Chapter 13: To Hate You

Blinking her thick, curled eyelashes, she lifted her chin and swept her gaze over Jooyeop.

Yoosun’s eyes gradually narrowed.

‘Ha.’

It would all be over if she could just lock Seohee away, but she could hardly spot an opening.

Even though she knew there would be no better opportunity than when the girl was receiving treatment on the fifth floor, she couldn’t find a way.

If only Seohee vanished from Leehyun’s side, everything would be perfect.

There would be no need to go through the trouble of reclaiming the keycard Seohee had stolen.

She had to create an opening, an opening.

Yoosun repeatedly ran her fingers through her hair.

“Find out the day Seohee goes to the fifth-floor OB/GYN.”

“What you need to do, Deputy Director, is get into the elevator with Seohee.”

Ha, Jooyeop let out a loud, mocking laugh.

“Do you think that’s actually possible?”

With so many bodyguards around?

As Jooyeop shook his head in disbelief, Yoosun leaned her upper body forward.

“Making it possible is how you prove your ability, Deputy Director.”

“If I succeed, what should I do next?”

Yoosun slowly arched her eyebrows.

Then, she spoke coldly.

“Nothing.”

She drew a firm line, making it clear that his job ended there.

Though she saw Jooyeop’s face stiffen like porcelain, Yoosun did not care.

“When the elevator stops on the fifth floor, Secretary Park will get on from there.”

“This means you won’t have to step forward any further, Deputy Director.”

Isn’t it simple?

Yoosun spoke as lightly as a butterfly.

“Understood. I will find a feasible date and report back to you.”

Bowing, Jooyeop opened the door himself and stepped out of the director’s office.

He walked past the exhibition rooms, crossing the marble-tiled hallways.

Treading on the grass of the outdoor lawn, he left the gallery entrance, and as he reached the road, a car with pitch-black tinted windows greeted him.

As the door opened as if it had been waiting, Jooyeop got into the car without hesitation.

“The CEO is waiting.”

The one who greeted him while holding a tablet was Seungho.

“Let’s go.”

Jooyeop replied readily.

In contrast to the somewhat stifling air inside the car, the sky outside the window was exceptionally clear.

***

The VIP ward of Gayun Hospital boasted a spectacular night view.

The vast floor-to-ceiling windows embraced the open panorama like a painting, presenting a view so enchanting that even most high-end hotels couldn’t compare.

Standing in front of the window with his arms crossed, Leehyun recalled his meeting with Lee Jooyeop with an expressionless face.

“Representative.”

The place Seungho had brought Jooyeop to was the hospital room right next to the one where Seohee lay asleep.

“I did as you requested.”

The one who had suggested letting information about the OB/GYN consultation slip was Leehyun.

Seungho had looked back at him with a surprised expression, but Leehyun did not retract his words.

Because it was the most certain and shocking bait to test Song Yoosun.

There was a risk that Yoosun might put Seohee in danger, but Leehyun had no intention of letting that happen.

“What did Director Song say?”

At the dry yet calm voice, Jooyeop swallowed hard.

Even though Leehyun wasn’t acting particularly threatening, Jooyeop hadn’t been able to let his guard down from the moment they first met.

“She told me to bring the madam to the fifth floor.”

At the concise answer, Leehyun’s neat eyebrows slightly arched.

The fifth floor.

Leehyun silently mulled over Jooyeop’s words.

“Since she heard the madam received an OB/GYN consultation, it sounded like she meant for me to bring her to that ward.”

Jooyeop spoke slowly, rubbing his neck.

He wondered briefly why it was so difficult to convey only the facts, while stripping away as much personal opinion and speculation as possible.

An unapproachable aura flowed from Yoon Leehyun, who stood before him.

If Song Yoosun was like a haughty Persian cat holding its head high, Yoon Leehyun was like a black panther with midnight fur.

But why that ward?

At the question that popped into his head, Jooyeop shut his mouth tight.

The relationship between Song Yoosun and Yoon Leehyun was not that of a typical mother and son.

This was evident from the fact that even while Song Yoosun remained active, rumors were circulating that Yoon Leehyun was not just the next chairman in line for Gayun Hospital, but that his position was practically guaranteed.

Could it be that she was trying to do something to the child, fearing that Representative Yoon Leehyun’s wife was pregnant?

In power struggles, bloodlines defied the common sense of ordinary people.

Working at Gayun Hospital, Jooyeop had seen quite a few such cases.

Lost in various thoughts, Jooyeop lifted his head.

Staring into the pitch-black eyes fixed on him, he muttered to himself.

Then why on earth did Representative Yoon Leehyun leak the information about the OB/GYN consultation to Song Yoosun?

Was he hoping she would lose her mind and do something unimaginable to eliminate Yoon Leehyun’s bloodline? Or was he testing her?

What on earth is it?

Looking at Leehyun, whose thoughts were entirely unreadable, Jooyeop gasped.

“And after bringing her to the ward, what did she say to do next?”

