Divorce Contract C42

Chapter 42

Go Igyeol was in the middle of a very late lunch when the intercom rang, and his eyes widened as he looked at Kwon Heekang. Other than Yoon Jaeseon, no one ever visited this place. There shouldn’t be anyone else pressing the bell to call on them.

A bad feeling welled up inside him. What if someone from the main house had come? He was about to hide when Heekang called out to him, and his steps froze.

“You’d better come take a look…? This person here. He says he’s your friend. Do you know him?”

As Heekang tilted aside at the wall pad screen with a curious look, a rather familiar face appeared. Wearing a baseball cap pulled low, glaring at the camera—Go Igyeol stared blankly for a brief second before clapping a hand over his mouth, lips falling wide open.

Why was he here?

“Is he really your friend?”

“…I mean, I know him, but… why is he… here….”

Heekang was moved to hear Igyeol’s voice again after days of silence, but when the word “friend” came up, he latched onto it. If this person knew the address well enough to come all the way here, they must be fairly close. Maybe it wouldn’t be wrong to let them meet, just once. Forgetting that he might be overstepping, Heekang voiced his vague thought out loud.

“Would you like to step out and at least say hello?”

At the suggestion of meeting Na Seonwoo, Igyeol’s eyes widened in alarm.

“Executive Director  hasn’t come home yet… if you just step out for a moment and come right back, wouldn’t it be fine?”

“…If I go outside, it’ll cause trouble for you…”

“If you don’t say anything, I’ll stay quiet too.”

“Even if I don’t say anything… Seo Dohyeon will…”

He’ll know everything anyway. Igyeol murmured under his breath. Besides, there was no way to slip past the men standing guard outside. Just one step past the yard, and Dohyeon would be notified. Then not only he, but also Heekang would be in trouble.

“You realize… there are people outside…”

“Oh, you mean those men? So you do know about them. I thought you didn’t.”

“…I didn’t. I only found out recently.”

“Well… I don’t know if I should even tell you this, but those men don’t come until four.”

Even with just the two of them, Heekang glanced around nervously, lowered his voice, and cupped his hand to whisper like he was revealing some great secret.

“I leave at that time for work, you see. I can’t go into detail, but anyway, they’re not here right now. They only arrive at four.”

Hearing this, Igyeol learned one more truth: Heekang was also someone assigned to monitor his every move.

“…I didn’t know.”

“So right now, if you go out, it’ll just be between the two of us.”

Heekang boasted as if no one would ever know, but he overlooked one crucial fact: the moment they stepped outside, dozens of cameras covering every blind spot would capture everything in real time and be reported without fail to Yoon Jaeseon, and from him, to Seo Dohyeon.

Ignorant of how his meddling would bring Igyeol harm, Heekang acted lightly. And Igyeol, his judgment blurred, wavered at his words.

“…Then, just for a moment…”

“Ten, fifteen minutes at most should be fine.”

“I’ll just tell him not to come back again. It won’t even take five minutes.”

At Igyeol’s reply, Heekang nodded with a solemn expression. The two of them opened the front door, glanced about warily, and slipped across the yard. Igyeol hunched his shoulders at the harsh sun beating down. Inside, the temperature and humidity were always constant; he hadn’t realized it was this hot outside.

“Ah, it’s really hot, isn’t it? Especially with that cardigan on.”

Heekang fanned him with his hand and nudged him forward.

“I’ll wait here. Go talk quickly and then come back in.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Heekang gave him a meaningful smile and a wink. To him, this would be remembered as a satisfying moment—little did he know what tragedy it would bring.

Igyeol bowed his head in thanks, then quickly headed for the gate. A rustling presence loitering outside drew near.

“Go Igyeol?”

The voice calling him was loud, trembling with barely suppressed agitation, rattling the gate noisily. Igyeol quickly lifted a finger to his lips, urging silence through the crack in the gate as he saw Na Seonwoo’s face.

With a clank, the lock turned, and Igyeol finally appeared in full view. Seonwoo’s eyes widened in surprise, and he stepped back. But as soon as he saw how thin and wasted Igyeol had become, his brows furrowed tight and he strode forward again.

