The Season I Loved You Without You - Chapter 58

CHAPTER 58

Ji-hyuk casually tossed his phone aside and buried himself in the chair. Despite the noisy surroundings due to news of his breakup, Ji-hyuk’s space remained quiet. He used the excuse of reporters in front of his house to skip work and instead focus on moving out at home.

At first, he had planned to provide Hee-chang with good bait to overturn the marriage that was proceeding regardless of his intentions. For example, providing outdated information about Yun Seung-ok and adding political funds there. But upon reflection, there was no need to go to the trouble and spend money.

Knowing that Jo Yoon-young had a strained relationship with her father, he simply took advantage of it. In the end, everything was going as planned. He chuckled as he sipped whiskey.

He picked up the phone at the vibration sound. It was an unrecognized number.

– I found Ahn Pil-jo’s office.

“Yes, what’s the result?”

– We’re currently going through the hard drive. Most of the data has been copied and then deleted. I’ll send you the data because something is bothering me.

Ji-hyuk furrowed his brow as if tired, pressing his temples.

“All right.”

He slowly closed and opened his eyes repeatedly, then checked the incoming email.

“What is this?”

The glass he was holding fell to the floor with a thud. The brown liquid spilled messily on the rug. Ji-hyuk checked the email multiple times as if he couldn’t believe it.

He immediately called Go-yeo. As expected, there was no answer on the other end. Though he was currently very anxious and uneasy, outwardly, he only seemed more indifferent than usual.

Now that the people following Go-yeo had all been cleared out by Han Sang-moon, Ji-hyuk couldn’t locate Go-yeo. Even if he went to her house right away, he doubted whether the door would be opened.

When he heard the phone ring again, it wasn’t Go-yeo. Faced with the sudden phone call from a person he occasionally met at gatherings, Ji-hyuk muttered curses under his breath. He concentrated despite the incessant noise.

“Why.”

He expressed his discomfort unreservedly.

-Damn it, Moon Ji-hyuk. I heard you got divorced. Come here and have a drink.

Then he heard them laughing among themselves.

Crazy bastards. It was a moment when he was about to hang up, muttering curses under his breath. If he hadn’t heard someone calling Go-yeo from afar.

“Go-yeo, are you there?”

– Oh, didn’t you know? Han Go-yeo got wasted.

Ji-hyuk was about to grab the car keys and leave when he remembered he had been drinking all day. Despite feeling excessively clear-headed, was it just a feeling? He instructed the driver to wait and got into the car.

* * *

Go-yeo visited the club after a long time. The club was as lively as ever, noisy, chaotic, and bustling with people earning money. After briefly stopping by Tae-chun, she headed to a room. During her time studying abroad in the United States, it was a gathering of Korean students in the area. Near the area were only private boarding schools, so most of them were kids from well-off families.

She occasionally met with Jin-yu after graduation, but since she got married to Ji-hyuk, she had been absent from the gatherings, so it had been a while. There were originally seven people, but without Moon Ji-hyuk, there were only six, including her.

The surrounding noise was good at stealing one’s mind. Caught up in the atmosphere, she drank after a long time. She used to drink regularly but had stopped recently. So, she quickly became tipsy and the unusual stories made her laugh.

She leaned back deeply on the sofa and shook the glass. Unlike usual, there was a simple ring on her finger that didn’t suit her perfectly dressed appearance. Go-yeo glanced at the ring briefly and smiled. She naturally thought of him.

Amusing Yoon Ga-eul. Cute Yoon Ga-eul. What should she do with Yoon Ga-eul? Whenever she looked into his eyes, her heart seemed to weaken inevitably. It felt like there was some kind of strange magic, receiving pure admiration in his black pupils made her feel like she was a special being.

“Foolish.”

There were moments when she had thought lightly of him, but Ga-eul always showed an unwavering heart. Yoon Ga-eul’s passionate heart is upright and sincere.

As new shoots grow and time passes, human hearts tend to fade, but he always seemed like a perennial evergreen tree.

Yoon Ga-eul, with the refreshing spring and scorching sun of summer.

His name rolled softly in her mouth. She closed her eyes for a moment.

She thought of the view from his rooftop and his cozy home. And Yoon Ga-eul lying on that bed. She liked all of it.

Go-yeo just drank as usual but ended up falling deeply asleep. Jin-young was there, and it was Tae-chun’s club, so she had a sense of security.

“Hmm….”

So, when she woke up in the car, she wasn’t greatly surprised. But the fact that Moon Ji-hyuk was next to her was a different story. Go-yeo pressed her temple and drank the water she had in the car.

“What happened?”

It wasn’t a question to Ji-hyuk but to Jin-young. Before Jin-young could answer, Ji-hyuk spoke first.

“Let’s talk.”

“Pull over. And you, get out.”

“Han Go-yeo. I won’t say much. Just give me a moment.”

His usual domineering attitude was unpleasant. Knowing his stubborn nature, rather than arguing with him while drunk, she asked to park the car near their house and told Jin-young to wait outside for a moment.

“Is there anything else you want to say?”

Go-yeo’s pensive voice echoed in the car.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Go-yeo frowned as she listened to the incomprehensible conversation.

“Why didn’t you tell me about being treated like that by Yun Seung-ok?”

Suddenly, it was about Yun Seung-ok again. She didn’t want to hear her name ever again. She sighed softly, smelling alcohol.