The low voice smoothly wrapped around Jooyeop’s throat.

Even though he had done nothing wrong, Jooyeop found it hard to breathe.

The eyes, seeming to pierce straight through his insolent delusions—which he shouldn’t have dared to entertain—struck him as sharply as a blade.

“She said that as soon as we get off on the fifth floor, we should take the elevator, and the card…”

His mind reacted instantly.

Jooyeop spilled the words like some spell had taken over.

At his response, which failed to end cleanly, Leehyun stroked his Adam’s apple.

“Take the elevator, and the card?”

So what’s next?

How much longer did he have to endure this dragging conversation?

When Leehyun turned his neck, a cracking sound rang out.

“She flinched there and cut off her words.”

He was referring to Song Yoosun’s behavior.

Staring out the window, Leehyun’s eyes settled into a stillness as deep as a lake.

Song Yoosun had panicked.

At first, he thought she had fallen for his provocation.

After all, the reason he had leaked the OB/GYN information was to see what Song Yoosun’s next move would be once her reasoning was clouded.

But the Song Yoosun who had come to see Seohee was different from usual.

She had desperately tried to maintain an expressionless face, but the fingers she used to sweep her hair back trembled, and her gaze upon seeing Seohee wavered.

Leehyun had seen it clearly.

It was clear she harbored some kind of feeling toward Jin Seohee.

Yet it was hard to tell whether her hostility toward him had simply intensified because she couldn’t push him out, or if there was something else entirely regarding Seohee.

Even so, he couldn’t exactly grab Seohee, who had lost her memory, and interrogate her.

He figured shaking Song Yoosun up now would be faster than waiting for some future threat to strike.

Between the surveillance cameras operating twenty-four hours a day, the bodyguards waiting out of sight, the hospital director sent far away, and the deputy director who had turned to his side—besides all this, Leehyun had completely tied Song Yoosun’s hands and feet to prevent her from taking any action in the hospital.

So, if she made a reckless move, he had planned to implicate her in whatever way possible and finish her off.

Tap, tap.

Leehyun tapped his thigh.

“Card.”

There was nothing special about the words Lee Jooyeop had conveyed.

Except that Song Yoosun, trembling at the mention of the OB/GYN, had ordered him to bring Seohee to the fifth-floor OB/GYN ward.

It was just as Leehyun was turning away, thinking there was no great harvest.

“Card, she definitely said card.”

At that single sentence, Leehyun’s gaze turned back to Jooyeop.

Jooyeop, who had been explaining that Secretary Park would get in the elevator once they reached the fifth floor, mentioned that the word ‘card’ had lingered in his mind after all.

He had also said, “An elevator and a card. Isn’t that strange, considering this isn’t a hotel?”

He added that it would have been more convincing if her plan was to ensure the elevator didn’t stop on a specific floor if she had set a date, or to make it stop only on the fifth floor.

“A card, is it.”

Leehyun glanced back at Seohee.

“I have some questions to ask Seohee, Leehyun.”

Song Yoosun’s words suddenly flashed through his mind.

Recalling her face as she had asked him to clear out, his brow furrowed on its own.

“Yes. Because of the materials you’re holding onto, work isn’t moving forward properly.”

He had thought she was saying all kinds of absurd things after ordering Seohee around like a dog devoted to the art gallery.

But was that not it?

Leehyun rubbed his temples with his right hand.

She had said materials. Most definitely.

Come to think of it, it was strange.

Everything surrounding her was messy.

Unless someone had maliciously orchestrated this incident.

“Is there more about you that I don’t know, is that it?”

His voice was as heavy as lead dropped into the ocean.

Perhaps he had lived without knowing anything about his wife.

A fear he had never experienced in his life momentarily choked Leehyun.

Letting out a heavy breath, Leehyun placed his hand on Seohee’s forehead.

Confirming she had no fever, a soft sigh escaped him.

“Mmm.”

As she turned her head slightly with a furrowed brow, Leehyun quickly pulled his palm away.

“……Trying…….”

Seohee’s murmuring voice trailed off.

Leehyun leaned his head in close.

“……I’m trying…….”

‘Trying? What are you trying to do?’

Doubt clouded his black eyes.

“To try… to dislike you…….”

With each word her small lips uttered, his focus shattered and his breath stopped.

His heart creaked as if broken.

It felt as if someone had slammed down on all the keys of a piano at once.

“……Seohee.”

‘Has your memory returned? Really?’

Unable to utter the words aloud, Leehyun completely froze.

‘Dislike me? Why on earth would you make such an effort?’

The image of his own face, pouring out words telling her to leave and to end it, kept flickering before him.

Leehyun pressed his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes.

If she hadn’t faced him with her memory lost, would that have been the first thing he heard from her?

Had she been practicing those words ever since he went on his business trip?

The board of directors, the reports for the shareholders, and all other meetings, big and small, receded from his mind.

He felt like he had been left standing alone in a vacuum.

The hand Leehyun used to touch his throat was trembling.

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