“Then why is my wife looking at me like that?”
Seoyoon's heart sank.
Taejun's eyes were still fixed on her.
He said he'd lost his memory.
But his ability to see straight through people was exactly the same.
Just as Seoyoon was about to speak, Mrs. Kang grabbed Taejun's hand first.
“She was really shaken when she heard about the accident.”
“She doesn't look shaken.”
“Taejun.”
“She looks more troubled than anything.”
Seoyoon's fingers tightened.
How could someone so perceptive have forgotten only the past few years so completely?
It might have been better if he'd forgotten everything.
What kind of person he was.
What family he'd been born into.
Even that tiresome habit of suspecting people and hounding them.
But Taejun had forgotten only Han Seoyoon.
And not even all of her. He had forgotten exactly the years when they had fallen in love, gotten married, and come to hate each other.
“That’s right.”
Seoyoon spoke calmly.
“I’m troubled.”
Mrs. Kang shot her a sharp look.
“Seoyoon.”
“If my husband suddenly couldn’t recognize me, who wouldn’t be troubled?”
It wasn’t wrong.
Taejun's eyes narrowed.
“Is that all?”
“What else is there supposed to be?”
“You’d know.”
Seoyoon let out a hollow laugh, utterly dumbfounded.
It felt like being interrogated by someone who had lost his memory.
By the husband she had been planning to divorce today, no less.
“So you’ve forgotten your memory, but you’re still just as exhausting.”
“Still the same?”
Taejun didn’t let the words pass.
Seoyoon didn’t answer.
Mrs. Kang hurriedly stepped between them.
“That’s enough. The doctor said he needs to rest.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. It was a serious accident.”
“My body is fine.”
“Your head isn’t.”
Mrs. Kang’s voice trembled.
Taejun’s expression softened a little.
Apparently, even he couldn’t stay unmoved when his mother looked close to tears because of him.
Seoyoon picked up her bag.
“You two talk. I’m leaving.”
“Where are you going?”
Seoyoon turned at Taejun’s question.
“Home.”
“Home?”
“Yes.”
“Our house?”
For a moment, Seoyoon couldn’t speak.
Our house.
The words felt strange.
Even though it was the house where they had lived together.
Ever since Taejun had started rarely coming home, it had been Seoyoon’s house.
Taejun’s clothes still hung there.
His belongings were still scattered around.
Legally, it was their shared address.
But it had been a long time since Seoyoon had thought of it as a house they lived in together.
“For now.”
Seoyoon gave a short answer.
“For now?”
Taejun seized on that phrase too.
“You say strange things at the end of every sentence.”
“What do I say?”
“You said it was the house where a married couple lives together. Why ‘for now’?”
“Kang Taejun.”
“If there’s something I don’t know, shouldn’t you tell me?”
“Do you really need to know right now?”
Taejun’s gaze turned cold.
It was a familiar expression.
For an instant, the Taejun from the past overlapped with the face that had been looking at her like a stranger just moments ago.
Without realizing it, Seoyoon looked away.
There was no way Taejun would miss that brief movement.
“There is something, after all.”
“There isn’t.”
“There is.”
“I said there isn’t.”
“Then why won’t you look at me?”
In the end, Seoyoon glared at him.
“Are you satisfied now?”
“No.”
“What else do you need?”
“An answer.”
At that moment, Mrs. Kang stood up.
“Seoyoon. Come outside with me for a moment.”
“Mother.”
“It’ll only take a minute.”
Mrs. Kang grabbed Seoyoon’s arm.
Before Seoyoon had a chance to refuse, she was pulled out of the hospital room.
As soon as the door closed, Seoyoon yanked her arm free.
“Why are you lying?”
Mrs. Kang’s expression hardened.
“Keep your voice down.”
“You said we had a happy marriage?”
“You saw Taejun’s condition.”
“So?”
“Are you saying we should tell someone who’s lost his memory that we were about to get divorced?”
“It’s the truth.”
“What if the shock makes his condition worse?”
Seoyoon pressed her lips tightly together.
Mrs. Kang stepped closer.
“The doctor said he needs to rest. We can’t force him to recall the memories he’s lost or subject him to emotional shock.”
“That doesn’t mean we can make up something that never happened.”
