Prey (Lee Seohan) - Chapter 101
Suhyeon asked with a confused expression.
Jeonghan lowered his gaze to check his wristwatch and then stood up.
“We need to leave now.”
Jeonghan picked up the hanger with a black suit on it and walked toward the dressing room.
‘…He’s not answering.’
Suhyeon felt a twinge of disappointment inside. She didn’t like the way he avoided the question, but she held it in and spoke to his retreating back.
“I said I’d go alone.”
Without a reply, Jeonghan disappeared into the dressing room.
Letting out a small sigh, Suhyeon kept her gaze in that direction.
At the parking lot, ManagerJoo was waiting. In the end, Suhyeon ended up taking the car with Jeonghan to the columbarium.
When the car stopped at the columbarium, ManagerJoo gave a polite bow.
“Please take care.”
“…Thank you.”
Suhyeon gave a brief response and got out of the car with Jeonghan.
She looked up at the columbarium building where Oh Kyung-hee’s ashes were enshrined.
Jeonghan was walking ahead of her.
“……”
So, we ended up coming together after all.
Suhyeon briefly watched Jeonghan’s back, her thoughts thrown off by the unexpected turn of events, before following him.
As they entered the building, an employee moving a potted plant at the entrance recognized Jeonghan.
“You’ve come again this month.”
…What?
Suhyeon froze. She glanced at Jeonghan, whose expression had stiffened slightly as he looked at the employee.
With a kind expression, the employee said to Jeonghan,
“The CEO asked me to thank you for the support you provided last month…”
“Let’s talk about that later,”
Jeonghan interrupted.
“Oh, of course. Then please stop by the office when you have time.”
The employee, seemingly assuming it was because of the company Jeonghan had with him, gave a polite smile and bowed slightly before stepping back.
Without a word, Jeonghan continued walking further inside.
Suhyeon, looking flustered, glanced back and forth between the employee and Jeonghan before hastening to follow him.
“What was that conversation just now?”
“……”
“Have you been coming here every month?”
Suhyeon quickened her pace and grabbed his arm. Jeonghan stopped and looked down at her.
“And if I have?”
His calm gaze bore down on her, while Suhyeon looked up at him, her eyes wavering.
“…Why?”
Confusion filled Suhyeon’s eyes as she stared at him.
From the conversation with the employee, it seemed like Jeonghan had been providing financial support to this columbarium.
Why? Because her mother’s ashes were here?
But Do Jeonghan had, during their marriage, repeatedly transferred her mother to different nursing homes without a word, hiding the locations and preventing her from visiting.
Every time, she’d felt like she was losing her mind, running around trying to find her mother. She’d even though he did it on purpose to torment her.
And yet, this same Do Jeonghan had been visiting her mother’s columbarium every month and even financially supporting it?
She couldn’t make sense of it.
Even though she hadn’t come back here since visiting once to pay her respects after the divorce.
“Let’s talk about it later. We should pay our respects first.”
Avoiding her question, Jeonghan turned and walked down the hallway.
“……”
Suhyeon bit her lip and followed after him.
Next to Oh Kyung-hee’s urn was a bouquet of flowers, different from the one she’d seen when she last visited six months ago after her divorce.
Staring at the vibrant bouquet, Suhyeon turned to Jeonghan, who stood beside her.
“Did you place these flowers here too?”
“Yes.”
Without looking at her, Jeonghan answered briefly, his gaze fixed solely on Oh Kyung-hee’s photograph.
Suhyeon watched him with unsteady eyes before turning to look at the photo of her mother.
“……”
After staring at the photo for a moment, Suhyeontightly closed her eyes and then opened them again.
She felt utterly confused.
“I’ll step outside for a moment.”
She said, turning and heading toward the hallway.
Walking briskly, she exited the building and made her way to the garden, which was set up alongside a tree burial site.
Haa.
She stepped into the greenery and let out a deep breath.
Seeing the bouquet by Oh Kyung-hee’s urn had triggered a memory.
During their marriage, there had been another time when Do Jeonghan had relocated to Oh Kyung-hee’s hospital without saying a word.
When Suhyeonhad finally tracked down her mother’s new hospital, she saw someone inside the room through the slightly open door.
‘A nurse?’
Suhyeon, who had been stepping closer, suddenly stopped.
…Do Jeonghan?
Seeing him standing there, her face turned pale.
