"We don't have that kind of relationship! Don't misunderstand. We... we were on very good terms! You were very... affectionate. You even put a necklace on me for my sake."
That thin collar was practically a weapon, though....
Her tone was composed, but her voice cracked pathetically. The man looked down at her without interest.
"So you're saying it was fast?"
"...What?"
"I must have fucked you like a real bastard. You talk like someone who's been brainwashed."
"No, no, no!"
She shook her head as if screaming.
To think I was trying to brainwash you...!
Yi Yeon felt strangely hurt. Being swept up in this felt oppressively stifling.
"That's not it...! Kwon Chae-woo never treated me carelessly. He never forced anything on me. He never used force roughly like today, never truly threatened me."
She cleverly rephrased what she wanted to say.
"Kwon Chae-woo couldn't bring himself to do bad things."
The man only raised and lowered his eyebrows quietly, seemingly unconvinced. He listlessly stroked her neckline.
"Why?"
"What?"
"Why couldn't I do bad things?"
"Well, because...."
Her pulse jumped every time his hand grazed her. In truth, his touch was closer to exploring a difficult problem. But to Yi Yeon, who had been caught while trying to flee from Kwon Chae-woo, even that action felt significant.
Yi Yeon spoke without thinking.
"Because it's defined by law!"
"Law?"
"...Ah, well, that's...."
Every stone bridge she tried to step on crumbled to dust. She bit her lip with a defeated expression.
'A sturdy spouse is found by fate, not chosen with foresight.'
But why did those words have to come to mind now? Her eyes sparkled with a secretive sharpness.
Kwon Chae-woo, you need to stay quiet from now on.
"...If you harm me, it becomes familial homicide."
A way to be safe from him. A minimal safety net.
That was precisely a shackle.
For the first time, something resembling color rose in him who had been colorless and scentless. He frowned overtly and dropped the syringe.
Though her conscience whispered and her tongue stiffened, Yi Yeon immediately furrowed her brows and declared as if she wouldn't back down.
"I'm Kwon Chae-woo's... w-wife."
That night, a fatal seed germinated.
* * *
This was truly a bolt from the blue.
Such an incident was the kind of case that might appear in foreign academic papers, so she couldn't continue speaking for a moment.
"You're saying the tree was struck by lightning last night?"
"Yes. Hng...."
Yi Yeon hardened her face looking at the tree split in half and charred black. The older woman who had given her the phone wiped her tears with a handkerchief and held both hands tightly.
"This is the tree we planted when my son was born, ma'am. But he's all grown up and in the military now. This is ominous, what should we do...."
"I'll examine it first."
A tree that was perfectly fine moments ago now split open and hideously damaged. Yi Yeon frowned as if she herself were in pain and began her diagnosis.
"Director, this will need surgery. Let's set a date and fill the hollowed part with chains first."
"What if it dies and we get blamed?"
Chu Ja, who had followed with the surgical box, whispered worriedly.
"Fortunately, the roots aren't damaged. It can fully recover. And it's a birth tree, right? The hospital has plenty of fragrant earth, doesn't it?"
Chu Ja was startled looking at Yi Yeon speaking firmly like a walnut. Somehow, her face looked terrible in the bright light. The dark circles coming down to under her eyes were serious.
"But Director, you these days...."
Just then, Yi Yeon's phone buzzed. After checking the caller, she excused herself to the two people nearby and moved to a distant spot.
"Hello?"
Yi Yeon's eyes, which had been mature and calm even while looking at the devastated tree, suddenly transformed. Her appearance of picking at her nails and pacing around was exactly like a gambler fleeing from creditors.
"...What do you mean by that?"
Her eyes hidden under the straw hat wavered, unable to find their footing.
It had already been a month since the vegetative patient Kwon Chae-woo woke up.
The medical staff who took him away left only the clichéd words "It's amnesia" and then went completely silent. And finally, the phone call that came was utterly absurd.
—We don't know when he'll wake up.
What in the world were these people saying? She was dumbfounded but soon shook her head.
