TAMC 03

Chapter 03

As Jaye traveled by taxi to the university hospital in Ilsan where Sunwoo had been taken, she acted like a chaebol family’s madam for the first time in her life.

She called the university hospital and demanded that they explain Jung Sunwoo’s condition immediately, saying that she was his wife.

The influence of the Samjung Group was truly incredible. Someone as high-ranking as the hospital’s vice director personally took over the call and gave Jaye a detailed explanation of Sunwoo’s condition.

‘He lost consciousness after the car overturned…….’

If a man with such good physical strength and courage had lost consciousness instantly, then it must have been a serious accident.

-Your destination is 5 kilometers ahead.

The moment she heard the navigation’s mechanical voice, Jaye remembered the call she had received from Yonghwa the shaman that morning.

She had predicted the rain in the same emotionless tone as the navigation announcement.

‘It looks like there’s going to be heavy rain today.’

Come to think of it, whenever something ominous was about to happen, Grandma Shaman had always said that it would rain.

‘Could the heavy rain Grandma Shaman mentioned be the accident involving the department head……?’

Remembering Yonghwa’s mechanical, emotionless voice, Jaye clasped her trembling hands together.

“We’ve arrived.”

Jaye pulled out every 10,000-won bill she had in her wallet and practically tossed them at the driver before rushing out of the taxi without even taking her change.

Despite how anxiously she had rushed there, the person Jaye found in the hospital room had an utterly indifferent expression.

“Why did you come here?”

“…….”

Sunwoo greeted Jaye without even getting up from the bed.

“I asked why you came.”

“I received a call from the emergency medical technician.”

She had heard that while trying to avoid a dump truck coming across the center line, the car had crashed into a guardrail and overturned. Even so, Sunwoo was unharmed.

The vice director of the hospital had frightened her by saying that Sunwoo had been brought in unconscious after the car overturned and that they needed to run every possible test just in case.

Yet after rushing there while trembling in fear, Sunwoo looked hardly any different from when he had left for work that morning. The only difference was the splint securing his wrist.

“I’m fine, so go.”

At that moment, Jaye was even grateful for his indifference toward her.

The fact that he could act so unconcerned meant that he was safe.

“Come to think of it, wasn’t today the day you were supposed to get your dermatology treatment?”

“I took a taxi from the front of Korea University Hospital. They told me you had lost consciousness, Department Head.”

“Shin Jaye.”

Sunwoo cut her off immediately.

“Yes.”

“I think you’re overlooking what’s important.”

“…….”

“What’s important to you isn’t my accident. It’s getting rid of that hideous tattoo and preparing for your life after the divorce.”

“I know.”

“They said it would take at least three months to complete the three remaining laser treatments. Shouldn’t getting rid of it be your priority?”

His attitude was as if he were dealing with a child who didn’t know how to set priorities. Jaye lowered her head, her face turning red.

“I’ll call you a taxi, so go back to Korea University Hospital and get your laser treatment.”

What kind of feelings had she had when she came all the way here……?

“No. The treatment time has already passed…….”

“One phone call from me, and they can make room for you at any time.”

“No. I wanted to see you finish your remaining tests…….”

“Shin Jaye. Are you not going to listen to me?”

Sunwoo was eight years older than Jaye, and he always treated her like a child.

The moment she entered the hospital room, she had been told to leave, and now Jaye stubbornly stared down at her toes.

“But I don’t want to go.”

“Why are you suddenly doing something you never-”

Just as a chilly atmosphere began to settle between them, the hospital room door suddenly burst open, and Okhyun rushed inside.

“Sunwoo!”

Okhyun had barely even put her shoes on properly. She had heard news of her son’s accident only three or four hours after he had gone to work, so it was only natural that she had lost her composure.

“What on earth happened? Are you all right?”

“You’re here?”

Jaye hurriedly bowed toward Okhyun. But Okhyun, who had been rushing toward Sunwoo, suddenly stopped.

“You…… You…….”

All at once, she turned around and approached Jaye.

The next moment, a sharp slap rang out, and Jaye’s head was knocked to the right.

