When Your Pain Becomes Mine

***

Inside his car on the way home.

He looked at the Han River and remembered the accident a few days before. It happened a few days before the earnings announcement.

'The operating profit has fallen a lot, so the shareholders are restless...'

After confirming Ojae's message, he breathed a long sigh into the air. He had tried all sorts of things, but everything could be blown away at once because of the shareholders' greed. He closed his eyes to cool his boiling anger and clenched his molars tightly.

"Are you okay? Are you feeling anything uncomfortable?"

He heard a cautious and affectionate voice. When Gyeonhui opened his eyes, she was looking at him with a worried expression.

A woman who always looked only at him.

She was a woman who almost died because of his words.

"... Do you want to get married?"

Suddenly, those words popped out of his mouth.

Her eyes widened as if his unexpected confession surprised her. However, her eyes remained calm soon after.

"I'm fine. You do whatever you want."

"..."

He didn't like her answer.

Her reaction was lukewarm at best.

The anger he had against his mother quickly turned toward her.

"Huh..."

"I've even said it to you..."

He did the best he could, so all the blame would land on her. The actions of Sun at the accident still didn't make sense, but Ojae's words struck him.

"I heard this later, but on that day, she wasn't supposed to give her blood to you at that time because it had only been a few days after she donated her blood. She was also having her period that day. She did it all for you, and she finally collapsed after the blood transfusion."

He didn't realize that the day when they broke up, she was on her period. It was difficult for him to believe it.

'On such a hard day... it's impossible to do it…'

The unquenchable thirst in his mind continued to weigh on him.

In the end, he pulled out his phone with his mouth firmly closed.

***

Because of her sprained ankle, she waited for Labong while sitting on the couch.

"Labong. Your mom is here."

Eunwoo pulled Labong out and handed the dog to her.

"Did you play well today?"

Sun stroked Labong. She was glad to see him.

Labong was panting as he looked up at her while enjoying her embrace.

"Oh, wait a minute. I'll give you some food and training pads."

Eunwoo wanted to take care of everything else, so he went to the back of the warehouse.

"Are your legs okay?"

Sun was left alone and smiled as she examined Labong's legs.

Labong was also excited while running on the couch as he slammed into her.

'Udangtangtang.'

Then she heard the sound of things falling from the warehouse. Sun looked at the warehouse while pulling her neck out, a little surprised.

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

When he heard Eunwoo's voice, Sun burst into laughter.

"He's such a funny guy. Isn't he?"

Sun said while looking at Labong.

"I don't know where I place it. Wait a minute."

When Eunwoo's voice returned, Sun leaned back on the couch while holding Labong.

"Hua..."

As her body warmed up after holding Labong, she started feeling the effects of the beer. She was nervous all day, so she felt the weight of her tiredness all at once. She dozed off as soon as her body and the air in the room warmed.

"I found it. Here it is…"

Eunwoo said after a few minutes while standing there, covered in dust. He looked at her and closed his mouth.

"Sun?"

He called her name, but she wouldn't budge since she had fallen into such a deep sleep.

"Oong. Oong"

Labong seemed anxious.

"Shhh."

Eunwoo looked at Labong and placed his finger on Labong's mouth.

"I think she's exhausted. Why don't we wait for her a little bit?"

Labong seemed to understand Eunwoo's words. He quietly leaned on the sofa and looked at her.

Eunwoo sat on the floor and looked at her eyes while she was sleeping.

"You're beautiful even when you blink your eyes or close them."

Eunwoo smiled and looked at her adoringly.

'Bzzz.'

Then her cell phone rang.

"Umm."

Sun shuddered, but she did not wake up since if she was in a deep sleep.

As the vibration continued, Eunwoo picked up her phone. The caller was not saved on the phone, so he couldn't know who was calling her.

After a while, the same number started to call her again. It seemed as if the caller was going to keep calling until she answered it.

Eunwoo answered the phone instead.

"Hello, this is Miss Sun's cell phone."

However, over the other side of the phone, no voice was heard.

***

In the car on his way home. Gyeonhui held his phone with a firm expression while sitting in the back seat.

"Hello?"

He could hear a man's voice, not her over the phone. He scowled slowly.

"It's Miss Sun's phone. How can I help you?"

When he heard the voice again, he knew that Eunwoo was the one talking.

"... Why are you answering her phone?"

Gyeonhui's voice sank even further.

"I think I've heard your voice before."

Eunwoo also seemed to notice that the caller was Gyeonhui.

"Put her on the phone."

"I can't get her to do that now."

"What do you mean you can't get her. What are you talking about?"

"She's sleeping now."

Upon hearing Eunwoo's words, Gyeonhui paused in shock.

"What did you just say?"

Gyeonhui's face became more serious.

31. Be honest

"Don't imagine anything strange. She was just tired and fell asleep."

Eun-woo added an explanation to help Gyoenhui understand. However, Gyeonhui's mood did not change at all.

"Wake her up."

"I don't want to. It looks like she hasn't taken a break in a while."

"I don't feel like playing around with you. Wake her up now."

"Hey, Mr. Woo," Eunwoo called his name in a more serious tone, unlike anything he had been showing before. "I don't feel like playing around with you either, at least regarding her."

Gyeonhui scowled more upon hearing Eunwoo's serious tone.

"... Where are you?"

"In my clinic."

After confirming the place, Gyeonhui hung up on him.

"Turn the car around."

"Huh?"

He asked Ojae, who did not know what was going on.

"Turn the car around. Now!"

In his cold-settled words, Ojae quickly turned the steering wheel.

He made a U-turn in a hurry as his car blared.

***

Eunwoo smiled upon seeing the disconnected call.

"Oh, my!"

Sun had woken up late and raised herself up with a surprised look on her face.

"I'm sorry. I fell asleep."

"You're tired, so I didn't wake you up on purpose."

"Oh... time has gone by quickly."

She confirmed the time and quickly rose from her seat.

"Anyway, Labong is all good now."

Eunwoo showed Labong's leg and spoke.

"His wound is healed, and I don't think he'll need to come here anymore."

Eunwoo smiled a little sadly.

"Oh... Yes, you've been so gracious to us."

Somehow, she felt sad again. There was a brief silence between the two of them. Both seemed to be unhappy with the news.

"... Take care."

Sun departed, bowing at him awkwardly.

Eunwoo nodded and said goodbye. She tried to leave the hospital with Labong in her bag.

"Miss Sun."

She then heard a voice calling her from behind. As she turned around, Eunwoo slowly approached her.

"... How about seeing us outside, not in the hospital?"

"Yes?"

"Meet me as a friend. We should chat at a café sometimes, or have dinner together."

Eunwoo looked at her with relaxed eyes as he asked. Sun seemed a little surprised, and could not answer him immediately.

"If you meet me again outside of the hospital, you can use my name whenever you talk to me, not Dr. Park. It sounds like I'm an old man."

Eunwoo's request made her laugh. After a moment of thought, she nodded slowly.

"Sounds great."

Maybe it was because of that laugh, but she responded with a relaxed voice.

"I'll get in touch soon."

Sun left the hospital upon seeing his smile.

When she disappeared around the corner of the street, Eunwoo raised his hand over his left c.h.e.s.t that was beating crazily. He was so nervous.

"Hum."

Eunwoo took a deep breath, turned the light off, and cleaned the office.

When he locked the door, he recalled the man that he had forgotten.

"Is he really coming?"

After a while, Eunwoo quickly locked the hospital door and walked into the alley.