Chapter – 04
Even as tears welled up from the stinging pain, Dayeon thought of Dooseop, who had been so furious with her.
Why does Dad keep thinking that I’m hiding Mom’s inheritance?
Dayeon believed that this was the reason for Dooseop’s increasingly violent anger these days.
For years, her father had insisted that her mother had left her a huge fortune and accused Dayeon of secretly hiding it.
But from Dayeon’s perspective, it was completely unfair.
When she turned twenty, the lawyer who came to see her had not brought her a fortune. Instead, he had given her a small box.
Inside was nothing but a single business card with only a phone number written on it. There wasn’t even a name or title.
At times like this, Dayeon couldn’t help thinking how much easier things would have been if what her mother had left her had been money. Perhaps then the burdens weighing on her shoulders would have been a little lighter.
Dayeon took the business card she had received back then out of her wallet.
Her father had dismissed it as a lie. Dayeon herself had kept it only because she had no idea what her mother had intended.
After staring at the card for a long while, Dayeon took out her phone and dialed the number.
Beep… beep…
After several rings, someone answered.
“Hello?”
It was the voice of an older man.
Dayeon took a deep breath before finally speaking.
“Hello. My name is Jung Dayeon. I’m calling because I found this phone number on a business card my mother left behind.”
“May I ask your mother’s name?”
“Ah, Do… Hee-ok.”
The man, who introduced himself as Butler Song, reacted far more strongly to her mother’s name than to Dayeon’s own.
“So you are Professor Do Hee-ok’s daughter. If it isn’t too much trouble, would you be able to come to us right now?”
“Right now?”
“Yes. There is someone who very much wishes to meet you, Miss Dayeon.”
Without saying much else, Butler Song gave her an address and told her to come there.
He said that once she arrived, there would be someone who could explain everything to her.
It was incredibly suspicious.
But this was the person whose number her mother had left behind as an inheritance. Dayeon trusted that her mother, at least, would never have done anything that might put her in danger.
Thinking that she would run away if anything seemed wrong, Dayeon followed the address Butler Song had given her.
After getting off the bus, she walked up a hill through a narrow alley for quite some time before looking around.
“I think this is the place.”
She was sure it had to be somewhere around here, but no matter how carefully she looked, she couldn’t see a house nearby.
There was nothing but an endlessly long, towering wall—the kind she had only ever seen in dramas or movies.
“Wow. So houses like this really do exist.”
Just as Dayeon tilted her head back to look up, a black sedan came roaring up the hill from below.
It passed right by her and stopped a little farther ahead.
A moment later, the man who stepped out of the car left Dayeon speechless.
“…Teacher?”
A perfectly tailored dark-gray suit, broad shoulders, and legs long enough to rival a model’s. Beneath neatly styled hair that revealed his forehead were sharp, well-defined features.
Even from a distance, there was no mistaking that handsome face.
It was Siheon.
Why is Teacher here?
She had no idea why, but seeing a familiar face in such an unfamiliar place made Dayeon happy.
“Teacher!”
She ran toward him with a radiant smile.
Seeing Dayeon, Siheon’s eyes narrowed in surprise.
“How did you end up here?”
“Well, that’s…”
At that moment, the front gate suddenly swung open and someone appeared.
“Welcome, Miss Jung Dayeon.”
Butler Song, who had come out to greet Dayeon, then noticed Siheon standing beside her and bowed respectfully.
“Chairman Cha’s Executive Director Cha is here as well.”
“Executive Director Cha…?”
Dayeon’s eyes widened at the title.
The Siheon she knew was simply a young Korean man who had come to the welfare center because he needed volunteer hours and had only recently taken his first steps into the working world.
He wasn’t someone who held such a high-ranking position as executive director…
Siheon glanced between the silent Butler Song and Dayeon, who looked completely bewildered.
Then he stepped in front of Dayeon, shielding her from view.
His eyes turned cold.
“Why did Grandfather call Dayeon and me here?”
“I couldn’t possibly know Chairman Cha’s intentions.”
Butler Song merely smiled quietly, neither confirming nor denying anything.
Dayeon simply blinked at them innocently, having no idea what was going on.
Seeing her, Siheon let out a heavy sigh through his teeth.
He had a strong feeling that something he absolutely did not want was about to happen.
Guided by Butler Song, Dayeon entered the house and looked around, her eyes darting from one place to another.
