When Your Pain Becomes Mine

Gyeonhui had a smug smile on his face with a pillow under his head and arm. But on the phone, he heard a stranger’s voice; it wasn’t Sun’s.

“The number you have dialled can’t be reached. At the tone, please leave a …”

Gyeonhui knitted his eyebrows as he confirmed the number on the phone again. He never memorized her phone number, but it was definitely saved as “Girl #16 in the phone. Because he didn’t punch the number himself, the call should’ve gone through. He made the call again, but it was the same.

“How dare you not answer my call?”

He was so irritated that she didn’t answer his call when he was trying to contact her in a generous mood. At this time, Gyeonhui found the red scarf next to him.

“Why is this here?”

“It was right next to your head when you were in the intensive care unit.”

Gyeonhui reached his hand out to pick it up instead of responding to Ojae. The scarf was old and threadbare. It was the first and last gift from Gyeonhui to Sun. It was the most precious thing to her, so she wouldn’t have forgotten to take it. But she left it here. Gyeonhui was able to figure out the meaning of why the scarf was left here.

“She desperately struggles. Ha.”

He smirked and threw the scarf out in the trash can.

“I’ll show her what happens to a dog who gets out of the house.”

His eyes icily sank down. At that moment, Gyeonhui squeezed his stomach, twisted his waist and moaned.

“What’s wrong? Do you have pain at the incision?”

Ojae was worried about him and asked.

“To say the pain is because of the surgery, something is strange…”

Gyeonhui couldn’t ‘explain this strange and smitten pain. The bearable pain was getting worse and worse and now, he couldn’t even take a breath.

“What do you mean, something’s strange?”

“… I don’t even know. Wup.”

He experienced a miserable pain he had never felt before. Gyeonhui’s face started turning pale.

“Um…”

The feeling that there was someone’s pain added to his own body. Gyeonhui tried to bear the pain by clenching his teeth, but he soon started losing consciousness.

While he struggled in pain, a red spot on his chest appeared through his patient gown.

“Gyeonhui? Gyeonhui!”

Ojae, who saw Gyeonhui’s face turn completely pale, called to him hurriedly. Gyeonhui was so sweaty and wasn’t able to wake up.

“N-Nurse!! Nurse! He’s dying! Nurse!”

Ojae’s voice was slowly fading away as it reached the hallway. It was from that day the strange pain came to him…

Episode 2. The Broken Glass

In the Kiz Fan office. The crunching sound of a pencil whenever it passed on the canvas was so great. Sun, who was drawing a cute bear doll, put down the pencil for a second and knitted her eyebrows.

“…The medicine might not be working…”

She talked to herself while she was rubbing her low stomach that still had leftover pain from her period. At the moment, a cup of heated milk was set on the table for her.

“Drink it. You will feel better.”

Eunyoung, who was Sun’s friend and the president of the Kiz Fan, said to her chicly.

“Thank you, observant girl.”

Sun smiled and held the cup with her two hands.

“… I know it’s difficult for you, but It’s a good decision.”

Sun had a bitter smile on her face and nodded her head slowly.

“It’s unfortunate, though. He is a charming prince.”

Ari, a friend of Sun, thought contrary and interposed.

“A prince? No, he is a prince with a patient gown. Do you not remember what he has done to Sun?”

“You, you’re right.”

Ari lowered her shoulders after hearing the anger in Eunyoung’s voice. Sun, who was listening quietly, took a sip of milk. After the sweet and warm milk went into her body, she felt the pain calm down.

“What’s this? Did you add some honey? This is great. It tastes so good.”

Eunyoung shook her head because she caught Sun’s intention of overreacting. Eunyoung felt sorry for Sun.

“Oh my, I totally forgot that I have a meeting with Mr. Choi today.”

Sun grabbed her bag and stood up from her seat.

“Be careful. You know he is a mean guy.”

“Don’t worry. I’m now the leader of my team.”

