Chapter 04
Delusional Love
—Sa-heon, there’s something you need to know. Father and our mother loved each other. They simply couldn’t officially marry because our families opposed the relationship!
“That’s quite a touching love story.”
—There is a high-accident area ahead. Please drive with caution.
The navigation system’s warning sounded.
On the other end of the phone, Lee Jae-kwon let out a hysterical laugh.
—Honestly, Sa-heon, shouldn’t you try to understand how Jae-seong and I felt when people pointed their fingers at us and called us illegitimate children? We were born first, after all…
“Vice President.”
Sa-heon cut him off with a quiet sigh and a smile.
“Let’s stop dredging up trivial stories from the past. You make it sound like some tragic romance.”
—That’s not what I mean!
Lee Jae-kwon hurriedly continued.
—Just stop here. Even if we only share half our blood, we’re still brothers. There’s nothing for you to gain by dragging me down, is there?
This time, Sa-heon couldn’t hold back his laughter.
“Ah. Brothers.”
The rain grew heavier.
On the radio, Verdi’s Requiem swelled ominously, the classical melody giving way to the thunderous section known as the Dies Irae—the Day of Wrath.
“Right, Brother.”
Boom. Boom.
The grand timpani and violent brass crashed like thunder.
Sa-heon’s voice sank into an icy calm.
“I suppose you still haven’t understood the situation. I’m simply thinking about the future of the company. There’s a rat gnawing away at our grain, so I’m setting a trap to catch it.”
Dies Irae! — Day of Wrath!
The choir cried out as though screaming in anguish.
“Brother or fucking whatever. We were born with knives pointed at each other’s throats. We’re competitors fighting for the chairman’s seat, people prepared to step on each other if that’s what it takes to reach the top.”
He gave a faint, amused laugh.
“Hmm? Are you really going to keep playing this boring little game?”
Dies illa! — That day!
“I’m planning to formally put this before the board soon. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of expression you’ll have when you’re forced out.”
A crashing sound came through the speaker.
Unable to contain his rage, Lee Jae-kwon screamed.
—You bastard born from some whore who came crawling out of nowhere! You don’t even know your place!
A spark flashed in Sa-heon’s eyes.
“The bastard is you and your brother.”
—What?
Solvet saeclum in favilla! — The world shall be dissolved into ashes!
“I was willing to listen to you bark for this long, but you clearly don’t know when to stop.”
—There is a high-accident area ahead. Please drive with caution.
Sa-heon’s gaze flicked toward the dashboard.
The speedometer was showing a dangerously high number.
—Sharp curve ahead. Please watch your speed.
He turned the steering wheel.
The tires skimmed across the rainwater on the road.
The moment Sa-heon placed his foot on the brake, he realized something was wrong.
Unlike a moment ago, the brake pedal felt strangely light beneath his foot.
……The brake pedal had gone dead.
So the rat hadn’t merely been gnawing at the grain.
It had tampered with the trap as well.
Sa-heon’s eyes sharpened, and the veins on the back of his hands stood out as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
A mocking laugh came through the phone.
—You think that because you’re clever, the whole world is beneath your feet, don’t you? You use your head, and I’ll tie up your hands and feet.
Dies Irae! — Day of Wrath!
The choir in the Requiem surged like a storm, while the navigation system continued to issue warning after warning.
Dies illa! — That day!
Headlights illuminated a black shape ahead, so dark that its form was impossible to make out.
For an instant, Sa-heon thought it might be a person.
It wasn’t.
—And I mean your actual hands and feet. Not metaphorically.
Solvet saeclum in favilla! — The world shall be dissolved into ashes!
Sa-heon wrenched the steering wheel.
The tires screamed as they skidded across the wet road, and his entire field of vision spun.
He couldn’t reduce his speed like this.
Sa-heon reacted instantly and slammed the right side of the vehicle into the guardrail.
CRASH! BANG!
The car smashed into the guardrail with tremendous force.
POP!
The airbags deployed simultaneously.
Even after striking the guardrail, the vehicle continued sliding for quite some distance before finally tipping partially onto its side and coming to a stop.
Cough, cough.
The airbags had burst and filled the cabin with a cloud of talc powder.
Every time Sa-heon coughed, his chest throbbed so violently that it felt as though his ribs had been torn loose.
But the pain in his chest was nothing compared to the splitting headache stabbing through his temples.
Blood trickled down from his head, soaking his suit.
Hahahaha.
Lee Jae-kwon’s satisfied laughter echoed like a nightmare.
Then—
Click.
The call abruptly disconnected.
The navigation system fell silent as well, leaving only the dull sound of rain falling steadily outside.
A deserted road on the outskirts of the city.
A torrential downpour heavy enough to obscure his vision.
Am I going to die like this?
Sa-heon rested his bloodied head against the deflated airbag and stared at the raindrops sliding down the shattered windshield.
A faint smile crossed his lips.
The days of his life flashed through his mind like a rapidly spinning lantern.
There wasn’t a single happy memory among them.
Then, suddenly, the face of one woman surfaced in his mind.
He let out a faint, hollow laugh as he slowly opened and closed his eyes.
So in the end, even after keeping her by his side, I never managed to satisfy that persistent curiosity of mine.
And all the while, I was nothing more than a hypocrite who extended a hand of pity for my own selfish desires.
Just then—
His shattered phone screen lit up with a long vibration.
[Han Ji-an]
The timing was so unbelievable that Sa-heon simply stared at the vibrating phone for a moment with unfocused eyes.
Then, slowly, he reached out and pressed the answer button.
