Chapter 4: The Mud on the Hem

Leehyun’s brow furrowed as he listened to Seung-ho’s explanation.

“Discharge?”

Leehyun murmured, as if tasting the word. She’s clearly a patient in anyone’s eyes, so what kind of nonsense is this? He lashed out at Seung-ho with a sharp look.

“W-well, actually…”

At the word ‘discharge,’ Seohee spoke up, glancing around nervously. As her voice grew smaller, Leehyun’s black eyes settled into a calm, dark stillness.

There seems to be a problem I’m not aware of.

He had heard she lost her memory, but it didn’t seem like her trivial habits had changed. Leehyun pressed his temples.

Seohee had never been able to meet his eyes whenever minor issues tangled up between their two families.

She couldn’t tell him about her side of the family because most of it was Jin Heeyoung’s excessive demands, and she naturally swallowed her thoughts regarding the Gayun Group and people like Song Yoosun.

Leehyun hadn’t liked that she acted like a sinner when she had committed no crime, so on such days, he would hold Seohee with unusual roughness.

As if needing to hear her agitated moans, he would pin her gaze so she couldn’t drop it and push into her like a madman.

Would she understand if I told her I acted like a dog in heat because that was the only way I knew how to soothe my master? Leehyun felt a sense of familiarity with the Seohee he knew, while simultaneously, an unidentifiable anger flared up.

“Tell me, Seohee.”

It’s okay. Go ahead.

Leehyun pulled up the duvet that had slid down, as if coaxing her. Then, he gently brushed her hand with his fingers.

“Today is my discharge day. …The cast is off, too…”

Seohee said slowly, revealing her left foot. She still seemed hesitant. Leehyun did not rush her, listening to her with patience.

“But I don’t have any money…”

Ha. Leehyun let out a scoff, as if it were the most absurd thing he’d heard all day.

“I was supposed to discuss it with the social work team later.”

She added that she had been rejected several times because her identity verification wasn’t certain. Seohee bowed her head low as she explained.

Leehyun’s black pupils turned a deep, dark color, as if they were about to swallow everything floating in the air.

He kept his mouth shut, fearing the suppressed things inside him might fly out wildly, while Seohee kept chattering on.

The corners of Leehyun’s eyes lifted slightly.

If it were the usual Seohee, she would have kept her mouth shut quietly without adding any excuses or explanations. But the current Jin Seohee was long-winded. Delighted by this, Leehyun nodded, urging her to continue.

“When I woke up, it had already been two weeks. I waited for over a week after that for my memory to return. They said it was caused by the accident, so it might be temporary.”

“Waited?”

Just waiting? Is that all modern medicine could offer? Leehyun asked crookedly, unable to straighten his twisting lips.

“They said if my memory didn’t return by the time I was discharged, I would have no choice but to go to the police station and check my identity…”

Seohee’s voice lost its strength again. Ah, the police station. Leehyun smoothed his twisted lips and covered Seohee’s hand.

“I see, honey.”

It’s my fault for wandering around without finding my master. At Leehyun’s murmured words, Seung-ho flinched.

If only the police had checked faster, if only I had done that, the time you were left alone would have been shorter. As he thought this, he stroked her bony wrist.

Ah, if I had, would the people who tried to kill you have realized you were still alive and rushed in? Swallowing the words he couldn’t bear to speak, he lowered his body again.

Everything—Seohee disappearing suddenly, being a victim of a hit-and-run on a national road in Ganghae-si where she had no connections—was fishy.

The distance from Hanseo to Ganghae is not short. It was impossible for her to have come here, leaving behind her car, wallet, and phone, arriving with literally nothing but her body.

Just recalling it made Leehyun’s expression contort.

“How is your body?”

What would change if I grabbed a doctor and asked while they’re telling me to discharge? Leehyun decided to ask Seohee directly. He couldn’t afford to have the trip back to Hanseo be a strain on her.

Seohee hesitated. Leehyun subconsciously rubbed his own neck. What was I thinking, asking someone who always had ‘I’m fine’ on their lips? It was obvious she would say she was fine even if she were in pain, so he turned his head toward Seung-ho.

“I… am okay…”

At the subtly changed answer, Leehyun’s eyebrows curved. As Seohee chewed her lip, as if choosing her words, Lee-hyun reached out a hand out of habit, then pulled it back. This time, he waited patiently for her to speak.

“…I don’t know.”

I don’t know. That one phrase was enough. Leehyun interpreted it as it’s not okay.

“Chief Jung.”

“The doctor said moving to Hanseo wouldn’t be a major issue upon discharge. However, he advised not to stand for long or walk for more than 30 minutes for the time being.”

He nodded at Seung-ho.