Honestly, it was tedious. Not how he found out, but that he was bringing up old stories now. What would have changed if she had said it then? She lost the will to argue in the thick atmosphere of distrust.

“Why was a kid living off her reputation acting like that?”

Because she loved him, that’s why. She chuckled softly, blinking her dry eyes.

“To me, it was the best option at the time.”

Ji-hyuk furrowed his brow at the sigh-like utterance.

“…So, did you also hide the fact that you miscarried? And that was the best option?”

It was the growl of a low-lying beast. Ji-hyuk clenched his fists tightly.

To keep her voice from trembling, Go-yeo took several deep breaths. She didn’t want to create such a melodramatic situation, but was there no such thing as secrets in this world?

What was strange was not getting pregnant despite sleeping countless times with Moon Ji-hyuk. Before marriage, there were times when she didn’t use contraception much. She had always created situations where she could get pregnant with him. But when it happened, the timing wasn’t right, and miscarriage was something that could happen to any pregnant woman.

“Okay. So stop shouting. My head hurts.”

Fortunately, Go-yeo was able to maintain her usual tone.

“Go-yeo.”

His sighing voice echoed in the car.

“Let’s start over.”

“I don’t want to. I don’t want anything more with you.”

Go-yeo’s indifferent and dry voice conveyed her emotions perfectly. Ji-hyuk leaned his head against the headrest and chuckled.

In the report he saw, household staff had searched through the trash cans to confirm relationships, checked meticulously for contraception use, and whether menstruation was regular. It made her nauseous, and yet Han Go-yeo had stubbornly endured it. He now had to find out exactly why Yun Seung-ok had done that.

Han Go-yeo was like his own existence, and it was like he had returned to the world. She was the woman he met when he felt suffocated and was slowly killing himself.

If she’s his world, what is he without her?

It felt suffocating, like being thrown into a place without oxygen. Not knowing where to go, it felt like being a lab rat spinning in circles.

“No way.”

Ji-hyuk, finding his reason again, found the reason. That guy. Did Han Go-yeo give him a chance? A strong impulse towards him arose again. He cursed under his breath, glaring into the space. Ji-hyuk hesitated several times before finally uttering that name.

“…Because of Yoon Ga-eul?”

Go-yeo looked at Ji-hyuk. Then, with a smirk, she lifted one corner of her mouth.

“Maybe that’s what you want to believe.”

“Yeah.”

His compliant admission left Go-yeo bewildered.

“So, I’m going to do as I please.”

Ji-hyuk pulled out a red square case from his pocket and took out a ring with a blue diamond set in it. He grabbed Go-yeo’s resisting hand and forcefully slipped it onto her left ring finger. It fits perfectly. Then, he removed the mismatched ring from her index finger.

Go-yeo knew his eyes had lost their ease. He was stone-hearted.

Ji-hyuk clasped Go-yeo’s hand with his fingers interlocked and pressed his lips against the spot where the ring sat. Then, he pulled her body close and looked down at her.

“We were comfortable in this dynamic, weren’t we?”

“Stop it.”

Ji-hyuk subdued Go-yeo’s struggling body, burying his nose in her neck, and inhaling her scent deeply.

“This time, I’m not going to hold still.”

Ji-hyuk answered, humming as he looked at Go-yeo with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Ah, last time was a bit harsh, wasn’t it? I think I made a mistake too. But I didn’t expect you to say that.”

He held her chin and made her look at him squarely.

“But damn, that bastard left traces everywhere.”

The rolling eyes suggested that killing someone wouldn’t be out of the ordinary.

“…You like it as much as when you’re under me? Tell me.”

The subtle tone and the heat emanating from his thigh made her feel nauseous.

“You lunatic. Just die.”

“Perhaps that’s what will happen? If Han Go-yeo doesn’t change her mind.”

Ji-hyuk sincerely believed so.

“Either that guy dies or I die. So, put on this ring and come to me. Got it?”

As Ji-hyuk leaned down to kiss her, Go-yeo turned her head sharply. Ji-hyuk chuckled as if finding it cute and planted his lips on her cheek. Then, he whispered in her ear.

“I love you.”

As Ji-hyuk got out of the car and Go-yeo gasped for breath, tears streamed down her face. She couldn’t handle Moon Ji-hyuk. He was the biggest puzzle to Han Go-yeo. Watching him act like this made her angry, but also pitiful. She knew these thoughts weren’t normal, but her head and heart didn’t align.

Out of sympathy and pity, she couldn’t be harsh with him. But more than that, what troubled her was another issue entirely.

“I have to find it….”

Go-yeo quietly cried as she looked at the sparkling ring on her finger.

‘So, put on this ring and come to me. Got it?’

She pulled it off and fumbled on the floor for the real ring he’d thrown. Startled by her loud cry, Jin-young, who opened the door in a hurry, looked at Go-yeo.

“…I lost the ring.”

Go-yeo suddenly sobbed, and Jin-young, flustered, turned on the flashlight on her phone to start looking for the ring. She didn’t know what kind of ring it was, but she decided to search for it anyway. Even as she searched, Go-yeo didn’t stop crying.

Go-yeo realized that Yoon Ga-eul had become an irreversible presence in her life.

Oh, what has she done? She shouldn’t have done that.

For Han Go-yeo, Ga-eul had already come.