DTL Ch 10 part 2

PR by neji

The words she couldn’t express were floating in her heart. If she hadn’t noticed the warmth oozing out of his harsh, curt actions, she might have been able to wholeheartedly hate him when they had broken up. Even though he was a selfish man who demanded that she stay beside him as his hidden woman, this was the reason why she had such a hard time leaving him.

His hand cautiously grabbed the tips of her fingers. His skin was hot and damp with sweat. YeonJung looked up at him. SeonJae’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

“Let me drop you off.”

“……”

“I’ll just drop you off in front of your apartment.”

His lips moved stubbornly. Yeah. He was this kind of man. He had to have everything he wanted in order to be satisfied.

The moment YeonJung tried to snatch her hand back, he mumbled again.

“Please, I’m begging you.”

His expression was laughably earnest. Driving her up to her apartment wasn’t something to beg about. YeonJung’s eyelashes fluttered as she blinked. A shadow was cast over her face.

“No.”

After giving him her curt answer, she turned her back on him. The cold wind brushed across her face, causing her neck to tense up. His long shadow continued to follow her from behind, but even when she reached her apartment, she never once turned around.

* * *

Starting the day after she signed the contract, the man never stopped contacting her. As she reviewed the changes he had made to their plans, she realized anew how much of a workaholic he was. The team leader in charge of the project would send her a report on the results of their meetings once they concluded. These emails usually came past midnight. And it seemed that the international team worked day and night as well. SeonJae planned to make a mark on the business world at the wedding exhibition, which took place one year after the foundation of the company. 

“YeonJung-ssi, will you be working outside today?”

Sitting at the desk next to the door, DongHoon was staring at the monitor when he turned his head.

‘I’ll be at the cafe downstairs for a meeting.’

Her large desk was covered in her work materials. She took the documents from the desk and put them in her shoulder bag before signing her answer back to him. Hyejin, who was clutching her hips due to the extra weight, poked her head out.

“I thought I saw Min SeonJae’s car in the parking lot. It looks like he’s openly coming to our office to do his work now.”

DongHoon slid his glasses up his nose as he tried to hide his bewilderment.

“YeonJung-ssi, you’re being paid properly, right? It’s hard to find someone who does such elegant work as you. He better be treating you well.”

“Yes.”

Hyejin approached YeonJung and plucked a stray thread off of her mint knitted sweater.

“YeonJung-ssi, I looked into it a bit. It turns out that after the broken engagement, he was thrown out of SeonJin, completely penniless. I heard that he had to go into debt in order to set up his company. I’m sure it’s nothing, but if you think that something feels off, you should get out as fast as possible, okay? But I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out all on your own…”

DongHoon got up and placed his arm around Hyejin’s shoulders.

“I’m sure YeonJung-ssi will be fine. She’s not alone, remember? She has us to support her, so what is there to worry about?”

“You’re right. Now that he’s not a part of SeonJin, I’m sure there won’t be anyone around to give you too much trouble. I mean, are they not human as well? Just thinking about how they cursed at YeonJung-ssi back then makes me boiling mad… What’s so great about them that they can…”

YeonJung felt that if she remained here, it’d only rile Hyejin up even more, so she quickly held Hyejin’s hand and gently patted it. Then she began to make her way downstairs.

After she got her cup of coffee, she began to walk up to the second floor terrace of the cafe. SeonJae spotted her and gave her a grin. He texted that there was something important to discuss regarding the project, but he seemed relaxed for a person who was here on urgent business.

“Whah-t’s wrong?”

YeonJung pulled out the chair across from him and sat down. Her hair tie had loosened, so she gathered the loose hairs and tied it again. His blank stare bothered her.

“Is… there soh-mething on mah-y face?”

He lowered his head with a chuckle. His index finger began to tap against the table. He always used to do that before he spoke.

“No, it’s nothing. It’s just… Seeing your hair like that reminded me of the past.”

He picked up his glass of water and began to drink. YeonJung knew what he was remembering. It was the day of the grand opening of the restaurant in Cheongdam-dong. When she was returning to her workplace…

She had been trying to change her punctured tire when she met him by chance. He ultimately ended up taking her to the hotel lounge. His piercing gaze never left her, and he had been tapping the table just as he was doing now. Back then, this man had lifted a martini glass to his dry lips. This image overlapped with the image of SeonJae now.

That day, SeonJae had told her this. He said he wondered what kind of voice she’d make in bed. His lips moved precisely, and he laughed dangerously.

