TIOAWN Chapter 33

Whether she made Lee Sung-sik erase the CCTV footage or not, the moment they reported it, things would spiral out of control. Just imagining it was dizzying.  

 

“What was I thinking?”  

 

I must have lost my mind.  

 

Now, nothing would be possible without Seo Ha-yoon. A deep despair engulfed the studio.  

 

***

 

The sliding door opened, and the sound of footsteps echoed across the hospital room.  

 

“Are you staging some kind of protest?”  

 

Moo-geon frowned as he lifted the lids of the two meal trays. There wasn’t a single sign that anyone had touched them.  

 

“Cha Moo-geon.”  

 

A protest? What was he talking about? Ha-yoon, who had lifted her upper body, looked at Moo-geon.  

 

“You used to shove your lips at me the moment you saw me. What is this now?”  

 

You said you’d suck me again and again. You only had to say the right words. Yet now, the very things she should be putting into her mouth, she was rejecting them all. It made him seethe with anger.  

 

“What? Are you leaving?”  

 

She didn’t understand why he was getting upset. Ha-yoon tilted her head in confusion.  

 

“If you’re planning to starve to death, drop it.”  

 

At Moo-geon’s light gesture, Kang-heon took the trays away and placed the porridge he had brought instead.  

 

“I’ll step out.”  

 

After unsealing the package and even opening the lid for convenience, he bowed politely before leaving the hospital room.  

 

The man stirred the steaming porridge roughly, scooped up a spoonful, and held it out to Ha-yoon’s mouth.  

 

In that entire sequence of actions, all Ha-yoon could see was Cha Moo-geon. The hardened expression, the furrowed brows. His dissatisfied lips. And amidst all that, his long and firm forearm reaching toward her. 

 

Tap, tap. His large hand and beautiful fingers prodded at her closed lips.  

 

One bite, then another. The porridge slid down her throat smoothly, not giving her time to feel nauseous.  

 

Strange. She had been unable to swallow anything before. Feeling puzzled, Ha-yoon parted her lips. She swallowed and took a deep breath. The nausea didn’t come. A cool, clean winter scent. Cha Moo-geon’s scent. 

 

When she glanced up, his pitch-black eyes enveloped her completely.  

 

Moo-geon focused only on Ha-yoon’s mouth as he fed her, spooning another bite the moment she swallowed. He had left her in the hospital just so she could eat properly, yet she was utterly uncooperative.  

 

Moo-geon furrowed his brows in disapproval. She always made him move. In the end, she even had him feeding her.

 

Ha. A short sigh tickled Moo-geon’s throat. How many more bites had he fed her? Ha-yoon shook her head.  

 

“This is not enough.”  

 

“I don’t want to eat anymore.”  

 

She was truly full now. Covering her mouth with one hand, Ha-yoon firmly refused.  

 

Had she really eaten enough? Looking down, he saw that there was still half left. At this rate, she’d end up malnourished. Malnutrition, in this day and age?  

 

There was no room for refusal. Moo-geon held the spoon out to her again.  

 

“Open your mouth.”  

 

She shook her head, lowering her gaze to avoid his eyes.  

 

“Should I put something else in your mouth instead?”  

 

At those words, Ha-yoon’s gaze naturally drifted to Moo-geon’s lower body.  

 

“What? Do you prefer that over porridge?”  

 

As if to snap her out of it, Moo-geon blocked her view with his palm.  

 

Her inflammation markers had decreased slightly, but she still needed antibiotics. And because of her malnutrition, she had to continue taking medication for a while.  

 

Recalling the doctor’s words, Moo-geon finally set the spoon down.  

 

So annoying. She was really troublesome.  

 

Just then, the door opened again, and Kang-heon entered, looking somewhat urgent.  

 

“Sir.”  

 

Even at Kang-heon’s call, Moo-geon didn’t take his eyes off Ha-yoon.  

 

“Seo Ha-yoon.”  

 

A flat tone. An indifferent expression. Lips pressed into a straight line. Completely devoid of emotion, he called her name persistently.  

 

Why was he calling her? Was he waiting for an answer to that question earlier? While Ha-yoon hesitated, Moo-geon called her name again.  

 

“Seo Ha-yoon.”  

 

As if urging her. As if determinedly persistent. Ha-yoon lifted her gaze as if bewitched, then quickly lowered it again.  

 

What do you want from me?  

 

Her slender fingers intertwined and unlinked repeatedly.  

 

Moo-geon let out a faint scoff, rubbing his chin before shoving one hand into his pocket.  

 

He couldn’t take his eyes off Seo Ha-yoon. Am I really losing my mind?  

 

“Report.”  

 

Still turned away from Kang-heon, Moo-geon didn’t shift his gaze from Ha-yoon as he spoke.  

 

“Lee Sung-sik has expanded his search to the outskirts of Seoul.”  

 

Since the only place Seo Ha-yoon had been aside from home was the hospital, it seemed he was focusing on that. He was checking every nearby hospital, looking through the list of patients with the same name.  

 

Kang-heon recited the report he had received just before entering the room.  

 

“It’ll take some time to comb through all the hospitals in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, but he’ll find her soon enough.”  

