Chapter 16: The Humiliation of Being Helped.

“Are you alright?”

The caregiver asked Sayoung, who was staring blankly out the window, her breakfast untouched before her.
Only then, as if waking from an old dream, did life return to Sayoung’s eyes, and she looked back at the caregiver without a word.
The caregiver said.

“You don’t look well…”

“Ah… I’m alright. I think it’s because I didn’t sleep well.”

The caregiver looked pitiful at Sayoung’s answer.
For a moment, Sayoung wondered if the caregiver in front of her knew about the dirty rumors Han Jaewoo had spread about her, but she quickly erased it from her mind.

Even if she secretly considered her a hypocritical and sordid person, it wasn’t a very important issue.
It wasn’t anything special for Sayoung, anyway.

Still with a worried expression, the caregiver continued.

“I know you don’t have an appetite, but please try to eat a little. You need to, so you can receive your treatment later.”

“Yes, I will. Thank you.”

Sayoung answered indifferently and made a show of picking up her spoon.
To be honest, her concern was more uncomfortable than appreciated.

Sayoung had always endured pain, even when she was sick, for fear that Jaewoo would think she was pulling some cunning trick.
She wasn’t used to others worrying about her.

Having confirmed that the caregiver had turned her gaze away to clear the table, Sayoung sighed silently and stirred the soup bowl with her spoon.
Her mouth was bitter and rough, and she had no desire to put anything in it.

After tossing and turning until late at dawn and finally falling asleep, Sayoung had a dream.
It was a nightmare containing memories of long ago and of days yet to come.

In the dream, Sayoung powerlessly watched herself being consumed by guilt while hearing harsh, abusive words.

Even though she had become an outsider who could do nothing, she could remember so vividly what thoughts she had had at that time that she was suffocating until the moment she opened her eyes.
Having spent the two or three hours she had managed to sleep going back and forth through past memories, it was no wonder she had no appetite.

But as the caregiver had said, if she didn’t eat something, she would obviously just lie in bed listlessly all day.

It was too precious a time to let it flow by like that, so just as Sayoung took a spoonful of soup to eat at least a few spoonfuls.

“Hello!”

Unlike when she was addressing her, the caregiver spoke in a very welcoming voice.

“Yes, hello.”

The one who had accepted the caregiver’s greeting with quite a polite demeanor was Kim Yoojun, who had opened the hospital room door and stepped inside at some point.

Having gone home late last night, Sayoung, who hadn’t expected him to visit again so early in the morning, gave a silent nod with a somewhat surprised face.
Yoojun, far from returning the greeting or even nodding back, looked at the caregiver with a friendly smile and said.

“I have something to talk about with Ms. Yoon Sayoung for a moment…”

“Ah, yes! Then I’ll step out for a bit, so please let me know if you need anything.”

The caregiver spoke not to Sayoung, but to Kim Yoojun.
When you thought about it, the person who had hired her was Yoojun, not Sayoung, so it wasn’t strange for her to follow Yoojun’s words.

The caregiver went out quickly, without making a fuss, and soon Yoojun and Sayoung were left alone in the hospital room.

Only then did Yoojun turn his gaze to Sayoung and open his mouth.

“I seem to have interrupted your meal.”

It was a surprisingly friendly attitude.
There was no trace of the tense atmosphere that had briefly surrounded them last night.
Trying to grasp the hidden intention, Sayoung shook her head.

“No, not at all. I was just about to finish and clear it away…”

The one who took the tray from Sayoung’s hand, as she was naturally putting down her spoon and trying to place the tray on the bedside table, was Yoojun, who had approached in the meantime.
With her mouth agape, saying ‘Ah…’, Sayoung, who had been blankly watching Yoojun move the tray to a distant table, soon opened her mouth.

“Thank you.”

Yoojun didn’t give any particular reply to Sayoung’s bow of thanks.

He could tell that Sayoung had barely touched her food without even having to look closely at the bowls.
He was already annoyed to death about being here so early in the morning, and seeing her looking so weak and not even eating properly, his insides twisted again.

“What brings you here at this hour?”

When Sayoung pointedly asked, his annoyance deepened even further.
She was a person he didn’t like in any way.

Instead of asking if it was alright for a patient to skip a meal like this, Yoojun silently turned his head and looked at Sayoung.
At that, Sayoung, who was quietly meeting his gaze, slowly lifted the blanket and stepped down from the bed.

It seemed she was trying to walk toward the sofa where Yoojun was standing.

