BT 12

Chapter 12

When You Call My Name

“You little brat!”

Her father, who had been lying helplessly in bed because of his injured back, miraculously managed to sit upright the moment he saw her.

But he immediately groaned in pain and lay back down.

Her older sister, Eun-seo, who had been taking care of their father, scolded him for overexerting himself.

Her father scolded her, and her sister scolded their father.

It was an extremely common scene in Eun-chae’s household.

Which meant that, in the end, Eun-chae was the only one who got scolded every single day.

“So why are you wandering around outside at your age? You should’ve just stayed home!”

At Eun-chae’s words, her father, Man-deok, immediately flared up again.

“You little brat! Just listen to the way you talk with that mouth of yours! If my body were still in good shape, I’d break your legs right now! You’re an unmarried girl who doesn’t know how dangerous the world is, yet you’re wandering around wherever you please! That’s why I told you to quit that music or whatever nonsense you’re doing! You’ve got nothing but hot air in your lungs!”

“You’re the reason I can’t come home! Can’t you try to understand me for once? Why are you always trying to lock me up at home?”

“I could trust you and let you go out if you behaved yourself!”

“I am trying my best!”

“This is a hospital! Both of you, stop it!”

At Eun-seo’s one sharp remark, both father and daughter immediately shrank.

They merely glared at each other, breathing heavily, until an elderly woman in the neighboring bed clicked her tongue and spoke.

“Your older sister is so proper and pretty, but the younger one is a complete wild child. How can sisters be so different?”

She had heard that her entire life, so it no longer intimidated her.

Besides, her sister had been good at studying too, while Eun-chae had been absolutely terrible at it.

“I hurt my hand too!”

Feeling unfairly treated, Eun-chae held out her casted arm.

And she immediately regretted it when her sister responded.

“When are you ever going to grow up?”

She had only just returned home, and she was already tempted to run away again.

Out of sheer rebelliousness toward her family, who never seemed to appreciate her efforts, she even had the dangerous thought of simply going to Kwon Do-hyeok’s house and living there.

<PRIVATE_PERSON>

<PRIVATE_PERSON> received Eun-chae’s text message.

“My father injured his back and is in the hospital. It’s an unavoidable situation today, so please let me off this once.”

Do-hyeok simply felt annoyed.

It didn’t seem like she was making up some easily exposed lie, but he still didn’t like it.

That didn’t mean he was such an inhumane ‘boss’ that he’d force her to come to work when her father was sick.

He was already in a bad mood after receiving Eun-chae’s message when Manager Park entered to give him a report.

“On Sunday, Chairman Kwon has his annual health checkup.”

His father was getting older, so he underwent a health checkup every year.

If anything, it was still better than Eun-chae’s father, who had been hospitalized after an injury.

Do-hyeok wasn’t paying much attention to Manager Park’s words when a thought suddenly occurred to him.

“I’m told Lee Eun-chae’s father is currently hospitalized. Find out which hospital he’s in.”

Manager Park looked surprised at the news that Eun-chae’s father had been hospitalized.

“Is that so? Are you planning to visit him?”

“Why would I do that?”

At Do-hyeok’s curt response, Manager Park’s expression quickly darkened.

“Don’t tell me you’re worried it might be the same hospital where Chairman Kwon is getting his health checkup?”

“Isn’t that obvious? There was nothing I could find out from the single album Manager Park casually handed me. Let me make this clear. If you’re deliberately hiding something from me, you’ll regret it very, very much.”

Even in the face of Do-hyeok’s threatening tone, Manager Park remained completely composed.

“Even if they’re at the same hospital, there won’t be any opportunity for Chairman Kwon and Eun-chae to run into each other.”

Chairman Kwon was a VVIP patient, while Eun-chae’s father would presumably be staying in a regular ward.

“If there’s something between them, they’ll deliberately meet each other. If they only run into each other by coincidence, then doesn’t that mean they’re simply strangers?”

“Then what do you intend to do if you discover what kind of relationship Chairman Kwon and Eun-chae have?”

Do-hyeok, who had always spoken so freely without hesitation, suddenly clamped his mouth shut.

He merely stared at Manager Park.

His mood was becoming even worse than it had been after receiving Eun-chae’s message.

He had believed that he needed Eun-chae because of her relationship with his father.

But the deeper he dug into exactly what kind of relationship she had with his father, the more unsettled he felt.

It was as if, whatever the relationship turned out to be, he wouldn’t be able to forgive her once he learned the truth.

“If they really do have some kind of relationship, then Lee Eun-chae is an incredible actress, and I’ll have been completely fooled.”

And the person he would be angry with wouldn’t be his father.