“It didn’t never happen.”
“Mother.”
“You two were married.”
“We were on the verge of divorce.”
“You hadn’t signed the papers yet.”
“We were going to sign them today.”
“But you didn’t.”
Mrs. Kang’s answer was firm.
Seoyoon stared at her in disbelief.
“Is that what matters right now?”
“It matters.”
“Why?”
Mrs. Kang didn’t answer right away.
After glancing once at the secretary standing at the end of the hallway, she lowered her voice even further.
“The news of Taejun’s accident hasn’t gotten out yet.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“What do you think will happen to the company if people find out he’s lost his memory?”
Seoyoon’s expression stiffened.
“Are you worried about the company right now?”
“The company is Taejun.”
“A person was in an accident.”
“That’s why I’m going to protect him.”
Mrs. Kang didn’t budge an inch.
“There’s an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting next week. The merger Taejun was handling is also in its final stages. If his amnesia gets out now, his uncle’s faction won’t sit still.”
After the chairman of Daesung Group, Mrs. Kang’s father-in-law, collapsed, a family battle had begun over control of the company.
Seoyoon knew that much too.
Taejun had been at odds with his uncle for a long time.
Even after their married life had completely fallen apart, Taejun spent most of his days at the company.
He slept there.
Ate there.
Maybe even breathed there, like the company was where he belonged.
“So what are you asking me to do?”
“Stay by Taejun’s side for the time being.”
Seoyoon laughed in disbelief.
“No.”
“Seoyoon.”
“I said no.”
“It might only be for a few days.”
“You said his memory might never come back.”
“How do you know that when even the doctor doesn’t?”
Mrs. Kang’s mouth fell shut.
Seoyoon adjusted her grip on her bag.
“I don’t know about anything else, but I’m not going to hide the fact that we were getting divorced. He’ll find out eventually.”
“From whom?”
“What?”
“Who’s going to tell him?”
Seoyoon faltered.
Mrs. Kang continued calmly.
“Taejun’s phone was destroyed, and the only people who know about the divorce are you, me, and the lawyer.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’ll take care of the lawyer.”
“Mother.”
“One month.”
Mrs. Kang cut her off.
“Just wait one month.”
“No.”
“Even if his memory still hasn’t come back after that, I’ll tell Taejun everything myself.”
“I want to end this right now.”
“You’re going to put the papers in front of someone who doesn’t even have his memory?”
Seoyoon’s expression hardened.
Mrs. Kang looked down at her bag.
“They’re in there, aren’t they?”
“The divorce papers.”
“So?”
“Taejun, lying in there, doesn’t even know who you are. He doesn’t know why he married you or why he wanted to leave you.”
“That isn’t my fault.”
“I know.”
“No. You don’t.”
Seoyoon’s voice trembled low.
“He was the one who asked for a divorce first.”
“I know.”
“I barely managed to accept it.”
“I had just barely put my feelings in order so we could end things today. And now you want me to play wife again beside someone who knows nothing?”
Mrs. Kang’s expression wavered for a moment.
But that was all.
“I’m not asking you to play wife.”
“Then what?”
“Just hide the truth.”
“That’s the same thing.”
“Seoyoon.”
“I can’t.”
Seoyoon turned away.
Just then, the hospital room door opened.
The two women fell silent at the same time.
Taejun stood in the doorway.
He was dressed in a patient gown.
One hand gripped the IV pole.
“What are you doing!”
Mrs. Kang rushed toward him in alarm.
“You’re supposed to be lying down.”
Taejun evaded his mother’s hand.
Then he looked at Seoyoon.
“What were you talking about for so long?”
“Nothing.”
Mrs. Kang answered quickly.
Taejun’s gaze settled on Seoyoon’s face.
“You too?”
“Yes.”
“Liar.”
His voice was low and certain.
Seoyoon’s eyebrow twitched.
“I lost my memory. I didn’t become an idiot.”
“Who said you were an idiot?”
“You both look like you were talking about something I’m not supposed to hear.”
Taejun’s gaze dropped to Seoyoon’s bag.
“What’s in there?”
Seoyoon wrapped her hand around the bag.
“My things.”
“I know that.”
“Then we’re done here.”
“Is it related to me?”
