Chapter 52: A Declaration of War

A loser is inherently silent. While it might be customary to concede gracefully and offer the victor the desired response, I harbored no such intention. Even at the very end, I refused to utter the truth myself.

He, who had patiently awaited my words even as I was pushed to the precipice, suddenly burst into laughter. His head bowed low, his shoulders began to heave with the force of his mirth.

Suspecting he was mocking me, I narrowed my gaze. He lifted a face flushed with emotion, meeting my eyes directly. His deep green eyes, discernible only upon closer inspection, brimmed with unbridled elation.

“Ah, my apologies. My emotions are quite overwhelming.”

Raising a hand to sweep across his face, he managed to quell his laughter. Yet, the corners of his mouth, which had curved so high, refused to descend.

“I have so much I wish to say, but I believe this must come first.”

The man who, moments before, had regarded me with such commanding presence, now lowered himself entirely. Kneeling on one knee, he gently clasped my hand, his voice a blend of tenderness and solemnity.

“Do not fret. I shall assume full responsibility for both you, Yoo Seo-jin, and the child.”

“No, there is no need for such a thing.”

My resolute refusal caused the smile gracing his lips to stiffen abruptly. However, I did not stop there; I pushed his hand away, unequivocally drawing a line between us.

“I have no intention of using this child to shackle you, Han Jung-woo.”

In the drama, Yoo Seo-jin had sought to bind Han Jung-woo to his side by using their child as a pretext, but I was not that person.

From the instant I abandoned the thought of terminating the pregnancy, I had resolved to shoulder the burden of this child entirely on my own. His assistance was utterly unnecessary.

“I have never once entertained such a notion.”

“No, you most certainly will come to think that.”

“Listening closely, it truly seems you, Yoo Seo-jin, understand me better than I understand myself.”

From Han Jung-woo’s perspective, my words must have sounded insolent, yet it mattered not. He might be unaware now, but once he encounters Jung Hee-soo, he will swiftly forget someone as inconsequential as me.

A protagonist belongs beside another protagonist, not an ancillary character like myself. I understood my own circumstances better than anyone else. Therefore, I had to sever this stubborn thread of fate right here.

“One mistake is surely sufficient, isn’t it?”

We had been impulsive in that moment, merely committing a mistake. Though an unforeseen consequence had emerged, it was a burden I alone had to shoulder.

“A mistake? For me, it was anything but.”

‘Nor would I ever allow it to become one.’ As I furrowed my brow, having barely caught his softly appended words, he slowly straightened his previously lowered posture.

As I lifted my gaze to meet his now elevated eye level, his hand reached out to gently caress my chin. He offered a faint smile, then uttered words that felt like a declaration of war.

“Yoo Seo-jin, you will find yourself in need of me.”

He was utterly convinced I would eventually come to desire him of my own accord. Yet, I too was equally certain that I would never encounter him again.

Pushing his hand aside, I rose to my feet. Then, I strode toward the unguarded door. With each step, I distanced myself from him, drawing ever closer to the exit.

Before I grasped the doorknob and made my exit, I cast a glance back at him, who remained. Then, I offered him the same final farewell I had once whispered to him in his sleep.

“Farewell, Han Jung-woo.”

****

Emerging from the hotel, I promptly hailed a taxi. As I relayed my destination to the driver, the stationary car began to move sluggishly. Only after observing the hotel recede into the distance did I lean back deeply into the seat.

I cranked open the window, allowing the rushing wind to sweep away his lingering pheromones. They ought to have dissipated by now, yet their tenacious, clinging nature was precisely like his own.

‘I’ve left it behind.’

In my haste to depart without a backward glance, I had inadvertently left my maternity notebook behind.

While the notebook itself could easily be replaced by visiting the obstetrics and gynecology clinic again, I desperately wished to retrieve the ultrasound photos, so carefully tucked within its pages.

Contacting Han Jung-woo again would be unavoidable to retrieve them, so after a moment of contemplation, I resolved instead to inquire at the hospital if duplicate photos could be provided.

With my medical records on file, surely they could swiftly print new copies of the photos. I swiftly severed any lingering attachment to the idea.

‘This must truly be the end.’

And yet, Han Jung-woo’s words, delivered like a declaration of war, continued to trouble my mind. Those words, brimming with the absolute conviction that I would ultimately require his presence.

‘Why is he so fixated on me, rather than Jung Hee-soo?’

I simply could not fathom his capriciousness; he had loathed Yoo Seo-jin so profoundly, yet now he seemed desperate to keep him by his side.

