"Lee Yeon-ah, Lee Yeon-ah."
The name, slowly savored, clung stickily. It was a density entirely different from when the senior had said it while flustered. Kwon Chae-woo pressed firmly against his brow bone as if his head hurt.
"Stop calling another man's wife's name, before I kill him."
The cold, piercing gaze was like a blade. Where his expression had been washed away, only a meaningless husk remained.
The surrounding temperature dropped rapidly. Seeing Hwang Jo-yoon frozen stiff, unable to even breathe, this didn't seem like mere imagination.
Lee Yeon gasped for breath like someone who had witnessed a live bomb. A vestige of the past flickered in him.
Did I send Kwon Chae-woo out too early? If he's getting headaches, won't recovering his memories be instantaneous?
Lee Yeon's heart grew desperately anxious. Her heart pounded wildly.
Just when Kwon Chae-woo's gaze seemed to turn toward the glass on the table, the arm holding Lee Yeon loosened.
Ah, no, no! Whatever happens, no!
Lee Yeon grabbed his loosened arm and wrapped it back around her waist like a safety bar. Kwon Chae-woo hesitated and turned his head. The eyes that met hers were quiet.
"Should I really not do anything?"
"......"
"The eyes and hands—I was wrong about those. So this time, Lee Yeon-ssi, please choose again for me."
His face was softly relaxed as if he had never sharpened his blade.
"Is it the right testicle, or the left testicle?"
Lee Yeon blinked blankly.
"The options have improved compared to before, haven't they?"
Hwang Jo-yoon no longer shook her thoughts.
* * *
Lee Yeon hurriedly led Kwon Chae-woo out of the cafe to protect him from harmful influences. Even so, her heart continued to pound fearfully.
'—Before I kill him.'
The moment when the past suddenly resurfaced was utterly defenseless. The more she chewed on it, the more her spine chilled. No matter how she thought about it, the senior's presence seemed to have struck something deep within Kwon Chae-woo.
......No, that's not it.
That's too simple a conclusion. Lee Yeon's face, which had been clamped shut like a clam, suddenly darkened.
It wasn't that the senior and others had provoked Kwon Chae-woo—rather, he was sensitively detecting Lee Yeon's atmosphere.
Whenever Lee Yeon showed the slightest displeasure, the man would agilely position himself as if ready to cross the line in an instant. Which meant that the person holding his leash hadn't managed him properly.
Lee Yeon clenched her fist tightly.
'At the very least, I can't... I can't let my own plans be ruined...!'
Therefore, showing unstable behavior in front of Kwon Chae-woo was dangerous. For his amnesia to remain healthily maintained, she herself had to be solid and composed.
Every time Lee Yeon retreated, she ended up stepping on Kwon Chae-woo's feet. And that only served as a signal for him to burst out and run wild.
"......I'm going to fight Hwang Jo-yoon, definitely!"
Back home, she declared with fierce determination. At those words, the man who had been quietly following her turned her around with a rather cool expression.
"Lee Yeon-ssi."
"Kwon Chae-woo-ssi doesn't need to worry. I'll handle it publicly and legally. Don't concern yourself. What if you get a headache from stressing?"
The last words were added while carefully gauging his reaction. Kwon Chae-woo let out a long breath and ran his hand through his hair.
"When a wife talks so loudly about getting involved with another man, the husband listening feels like his world is crumbling."
"That's not what I meant...!"
Lee Yeon jumped up in protest.
"Public evaluation! I've decided I want to crush D Hospital at the very least."
While Lee Yeon raised her fist and reaffirmed her resolve, before she knew it, her straw hat, outer garment, and everything else were being smoothly removed by Kwon Chae-woo's natural touch.
"What did that bastard of a senior do to Lee Yeon-ssi?"
"What..."
Seeing her eyes dart away, it didn't seem like she intended to explain in detail.
"He was just annoying, someone impossible to reason with."
"Is there nothing I can do to help?"
"......Just keep seeing only pretty and good things from now on?"
As if choosing the correct answer, he drew a faint line between his brows, then with deeper eyes, slowly raised the corners of his mouth.
"That's not difficult."
Soft eyes swept across Lee Yeon's features. She scratched the back of her neck and slightly averted her gaze.
"Kwon Chae-woo-ssi, but..."
"Yes."
"Why did you say you'd kill him earlier?"
She looked up at the man seriously.
