Han Seoyoon couldn't say a word for a while.
The man lying on the bed was definitely Kang Taejun.
The same man in their wedding photos.
The same man she'd lived with in the same house for years.
A face she'd seen every day.
And yet Taejun was looking at her as if she were a complete stranger.
“Who are you?”
The tips of Seoyoon's fingers went cold.
The doctor reacted first.
“Mr. Kang Taejun. You don't recognize her?”
Taejun furrowed his brow.
Then he looked at Seoyoon again.
Very slowly.
His eyes traveled over her face.
He took in her clothes.
Then he looked down at the bag in her hand.
“I've never seen her before.”
For some reason, Seoyoon felt like laughing.
They said people laughed when they were too shocked to know how else to react.
It was true.
“You've never seen me before?”
Taejun's gaze returned to her.
“Yes.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Kang Taejun.”
“You know my name.”
Seoyoon closed her mouth.
The doctor checked the chart with an awkward expression.
“For now, it seems there may be some memory loss.”
“Memory loss?”
“We can't say for certain yet, since this happened right after the accident. It can be temporary, too.”
Seoyoon looked at Taejun.
“How much do you remember?”
Taejun answered.
“What do you mean?”
“When's the last thing you remember?”
A brief silence.
“The company.”
“The company?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
Taejun's expression tightened slightly.
“I don't know the exact date.”
The doctor continued his questions.
“Do you remember your family?”
“My mother.”
“What about your father?”
Taejun's eyes dimmed for the briefest moment.
“He passed away.”
“What is the name of your company?”
“Daesung Group.”
“What is your current position?”
“Director of the Strategic Planning Office.”
Seoyoon's eyes shifted.
Director.
Taejun was the executive vice president now.
The last time he'd been a director was—
“That was years ago.”
The doctor looked up at Seoyoon's mutter.
“Pardon?”
“It's nothing.”
Seoyoon's thoughts raced.
Back when Taejun had been director of the Strategic Planning Office.
Back then, they still—
They hadn't gotten married yet.
No way.
“Kang Taejun.”
Taejun's gaze turned toward her.
“Do you know what year it is?”
The year he gave was exactly five years earlier.
Seoyoon couldn't say a word.
The doctor fell silent as well.
After exchanging a few more simple questions, the doctor said,
“It appears that the shock from the accident caused him to lose his memories from the past few years.”
The past few years.
The words sounded strange.
The past few years?
Within those years—
Taejun had met Seoyoon.
They'd dated.
They'd gotten married.
And then—
He'd wanted a divorce.
To be precise—
Today.
The two of them were supposed to sign the divorce papers today.
Seoyoon thought of the documents in her bag.
The ones she'd received from her lawyer that morning.
The documents required to file for an uncontested divorce.
Taejun knew about them, too.
They were supposed to meet today.
But then he'd gotten into an accident.
And—
He'd forgotten his wife.
“Family member?”
The doctor called out to her.
Seoyoon came to her senses a moment late.
“Yes.”
“Let's talk outside for a moment.”
They stepped out of the hospital room.
As soon as the door closed, Seoyoon asked,
“Will his memory come back?”
“There is a possibility.”
“When?”
“That is difficult to say.”
“A day?”
“It could be.”
“A month?”
“That is possible.”
“Could it never come back?”
The doctor hesitated.
“We can't completely rule out that possibility.”
Seoyoon leaned against the wall.
Her head felt numb.
“His scans don't show any major brain damage at this time. However, post-accident memory impairment needs to be monitored over time.”
“Then right now…”
Seoyoon looked toward the hospital room door.
“He really doesn't know me at all.”
“If the relationship you described began after the marriage…”
A relationship that began after the marriage.
No.
It had started with dating.
In Taejun's memories—
There was no Han Seoyoon at all.
“Have you contacted his family?”
“I called your mother.”
“She'll be here soon, then.”
Seoyoon nodded.
Just then, the call button sounded inside the room.
A nurse went in.
A moment later, she came back out.
“He's asking for you.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Why?
Seoyoon slowly went back into the room.
Taejun was sitting up with his back against the headboard.
“Sit down.”
“Why?”
“I have something to ask you.”
