TMPW Ch 13 part 2

Everyone began to get up from their seats to exit the plane. A shuttle would take them to a hotel provided by the airline. No one paid any attention to the stewardess’s suffering. Irritated, JoonHun was just about to get up and intervene when…

“Hey, Jung Sena.”

Somebody impolitely called out the woman’s name, shocking everyone in the cabin. Everyone stopped what they were doing. JoonHun was the same. He thought he had misheard, but it was definitely…

“Who said that?”

Jung Sena shot out of her seat and yelled out. Yuan, who had been sitting next to JoonHun, stood up. JoonHun was startled by the fierce look in her eyes.

“Who are you?”

“You don’t need to know who I am. What’s important is that I know who you are, and I also know your grandfather very well.”

Jung Sena flinched. Sena’s grandfather was the founder of the family’s company. President Jung was known to be very strict with his family.

“How do you know my grandfather?”

“His personal phone number is 010-***-****. He’s a fellow member of the board for the EoHwaDang Scholarship Project, so how could I not know him?”

At Yuan’s words, Jung Sena finally shut her mouth.

“Whenever I meet your grandfather, he’s only full of praises about you. Does he know you go around acting like this?”

“Ha, how dare you…?”

“How dare I?”

Yuan walked over and stood right in front of Jung Sena.

“Are you a princess? How dare you? Can’t you see that we have to return to the airport due to a safety issue? A flight attendant of an airline is both a flight attendant and a safety officer. If a bigger accident happens because of you, then who will take responsibility? Your father? Or maybe your grandfather?”

Yuan coldly glared at the woman. Her eyes were so intense that Jung Sena took a step back.

“All of your stupid behavior is currently being recorded by that security camera. Do you think this stewardess doesn’t know that and is just kneeling in front of you as she gets hit over and over again?”

Shocked, Jung Sena looked over to where Yuan had gestured. There really was a camera there.

“Those are there because of people like you. Wake up, Jung Sena. If you don’t want to be humiliated, immediately apologize to the stewardess.”

“What? This crazy bitch…”

“Ha, crazy bitch? Should I show you what crazy looks like?”

Oh my god. Seo JoonHun quickly stepped out and tried to stop the two women. No one knew how this would unfold if he didn’t intervene. Jung Sena glared at Yuan as she stepped back, but Yuan suddenly looked calm and poised.

“Yuan…”

“I’m sorry. But that lady is the type of person that will only understand once she’s taught a lesson…”

Dumbfounded, and a bit amused, JoonHun looked at her. It was at this moment that the head steward, who had been watching this whole time, finally stepped up and bowed his head.

“I apologize. It’s our fault…”

He turned around and looked down at the humiliated stewardess.

“What are you still doing here? Go back.”

Seeing this, Yuan’s face stiffened. Unaware of Yuan’s displeasure, the head steward turned back and began to grovel.

“Please feel free to exit the plane. We will take all the VIP passengers to the hotel shortly. If you rest for a bit, another plane will come to pick you up.”

“I’m fine.”

Yuan spoke a bit coldly.

“But…”

The airline head steward was suddenly at a loss for words.

“I’m fine. I’ll wait here at the airport.”

“Due to the weather conditions, the next plane will arrive sometime tomorrow.”

“It doesn’t matter. My clothes are enough to keep me warm.”

She gestured to her coat. JoonHun tactfully assessed the situation and spoke.

“We’re really fine on our own, so please assist the other passengers. My wife and I will remain at the airport.”

This plane had over 400 seats, and many of them were elderly or handicapped.

“We can’t do that, sir. Please just go back to the hotel. We will feel better if you do…”

Suddenly, Yuan pointed to a child that was just passing through the door.

“Do you see that child over there? He looks to be about three-years-old, right? He’s been trembling inside this plane for two hours already. Please help that child off the plane first.”

“Yes, ah… That’s…”

“I will report you.”

The head steward’s eyes widened at her words.

“Sorry?”

“I will alert the authorities of how K Airlines is handling their passengers like this.”

At her words, the head steward immediately straightened up and ran over to the child.