“You useless thing! You went out wandering around, forgetting your duties because of your studies and whatever else, and now you’ve finally caused an accident to happen to Sunwoo!”

In front of the furious Okhyun, Jaye bowed her head without even noticing the throbbing pain in her cheek.

“I’m sorry.”

One side of Jaye’s cheek swelled red from Okhyun’s fierce slap, but all Jaye could do was bite the inside of her cheek and hide the pain.

Instead, Sunwoo was the one who was startled. He got off the bed and hurried over.

“Mother, what are you doing?”

Standing between the two women, Sunwoo gently touched Jaye’s swollen red cheek.

“Jaye, lift your head.”

When Jaye raised her head, Sunwoo held her chin, opened her mouth, and checked whether the inside of her lips had been injured.

“I-I’m fine.”

“Open your mouth more. Let me see inside.”

Fortunately, the mucous membrane inside her mouth was unharmed as well. Sunwoo abruptly turned around and looked at his mother.

“Mother.”

His gaze sharpened as he looked directly at Okhyun.

“If you keep acting like this, contract marriage or not, I’ll send Jaye out of the house.”

Sunwoo’s threat immediately crushed Okhyun’s anger.

“Why are you saying that, Sunwoo?”

Okhyun was powerful enough to make political and business heavyweights in Korea kneel before her with a single phone call. But when it came to her son Sunwoo, she was simply a weak mother.

She had spent hundreds of millions of won every year performing rituals to protect the only son she had given birth to with such difficulty, and she had even made an expensive human talisman to keep beside him.

“They said your samjae will end in just two months. They said that if you get through these two months safely, your samjae will be completely over. How can you possibly send her away now?”

As if trying to soothe Sunwoo, Okhyun reached toward his shoulder, but Sunwoo raised his hand and knocked hers away.

“Jaye is someone I brought into this house while accepting the possibility that I might have to get divorced because of her.”

“I didn’t bring her in for free. It cost a whopping 500 million won to bring that girl here. Five hundred million.”

Okhyun spread all five fingers as she emphasized the amount, and Sunwoo let out a low sigh.

“If Mother cares about me, then you should treat the person who was brought here because of me properly.”

“That’s because Jaye failed to do her part…….”

“According to what you’re saying, Mother, I’m fine even after the car overturned because of Jaye. Have you never thought that I survived because I’ve been sleeping with Jaye every day?”

Okhyun pressed her lips tightly together.

She genuinely believed that the bright red three-headed one-legged bird tattoo on Jaye’s back was pecking away at every misfortune that came toward Sunwoo.

“If you lay a hand on Jaye again, I won’t let it go.”

What Sunwoo meant was that if Okhyun touched Jaye again, he would send her away regardless of how much time remained on their contract.

“Okay. Mom was wrong. Mom was thoughtless. I’ll never treat Jaye carelessly again.”

Okhyun immediately changed her attitude to calm her son’s anger, and Sunwoo’s expression softened somewhat.

Okhyun glanced at her son’s face before placing a hand on his shoulder.

“How are you feeling? Are you hurt anywhere? Let me take a closer look at your wrist.”

“I’m fine. More importantly, you need to apologize to Jaye.”

Only then did Okhyun notice the red handprint on Jaye’s pale cheek.

“I’m sorry for hitting you.”

“No, it’s okay.”

Okhyun was the one who had committed the wrong, yet Jaye lowered her head toward the floor.

Sunwoo clicked his tongue as he looked at Jaye, then picked up the phone sitting on the bedside table.

“Secretary Park, it’s me. Come inside for a moment.”

The chief secretary had been injured in today’s accident and was hospitalized in this hospital, while Secretary Park, who had come as a replacement in a hurry, was waiting outside the hospital room.

“Did you call for me, Department Head?”

When Secretary Park entered the room, Sunwoo immediately gave him instructions.

“Find a car for my wife to travel in. Oh, and contact the hospital as well.”

He was determined to send Jaye back to Korea University Hospital so she could receive her laser treatment.

“Let’s reschedule Professor Seo’s appointment so my wife can receive her treatment, even if it’s in the evening.”

