“It was something that man did.”
Every expression disappeared from Taejun’s face.
“On what grounds are you saying that?”
“Yoon Jaehyuk was following you on the day of the accident.”
The woman pulled another photograph from the document envelope.
It was blurry, with the date and time stamped across it.
Taejun’s car leaving the underground parking garage.
And a black sedan parked a short distance away.
“Is that Yoon Jaehyuk’s car?”
“It’s registered under someone else’s name. But Yoon Jaehyuk was the one driving it.”
“How can you be sure?”
The woman held out the next photograph.
It showed the side profile of a man getting out of the car.
Taejun picked up the photograph.
It was a face he had never seen before.
And yet, for some reason, his heart began pounding violently.
A dark parking garage.
A hand gripping someone by the collar.
A man smiling with blood smeared at the corner of his mouth.
Even the voice from the memory that had surfaced in his mind.
“This man…”
Taejun asked in a low voice.
“Is this Yoon Jaehyuk?”
“Yes.”
At that moment, a sharp pain struck deep inside his head.
Taejun pressed a hand to his temple.
“Taejun.”
Seoyoon hurriedly grabbed his arm.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
“It’s because I’m seeing the photograph for the first time.”
Taejun looked at the woman without removing Seoyoon’s hand.
“What proof do you have that he caused the accident?”
“We don’t have any yet.”
Seoyoon’s face hardened.
“Then how can you conclude that he did it?”
“Because he followed Kang Taejun until right before the accident, then disappeared immediately afterward.”
“That’s not enough.”
“That’s why I was trying to confirm things with Kang Taejun, too.”
The woman set a small storage device on the table.
“He left this with me the day before the accident.”
Taejun picked it up.
“What’s inside?”
“Information from the investigation into Yoon Jaehyuk. Call records, photographs, and even the messages he sent to Han Seoyoon.”
Taejun’s gaze shifted to Seoyoon.
“Did you receive messages from him?”
Seoyoon didn’t answer.
“How did I know you were being threatened?”
“That was…”
“Did you tell me yourself?”
“No.”
“Then…”
“You found out.”
Seoyoon answered with difficulty.
“Even though I hid it from you.”
Taejun’s jaw set hard.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I couldn’t.”
“Who told you that?”
“Yoon Jaehyuk.”
“What kind of threat did he make?”
Seoyoon bit her lip.
When Taejun took a step toward her, she shook her head.
“I don’t want to talk about it here.”
“Han Seoyoon.”
“Stop.”
Seoyoon’s voice trembled.
“You don’t even have your memory, but you keep trying to find out everything all at once.”
“This concerns my wife being threatened.”
“So?”
“I need to know.”
“And what happened to you after you found out?”
The corners of Seoyoon’s eyes reddened.
“You went to find him, saying you’d handle it alone.”
“You didn’t tell me anything.”
“And you ended up in a car accident.”
Taejun couldn’t say a word.
Seoyoon let go of his arm.
“That’s why I told you it might be better not to know.”
The woman looked between them before speaking.
“Han Seoyoon.”
“What?”
“Kang Taejun didn’t get into the accident because you didn’t tell him.”
Seoyoon’s expression stiffened.
“Yoon Jaehyuk had intended to drag Kang Taejun into this from the very beginning.”
“How do you know that?”
“If he had only intended to get money from you, he wouldn’t have shown himself in front of the CEO.”
Money.
Taejun’s gaze turned cold.
“You gave him money?”
Seoyoon looked away.
“How much?”
“That’s not important.”
“It is to me.”
“It was my money.”
“This isn’t about whose money it was.”
For the first time, Taejun’s tone changed.
Just as he had spoken to the Seoyoon in his memories.
Seoyoon’s eyes wavered.
Taejun asked in a low voice,
“What the hell were you trying to stop on your own?”
“Why did you meet someone like him without even telling me?”
“I did tell you.”
Taejun’s face hardened.
“What?”
“I told you.”
Seoyoon’s voice sank.
“The day he first contacted me, I told you right away.”
“But…”
“You didn’t believe me.”
Taejun’s mouth closed.
“You said I was being oversensitive.”
