Chapter 21: Is it just a Coincidence?

A while ago, Jaewoo had already heard about the incident where Yoojun almost got into an accident, but a passerby happened to save him and got hurt instead.

Jaewoo had been relieved that Yoojun was unharmed, and he even felt grateful toward the person who supposedly saved him.

But that person was Yoon Sayoung.
Kim Yoojun’s benefactor was none other than Yoon Sayoung—that person.

“Are you really sure?”

Jaewoo asked again, unable to believe it at all.
The shock he’d felt when first reading the article still hadn’t faded even after some time had passed.

Even as he instructed Eunsung to look into it thoroughly, he assumed it was someone with the same name, that there surely must’ve been some mistake.

“Yes, I checked multiple times… It seems it really is Yoon Sayoung.”

But Eunsung’s answer didn’t change.
Jaewoo unconsciously let out a deflated “Huh….” before speaking again.

“How can something this coincidental even happen…?”

He wasn’t ignorant of the fact that unbelievable things often happened in the world, but now that such a thing had landed right in front of him, it was hard to simply write it off as mere coincidence.
Eunsung, who had been watching Jaewoo’s expression, answered in a hesitant voice.

“I was surprised too, but… maybe it is just a coincidence?
If it’s not, Sayoung wouldn’t… I mean, he wouldn’t have any reason to do that….”

“Well, that’s true, but….”

With a serious expression, Jaewoo nodded and looked back at the articles he had been reading moments earlier on his phone.

Eunsung wasn’t wrong.
Jaewoo undeniably felt more than a normal range of personal affection toward Kim Yoojun, but up until now he had barely shown any of that to Sayoung.

More than being cautious, he had been worrying about what method he should use to get Sayoung out of his life without causing major trouble.

Sayoung was a clingy person.
Though to some extent, one could say Han Jaewoo himself had made him that way—but regardless, Sayoung depended on him too much, and pretending that his feelings had cooled slightly wasn’t enough to cut him off.

Jaewoo had been wondering just how much of his bare face he’d have to show, how cruel he’d have to be to tear Sayoung’s heart apart so thoroughly that he would disappear from his life for good.
And while those worries were piling up, for some inexplicable reason, Sayoung was the one who suddenly asked for a divorce first.

Looking back now, there were indeed a number of suspicious parts.
At the time, however, the thought that Sayoung would finally be gone from his life made him so relieved and happy that he didn’t think too deeply and handled everything willingly.

But for someone who had been annoyingly clingy just the day before to suddenly change overnight—if someone wanted to be suspicious, they easily could.

‘Could he have known?’

‘Known what kind of feelings I have for Kim Yoojun?’

‘Known what I was planning, what kind of most miserable divorce scenario I had been considering?’

A cold sensation shot up his spine to the top of his head.

“…No. No. If he had that kind of foresight, I would’ve….”

But Jaewoo quickly shook his head and collected his thoughts.
This kind of suspicion was too generous for Sayoung.
If he were truly that sharp, Jaewoo wouldn’t have felt so unbearably frustrated every time he looked at him.

At that moment, the image of Sayoung’s clear eyes came to mind—those eyes that always looked at him as if apologizing for being upset, no matter how coldly Jaewoo treated him or how harshly he spoke.

The reflection of Han Jaewoo in those eyes was always selfish, vicious, petty, and contemptible.
Jaewoo believed that the one who had made him into such a cruel person was none other than Yoon Sayoung.

“Disgusting to the very end, seriously.
Don’t you think so, Eunsung?”

As he read the countless hateful comments toward Sayoung with a detached gaze, Jaewoo asked.
Eunsung couldn’t even sigh properly and could only answer with a weak, groaning “Yes….”

[Yoon Sayoung seduced Han Jaewoo, messed with his head for years, and now right after divorcing him he goes to Kim Yoojun? lol his intentions are obvious
What happened to the Yoon Sayoung who used to be called the Nation’s Something?
Kim Yoojun better be careful unless he wants to end up like Han Jaewoo]

Jaewoo’s fingertip froze above one particular comment.
Within those few lines were the exact impressions of Yoon Sayoung that Jaewoo had carefully and secretly cultivated over a very long time.

“I was wrong. So please don’t be angry… okay?
I’ll never do another interview without your permission again. Never.”

The image of Sayoung clinging to him desperately, shrinking whenever Jaewoo simply pressed his lips together without a word, flashed across his mind.