"I'm sorry."
"It's not that I want an apology, I'm just surprised. That's the first... time I've seen Kwon Chae-ssi like that. Yes, probably the first..."
At her weak mumbling, Kwon Chae-woo felt his insides burn.
"Every time that bastard called out 'Lee Yeon-ah, Lee Yeon-ah,' my vision seemed to turn crimson red."
"...D-did it?"
"I wanted to tear his mouth open, holding back again and again."
Kwon Chae-woo ground his teeth as he recalled that moment.
"In my eyes, Lee Yeon-ssi looked exactly like you were holding back tears."
Lee Yeon raised her head blankly. When their gazes met, Kwon Chae-woo finally showed the face of someone whose blocked breath had cleared.
"In that moment, that man was already dead once, Lee Yeon-ssi."
Kwon Chae-woo lightly tapped Lee Yeon's dry eye corner.
"I have no affection at all unless it's Lee Yeon-ssi."
As if proving those words, the man was smiling like spring.
* * *
"You're going to do it?"
Back at the hospital, Chu Ja asked in surprise.
She knew how much Lee Yeon disliked dealing with people. Throughout elementary, middle, high school, and college, what followed Lee Yeon wasn't friends but rumors, and thus she feared situations where she would be exposed more than death itself.
But—
"You're really going to do it?"
"Yes."
"Cameras might roll?"
"...I could be eliminated before that."
Lee Yeon fiddled with her fingers and avoided eye contact.
"For now, D Hospital is the goal."
However, at her firmly determined voice, Chu Ja blinked blankly. Why was she making such admirable resolution while looking at Kwon Chae-woo's back?
Chu Ja closely observed the two to figure out what she was missing.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't even help Lee Yeon-ssi."
"No, Kwon Chae-woo-ssi was always like that!"
At the words that didn't sound like praise at all, the man's expression turned subtle.
"What exactly did Lee Yeon-ssi like about me? Can't do day work, can't do night work. A completely useless guy."
"I liked that you were a plant."
"Huh?"
Oops. Lee Yeon blamed herself and smiled awkwardly.
"I mean... I meant you were that quiet. So quiet that you wouldn't answer even when called more often than not. Then I would ramble on by myself. I liked that peaceful time."
That was probably referring to Kwon Chae-woo when he was in a vegetative state. Truly Confucian. Look at how she tells such a splendid lie. Chu Ja nodded in satisfaction.
"Well... I gradually became comfortable around Kwon Chae-woo-ssi like that."
Suddenly, wrinkles formed between Chu Ja's brows.
Whether she was deliberately mixing half truth and half falsehood, or her true feelings were unconsciously spilling out, Chu Ja had no way of knowing.
However, if even the listener couldn't distinguish between truth and lies, how much more confused must Lee Yeon be, the one speaking?
When you fight a monster, you become a monster yourself; when you keep lying, you end up deceiving even yourself. Chu Ja glanced at her with a somewhat serious face.
"Has it become an answer now?"
Lee Yeon waved her hands as if to disperse the strangely settled atmosphere.
Kwon Chae-woo was watching Lee Yeon deeply and darkly. Though his irises were dark brown like trees, for a moment, it felt like a pitch-black pit was grabbing her by the foot.
By the time she realized it was a searching gaze, that trace had already disappeared without a trace.
* * *
"Shall we sleep?"
The sun had set, and finally, what was coming had come.
Lee Yeon knew that from the moment she had woken him with uncharacteristic sympathy, the justification for refusing to share a bed would become increasingly difficult.
No way out was visible. If she suggested separate rooms to the man who firmly believed Lee Yeon's words, it would rather raise suspicion.
And the moment Kwon Chae-woo harbored doubts, Lee Yeon's lies would surely become precarious.
"I'll wash... and come up."
"Shall I wash you?"
"What?!"
Lee Yeon flapped in surprise, her jaw dropping.
"Is it that surprising?"
"I-I'm conservative. Men and women shouldn't sit together after age seven...! I learned society wrongly when I was young, so it's hard to correct."
"Even with your husband?"
"Marriage isn't just some free pass."
"Then what is it?"
Kwon Chae-woo approached with an innocent expression.
"Lee Yeon-ssi, please teach me. I've forgotten a lot, you know."
Her lips moved but no sound came out. Facing a mission incomparable to sleeping under the same blanket, Lee Yeon's fuse blew.