“You told me not to let a few messages from an unknown number get to me.”
Seoyoon gave a bitter laugh.
“After that, I stopped telling you. You always trusted what other people said more than what I said anyway.”
Taejun stared at her, then slowly turned his gaze to the woman.
“Why did you and I meet?”
The woman hesitated for a moment before answering.
“Because of Yoon Jaehyuk.”
“Be specific.”
“The CEO hired me to investigate.”
Seoyoon’s face stiffened.
Knowing about it was one thing. Hearing it directly was another.
“What kind of work do you do?”
“I investigate corporate disputes.”
“So that’s why you met several times at a hotel?”
“Yes.”
“Without telling my wife.”
“That was also the CEO’s instruction.”
Taejun looked at Seoyoon.
Only then did he understand what the photographs meant.
The woman Seoyoon had seen.
The person he had secretly met at a hotel over and over.
Seoyoon had seen those scenes and misunderstood, thinking he was meeting another woman.
And yet Taejun hadn’t explained anything.
He had hidden everything, claiming it was to protect his wife.
In the end, Seoyoon was the person he had hurt most deeply.
“Why didn’t you tell her?”
Taejun asked.
“I don’t know that myself.”
The woman thought for a moment, then added,
“But the last thing the CEO said to me was this.”
“What did he say?”
“He said that if Han Seoyoon found out, she would try to handle everything on her own again.”
Seoyoon’s expression hardened.
“So he told me not to say anything until he had taken care of it.”
In the end, the two of them were exactly alike.
They hid important things from each other, claiming it was to protect one another.
Seoyoon thought Taejun wouldn’t believe her.
Taejun kept his mouth shut because he was afraid Seoyoon would be put in danger.
And all the while, the misunderstandings only deepened.
Taejun slipped the storage device into his pocket.
“Where is Yoon Jaehyuk now?”
“I don’t know. He disappeared after the accident.”
“Is there any way to contact him?”
“We have no choice but to wait for him to show himself first.”
Taejun turned around.
“Let’s go.”
Seoyoon didn’t move.
“I still have questions.”
“Let’s stop for today.”
“You said you needed to know everything first.”
“You don’t look well.”
“My face doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
Taejun’s answer was firm.
“I won’t force you to answer anything you don’t want to talk about.”
“But I’ll look into that man myself.”
Seoyoon stared at him anxiously.
“Are you planning to go find him alone again?”
“No.”
Taejun held out his hand to her.
“This time, I’ll tell you.”
Seoyoon stared at his hand for a long while.
She didn’t want to take it.
She didn’t want to trust him again, either.
But the man in the photograph and Taejun’s accident kept coming back to her.
In the end, Seoyoon slowly took his hand.
Taejun’s fingers immediately closed firmly around hers.
The two of them barely spoke on the way home.
Taejun stared out the window,
while Seoyoon fidgeted with the fingertips of the hand they had held and then released.
When they arrived home, Seoyoon got out of the car first.
She opened the entryway door and stepped inside, but Taejun’s footsteps stopped behind her.
“What’s wrong?”
Taejun was pressing his temple.
“Wait.”
Seoyoon hurried over.
“Does your head hurt again?”
“No.”
“You don’t look well.”
Taejun braced himself against the wall and closed his eyes.
A faint scene surfaced in his mind.
A dark parking garage.
Him gripping Yoon Jaehyuk by the collar.
And the corners of the man’s mouth lifting in a sneer.
*You’re willing to get a divorce just to protect her?*
Taejun’s brows trembled violently.
His voice in the memory spoke in a low tone.
*Do as we agreed.*
*What agreement?*
Taejun gripped the man’s collar even tighter.
*If I divorce Seoyoon…*
Taejun’s breath stopped.
The next words surfaced with perfect clarity.
*You said you wouldn’t lay a hand on her again.*
Taejun slowly opened his eyes.
“Taejun?”
Seoyoon was looking at him with a worried expression.
Taejun couldn’t say anything.
Why he had asked Seoyoon for a divorce.
Only then did he think he finally understood.
It wasn’t because he didn’t love her.
It was to protect Seoyoon.
He had been the one trying to let her go first.