#125

I slowly blinked and looked at Cheon, who had called my name. She was frowning at me.

“I’m hungry. Is there anything to eat?”

With her whiny question, I lowered the hand that had been massaging my neck and spoke.

“What do you want to eat?”

“I don’t know. Something delicious?”

Saying that, Cheon tilted her head to the side. If someone saw her, they might think she was really hungry, but I knew better. What was in her eyes was concern, and her sudden whiny remark about being hungry was a way to divert my thoughts elsewhere.

I smiled softly at my younger sister’s unspoken effort and spoke.

“Got it. I’ll make you something delicious.”

“……Are you serious about that?”

Cheon asked with a face full of playful disbelief at my declaration. I nodded in a way that made it seem obvious to me.

“Of course.”

“Crazy.”

Having lived together for 30 years, Cheon had experienced my cooking skills enough to make a disgusted face. Seeing her expected reaction, I laughed gleefully and pretended to head to the kitchen, but there was a small commotion behind me.

“I need to get out of here. If you want to live, you should run away now.”

“Huh?!”

Cheon suddenly stood up from the sofa and gave Tartarus some sincere advice. I burst out laughing as I watched Tartarus, with a bewildered expression, look at Cheon, and Cheon, determined not to eat anything I made, hurriedly ran out of the living room.

***

Thanks to the capable secretaries, the situation was quickly settled.

I silently sighed while watching the morning news, which reported, ‘Although there was an accident, Chairman Goo Won and his secretary, who were in the car at the time, are unharmed.’

“At least the situation seems to be mostly under control.”

Secretary Sung Yoojun said, looking at his phone, which had been ringing all night but had finally quieted down. I nodded in agreement with his words. I then threw the new phone I had received from the staff the previous day onto the table and leaned back against the sofa.

“You both worked hard.”

Secretary Sung Yoojun and Secretary Jung Minjae, who had been working tirelessly all night, gave tired, faint smiles. Seeing how exhausted they looked, I couldn’t help but say this to them.

“I’ll tell them to process your paid leave, so both of you take the day off and rest.”

“But there’s still work to……”

“The rest of the work, I’ll have the company handle. So don’t worry about it.”

No matter what they said, today was definitely paid leave.

Once they realized I wouldn’t ask for their opinions, a resigned look appeared on both Sung Yoojun and Jung Minjae’s faces. After confirming that both had accepted my suggestion, which was more of a directive, I continued.

“Go and rest now. Oh, and Secretary Jung, don’t forget your hospital check-up appointment in the afternoon.”

“……Yes.”

Jung Minjae responded in a voice heavy with exhaustion and slowly got up. Secretary Sung Yoojun, who seemed to be pondering something for a moment, also followed and rose from his seat. After confirming that the two secretaries had entered their assigned rooms, I turned off the TV and began to walk.

“What? Is it finally over?”

As I entered the room, Cheon, dressed in comfortable clothes and lounging on the bed, looked at me and spoke. Her expression felt strangely irritating, so I narrowed my eyes, and Cheon put on an innocent expression.

“Why? What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No, just…… I’m so busy that I haven’t even slept properly, but my little sister looks so well-rested and relaxed.”

With a voice full of displeasure, Cheon let out a light snort.

“Well, who told you to be the chairman of a big corporation?”

“I didn’t want to be one! I just woke up one day, and it was already like this. I didn’t ask for it, you know? It’s frustrating.”

Becoming the chairman of Haje Group wasn’t something I had any say in, and hearing that comment from her made me feel quite unfair. With that feeling, I grumbled as I let out a sigh, and Cheon frowned, glaring at me.

She seemed like she had something to say. I sighed deeply and sat on the edge of the bed. As soon as I sat down, Cheon slowly got up and sat cross-legged.

“……Is it time now? Your explanation?”

Remembering what Cheon had said yesterday about explaining later, I asked, and Cheon nodded lightly. But despite the affirmative gesture, she hesitated and remained silent for a long time.

