Chapter 20
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Han Do-Seok couldn't hide his harsh breath and sarcastically said to Do-geon.
"I've been seeing this bitch, you dickhead, so, uh, what's wrong with you sharing a girl with your.................. cousin, huh?"
"What................"
It was a vague response that could hardly be called an answer. In the first place, Do-geon didn't seem to care what Han Do-seok had to say. His emotionless gaze turned back to her. His eyes met with Jae-yeon's, who had been watching the situation nervously.
Jae-yeon hastily wiped the nervousness from her face, but Do-geon’s eyes had already narrowed slightly. He opened his mouth slowly.
"Well, she’s grandfather’s lover, and she’s meeting you secretly.”
His tone was almost calm.
Jae Yeon's fingertips trembled faintly. Han Do-seok didn't immediately understand what he was saying, and his face went blank, then he was a beat too late to stop himself from bursting into anger.
"I, yeah, I knew it, eh."
Han Do-seok, wanting to preserve his pride in front of Do-geon’s face, which he felt was becoming tasteless, tried to sound rational. He looked back and forth between Jae-yeon and Do-geon and spoke with unclear pronunciation.
"Yeah, I knew you'd do it. You're not gonna let that shit go, are you? You can't let that shitty background.................. go, you whore yourself out like this, eh? You're a fucking asshole who has nothing to offer here............... anyway."
They could barely understand the last words. Han Do-seok, who had been shouting at him, spat out a few harsh breaths, then stomped past Do-geon. His footsteps faded into the distance, cut off by the sound of the front door slamming shut. Silence descended on the hallway, leaving them alone.
Jae-yeon clenched and unclenched her fists. A situation that could have been handled reasonably well was now a mess. Because of that man.
She couldn't understand why he'd said those things to Han Do-seok. She'd clearly shown signs from the beginning that she didn't want to get involved with him personally.
Of course, even if Han Do-seok really did do something crazy, it wouldn't do any real damage to her. There was nothing between them, and he was the one who was going abroad anyway. At most, she'd get herself kicked out of Taejae with a slap on the wrist.
That was her position, and that was his position.
Jae-yeon straightened her expression. She lifted her head with her usual faint smile. But she didn't look at him.
"..................Why did you do that?"
With those words, Jae-yeon walked past him. Her feet pointed toward the front door where Han Do-seok had left. She had to go and comfort him now.
"Jeong Jae-yeon."
From behind her, Do-geon called her name in his deep voice. Jae-yeon didn't even pretend to hear him as she ran down the hall.
"Ah................"
He paused for a moment.
"Seo Jae-yeon."
She stopped dead in her tracks.
A chill ran down her spine. Jae-yeon closed her eyes tightly, opened them, and slowly turned her head. The tall man stood in the darkness, staring straight at her.
For a moment, time seemed to move very slowly.
"If you like the first name, go with it," Do-geon said, trying to sound like a light-hearted joke. But it didn't sound like a joke at all.
There were several paces between them as she passed. Their gazes met in the air. Jae-yeon's face was completely devoid of expression, and she spoke in a whisper.
"..................Who?"
"That's what I wanted to ask."
Do-geon walked slowly toward her. In three steps, the distance had closed. When he was close enough, he leaned down. The heavy scent of his cologne lingered in the air.
Jae-yeon lifted her head and locked eyes with him. The man's enormous body squeezed into view. Their faces were so close they could touch at any moment.
"Jeong Jae-Yeon."
The dry voice landed dizzily in her ears.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Jae-yeon breathed in and out slowly. Their inhales and exhales mingled in the distance, and she moistened her dry lips.
Black eyes, like deep water, moved to her lips. The jet-black gaze that had lingered there for so long flicked from lips to nose, nose to cheek, then back up to eyes.
It was a searching gaze, just as she'd done to him.
But deeper than that.
Do-geon straightened again, hmmm. The momentum that had threatened to swallow her whole was gone. Jae-yeon could breathe properly now.
Watching her outwardly calm face, Do-geon smirked. It was his trademark smirk, the look of someone who had the upper hand.
He jerked his head towards the front door.
"Go, you look like you're in a hurry."
"...."
Jae-yeon couldn't take her foot off the ground. There was no way she could leave now, and Do-geon added good-naturedly.
"I'll wait for you in the outbuilding."
It was the sound of finishing what he couldn't. Jae-yeon stared at him, hiding her agitation, and then, out of habit, her lips twitched up.
"Sure...."
Jae-yeon answered inaudibly and turned away, feeling the stare following her back. She quickly changed into her outdoor slippers, stepped out the front door, and closed it behind her.
As if on cue, a cold breeze nipped at the hem of her thin dress. She'd been in a hurry and wore only an indoor cardigan.
As Jae-yeon walked toward the backyard, she pulled out her mobile phone and dialed Han Do-seok. The phone beeped.
She couldn't tell if her hands were shaking from the cold or something else. A pale breath escaped her lips, and she followed it, suddenly looking up at the sky.
The moon was getting closer to full. The month leading up to Christmas was slowly approaching.
***
Back in the main house, Jae-yeon opened the sliding door across the living room. Beneath her feet, a long floor led to the outbuilding. She was more nervous now than when she went to see Han Do-seok again. Because honestly, seeing Han Do-seok was just an unpleasant thing, nothing more, nothing less.
"Why, why do you keep, uh, hanging out with that bastard? Are you that fucking insecure?"
Where the grandson of a famous chaebol could have learnt to speak such filthy language was beyond her. Even as she thought that, Jae-yeon tried to placate him.
She said, "It's not really a relationship, if it was, I wouldn't have defended you in front of him, he was just trying to provoke you..................”
Jae-yeon was so frustrated and desperate that she appealed to him with tears streaming down her face and her body trembling.
"I really have my phone records backed up so I can show you, Do-seok, you’re getting married soon, and I'm so anxious and upset, what if you do that to me, do you even know why I've been avoiding contacting you...."
At least the shaking wasn't an act, as she wore a thin cardigan the entire time, compared to Han Do-seok, who came dressed in thick padding.
The effort paid off, and Jae-yeon was able to reverse some of Do-seok’s bad mood. It shouldn't have been this hard in the first place.
After all, their 'love fight', as Do-geom called it, ended with a lousy kiss. At which point, Han Do-seok asked Jae-yeon if she was cold and pulled her into his thick coat.
Whoosh.
The bushes rustled in the winter wind. Jae-yeon crossed the floor, gazing out at the pond, its yellow lights floating dimly.
She didn't need Han Do-seok anymore; she'd gotten everything she could out of him. That was why she'd avoided contact lately. A long tail gets stepped on.
Jae-yeon had always reminded herself of that fact to get by in this mansion. And she'd actually been pretty good at it.
“I thought I should check to see what kind of person you are.”
Until the man showed up.
Crossing the floor, Jae-yeon stood at the door of the outbuilding, wiped her cheeks with her sleeve to remove any tear stains, and rang the bell.
Soon she heard the lock unlock. She grabbed the doorknob and turned it. The lights switched on automatically as she entered the outbuilding.
The man's voice sounded low from inside. It was Han Do-geon. He sounded like he was talking to someone.
Jae-yeon walked down the hallway that led to the sunroom. Display cases along one wall held ceramics and ornaments, arranged in a cone of light.
A long hallway led to a spacious living room. Do-geon was sitting on a single sofa, his mobile phone pressed to his ear.
"Yeah, it's okay, it's close enough anyway."
Jae-yeon stood in place for a moment, staring at his seated profile.
****
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