CH 56.2

As if to prove his thought, his men quickly approached Woo-hyun’s side and bowed their heads. Noticing that the situation was unfavorable, Tae-woo stepped back quietly, but before long, a man that had been standing behind him grabbed him and threw his head on the floor. He couldn’t even scream because he hit the floor face-first.

“I apologize.”

Woo-nam, who approached Woo-hyun, bent down and apologized.

“We couldn’t stick a little closer to her, so we couldn’t handle things properly.”

He had been keeping watch over Yoo-hwa, at a distance that she wouldn’t notice, at Woo-hyun’s order. He couldn’t follow Yoo-hwa inside the mart because he was afraid that she would recognize him, and had been wandering near the entrance. However, Yoo-hwa, who was standing in front of the cash register, was guided by an employee and went inside. When she didn’t come out after some time, he went in to search for her and found that she had disappeared.

He didn’t expect that they would even lure the people of the mart and orchestrate this, so he split the people and searched thoroughly both inside the mart and outside.

Then, when he saw strange people walking around the mart, he had a strange feeling and ran, and that’s when he saw Yoo-hwa in Woo-hyun’s arms, like now.

Despite Woo-nam’s words, Woo-hyun stood up without giving him a response.

“Catch them all. Every single one of them.”

Woo-hyun, whose expression had disappeared, ordered in a cold voice. His voice was like a biting wind, so Woo-nam and the men behind him, who were shriveling without even realizing it, quickly bowed their heads in acknowledgement.

“Don’t touch her.”

Woo-hyun, who expressed his intent to take care of her himself, embraced Yoo-hwa. After that, Woo-nam and the gang bowed to Woo-hyun’s back as he moved away.

Woo-hyun glanced at Yoo-hwa in his arms as he walked towards the car Jun-kyung had prepared beforehand. She was overly light. Her already skinny body was even thinner, and her face and lips were white as snow.

Sitting in the back seat of the car, Woo-hyun carefully laid Yoo-hwa on his lap and looked at her quietly. Although she was breathing, her white face could not regain its color. Since she was strangled and had fainted, he didn’t know how long it would take her to wake up.

Woo-hyun raised his hand. His hand slowly headed towards Yoo-hwa’s face, then stopped at a distance that was barely touching her.

… Do you think you deserve this? For the first time, he wondered if he had the right to do something.

Those concerns held his hand in the air.

“I’ll take you home. And I’ll get in touch with the doctor.”

At Jun-kyung’s words, Woo-hyun withdrew his hand. Jun-kyun drove the car, pretending he didn’t see Woo-hyun like that. Woo-hyun continued to stare at Yoo-hwa without a word.

He had something to say. No, maybe he didn’t have anything to say. It was such a simple thing, as if it was nothing. It was like something people hastily make up to strike a conversation. Acting thoughtlessly, he went to Yoo-hwa’s house, and then received a report that she was headed to the mart.

As soon as he arrived at the mart, he heard someone from Woo-nam’s gang say that they couldn’t see her. If there were people positioned in front of the mart, the only place to get out was the back door. If Yoo-hwa was their goal, they would try to take her away before people could find her. After thinking in an instant, Woo-hyun headed straight to the back door of the mart, where he saw Yoo-hwa being dragged away as he had expected.

There was a big difference between expecting it to happen and actually witnessing it. His vision turned black, and he couldn’t hear anything. Numerous emotions soared and then surprisingly disappeared in an instant, making him feel like he was surrounded by static.

The only thing he could see was Yoo-hwa.

In the end, she got hurt again. He tried not to hurt her.

From Eun-soo, to her.

It was disastrous.

Woo-hyun thought his life was like a wasteland. A wasteland where no one could be around, no one could plant anything, and even if something was planted, nothing could bloom and would only dry to death.

Suddenly, Woo-hyun silently called her name.

… Yoo-hwa.

The place that can’t become a place where flowers can stay.

The wasteland.

Woo-hyun’s eyes closed.

***

“Fortunately, she’s all right. Though there may be some strangle marks on her neck.”

The doctor who had come to the house and checked on Yoo-hwa turned around, looking at Jun-kyung and Woo-hyun.

“Of course, just because she’s fine doesn’t mean she is in a good condition. It only means that there is no threat to her life. She has many wounds, she seems to be malnourished, and she’s too thin.”

“If there is no threat to her life, when will she wake up?”

It was Jun-kyung, who was standing by Woo-hyun’s side, that asked the question.

Woo-hyun did not say a word from the time he took Yoo-hwa at the back door of the mart until they arrived home. He seemed to be out of his mind, seemed to be holding back his anger, but on the other hand, he seemed to be in despair. He seemed to be expressionless because all those emotions were pushing in.

“I’m not sure. It’s different for each person… Moreover, as I mentioned earlier, she is malnourished and her condition isn’t good, so she may be asleep for a long time.”

“Is it okay for her to keep sleeping like this?”

“Of course. That would be the best. I’ve set up an IV, so she will receive the nutrients she needs. It looks like what she needs the most right now is rest.”

“I see. Thank you.”

Jun-kyung politely thanked the doctor, who was older than him.