“Yes I know. I myself got you promoted because we only have two employees”

“I’ll be back soon.”

Sun said goodbye and went out of the office. Eunyoung and Ari moved toward the window and watched Sun walking away.

“… Is she going to be okay?”

Ari said it out of sympathy.

“No, she isn’t. She just pretends she’s okay.”

Eunyoung looked at Sun’s back again.

“Are you a jar of Kimchi? Why does everything have to be pushed to the bottom?”

Eunyoung let out a big sigh.

***

The Funny Box store in Nonhyeon sold fancy stuff and various characters’ goods were displayed. Sun, who held two bear dolls in her hands, followed Mr. Choi who was in his late 40’s.

“Mr. Choi, this is our new product from Kiz Fan, this one’s name is Bizo. It has a concept of a lover but chic.”

Mr. Choi didn’t give her any attention while organizing the inventory.

“I picked you up on the way. Now you are mine”

Sun acted like a voice actor to draw his attention, but he pushed her away as if she were a pain in his butt.

“I said go away. I’m busy.”

Sun might have felt bad, but she smiled at him again and said, “Mr. Choi, you promised me that you are going to give me a chance to present my product. Please take one moment and look at it.”

Sun forced him to hold the dolls in his hand.

“A lover? Sh*t.”

Mr. Choi put the doll away on the display as he had no interest in it. Because of his careless act, the other products fell down to the floor with her doll.

“What the hell is this! What am I supposed to with all these sh*t!”

He made the mess and got angry at her.

“I will clean this up.”

Sun started displaying the products from the floor without looking displeased.

“What a nuisance.”

Mr. Choi shook his head and moved to the side. Sun stopped displaying for a second because of what he said, but finished displaying as if she were all okay. After she picked up her doll with dirt on it, she looked at it out of sympathy.

“I’m sorry that I made you have a bad day.”

Sun beat the dust off the doll’s face. ‘Bzzz.’ Mr. Choi’s phone rang. He looked around to make sure no one was there and answered the phone very cautiously.

“Yes, It’s me. I’m still working. Travel? Yeah, sure I’m searching for it. Sure.”

Mr. Choi glanced at her once, moved away from her more and continued talking on the phone.

“Okay. I’ll see you later. Ha.”

Mr. Choi had a big sigh and it seemed that he had an unresolved issue.

“Mr. Choi, it’s all done.”

Sun came to him and smiled at him brightly. He looked at his phone and looked at her again. He rolled his eyes quickly.

“Um. Hum. Hey Miss Cheon.”

“Yes?”

“Do you have any place to travel?”

“A place to travel?”

“… Yes a place where women love to go.”

***

“I’m 100 percent sure that he is having an affair.”

Ari said with confidence.

“Maybe he is trying to travel with his wife.”

Sun answered Ari while she was searching places for Mr. Choi.

“Why does he ask you if he is going with his wife?”

“Maybe he is having a hard time to plan it.”

“Why do you not understand. He is cheating on his wife. I’m sure of it.”

Ari even tapped her chest as she said, “If you are going to interrupt me, just go home. I’m so busy here. He said he needs it by tomorrow.”

“All right. I’m going home.”

Ari stomped out of the office while pouting her lips.

“Now it’s quiet.”

Sun smiled and moved her eyes to the computer monitor.

“A place where women like…”

She silently thought for a while and recalled Hokkaido in Japan she went to in the past. It was a beautiful place with a great view of Dosu Lake where she enjoyed bathing in the hot spring.

“It was so great…”

When she recalled the feeling she had there, she recalled Gyeonhui’s face as well.

Because it was the first and last trip with him. Sun shook her head strongly to take the memory away from her. After she smacked her cheeks a couple of times, she was finally able to get back to work.