The unexpected connection between Sayoung and Yoojun had momentarily sharpened his nerves, but no matter how he thought about it, the possibility that Sayoung had intentionally approached Kim Yoojun was almost nonexistent.

“Please, just disappear from my life completely already. Please.”

Muttering that simple, irritated wish, Jaewoo turned off his phone screen.

Even if others didn’t know, Yoojun surely knew that Sayoung was the one who saved him, and seeing how he’d remained quiet until now, he clearly didn’t want to get involved with Sayoung either.

Once discharged, the two of them would have no reason to meet again.
Jaewoo hoped that this incident would be the last time he ever saw the name Yoon Sayoung in his life.

****

While changing clothes for discharge and packing his few belongings, Sayoung froze when he saw who walked through the door of his hospital room.

When he’d heard the knock, he assumed it was a nurse or caregiver and naturally told them to come in, but the person now standing before him was someone he never expected.

“Kim Yoojun…?”

Sayoung blinked his large eyes repeatedly.
Yoojun stood still, taking in that expression for a moment.
For the Yoon Sayoung he was used to seeing, this was a surprisingly intense reaction.
It seemed he hadn’t imagined that the person who visited yesterday would appear again today.

Seeing a bit of humanity in him gave Yoojun faint satisfaction.
But only for a moment—Sayoung quickly regained control of his expression as if he had never been flustered.

Annoyed by that, Yoojun clicked his tongue lightly and spoke.

“What’s so surprising?”

“Ah… I didn’t expect you to come.”

It was an entirely reasonable answer, but Yoojun shrugged lightly and slowly approached him.

Honestly, Yoojun wanted to snap, ‘I didn’t expect you to discharge so suddenly either.’

‘If that was your plan, why didn’t you say so yesterday?’

He wasn’t trying to be nosy.
It was simply that if they were in a contractual relationship—if they were supposed to act as a fairly close pair in the future—then sharing basic information seemed like the bare minimum.

But Yoojun held back, worried the question might sound like personal interest.
Instead, he asked something else.

“You read the article yesterday, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Don’t you have anything to say?”

Seeing his calm expression made Yoojun irrationally angry.
He had gotten scolded by the CEO because of that mess, but Sayoung probably had no idea.
It was rare for Yoojun, who disliked making a fuss, to feel this way.

To be honest, the incident itself wasn’t a problem.
Depending on how things went, it could even help Yoojun’s image.

But the reason he got scolded was because the other party was Yoon Sayoung.
From the company’s perspective, Sayoung had such a bad reputation that they couldn’t even use a heartwarming story involving him.

Sayoung lowered his eyes for a moment, thinking, then finally answered.

“It must have caused trouble for you.”

“Is that even a question?”

“I’m sorry.
But…”

Of course he was going to say he was sorry—Yoojun had expected that much.
Sayoung always apologized in the exact same way and always managed to irritate him.

But this time, instead of ending with an apology, he continued.

As an inexplicable tension ran through Yoojun and he clenched his fist slightly, Sayoung spoke.

“From now on, you’ll have to get used to it.”

“……”

“Now that you’re involved with me… Yoojun, you won’t be able to avoid people saying terrible things about you either.”

In that moment, all the malice Yoojun had seen since yesterday came to mind.

As if they had witnessed Sayoung’s entire marriage.
As if they knew exactly why he met Han Jaewoo, why he married him, why he divorced him, and what intentions he supposedly had for approaching Kim Yoojun.

Countless strangers had freely judged him and assigned him crimes.

Yoojun saw the slight tremble at the corner of Sayoung’s lips.
He was hesitating—there was something else he wanted to say.
It wasn’t hard for Yoojun to guess.

‘Do you regret it?’

‘Do you want to take back your decision?’

‘Did you not expect things to be this terrible, so now you think getting involved with me is a mistake?’

Sayoung probably wanted to ask something like that.

“I already warned you.”

But instead, Yoojun spoke different words.
The distance between them grew even smaller.

“Don’t act so f*cking calm.”

The harsh, cutting words, stripped of even basic courtesy, stabbed into Sayoung.
Yoojun was now standing right in front of him.
Their eyes met at close range.

It was Sayoung who broke first, lowering his gaze.

“I’m sorry.”

Even now, the apology came instantly.
And even now, he didn’t look sorry at all.

“I don’t know… I’m actually not calm at all.”

“……”

“I’m really desperate.”

“Why…Why does it sound like I’m not?”

The last question fell to the floor in a voice so small it was barely audible.