#123

I firmly braced myself as Lee Daon’s body collided heavily against mine.

“P-President……”

His voice, filled with fear, stuttered out my title. Feeling his hands desperately clinging to my clothes, tightly wrapped around my waist, I gently stroked his back.

“Yes, Daon-ssi.”

“It’s really you, right? This isn’t a dream or some hallucination, right?”

“Nope. Not a dream or a hallucination—it’s really me.”

I tried to lighten the heavy mood with a touch of humor, but it didn’t seem to help much. I quietly endured the growing pressure of Lee Daon’s arms tightening around my waist.

……My poor back is really going through it today. Even as that thought crossed my mind, I couldn’t bring myself to ask him to let go. The fear and confusion Lee Daon must have felt until now came through so clearly.

“Hey, can you let go of him? He’s in pain, you know.”

But Cheon, clearly not thrilled that Lee Daon was hurting me, snapped sharply. Both Lee Daon and I turned our heads at the same time.

“Who…… is this person? Is she your family, sir?”

His words, which nearly ended in casual speech, shifted quickly into formal speech the moment he saw Cheon’s face. His sharply raised eyebrows softened instantly. Seeing Lee Daon suddenly adopt such an innocent expression, Lee Gaon, who was standing further away, looked visibly dumbfounded.

“Yes. I’m his younger sister.”

“Oh, I see. You’re the president’s sister. Hello, I’m Lee Daon. You two really do look alike.”

Hearing Cheon’s introduction, a polite smile spread across Lee Daon’s face. Still wrapped around my waist, he slightly relaxed his grip and gave Cheon a respectful greeting.

I couldn’t help but feel moved, suddenly reminded of how Lee Daon had acted when we first met. Our Daon, who had yelled and cursed at me back then, was now greeting someone politely…… I felt a surge of affection and ruffled his hair, prompting Lee Daon’s gaze to shift back from Cheon to me.

And just like that, the polite expression disappeared, replaced by a teary face as he began to whimper again.

“President. President……”

“Yes, Daon-ssi.”

“I was really, really worried. I honestly thought you were…… ahem, had……”

Lee Daon seemed too afraid to even say the word ‘dead’ out loud, and I stretched my lips into a long, apologetic expression.

“I’m really sorry for worrying you.”

At my heartfelt apology, Lee Daon shook his head firmly, as if to say it wasn’t my fault, and buried his face into my shoulder. I listened to him sniffle quietly and turned to address the other Tartarus members standing a little ways away.

“I’m really sorry.”

Slowly, I saw their faces begin to twist with emotion. Guilt surged through me, and I found myself unconsciously clenching my hands. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what these kids must have gone through in the time between the news breaking and my return.

Forcing myself to keep my gaze fixed forward instead of letting it drop to the floor, I carefully observed the members’ states. Their tightly shut mouths and somber expressions filled me with worry.

“What happened?”

The person who broke the uncomfortable silence in the living room was Jung Hosu. He stepped forward and stared directly at me.

“It doesn’t seem like nothing happened, though.”

Jung Hosu’s jet-black eyes quickly scanned me, Cheon, and Secretary Jung Minjae. I felt his gaze linger especially long on the cuffs of my coat, so I raised my arm. That’s when I noticed a few blades of grass and dry soil crumbs stuck to the sleeve that I hadn’t spotted earlier.

“Oh, no.”

Instinctively, I tried to shake off the debris, but I stopped when I realized I was indoors. Lee Daon, still with his face buried in my shoulder, slowly released his hold on me. Once he pulled away, he glanced at my dirty coat sleeve and casually said.

“If it bothers you, just take it off.”

That probably is for the best. I silently agreed with Lee Daon’s suggestion and took off the coat. As I hesitated about where to put it, Lee Daon reached out and took the coat from my hands.

In the midst of my surprise at the sudden situation, Lee Daon threw the coat onto the back of the sofa and immediately burrowed back into my arms.

I stared, half-blinded, at the dirt and grass falling off the coat onto the floor.

