Then I’ll Meet Kang Chaehee Instead

Jeon Seongwon was discharged from the hospital in exactly three days.
As the aides came into the hospital room to pack up various things, my phone rang.
I had nothing to be busy with, but mentally I was swamped—wondering who it could be, I checked and what do you know, it was Weilin.

Of course, I hung up and put the phone in my pocket, but it vibrated again.
I thought he was calling again persistently, but it turned out to be a message.

[Not answering?]

Crazy……. Isn’t this like something out of a horror movie?
Feeling a little creeped out, I deleted the message and crossed my arms—when Jeon Seongwon’s phone rang this time.
I looked at it with a slightly ominous feeling, and sure enough, Jeon Seongwon came over and held out his phone to me.
“What?!”
“Weilin.”
“Are you crazy? Why are you handing it to me?”
“He asked me to……”
“Hah, shit. Would you hand it over if the President was next to you?”
Of course, I muttered the curse under my breath.
Meanwhile, from the other end of the line, Weilin was shouting “hello” in various languages.
Hah……. I stepped outside the hospital room and took the call.
“……Why?”
—Hm? That ‘why’ sounds cute. Say it again.
“…….”
Again, Weilin was twenty-two years old.
—You okay? Taking care of someone in the hospital is tough.

Huh, unbelievable.
When you think about it, the bastard who suggested going to Suncheonman or wherever was the cause of the accident.
For him to say this now was utterly absurd.
Well, Weilin wasn’t the one who made the rocks fall, and besides, hadn’t he run off by himself at the scene?
“You ran off pretty well by yourself after the accident, didn’t you?”
—Of course, what if my car got scratched? But it did get scratched. Ah. Where did those falling rocks come from all of a sudden. A bunch of pebbles came down.
“Seongwon’s body got scratched too. And bigger rocks fell.”
—Well, that’s just bad luck. Or no, maybe it was good luck? Too bad. He’s not badly hurt, right? I saw the news.

On the news, they’d covered up his injuries, aired his interview, and the doctors announced it was just minor abrasions.
It also mentioned that he was returning to the management frontline immediately.
On top of that, the stability of the Dosun car that absorbed all the impact from the rockfall accident was reported, and the stock price soared, recovering its average.
—You were mad that I was with him that day, right? So I called to make it up to you.

The more he talked, the more outrageous it got.
“What if I told you this call makes me even angrier?”
—Huh? Why?

I felt like I needed to find headache medicine again.
—That day I said let’s go to Sun-cheon-man. I was curious because they said they were filming a commercial there. I was just going for a drive.

Weilin spoke with a Chinese accent mixed in, as if he found saying Suncheonman difficult.
Just for a drive…….
I was about to point out the distance from Seoul to Suncheonman, but then I remembered Weilin was Chinese.
He might think, ‘Is that doable?’ at about 3 hours and 30 minutes.
No, wait—why was I even rationalizing this?
I gritted my teeth and said.
“Fine, let’s say that’s true. Then why do you have to call me specifically to say that?”
—Well, if you and your husband fight because of me, I wouldn’t be able to show my face!

Suddenly the atmosphere turned into a historical drama.
I was so dumbfounded I lost my words, then muttered weakly.
“Just say you’re sorry. You said you’re good at Korean. Why are you suddenly pretending you learned Korean from dramas?”
—Yeah, I was just trying to be funny.

Sorry, but—well, actually not sorry—it wasn’t funny at all.
When I stayed silent, Weilin laughed and continued.
—You had a misunderstanding, didn’t you?
“……There was no need to call. I heard everything from Seongwon.”
As I spoke, I glanced to the side.
At some point, Jeon Seongwon had changed his clothes and come out, standing there.
—So, did the misunderstanding clear up? It doesn’t seem like it did. Seyeon, you’re still suspicious about us, aren’t you?
“…….”
—You know, my car has a recording function. The conversation from that day is all recorded. Wanna come listen?
“Did Seongwon ride in your car?”
At the same time, my gaze shot to Jeon Seongwon.
He flinched and stepped back.
—Of course he did. I rode in Seongwon’s car too. Korean cars are nice, aren’t they?

Jeon Seongwon fidgeted restlessly, watching me talk with Weilin on the phone.
His car had been replaced recently with a new one.
I hadn’t even ridden in it yet.
And thanks to this accident, I’d never get the chance to.
—Anyway, come listen to the recording. There’s more than just that. If you hear the recordings……

After that, Weilin said something, but I couldn’t hear it clearly.
It didn’t matter anyway.
I stared fixedly at Jeon Seongwon.
“Okay, so you’re saying to pass along your regards to Seongwon, right?”
—No, I’m passing along my regards to Seyeon.
“The one who got hurt is Seongwon.”
—He wasn’t hurt that badly, was he? That much will heal if you just lick it.