It would be Lee Eun-chae.

Even though his father was clearly the more important one.

<PRIVATE_PERSON>

“What the hell? If someone sends you a text, you’re supposed to reply. Why are you ignoring me?”

Eun-chae had sent Do-hyeok an important message, but he hadn’t replied at all.

She glared at her phone and grumbled.

It wasn’t as though she particularly wanted to hear comforting words from him like, ‘Are you okay?’ or ‘Did your father scold you a lot?’

But the fact that he had completely ignored her message made her feel even more miserable.

As if getting scolded by both her father and sister in succession wasn’t bad enough, she’d escaped outside the hospital just to get away from them.

“Are you hungry?”

Eun-chae, who had been slumped over like laundry hanging from a clothesline, lifted her head slightly.

At some point, the Myeongdong bouquet man had appeared in front of her.

Wearing a white doctor’s coat, he actually suited the look better than when he’d been holding a bouquet of flowers.

Eun-chae rummaged through her pocket and pulled something out.

There was a tube of lipstick in her hand.

“I’m a penniless unemployed person right now, so I can’t pay you for the shoe repair just yet. I’ll give you this as collateral for now. I’m sorry. I ran off after taking your money.”

Eun-chae apologized politely.

She hadn’t intended to do that.

But so many things had happened in the meantime that she had genuinely forgotten she needed to send him the money.

Tae-kyung reached out his hand.

She assumed he was taking the lipstick.

But Tae-kyung ended up taking her hand along with it.

“You look exhausted. You haven’t eaten, have you?”

That was true.

But why was he holding her hand?

She had only given him the lipstick.

“I’ll buy you a meal at the hospital cafeteria in return for the gift. Our hospital food is pretty good.”

“It’s not a gift. It’s collateral.”

Who gave a man a half-used lipstick as a gift?

She was a debtor who hadn’t paid him back and had run off.

And Tae-kyung was the creditor.

They weren’t exactly on the kind of terms where they should be holding hands so amicably.

“Whatever. Eat first and get your energy back.”

Tae-kyung said it without waiting for her answer and began pulling her along.

“Um, I don’t really feel like eating.”

“You don’t eat because you feel like eating. You eat when it’s time to eat.”

Just like in Myeongdong, he was like a shining light guiding this hopeless woman toward the right path.

But Eun-chae couldn’t help wondering what the devilish Kwon Do-hyeok, who had treated the bouquet Tae-kyung gave her like garbage, was doing right now.

Had a demon possessed her heart?

She needed a solemn prayer.

Flowers eventually become garbage once they wilt.

Do-hyeok stared at the flowers Eun-chae had left behind as they slowly withered, once again confirming with his own eyes that he was right.

Without the slightest hesitation, Do-hyeok pulled the flowers out and shoved them into the trash can.

Even so, he didn’t particularly feel any better.

Today was an unusually unpleasant day.

He didn’t know whether it was because Eun-chae hadn’t come, because it was raining, or because both things had contributed.

Do-hyeok poured wine into a wineglass and walked toward his collection of classical records.

From years of experience, he knew that on a night like this, he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep easily.

Whenever that happened, he drank wine while listening to classical music.

If he told Eun-chae that he’d gotten into music because of his insomnia, she would undoubtedly laugh at him as much as she possibly could.

Normally, he would simply take out a Brahms record and play it.

But today, he didn’t particularly feel like listening to Brahms.

Maybe he should listen to something else.

Yet nothing really appealed to him.

After spending a long time looking through the records, Do-hyeok ultimately failed to choose anything.

He picked up his phone instead.

If he was going to listen to something different, perhaps he should listen to something completely different.

[Why are you calling so late?!]

Eun-chae became angry the moment she answered, but there was something strange about her tone.

“Were you waiting for my call?”

[That’s not it! If I send you a message, you should at least tell me whether you understood it or didn’t like it!]

The truth was, he’d simply felt bad when he’d received her message.

But he didn’t want to explain all that, so Do-hyeok changed the subject.

“Is your father all right?”

[He has a slipped disc. He needs surgery and has to keep managing it afterward.]

“Hmm. It’s because of his age. Can’t be helped. So sing something.”

[Why does my father’s slipped disc suddenly have anything to do with my singing?]

Thinking he was making fun of her, Eun-chae immediately snapped.

“I need something noisy. And that’s exactly what you are.”

[Are you insulting my singing by saying it’s noisy?]

“I’ve always thought songs with human voices were noisy.”

[Why is your taste in music so awful?!]

“That’s just how I was made, I suppose. Sing.”

[No! If you want to hear me sing, come find me yourself and ask me!]

Click.

