Chapter: 04
When Seo-ah followed the two people and entered the funeral hall again, something happened.
The moment Ki-young stepped into the entrance of room number 2, Dong-ha’s family rushed toward him.
At that moment, Dong-ha’s paternal grandmother, who had limped out with her uncomfortable legs, grabbed Ki-young by the collar.
“You’re neither a man nor a woman, and you dare crawl in here and bring bad luck!”
The strange words that came out of the grandmother’s mouth froze Seo-ah in place.
Her mother-in-law also looked visibly flustered.
Fortunately, no one gave meaning to the words of the old woman who was nearing ninety.
Except for one person.
Seo-ah stared intently at her mother-in-law’s expression as she busily watched the reactions of the people around her.
Then their eyes met.
As if nothing had happened, her eyes quickly turned cold and glared at Seo-ah. Then she hurriedly took the grandmother and disappeared into the funeral room.
What was that?
Seo-ah needed to know what this unpleasant feeling was.
“Unnie, what did Grandmother mean?”
“Huh?”
Dong-joo’s eyes shook violently.
“You heard it too, didn’t you, unnie?”
“Th-that……”
At that moment.
“You bastard! Get out of here right now!”
Dong-joo’s voice, which had struggled to come out through her heavy lips, was buried beneath the furious shout of her father.
Seo-ah could not understand why even her father-in-law was stepping forward to scold Ki-young.
Wasn’t he the close friend whom his son cherished terribly?
“Let’s go out first.”
Dong-joo grabbed Seo-ah’s arm.
“What did Kim Ki-young do wrong?”
Despite Seo-ah’s repeated questions, Dong-joo could not say anything, as if her mouth would not open.
For now, it seemed more important to escape the chaotic atmosphere of the funeral hall.
Even after forcing Seo-ah outside, Dong-joo could not look directly into her eyes for a long time.
“Tell me. Everyone’s attitude toward Kim Ki-young is strange.”
Realizing that she could no longer avoid the truth with lies, Dong-joo’s shoulders sank endlessly.
“Seo-ah……”
Dong-joo’s heavily lowered voice made Seo-ah more anxious than ever.
“Dong-ha… likes men.”
“……What?”
Did I hear something wrong?
Her sister-in-law’s simple words felt as unfamiliar as a foreign language.
Seo-ah narrowed her brows and tried once again to understand what Dong-joo had said.
According to Dong-joo, Lee Dong-ha was gay, and Kim Ki-young, who was supposedly just his friend, was actually something like her husband’s lover……
“Hah—!”
Only after finally understanding her sister-in-law’s words did Seo-ah hold back her breath and step backward.
“Dong-ha said he was going to tell you. It’s true.”
“H-ha ha.”
Seo-ah slowly let out a broken laugh.
How much had she regretted and blamed herself for the last image of herself scolding her husband when she entered the funeral hall?
When she heard the news of Dong-ha’s death, she truly thought her own unfortunate fate had caused everything, and it felt like her heart would burst.
But now, that same heart was being torn apart in a completely different way.
Why didn’t I know?
Even just seeing how a man who was stingy with smiles only reacted to his close friend’s voice should have been enough of an answer.
‘Lee Dong-ha and Kim Ki-young are lovers.’
All the doubts she had carried until now were resolved by that one sentence.
“So that’s why……”
Cold crystals seemed to fly into Seo-ah’s frozen eyes.
It was the white, freezing February snow falling from the sky, as if it understood her heart completely.
Seo-ah and Dong-ha got married after meeting only twice following their arranged marriage.
The moment they stamped their seals on the marriage registration, Dong-ha Motors invested as promised, and thanks to that, the struggling Wonjeon Electronics managed to recover temporarily.
At that time, Seo-ah thought that Lee Dong-ha, who had chosen her, was like a savior.
However, despite all her efforts, her married life did not go the way she wanted.
Her mother-in-law was always angry.
She treated Seo-ah as if she were a mistress who had stolen her husband and never let the two of them spend time together peacefully.
Yet, her obsession with having grandchildren never ended.
Seo-ah herself had wanted a child too.
She wanted to repay the family that had chosen her and ease the guilt her father carried because his daughter had entered a marriage she did not want.
She believed that once they had a grandchild, all those problems would naturally disappear.
But Jin Seo-ah, as a woman and as a wife, was completely ignored.
Even on their first night together after the wedding, Dong-ha did not come home, using work as an excuse.
Even without his mother’s interference, he acted as if he had given up on being a husband.
