TGMD 6

Chapter 6

My Universe

To be completely honest, she had wished for it once or twice.

She wished that Han Do-kyung would simply vanish from this earth—that he would fade into thin air without leaving a single trace behind.

Because Do-kyung was Yoo-joo’s greatest source of pain and sorrow. From the moment she met him, her entire universe had revolved around him. She hated how pathetic she was—overjoyed whenever he gave her happiness, and utterly crushed whenever he caused her pain.

She used to wonder if this relentless agony would finally end if Do-kyung were to break into pieces.

But it didn’t take long for her to realize the truth.

“I wish you were dead.”

Her universe had already reached a point of no return—it couldn’t exist outside of Do-kyung’s absolute pull. If he broke, she would break right along with him, bringing her entire world to an abrupt end.

“I mean it, Sunbae.”

It was a terrifying realization. But standing here now, feeling this kind of pain, she thought it might actually be better if they both shattered into dust.

“I mean it with all my heart.”

Watching Yoo-joo spew such terrible curses with a flat, emotionless voice, Do-kyung’s eyes grew even heavier with sorrow.

In contrast to the cruel words spilling from her lips, her eyes trembled as if she were on the verge of a total breakdown. Her tears flowed endlessly, soaking the fingers Do-kyung had cupped around her cheek. He let out a soft sigh and bowed his head.

The deep furrow in his brow revealed the sheer agony he was feeling inside.

After a long silence, Do-kyung parted his pale lips.

“If I die…”

Overwhelmed by emotion, Yoo-joo’s shoulders trembled violently.

“…what about you?”

“…”

“Can you keep living?”

He asked in a tone that made it sound as though he would gladly die right then and there if she said yes. The tears she had been desperately holding back finally overflowed. From that moment on, Yoo-joo broke down, sobbing hysterically like a heartbroken child.

“If there’s even a chance you’d feel abandoned all over again, I can’t die just yet. I’m sorry.”

Do-kyung couldn’t bring himself to look at her face again. All he could do was keep his head down and wait for her to calm down.

“You’re really something, Sunbae.”

Realizing the tears weren’t going to stop anytime soon, Yoo-joo gave up on trying to hold them back and spoke in a wrecked, raspy voice.

“I can’t believe how confident you are—thinking words like that can still sway me.”

With a struggle, Yoo-joo shoved away the hand Do-kyung still had resting on her face. Her feelings had already been exposed enough; she refused to hit rock bottom in front of him any longer.

She wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. She swore to herself that no matter what he said from now on, she would never be shaken or look back again.

Yet in front of Do-kyung, her resolves always proved utterly useless.

Just as she was about to slam her car door shut coldly…

Thud.

With a heavy, blunt sound, Do-kyung collapsed onto the cold ground.

“Sunbae!”

Witnessing him fall through the car window, Yoo-joo panicked. Forgetting her vow from three seconds ago, she scrambled out of the car and rushed over to his fallen body. It didn’t look like he had simply passed out from alcohol. Not knowing what was happening made it infinitely more terrifying.

Do-kyung’s face was deathly pale, and cold sweat beaded across his forehead. Instinctively wrapping her arms tightly around his ice-cold frame, Yoo-joo pressed her ear against his chest.

Only after confirming his heart was still beating did she realize she needed to call an ambulance immediately.

“Sunbae, wake up! Please!”

Despite having just wished for him to disappear, she was the one panicking the most the moment his life seemed in danger.

“Hey! Han Do-kyung!”

Yoo-joo cried out his name in utter desperation. She was terrified he might never open his eyes again. If the very last words she ever said to him turned out to be ‘I wish you were dead,’ she knew she would never be able to forgive herself.

She didn’t care that her hands were turning white from gripping him so tightly. Yoo-joo refused to let go of Do-kyung until the ambulance pulled into the parking lot.

“It’s nothing life-threatening. It’s shock—something that flares up occasionally when he’s under severe stress.”

Upon learning Do-kyung’s identity, the paramedic sharply turned the wheel and headed straight for Doseong Hospital. At the news that Do-kyung—a top-tier VIP—had been rushed to the emergency room, even his primary physician, Professor Min Hyun-seok, rushed over in the middle of the night.

“Shock? What do you mean?”

Hearing this for the very first time, Yoo-joo pressed frantically for answers.

“You didn’t know? Executive Director Han suffers from severe aftereffects from a past car accident.”

“Sunbae was in a car accident? When on earth…”

Professor Min, his eyes framed by aging wrinkles, shifted his gaze to Yoo-joo. Although her eyes were swollen raw and her hair was a messy nest, her designer suit and face looked instantly recognizable.

She was the second daughter of Yuha Group—a face frequently featured in the business section. With her striking beauty and successful management debut, she was already quite a prominent figure in South Korea. On top of that, news of her engagement to star prosecutor Go Ha-jin had broken just recently.

He didn’t know how the successors of Doseong Group and Yuha Group—two entities that were practically mortal enemies—ended up together at this late hour, but he knew enough to keep his mouth shut.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is your relationship with Executive Director Han?”

“…”

“Unless you’re immediate family, I can’t disclose patient information. I ask for your understanding.”

When asked directly, Yoo-joo couldn’t utter a single word, just as expected.

Seeing her large, round eyes droop sorrowfully was a pitiful sight, but Professor Min steeled his heart.

“Executive Director Han will be moved from the emergency room to a VIP suite.”

“I see. Thank you.”

Even though she didn’t get the answers she came for, Yoo-joo bowed deeply to express her gratitude. Professor Min offered a polite nod before slipping away.

After washing her face with cold water to soothe her swollen eyes, Yoo-joo carefully pushed open the door to the VIP room.

Do-kyung lay there in utter silence, his face still deathly pale.

