Chapter 4
I'm insane.
Even Yugam thought he had completely lost his mind.
A woman was unconscious in front of him, and desire was rising inside him.
“Seo Jaei, wake up.”
Yugam reached into the bathtub.
Her wet body slipped easily into his arms.
“Haa.”
He clenched his teeth, cursing his animal-like instincts as he lifted Jaekyung from the water.
His wife.
Seo Jaei.
She let out a soft groan as though talking in her sleep.
Yugam wrapped her lovely body in a nearby towel.
He didn't want to put her down.
She fit perfectly in his arms.
He wanted to hold her all night and fall asleep with her there.
But the moment Jaekyung opened her eyes, she would probably run away.
Yugam carefully placed her on the bed and dressed her in a bathrobe.
They had spent countless nights together long ago.
Yet this was the first time he had ever clearly seen Jaekyung's body under the light.
She was so beautiful that he couldn't look away.
“Mmm...”
Her closed eyes slowly opened.
A sharp scream immediately followed.
“Wh-What are you doing right now?”
Still half asleep, Jaekyung tried to sit up.
Her body swayed.
Yugam immediately pulled the unsteady woman into his arms.
“Are you trying to die?”
“L-Let go! What are you talking about? Die?”
“What if you fell asleep in the bathtub and passed out?”
She had already been coming down with a cold.
The warm water and aroma must have made her fall deeply asleep.
Jaekyung gathered herself and spoke firmly in a hoarse voice.
“Please leave.”
“I can't.”
Yugam stared at her.
“Who knows what you'll do again?”
“I need to get dressed. Do you expect me to stay naked?”
“I'll come back.”
He stood.
“Change quickly.”
The moment the door closed, Jaekyung quickly removed the bathrobe.
“Th-This is crazy.”
Seeing her completely naked body made her head feel as hot as fire.
Why did I have to fall asleep in the bathtub?
She desperately wanted to collapse and sleep.
But she couldn't stay here.
Jaekyung quickly dressed in her blouse and pants, then pulled on her sweater.
She grabbed her bag, took her thick jacket in one hand, and cautiously opened the bedroom door.
The man was nowhere in sight.
She hurried toward the entrance.
Just as she was about to run out...
“Seo Jaekyung.”
A low voice called her from the hallway.
Early the next morning, Yugam came out after washing, looking refreshed.
He entered the dressing room and put on the suit prepared for him.
As he buttoned his shirt while looking into the full-length mirror, he remembered Jaekyung running away from him the night before.
Finding her had been something like a coincidence arranged by fate.
Perhaps this was how someone felt after finding a toy that Director Jin had smashed and thrown away.
A memory from his childhood surfaced.
“Mom lost everything precious to her. You should lose something too. Then maybe you'll understand how Mom feels.”
After his father's funeral, sharp stiletto heels had crushed eight-year-old Yugam's toys into pieces.
Seo Jaekyung, the woman he used to hold in his arms every night, kissing and touching endlessly, had also been like a toy Director Jin had taken away and thrown out.
For the first time in five years since Jaekyung left, Yugam had slept properly without taking medication.
Perhaps it was because he felt relieved after finding the wife who had abandoned him while he was ill.
The woman he had once mistaken his feelings for love toward.
After the funeral, Chairman Do Uitae's will had forced Director Jin to bring in a woman Yugam had never met.
There was another illegitimate child the same age as Yugam, Do Yujin.
Director Jin had rushed the marriage because she couldn't allow Yugam to fall behind him in the order of inheritance.
There had been no reason for Yugam to care about his bride.
And yet...
Maybe the ten months they spent sharing a bed had meant something.
His insomnia had become severe from the very day Jaekyung disappeared.
A psychiatrist's voice surfaced in his memory.
“Tell me about anything from your past that made you particularly anxious.”
Yugam had answered,
“My wife who ran away.”
Then, after a pause,
“I slept well when she was there. Why was that?”
Even daily treatment and counseling had not helped.
Then there were Director Jin's words.
“She ran away because she hated that you took medication. She said she couldn't sleep under the same blanket as a lunatic.”
Director Jin had said that one reason Seo Jaekyung left was because Yugam took psychiatric medication.
When his doctor suggested medication again, Yugam firmly refused to restart the medicine he had barely managed to quit.
Eventually, when treatment produced no improvement, his doctor introduced him to a famous psychiatrist in the United States.
It had practically been an escape overseas for treatment.
While abroad, Yugam refused to think about Jaekyung.
He had been furious at the betrayal of the wife who used to crawl into his cold embrace.
But once he returned to Korea, his runaway wife constantly appeared in his thoughts.
His insomnia became worse.
Then he remembered Jaekyung's happy face while another man proposed to her.
A wave of irritation struck him.
Yugam frowned while tying his necktie.
She wanted money from me, so she probably wants money from that man too.
Then he remembered Jaekyung's words from the night before.
“I'll accept the position only if you treat me strictly as the chairman. If you approach me as my husband, I can't work as your secretary.”