Okhyun, who didn’t know that Jaye was having the three-headed one-legged bird tattoo removed, gave them a look that clearly asked what kind of treatment she was receiving. But as if they had made an agreement beforehand, both Jaye and Sunwoo kept their mouths shut.

“Secretary Park, accompany this person to Korea University Hospital today, then go home from there.”

“Yes, Department Head.”

After giving Secretary Park his instructions, Sunwoo looked at Jaye.

“Why are you still here?”

Jaye had so many things she wanted to ask—whether he was really okay, whether all his tests were finished, and whether he needed to be hospitalized—but she couldn’t ask a single question and simply turned around.

As Jaye headed toward the door, Sunwoo took his wallet from his jacket lying on the hospital room sofa and approached her.

“Wait a moment, Jaye.”

He took out several 50,000-won bills without counting them and placed them in Jaye’s hand.

“Buy an ice cup at the lobby café and massage your cheek on the way. Your face might swell.”

The amount of money he had given her was more than enough to buy an ice cup.

When Jaye hesitated because the amount was so large, Sunwoo turned around and looked at his mother.

“Mother, as long as Jaye is my wife, Jaye’s face is no different from my own. Neither I nor any of my people will ever treat her carelessly. I don’t understand why someone who should know better acted this way.”

“I lost my head.”

Just as Sunwoo said, everyone who worked at Unamjae, as well as Sunwoo’s secretaries, treated Jaye with enough respect to make her feel uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry.”

“Yes. Since you’ve apologized, Mother, I’ll let it go this once. Make sure something like this never happens again.”

“Okay. I won’t do it again.”

Jaye’s heart inexplicably grew warm at the fact that he had taken her side.

Even in the face of Yonghwa and Okhyun’s constant pressure, Sunwoo was the only person who never treated Jaye like something that had simply been bought.

And during the two years and eleven months that had passed, another kind of feeling had begun to grow inside Jaye’s heart toward Sunwoo.

“Why are you still standing there?”

“Oh, yes. I’ll be going.”

Jaye quickly came to her senses and bowed once more toward her mother-in-law and husband.

Afraid they would notice how flushed her cheek had become, she hurriedly left the hospital room.

Late that evening, Jaye returned home after receiving her dermatological treatment and spread regenerative ointment over her back.

Because the three-headed one-legged bird had been drawn over such a large area of her entire back, there were places she couldn’t reach even when she stretched her arm as far behind her as she could.

After struggling to apply ointment between her shoulder blades, Jaye eventually gave up and looked at her back in the vanity mirror.

“They said I’ll probably only need two more treatments…….”

Even to the naked eye, the three-headed one-legged bird had become noticeably fainter.

Now, the marks left by the laser treatment were more prominent than the red pigment of the tattoo that had stained the dermis of her skin.

“It’s good that the tattoo is fading, but it hurts like crazy.”

She tried to go lie down on her bed, but the pain coming from her back made it impossible for her to lie down immediately, so she sat on the edge of the bed instead.

After every treatment, her back hurt so badly that she couldn’t even lie down like this.

After sitting there for a long while, she looked at her husband’s bed placed beside hers.

She had never even touched her husband’s fingertips, but whenever she looked at the two beds placed side by side, she could feel that she really was married.

She had been told that keeping the talisman close was a way to protect the body from misfortune, but Sunwoo didn’t believe in such things. They merely shared the same room, and he never touched her at all.

There were apparently many bad men in the world who came up with all kinds of excuses just to sleep with women once, but Sunwoo was someone who firmly kept to his principles even when he had an excuse right in front of him.

The two beds they had each been using for nearly three years were proof of that.

It was fortunate that he was a man with a sound mind.

“It’s fortunate…. It really is fortunate, but…….”

And yet, the two beds lying parallel to each other sometimes made her feel sad, as if they represented the distance between herself and Sunwoo—two people who could never face each other.

“But I wonder if Department Head is really okay…….”

Just as Jaye was thinking about Sunwoo, the phone on her vanity table began to ring.

-Rrrr. Rrrrr

Jaye picked up the phone and checked the caller ID, then frowned.