I had hoped he would encounter Jung Hee-soo swiftly, but for some inexplicable reason, their fated meeting kept being postponed.

In the first place, during the more than half a year I had been absent, they ought to have already met and fallen deeply in love.

‘Why is the narrative failing to progress?’

Could it be that the story’s progression was stalled merely because I had departed? Yet, it was inconceivable that this world would cease to function correctly simply because a single supporting character, not even a protagonist, had vanished.

There had to be some other underlying reason. It would be more logical to surmise that the timing had been delayed due to Han Jung-woo’s accident.

‘Could that truly be the cause?’

At present, that was the sole conceivable cause. After all, Han Jung-woo’s accident had been entirely absent from the original drama’s plot.

If that were the case, what method could restore the narrative to its proper trajectory? Would finding Jung Hee-soo and placing her before Han Jung-woo truly set everything back to normal?

“We have arrived.”

As my thoughts spiraled, the taxi pulled up before my residence. I had departed at dawn, only to return as night descended. The excursion had stretched longer than anticipated, rendering the plush comfort of my bed all the more desirable.

As I settled the taxi fare and prepared to exit, I noticed several unfamiliar figures standing guard outside my house. I hesitated, scrutinizing the scene from within the taxi’s confines.

Their faces remained obscured by the shadows beyond the streetlight’s reach, but I could unmistakably discern the objects suspended from their necks. They were cameras.

‘Why are reporters here?’

Amidst my confusion, the phone in my pocket vibrated loudly. Recognizing my mother’s name on the screen, I answered the call.

“Hello—”

—Seo-jin, where are you right now?

“I’m right in front of the house…”

—Then come in through the back door. Do not let the reporters spot you.

With that, my mother abruptly ended the call. Do not let the reporters spot you, she had said. Though I could not fathom the reason, I nonetheless instructed the taxi driver to change our destination to the mansion’s rear entrance.

“You may drop me off here.”

The back entrance, rarely utilized, was devoid of reporters, unlike the main gate. After settling the taxi fare once more, I exited the car and entered the house through the back door.

“Seo-jin!”

For some inexplicable reason, the entire family was congregated in the living room. My parents were there, of course, but so were Yoo Ju-jin and Yoo Hae-jung’s secretaries—everyone.

My mother, rushing towards me, wore a deeply troubled expression. She appeared so profoundly anxious, as if some calamity had struck, that I found myself becoming unsettled as well.

“What has happened?”

“Well, Seo-jin…”

“I shall speak. You remain silent.”

Yoo Hae-jung, who had sharply interrupted my mother, rose from his seat. My mother, who had been equivocating, stepped aside, and Yoo Hae-jung, now standing before me, raised his right hand high.

Anyone could perceive he intended to strike me, so I squeezed my eyes shut, yet no pain materialized. When I cautiously squinted my eyes open, I saw Yoo Hae-jung pressing a hand to his forehead.

“When did you find out?”

“Hm? What exactly…?”

“You’re pregnant, aren’t you?!”

It had been only this morning that I resolved to forgo terminating the pregnancy and instead carry the child to term.

Yet, for some unfathomable reason, the secret I had striven to conceal was now a universally known fact. Not only Han Jung-woo, but my entire family as well; there was no one left who didn’t know.

“How could you—”

“Did you ask how I found out?”

Yoo Hae-jung, cutting me off midsentence, gestured with his chin towards his secretary. I accepted the tablet offered by the secretary and slowly began to read the internet article displayed on its screen.

Merely reading the title, I instantly recognized whose story this was. For the heir to Daejin Group was Han Jung-woo, and the second son of H Construction was Yoo Seo-jin.

The evidence presented by the reporters, purporting an imminent marriage, was, astonishingly, my maternity notebook. Even the ultrasound photos taken today were included, and a sigh escaped me in utter despair.

“Yoo Seo-jin, you will find yourself in need of me.”

His final words reverberated through my mind. If the previous scandal had been orchestrated by Yoo Hae-jung’s faction, then this particular article had undoubtedly originated from Han Jung-woo’s side.

The maternity notebook I had inadvertently left behind served as irrefutable proof.

“When did you begin seeing Han Jung-woo?”

Yoo Hae-jung appeared to be under the misconception that Han Jung-woo and I were romantically involved. Observing his expression, I realized I had no choice but to reveal the truth to them both.

“Han Jung-woo and I are not in such a relationship.”

“Then what?”

“We merely slept together once.”