It was almost cute how she pretended she had forgotten both their marriage and her husband.
But Yugam had no intention of playing along.
By the time he looked back into the mirror, he was dressed perfectly in his suit.
Just as he was about to leave the room, his phone rang.
[Director Jin]
Jin Heeyeon interfered in every detail of her son's life.
Even while traveling through Europe, she couldn't stop worrying about him.
“Why are you calling this early? It's nighttime over there. Shouldn't you be sleeping?”
“I was lying down, but I started thinking about my son. Has your insomnia improved? You should take the medicine the doctor prescribed. How can you stop whenever you feel like it?”
Despite Director Jin losing sleep on the opposite side of the world, Yugam's expression remained unchanged.
He casually walked into the living room and took a sip of the warm tea prepared for him.
“How old is your son that you're still worrying about whether I take my medicine?”
He continued calmly,
“I must have been tired thinking about work. I slept well for the first time in a long while.”
There was silence on the other end.
“You slept? Without medication? That's strange.”
“Yes. Without medication.”
A faint smile touched his lips.
“A snail bride helped me.”
“Were you dreaming? Why are you suddenly talking about some snail bride? Who besides your mother would take care of you? I'm only worried you'll collapse. How's work? If I wasn't away on business, I'd personally go introduce you to the principal and vice principal and make sure they properly support Chairman Do.”
Perhaps because he had finally found the wife who had disappeared without a trace, Yugam felt more energetic than he had in years.
He walked firmly toward the entrance and opened the door.
“I can take care of myself.”
His tone turned colder.
“If you come chasing after me too, people will just say the young chairman is incompetent.”
“They need to know who's above them, or they'll start talking nonsense.”
“I'll judge them based only on their work, so I don't care if they talk.”
Director Jin sighed.
“Anyway, I'll come back as quickly as possible. Do well until then.”
Even after Yugam told her everything was fine, Heeyeon still sounded anxious.
Her long business trip was fortunate for him.
He intended to keep her from interfering with the Uitae Foundation.
“Yes. I will.”
Yugam's lips curved slightly.
“You should at least give your son a chance to show what he's capable of.”
“Oh, right. You remember Minister Han's daughter I mentioned last time, don't you? I've arranged a dinner. She's the same age as you and very pretty. She graduated from Uitae. Did you ever see her during your first year?”
“I only attended for a month. How would I remember anyone?”
“You might remember when you see her face. I'm getting so many matchmaking offers for you lately. It's wonderful.”
Director Jin always had a detailed plan ready for every part of his marriage and his life.
Yugam's expression turned cold.
He stepped outside and walked down the stairs.
Under the bright sky, a car was waiting for him.
“So the rumors about me being a drug addict must finally have quieted down.”
“You stopped the medicine now. And you were taking it because you were sick. What's wrong with that? I take stomach medicine every day.”
“Psychiatric medicine and stomach medicine aren't the same thing.”
“If I can just get you married, I'll have no regrets. This girl's family is genuinely excellent. If your father-in-law were the Minister of Justice, imagine how much support you'd have.”
The support wouldn't be for me.
It would be for the KE Group and Director Jin.
“What exactly is so great about getting married again?”
Yugam spoke casually.
“Just bring back the last woman.”
Director Jin immediately snapped.
“Don't even mention her. How many years ago was that? Why are you talking about a girl who ran away? It wasn't much money, but she took it and disappeared. I'm sure she's living however she wants now.”
Did Heeyeon really not know that her son was still legally married?
“That woman supposedly suited me perfectly too, didn't she?”
“That was because Chairman Do's will left us no time. I was desperate. But poor families that only care about money aren't worth dealing with.”
Her voice became suspicious.
“You aren't looking for that girl, are you?”
Yugam had already brought Jaekyung into his office.
He had no idea what Heeyeon would do if she learned the truth.
So he said nothing about Jaekyung.
“I have no intention of remarrying.”
His voice hardened.
“So don't even dream about it.”
“Son! How long are you going to act like this? Your mother is hurt.”
“I have to go to work. I'm hanging up.”
Yugam ended the call and climbed into the rear seat that Chief Kwon opened for him.
“Chief Kwon, did you prepare all the foundation's administrative records?”
“Yes. I gathered everything except documents that had already passed their retention period and were destroyed.”
Chief Kwon sighed.
“There was an enormous amount.”
For nearly five years after Chairman Do Uitae collapsed, corruption within the Uitae Foundation had steadily piled up.
Before Director Jin returned from her business trip, Yugam needed to learn as much as possible about what had happened inside the foundation.
Then the image of his wife lying in the bathtub the night before returned to him.
His body had reacted instantly to the provocative sight.
He wanted to take her home and keep her there even today.
Now...
No matter how hard she tried to run, Seo Jaekyung was already in the palm of his hand.
“Chief Kwon.”
“Yes, Chairman?”
“Check whether Seo Jaekyung came to work.”