“…Why are you getting down?”

Yoojun, momentarily flustered, asked in a high, informal tone without realizing it.
Sayoung, who had stopped moving, looked at Yoojun with a blank expression and then opened her mouth.

“Well… I thought you might want to talk on the sofa like yesterday…”

“Hmm…”

A short hum escaped Yoojun’s lips.
Only then could he understand Sayoung’s intention.

Last night, Yoojun had deliberately called the injured Sayoung over to the sofa and made her sit in front of him.
It was an intention to clearly show who was in charge between them, and who had to be mindful of whom.

Seeing Sayoung’s attitude now, it seemed that thought had been conveyed very well.

Yoojun had a bitter taste in his mouth and smacked his lips for no reason.
He should have been satisfied that his intention had worked.
That was why he had shown such a petty attitude in the first place.
And yet, he didn’t like the sight of Sayoung, who had accepted his rude demand.

Seeing as he found her displeasing no matter what she did, it seemed Yoojun just disliked the person named Yoon Sayoung herself.

If that was the case, a contradiction arose as to why he had accepted Sayoung’s request in the first place, but Yoojun decided not to think that far.

“That’s enough. Just stay there.”

Yoojun said in a stiff voice, frowning and letting out a short sigh.
Sayoung, without hesitating or asking back, sat back on the bed as soon as Yoojun’s words ended.
It was only natural that Yoojun’s expression became dumbfounded again.

He couldn’t tell if she was timid or bold, gentle or rebellious.
Yoojun, feeling an unsettling emotion, walked toward the bed and pulled a guardian’s chair to sit on.

Sayoung sat with her legs dangling below the bed, her hands folded on her lap, and looked at Yoojun.
If one didn’t know, she would have looked like a student politely waiting for Yoojun’s words.

It had been a long time since her debut, and a considerable amount of time had passed since she had gotten married, so she was no longer young, but perhaps because of her pale skin and delicate impression, even after going through all that, she looked untainted.

Just like the Yoon Sayoung of long ago that Yoojun had seen last night.

But her appearance, which seemed not much different from back then, paradoxically made Sayoung look even more different from that time.
Trying not to be conscious of that gap, Yoojun opened his mouth.

“You may be holed up in this hospital room not caring, Ms. Yoon Sayoung, but outside, there are already people who have noticed that the person who was hospitalized for being injured in my place is not an ordinary person and are trying to dig into it.”

“Ah…”

“I’ve been covering for you on my end so far, but now that I’ve decided to help you, Ms. Yoon Sayoung, we’ll need to discuss how to proceed.”

“Yes, we should.”

Sayoung replied, nodding.

Indeed, considering how much interest and love Kim Yoojun was receiving in South Korea right now, and how many people were desperate to know his every move, it was surprising that her existence hadn’t been revealed yet.

It seemed it hadn’t been revealed thanks to his efforts behind the scenes, but if Yoojun started coming and going from the hospital room like this, it was only a matter of time before word got out somewhere.

“Have you… changed your mind?”

This time, Sayoung spoke first and asked Yoojun.
Sayoung thought he might have regretted the decision he made last night.

All Sayoung had left was a ruined reputation and a wrecked career.

Han Jaewoo, an actor who had risen to a position that could no longer be easily ignored, stood on the opposite side, and Sayoung was spouting a string of crazy talk whose truth could not be confirmed, hoping for a sympathy that would bring Yoojun no benefit.

Not just Kim Yoojun, but anyone would probably not want to get seriously involved with someone like her.
So Sayoung could understand even if Yoojun went back on his word and said he would never see her face again.

Yoojun paused for a moment at Sayoung’s question before opening his mouth.

“What if I have?”

“……”

“If I say let’s call it off, will you do that?”

Yoojun’s eyes stared at Sayoung sharply again.
His gaze seemed to be seeking the truth, and also seemed to be testing Sayoung.
Suddenly, the words Yoojun had said last night came to mind.

‘If you’re going to ask for a favor… no. If you’re going to beg, then beg properly.’

He had warned her that if she really needed his help, she should stop with the attitude of not caring whether he helped her or not.
Sayoung clenched her hands on her lap and answered.

“No.”

At the unexpectedly firm answer, Yoojun tilted his head with a curious expression.
Sayoung continued.

“I will cling to you even more pitifully. I will kneel, cry, and plead for you to take pity on me.”

Yoojun, who had been listening to that answer quietly, soon let out a disbelieving laugh and said.

“I really don’t like you.”