Seoyoon sat in a chair a short distance from the bed.
Taejun asked,
“What are we to each other?”
Seoyoon's hand stopped.
Here it was.
In the end.
“Why do you want to know?”
“The doctor said you were my family.”
“I could just be your emergency contact.”
“Are you family?”
Seoyoon didn't answer.
Taejun kept his eyes on her.
“My older sister?”
Seoyoon's face twisted.
“What?”
“Am I wrong?”
“I'm younger than you.”
“Then my younger sister.”
“Our last names are different.”
“A relative?”
“No.”
“Someone from the company?”
“That, either.”
Taejun's brow drew tighter and tighter.
“Then what are you?”
Seoyoon looked down at her bag.
She just had to say it.
I'm your wife.
Legally, she was still his wife.
And yet, for some reason, the words wouldn't come out.
There had been a time when Taejun loved her.
It felt like a very long time ago, but it had definitely happened.
He was the man who would come home late every night and sit beside her until she fell asleep.
The man who got up first in the morning and made her coffee.
The man who wasn't good at remembering birthdays, but never forgot anything Seoyoon happened to mention in passing.
And then—
At some point—
They'd started talking less.
They stopped eating together.
Even in the same bed, they turned their backs on each other.
In the end, Taejun had said it first.
“Let's get a divorce.”
Seoyoon hadn't cried when she heard those words.
She already knew.
That it was over.
But now—
All of it had disappeared only for Taejun.
“Ms. Han Seoyoon.”
Seoyoon raised her head.
“How do you know my name?”
“The nurse called me that earlier, didn't she?”
“Oh.”
“Aren't you going to answer me?”
Seoyoon finally opened her mouth.
“Your wife.”
Taejun's face stiffened.
“What did you say?”
“I’m—”
Her throat was a little dry.
“I'm your wife.”
Silence settled over the room.
Taejun didn't say anything for a long time.
Seoyoon quietly watched his expression.
Surprise.
Suspicion.
Confusion.
And the faintest hint of disbelief.
“You're saying we were married?”
“Yes.”
“Me?”
“To me.”
Taejun looked at Seoyoon as if he couldn't believe it.
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“And we dated?”
“For two years.”
“We were together for five years?”
“Yes.”
“And I don't remember any of it?”
“Apparently not.”
Taejun pressed a hand to his forehead.
Seoyoon felt strange.
She'd never imagined the day would come when she'd have to explain her own existence to her husband.
Just then, Taejun held out his hand.
“Your phone.”
“What?”
“Don't I have my phone?”
“They said it was destroyed at the accident scene.”
“Then yours.”
Seoyoon narrowed her eyes.
“Why?”
“Shouldn't I verify it?”
“Verify what?”
“That we were married.”
Seoyoon let out a hollow laugh.
“Do I look like I'm trying to scam you?”
“The situation is strange.”
“It is strange for me, too.”
“Show me some proof.”
“Proof?”
“Pictures, for example.”
Seoyoon took out her phone.
She was about to open the photo gallery when she stopped.
There were hardly any recent pictures of Taejun.
More precisely—
There hadn't been any for over a year.
They hadn't taken pictures together.
She had to scroll for quite a while.
Then she found their wedding photos.
Seoyoon held the screen out to Taejun.
Taejun's eyes widened.
In the photo, he was wearing a black tuxedo.
Seoyoon stood beside him in her wedding dress.
They were smiling.
They looked incredibly happy.
Taejun stared at the screen for a long time.
“So it's true.”
“Do you believe me now?”
He swiped to the next photo.
Their honeymoon.
A hotel.
The ocean.
A birthday.
Photos taken at home.
There were a lot of pictures from the beginning.
Pictures of them smiling side by side.
Pictures of them leaning against each other.
Even pictures of Taejun kissing Seoyoon on the cheek.
Seoyoon hurriedly snatched her phone back.
“That's enough, right?”
“Why did you take it?”
“There was nothing else to see.”
“I’m your husband.”
Seoyoon flinched at the words.
Husband.
It sounded strange coming from his mouth now.
“But…”
Taejun asked,
“Why are you the only one here with me at the hospital?”
“Your mother is on her way.”
“No.”