“How are you here?”

“Are you okay? Why haven’t you answered me at all!”

“I wasn’t feeling well, so I rested. Why are you here, of all places…!”

“How bad off are you to look like this, even while pregnant?”

Igyeol’s eyes darted repeatedly behind Seonwoo, unable to see past the wall and increasingly anxious. It would be a while before Dohyeon came home from work, but guilt gnawed at him as though he were committing a crime.

“Seonwoo. I’m really… I’m really fine. So don’t come looking for me like this. Please.”

“Are you getting proper pheromone showers? Why is there no scent at all? Is he not giving them to you? Did you tell him you need them? Did you tell him it’s essential during pregnancy? Why is there no scent, why?!”

“From now on, don’t come like this. Don’t worry about me.”

He turned to go, but Seonwoo caught him with a sharp “Wait.” His grip on Igyeol’s wrist made it look fragile enough to snap. Seonwoo swore under his breath.

“There’s definitely a problem between you two. You haven’t resolved anything, have you?”

“……”

“Damn it, are you trying to shrivel him up and kill him? If that’s how it is, then I’ll give you the pheromone shower myself.”

“What? What are you saying—why would you… just go! Seonwoo, if you do this, you’ll only make things worse for me. Why are you here? If Seo Dohyeon finds out you came…”

Igyeol yanked, trying to shake him off, but Seonwoo only gripped tighter, making him stumble. Igyeol clutched his cardigan closed, conscious of how it gaped at his chest under Seonwoo’s rough grip.

“Why would it be a problem for me to come here? Is he suspicious of you? Are you even going to the hospital properly?”

“Let go of me. Why are you suddenly acting like this…!”

Even through clothes, the grip hurt. Igyeol trembled, and Seonwoo’s hand slackened at the sight.

“…What’s this?”

“What?”

As Seonwoo’s gaze dropped, Igyeol followed it. In their scuffle, the cardigan had slipped, revealing his wrist. A dark bruise, as if banded by a strap, marred the pale skin. Seonwoo’s face twisted in fury.

“Is he hitting you?”

“No, it’s not like that…! This is just—”

“Come with me. Right now. Out of here.”

“Na Seonwoo!”

Igyeol struggled, prying at his arm as Seonwoo pulled insistently, so distracted by their tug-of-war that he failed to notice the slow approach of a car.

“Why are you enduring this?!”

“Stop. I don’t want to talk anymore. Don’t ever come here again.”

“Why? Because if I come here, he’ll suspect? Does he think we’re having an affair? Then maybe that’d be for the best!”

“What’s wrong with you…!”

As Igyeol ran a hand through his hair in frustration, his gaze snapped past Seonwoo’s shoulder. His pupils shook violently, lips parted in shock as he stared dumbly over Seonwoo’s shoulder. Sensing something, Seonwoo turned around irritably.

A towering man loomed there, watching them with mocking amusement, his expression dripping with contempt.

Everything went black. He shouldn’t be home yet—why was he here? How much had he heard? Did their words sound incriminating? What had Seonwoo said? Dohyeon already suspected something between them, and now he’d seen them sneaking out and bickering in secret.

“Seo Dohyeon, it’s not what you think—”

But before the deathly pale Igyeol could even finish, Dohyeon’s voice cut in, faster.

“It’s been a while.”

“I’m here to take Igyeol away.”

“Ah, is that so.”

His tone was utterly detached, as though it were none of his business.

“Do you hit him?”

Seonwoo demanded aggressively. The absurd, insulting question twisted Dohyeon’s face with fury. Instead of answering, he cast a look of contempt and walked back through the gate. He didn’t tell Igyeol to follow, didn’t order him inside—just brushed past him and disappeared.

Igyeol stared hollowly at his retreating back, then turned around.

“Don’t ever… come again.”

“Go Igyeol, this is domestic violence! Do you really not know what’s happening to you?”

“…And what the hell does that have to do with you?”