Chapter 268.1

Chapter 268.1

When Lee Wooshin clutched his stomach and struggled to breathe, Seoryeong grabbed his face in alarm.

“Instructor, are you hurt? What is wrong?”

She asked in a hoarse voice, but he could not answer. In the ruins, where only the steel frame remained, the flames kept spreading. Standing before the wreckage, he spoke as if confessing at the scene of his own destruction.

“The truth is, I have been seeing a psychiatrist in secret. I also interfered with your NIS interview behind the scenes.”

“…What?”

“If I followed my greed, I would lock you up. But they say love means letting someone be free.”

“.…”

“I could not compromise, so I suffered alone for a while.”

How? Why? She had countless questions, but the man bowing his head looked so anxious that she only stared at him in silence. She gripped his intermittently trembling shoulders and simply endured the moment that was coming.

Then she noticed how his clothes clung to his skin. He looked badly burned and in pain.

“Whether I stay by your side or not, you get hurt. And out of all of it, I am the worst bastard. I shattered the wrist of the wife I cherish more than anything. I sabotaged the work you wanted to do. I wanted to follow you around all day. I am that pathetic.”

“No, Instructor….”

“The delusion that I could protect you perfectly, that arrogance, I cannot even face it anymore. Han Seoryeong would find a way in any situation and come to wherever I am. I was just… terrified. I never realized how lonely it was to stand alone at the front door. This place felt like it was driving me insane.”

He pressed a finger against one temple as if stabbing it. He really had been shaken often. Lee Wooshin let out a bitter laugh.

“So I grabbed onto you for no reason. Only you. It was never your fault….”

He muttered, then continued.

“So, Han Seoryeong.”

His voice dropped suddenly, firm and resolute. The tremor had vanished. His clear eyes pierced straight through her.

A bad feeling crept in. There had been a time when she desperately needed his apology. Not anymore. The sight of Lee Wooshin apologizing made her uneasy and angry.

If he tried to act noble. If he said something weak like he would leave her for her own good, even now…

Seoryeong exhaled sharply.

“If, after dropping my heart to the ground like today, you still insist on going back to the NIS….”

‘I cannot break up with you. I absolutely cannot. You have to stay beside me until my wrist heals.’

‘Then I will sneak into the bathroom every night and break my wrist all over again so you cannot leave.’

‘Again and again. Forever.’

Just as that extreme thought flooded her mind in red–

“Leave your fragments with me before you go.”

…What?

She froze, her useless wrist curling weakly into a fist again.

“Leave what behind?”

Seoryeong looked at her husband with confused eyes. What did he mean? Was he telling her… to die? Startled, she glanced down at her own body, wondering what part she was supposed to tear off and give him.

Should she feel happy? Or hurt? As she stared at him as if he were completely insane, Lee Wooshin suddenly bit her ear. He confessed in a low voice.

“I held your corpse all day. I think I understand now. I will probably always be like this. Whether I keep you inside the house or not, I will stay anxious. One day, I might really wander through the snowfield searching for even a fragment of you. Even so, I will endure it. I will wait. I will come find you.”

“….”

“If that is the case, I need a fragment that looks like you.”

“…What?”

“It means I need a part of you so I can endure the weight even when you are away. Clutching your pillow, your clothes, your things, and waiting like that has its limits. So leave something behind. Something living. Something that smells like Han Seoryeong.”

“What are you….”

“You will have to leave a chunk of your flesh behind before you walk out of this house.”

“…!”

“I cannot manage it in my right mind, so I am compromising like this.”

Seoryeong still stared at him with wide, stunned eyes. This man was seriously…

“Put more of your weight on me. Then your husband might be able to wait more maturely. Instead of digging through your fragments in some damned nightmare, I would rather hold one from the start and wait. I carried something like your arm wrapped in cloth all day today, and it was bearable. It reassured me. It felt like you were by my side.”

So… a fragment that looked like me… the fragment I had to leave behind… She only blinked blankly.

“Do not let the NIS stab me in the back again. Just hand it to me in advance.”

Something living. Something that smelled like her. A chunk of her flesh.

It was the first time he had spoken like this. The first time he had poured himself out and begged as if he were collapsing.

“Who asks to have a baby like that?”