DDB Ch 17

Returning to her room with a heavy step, Jiwoon buried her face in the bed. She had thrown the photos on the floor as if discarding them.

“You’re too much, Baek Ishin.”

He didn’t show it to her even once until the end!

‘My painting, my Guinevere!’

After claiming it as his own.

“It’s not time yet.”

That was Ishin’s response when she asked where Guinevere was and asked to see it.

“We have to start the work first. You need to show me your capabilities before I reveal my cards.

What if I show all my cards and you turn out to be empty?”

Watching him smile cunningly while taking control, Jiwoon couldn’t add any more words.

“Your performance will decide Guinevere’s fate, so work hard.”

With that, he pushed her back, urging her to go upstairs and make the list.

Back in her room, there was…

…a desk?

In the brief time she was out, a large desk and chair had appeared in the room that previously only had a bed. Paper and a pen were placed on the desk.

“Am I supposed to just make the list as told?”

Scoffing at the idea, she headed straight to the bed. Who would do as they’re told?

It was an act of petulance. At the same time, sleepiness overwhelmed her.

The sleep she had accumulated over eight years was now coming in disarray since meeting Ishin.

Knowing that once insomnia starts it could drain her, Jiwoon surrendered to the overwhelming sleep. She knew instinctively that she should sleep when she could.

To survive…

With her eyelids closed, even in the pitch-black darkness, Jiwoon thought of Ishin. Although he was annoying, he was still the only person on her mind.

Earlier, at the top of Heritage where giant eye-shaped windows were embedded, Jiwoon, getting up from the sofa, staggered due to the alcohol.

She was caught by a firm arm. His large, sleek hand held her wrist, displaying the beautiful bone structure of her wrist while asking,

“Are you okay? Can you walk?”

At that moment, she realized for the first time that his agility was as impressive as his restoration skills.

“No.”

With effort, Jiwoon bent her perfectly fine knees and rested her forehead against Ishin’s chest.

Perhaps because of the strong liquor, his scent penetrated deep into her lungs through her nose and mouth, causing her throat to feel strangely hot.

His chest felt as hard as a rock where her forehead touched, yet unlike a cold stone, it shared a warm body heat, making her head feel hot too.

“Seo Jiwoon, stand up straight.”

His voice calling her name was so gentle it seemed like it would melt even her eardrums.

“My head hurts so bad…”

At that moment, her body was lifted suddenly.

Despite her being slim, she was not a child, yet Ishin carried her as if she were a feather, effortlessly leaving the goblin’s lair.

Hugging tightly around his neck, Jiwoon buried her nose into his chest, taking in his scent to her heart’s content.

Her heart was pounding like mad.

Even now, as she recalled that moment with her eyes tightly shut, her pulse thumped behind her eyes.

Strangely, the familiar scent and the comforting touch…

It felt like she would have a good dream.

She sincerely hoped this dream would be remembered even after waking up.

🐬🌊🐳

Was it the end of November?

Autumn was coming to an end.

On the outskirts of a small city in northern Gyeonggi Province.

In the small neighborhood where the safe house was located, autumn was passing, and winter was approaching.

Two weeks had passed since she and her father had come here, running and escaping. She had grown somewhat accustomed to the life of a fugitive.

The college entrance exam had been just a few days ago, but in her life, the exam was long past.

With the college entrance exam out of reach, university was out of the question too. She had wanted to study art or chemistry to become a restorer like her father, and she was good at studying, aiming for a pretty good university. She had dreams and a future.

But because of one person’s words that brought her here, Jiwoon had to give up on her dreams.

“You can go to university anytime, but you only have one life. You must cherish it, right? So, now is the time to run.”

Her father called this man “Director Park.”

Director Park’s words were all correct, so Jiwoon had to quickly learn to give up. Before coming here, she had seen people close to her collapse and bleed one after another.

Death comes like a thief, they say.

The uncle who used to give her candy, the uncle who always asked how she was doing, the older sister who bought her hairpins… all died.

Some with their heads smashed, some with their throats pierced, some with their stomachs split open.

And each one bled, groaned, and died in pain.

Thus, survival became the most important thing to Jiwoon, naturally.

The only person left was Uncle Park.

With his help, Jiwoon and her father had to stay inside the safe house, barely going out.

She was soon to become an adult in a month or so, but sitting on the rooftop railing, she would watch students returning home from school to soothe her loneliness.

Then, a young man appeared before her.

He was dressed in black pants, a black T-shirt, and a black aviator jacket, with a black cap pulled down low.

Standing under a half-bare yellow ginkgo tree in front of the safe house, the man bowed when Director Park approached.

They exchanged words in hushed tones, and the man handed over several bundles to Director Park.

Guessing they were necessities for her and her father, Jiwoon watched the man from the rooftop railing until she was bored.

The man stood under the tree until Director Park went inside the safe house and came back out, motionless like a painting.

How much time had passed?

Perhaps feeling her gaze, the man suddenly tilted his head back, looking up towards the rooftop.

“Ah-.”

An involuntary short exclamation escaped her lips.

Resting her elbows on the rusty, peeling paint of the railing, Jiwoon felt as if time had stopped.

A straight and handsome, noble yet masculine face, like winter yet reminiscent of spring… it was the first beautiful face she had ever seen.

Yellow ginkgo leaves, shaken by the wind, fell like rain, and the sunlight seeping through the branches illuminated him.

A man who was dark yet bright.

A man who was dim yet like sunshine.

This man looked up at her for a long time.

🐬🌊🐳

“Huh!”

Jiwoon woke up with tears in the corners of her eyes.

Breathing heavily, she curled up into a ball, clutching her fists, trembling.

It seemed she had dreamed again.

As always, the dream was blurry, and she couldn’t remember what it was about. She only knew it was a dream that made her feel inexplicably sad, nostalgic, and melancholy.

She also felt as if she had been submerged in deep water and then come out.

Blinking several times to fully wake up, Jiwoon turned her head towards the window. It was dark outside.

“How long have I been asleep?”

Staggering to her feet, she looked around the room.

A small light by the bed was on, a light she hadn’t turned on, so someone must have come by.

“…?”

Her gaze fell on the desk.

On the desk where paper and pen had been, there were now lined-up shopping bags. Beside the desk, her suitcase and shopper bag from Myungja’s house were placed.

“These are my things?”

She left the bed and approached the desk.

The shopping bags contained various necessities.

Toothpaste, toothbrush, and even art supplies like colored pencils, sketchbooks, and erasers. There were also slippers, and even sanitary pads, making Jiwoon blush.

“Did Shanti bring these…?”

Then, her eyes caught a small wooden box beside the shopping bags. The glossy, polished box looked luxurious.

Tilting her head, Jiwoon carefully opened the wooden box.

Ah-.

“This is…”

It was the dried peach preserves she had eaten in Seungjae’s office earlier that day.

After tasting each one from the three-tiered container, she had eaten only those…

So, she knew. It wasn’t Shanti but Baek Ishin who had come.

Jiwoon took off the coat she had been wearing, placed it on the desk, slipped on the slippers, and quickly left the room.

8:30 PM.

Thinking it wasn’t too late at night, she believed she could see Ishin’s face at least once more, not knowing that he was still with guests because the night was not yet late