Chapter 39
It had already been two months since Kang Yoon was hospitalized.
During that time, Bora never left his side for even a moment and devoted herself to caring for him with utmost sincerity.
News of Kang Yoon’s fall had spread to Korean media, and many people tried to contact her, but Bora did not even respond to her mother’s calls.
She simply spent each day wiping Kang Yoon’s body, recording every injection and medication he received.
And in her spare time, she mostly meditated and prayed.
Otherwise, she would not have been able to steady her collapsing heart, which broke down more than a dozen times a day.
“Kang Yoon, it’s incredibly windy outside today. I thought Dubai was always hot, but even here, the wind is cold in winter.”
The gloomy weather outside the hospital window dampened Bora’s mood a little as well.
“Kang Yoon, if it’s still hard to open your eyes, just listen with them closed.”
The wounds on his face had healed, so the bandages that once wrapped him like a mummy had been removed, except for those around his head.
Staring at his handsome face, still as a sculpture without the slightest movement, Bora tightly held his hand.
“Kang Yoon and I may be a contract couple, but if you wake up… I hope we can drop the word ‘contract.’ I’ve been thinking about this for a long time… I like you, Kang Yoon.”
Blushing shyly, Bora whispered as if Kang Yoon were listening to every word of her confession.
“I’m so happy and overwhelmed because you’re my husband. So… please wake up. Just wake up… Even if you can never move again for the rest of your life, I’ll stay by your side forever as your wife. I won’t give you to anyone. I can’t. You’re mine. Kang Yoon, you’re mine… So… please open your eyes….”
What had begun as a shy and sweet confession ended in tears streaming down her face.
No matter how much she cried, her tears never seemed to run dry.
“…Really?”
At the faint voice, Bora’s head, which had been lowered toward the floor, snapped up.
“K-Kang Yoon?”
Had she imagined it?
Had her desperate longing created his voice?
“Will you really… be my wife forever?”
His cracked voice was so faint that one had to strain to hear it.
His lips barely moved, trembling slightly.
But Bora clearly understood Kang Yoon’s voice, which was almost a groan.
“Kang Yoon! You’re awake—oh my God! Wait, wait. I need to call the doctor!”
Startled, Bora nearly fell from her chair and hurriedly pressed the call button.
“The patient— I think the patient has regained consciousness!”
Even in her panic, English flowed out smoothly. Though Bora was not confident in her English, at this moment her pronunciation was perfectly clear as she shouted to the doctor.
“He spoke! It was very faint, but he definitely spoke. I think he’s regained consciousness!”
[We’ll check. We’ll run examinations right away, so please wait outside.]
Soon, the doctor rushed in and checked the various patches and machines attached to Kang Yoon’s body. Bora’s heart pounded violently as she watched.
The doctor lifted Kang Yoon’s eyelids to check his pupils and asked a few questions. A very faint voice answered.
“He has regained consciousness. It’s a miracle. Heaven helped him! Starting tomorrow, we’ll begin rehabilitation slowly.”
The gray-haired doctor exclaimed excitedly to Bora.
Bora clasped her hands to her chest and thanked God over and over again.
Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for saving my husband.
She looked quietly at Kang Yoon, who had fallen back into a deep sleep, and let out a breath of relief.
Now, it was truly time for Bora to do what she had to do.
She would reclaim everything Kang Yoon had lost.
She would personally retrieve compensation for the thirty-six years he had endured.
The fingers Bora held tightly moved slowly in her grasp.
Around the time Kang Yoon was hovering between life and death, Jin Hyun-sook was also wandering through a strange place without direction.
“…Honey?”
Walking through grass still damp with morning dew, Jin Hyun-sook spotted Han Woo-jin, looking just as young as he had in the past.
“What are you doing here? No—how did you even get here in the first place?”
She did not know why her deceased husband stood before her, but overjoyed, she grabbed his hand tightly. Woo-jin slowly stroked her face.
