Because today was the day I was supposed to visit my mother, I hurried to get ready early in the morning. She was scheduled to undergo her second skin-grafting surgery, so I had to go to the hospital and stay by her side. Strictly speaking, calling it the second surgery wasn’t quite accurate, since my mother had undergone countless major and minor operations over the years. But since this was the second one since I signed the contract, I decided to think of it that way for convenience. Her first surgery had been a great success, and the skin contractures that had caused her so much pain for so long had been significantly relieved.
Above all, thanks to the Chairman’s special instructions, the medical team had been giving my mother exceptionally attentive care. I was the one who had personally asked for the favor, but regardless, seeing the results put my mind at ease. Just knowing that my mother was receiving the best possible treatment made this contract incredibly meaningful to me.
Since the hospital was quite close to the apartment, I carefully checked everything to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything my mother might need before leaving home. I knew my aunt and the caregiver would take good care of everything, but as her child, I always felt that no amount of preparation was ever enough.
“Hmm. Is there anything else I need to bring?”
As I muttered to myself while going over everything one last time, a message from Cha Ju Heon came in. Lately, his frequent messages had made me start looking forward to seeing them.
[Be careful on your way there today. It’s a shame I can’t go with you.]
His short message made me smile without even realizing it. Someone as busy as him, who barely had time to rest, had no reason to concern himself with the day of my mother’s surgery.
[Director, please don’t say that. I’m really grateful for your kindness. You don’t need to worry about these things. The hospital is close by, so it won’t affect my health at all.]
I knew exactly what his concern was really about, so I reassured him before he had the chance to ask. In fact, we’d already agreed beforehand that he wouldn’t come to the hospital. These days, Cha Ju Heon always wanted to take me everywhere himself, but for someone with such severe cleanliness issues, visiting a burn hospital would be an ordeal far beyond what he could comfortably endure.
I didn’t want to force him to witness something difficult, and more importantly, I didn’t want my mother to become someone he had to force himself to be around. I couldn’t bear either situation. Besides, I didn’t want my personal affairs disrupting his schedule.
The truth was, Cha Ju Heon was incredibly busy. He might have seemed carefree because he was constantly tagging along after me, but I’d heard that he even worked in bed until right before he went to sleep. I didn’t fully understand what running a major conglomerate entailed, but I knew perfectly well that he was someone the company couldn’t do without.
His schedule was packed with overseas business trips to inspect various branches, followed by visits to local factories several times a week. Watching him, I couldn’t help thinking that I wouldn’t be able to sit in that position even if I were to die trying. It really wasn’t a place meant for just anyone.
Running a huge conglomerate was obviously nothing like running an ordinary company. Even if someone handed me that position on a silver platter, I wouldn’t be able to last. Some things simply weren’t meant for me, no matter how desirable they looked.
And yet, someone like him had recently been rushing around taking care of me at every turn, which left me incredibly flustered. If I got used to this, it wouldn’t be good. I needed to learn to go places by myself again. I couldn’t allow myself to become comfortable with his attention and start taking it for granted.
[Don’t worry about your mother’s surgery. I’ve already spoken personally with the professors.]
[Ah! Thank you so much, Director!]
When I received the message I’d been hoping for most, I broke into a radiant smile. What a relief… It might sound practical, but having him personally put in a word with the doctors really did make me feel incredibly reassured and grateful. So perhaps there was nothing wrong with letting myself show how thankful I was.
While I was idly wondering whether I was reacting too strongly to something that benefited me so directly, another reply from him arrived. And this time, the words on the screen made my heart flutter slightly.
[I’m still listening very carefully to the video you sent me the other day. So, I was wondering if I could ask you to play another piece for me? Thanks to you, I’ve been really getting into classical music lately.]
I couldn’t help laughing at his request. It was the kind of laugh that came from being utterly speechless, yet somewhere deep inside, there was also an indescribably sweet feeling welling up.
It had all started with a simple video I’d sent him just to report on the sound, since I was grateful that he’d bought me the piano. I never imagined it would continue this long.
For someone as knowledgeable about classical music as Cha Ju Heon, my playing must have had plenty of shortcomings. Yet, for some reason, he kept asking me from time to time to send him videos of me playing. At first, I’d regretted doing something so unnecessary and felt an enormous amount of pressure. Someone who only listened to the finest performances imaginable must have incredibly discerning ears. I honestly couldn’t understand what he wanted to hear from an amateur like me. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
But once the command had been given, I had no choice but to obey. He wanted it, so I couldn’t exactly refuse to play. Cha Ju Heon probably had no idea how many hours I’d spent practicing just to send him a single video, did he?
Because of that, half my day had become connected to the piano. I hadn’t mentioned it until now, but when I received his reply after sending that very first video, I had been so stunned that I could barely believe it.
At the time, all I could do was blink and read his message over and over. It took me a long while to make sure that it really was from Cha Ju Heon, that I hadn’t misread it, and that I hadn’t misunderstood what he meant.