“No.”
“Show me.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s my bag.”
Taejun took a step closer.
The IV line pulled taut.
Mrs. Kang grabbed his shoulder.
“Taejun, stop and go back inside.”
“Then answer me first.”
“It’s nothing.”
“If it’s nothing, why are you hiding it?”
Taejun was still looking only at Seoyoon.
Before the accident, he might have snatched the bag away and checked it himself by now.
But the Taejun standing here now didn’t.
He still didn’t know Seoyoon.
Maybe that was why even his suspicion seemed strangely cautious.
“Our…”
Seoyoon opened her mouth.
Mrs. Kang called out to her urgently.
“Seoyoon.”
Seoyoon closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them.
She had to tell him.
If she didn’t say it now, things would only get more complicated.
“The truth is…”
Just then, a doctor and a nurse hurried toward them from the end of the hallway.
“Mr. Kang Taejun. Why are you out here?”
The nurse checked his IV.
“You still need to rest.”
Taejun didn’t answer.
The doctor looked at Mrs. Kang and Seoyoon.
“Please avoid conversations that might overstimulate the patient.”
“Does telling him about something he can’t remember count as overstimulation?”
Taejun asked.
The doctor’s face tightened slightly.
“Trying to force his memories to return isn’t advisable. Even conveying the facts could cause the patient considerable distress.”
“Then what am I supposed to do about the five years I don’t remember?”
“For now, it would be best to slowly reacquaint yourself with the information around you. Familiar places and belongings can sometimes help with memory recovery.”
“Familiar places.”
Taejun repeated the words quietly.
The doctor nodded.
“If the test results show no problems, you can be discharged in about two days. After that, it would be best for you to stay in the environment where you lived before.”
Mrs. Kang’s eyes changed.
Seoyoon had a bad feeling.
“When you say the environment where he lived before…”
Taejun looked at Seoyoon.
“Does that include the house where I lived with my wife?”
“I suppose it would.”
“Does that mean staying there could help my memory return?”
“It’s possible it could help.”
Taejun’s gaze turned back to Seoyoon.
Without realizing it, Seoyoon gripped her bag even tighter.
“No.”
Taejun raised an eyebrow slightly.
“I haven’t said anything yet.”
“You were going to.”
“What did you think I was going to say?”
“That you were going to our house.”
Taejun looked at her for a moment before asking,
“Can’t I go?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because it would be uncomfortable.”
“For whom?”
“For me.”
The answer came without hesitation.
All expression vanished from Taejun’s face.
For some reason, Seoyoon’s chest felt strangely tight.
He had no reason to be hurt.
He didn’t even remember her.
After a brief silence, he asked,
“Did you always hate it when I came home?”
Seoyoon couldn’t answer.
Taejun gave a bitter smile.
“I suppose you did.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?”
Seoyoon closed her mouth.
How could she explain it?
That he had hardly ever come home.
That even on the rare days he did, they barely looked at each other.
That even when they lay in the same bed, they waited for the other to fall asleep first.
That she couldn’t possibly start living in the same house with him again now.
How could she say any of that to someone with no memory?
“Taejun.”
Mrs. Kang spoke carefully.
“Let’s focus on your treatment first and think about it later.”
“Is there anything to think about?”
Taejun’s answer was firm.
“The doctor said it would be good for me to stay in a familiar environment.”
“But Seoyoon’s opinion matters too…”
“There’s nothing strange about a married couple living together.”
No one could answer him.
A married couple living together.
It was an obvious thing to say.
If only their relationship hadn’t been scheduled to end just that morning.
Taejun looked at Seoyoon.
“Ms. Han Seoyoon.”
“What?”
“I’m asking you for a favor.”
“What?”
“Until I recover my memory.”
He spoke quietly.
“Please live with me.”
The bag slipped from Seoyoon’s hand.
It hit the floor and fell open.
The documents inside spilled across the white floor.
Taejun’s gaze slowly lowered.
The paper on top.
The bold letters printed across it were completely exposed.
Application for Confirmation of Intent to Divorce by Agreement.
A heavy silence settled over the hospital hallway.
Taejun looked up at Seoyoon.
“What is this?”
Every expression disappeared from his face.
“Why is it in your bag?”