Eun-chae hung up on him without giving him a chance to respond.

Do-hyeok took the disconnected phone away from his ear and stared at it.

She really had no ability to learn.

She still hadn’t realized that speaking carelessly in front of him could get her into serious trouble.

Because of Do-hyeok’s late-night phone call, Eun-chae was now completely awake.

After tossing and turning on the temporary bed for nearly an hour, Eun-chae eventually gave up on sleeping.

She pulled out a family photo album her father had told her to bring and opened it.

A photograph from Eun-seo’s high school graduation appeared.

Eun-chae was standing beside her sister, making all sorts of ugly faces.

She couldn’t remember exactly, but her father must have scolded her right before the picture was taken.

That was the pattern her entire life.

There was no reason this time would have been any different.

“Why is this entire album organized around Lee Eun-seo? There’s not a single picture where I’m the main character.”

Grumbling, Eun-chae flipped through the album one page at a time.

From Lee Eun-seo’s high school graduation to her admission to a prestigious university, everything had been arranged around Eun-seo like a collection of trophies.

That was also the period when Eun-chae had been getting beaten by her father on a regular basis for insisting on starting a band with her friends.

If the album had been organized around her photographs, every single picture would probably have belonged in a police report.

“Huh?”

While looking at her sister’s university entrance photograph, Eun-chae’s eyes widened.

She couldn’t see clearly, but one of the people in the background looked strangely familiar.

Moving closer wouldn’t make the picture any clearer, but Eun-chae buried her face in the album and carefully examined the man standing among the crowd, his chin raised proudly like an elegant crane.

His face was half-hidden because the photograph showed more of his profile from behind.

But that arrogant silhouette was definitely…

Brrrrrrrrr—

At the same time as her phone began vibrating, her heart trembled.

The name ‘Kwon Do-hyeok’ was displayed on the screen.

It almost felt as though the man from the photograph had transcended time and space to call her.

“Hel-hello?”

That was why Eun-chae answered the phone extremely cautiously.

[You’ve committed another crime, haven’t you? Got yourself into trouble already?]

The moment she heard his rude tone, the fantasy she’d briefly experienced shattered.

“I told you I’m not going to sing! Don’t call me!”

[That’s why I came all the way here. Come out and sing.]

Had he really come all the way to the hospital in the middle of the night just to hear her sing?

Eun-chae couldn’t believe it.

She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it before putting it back to her ear and asking in an even more secretive voice.

“Are you really at the hospital?”

[Want me to honk the horn? It’ll wake all the patients.]

“No! Don’t honk! I’ll come out!”

The reason her heart was pounding was because she was worried her father might wake up.

It absolutely had nothing to do with Do-hyeok coming to see her.

It was a night when the rain fell like softly rustling snow.

The world outside, devoid of people, was so quiet that it seemed as though no one lived there.

In the middle of it all, Do-hyeok’s car stood there, emitting a beam of light that illuminated the night road.

There was no way she could miss it.

Eun-chae realized anew just how dark the night could be and how bright a light could shine against it.

Step.

Step.

Walking through the drizzle toward Do-hyeok’s car, Eun-chae couldn’t immediately get inside.

She stood outside and stared at Do-hyeok sitting inside.

She truly couldn’t predict what this man was thinking or why he had come all the way here.

Just like the Do-hyeok in the photograph, the real Do-hyeok was also a difficult man trapped inside his own elegant world.

He probably had never once sacrificed himself for another person.

Click.

And yet, he opened the door first.

“Get in. It’s raining.”

He spoke to her gently.

The moment Eun-chae got into the car, the rain grew heavier.

Like a wet dog, Eun-chae shook her head vigorously to fling the water out of her hair.

She was acting that way to make it clear that she’d gotten wet because of him.

But Do-hyeok calmly pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and held it out to her.

“Don’t act like a dog. Dry yourself.”

Eun-chae narrowed her eyes at him and spoke in a low voice.

“You’ve never been bitten by a dog before, have you?”

“I have. By a hunting dog. Its teeth were like a tiger’s.”

At Do-hyeok’s statement that he’d once been bitten by a tiger-like dog, Eun-chae forgot that she was angry and widened her eyes in surprise.

“Were you badly hurt?”

“I had surgery.”

He spoke casually about having been seriously injured, then unfolded the handkerchief and began drying her wet hair.

The strength of his long fingers as they pressed gently against her head made her heart rise and fall.

“Was it a mad dog?”

“No. It was a dog my father raised.”

“What? Why would your father raise such a terrifying dog?”

“Because it was strong. My father doesn’t like anything weak.”

“That doesn’t mean you should raise a dog that bites your own child.”