“What are you planning to do?”

JoonHun asked, genuinely curious.

“What do you mean? I’m going to wait at the airport.”

With those words, Yuan walked down the aisle and exited the plane.

The Murung airport was smaller than a bus station. Outside the window, the black sky stretched as far as the eye could see. The grumbling passengers began to settle down. Yuan and JoonHun sat across from each other in the airport like homeless people, quietly staring out the window.

The plastic chairs were very uncomfortable. The airport was cold, and the weather outside looked horrible. Still, Yuan felt excited and happy. She had never gone somewhere by herself before. Even though she was in the middle of nowhere in an unfamiliar town, she liked it.

So this is what the grasslands look like.

If possible, she wanted to leave the airport and try exploring outside. She wanted to feel the cold, ferocious wind against her face in the wilderness. When would she ever be able to travel here leisurely?

“What are you thinking about?”

Suddenly, she heard JoonHun’s voice. Shocked, she turned around. He hadn’t taken his eyes off his laptop as he asked the question.

“What?”

“You look like you want to go outside right now. Why do you want to do that when it looks so scary outside…?”

Yuan quietly stared at him before looking back out the window. The barren and scary wilderness stretched out before her eyes. Did she really want to go outside?

“I want to go.”

She suddenly replied. JoonHun thought she sounded strange and raised an eyebrow. However, Yuan didn’t pay too much attention to it and continued.

“Just once… I want to live freely.”

“If someone else heard you, they’d think that you were living in captivity.”

“They wouldn’t be wrong.”

She smiled slightly.

“We’re all held down by our own realities. Family, responsibilities, people, our duties… It might all be useless, but… I feel like I’ve never lived for myself.”

“Is that what you think?”

At his question, Yuan calmly stared at him. How should she respond? The things that bound her. Would he understand if she told him that she wanted to escape the pain and revenge that was tying her down?

“…Yes.”

Yuan quietly answered. He silently stared at her before speaking.

“I feel the same way.”

“What?”

“I also feel that way sometimes. The things that are holding us back. Honestly, sometimes they seem so trivial. When I feel that way, I just want to throw it all away and leave. If I do that, it might be difficult because I may get lost, but starting fresh in a new place seems to be worth it. Because then I can find out who I really am. I think about that sometimes.”

This was a first for her. Talking to him like this.

Maybe it was because of the emergency landing. Maybe it was because of the broken engine. Or maybe it was because of the blizzard raging outside this unfamiliar town.

That night, JoonHun and Yuan talked about all sorts of things. The places they wanted to visit, unattainable dreams, unfamiliar words they had read in books, stories from their childhood.

“Ah…”

Yuan finally remembered that night. It was the same for her too. That strange night of the emergency landing. After that night, it felt as if they had gotten closer. However, when they returned to reality in Seoul, all of it vanished.

“Are you saying that you felt this way since then?”

At her question, JoonHun laughed softly.

“Probably?”

Then he caressed her cheek.

---

Just what was going on?

In front of JoonHun’s house, Yoon HeeSoo got out of her car and looked up at the building.

An antiquated, brick house. A light flickered through a window on the 4th floor. JoonHun had definitely taken that damn Yuan on his business trip to Europe, so who was the person inside this house?

JoonHun’s business trip was sudden and strange. The Dubai project was currently in a state of emergency. Even President Seo JaeHyuk left for Dubai last week. Why wasn’t JoonHun doing anything about this? And why was his wife accompanying him? Why did he take Choi Myung and Derrick with him?

Something was definitely going on.

Secretary Kang must have been ordered to keep his mouth shut. No matter how much she tried, he wouldn’t tell her anything. Because of that, HeeSoo wasn’t able to figure out what was going on with JoonHun.

Her excuse to see him every day as Min Yuan’s secretary had vanished as well. Because of that, she wasn’t privy to what was going on between the couple anymore.

HeeSoo felt as if her insides were on fire. She definitely knew that something was going on with JoonHun, but she didn’t know what it was. At one point, she felt as if they were close friends. They would work until dawn if necessary and talk about anything like close friends. She considered herself the be his closest confidant.