Considering Cheon’s usual personality, where she always spoke her mind and was direct, it was a rare sight, so I couldn’t help but look at her with a mixture of confusion and surprise.

“I don’t know where to start. Well…… Yeah, I should probably start with this. I’m sorry, oppa.”

After a long pause, Cheon’s lips finally parted. I widened my eyes in surprise at the apology that came from her.

“What? Why are you suddenly apologizing?”

“It’s because I gave you that game, and that’s why you ended up being the chairman here.”

What is this nonsense? I couldn’t hide my confused expression and asked Cheon.

“Did you seriously give me that game knowing things would end up like this?”

“What? No!”

Cheon stared at me, wide-eyed, as if I had said something impossible. I frowned at her reaction.

“So why is it your fault?”

At my aggressive question, Cheon tightly pressed her lips together. I continued, reading the lingering guilt on her face.

“You just gave me the game with good intentions. You didn’t give me anything dangerous; it was just a game. Who could have known it would lead to this?”

“Even so, it doesn’t change the fact that this happened because I gave you that game.”

“Cheon, if we keep reasoning like that, it’ll never end.”

Cheon’s eyes wavered at my gentle voice, which was meant to comfort her.

“It’s not your fault. How could it be your fault?”

With those words, I gently patted Cheon’s head. At the affectionate touch, Cheon squeezed her eyes shut before slowly opening them again and speaking.

“No, it’s my fault.”

She was so certain. I stopped patting her head and gave her a serious look. It seemed like I needed to understand why she was so convinced about this.

Taking a deep breath, Cheon seemed ready to speak, so I adopted a listening posture.

“You remember I told you yesterday that after you disappeared, I reported it to the police, but the investigation was slow, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So, I did my own investigation. I couldn’t just sit still.”

I nodded at Cheon’s words. If I were in her situation, I would have done the same and looked into things myself.

“First, I thought it would be good to check the apartment’s CCTV, to see when you left, but…… There was nothing. No footage of you leaving. That’s when I started feeling something was off. You know how our apartment has CCTV everywhere. From the entrance to the hallway, stairs, elevators, the playground outside, and the parking lot—there’s literally no place without CCTV, yet there was no footage of you leaving. That doesn’t make sense.”

“……”

“So, I started thinking maybe you didn’t leave the house but disappeared inside. Of course, that was a crazy thought too……”

Cheon trailed off for a moment before exhaling deeply and continuing.

“But at that time, I couldn’t dismiss any thought. I was desperate.”

Seeing Cheon’s faint smile at that, I couldn’t help but wear a somber expression.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault. Anyway, the idea that you might not have left the house and disappeared inside made me suspicious about the last game you were playing. That was the only thing that was different that day. So, I contacted the friend who gave me the game, hoping to ask about it……”

“……”

“But the number was disconnected.”

Hearing that, I froze, my body shivering slightly. A strong feeling of unease hit me.

“I thought maybe they changed their number without telling me, so I went to their place. But someone else was living there. When I asked the person who lived there, they said they’d been living there for five years and didn’t know anyone by that name…… I also asked around my friends if anyone had their contact information, but everyone said they didn’t know who that person was. They asked if I was sure I had such a friend.”

“……”

“The weirdest part was that I couldn’t remember anything. I couldn’t remember what they looked like, their name, or where we met and how we became friends. Not even their face. Then, on the way back from their house, I realized the number I had saved was gone. After the number disappeared, I couldn’t remember how I had saved it or what it even was.”

Cheon spoke in a trembling voice, clenching her fist tightly. Slowly, I reached out and carefully placed my hand on top of hers.

Cheon flinched at the sudden warmth but then gently turned her hand and tightly gripped mine. Then, almost as if confessing, she continued.

“Honestly, it was scary. Anyone could see that it wasn’t a normal situation. But what scared me more than that was giving you that strange thing from that person. And because I gave you that game, I kept thinking it was my fault you disappeared……”