His eyes turned to Seoyoon.
“You said we're married.”
“So?”
“Why do we seem like strangers?”
Seoyoon's expression hardened.
As expected.
Even without his memory, he was quick to notice things.
Taejun glanced around the room.
“You didn't cry when you heard I'd been in an accident.”
“Was I supposed to?”
“Isn't that what people usually do?”
“Everyone's different.”
“And you keep looking like you want to go home.”
He was right.
Seoyoon needlessly fiddled with the handle of her bag.
“I’m tired.”
Taejun's gaze dropped to her left hand.
“Where's your ring?”
Seoyoon's hand went rigid.
Her wedding ring.
It wasn't there.
She hadn't worn it for months.
Neither had Taejun.
“You lost it.”
“Both of us?”
“What?”
Taejun raised his left hand.
His ring was missing, too.
Seoyoon pressed her lips together.
He hadn't been wearing it before the accident.
“Were we on bad terms?”
He was too direct.
Seoyoon didn't answer for a moment.
“It was just…”
“Just?”
“Married couples can't be happy all the time.”
“Was it that bad?”
“How bad was it?”
Taejun stared at her.
Then he said,
“The look on your face.”
“What about it?”
“It doesn't look like the way a wife looks at her husband.”
Seoyoon couldn't say anything for a moment.
The way a wife looks at her husband.
What was that supposed to mean?
What was she supposed to look like?
Was she supposed to smile if she loved him?
Be worried?
Cry?
Seoyoon didn't know.
It had been too long since she'd forgotten how to love Kang Taejun.
Just then, the hospital room door opened.
“Taejun!”
Mrs. Kang practically ran into the room.
His secretary and driver followed behind her.
“Oh, my God. Are you all right?”
Mrs. Kang rushed to the bed.
Taejun looked at his mother awkwardly.
“Mom.”
“Yes. It's me.”
Tears welled in Mrs. Kang's eyes.
“Do you know how worried I was?”
Taejun soothed her, looking somewhat uncomfortable.
Seoyoon stood up.
There was no reason for her to stay anymore.
“Your mother.”
Mrs. Kang finally looked at Seoyoon.
“Seoyoon.”
“I’m going to leave first.”
“What?”
“The tests are over, and you're here now.”
Mrs. Kang's expression hardened strangely.
“Even so…”
“I’ll come back tomorrow.”
It was a lie.
She didn't know whether she would come back.
Seoyoon picked up her bag.
Just then, Taejun said,
“Wait.”
Seoyoon turned around.
“Why?”
Taejun looked back and forth between his mother and Seoyoon.
“Mom.”
“Yes?”
“That woman.”
Mrs. Kang's face stiffened.
“What do you mean, ‘that woman’?”
Taejun said,
“She says she's my wife.”
Silence.
Mrs. Kang slowly looked at Seoyoon.
Seoyoon didn't have the energy to explain.
“His memory…”
Mrs. Kang asked quietly,
“How much has he forgotten?”
“It seems to be everything before the marriage.”
Taejun asked in return,
“Is there a problem?”
No one answered right away.
Mrs. Kang's gaze shifted to Seoyoon's bag.
Her expression hardened as if she knew exactly what was inside.
Seoyoon realized it, too.
The divorce papers.
Mrs. Kang knew.
She knew the two of them had planned to get a divorce today.
Taejun asked again,
“Why is everyone acting like this?”
Then he added,
“Did something happen between us?”
Seoyoon looked at Taejun.
She could tell him now.
The truth.
That they had been planning to get a divorce.
That he had been the one to say they should end it first.
But Mrs. Kang spoke before she could.
“Nothing happened.”
Seoyoon's eyes widened.
“Your mother.”
Mrs. Kang looked at her.
Her eyes clearly said, Don't say anything.
“You two were happy together.”
Taejun looked at Seoyoon.
“Were we?”
Seoyoon couldn't answer.
Mrs. Kang spoke again.
“Yes. Very happy.”
In that moment, Seoyoon knew.
Something had started to go terribly wrong.
And Taejun asked quietly,
“Then…”
His gaze stopped on Seoyoon.
“Why is my wife looking at me like that?”
Seoyoon's heart dropped.