Chapter 160:

That was the last thing he said. The man turned around and walked back the way he came, without even saying goodbye.

In the ruined forest, with the ruined instrument, and leaving behind the ruined Lee-yeon.

Her heart felt like it was being squeezed. There was nothing left to hold him back. Lee-yeon just stared blankly at his receding figure, unable to believe this reality.

“....”

Once again, Lee-yeon found herself alone, clinging to someone’s back with a sense of endlessness. Memories of her forgotten parents, terrifying aunt, and countless rejections from friends clung to her like fragmented pieces of a puzzle. Illusions of people leaving with seemingly valid reasons haunted her, and she felt powerless to tear them away.

Her breathing became rough, and her vision darkened.

Long and deep claw marks seemed to connect her to the person she was clinging to, but they only served to remind her of how far they were moving away from her.

If she lost him like this, it seemed like she could never recover again. That’s why her leg moved forward. She couldn’t let her life become miserable again. Lee-yeon tried once more for her own sake.

“Promise? It’s nothing but a delusion now!” The voice crying out for the promise they made to each other sounded pitifully hoarse.

“I clearly told you that I would take care of it and bury it myself!”

“....”

“I said I would try my best, that I wouldn’t need any memories that could disturb our relationship!”

“....”

“We made a promise!”

But unfortunately, Kwon Chae-woo didn’t stop. It seemed like nothing could stop him.

“I could pretend not to know your real identity until I die!”

Tears filled with resentment rolled down her cheeks. The pain she had endured and suppressed all this time burst out like a broken dam.

With that, he moved away again, and Yeon staggered as if she had exhausted all her strength.

Lee-yeon stood there, dazed, as the unfamiliar men greeted her with nods. The big men escorted Kwon Chae-woo like a bodyguard and opened the back door of the car for him.

“Oh my, Director So, Lee-yeon-ah―!”

At that moment, Choo-ja came running from afar. She had a group of scrappy old men and fierce-looking people trailing behind her, and they each had a pickaxe in hand, which was quite frightening.

Choo-ja called out to Lee-yeon repeatedly, but she remained silent like a stone statue.

She became furious as the enraged people immediately grabbed Lee-yeon by the hair.

“Thses old men must be crazy!”

Choo-ja tried to shield Yeon with her body, but there was a significant height difference.

“This is all because of that quack doctor! How are you going to take responsibility for this? It’s because of you that our village’s sacred tree died....!”

Even as she staggered and weaved through the crowd, Lee-yeon couldn’t take her eyes off of Kwon Chae-woo.

“You cut down all those branches, but instead of healing it, you ended up killing it!”

Despite the elders grabbing and pulling her in all directions, Lee-yeon didn’t resist even once. She just swayed with the movement, staring blankly into space.

At that moment, Kwon Chae-woo, staring blankly this way with several sedans behind him, met eyes with her.

“....”

“....”

His indifferent gaze seemed somehow pleased. Despite having her hair pulled, her neck scratched, and even falling to the ground from the rough touches of the people, he just watched idly.

The hot summer was showing signs of slowly receding. By the time Lee-yeon heard herself sob again, Kwon Chae-woo had already disappeared like a gust of wind.