“Now that I’m married, I can’t act the same way around you as I did when I was single, right? Let’s keep our boundaries.”

What? Boundaries? The Dubai project was both of their ideas. She had been completely shocked to hear that he was entering a contract marriage with R&K because of this project.

She felt absolutely disgusted. She had shot herself in the foot with her own idea and now JoonHun was getting married.

HeeSoo grit her teeth and looked up to the 4th floor. It was definitely Min Yuan’s bedroom. Who was inside her bedroom right now? She had been coming here for two days now, and she definitely saw the shadow of a person moving around inside. Secretary Kang was even going in every day to prepare meals.

HeeSoo went to the back where the employee’s entrance was. She hadn’t returned her ID card yet. She put it up against the sensor and was buzzed in. When she entered inside, the house felt gloomy… almost as if no one had been living there.

HeeSoo coldly looked around. At times, she felt as if this house was hers. If things had worked out with JoonHun, if she had been able to marry him, everything here would have been hers.

Just thinking about it made her heart flush with joy. Whenever JoonHun wasn’t home, she often went inside his room and touched the things inside. She had even laid down on his bed. She was careful not to be caught, but she coudln’t help herself.

If it wasn’t for all the surveillance cameras recording inside the house, she would have gone inside more often. Sometimes, she even cleverly turned the camera away so that it wouldn’t record her, but if she did it too often, she would raise suspicions. Therefore she had to be careful.

The 1st floor was definitely empty. She didn’t feel anyone’s presence in the dark lobby. So who was the person on the 4th floor? HeeSoo carefully began to go up the stairs. The corridor lights were on, but the surveillance camera was off. This was very strange. In HyunJin, where security was of the utmost importance, this was impossible.

Suddenly, she heard a voice.

It was the agitated voice of a man.

“Eri, say it clearly. You’re telling me that everyone is in Switzerland right now?”

Surprised, HeeSoo caught her breath. The voice kept fading in and out, so she had to perk up her ears.

“Have you all lost your minds? Why would you take Seo JoonHun to a place like that? Even though Yuan insisted it, you should have reeled her in.”

Seo JoonHun? Yuan?

HeeSoo’s body stiffened.

What trouble had JoonHun gotten into? Someone had to reel Yuan in? Then, did it mean that Yuan did something to JoonHun? What did she do?

A fire blazed in HeeSoo’s eyes. Who was this man? Who was he and why was he in Min Yuan’s bedroom? This house had two guest rooms that he could have used instead. However, this man was shamelessly using a bedroom of the homeowner instead.

HeeSoo quieted her breath and walked along the corridor.

The man kept talking as he paced back and forth. HeeSoo approached the cracked door and looked inside. She could finally see the figure of the man who was pacing around the room.

“Either way, watch Seo JoonHun carefully. If he does anything weird, call me right away. Yeah. Alright. Bye.”

HeeSoo could only see the man’s back. He was wearing loose pajamas and had a splint on one leg that was wrapped in bandages. It also looked like he had hurt his shoulder. After ending the call, the man looked down at the floor and seemed to be lost in thought.

“I guess…”

He muttered. His voice sounded bitter and cold.

“Either way, once we’re done using Seo JoonHun, we’ll wipe him out.”

A shiver ran down HeeSoo’s spine. She was so shocked that she couldn’t even breathe. Who was this bastard? Who was he to be saying something like that while inside JoonHun’s home? Just who could he be?

Suddenly, the man turned around. Through the narrow crack in the door, she could see the man’s face. HeeSoo gasped.

That face…

“Who’s there?!”

As the man shouted, he limped towards the door. HeeSoo quickly ran away. The man was injured, so he wouldn’t be able to catch her.

Lee TaeKyung. HeeSoo muttered to herself.

That was definitely Lee TaeKyung. The man JoonHun had investigated a few months ago. A man who worked for R&K. When the report stated that he and Min Yuan were very close, JoonHun’s face had hardened.

Why was that man inside this house?!