Chapter 05

  The Illegitimate Child of the Taesan Family

The situation suddenly took a dramatic turn. Geon-woo rolled up his sleeves and immediately began performing chest compressions. The ambulance was a flurry of activity as CPR was administered.

Soon, the ambulance carrying them arrived at the emergency room of a nearby hospital.

And about an hour later, the world was thrown into an uproar once again.

[Breaking news! Actress Do Da-hee fell from a bridge over the Han River at approximately 1 p.m. today. However, she was miraculously rescued by a passerby. We will bring you further updates on Ms. Do’s condition as soon as more information becomes available!]

News that Do Da-hee had jumped into the Han River and been rescued spread in the blink of an eye.

The area in front of the hospital where she had been taken descended into chaos, filled with reporters who had rushed over after hearing the rumors and fans who arrived in tears.

It was only belatedly that Jang Geon-woo learned that the woman he had rescued from the Han River was none other than Do Da-hee, the hottest controversy magnet in the entertainment industry these days.

“About Do Da-hee. Did she really jump in because she wanted to die?”

“Her pride must’ve taken a beating after she hit rock bottom overnight.”

“What kind of pride is worth throwing your life away for?”

“Celebrities make their living off their public image. Now that her demonic true nature has been exposed, how could she possibly show her face in public? Put it this way: if Yoo Min-ah had actually died, Do Da-hee would’ve been finished.”

“But you know what? For some reason, I think Do Da-hee staged the whole thing. Look how quickly she was pulled out of the water. I bet the whole thing was a setup.”

“Come to think of it, maybe she’s trying to garner some sympathy and turn public opinion in her favor. But what about that man? I heard he jumped into the Han River with nothing on. Who is he, anyway? An action star? Or could he be some kind of martial arts master?”

Geon-woo frowned as he listened to the people snickering about him and Do Da-hee.

Regardless of what had caused her to fall from the bridge, he found it absurd that even his act of saving someone’s life was being met with suspicion.

“Do you think playing with someone’s life is that easy?”

“Excuse me?”

“My mouth wasn’t made for people to run it carelessly.”

Having finally reached his limit, Geon-woo directed a pointed remark at the group whispering among themselves. Then, leaving them looking flustered, he turned his back on them.

Just then, an emergency medical technician and a police officer approached him as though they had been waiting for the right moment.

“Are you Mr. Jang Geon-woo?”

“How do you know my name?”

“We identified you through the passport inside the backpack we found on the bridge. We’ve set your backpack aside for safekeeping.”

“Oh, I see. Where is it?”

“Before we return your backpack, could you spare us a little time? We’d like to hear your account of what happened at the time of the accident.”

At the police officer’s polite request, Geon-woo brushed his hand through his still-damp hair and nodded.

“Da-hee. Da-hee! Are you coming around?”

Da-hee’s eyelids slowly fluttered open as she regained consciousness. Through her hazy, unfocused vision, she saw Ju-young staring at her with red, swollen eyes.

“Da-hee, can you see me? Do you know who I am?”

“Manager…”

At the faint voice that escaped between her barely moving lips, Ju-young wiped away the tears spilling uncontrollably down her cheeks with the back of her hand.

“Ah, thank goodness. You’re alive. You’re alive, Da-hee. Just wait a moment. I’ll get the doctor!”

Haa… haa…

An unfamiliar room that smelled of disinfectant. A ventilator attached to her face. An IV line connected to her arm. A finger clipped to an electrocardiogram monitor.

And a bandage covering the deep gash on her forehead, where a shard of ice had sliced into her skin when she fell into the water.

Her body felt as heavy as a waterlogged cotton ball. She didn’t even have the strength to twitch a finger, so Da-hee slowly moved only her eyes, taking stock of her surroundings.

I’m in a hospital. When I fell, I thought I was going to die, but thankfully, I must have survived.

Closing her eyes in relief, Da-hee slowly pieced together what had happened.

She had been walking along the bridge when a gust of wind blew. Her hat had been blown off, and when she reached out to catch it, she had fallen into the water.

By the time she tried to struggle in the depths, it was already too late. Her body had drifted away from the surface and sunk deeper into the water. The terror she had felt in that moment was unlike anything she had ever experienced.

It was a horrifying feeling she never wanted to experience again.

As she recalled the events with startling clarity, Da-hee began trembling as though seized by a convulsion. Then her eyes flew open.

“Are you all right, ma’am?”

“Da-hee!”

“Please calm down and follow me as you take deep breaths. Slowly, breathe in…and breathe out. One more time! Breathe in. And out.”

“Hh, h-hah… hoo… hoo…”

“Good. That’s it.”

Once Da-hee had calmed down, the doctor spoke.

“Fortunately, you’ve regained consciousness, and both your blood pressure and pulse are normal. You need complete rest for the time being, so please make sure she’s well cared for and isn’t exposed to anything too distressing.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

After the doctor left, Ju-young closed the door behind him and returned to Da-hee’s bedside. He clasped her hand tightly.

“I’m so glad you woke up, Da-hee. Does anything hurt?”

“I’m sorry, Manager.”

“No. I’m the one who should be sorry. I had no idea you were suffering so much. I’m sorry I didn’t take better care of you. If something had happened to you, I… Ah…”

Ju-young’s face was so swollen from crying that he was barely recognizable as he looked at Da-hee and spoke.

