Chapter 17
Still on Seungwoo’s back, Yunseo was carried to the elevator.
Fortunately, Seungwoo set her down in front of the elevator. She had resolved to crawl back to the secretary office if necessary, but Seungwoo pressed the button for the lobby floor instead.
“I’ll get off at the secretary office,” Yunseo said, reaching for the floor button. Seungwoo blocked her finger with his palm.
“With that ankle, what are you planning to do? I’m telling you now—you’re going straight to the hospital.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll take care of sending your things from the secretary office.”
She wasn’t seriously injured. She just couldn’t walk properly. Yunseo shook her head in disbelief.
“No, I need to go to the secretary office. I still have work left.”
“Stop arguing and go. You were helping the room team, right? I’ll have Secretary Shin handle the cleanup.”
Seungwoo clearly knew exactly what she was doing. She had assumed he didn’t care and wouldn’t know.
“Sir.”
Seungwoo didn’t reply and took out his phone.
“Director Jeong. One of my secretaries is injured. I’m sending her to Hankook University Hospital immediately. Please have a car ready and one staff member to assist her. We’re in elevator 5 now.”
Hankook University Hospital was affiliated with their group.
“Sir.”
“Stop arguing. You’re both my secretary and my wife. If people find out I made my wife work with a twisted ankle, it’ll ruin my reputation.”
Only then did Yunseo understand and bow her head slightly.
It wasn’t that he didn’t care. His concern for her was really concern for himself. Still, she wanted to hear it.
“I’m worried about you. It’s because of you.”
That one sentence. That’s probably why she had stubbornly resisted.
Now, realizing it wasn’t true, she laughed softly. Why did she act like that? She could speak properly in front of Min Seon-yeong, but why did she become such a fool in front of him?
When the elevator doors opened, a wheelchair and a staff member were waiting. Yunseo was placed in it, feeling like a serious patient as she rolled across the hotel lobby.
Seungwoo had disappeared from her view without a word.
“Say goodbye properly,” a soft voice whispered.
Yunseo looked up in surprise. The person pushing her wheelchair was Seungwoo.
She had assumed it was just a staff member. Embarrassed that he had caught her thoughts, she bit her lip.
“N-no.”
Seungwoo pushed the wheelchair silently. Yunseo lowered her flushed face.
The automatic doors of the lobby opened, and a waiting sedan came into view. As the wheelchair approached, the rear door opened and the driver helped her in.
“Please take care of her,” Yunseo said politely.
“I’ll make sure she gets there safely and report back,” the driver replied respectfully and returned to the driver’s seat.
The driver even opened the rear window for a proper farewell. Yunseo bowed slightly toward Seungwoo, who was standing there.
“Call me when you get the diagnosis.”
It was just a routine check on the staff. He probably didn’t want to appear bad in front of others. It was likely a polite, empty remark.
Thinking that, Yunseo felt it might have been better if he acted coldly, like his usual self—ignoring her and letting her crawl to the hospital herself. That way, she wouldn’t get hurt by expectations, wouldn’t keep clinging and getting disappointed.
Seungwoo’s figure gradually disappeared. Busy as he was, he had stood there for a long time. Yunseo looked ahead but his image lingered in her mind.
“You should go in now.”
Seungwoo turned at the staff member’s words, watching the car drive away.
He had wanted to follow her, to check how badly she was hurt and watch her treatment process. If there hadn’t been urgent meetings, maybe he would have.
No… even without urgent meetings, he probably wouldn’t have.
Because she refused his help. Even injured, she didn’t want him to assist her. She wouldn’t let him carry her.
That puzzled him a little.
‘Say goodbye properly.’
Why did he mutter that to himself? As if expecting something from her. Perhaps it was just self-reproach for failing even the basic courtesy between a husband and wife.
Seungwoo shook his head, dispelling the thought. He felt pathetic for wanting to believe, just from the smallest sign, that she loved him.
If she truly loved him, she wouldn’t have resisted his support so fiercely. She wouldn’t insist on working with a severely injured ankle. She would have whined a little and leaned on him, like a child on her mother.
If there was one piece of evidence that Yunseo loved him, there were a hundred, maybe a thousand pieces showing she didn’t. Yet Seungwoo sometimes wanted to believe that one piece more than all the others.
It made him feel like he could survive.
He felt foolish clinging like that.
“Yes, Dr. Yun. This is Jeong Seungwoo.”
He spoke to a familiar doctor at Hankook University Hospital.
“Please admit her and perform a full examination. Check everywhere, even areas unrelated to the injury. Yes, I’ll leave it in your care.”
Seungwoo thought a thorough check would give him peace of mind.
“An ECG? But it’s just her ankle,” the doctor asked.
X-rays showed no bone damage. It was just a sprain, and a day of rest and compresses would be enough. But the hospital didn’t let her go.
“Why a thyroid ultrasound?”
Yunseo, in a hospital gown, was being moved around on the bed, being told not to worry.
“This has nothing to do with my injury,” she said to the doctor while undergoing a pelvic ultrasound.
“I’m just following orders. Your uterus looks fine. But for women of childbearing age, it’s good to have an ultrasound every six months to a year,” the doctor replied.
Was this about pregnancy?
It could be. They had been married for a year, and there was no news yet. But that was because Seungwoo always used contraception.
She didn’t ask further. She was afraid of the answer.
After all the tests, it was late evening. The meal was already served, still warm.
As she ate, Yunseo thought again.
‘Is it finally time… trying to get me pregnant?’
Her mother-in-law, Inhye, had often mentioned it.
Even thinking about raising a child in this suffocating house felt overwhelming. First, Seungwoo needed to survive Juseok’s schemes.
When she finished eating, her phone rang.
Surprised, she checked the number and relaxed—it was Haejin.
“Oh, sorry. I couldn’t say goodbye earlier.”
[Don’t worry. I heard you were hurt. What happened?]
“I just tripped in the hallway. I’m usually a bit clumsy.”
[Really? You don’t seem that way at all. Don’t worry about today. I handled everything for the president, and he even praised it.]
“Praised?”
Seungwoo was strict with feedback, not someone to praise lightly. That’s why she had been surprised when she received compliments recently.
[Well, maybe it wasn’t exactly praise. He just glanced and left it at that. Isn’t that praise? That’s what I thought.]
A soft laugh escaped Yunseo.
In a year, Haejin had completely understood Seungwoo’s personality, even more than her. Translating his words, there was nothing hurtful in them.
“That’s good. I’ll take it that way from now on.”
[Ha, was I giving advice to the lady of the house? Seems reversed. Anyway, don’t worry. Since you’re admitted, take a full week to rest.]
“No, I have to go back to work tomorrow.”
Haejin chuckled softly at her serious tone.
[I expected that. It’s fine. If a week is too long, even half a week? Just rest well this time.]
Yunseo could almost see Haejin’s kind face in her mind.
Thinking about it, he was the opposite of Seungwoo in many ways: gentle, tidy, sociable, and reassuring to others.
Not that she felt any different about Seungwoo, but meeting someone like Haejin in her tough work life was comforting.
“Okay, I will. Thank you. Haejin, don’t overwork yourself either.”
Just then, the hospital door opened.
Yunseo’s eyes went to the door, and almost simultaneously, Seungwoo, with a grim expression, entered.
“Oh, yes, Haejin too… goodbye,” she said.
The mention of Haejin made Seungwoo frown.
Yunseo hung up. Seungwoo strode toward her, looking as if he were angry about something.
