Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Haa…!”

Kang Heejae jolted upright, her body drenched in a cold sweat. Her left breast, clutched beneath her silk robe, pounded as if it would burst. She squeezed her convulsive eyelids shut then opened them again, her blurry vision slowly clearing.

A stark white wall, a lone console table in front of it. And a single photograph, taken with her mother.

Only after her gaze had swept over the familiar contours of her own room for a long moment did Kang Heejae finally let out a sigh of relief.

Ah, it was a dream.

“Damn it…”

A crude curse welled up, stinging her throat the moment she fully woke. But she couldn’t bring herself to utter it, instead pressing a hand to her clammy forehead and letting her head fall. The faint afterimage of the dream still lingered.

Every summer, around this time, she dreamt of snakes crawling into her house. It was an old nightmare that had been recurring for years.

Just because of a dream, she had felt compelled to move every time she saved up enough money. But no matter how high a floor she moved to, or even if she escaped to a place so high the windows couldn’t open, it was no use.

The damned nightmare found her everywhere.

Just like June, which inevitably returned, just like now…

Rrrrr.

The jarring ringtone finally brought Kang Heejae back to her senses, and she dropped the hand resting on her forehead. She fumbled for her phone on the nightstand, but as soon as she saw the caller ID, she wanted to put it back down.

It was an unwelcome call from Min Woojae.

He was a fellow lawyer at MK Law Firm, where Kang Heejae worked, and a “senior” in the legal world, where hierarchy was absolute.

His reason for calling was obvious.

“I guess the article came out.”

Kang Heejae recalled the call she’d received from a reporter last night. It was a unilateral notification: the reporter had received a tip that she had coerced someone into making malicious statements and false testimony, and an article was scheduled to be published this morning.

How delighted Min Woojae must have been to see that article, a man always so desperate to bring her down.

Kang Heejae brought the connected call to her ear.

“Yes, Senior.”

“…Don’t tell me you just woke up?”

Kang Heejae’s gaze instinctively found the wall clock. Seeing the hour hand past 2 PM, she couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

She was as flustered as Min Woojae.

A year of retaking exams, four years of law school, and then an ace lawyer at MK Law Firm. For someone who had lived so fiercely without a moment to breathe, waking up at 2 PM was unprecedented.

“Impressive, Kang Heejae. You’ve dragged the firm’s name through the mud, and you can still sleep?”

“I know, right? I wish I knew why sleep doesn’t obey me.”

“Is this really the time for word games!?”

It wasn’t a game. With a wry smile, Kang Heejae picked up a pack of cigarettes and pulled one out. She lit it and inhaled deeply, feeling her head spin.

Lowering the cigarette from her lips, she leaned back against the headboard. She then pressed her aching eyelids, exhaling a hazy plume of smoke.

“Why are you getting so worked up? It’s just a little article.”

“What? Just a little article? The plaintiff attempted suicide because of you. It’s a huge mess, even on the news. Do you not understand the gravity of the situation?”

Kang Heejae’s fingers, which had been rubbing her eyelids, paused.

The plaintiff’s suicide attempt – that was something she hadn’t heard from the reporter.

Kang Heejae put the cigarette back between her teeth and hastily searched for the TV remote.

“I warned you clearly, didn’t I? Not to get cocky just because of your win rate.”

No sooner had Min Woojae finished speaking than the TV, now powered on, displayed a new headline.

<Plaintiff forced to give malicious statements and false testimony by defense lawyer, attempted suicide last night.>

The lawyer mentioned in the report was Kang Heejae. And the plaintiff who attempted suicide was her opponent in a divorce case.

It was an unusual divorce case for Kang Heejae, who typically belonged to the corporate team and dealt mainly with inter-corporate disputes.

Kang Heejae, who had met the plaintiff once to attempt a settlement before the official mediation hearing, straightened her back, eager to hear the recording from that day being played on the news.

“You’re not going to say your ‘mental illness’ has flared up again, are you?”

Her eyes twitched as she pressed the volume button on the remote.

She couldn’t exactly deny Min Woojae’s words. She had enough conscience not to claim it wasn’t a mental illness.

Especially summer, a time when her sensitivity reached its peak due to sleep deprivation from the nightmares. She not only struggled to control her emotions but sometimes even acted impulsively.

Because of this, she had been taking various psychiatric medications for years. It would be strange if she were in her right mind.

Yes, because of that “mental illness,” she had completely forgotten her senior’s advice that day, the advice from a man she was supposed to respect above all others, telling her not to get cocky.

<You’re the stepmother? You’ve always been so cold toward Sihoo, yet now you look as heartbroken as is you were her own mother.>

She admitted that her words on the TV were unusually rude for a lawyer.

Yet, a sense of injustice still welled up inside her, because most of the plaintiff’s statements were lies as well.