With a deep sigh, I hung up the phone.
Jeon Seongwon, with his hands behind his back, was looking at me.
“What on earth did you……. What were the aides doing? What did they do to let you ride in a car with a recording function?”
“I got in knowing it had a recording function. That’s safer.”
“What’s safe about it?”
“In case of a scandal or something later, it’s evidence.”
I let out a scoff and looked up at the ceiling.
“If there’s no smoke, there’s no fire? Why are you lighting a fire in the first place?”
“Weilin says…… that even when working, mental communion is important. Exchanging communication through consciousness.”

It sounded like something you’d hear from some cult religion.
Though Weilin didn’t seem like the type to believe in religion at all.
Unless he was the one manipulating people as a cult leader.
“What……. If that’s the case, shouldn’t he be doing that with the director? Why is he communing with the advertiser?”
“He said the other person’s role doesn’t matter, it has to be someone he chooses.”

The more I heard, the more absurd it became.
I sighed.
“Whatever, just get discharged. There are a lot of reporters out front.”
“We got out fine yesterday too. It’ll be okay.”

Yesterday, Chae Sera had brought a car Jeon Seongwon rarely used and drove it out.
The press corps swarmed the vehicle coming out of the VIP parking lot, but they scattered quickly at the security guards’ restraint.
Even now, the front gate was packed with security guards chasing away reporters and reporters desperately trying to get even one photo.
Today, the plan was for me and Jeon Seongwon to ride together in my car driven by Han Youngjun, with Chae Sera and another aide following behind.
That way, attention would be divided among three cars total.

Fortunately, the plan worked and we got out of the hospital safely.
It was a 20-minute drive from the hospital to home.
Since there were no crazed reporters who chased us all the way home, we were able to arrive quickly.

Jeon Seongwon had changed the gauze to a regular bandage.
He’d showered by himself yesterday too—there was nothing for me to do.
‘I’m exhausted.’

Even if it wasn’t uncomfortable, spending three days in the hospital—and in the same space as Jeon Seongwon—was tiring.
After coming home and taking turns with Jeon Seongwon receiving calls from family checking in, I went in to wash up.
There was a bathtub in the hospital too, but it felt awkward to soak leisurely, and the memories from the first night kept surfacing, so I couldn’t help but avoid it.
In my familiar bathroom tub, I poured in a generous amount of bath salts and sank in—my body felt like it was melting.
I set the water so it wouldn’t cool down and stayed in the tub without thinking, until all the stray thoughts faded away.
Only after quite a while, when I started to feel a little dizzy, did I get out and rinse off with lukewarm water.
When I came out, I felt light as air.

After drying my hair completely, I lay down on the bed.
Both body and mind were languid.
I thought I wanted to just lie here without thinking about anything, but…… I fumbled beside me and found my phone.
—Hello?!
“……What are you doing?”

This wasn’t a casual ‘what are you doing’—it was genuine curiosity.
Because Kang Chaehee had answered the phone out of breath with an urgent voice.
He held the phone away and caught his breath—sorry, but I heard everything—then spoke again.
—I was working out.
“Ah…….”

Come to think of it, from the other end of the line, I could hear the kind of fast-beat music that anyone would recognize from a gym, along with the creaking sound of exercise equipment.
“My husband got discharged. I’m home now.”
—I see……. Is the Vice Chairman okay?

A laugh slipped out of me for no reason.
“Why, are you worried about Jeon Seongwon even after getting slapped with water?”
—Haha……. I suppose so. It’s only natural for a person…….

Honestly, I liked Kang Chaehee because he was the kind of person who would uphold ‘it’s only natural for a person.’
There were far too many people in this world who disregarded such things.

After exchanging a few words with Kang Chaehee, he said he should get back to his workout, so we hung up.
The call was just over five minutes.

I lay spread-eagled, spending time with no thoughts under the guise of meditation, when I heard a knock.
A short, rhythmic tap-tap on the door.
That was Jeon Seongwon.
“What.”
The door cracked open and Jeon Seongwon showed his face.
“I have something to say.”
“Say it.”
“……I don’t know what you’ll think, but……. I have to keep seeing Weilin.”
“…….”

The mood that had lifted a little from the call with Kang Chaehee plummeted straight down.
“That’s what I came to say. ……Rest.”
And he closed the door and left.
I stupidly listened to his footsteps fade away, then let out a scoff.
‘What……. What kind of crazy bastard is this?’

After spacing out for a while, I shot up.
I opened Jeon Seongwon’s door, but no one was there.
Turning, I opened the study door—he was sitting at his desk, working.
At my sudden intrusion, his head slowly lifted.
“Fine, do whatever you want.”
“……Seyeon.”
“Instead, I’m going to see someone too.”
“Weilin?”

f*ck.
“Why would I see Weilin! Kang Chaehee! I’m going to see Kang Chaehee!”
At that, Jeon Seongwon’s expression stiffened slightly.
“I’m going to see Chaehee too, and I’m not getting a divorce! So don’t interfere with me seeing Chaehee!”
I shouted out like a declaration.