Chapter 10: Chapter 10

"I’m home."

Suin pushed open the door to Lime, a handmade macaron café located just five minutes on foot from the subway station.

Her mother, Jin Sukyung, who had been cleaning tables, turned to greet her with a bright smile.

"You’re late. Busy day?"

"Yeah, a little."

"You look tired. Did you eat dinner?"

"I did. I’ll head up now."

Despite her exhaustion, Suin maintained a cheerful tone. She exited the café and took the stairs up to the second floor of the small building.

This modest building belonged to Chairwoman Woo Ilhwa.

Through her generosity, the first floor was leased at a low rate for Jin Sukyung’s café, while Suin and her mother lived upstairs.

Entering the dark home, Suin flipped on the lights. Without bothering to change her clothes, she went straight to the refrigerator and pulled out a can of beer.

"Only one left, huh."

Her earlier claim of having eaten dinner had been a lie. The only thing she had consumed that evening was a single can of beer at the office, and though she wasn’t hungry, she felt a strange craving for alcohol.

Is this because of Seo Jaehee?

"Just this one, then I’ll shower."

Pop!

The sound of the can opening brought back bitter memories of that tumultuous day.

***

The Day of Upheaval.

In hindsight, Suin would name that day—when her father’s fraud scandal collided with Seo Jaehee’s emotional confession—as The Day of Upheaval.

It wasn’t just her life that had been affected.

"Did you hear? Seo Jaehee’s at the police station. He got into a fight with someone."

"I knew it. That guy couldn’t control his temper forever."

Less than 24 hours later, news spread that Jaehee had gotten into an altercation and been taken to the police station.

Suin suspected she had played a part in it but never asked for the details.

"Seo Jaehee’s leaving for the U.S. to study abroad. But why so suddenly?"

"Study abroad, my ass. He’s being exiled because of what he did."

Furious, Woo Ilhwa had immediately sent Jaehee to the United States.

There hadn’t been an opportunity for Suin to meet him again.

She had her own upheaval to deal with, as her family was forced to move out of Hyesung.

"Thank you for everything."

"I’m going to miss you. Come visit if you can."

"Take care."

Even as chaos surrounded Jaehee’s fight and sudden departure, Woo Ilhwa had kept her promise to Suin’s family. She covered up Lee Injae’s fraud, attributing his resignation to personal reasons, and provided severance pay that allowed them to rent a small apartment.

Woo Ilhwa’s dedication to seeing Suin finish her education was unwavering. Suin didn’t even have to transfer schools.

With Jaehee gone, Suin was able to graduate without further disruptions.

But things at home were grim.

Consumed by get-rich-quick schemes, Lee Injae wasted his days on one failed gamble after another. Within a year, he had squandered the deposit for their apartment.

"Can you stop already?"

"I’m doing this for the family!"

Desensitized to guilt, his outbursts grew louder, and he disappeared for days on end. Debt collection notices flooded in from loan sharks and finance companies, and their financial situation spiraled into an endless pit.

As Suin prepared for her college entrance exams, tragedy struck.

"Is this the residence of Mr. Lee Injae? He has passed away…."

Lee Injae had ended his life.

Overwhelmed by debt and living as a homeless man, he had died suddenly from acute alcohol poisoning after drinking heavily on an empty stomach.

The mounting debt stopped growing, but an enormous financial burden remained.

"Please, I beg you. Help us one last time. I swear I’ll pay it all back."

"My conditions remain the same. Just keep your promise."

To ensure Suin’s college education, Jin Sukyung had knelt before Woo Ilhwa, who once again intervened without hesitation.

With the chairwoman’s help, Suin entered university.@@novelbin@@

Although Woo Ilhwa offered to cover all her expenses, Suin firmly declined. She supported herself through part-time jobs and scholarships.

The moment she graduated, Suin went to see Woo Ilhwa.

"I’m here to repay my debt. Do you still need me?"

The chairwoman greeted her with a radiant smile.

"I do. As one of my people."

Suin willingly became Woo Ilhwa’s secretary.

She had abandoned her dream of becoming a news anchor after her father’s fraud, so there were no regrets.

Since then, she had served Woo Ilhwa with unwavering dedication, earning the chairwoman’s deepest trust and respect for over a decade.

Now, at thirty, she remained one of Woo Ilhwa’s most valued confidantes.

***

"Come to think of it..."

"Is being a secretary some kind of family business? Looks like it’s being passed down."

Suin muttered to herself with self-deprecating humor, recalling her unavoidable career path and the parallels to her father, who had once served as Woo Ilhwa’s secretary.

Of course, being a secretary suited her abilities perfectly.