<What kind of thing is that to say? The child almost died! His own father beat him! Do you think stepmothers have no maternal love?>

<You should speak accurately. Sihoo’s head injury wasn’t because of my client; he lost his balance and fell.>

<He fell because of that man! That man beat Sihoo like a dog!>

<You claimed there was ongoing abuse, not just this incident, but why didn’t you take any action before? With all that great maternal love?>

<That’s…>

She had known about the defendant’s child abuse for a long time. Not only that, but she had thoroughly ignored it and even occasionally participated. Amidst all that, she had an affair with another man, then filed for divorce, using the abuse as leverage to demand an unreasonable share of assets.

It was truly baffling that this woman, who hadn’t batted an eye while vehemently shouting in the face of abundant evidence proving her complicity as an abettor, had attempted suicide overnight. And all because she couldn’t endure a few words from Kang Heejae?

<It’s simple. You just have to say, ‘It was an unavoidable accident during discipline, and there was no sustained abuse. I made false statements to gain an advantage in the divorce.’ My client will then proceed with the divorce immediately and ensure you receive a substantial alimony package.>

The ensuing recording, when cut and played, made it seem like she had coerced false testimony, but in reality, it was closer to a negotiation than coercion.

In exchange for that testimony, her client had agreed not to bring up the plaintiff’s affair.

Yet, to resort to such a media campaign, perhaps this meant there was no room for negotiation left.

Click. Kang Heejae turned off the TV and got out of bed. Min Woojae’s voice came through the phone she still held.

“The firm’s official statement and an article about your self-reflection will be released.”

“I haven’t done anything wrong, why should I lie low?”

“Six months. Stay quiet as a mouse.”

MK couldn’t possibly be unaware that this was all a show from the plaintiff’s side. Yet, they were docilely accepting it and telling her to lie low.

Kang Heejae stopped in front of the large window, taking another drag from her cigarette. She then pulled the ashtray from the windowsill table, crushing the shortened butt as she countered,

“Is that the CEO’s decision?”

“Otherwise it’d be your neck, wouldn’t it? Not just six months.”

Min Woojae scoffed, as if even that disciplinary action displeased him.

Kang Heejae silently flicked the ash from her fingertips, and then a faint sneer drifted from the phone.

“Serves you right, Kang Heejae. You tripped over your own feet. Take this chance to get treatment for that ‘mental illness,’ you’ll have plenty of time.”

Click. A pulsating vein throbbed near Kang Heejae’s eye as she stared down at the abruptly disconnected call. For the first time in a long while, Min Woojae’s provocation had hit its mark precisely.

Both the current situation and the season made everything disadvantageous for Kang Heejae.

“Six months…”

Would her place at MK even still be there by then?

The CEO, caught between his clients and unable to decide, might want to get rid of her for good now. Pretending to grant her a suitable six-month grace period.

After all she had earned for MK…

Just as Kang Heejae tightened her grip on her phone, buzz. A short vibration rang out. A message window appeared on the lit screen.

<Have you thought about my proposal?>

It was Ha Hyunsoo, managing director of Gangjin Group.

He had visited Kang Heejae’s office a while ago, claiming to be a former classmate, and asked her to be a legal consultant for the dismissal of a redevelopment union leader.

It required expertise but wasn’t a difficult task. The 200 million won he offered for legal advice on the dismissal procedures and disputes was more than generous. Even without that, it was an opportunity to build a connection with Gangjin Group, so there was no particular reason to refuse.

Nevertheless, Kang Heejae had delayed her answer until now because of an unexpected condition he had set: that she personally visit the site until the case was resolved.

The redevelopment site, which he claimed was his hometown, was none other than Geumnakri. It was also the neighborhood where Kang Heejae had lived during high school. And, ironically, a place she couldn’t remember at all.

After her father’s death 11 years ago, Kang Heejae had lost all memories of the three years she spent in Geumnakri. In other words, in her mind, there was no Geumnakri, nor a classmate named Ha Hyunsoo.

<I saw the news, Heejae.>

Kang Heejae was uncomfortable even with the casual way he used her name, as if it were obvious.

<Think of it as a chance to clear your head and come down here.>

A baseless unease churned deep within her.

Even with her situation this dire, his proposal felt distinctly unappealing. Just as Kang Heejae paused, staring at the keypad, hesitating to reply, a dried rose suddenly dropped at her feet. She looked toward the window and saw a dead climbing rose, twined around a stake in a potted plant.

It wasn’t the first or second time she’d habitually brought a plant home only to neglect it and let it die.

But why now, suddenly…

“Why a flower, all of a sudden?”

Suddenly, a distant voice echoed in Kang Heejae’s mind, and unfamiliar scenes flashed by.

A school uniform, a worn side gate, sweltering heat and overgrown grass, a man crouching in their midst.

And…

“A rose?”

And a red rose.

Kang Heejae quietly gazed at the dried rose at her feet, tracing the memory that snapped like a chewed-up tape. After a long moment, she returned her attention to her phone.

Then, she typed her belated reply.

<I’ll go. To Geumnakri.>