“Honey.”
“Yes, honey. How long has it been…?”
“I’m sorry.”
“…It’s okay. No, it’s not okay… but what can we do?”
She held his hand tightly. It was neither warm nor cold.
But Woo-jin gently pulled his hand away.
“This isn’t where you belong.”
“Honey… We finally met again after so long. I have so much to say, but why…?”
“Go back. You can’t stay here.”
“I don’t want to. I want to talk to you longer.”
“Kang Yoon’s mother.”
At those words, Jin Hyun-sook felt a jolt of shock.
“Hurry back and take care of Kang Yoon.”
“Honey… Kang Yoon… our Kang Yoon… Please save him. What did he ever do wrong? You know he’s lived his whole life unfairly… Please… please save our child.”
“Of course. Don’t worry and go back. Protect Kang Yoon. Thank you, and I’m sorry. Later—much later—when we meet again, we’ll talk as much as we want. But now, hurry back. There’s no time. Go!”
“Honey!”
Woo-jin suddenly pushed her toward a river cutting across the meadow.
Without even saying a proper goodbye, Jin Hyun-sook sank into the water.
“Gasp! Honey!”
She opened her eyes, her entire body drenched in sweat as if she had truly fallen into water.
“Oh my, Madam, you’re awake! I’ll call the doctor!”
The caregiver by her side quickly rushed out of the hospital room.
“Ha… honey… what on earth….”
Seeing herself lying in a hospital gown with multiple IV needles in her arm felt unfamiliar.
‘Why am I here…?’
Still dazed, she tried to sit up but felt dizzy and lay back down.
“Ma’am, are you conscious?”
“Yes… but why am I here? Since when?”
“You’ve been in a coma for three days. It’s fortunate you were brought to the hospital before the medication fully spread through your body. It’s truly lucky you recovered.”
“Medication…?”
Her heavy head throbbed.
After taking a sip of water, Jin Hyun-sook slowly recalled what had happened.
She had heard about Kang Yoon’s accident, and Bora had continuously informed her of his critical condition.
Chairman Han apologized to her every day for his sins, and Kang Moon had left the house and not returned.
Filled with regret and self-blame, she spent her nights in tears.
One day, unable to bear her guilt toward Kang Yoon any longer, she swallowed an entire bottle of sleeping pills and fell asleep.
She had hoped never to wake again.
She only wanted to follow her deceased husband and disappear from this world.
“Your son was so shocked when he carried you in… He was shouting for us to save you.”
“My son…?”
“Yes. He was yelling so loudly the whole hospital shook… If you had arrived any later, it could have been fatal. I’ll call him. He asked to be notified as soon as you woke up.”
The caregiver busily made a phone call.
“Yes, this is Jin Hyun-sook’s caregiver. She just woke up. The doctor has examined her. Yes. Yes. All right.”
“…What did he say?”
“He said he understands and will be here soon.”
Jin Hyun-sook was slightly surprised that Kang Moon had found her and carried her to the hospital.
After all that anger, after storming out of the house, she had thought he would never want to see her again.
While the caregiver stepped out briefly, Jin Hyun-sook stared blankly at the ceiling and thought of Han Woo-jin.
‘Did my husband save me? It felt like he pushed me away from the afterlife. I wanted to slap him when we met… I wanted to scold him….’
Her feelings were mixed with love and resentment, yet the joy she felt at seeing him, even briefly, made her laugh faintly at herself.
“I’m foolish too. What’s there to be happy about….”
Murmuring, she rubbed her stomach as it growled, then turned toward the door as it was suddenly flung open.
“Mother!”
Kang Moon rushed toward her, breathless.
“Kang Moon….”
He was still the son she had raised with all her strength for thirty-six years.
With tears welling up, Jin Hyun-sook reached out to hold his hand.
At that moment—
“Ha… Thank goodness. You didn’t die. You can’t pass away yet.”