“Thank you for staying alive. They say it’s a miracle you survived falling into that freezing water in the middle of winter. So, Da-hee, please don’t ever think about doing anything like that again. There are so many people who worry about you. We agreed we’d get through this together, remember? You promised me.”

In truth, she hadn’t jumped in because she wanted to die. But realizing that she had nearly died by accident, Da-hee couldn’t bring herself to say anything, even though Ju-young had clearly misunderstood the situation.

Then, all at once, she remembered the strong hand that had reached out and grabbed her when she was flailing helplessly in the deep water, just as she was losing consciousness.

“Where is he?”

“Hm? Who?”

“Someone grabbed me underwater…”

“Oh, right! There was another person who came in the ambulance with you. According to the paramedics, that man was the one who saved you. Thank goodness he knew how to administer first aid quickly. Things could have turned out very badly.”

Da-hee’s eyes narrowed as she recalled the accident once again.

Now that she thought about it, the last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was the blurry image of someone’s face beyond her unfocused vision when her mask came off.

“Where is he?”

“I heard he went to give a statement to the police. I didn’t even get to see his face. That coat over there belongs to him. He left it in the emergency room, and the nurse brought it over because she said there was no way to get it back to him.”

Da-hee turned her eyes toward the spot Ju-young was pointing at. Her gaze lingered on the black coat, still thoroughly soaked with water, and she couldn’t seem to look away.

At that very moment, the television in the hospital lobby broadcast another breaking news report, accompanied by video footage that clearly showed the rescue of Da-hee from the water.

[It has been revealed that the citizen who rescued Do Da-hee is Jang Geon-woo, the second son of Chairman Jang of Taesan Corporation. According to reports, Mr. Jang was attending the wedding of his older brother, Jang Hyun-woo, vice president of Taesan Corporation, when he happened to witness the accident and rescued Ms. Do.]

“What on earth is going on here?!”

At Jang Dong-wan’s furious outburst, he hurled his phone away after it had rung incessantly. Lee Myung-hee, who had been sitting with an irritated expression, lowered her tablet and let out a deep sigh.

Her husband’s illegitimate son, whose existence had never once been acknowledged at an official public event, had suddenly been exposed to the entire world by a single breaking news report.

Worse yet, Jang Geon-woo was being hailed as a national hero for saving a precious human life.

“I told you we shouldn’t have invited that boy to Hyun-woo’s wedding! His very existence is already a headache, and instead of keeping him hidden away, you’ve let the whole world learn his name!”

“Hyun-woo asked me to invite him. What else could I have done?”

“You should have stopped him from attending the wedding at all costs! He’s someone whose existence must never be revealed!”

“As long as the boy doesn’t go around announcing that he’s an illegitimate child himself, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

In business, the two rarely had any serious disagreements. The one subject that invariably put them at odds, however, was Jang Geon-woo.

Lee Myung-hee’s tolerance for her husband’s illegitimate son had extended only as far as allowing Geon-woo to be registered in the family registry.

Even that concession had come with conditions: Jang Hyun-woo had to remain the heir to Taesan Corporation, and Jang Geon-woo was never to appear at any official public event.

Although she had been forced to take the child in, she had never once treated Geon-woo as her son. From the moment she first laid eyes on him, she had regarded him as a thorn in her side.

The day Geon-woo, having just learned to speak, called her “Mom,” she beat him mercilessly. After that, she refused to let him eat at the same table as the rest of the family.

When Geon-woo, who had grown up constantly walking on eggshells, volunteered to go to the United States, Lee Myung-hee smiled for the first time.

It was the first and last smile Geon-woo ever saw from her.

And so, before he had even started middle school, Geon-woo left for the United States. More than twenty years passed.

With Hyun-woo’s marriage finally solidifying his position as the heir, Myung-hee had thought she could at last breathe a little easier. But the moment she came face-to-face with Jang Geon-woo again after more than twenty years, her peace of mind shattered.

The one person Lee Myung-hee wanted erased from her life.

The only stain on Jang Dong-wan’s life.

In the end, the illegitimate son they had abandoned and left to grow up alone in a foreign country had become a man whose resemblance to his father was so striking that anyone could have believed he was Jang Dong-wan’s biological son.

Hyun-woo. Why on earth did you invite that boy?

Geon-woo has been struggling on his own in a foreign country all these years. He’s finally come home after such a long time. Please give him a warm welcome.

This is not that boy’s home.

Mother. Geon-woo is my younger brother.

Who said he was your brother?! I have never acknowledged that vulgar child as your sibling!

Regardless, Geon-woo is related to me by blood. No matter how much you deny it, that fact will never change. I know you’re unhappy about this. Please, Mother, let go of your anger.

She had been prepared to let the matter pass quietly because it was her beloved son’s heartfelt request. But was this the reason her anxiety and hatred had refused to disappear?

Because this son resembled his father far more than Hyun-woo did?

Even now, being confronted by a child who looked exactly like her husband but possessed the eyes of that lowborn woman was an unbearable experience.

Which meant Lee Myung-hee would never accept Jang Geon-woo, not even until the day she died.

“What are we going to do now?”

“What can we do at this point? We have no choice but to tell him to leave Korea as soon as possible. How on earth did information about that bastard being our son get leaked?!”

“Our son?! Our only son is Hyun-woo! That boy is someone you abandoned a long time ago. Have you forgotten?”

Having made the mistake of choosing his words poorly, Jang Dong-wan clamped his mouth shut as Lee Myung-hee launched into another furious tirade. He clutched his head and turned away.