***

The next day, afternoon. The Kiz Fan office. ‘Kung’. The office door was opened with a heavy sound. Sun, who was working alone, was surprised and looked at the door. Mr. Choi came into the office. He was so angry and went straight to Sun’s desk. He threw the itinerary down on her desk, red faced and breathing heavily.

“Hey, did you do this to mess with me?”

“What? What are you talking about?”

Her eyes widened from embarrassment as she stood up from her seat.

“This place. Why did you recommend this place to me?

“Because you said you wanted a place where women would like to…”

“There is an active volcano! Did you know that!”

“Yes, there is. But it’s safe. Volcanoes are different than earthquakes. You’ll have a fair warning before it happens.”

“Ha, it’s bad enough with the radioactivity and what? Active volcano? After I showed

her this, you can’t imagine how much she yelled at me…”

Mr. Choi seemed embarrassed and didn’t finish what he was saying.

“Forget it. Now I know how you think. Hum!”

“M-Mr. Choi!”

Sun grabbed his arm and stopped him.

“I will find another place again for you. Please give me one more chance.”

“Ha.”

Mr. Choi took a deep breath, knitted his eyebrows and said, “Can you do better this time?”

“Yes, trust me”

“I’ll let this go because I’m a good person. Do what you’re supposed to do, young girl.”

As if he waited for her to stop him, he clicked his tongue, turned and went outside.

“Hu…”

It seemed like a big storm had just passed. Sun slumped down on her seat and sighed. After she shut her eyes and caught her breath, she turned the monitor on and started searching for places to go again.

“Europe… United States… Canada…Ha.”

While she was searching with a heavy feeling, the great view of Santiago caught her eyes.

“The Santiago walking trail… should I send him away here?”

She laughed at her own joke, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of it.

***

A university hospital with a reception room for VIPs. A reporter was trying to check over the questions for the interview and then looked at the other side of the room.

“Is there any special reason that you are taking over the fashion publications aggressively, including the Funny Box?”

Gyeonhui, who dressed up in a luxury suit, started answering with a relaxed smile.

“We are trying to expand to the offline market and at the same time, combining the high-value culture contents business, too. It’s necessary to be a global group as part of the top companies in the nation.”

The reporter nodded, looked at his notes and then asked, “A global group. You’ve tried to expand the business to America, but the actual occupation rate is less than 1 percent. Furthermore, the W department store is expanding their business on logistics online and chasing you. Some within the business say that your business is in a crisis. Do you have any idea how to overcome the difficulties?”

“Sure. I always make the right preparation for the next steps.”

“So then the next step means M&A?”

It looked like the reporter already knew something more. Gyeonhui didn’t feel comfortable, but he didn’t reveal it.

“Yes the shipping…”

Gyeonhui, who was answering him, felt a big pain and knitted his eyebrows. The reporter caught the situation quickly and looked at Gyeonhui’s face.

“Yes, I’m looking for a company that has a great distribution network to ship.”

Gyeonhui finished the interview smiling as if nothing had happened. The reporter, who was looking at him, closed his notes and stood up from his seat.

“Thank you so much for your time today. Lastly, can I ask about your business plans in the near future?”

“Becoming the top company worldwide.”

It was a simple answer filled with confidence. The reporter turned the voice recorder off.

“Interviews with Mr. Woo are always stimulating. Thank you again for allowing the interview with us.”

“You’re welcome.”

While Gyeonhui was answering him, he clenched his fist to bear the pain.

“But, are you okay? You changed the place for the interview with such short notice.”

The reporter touched his glasses and scanned Gyeonhui’s body with sharp eyes.

“No, I just had my regular check up on the same day as the interview. As you know, I’m very busy. I appreciate you understanding the circumstances.”

“Okay, I was worried you might have some health issues. Chairman Youngtaek Woo has been absent for a long time…”

The reporter tried to check on Gyeonhui’s grandfather who was also the chairman of the group. There was no official announcement from the company, but rumors regarding Chairman Woo was beginning to ring true, evident of his long-term absence.