seen Yoon-kyung’s expression.
What kind of face had she made behind his back?
“Things are going to get busy starting next week.”
At Kyung-min’s words, Do-heon tapped his finger against his thigh.
He knew that Yoon-kyung had been sincere when she said she was uncomfortable seeing his face. He could understand it well enough.
But the moment Do-heon decided to put her on the TF team, he also decided to put himself first.
He didn’t believe that all the moments surrounding himself and Yoon-kyung were merely coincidences.
“Yes.”
There was definitely something there.
His instincts were telling him so.
So he decided to find out.
“…In every way.”
Who he had been.
What exactly the memories he had lost were.
And why Kang Yoon-kyung was bothering him so much.
“Yoon-kyung!”
Yoon-kyung, who was about to pass through the revolving door, spotted Da-hee approaching from the opposite side.
Da-hee happily waved her arm at Yoon-kyung.
Her mind had been complicated, making her commute more troubled than usual. But seeing Da-hee’s bright smile made the worries that had been clouding her mind like fog begin to clear a little.
“Good morning!”
It had been such a long time since someone at the company had greeted her so warmly.
“Good morning.”
The morning greeting sounded awkward coming from her own lips, and Yoon-kyung gave an embarrassed smile.
“Do you normally come to work this early?”
“I just wake up early. It’s become a habit, too. And, Da…… Manager?”
“Just call me Da-hee. I think I’d rather have you call me by my name.”
At Da-hee’s refreshing laugh, Yoon-kyung smiled and nodded.
“I guess it is technically my first official day at work, and as you know, Kwonseong has flexible working hours. I usually prefer coming in early and leaving early.”
The two women passed through the revolving door together.
“Of course, now that I’m on the TF team for this project, overtime is guaranteed. But whatever. I get paid more for the extra work.”
Da-hee naturally continued the conversation with Yoon-kyung, bringing up things that had happened over the previous weekend.
It was a noisier morning than usual, but the bright energy Da-hee shared with her also gave Yoon-kyung a little more energy.
“Wow, there really is no one here.”
There were still thirty minutes before the official start of work, but there wasn’t a single person in sight.
Listening to Da-hee’s genuine amazement, Yoon-kyung led the way into the office.
It was understandable that Da-hee would be surprised. She had come from Kwonseong, after all.
“Da-hee, your desk should be over here.”
Yoon-kyung guided Da-hee toward the left side of the office, directly opposite her own desk.
She had heard that the room Do-heon would be using had been renovated over the weekend.
It was small, but much cleaner than before, so it didn’t seem like there would be any major inconvenience for him while working.
Yoon-kyung peered into the open room, quickly looking around to see whether there was anything Do-heon might dislike or find irritating.
Da-hee watched her quietly before noticing Kyung-min and Do-heon entering the office.
“Exe……!”
Da-hee was about to greet them, but when she saw Yoon-kyung seriously inspecting the room, she lowered the arm she had raised.
The corners of Da-hee’s lips curled up mischievously.
Then, as the men approached her, she placed her index finger against her lips, silently telling them to be quiet.
What kind of prank is she planning this time?
As Da-hee approached Yoon-kyung, Do-heon’s gaze naturally shifted toward Yoon-kyung.