"...What do you mean. Don't joke with me. I even had a conversation with that person. I was even pinned underneath him."
Suddenly, a dry cough came from beyond the receiver.
That night, coincidentally, Kwon Chae-woo collapsed right after hearing the confession "I'm your wife," as if he had exhausted all his strength. Yi Yeon immediately contacted the medical staff, and this was the result.
How frayed her nerves had been while waiting. Even without drinking coffee, her heart pounded, and she obsessively pulled at her hair.
After several days of sleepless nights, Yi Yeon finally realized how terrible her improvisation had been.
His wife. A murderer's wife! Of all the many excuses, why...!
—No. What I mean is not that. It's a bit different.
"What?"
—The brain analysis results have confirmed that his consciousness returned. It's hard to believe he woke from a vegetative state, but it's correct. Fortunately, all response tests are normal. However....
Yi Yeon held her breath along with him.
—We don't know when the patient will wake up.
"But you clearly said he woke up...."
She frowned as she touched her neck area.
—It's difficult to give a definite answer, but the patient is showing rare symptoms.
"...Rare symptoms?"
—Hypersomnia.
She touched her lips with a confused face.
—It's a condition also known to the public as Sleeping Beauty syndrome.... We've done every possible test but couldn't identify the cause. Since there's nothing wrong with the brain, we're only suspecting it at this point.
Yi Yeon just blankly dropped her jaw. At the unexpected news, all she could do was quietly blink her eyes.
—We'll need to observe the progress, but if this syndrome is correct.... Once he falls asleep, he may not wake up for a week to ten days, or even longer.
"...."
—Currently, the patient is on his 12th day of sleep.
"...."
—For now, we'll move him back to the house.
Seeing the doctor about to end the call, she urgently stopped him.
"W-wait a moment, Doctor!"
Yi Yeon swallowed and lifted her hat brim. Dry wind touched her moist forehead.
"So.... Kwon Chae-woo is not in a vegetative state right now, but... no one knows when he'll wake up, right?"
She closed her eyes as if concentrating and slowly recapped.
—Yes. That's how it's being observed for now.
"Ha...!"
Yi Yeon exhaled like she was sobbing. The old anxiety she had been nursing in her chest was oxidizing all at once. Her tightly closed eyelids trembled.
"Thank you. Really, thank you."
—...Yes?
Yi Yeon bowed her head and greeted the empty air.
There's time to fix this.
'I'm Kwon Chae-woo's... w-wife.'
She can somehow fix that lie!
A breath of relief leaked out, cutting through the chest cavity that had been stuffed like a trash can.
'Thank God, thank you!'
It can be reversed. If done well, she can even pretend it never happened. Dismiss everything as just a dream.
—Thank you, Doctor. I'll live even more diligently!
Having returned to the site like that, Yi Yeon said quite hopefully to the client who hadn't yet erased the face of despair:
"I will do my best to save this tree!"
* * *
—Thank you, Doctor. I'll live even more diligently!
With those incomprehensible words, the call ended.
The doctor looked down at his phone with a bewildered expression for a moment, then roughly shoved it into his pocket as if his interest had cooled.
The patient who had been in a vegetative state for 2 years miraculously woke up.
Perhaps thanks to the good management during that time, his joints were flexible and rehabilitation went smoothly. The patient was someone with naturally strong bones and sensitive motor nerves, so he quickly moved his body freely.
But this amazing recovery lasted only a week.
After that, he slept for 3 days, 5 days, 12 days, as if addicted only to vegetative activities, doing nothing but sleep.
'It's strange....'
Since he had suffered a severe head injury, aftereffects would have come in some form. He hadn't expected a perfect recovery from the vegetative state in the first place. Such thinking was arrogance, wasn't it? Moreover, the patient already had problems with his memory.
But somehow, it felt unsettling.
"Patient, can you tell me your name?"
"...."
"Can you hear my voice? Anything is fine."
"—Se...."
"Yes, good. Please continue speaking."
The words the patient had spoken wouldn't leave his mind.