—Executive Director, I’m sorry for calling so late.
Her clear, gentle voice echoed in his ear.
If this really was the final moment of his life, then at least he was glad that the last voice he heard would be hers.
Sa-heon gave a bitter smile.
Within his overturned field of vision, his heavy eyelids slowly closed.
Beep. Beep.
Inside the quiet hospital room, the only sound filling the silence was the steady beeping of the electrocardiogram.
The previous night, Ji-an had discovered an error in a report.
After agonizing over it, she eventually called Sa-heon despite the late hour.
Click.
The call connected, but no answer came from the other end.
She instinctively sensed that something was wrong.
When she informed Chief Secretary Choi Kang-hoon and later heard that 119 had found Sa-heon, it felt as though her heart had dropped straight into her stomach.
Her chest tightened so violently that for a moment, she could barely breathe.
She rushed to the hospital in a daze and spent the entire night waiting for the unconscious Sa-heon to wake.
On top of that, she had to calm Chairman Lee, who had caused an uproar after hearing the news, while also dealing with reporters who had somehow gotten wind of the accident and came rushing in.
Completely on edge, Ji-an eventually collapsed into a chair and bit her lip.
“…He’ll be okay, right?”
Chief Secretary Choi Kang-hoon had been standing beside the bed with his arms folded in silence.
He nodded.
“He’s not someone who’ll be brought down easily by something like this. He’ll wake up soon.”
He spoke calmly, but his own face looked haggard, rough stubble having grown over it throughout the night.
“As you instructed, Chief, I contacted Manager Kim from the Legal Affairs Team.”
Ji-an continued weakly.
“I had all the hospital staff sign confidentiality agreements, and I also contacted the PR team and asked them to prepare a media response strategy in case the news leaked.”
While Sa-heon was unconscious, Ji-an and Chief Secretary Choi Kang-hoon had done everything they could to keep the situation under control.
Sa-heon was engaged in a fierce struggle with his brothers over the position of successor.
If news of his accident became public, it could affect not only the company’s stock price but also the contracts Hyun-gang had recently secured.
“Secretary Han.”
The Chief Secretary’s hoarse voice suddenly became unusually serious.
“This accident… I’m sure you sensed it too, but…”
He trailed off and fell silent.
Ji-an understood what he wanted to say simply by looking into his eyes.
Two days ago, a mechanic had come to service Sa-heon’s personal vehicle.
And then there was Vice President Lee Jae-kwon, who had been unusually obsessed with finding the vehicle’s black box while persistently asking about Sa-heon’s condition after he lost consciousness.
The moment they heard about the accident, Ji-an and Chief Secretary Choi Kang-hoon had quickly decided to split up and handle things separately.
The Chief Secretary went to the accident scene.
Ji-an went to the hospital.
Chief Secretary Choi Kang-hoon had recovered the black box.
Based on the recorded conversation, they had both reached the same conclusion.
“I should have realized something was suspicious when the mechanic came. It was my fault.”
“No one would have noticed. You did everything you could, Secretary Han.”
Haaah.
Ji-an quietly sighed before looking at the man lying on the bed.
“…Executive Director Lee Sa-heon.”
Even unconscious, his face remained composed.
If not for his pale complexion and the abrasions scattered here and there, one could almost mistake him for someone who had simply fallen into a light sleep.
The smooth bridge of his nose, his delicately shaped lips pressed firmly together, even the sharp line of his jaw gave off an extraordinary presence.
Even now, sleeping amid the steady beeps of the machines, he somehow managed to embody the authority and oppressive presence of an Executive Director of Hyun-gang—and the leading candidate to become its next head.
Even this was so like Sa-heon.
Please, just open your eyes, Executive Director.
Ji-an clasped her hands together and silently prayed when—
“Uh!”
The tips of Sa-heon’s fingers moved ever so slightly.
Startled, Ji-an shot to her feet.
“C-Chief! Did you see that?”
“I believe he’s waking up.”
Chief Secretary Choi Kang-hoon hurried over to the bedside.
The eyelids of the man lying there trembled faintly before slowly lifting.
His unfocused pupils wandered across the ceiling, gradually beginning to recognize his surroundings.
“Ugh…”
A rough, rasping voice escaped his lips.
Sa-heon raised a hand toward his forehead, only to pause when the IV line caught against it.
“Executive Director, are you all right?”
Chief Secretary Choi Kang-hoon asked urgently.
Sa-heon deeply furrowed his brows and glanced around the room.
As though he had finally realized he was in a hospital, he let out an irritated breath.
“What the…”
Only then did Sa-heon’s gaze fall upon Ji-an, who was trembling.
The moment their eyes met, Ji-an gripped the hem of her blouse and sucked in a breath.
“Executive Director, are you awake? Are you okay?”
As she approached him with a worried expression, Sa-heon’s head instinctively followed her movement.
Her silhouette seemed almost illuminated from within, her lips slightly bitten, her breath trembling.
Sa-heon’s eyes traveled slowly over her face, and an inexplicable glimmer appeared in them.
“Honey?”
“Y-Yes?”
Taken aback by both his piercing gaze and the unexpected word that followed, Ji-an stared at him blankly.
“D-Director, I’m Han Ji-an, your secretary.”
What had she just heard?
Ji-an’s body stiffened like a stone, while Chief Secretary Choi Kang-hoon swallowed hard.
“………………Honey, my head hurts.”
As if nothing unusual had happened, Sa-heon dropped another bombshell before closing his heavy eyelids again.
The people left in the hospital room could do nothing but stand frozen, utterly speechless.