She had intended to leave right after checking on him, but she ended up staying—checking the dehumidifier’s water level, smoothing out the wrinkles in his blanket, dimming the lights… making up every excuse imaginable to linger in the room.

It wasn’t until the morning sun began peeking through the blinds that Yoo-joo finally slumped down into a chair. She felt a dull ache in her hands from gripping Do-kyung so tightly earlier, but a minor detail like that didn’t matter to her right now.

Yoo-joo’s eyes rested on Do-kyung for a moment before shifting to glare at a small medicine bottle. It was something he had carried in his jacket pocket, as if he took it everywhere. Having spent much of her childhood in and out of hospitals, Yoo-joo recognized the drug the second she laid eyes on it.

A sudden, inexplicable surge of anger washed over her. He had snapped at her for drinking harmless cold medicine, yet here he was, taking heavy-duty painkillers himself.

When could he have been in a car accident severe enough to leave lasting aftereffects? It certainly didn’t happen while they were dating, which meant it must have occurred sometime after they broke up.

Picturing him clinging to life back then made her dried-up tears fall all over again. She felt terrible for ever saying she wished he were dead.

“Stop crying.”

A low, raspy voice broke the silence, sounding rougher than usual. Yoo-joo turned her tear-stained face toward him.

“You’re going to wake up looking like a goldfish at this rate.”

“When was the car accident?”

Setting her pride completely aside, she blurted out the question.

“It was nothing. Falling apart in front of you is just embarrassing.”

“It sounded like a severe accident…”

“Yoo-joo.”

Do-kyung cut her off, clearly wanting to change the subject.

“Let’s just say I abandoned you nine years ago. I have plenty of excuses and things I could say, but let’s just leave it at that.”

“Why are you bringing that up all of a sudden…”

“So this time, you abandon me.”

Yoo-joo knit her brows in confusion. None of what he was saying made any sense to her. If he abandoned her, he abandoned her—what did he mean by ‘let me just say I did’? And why was he trying so hard to hide the truth about his car accident?

“Instead, while you’re dumping me, dump that bastard Go Ha-jin too. Do that, and I won’t bother you ever again.”

How was she supposed to take a request like that—asking her not to love him, but to abandon him?

Veiled in secrets and making such cryptic demands, Do-kyung didn’t seem to care what kind of misunderstandings Yoo-joo jumped to. He simply wanted her to call off her engagement.

“You really are… impossible to figure out, Sunbae.”

With tear tracks still fresh on her cheeks, Yoo-joo brushed her hair back in frustration, her gaze turning cold once more. A familiar sense of hollow exhaustion washed over her.

“I see now. It’s not that you still have feelings for me—you just can’t stand the thought of an ex-girlfriend marrying another man, can you?”

“…”

Why aren’t you making excuses?

“Is a smooth, peaceful life just too boring for you?”

“…”

Why aren’t you denying it?

“Why are you doing this to me, Sunbae? What did I ever do that was so wrong?”

She felt like an absolute idiot for staying up all night in this hospital room out of concern for him. What on earth had she been hoping for? What made her hesitate? Did a part of her actually expect them to go back to being sweet lovers again?

“My brother was right. I should have never gotten involved with you in the first place.”

Instead of a verbal response from Do-kyung, Yoo-joo’s phone buzzed with a short notification. Checking it, she saw a text message from her worried mother.

Did you not come home last night? Where are you? The office?

Without another second’s thought, Yoo-joo stood up. She tossed the bottle of painkillers lying on the table onto his bed.

In this moment, those pills were probably far more precious to him than her presence ever could be.

“My mind is completely made up now.”

The rattling sound of the pill bottle echoed softly through the quiet room.

“Until now, I was going through with this marriage because my parents wanted it—or more accurately, because I was terrified of my father. Whenever Ha-jin disappointed me, I caught myself wanting to run away.”

Yoo-joo slung her handbag over her shoulder, her cold eyes fixing on Do-kyung one last time.

“But not anymore. Now I want it. I want to get married.”

Treating the brief stiffness in his expression as nothing more than a pathetic comfort to herself, she pressed on.

“The more you hate it, the more certain I am that I need to go through with this wedding. I don’t know your reasons, but you need to learn that life doesn’t always go your way, Sunbae. Oh, and that not every woman is going to stay hung up on you forever.”

That was the absolute best—and only—revenge Yoo-joo could exact on Do-kyung.

“I’m going dress shopping this weekend. I’ll probably be picking out wedding bands the week after that. And in a few months, I’ll be walking down the aisle with Ha-jin.”

Yoo-joo flashed a breathtaking smile—one so striking it felt completely out of place given how she had been hurling resentments at him just moments ago.

“A wedding is such a sacred event, isn’t it?”

Then, her expression wiped completely blank, she strode purposefully toward the door.

“Just keep in mind that unlike an engagement party, only officially invited guests can attend a wedding. And I have zero intention of ever giving you an invitation. So please, try not to pull any crazy stunts on that day.”

Yoo-joo walked out, slamming the door shut with a loud bang.

At that exact moment, Do-kyung’s face twisted in agony. An unbearable surge of pain washed over him.

Scrambling to open the pill bottle Yoo-joo had thrown onto the bed, Do-kyung shoved several pills into his mouth and chewed them down dry, without a drop of water.

The memory of Yoo-joo smiling as she declared her desire to marry Ha-jin flooded his mind. He didn’t believe a word of it. He knew her genuine smile better than anyone else in the world.

Still, her plans to go dress shopping this weekend rubbed him entirely the wrong way—stabbing at him like the persistent, throbbing pain in his leg ever since that accident.

Even so, he had to endure it. The barking had only just begun. Do-kyung needed to see Yoo-joo be the one to dump Ha-jin—not the other way around. And to make that happen, he was ready to throw away everything he had left.