The scene before her looked almost exactly like the mansion she had imagined in her dreams.
A massive chandelier hung from the living-room ceiling. Paintings adorned the hallways they had walked through, and numerous servants moved about like shadows.
This was the main residence of Chairman Cha Seong-mok, the head of Samjeong Group.
Samjeong Group was one of the most renowned corporations in South Korea—there was hardly anyone in the country who didn’t know the name.
Its flagship company, Samjeong Pharmaceuticals, was particularly successful overseas as well.
It was difficult enough to believe that the man who led such an enormous corporation was sitting right beside her, drinking tea.
But there was something else that bothered her even more.
Sitting directly across from her, his arms firmly crossed, was Siheon.
Before entering the house, Butler Song had casually mentioned that Siheon was the heir apparent to Samjeong Group.
Dayeon hadn’t actually been all that surprised.
In fact, she had found herself nodding instinctively.
She had been momentarily startled when she heard the title executive director, but the position seemed remarkably suited to Siheon.
Even when he had first come to tutor her, Teacher had never seemed like an ordinary college student.
His ability to explain difficult concepts was better than that of most teachers, and there was an unusual force behind even his simplest words that naturally commanded the attention of everyone around him.
Combined with his striking appearance, Siheon had always carried an aura that seemed to place him on an entirely different level from ordinary people.
So when she learned that he was destined to lead a massive corporation, it actually felt more fitting than imagining him as an ordinary office worker.
Then why did Teacher come to the welfare center claiming he was doing volunteer work? Was it really just a coincidence? If not, then why?
Dayeon glanced at him curiously, only to meet Siheon’s eyes.
She quickly looked away.
Feeling strangely intimidated, she fidgeted with her fingers resting on her lap.
“Heh heh. Siheon.”
Chairman Cha gently scolded Siheon as he set his teacup down on the table.
“You’re making such a frightening face that Miss Dayeon doesn’t know what to do.”
But Siheon didn’t soften his expression in the slightest.
“You could have simply avoided arranging a meeting like this in the first place.”
Despite Siheon’s cold response, Chairman Cha maintained a relaxed smile.
“If I hadn’t summoned you like this, you wouldn’t have come, would you?”
“…”
“So there was no other way. Isn’t that right?”
Dayeon couldn’t understand what their conversation meant at all.
She simply racked her brain, trying to figure out why Chairman Cha had called her here and why Siheon seemed so displeased with the situation.
“Miss Dayeon, was it?”
At the voice calling her, Dayeon quickly came to her senses and looked at Chairman Cha.
“Yes? Ah, yes.”
“Your mother was Professor Do Hee-ok, a neurosurgeon at Sehyun Hospital, correct?”
Hearing her mother’s name—despite the fact that she had passed away many years ago—come from Chairman Cha’s mouth felt strange.
Still, Dayeon calmly answered.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I see. Your eyes, your nose… You look very much like Professor Do Hee-ok. I could tell without even needing to confirm it. Isn’t that right, Butler Song?”
Chairman Cha turned toward him as if seeking confirmation.
Butler Song, who was standing behind him, bowed his head.
“Yes, Chairman.”
A satisfied smile spread across Chairman Cha’s lips.
Seeing his faint smile, Dayeon nervously asked,
“May I ask how you knew my mother?”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t know anything about it, but you seem to have known my mother very well.”
Seeing Dayeon’s completely clueless expression, Chairman Cha burst into hearty laughter.
“Yes, yes. I suppose I haven’t explained things properly.”
After taking a sip of tea, he smiled warmly.
“It must have been twenty years ago now. Professor Do Hee-ok performed an operation on our Siheon.”
Chairman Cha’s eyes grew distant, as though he were looking back into a particular moment from the past.
“It was a difficult operation. The tumor was wrapped around the nerves in his brain.”
“…”
“No one else was willing to take the case, and we were completely at a loss. Then Professor Do Hee-ok stepped forward and saved our Siheon.”
It was the first Dayeon had ever heard of this.
She knew that even years after her mother’s death, people still spoke of her as a brilliant doctor.
But she had never known that her mother had saved her teacher’s life as well.
“So, with that in mind…”
Chairman Cha paused for a long moment before dropping a bombshell.
“Miss Dayeon, would you consider becoming my grandson’s wife?”