Normally, I would have scolded him for that, but right now, I wasn’t in the mood for that. Yeah, just ignore it. Deciding that, I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again, deliberately avoiding the dirty living room floor. I then met Jung Hosu’s gaze, who was still staring at me intently, and spoke.

“There wasn’t anything major. Just a little accident……”

“President.”

The excuse I had been trying to downplay the situation with was abruptly cut off by Jung Hosu’s call.

“I don’t want to hear the excuse about not wanting to worry us. I want to hear the truth about what actually happened.”

“Oh. He totally caught you, Goo Won.”

This kid.

I shot a quick glare at Cheon, who was standing next to me, grinning mischievously. Then, I turned my gaze back to Jung Hosu, who had a determined expression as if he wasn’t going to leave until he got a proper explanation. With someone looking at me like that, the only option was to come clean.

I let out a deep sigh, my expression turning bitter, and began to calmly explain the events of the day.

Someone had set fire to the album factory, and on my way back after checking it out, there had been an attempted car accident. I then went on to explain how I made it home after all that. It felt strangely brief once I put it into words, even though the day had been filled with so many events.

Of course, when it came to the part about exiting the car, I lied, saying I had left the car after the accident happened, not before, since there were too many things that didn’t quite add up if I said I left the car before the crash. I ignored the slight pangs of guilt that surfaced with the lie and scrunched my nose in discomfort.

Once I finished explaining, the living room fell into another cold silence. I had expected the atmosphere to be tense, but it was worse than I thought…… though, it wasn’t something I could just brush off.

“……So, someone tried to kill you and Secretary Jung?”

After a long silence, the first to speak was Nam Yisol, who looked as pale as if he were about to collapse. He covered his lips with his palm, took a deep breath to calm himself, and then spoke with a stiffened face.

“Let’s go to the hospital first.”

“Ah, the hospital……”

I was about to say it was unnecessary, but my words trailed off as a sudden thought crossed my mind. If I said I didn’t need to go to the hospital after an accident, it would definitely seem strange, wouldn’t it? Plus, while I was sure I wasn’t seriously injured, I didn’t know about Secretary Jung Minjae. He might have hit something when making the sharp turn.

“Why did you stop talking? Are you saying you’re not going to the hospital? Traffic accidents can be worse in the long run. Even if you feel okay now, you might experience pain after sleeping or in a few days. So, it’s really important that you go to the hospital……”

“I understand. I’ll go.”

If I had said I wasn’t going, I felt like tears would start falling from those big eyes of his. I definitely didn’t want to see that, so I quickly promised I would go to the hospital, and a look of relief appeared on Nam Yisol’s face.

“It would be good for Secretary Jung to get a check-up, too.”

“Ah, yes!”

Relieved that Nam Yisol wasn’t crying, I turned to Jung Minjae, who was quietly standing in the corner of the living room. Without any objections, Jung Minjae nodded obediently.

“Then I’ll contact the hospital ahead of time…… ah.”

While answering me, Jung Minjae paused as his hand, rummaging through his pockets, stopped. Realizing his smartphone had been left behind somewhere in a broken car in Namyangju, a blank expression appeared on his face.

“……I can’t do it.”

“Use mine.”

At Jung Minjae’s murmured words, Lee Gaon casually handed over his smartphone. Jung Minjae politely accepted it and slowly walked toward the dining area, likely to make a call, probably to the hospital.

Thinking that, I glanced at Nam Yisol, who still looked pale but much better than before.

“Yisol-ssi, have you been able to contact Secretary Sung?”

At my cautious question, Nam Yisol slowly shook his head.

“We’ve tried calling several times after the news broke, but he hasn’t answered. The line’s been busy.”

Nam Yisol’s subdued voice made me give a helpless expression.

“Should we keep calling? Until he picks up?”

“……Yes. I’m sorry, but could you please do that? Ah, Secretary Jung.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Since we still can’t get in touch with Secretary Sung, it might be better for us to start taking care of things from this side.”