Chapter 10
***
It wasn't until late in the evening that Han Jung-yoon left the outbuilding, still drunk.
Only a floor lamp was on on the first floor of the cottage. Do-geon leaned back on the couch with his head tilted back. His posture was uncharacteristically disheveled.
He was a fairly strong drinker, but Han Jung-yoon was also a formidable drinker. He even felt like he was getting drunk faster than he had in a long time.
He blinked languidly. To be honest, he didn't like the sensation of being drunk. Not being able to control yourself was unpleasant.
He sighed and straightened his upper body. His eyes caught sight of a half-filled glass on the table.
"Hmm."
Do-geon crossed his arms and stared at the glass. The clear surface of the liquor glistened faintly in the light of the nightstand. He stared at it for a long moment, and then muttered, drained.
"I am."
His big body sank back into the couch.
"What's the difference between looking at alcohol and being drunk..................."
His thoughts involuntarily bounced in that direction.
The woman was full of unknowns, and God, he hated those kinds of information gaps.
The email from Mr Yoon that he had read earlier flashed through his mind, along with the doubts he hadn't been able to sort out. L'Amour, a restaurant that Han Dong-woo used to frequent.
What a coincidence.
Do-geon pondered with a slightly drunken head. The woman worked at a shop owned by an acquaintance of her mother's, so yeah, it could be a coincidence.
It could be a coincidence.
But he believed in coincidences once, but not twice.
The chairman of Daejin Group and his second son were not ordinary people. The woman had two chances to get involved with such people?
'It's strange.’
A dry smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He stood up and grabbed his coat from the coat rack.
It was a boring guess. He decided to test the "coincidence." His criteria was simple. Would she be in the backyard right now, or not?
He heard that Han Do-seok was staying at the mansion today. Maybe she was meeting with him. If not, let's just call it a day.
If she is.
If she is...... I'll dig into it.
Whatever came up, or didn't come up, he would peel back that mask.
It was half drunkenness, half curiosity about her. What kind of person was she, what was she hiding, what was she thinking.......
Do-geon pulled on his coat and stepped out the back door of the outbuilding, the winter air blowing against his face.
The chill sensation jolted him out of his foggy thoughts. He swallowed hard and stepped onto the frozen ground.
He walked along the stone pathway that led to the backyard, past the leafy garden of goldenrod, the leaves rustling in the breeze.
As he neared the end of the path, he stopped dead in his tracks. He could faintly hear voices coming from the backyard. At first he thought it was horses, but there was a distinct pitch.
A yellow street lamp shone in a circle up the road. Do-geon walked slowly past it.
He paused, lifting a drooping leaf of a goldenrod with the back of his hand. A red-burning cigarette was just visible.
Creak, creak, the wooden swing swayed lightly. This was where Jae-yeon and Do-Seok had met last time.
But today, it wasn't the two of them.
Do-geon stood in the darkness, his serene gaze fixed on a corner of the backyard.
Jae-yeon was leaning her head back against the back of the wooden swing, her eyes closed, humming a tune. It was a rather cheerful humming that didn't seem to fit the lonely scene.
A thin wisp of smoke rose from the cigarette between her fingers. The wooden swing creaked and swayed to the beat of the humming.
With her eyes closed, the woman looked so carefree and light, as if she could disappear at any moment, and so precarious. Originally, Do-geon had planned to just show up when he found her. There was no reason for him to hide.
But somehow he couldn't, not then, not now.
Because he knew that all these private moments would vanish like a mirage the moment he showed himself. In the cold air, Do-geon pursed his lips in silence.
Jeong Jae-yeon.
What kind of person are you?
The unreachable question tumbled from his mouth as the wind blew toward him from where he stood. The leaves he had tucked away with the back of his hand swayed.
The untouched cigarette burned slowly. The slow humming continued for a long time afterward.
****
Click.
The doorknob turned and the door to the hospital room opened. Silence and heavy darkness pushed in through the crack. Jae-yeon paused as she stepped inside, then smiled weakly and approached the bed.
"You haven't slept?"
"I'm ..................awake..................."
"You're awake. It's 3 a.m. What's bothering you?"
"Just. You know, watching the TV.................. news or..................."
“Ah, the news."
Jae-yeon found the remote and turned on the TV. After flipping through a few channels, a rerun of a current affairs program came on. The chairman gestured toward the nightstand light.
"It's a little dark. My eyes.................."
"Ai, you asked me to turn it on last time, so I did, but then you said it was glaring and asked me to turn it off."
Jae-yeon said sweetly, and Chairman Han shook his head and muttered.
"Did I do that..................?"
"Yes, you did. You've been complaining lately about the brightness giving you a headache."
Jae-yeon took Han's hand with a big smile on her face. A white, fair, but cold hand covered the back of his wrinkled hand.
"Anyway, our chairman is a bit of a troublemaker."
"Lately, I've been forgetting about things…. Maybe it's time to go."
"Don't say that. You go, I'll go."
Jae-yeon rolled her eyes. She kissed Han briefly on the cheek, then straightened up. The overlapping hands fell away.
"Get some sleep. If you need anything, just let me know."
The light from the TV screen cast a mottled glow on the side of her face. It looked like a broken screen.
"Anything."
The door to the hospital room closed soundlessly. Jae-yeon turned and paced slowly. The sound of house slippers dragging in the silence.
With each step or two, the smile slowly faded from her face. Finally, she left the parlor with a completely expressionless face.
Back in her room, Jae-yeon headed straight for the bathroom. She turned on the sink and water gushed from the faucet. She rinsed her face with cold water and looked up. Her wet face was reflected in the mirror. Water dripped from the tip of her chin.
"Ah."
Her voice came out like a groan. Her pale eyes took on a harsh glow. She muttered incoherently.
"I'm so sick of..................."
Drip. Another drop of water dripped from the tip of her chin.
Jae-yeon let out a short sigh and grabbed a towel from the rack. Just as she was about to wipe it dry, a chilling bass voice reached her ear.
"Jeong Jae-yeon."
Her hands froze.
"Do you think I'm funny?"
Jae-yeon recalled the man's face as he glared down at her: dark brows and shadowed eyes, a flared nose, and.................. dark eyes with a sharp unpleasantness.
She shouldn't have touched him.
She dried herself roughly with a towel and left the bathroom. She sat down at the vanity and opened the cream lid. The habitual thought continued.
Han Do-geon.
Chairman Han Yong-seop's youngest grandson, a prodigy who was famous from an early age. A young tycoon who defied everyone's expectations to join the management of Daejin and moved to the United States.
Most of the articles and community posts she collected in the past focused on his business activities and actor-like appearance. If you go back 20 years, you'll even find his IQ and Olympiad awards.
The media portrayal of Han Do-geon was that of a flawless human being.
But in person, the man seemed quite two-dimensional. He feigned politeness, but it seemed more like a boring habit than respect for others.
For a man so aloof that he couldn't fit a needle in a haystack, he was also quite sensitive.
Jae-yeon thought of those dark eyes as she put lotion on her face.
'Yeah, definitely....................'
The way Han Do-geon looked at her was different from the others. Displeased, doubtful, distrustful, grim, and at the same time.................. slightly intrigued.
She was observing him as much as he was observing her. Jae-yeon knew this, and Han Do-geon must have known it too.
Instinct warned her not to get involved with the man anymore.
Jae-yeon looked at the mirror in front of her. The expressionless woman in the glass slowly lifted her lips. A smooth smile formed on her pale face.
Well, it was almost over anyway.
***
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