 

Especially in a large university hospital like this, it was only a matter of time before Lee Sung-sik reached them. Moo-geon ran a hand over the back of his neck, looking slightly irritated. His gaze, however, remained fixed on Seo Ha-yoon.  

 

What should I do with her? Should he just leave her locked up in this hospital? Or parade her around by his side?  

 

Or perhaps—  

 

Maybe—  

 

Like a game of tag, he could keep moving her around, making it impossible for them to catch her. His dark pupils deepened with unfathomable intensity as they bore into Ha-yoon.  

 

“I’ll start searching for recently closed hospitals in Seoul. It would be better if—”  

 

“Handle the discharge process.”  

 

Moo-geon cut Kang-heon off, as if there was nothing more to discuss.  

 

“And.”  

 

Crossing his arms, Moo-geon tapped his forearm with his index finger.  

 

“Find someone to feed her. A woman with medical knowledge.”  

 

“Where should I have her sent?”  

 

Shouldn’t they confirm the locations of the closed hospitals first? As Kang-heon quietly pulled out his phone to relay orders to Oh Jae-gyu, he heard Moo-geon’s response.  

 

“Home.”  

 

“Understood, I’ll send her home.”  

 

Kang-heon, replaying the words in his mind, suddenly sensed something off.  

 

Not the hospital, but home?  

 

“You mean, to your home?”

 

He couldn’t hide his flustered expression and bowed his head low in the uncomfortable silence that followed.  

 

Though the intent was unclear, the conclusion was certain. They were taking Seo Ha-yoon. They were determined to place that woman in Cha Moo-geon’s arms.  

 

Everything after that happened swiftly. On the way to Seoul, Moo-geon didn’t say another word, and Ha-yoon simply fidgeted with her fingers, staying quietly by his side.  

 

***  

 

“Welcome back.”  

 

Oh Jae-gyu and Joo Hyun-ho bowed as they greeted him, but Cha Moo-geon showed no reaction. As if it was only natural, as if he was used to it.  

 

Unlike Seo Ha-yoon, who reflexively bowed her head in return.  

 

“Seo Ha-yoon.”  

 

Cha Moo-geon urged the woman standing vacantly in the elevator. He didn’t even spare her a glance, not a single movement of his head or eyes, yet his tone was unbearably arrogant.  

 

Hesitantly, Ha-yoon neither moved forward nor stepped back.  

 

“You can’t walk?”  

 

He never once turned back. Standing just before the front door handle, he impatiently urged her again.  

 

“Are you going to make me repeat myself?”  

 

The distinctly warning-laced words wrapped around her ankles, binding her in place. Half-dazed, Ha-yoon stepped forward, and with a swift motion, he opened the front door rather roughly.  

 

Ah.  

 

Ha-yoon instinctively closed her eyes and took a short breath in.  

 

Cha Moo-geon.  

 

The crisp winter scent drifting in from the entrance—it belonged to him. As she lifted her eyelids, a pitch-black middle door came into view.  

 

Beyond that door lay a world as white as snow.  

 

A living room so vast it couldn’t be taken in at a glance, with an elegantly placed spiral staircase at its center. A high ceiling and wide, open windows. The warmth inside that made the cold weather outside feel insignificant.  

 

Though she had only stayed here briefly, she could picture Cha Moo-geon’s house perfectly. It felt familiar.  

 

That’s why it feels even stranger.

 

What was this house to her? She had stepped inside at his urging, but now that she was in, she didn’t know what to do next.  

 

Ha-yoon stood there stiffly, unsure of how to move, and looked up at Moo-geon.  

 

“What are you doing? Get inside.”  

 

His dry tone and indifferent gaze lightly pressed her forward.  

 

Could she really be here?  

 

Ha-yoon couldn’t hide her discomfort and hesitated.  

 

“Don’t make me say it twice.”  

 

Irritation and annoyance seeped into his voice.  

 

“Seo Ha-yoon.”  

 

His urging, now tinged with emotion, felt especially heavy. His thick, veined arm grabbed her slender wrist—like a black serpent coming to life.  

 

Where should she sit? Should she stay standing in the living room?  

 

Those useless questions were cut off the moment he walked across the room and, without hesitation, opened the door to the farthest room on the right.  

 

“…Is this your room, Cha Moo-geon?”  

 

He didn’t bother to respond, as if an answer was unnecessary.  

 

But Ha-yoon knew immediately.  

 

His scent was too thick in the air to mistake it for anything else.  

 

The room, aside from the bed, was barren of furniture. Not even a mood lamp softened the space—it was bleak.  

 

Sit down, lie down. He said nothing of the sort.  

 

While she stood there, unsure of what to do, Moo-geon crossed the short hallway and entered the dressing room.  

 

Knock, knock.  

 

“Sir, it’s Kang-heon. I’m coming in.”  

 

At the sound of movement, Ha-yoon turned her head. Her lips parted slightly, but no sound came out.  

 

It was the same man who had been at Cha Moo-geon’s side the entire time.  

 

The one who had dragged her out and thrown her outside.  

 

Her scalp prickled, and her body trembled faintly. Their eyes met only briefly, but her legs lost strength.  

 

Ha-yoon collapsed onto the bed.