Chapter 9
***
Jae-yeon was still on the ground, gasping for air. Han Jung-yoon hopped up onto the floor and turned to Do-geon.
"Hey, drink bourbon with me. I'm on the first floor of the outbuilding."
Then she disappeared into the outbuilding without a word. Do-geon flicked his bangs out of his face in frustration. He shouldn't have come out, he thought.
A lingering cough, low and tongue-tied, made him turn his head toward the yard. Water dripped from the woman's wet hair as she gripped the ground with both hands.
Barely regaining her breath, Jae-yeon blinked at the ground. Her cheeks, where a few strands of hair clung to her, were eerily pale. Her wet body was shivering from the cold.
‘Crazy.’
Do-geon thought.
He expected her to be shaking with humiliation, if not crying, or embarrassed to be in this state.
Jae-yeon's eyes closed and opened slowly. Ackkk, the last of her sobs escaped. Brushing the wet hair that clung to her forehead and cheeks, she turned her head.
Her gaze met Do-geon’s, still standing on the floor, and Jae-yeon's, slumping against the wall.
Do-geon’s eyes narrowed slightly.
As expected, there was no anger, humiliation, or embarrassment on her face.
She just looked.................. tired.
Like someone who was sick of life.
But even that was fleeting enough to make him wonder if he'd seen something. She blinked her eyelids once, and Jae-yeon's face was back to its normal expression.
Do-geon crossed his arms and tilted his head pointedly. It was, to say the least, unexpected. It was strange.
And he was curious.
He wondered what would be revealed if he peeled back that uniform porcelain shell.
She was obviously hiding something, but he couldn't figure out what it was. Or what thoughts were inside her head.
How do I touch it to see what's inside?
Do-geon stared at her like he was looking into an unsolvable puzzle.
At that moment, their eyes met. At the same time, Jae-yeon smiled wistfully at him. It was a look that would have made any other man feel pitiful.
"I'm feeling weak in my legs................ could you please help me up?"
Her intentions were clear. It was women’s way of getting things.
Normally, he would have scoffed and dismissed it, but for some reason, he felt a strange tingling in her look, like.................. some kind of incongruity.
He wondered if he should help her, but stopped himself.
Who's who.
"You're catching a cold, so get in quickly.”
That was all he said. Do-geon turned away a beat late.
***
When he returned to the cottage with a bottle of bourbon, Han Jung-yoon was lying stretched out on the daybed. Do-geon slammed the bottle down on the table.
Jung-yoon stirred and sat up. She groaned and grabbed a bottle of lemon sparkling water and a glass from the fridge.
"Hey, are there any snacks?"
"I'm sure there's some in the cupboard."
Do-geon leaned back on the couch and replied nonchalantly. There was a rustling sound from inside, and then Han Jung-yoon came in with both hands full of things.
"There's nothing much, should I ask the cook to make something?"
"Not at this hour. I won't drink much anyway."
"You're as boring as ever."
He couldn't tell Han Jung-yoon that it was an excuse to go get bourbon in the first place, so he reluctantly sat down.
'Why did I ....................'
Do-geon was overwhelmed with self-doubt. He didn’t know what the hell he was doing out there, lying to her.
All he could think about was the woman's wet hair, her bloodless pale cheeks, and her tired face, a face he couldn't see through.
"Why bother?"
Do-geon blurted out as Jung-yoon poured bourbon and sparkling water into glasses.
"Someone who's about to leave if you stay still."
"..................Gross."
Jung-yoon replied, frowning as she did.
She couldn't be called good-natured to say the least. There were a lot of people in this house with bad personalities, but she was one of the more honest ones.
Still, she didn't do things like that just for the sake of it, but she seemed to dislike Jeong Jae-yeon. It was understandable.
There was no telling what leeway she might have given to Jung-yoon’s father and brother. No, more than likely, she already had.
From the very beginning, Ju-ryeong had detested Jae-yeon's origins and actions. It was no wonder that her daughter, Han Jung-yoon, hated Jae-yeon.
"That's bullshit," she added, shaking her glass of bourbon and sparkling water.
"It's embarrassing even as a woman to do that shit."
"What do you mean she did that to Do-joon, too?"
"Literally. To a married man with a kid. She's a real bitch, that one."
"Did she try to seduce him outright?"
“Well, rather than that… … You just know it when you see it. Because I can see the tail wagging.”
It wasn't unreasonable to assume; he'd already witnessed JeongJae-yeon and Han Do-seok's secret meetings, and even he could sense the obvious intent in her behavior.
She was a strikingly beautiful woman, and even with the same smile and the same behavior, it was easy to be misunderstood, if not misinterpreted.
Do-geon thought of Jae-yeon's laugh, polished like a wax doll, and gave up.
"Even your sister in law?"
"I know. Every woman in the house knows, she does. But it's just that she's doing it sneakily, not out in the open, so we can't kick her out right away, we'll just have to put up with her until the chairman dies."
"She’s got a big liver. She lives in the same house too."
"My point."
Jung-yoon sipped her glass in frustration. Do-geon fiddled with the glass half-full of whiskey for a moment, then took a long sip.
"Did she.................. do anything suspicious?"
Jung-yoon tilted her head in disbelief.
"Suspicious? Like what?"
"It's a stranger. She came in suddenly."
"Oh, well, not really."
"Our complex has a very strict housekeeper policy................Did they do a proper background check?"
"I don't know, I'm sure they did. But she's not smart enough to do what she did in the first place. She's an idiot. Can't you see that she's not thinking about the consequences?"
Jung-yoon said, seemingly unconcerned.
"Habit?"
"That's the kind of thing girls do. It's ingrained in her to use her beauty to get attention. She's from the entertainment world. That's all she's learned. It's not like she’s learned anything but how to use the chairman's card to buy luxury goods."
Habit, habit................... Do-geon mulled over the word.
There was definitely something to it. The way she looked, the way she acted, she felt like a well-made tool. But.......
His mind wandered to the backyard. The image of a woman who looked exhausted and lonely, seemingly relying on nothing more than a wisp of cigarette smoke.
Well, habit was the only word to describe it.
Do-geon drained his glass. The bitter heat burn down his throat. Jung-yoon poured another drink into his empty glass and asked, as if remembering.
"Are you really going to meet a girl? My mom was serious about match making."
"There's no harm in looking. I need to get married anyway."
Do-geon shrugged and leaned back on the couch. If it sounded like a joke, he meant it.
Sure, he'd had his fair share of women, and he'd had a few relationships, but marriage was a different matter entirely.
It was very difficult to find a Korean woman in America who met his requirements. But the prospect of a wife around his age was too good to pass up.
Of course, she would be on the older side, but that didn't matter. His wife and him were going to live in the U.S. for a long time, and Ju-Ryeong would be Dae-Jin's hostess sooner or later, so it's a good connection.
"You're too temperamental to live with someone else. Why do you need to get married? Just live alone. Look at me. How free I am."
"You're not interested in management or your own business, so it doesn't matter."
"It's not necessarily true. There are quite a few people who don't get married because they're crazy about their work."
"Well, marriage is a............... kind of business, isn't it?"
Do-geon muttered under his breath. Emptying his second glass in one swift gulp, he lifted the corner of his mouth and laughed dryly.
"I'd like to think it would be lucrative."
***
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