Chapter 14

Chapter 14

“What?!” thundered Choo-ja. Lee-yeon flinched. “Are you crazy?! Are you out of your mind for real?”

Choo-ja almost slapped the back she was patting. Lee-yeon jumped up from the sofa and ran away from her, around the sofa. “He doesn’t remember anything. He has lost his memories! I had no choice, he held me so tight as soon as he woke up! I was scared so I lied to him so that he wouldn’t kill me!”

“You can’t hide the truth forever!” said Choo-ja.

“You don’t know anything, Choo-ja. That man was burying a person alive! He is the kind of person who would kill you for making eye contact with him!” Lee-yeon gasped when she was reminded of the terrible scene. “I was scared, okay? What if he had dragged me and buried me alive?”

“My goodness…”

“I had to come up with something! Especially when it’s a monster like him.”

Lee-yeon put her hands on her waist and stood there for a moment, looking stubborn. Choo-ja saw a gleam in her tear-filled eyes. “I just want to get back my life back. I have always worked hard to make a living.”

Her voice trembled. Choo-ja nodded. Lee-yeon wasn’t the kind of person who gave up so easily. She had always wanted a quiet and peaceful life. Lee-yeon seemed terrified by the prospect of losing the reins to her life because of this man.

“What if he finds out about everything?” Lee-yeon muttered. “I just have to catch the real culprit.” Choo-ja frowned because what Lee-yeon said did not make sense.

“Then everything returns to normal,” Lee-yeon mumbled as though trying to convince herself. She looked like a ghost with her long hair hanging haphazardly down her back. At that time, that night, all her thoughts and strength had been focused on the saw she wielded. It must have been quite a blow to push him into a vegetative state.

Lee-yeon knew that everything started from that moment. Her life had gotten out of control without her being able to navigate it herself. She didn’t want to be controlled. She would do anything to get her life back without getting caught in trouble for long.

The man could have doubted the whole situation and harmed her. To keep the situation under control, he had HAD to lie and say that she was married to him. If she wanted him to do what she wanted, she had to make him believe that she was someone close to him that he couldn’t hurt.

But that didn’t make any sense to Choo-ja. That cannot be the right answer. Lee-yeon doesn’t know how quickly a relationship between a man and a woman develops and changes overtime. She didn’t know how tiring it could get to be stuck with the wrong person. And a murderer at that!

“I don’t know. I’m not getting involved in this,” said Choo-ja.

“Please!” said Lee-yeon, “Please just pretend like I am married, and you know everything. Please!”

Choo-ja pressed her temples. Choo-ja had been in a marriage five times. Three of her husbands had died. She had mourned them. And this bothered her. She found the man’s situation very suspicious.  Why is someone like him with wealth and power here in the countryside instead of a big, fancy hospital in Seoul where he might have been taken care of better? And why is his older brother threatening Lee-yeon to take care of him? Where are his parents?

“Lee-yeon?” a voice called. Choo-ja’s eyes widened at the unfamiliar voice.

It was a very serious kind of voice. A voice that demanded attention from whoever listened to it. Choo-ja turned around to face him. He walked to her, down the stairs from the second floor.

“Hello, my son*.”

(*Koreans call their son-in-law as just son)

* * *

“I’ve never heard of a tree hospital.” Kwon Chae-woo slowly looked around the interior.

Lee-yeon couldn’t stop rocking her body back and forth as though she was trying hard not to run away from the man who sat on the sofa in front of her. Choo-ja looked at Kwon Chae-woo carefully. Choo-ja had decades of data. Ever since she learned physiognomy under her favorite monk, she had never made a wrong conclusion about any person.

Is this really the same man who buried a person alive? He looks so authoritative and handsome.

She couldn’t find any flaws in his cold and neat expression. His long, straight eyes appeared warm and soft. He didn’t look like a murderer. Besides, he looked glamorous. She could tell by his face that he was born wealthy.

It would’ve disappointed me if he was just a mere murderer. At the very least, he must be in a position where he holds authority and power.

“Mother*,” Kwon Chae-woo lowered his gaze and called politely. His mouth was stiff as though he was unfamiliar with such a word. “Can I move over there? I want to sit beside Lee-yeon.”

(*Koreans call their mother-in-law as just mother.)

Choo-ja was taken aback. She had always been someone who was calm under any situation of duress. But this time, she had momentarily lost her composure unsure of how to react. Lee-yeon froze. When both didn’t respond, he looked at them questioningly. Hence, Lee-yeon moved to the other side of the sofa to sit beside him. He relaxed. His eyes filling with relief.

“Um…Kwon Chae-woo, Choo-ja is not my mother. She’s a staff here. She has known me for about 15 years. I think she just blurted out and called you ‘son’ because she feels comfortable with you.”

“Why do you call me by my full name?”

“What?”

“I want you to feel comfortable with me, too.”

While Lee-yeon was lost for words unsure of how to respond to that, Choo-ja rubbed her forehead. Perhaps because he had lost his memories, his eyes only focused on Lee-yeon.