“That’s right. So when I had surgery, that dog was shot.”

The word ‘shot’ was far too harsh to describe it as euthanasia.

Whatever he said, his emotionally restrained way of speaking made the words sound even more brutal.

Come to think of it, this was the first time Eun-chae had ever heard Do-hyeok talk about his childhood.

She wondered if his childhood had always been like that, but she didn’t feel comfortable asking.

So Eun-chae simply kept her mouth shut and stared at him.

And Do-hyeok remained focused on drying her as carefully as if he were polishing porcelain.

“Say anything. I came because I wanted to hear your voice.”

Eun-chae’s eyes widened again as she looked up at him.

He didn’t even smell like alcohol, so she couldn’t understand why this man was acting like this.

“Did something happen?”

“Not that quiet voice. Something noisy.”

Hey, you bastard!

Was this really how he wanted her to talk?

Maybe it was because it was raining outside and there was no one around, but it felt as though the two of them were the only people left in the world.

The car was cramped, and because of that, she seemed much more conscious of the man sitting beside her than usual.

“I’ll go back to work as soon as my father is discharged. I’ll make up for the days I missed by extending the contract until I’ve completed the full thirty days.”

Eun-chae brought up something harmless to talk about, and Do-hyeok didn’t say much, as though it didn’t matter to him either way.

“You’re not seriously telling me to keep talking, are you?”

“I threw away the flowers you brought.”

He might have been more likable if he simply kept his mouth shut.

Whenever he opened it, he only said things that irritated her.

“You didn’t talk like this when you were dating women, did you?”

“Back then, there wasn’t really any need for words.”

It sounded like an extremely condensed, highly suggestive statement, making Eun-chae frown.

“Did women like that?”

“Yes. So I thought I liked all women. But after meeting you, I suppose that’s not necessarily true.”

“So I guess that’s why you don’t like me? That’s a huge relief.”

Do-hyeok should have agreed with her.

Instead, he simply stared at her.

Eun-chae frowned and protested.

“I’ve had relationships too! Don’t look down on me!”

Do-hyeok found it ridiculous that she was getting angry based entirely on assumptions she’d made by herself.

He let out a quiet laugh and looked ahead.

The rain was almost stopping.

And the gloomy mood he’d been in was almost completely gone as well.

“So what kind of men have you dated?”

He never would have imagined that the day would come when he’d actually ask about someone else’s romantic history.

Yet here he was.

He would have to visit Jin-woo, his psychiatrist and personal doctor, and ask what kind of psychological phenomenon this was.

“Obviously, men who love music.”

“So you mean unemployed guys with no money.”

“That’s not true! They were all artists!”

Artists, my ass.

Do-hyeok privately concluded that they were clearly pathetic unemployed men chasing useless dreams.

“What about you? What kind of amazing women have you dated? Aren’t they all women who approached you because of your money?”

That wasn’t entirely wrong.

There was no doubt that Do-hyeok’s wealth had played a significant role in the attention the women he’d dated had shown him.

He had always taken that for granted.

He had tried to fill the emotional emptiness inside him with money.

That was more comfortable for him.

And the prettier the women were, the uglier they became as they grew accustomed to his money.

Because of that, he’d never once been hurt by a breakup.

In fact, Do-hyeok wasn’t even sure whether he’d genuinely liked any of those women.

“Do I look like a man who has nothing but money?”

At Do-hyeok’s question, Eun-chae flinched.

She felt as though she’d been caught completely off guard.

“Do I really look like nothing more than a spoiled chaebol son with a terrible personality and an obnoxious attitude?”

Why was he putting himself down and forcing her to answer?

As Do-hyeok moved closer, Eun-chae backed herself into the corner to avoid him and tried to evade the question.

“Tell me. When you look at my face, do you really see nothing but money?”

Do-hyeok’s face, as though it had been meticulously carved with a knife, came right up in front of her.

It made her eyes dizzy.

He must have been wearing cologne too, because the distinctly masculine scent coming from him assaulted her senses.

There was nowhere left to retreat.

And she couldn’t come up with a decent answer.

So Eun-chae squeezed her eyes shut and shouted,

“Fine! I’ll show you an early-morning movie, okay?!”

Why was she suddenly talking about a movie?

Come to think of it, she’d once promised to show him an early-morning movie using practically her entire fortune.

“Be at XX Cinema by 8 a.m. on Saturday!”

Eun-chae said only that before abruptly throwing open the car door and running away as though she were escaping.

Do-hyeok watched Eun-chae’s retreating figure as she ran back toward the hospital.

He was utterly dumbfounded.

It was his first time receiving a date invitation that had been tossed at him like food thrown to a stray dog.