“You knew from the beginning, didn’t you?” Kwon Chae-woo asked.
Goosebumps ran down Lee-yeon’s arms and neck. It was a crushing question that shattered the ground beneath her feet, and she could only blink her eyelashes without moving. Something she had been holding together was finally breaking apart.
“Since when? Was it when I forced myself on you?”
“At that time, I had just regained my senses and it hadn’t been long, so my imitation was a bit awkward.”
Maliciously parted lips, a clearly visible sneer, and a strange euphoria that couldn’t be identified. Kwon Chae-woo resembled that of a beast finally feasting on his prey.
“Still, wasn’t it fairly similar?”
He laughed again, like he was imitating a puppet being manipulated. There was no emotion or substance to it, only an imitation that continued to toy with Lee-yeon.
She forced herself to take a deep breath and tightly clenched her cold, damp hands, even if it was forced. Various words whirled around her head, but unfortunately, only the weakest sentence stuck to her lips.
“How much do you remember?” Her voice shook uncontrollably. “…Do you remember me?”
Lee-yeon didn’t even blink her eyes to confirm her own reflection in his pupils. As she looked at him with desperate eyes, Kwon Chae-woo’s smile deepened.
“Of course I remember you. I’ve never forgotten you for a moment.”
“…!”
A glimmer of hope flashed in her eyes.
“How could I forget you, the woman who pretended to be my wife… a woman involved in turning me into a vegetative man?”
Her hopeful words were met with a sharp tone that left her feeling defeated.
“Did you have fun taming me, Lee-yeon?”
Even though his vision was split into four, Kwon Chae-woo still managed to smile with ease.
Perhaps he had regained all his memories. Lee-yeon’s mind turned white at the sudden situation, not knowing how to defend herself. It was a fundamental fear that she had been carrying with her since she met Kwon Chae-woo – something she didn’t want to be exposed, but at the same time, something she wanted to reveal every moment.
She clenched her fist while fidgeting.
“…I’m sorry for lying. I was so scared of you back then. I really… I just wanted to save myself, but no one believed me. It was someone else who made Chae-woo fall… even Chae-woo’s brother wasn’t interested in what I had to say.”
The man looked at Lee-yeon expressionlessly.
Lee-yeon looked right back at him, finding any traces of the man she knew. She felt a lump in her throat, but she managed to swallow it down. “But Chaewoo knows that I acted in self-defense, right?”
“….”
He recalled the moment when he chased after Soyeon, thinking she was just a simple witness. He remembered how he had clenched his throat, trying his best to keep his mouth shut. As he thought about it, his vision began to spin and his fingers twitched.
Kwon Chae-woo gritted his teeth and barely managed to compose himself.
“I’m sorry for the outrageous lie, it wasn’t an action to protect me.”
“….”
“The lie was… I’m really sorry. I’ll apologize enough until Mr. Chae-woo feels better…”
Lee-yeon lowered her head like a broken flower and stared only at her feet. She didn’t have the courage to meet his eyes, and as she stood there looking down, a warm tear suddenly fell and soaked into the ground. She bit her trembling lips once.
“…Still, that lie completely changed my life.”
Lee-yeon weakly grabbed his sleeve.
“It was the first time anyone had ever loved me enough to suffocate me, to hold me as if fighting against the whole world.”
“….”
“So it’s okay, you can be angry and disappointed with me all you want, I’ll do better–”
“You still haven’t woken up from the dream.” Kwon Chae-woo cut her off coldly.
The earth felt like spinning underneath his soles. He weakly grabbed the woman’s hair and lifted it up as if pulling it out of water, revealing only her chin.
“It’s useless, no matter what you do. You will never be able to see your husband again.”
“What… what does that mean?”
Kwon Chae-woo bent down and glared at her like a predator aiming for his prey. He cruelly whispered,
“Right here, right now, I’m going to dispose of all the memories related to you.”
“Mr. Kwon…”
“What’s unfair? I’m just restoring everything back to the way it was.”
“…”
“So forget about it. ”
He clicked his tongue and released her hair, and Iyeon couldn’t bring herself to touch her numb scalp.
“A person should have some shame.”
Just like that, it felt like a sharp stick was plunged deep between Lee-yeon’s ribs.
“Have some dignity,” was one of the many phrases that had been repeated to her by her cousins and aunts. However, hearing the same admonition from Kwon Chae-woo, who was infinitely generous to her, shook her to the core.
“But still, we… Mr. Kwon loves me…”
Kwon Chae-woo found her shallow hopes amusing. Seeing her in such a precarious position, as if she would disappear if he stepped on her, he felt an urge to uproot all of her roots.
“Have I ever said that I love you exactly?