“I’ll go finish the discharge paperwork.”

After reporting, Seung-ho gave various instructions to the people standing behind him.

Listening to words like ‘medical record copies,’ ‘detailed statements,’ and ‘imaging records,’ Seohee pressed her forehead. Leehyun hurried over.

“Does it hurt?”

Seohee shook her head with a dazed expression. Leehyun, seeing her clear pupils, still didn’t feel relieved and placed the back of his hand against her round forehead.

Around the time Seung-ho took the others out, a nurse approached to remove the remaining IV needle.

Leehyun stood with his arms crossed, watching only Seohee’s hand without blinking an eye. His gaze, sharp as a needle, looked ready to lash out at anyone who left even a single scratch on her.

“Please press down for about five minutes.”

The nurse said lightly and disappeared. Before Seohee could move her hand, Leehyun quickly stepped in. Leaning down closely, he pressed his hand against the back of hers.

How much time had passed?

Seohee, who had been watching his touch on her hand without moving, finally looked away.

“I think you can stop now.”

At Seohee’s words, Leehyun swept his lips slowly, looking disappointed. As her warmth, which he had felt under his palm, disappeared, he felt a sense of emptiness.

“Sir, the secretarial team can finish the discharge paperwork. Shall we depart first?”

Seung-ho, who had been out for a moment, said this while looking at Leehyun, who had one hand shoved carelessly into his pocket.

Seung-ho knew better than anyone that the longer it took, the darker Seohee’s already pale complexion would become, and that Leehyun would find that extremely unpleasant.

“What about clothes?”

Seung-ho presented a clean shopping bag as if he had been waiting.

“I’ll have the car ready.”

With those words, Seung-ho left, and Leehyun walked over to Seohee with the shopping bag.

“I thought you wouldn’t have any suitable clothes to change into.”

At Leehyun’s words, Seohee let out a short, surprised sound. It was as if she hadn’t thought about needing clothes to be discharged. Accepting the bag, she looked at the floor once, then at Leehyun once.

“I’ll pull the curtains for you.”

While she changed, he opened the storage box next to her and saw a familiar dress. She really likes things that are just like her, Leehyun thought, noticing that Seohee enjoyed wearing white dresses.

His eyes turned cold as he stared at the dirt stained on the hem of the pure, flawless white dress.

The sleeveless halter-neck dress with dense frills was exactly what Seohee had been wearing the day Leehyun left for his business trip.

By the time the reality of what he had unleashed—like a dog—sunk in, Leehyun stood up and moved with heavy, leaden steps.

It was a step as silent as it was tragic.

I had left coldly, like someone I would never see again. Damn it. Leehyun’s eyebrows arched fiercely.

Overwhelmed by the surging emotions, he rubbed his throat with one hand.

The dress in Leehyun’s hand crumpled helplessly.

“I’m finished changing.”

Leehyun snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Seohee’s voice. He shoved Seohee’s few belongings into the shopping bag.

I thought it happened right before I returned from the business trip.

It was a misjudgment. Everything had happened on the very day he left.

Leehyun was furious that it hadn’t been a month since she disappeared, but a full six weeks before he found her.

Who dared to make you like this?

The anger that had been lingering around his stomach rose to his solar plexus. Deep lines were etched onto his smooth brow.

Struggling to hold back the urge to grab her by the shoulders right now and ask what had happened, Lee-hyun pulled back the curtains.

Seohee, wearing a clean beige dress, turned around and stumbled.

“Seohee” Leehyun’s face turned even paler than the person who had stumbled. He rushed to support her, and she, seemingly startled, gripped his arm tightly.

“I got dizzy for a moment… I’m fine.”

After the repetitive cycle of blinking, the hand gripping his arm dropped away. Lee Hyun squinted, feeling empty where her warmth had disappeared.

When Seohee took a step, Leehyun leaned in without hesitation.

“Don’t be surprised.”

Watching her brown eyes widen, Leehyun embraced her firmly.

“Ah.”

Seohee, unsure of what to do as her perspective shifted much higher, placed her hands on Leehyun’s neck.

It’s been a while.

The brown eyes that held him, the shaded eyelashes, the skin soft with fine hairs.
The small body in his arms, the familiar scent.

A dense, thick emotion—as dark and murky as his black pupils—rushed over him.

I want to touch her. I want to feel her. I want to swallow her. His eyes burned with the urge. As if blood were rushing through his entire body, his heart swirled violently.

At that moment, she, with cheeks flushed red like watercolor paint, grabbed his neck and pulled him in as if pulling on a leash.

Then, as if running away, she buried her face in Lee Hyun’s shoulder. The sound of a heart beating, whose it was, he didn’t know, thumped loudly, locked together.