On top of that, it was an extremely difficult piece that I’d only sent as a rough draft so he could hear the sound. It wasn’t even finished. I was still struggling to figure out how I was supposed to practice it, and yet Cha Ju Heon told me to play the entire piece and send it to him. I ended up in a ridiculous situation where I had to practice as though I were preparing for the college entrance exams.
Thankfully, I eventually negotiated with him and switched to another piece. Otherwise, it would have been truly terrifying.
So, what had initially started as casually playing the piano for prenatal education had gradually become something I took much more seriously. I poured all my attention into practicing as though I were preparing for an international competition. It was a little exhausting, but thanks to it, my days never felt dull.
Today would probably be the same. I needed to visit my mother quickly, then go home and practice some more.
A strange mixture of pressure and happiness seemed to exist side by side.
Ever since meeting Cha Ju Heon, I seemed to experience these strange emotional fluctuations more and more often.
After my mother’s surgery was over, I listened to the doctor explain her current condition and the treatment plan going forward. Then, my aunt and I stood up to leave.
Thankfully, the surgery had gone smoothly. The doctor said that with proper treatment, my mother would no longer have to endure the pain caused by itching and skin contractures.
What a relief.
Once again, I felt that signing the contract had been absolutely the right decision.
We had only taken a few steps out of the doctor’s office when a sudden wave of dizziness hit me.
My head spun, my vision went black, and just as I was about to collapse, my aunt hurriedly caught me.
“Eun Woo! What’s wrong with you? Hey! Look at me!”
The sudden dizziness left cold sweat pouring down my forehead and back.
Lately, I’d often felt dizzy whenever I stood up or sat down. I’d tried to hide it so my aunt wouldn’t notice, but in the end, things had turned out like this.
“Oh my goodness! What happened to your face? We’re at a hospital already, so go to the emergency room right now, okay?”
Judging by my aunt’s expression, I didn’t need a mirror to know how terrible I must have looked. Apparently, it was worse than I’d thought.
My aunt’s face had gone pale as she helped me sit down on a chair in the hallway. Waves of nausea kept rising inside me.
Remembering the doctor’s advice that I should breathe deeply and drink some water when this happened, I tried to calm myself down and searched through my bag for a bottle of water.
As I drank, I felt my aunt’s trembling hand squeezing mine and wiping the sweat from my face. With the cool air against my skin, the dizziness gradually subsided, and my stomach began to settle as well.
Once I felt somewhat better, my first priority was reassuring my aunt. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
I slowly lifted my head and looked at her worried, anxious face, forcing a pale smile.
“Are you feeling better? You scared me half to death… No, that’s it. You have to go to the emergency room. Let’s get you checked out. You’ve been pushing yourself too hard. You’re still so young, yet you’ve already had to go through so much. Come on, lean on me and stand up.”
My aunt moved to help me up, but I hurriedly stopped her.
Absolutely not. I couldn’t go to the emergency room.
If she found out that I was pregnant, everything would become far too complicated.
“Auntie, I’m really okay. I was just so worried about Mom’s surgery that I’ve had indigestion since yesterday. I think the stress suddenly made me dizzy and gave me some chest discomfort, but I’m fine now. I’ll just buy some digestive medicine at the pharmacy later. It’ll be okay.”
—“…Are you sure? Is it really just indigestion?”
“Really. If something actually hurt, I would’ve told you right away…”
Even after I said that, my aunt couldn’t hide her suspicion.
I didn’t overdo it. I simply smiled calmly, as though nothing serious had happened, trying to convince her.
Seeing my attitude, she seemed a little more reassured and nodded faintly.
—“Your complexion looks better now. You were completely white just a moment ago, and your lips had even turned bluish, but now there’s some color back in your face… I suppose worrying too much really can upset your stomach. That’s why you have to take care of yourself. These days, just hearing that someone is sick makes my heart jump. You absolutely cannot let yourself get sick, understand?”
I understood how my aunt felt, always terrified whenever illness was involved.
Knowing how sincere she was—how she’d devoted the best years of her youth to taking care of my mother and me—I felt truly guilty for letting myself end up in this situation.
“Don’t worry, Auntie. You know how healthy I normally am. I guess my blood just didn’t circulate properly for a moment. I’m really fine now.”
—“It’s precisely because you’re normally so healthy that you scared me. I was even wondering if your new job was too demanding. Leave your mother to me and your grandmother. You just focus on doing your job well. There are caregivers here, and the two of us are here too. Understand?”
“Yes, Auntie. I understand.”
My aunt must really have been frightened because, even after I insisted that I was fine, she continued watching my complexion closely and kept a firm grip on my hand.
However, contrary to the reassurance I’d given her, the truth was that my body really wasn’t doing very well.
My stomach had been getting worse lately, and I was worried that something like this might happen again.
Perhaps I should hurry home and get some rest so I could calm myself down.