84. Her Weakness

PRESENT DAY

“Thank you Mr. Jung,” Josh took the small paper bag that his secretary handed him.

This morning he realized that he had gone out yesterday without his cell phone. The panic that attacked him due to the incident with Sharon automatically blinded and dulled all his thoughts and common sense.

The last time he held his cell phone was in his room before the meeting. He turned off the voice mode and put his cell phone in the drawer because he felt too dizzy to face Sharon. Little did he know that he would be forced to accept the enormous consequences of his actions.

Regret still hung around, shaking, and terrorizing him until this moment.

And he allowed himself to be gnawed by it. Because he thought he deserved to be tortured by the pain that was brutally punching him in his heart and head. Even if he punched himself physically for punishment, it felt like it wouldn't be enough to make up for what he had done. Josh would never be able to forgive himself.

For if only, yesterday he had ignored his momentary emotions. If only, yesterday he had made up his mind to believe Sharon's reasoning rather than his own assumptions—which he wasn't sure were true. If only... he hadn't ignored Sharon... maybe this nightmare wouldn't have happened.

Josh was able to shake off his daze and think a little more clearly after Sharon regained consciousness. The girl was in pain and the doctor gave her a sedative so she could rest. They said that her condition was generally stable and improving, although she still needed to be monitored. 

Only then, a little of his burden seemed to melt away and his mind returned functioning again.

"I bought the charger as you requested. It's all in there."

Josh nodded, peering slightly into the paper bag in his hand.

“Thank you for bringing it here,” Josh frowned and paused for a moment, “I also have to ask you another little favor.”

Mr. Jung nodded, “Yes sir.”

"I won't be able to work for the next few days. So please discuss with Mr. Choi to take over my work temporarily. But,“ Josh paused again, this time looking at his secretary with a doubtful gaze, ”keep the reason as a secret. Just say that I have to go out of town on an urgent matter. And, just in case,“ he took a deep breath and exhaled, ”if any of my family might call you to ask—about anything—can you cover it for me? You may say that I'm taking care of business."

Mr. Jung was silent for a while. He honestly felt a little burdened by the instructions that told him to lie like this. Although the lie he had to tell seemed trivial, he couldn't measure how great the impact would be and to cover up what mattered. But he still had to do it because he was not in a position to refuse his superiors. Moreover, Josh had contributed a lot to his life.

So he nodded, "Yes, sir. I will do it as best as I can."

"Be careful not to slip up. I owe you a great deal."

Mr. Jung nodded once again.

And just then, Josh saw Ashley's figure enter the hospital lobby.

They were quite far away, and it was rush hour so there were many visitors and patients passing between them. So Ashley was completely unaware that a few meters away from her there was Josh who was standing while looking at her with a sense of wonder mixed with worry.

The thought of Ashley finding out about his current whereabouts was enough to scare her. Meanwhile, not a minute had passed since he asked his secretary for help to cover up what he was doing.

Josh immediately intended to follow Ashley to find out what exactly the girl was doing here.

"Thank you, Mr. Jung. I'll call you back later."

Without waiting for his secretary's reply, Josh ran after Ashley. Fear literally ran through him as Ashley walked down the corridor that led to the hospitalization room. The place where Sharon was lying weakly there.

Josh continued to follow Ashley and kept a few steps away so that the girl wouldn't realize that Josh was following her.

Then when at the intersection that was the entrance to the hospitalization area, Ashley turned the other way.

Josh frowned and wondered even more where the girl was going.

He still followed her with increasingly cautious steps and kept their distance. Because in that area visitors and medical staff were getting less and less visible.

While he was still following Ashley with unanswered questions in his head, the memory of the day before their departure to Paris resurfaced.

Back then, he had also followed Ashley to this area after consulting with her dermatologist.

At that time, he could only enter the front room near the nurse station. Ashley, on the other hand, entered the hospitalization area that had another door outside, which he knew could only be accessed using a special card.

The incident had happened a very long time ago and left a lingering curiosity in his mind. But Josh just forgot about it and remembered it only now, after all this time.

Josh suddenly stopped and hid himself behind the wall because Ashley was still in front of the outer door that had special access. He heard the girl was talking to one of the nurses seriously.

"I've reported this to the Head Nurse. The technician won't be here until noon, so the Head Nurse cautioned us to keep a close eye on this area until the locks are back in place."

"That's okay. Thank you for helping to guard. But, other than me, does anyone else come here?“

”No one. Oh—that old lady who always puts her hair up in a bun. Mrs... Gu? She always comes once a month."

"Then I guess you're not watching too closely. Since no one comes here. I'll go in first."

After the sound of tapping shoes was heard to move away, Josh slowly peeked out and stepped his foot towards the door. He looked a few times in the other direction to make sure no one had seen him there. After hearing that the door was broken, he tried pushing the door without using any access card—and it opened.

Then he entered with very careful steps and looked one by one into the room through the small clear windows on each of the doors.

When he saw Ashley's back, he stopped.

“Hi Mom. I came again today."