Seo-ah did not love the cold and emotionless Lee Dong-ha, but because they were married, she tried hard to develop feelings for him.
She believed that affection would naturally build over time, and one day she would come to love her husband.
She believed that was what life was.
For her, this moment felt like being told the miserable truth that all her efforts until now had meant nothing.
“What is all this……?”
Seo-ah’s hollow laughter started quietly but gradually grew louder.
It became so intense that her shoulders shook and she held her stomach while laughing.
Then, before she realized it, the laughter turned into uncontrollable anger.
The betrayal that suddenly boiled inside her brought unbearable pain to her head, and nausea rose in her stomach.
Should she resent him?
Or should she grieve?
Seo-ah felt as if she had lost the direction her heart should take.
Now, Lee Dong-ha, what should I call you?
Even until the moment you died, you were never my husband.
Her powerless body staggered as she moved her gaze toward the trembling stairs.
Dozens of stairs swayed like waves, and the bottom looked like an endless cliff.
As she grabbed the railing and tried to hold herself up somehow, her vision began to turn black and swirl.
If I fall from here…… could I die?
Seo-ah’s unfocused eyes trembled.
And finally, the strength left the hand holding the railing, and she lost her balance.
It was only going to end like this.
The end that arrived with a single tear carried a silence that felt like a lie.
At that moment, a deep musk scent wrapped around Seo-ah’s entire body.
‘Perfume……?’
The sense of security that pierced through the moment made her take a deep breath.
After a while, Seo-ah blinked her half-open eyes at the warm embrace.
Then, through her thinly opened eyelids, she saw the faint silhouette of a man.
She was certain she would fall down the stairs, but why……
Seo-ah spoke to the suspicious man.
“Who…… are you?”
“Kang Tae-gyeong.”
At the careless self-introduction, Seo-ah quietly blinked.
“……What?”
Only then did the man seem to regain his senses and part his lips blankly.
“Ah.”
The man released his arms and carefully placed Seo-ah back on the stairs.
“I said I’m Kang Tae-gyeong. You asked who I was.”
Tae-gyeong answered awkwardly.
“Ah, um……”
Just as Seo-ah was about to say something—
“Seo-ah!”
Dong-joo, who realized the situation too late, ran over with a pale face.
Then she slapped away the hand of the man who was supporting Seo-ah.
“What are you? Do you know her? Who are you?!”
Despite Dong-joo’s accusing glare and questions, Tae-gyeong said nothing.
Meanwhile, Hee-jun, who had been searching for his boss, finally found him and ran over.
“Team Leader!”
Seeing Seo-ah with Tae-gyeong, Hee-jun covered his mouth in shock.
Then he quickly grabbed Tae-gyeong’s arm.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry!”
As Hee-jun linked arms with Tae-gyeong and turned away, Dong-joo continued glaring at their backs while protecting Seo-ah.
“Why do you keep doing unexpected things?”
Hee-jun, who had been running around the not-so-large funeral hall searching for Tae-gyeong every time he disappeared, asked in frustration.
“What did I do? She looked like she was going to get hurt, so I helped her. She asked who I was, so I just told her my name.”
Ah.
After saying that, Tae-gyeong regretted it.
He had tried to make an excuse but ended up admitting that he even gave Seo-ah his name.
Even he found it ridiculous.
As expected, Hee-jun reacted sensitively.
“What? Why did you tell her your name? Wasn’t it unnecessary? Are you playing around with a widow?!”
Widow.
At that word, Tae-gyeong finally remembered that she was a married woman.
“What kind of joke is that? She was just staring at me and asking who I was. My name just came out.”
“You fell for her already?”
“……What?”
Even at Hee-jun’s teasing-like nagging, Tae-gyeong’s resistance came a moment late.
Because for a brief moment, he also thought that it might be true.
‘That’s right. Why did I?’
Even thinking about it again, it was strange.
There were countless beautiful women in the world, so why was he so bothered by a widow?
Was it really worth getting angry over seeing a family that was not even family themselves acting arrogantly and trampling on a fragile woman?
When had he even seen her before?
He tried to make excuses, but Tae-gyeong could not even convince himself.
I don’t know. I’m crazy.
Just as he gave up arguing and decided that he really needed to leave this place—
A man quickly passed by him and shouted.
“Jin Seo-ah!”
Tae-gyeong instinctively guessed it was her name and reflexively grabbed Ki-young’s arm.
“You. What are you?”
