Even If It’s Not Love - Chapter 70-1

The woman’s hand went up. It was a pretty fierce-looking hand. She stared at her hand, motionless. When the wind blew, her eyes closed. All her senses became dull, and her head ached.

She wanted to melt away and disappear like this. She even had the ridiculous thought that being beaten to death wouldn’t be too bad of an ending for her life.

She thought about all kinds of things for a moment, but stepped back at the strength of the arm that suddenly pulled her. The woman’s hand spun in the air. Then, when she was thinking that she didn’t feel anyone approaching her from behind,

“Mrs. Lim Ji-won.”

A familiar voice split the silence. Suddenly, she thought it resembled the last voice that called her inside the store.

The focus was the first thing to return to Yoo-hwa’s eyes, as she had been staring at the dark floor. The clean shoes and black suit pants that did not match the dirty floor caught her attention. While she couldn’t raise her eyes anymore, the man continued.

“Go back.”

“What? Who are you to know my name…”

“Even if I tell you my name, you won’t know who I am. It will be easier to understand if I tell you that I am someone who can find out not only your name, but also where your store is located, your assets, your debts, and even the name of your son’s girlfriend.”

“What nonsense is that…”

“Your son just barely paid back the 5 million won he owed in sports betting. Your store had to take out a loan.”

“…”

“Let me tell you in advance that I am a human being who can use this to do a lot of things.”

The woman’s face turned pale. She didn’t even need to ask how he knew that. The tall man in front of her was a man who did such dangerous things, just like he said. There was an intimidating, frightening feeling that he could do even more than that without batting an eye.

“Do I have to recite all your personal information for you to get out of my sight?”

As he said so while tilting his head, the mart owner’s wife completely lost her fighting spirit.

“I hope I won’t see you again.”

“…”

“As you may know, this is not a request. It’s a warning.”

Woo-hyun said while looking at the woman, who stepped back and ran away. The flinching woman disappeared from the alley at a slightly faster pace. The place where she had been standing was empty. It was an absurd exit, unlike the way she rushed at her like she could kill her at any moment. There was no way of knowing whether she had no ambition, or whether she feared the man in front of her enough to make her abandon that ambition.

It was just absurd and ridiculous.

“… Let go of me.”

Yoo-hwa shook her arm, which was being held by Woo-hyun, with a weak motion. Woo-hyun slowly opened his gripping hand at her tone to ‘let her go because she didn’t have the strength to pull out her arm by herself’. At the same time, Yoo-hwa collapsed on the spot. Yoo-hwa, who lowered her head and buried her face, covered her head with her arms. No one said anything. Not Yoo-hwa, who was sitting down with her body in a circle, and neither Woo-hyun, who was looking at her.

After a long time, Yoo-hwa raised her head and looked at the rough wall in front of her with empty eyes.

“This wouldn’t be a coincidence.”

A cracked voice that didn’t seem to belong to her flowed out.

“Since when?”

“…”

“Should I say since when have you been watching me? Or should I say since when have you been thoroughly looking into my surroundings? Whatever it is.”

“…”

“Since when? Have you been hovering around me?”

Yoo-hwa’s gaze slowly turned upwards. She thought she might not be able to see because the surroundings were dark, but her eyes adapted to the darkness, and she could accurately check Woo-hyun’s face. She could clearly see the sharp chin and the eyes that had been staring at her all this time.

“… No matter how clever you are, you can’t know the name of a mart lady you have never met. Not unless you have been keeping an eye on my surroundings and checking the people around me.”

Yoo-hwa continued, looking at him with empty eyes.

“Since the beginning.”

“… Ah.”

A short laugh that didn’t fit the situation flowed out at the extremely straightforward answer.

“So, you mean since I left your house?”

She asked again, incredulous, but Woo-hyun was silent. Yoo-hwa rubbed her face with her hands at the rushing fatigue.

“… Why. Why did you do that?”

She asked, covering her eyes with her hands.

She thought she had barely freed herself from Woo-hyun, but he said he already knew everything. At the end of the day, she couldn’t get away from him.

There was anger welling up, but she didn’t have any strength in her body. All her strength seemed to be exhausted.

She wondered if there was a life like this. A life where someone keeps an eye on you all the time.

Yoo-hwa’s shoulders drooped down. She felt like her whole body was buried in the ground because she couldn’t even bear the darkness that surrounded her.

Amid that, a voice as deep as darkness spread out.

“At first, I was afraid that the rest of Executive Director Kim’s personnel would bother you.”

“…”

“But right now…”

“…”

Woo-hyun shut his mouth. Hearing Woo-hyun’s voice, who stopped breathing as if trying to hold back the rushing emotions, Yoo-hwa looked at the wall with a dumbstruck expression.

What was he going to say?