“For now, I’m just another pawn again... how pathetic.”

Her sarcastic laughter trailed off as her gaze fell on the bookshelf, where a row of diaries was neatly arranged. She reached for one of them.

It was a diary she had carried around during high school, like a pencil case, documenting her daily life. On the very last page lay Suin's secret.

“There were this many?”

Five Chinese characters neatly written by Suin caught her attention.

正. 正. 正. 正. ㅜ.

Four completed strokes of the character jeong (æ­£), and an unfinished fifth character missing two strokes.

Suin’s eyes lingered on the characters, but her thoughts drifted to Seo Jaehee.

"Damn it! I love you!"

"Lee Suin! I love you so much it’s killing me!"

Seo Jaehee wasn’t just reckless; perhaps he was someone who was more honest with his emotions than anyone else.

But compared to him, she...

“Liar.”

A girl who brushed off his confessions as fleeting feelings of a reckless boy, as emotions that would fizzle out quickly. A girl who ignored and dismissed him.

Yet that same girl must have cherished those confessions, even if she denied it to herself.

At some point, she began marking each of Jaehee’s confessions in her diary. Afraid someone might find out, she carefully recorded them on the very last page.

It started with one stroke of the jeong character, and with each confession, she added another.

By the time the "Day of Upheaval" came, there were twenty-two strokes in total.

Each stroke was a testament to the fact that Seo Jaehee had confessed to her twenty-two times.

And...

“I turned him down twenty-two times.”

It was also a tally of how many times she had hidden her own feelings.

Suin closed the diary.

“It’s not the past memories that are the problem…”

The real issue was the days ahead, where she would have to face Seo Jaehee head-on.

As soon as she realized it, an uncomfortable sensation hit her stomach like a sharp boxing hook.

“Should I quit?”

For the first time since joining the company, Suin seriously considered resignation.

Meanwhile, Jaehee returned to the Hyesung household after eleven years abroad, receiving a tearful welcome from his grandmother. Shortly after his return, he was struck by a shocking realization.

“What do you mean, Lee Suin doesn’t live in the annex anymore?”

Assuming that Suin, as Woo Ilhwa’s secretary, would naturally be residing in the annex, he had let her leave the Executive Office with ease.

“She moved out a long time ago. Her father, Lee Injae, resigned as my secretary and left the annex.”

“When?”

“Shortly after you left for the U.S.”

“Why? What happened?”

“How should I know? Your mother just said it was for personal reasons.”

If only he had reached out to her sooner.

He decided not to unpack his bags.

“You’re staying at a hotel? Why?”

“I’ve been living alone for ten years since I moved out of my aunt’s house. I feel uncomfortable when others are around.”

When Woo Ilhwa returned home late that night, he announced his plans to stay at a hotel.

“You’re family, how could you feel uncomfortable? You’ll have the entire third floor to yourself, just like before…”

“If he wants to live on his own, let him. But not in a hotel—it’s not secure. Move into the penthouse in Cheongnam-dong that’s under your name. The current tenant’s lease is ending soon.”

Although his aunt, Professor Seo Sungryeok, expressed disappointment, Woo Ilhwa readily agreed, guilt lingering from leaving him alone in America for so long.

Lying in his bedroom for the first time in years, Jaehee found himself unable to sleep. Near dawn, he stepped into the garden, unable to resist the pull of nostalgia.

His feet carried him to a familiar place: his old hideout.

From there, he could see the now-empty annex where Suin once lived.

***

"Damn it! I love you!"

A desire to claim her, to possess her completely.

His emotions were so consumed by greed that he didn’t have the space to consider Suin’s thoughts, circumstances, or feelings.

It was pure selfishness.

"Lee Suin! I love you so much it’s killing me!"

No matter which angle he looked at her—front, side, or back—she was breathtakingly beautiful. He wanted to keep her by his side, no matter what.

"I don’t like you."

"You don’t like me?"

"I’ve never even thought of you as a man."

It wasn’t just a simple I don’t like you; it was I’ve never thought of you as a man. Those words felt like his entire world was collapsing.

Perhaps, it was heartbreaking.

Unable to control his emotions, Jaehee stormed off to Suin’s cram school the next day.

And then.

“Don’t you think Lee Suin is drop-dead gorgeous?”

“Even her back is amazing.”

Four delinquent boys his age were sitting around, making lewd comments about Suin.

“Should I run up and hug her? If I manage to pull it off, five bucks says it’s a win.”

“Oh! Deal, deal!”

Jaehee’s vision went red.

“You bastards... do you have a death wish?”

He wasn’t just angry; he was ready to kill.