Earlier, he sided with me with great humility. But now, he stabbed me just like that without me knowing beforehand. It was like a sneaky trap with a pleasure beginning but it ended with a deeper stab in the same wound.

Why did he even say that? It sounded like he was declaring war.

"Lee has been looking for you for a long time. He put in all his efforts and sacrificed his pride just to be able to bring you back," Yunhee spoke in a domineering cold tone, sounded calm yet painful, "Now, he's gone. No matter how hard you want him to open his eyes for you, it will never happen. I don't know, what made you so hard-hearted not to want to go back to him, obviously it hurt him. He loves you so much, more than you know. It's really very regretful that you just said the words that would make him smile but he can't hear you anymore."

"You know, a man can love too deeply for six years without him realizing it. I think, Lee just didn't realize his feelings so he did his own thing, then regretted everything in the end. But, when he regrets everything, you hurt him even more."

Hearing his words, I wiped my tears that wouldn't stop rolling down my face, grabbed Donghwa's cold and stiff hand, then spoke hoarsely, "What do you mean by that? Do you know how I felt at that time?"

"Nothing. I didn't mean anything." He paused for a few seconds, then he continued, "I just wanted to tell you something from the person where Lee was complaining to. And, you know, actually, hearing Lee keep complaining about you, really pissed me off, but I feel I have no choice but to listen to him. He doesn't have many close people out there, so since he's also helped me a lot, I had to help him besides being a friend."

I was silent for a few seconds before finally straightening my back carefully. I turned to Yunhee and spoke, "Should you say it here? In front of his body? Seriously? Now, who here has no respect?" I paused, sobbing, before continuing, "Earlier, on the phone, you spoke of a 'respect' and spoke too politely for someone like you. But now you're the only one who doesn't have that."

I smiled with all the bitterness on my lips, turned to Donghwa's body, then kissed his cold forehead like a lump of eternal ice that would never be melted by any warmth.

"Don't say such things here, I beg of you," I continued.

My tears fell on Donghwa's closed eyelids and became frozen, just like my heart. It instantly restored my senses that had been missing for a while. Now, I realized that Donghwa would never wake up.

No matter how hard I tried to persuade him, he would never open his eyes for me again, not even to hear me.

"Heh, so it was you who picked up my call, huh?" Yunhee snorted coldly, saying, "Apparently, what Lee said before is true. Your relationship with President Kim has indeed grown more intimate."

"Bae Yunhee, stop!" I held my voice in my throat so it was like a whisper but with clear anger, "Should you say that here? If you want to insult me, do it outside this building. I'll accept it — even if it breaks my pride!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I accidentally saw Daehyun who was still standing in the same place looking annoyed while clenching his fists.

He seemed to have overheard our conversation. He was about to come closer, but I asked him to stop, so he stopped.

It was a day of mourning and I didn't want any fuss.

I clenched my fists tightly as if I wanted to punch Yunhee in the face directly. However, I was raised to avoid a fight, so I wasn't used to violence and was just a weak guy who always gave in.

"Yunhee, I know, I was wrong. I also don't mind if you blame me for all this. But, please, don't say that here. This is a place of mourning. We should pray, not argue."

Finishing my words, there was a sudden silence at the end of my voice.

Not a single sound could be heard at this time, not even for the wind, as if they had stopped blowing cold air to witness the emotional atmosphere in this place, or were they just laughing silently in this silence? It was all just a long silence, taking up the next few minutes.

Yunhee stared at Donghwa's pale face which was stiff. Then, very suddenly, the gentleness ran down his face and revealed a line of sincerity. An undisguised smirk tugged at the corners of his lips.

"Five years ago, when we had just signed our first contract. In the evening, after attending a banquet with corporate dignitaries and investors, we went to a casino. To be honest, I forced him to play with me and mocked him that he was too cowardly to lose. But, do you know, what words did he say to me?"

"...."

"He said he wanted to save up and buy a fancy house for you." Yunhee chuckled lightly, then continued, "But unfortunately, when he found out that you didn't want such a thing, he came to me with a disappointment and complained. He said, you always gave gifts to him in the past even in difficult circumstances, but you so seldom wanted to receive any gifts from him."

Hearing his words, I lowered my gaze slightly, suppressed quite a strong emotion from within me.

Now, I remembered, Donghwa did talk to me about it, but I never knew he was so serious about such things. And, in our last meet some time ago, he also said that he had bought land in Jeju and would build a house for me. But, at that time, our situation wasn't as harmonious as five years ago. So, I thoughtlessly refused and told him to leave.

"A year later, I got into a serious problem. I was scammed by someone and lost a few percent of my shares, then stupidly gambled. I was screwed at the time, and I didn't know where to turn to anyone for help. Until finally, without me asking, Lee came to me and helped me to rebuild everything. Even though we were on the verge of being brought to court, fortunately, Lee is Mr. Kim's confidant, so our problems were not magnified and finally closed because he helped us."

He took a deep breath, smiling. "Yeah, Lee's not a bad bastard I think. But, now, I think of him as a really stupid bastard."

"Heh, you know, what did he want when he was critical? He wanted to see you. I know he was unconscious when he talked about you, but I was sure that's what he wanted. Just so you know, he was always thinking about you. Even when he was dying, he kept saying your name. Until his last seconds, he still had time to say your name."

Hearing the words, a moment of sadness exploded in my chest again. I gripped the sides of the black coffin tightly, inhaling and exhaling several times to calm myself.

This was totally beyond my expectation. I was like finding treasure but just threw it away after hearing a hidden thing that I just found out. There was a great regret that wasn't disguised by my current sadness that was like tearing my body apart.

Yunhee was really being mean to say all that now.

However, Yunhee didn't seem to care about my sadness as if he purposely said all that to vent his anger and repay what had hurt Donghwa during his life.

Yunhee kept saying, "Ever since you left him ... heh, you've seen how messed up he was, right? So I don't need to explain everything anymore how he was." He chuckled softly before continuing, "You know, he fought against an investor for three years to get land in Jeju. He said, you wanted to live there, so he bought it for you. But, after you left and he tried to persuade you to return, you know what he did when he got your answer?"

I covered my mouth and kept crying while remembering our last meeting that time. If only I had given him one more chance, none of this would have been possible.

"Heh, he had not been in the office for days after he met you. And, do you know what he did when he was alone at home on those days, he kept crying, you know. His time is only wasted crying. In my eyes, Lee ain't a crybaby. He's strong. People were reticent to him. But, in fact, he is a very weak person when it comes to his heart—"

"Bae Yunhee, please stop. Don't continue. I don't want to hear it … please … stop," I said, immediately cutting off Yunhee's words while covering my ears. Hearing all that only made me more frustrated.

However, seemingly, although I begged him not to continue his words, Yunhee had no intention of stopping at all. He even savagely said, "Why? You have to know how he was so you can mourn everything."