“If you don’t have ah-nything too discuss, I’m lee-ving.”

YeonJung shook her head to brush off these thoughts that automatically filled her mind. This cafe rarely had any customers that didn’t belong to the four businesses in the office building. Therefore, they were the only ones on the second floor of the cafe.

YeonJung’s face flushed at his piercing stare. He seemed to be hot and bothered as well. He loosened his tie and ran his tongue over his lips before opening them.

“I do have something to discuss.”

SeonJae turned the documents in front of him towards her so that she could have a look. It was the wedding exhibition proposals that had already been sent back and forth between them. 

“Whah-t… about this?”

“The 15th clause.”

He had taken a highlighter and made a small mark next to the clause. It was in regards to offering small mementos to the people who attended the exhibition. It had been her idea, and the team leader agreed with it.

“Is soh-mething wrong?”

“It’ll take too much time. We can just take it out.”

With his chin propped in his hand, SeonJae continued to gaze at her with scorching eyes. YeonJung raised her head.

“I’m doo-ing it all.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ll… do it all on mah-y own.”

SeonJae slightly shook his head.

“Thousands of people will be attending. If we give one to each person who comes and goes, there won’t be any left in the end. We don’t have enough resources to do all that. It’s too difficult.”

She bit her lips. The catalogue and brochures would be enough to draw interest, but she wanted to give them something that would leave a lasting impression. It was basically a war between all the booths, and each booth would have something to hand out to the potential clients. And the only thing she could do was flowers.

“Is… it bee-cause of the money?”

She recalled what Hyejin had said earlier. That he had been kicked out of SeonJin, completely penniless. After hearing her question, SeonJae laughed out loud. Then he looked at her without any displeasure in his eyes.

“Why do you think that?”

“I heard yoo didn’t receive ah-nything when yoo left the hotel…”

SeonJae let out an ‘ah’ as he straightened up. An impish gleam flashed across his eyes. She had seen this expression on his face many times in the past.

“Is that why you agreed to help me? You found out I was completely penniless, so you pitied me?”

She became flustered by his unexpected response.

“I neh-ber said I pitied you…”

Pity Min SeonJae? Those words could never be put together. However, for the past two weeks, she had felt something similar to it. She felt the same way when she saw his eyes as he watched her interact with DongHoon. When she rejected his request to eat dinner together. SeonJae grinned at her again.

“It doesn’t matter. As long as it influenced your decision to help me, I’m satisfied.”

He was just about to cross his arms when he frowned in pain. He reached into his briefcase and took out a small paper packet of medicine. He ripped it and placed the pills in his hand before throwing them into his mouth and gulping some water. YeonJung watched him and asked.

“Ah-re you sick?”

SeonJae wiped his mouth with a napkin as he glanced at her.

“If I told you I only had a short time to live, would you pity me even more?”

“…What?”

“If I told you I had an incurable illness, would you treat me more pitifully?”

“Listen hee-re…”

YeonJung frowned, and SeonJae tilted his head back as he laughed.

“I’m just joking. These are just antibiotics.”

He said he was scratched or scratched himself somewhere. She couldn’t quite catch what he said as SeonJae crumpled the paper packet and tossed it over to a corner of the table. Then he turned back to her with an earnest expression.

“Anyways, let’s get back on track. Reconsider the 15th clause. It’s not because of the money. I don’t want you to be tired. And I don’t want people taking advantage of receiving your works for free. While I can forgive them for throwing the catalogue away, I can’t bear to see that happen to your flowers.”

The sharp eyes underneath his dense brows were endlessly deep. Since when have they been that way? Whenever he looked at her like this, she felt as if she were within his embrace even though they weren’t even touching.

YeonJung’s heart began to beat a little faster. She gulped down the coffee sitting in front of her.

“Min SeonJae-shi, ah-re you looking down on mee right now?”

“What do you mean?”

SeonJae looked a bit bewildered as he asked back.

“‘Dis is my work. I’m not soh weak that I cah-n’t take people’s critique.”

YeonJung clenched her fists as she spoke. A faint smile formed on his surprised face.

“Ah, I forgot. I forgot you were this kind of person.”

“……”

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not underestimating your skills. Both objectively and subjectively, Lee YeonJung is the best in my eyes. I’ve become an admirer ever since the YoungJin wedding. Since then, I’ve never looked down on you.”

YeonJung was at a loss for words and stared blankly at him.

“I have a question for yoo.”

“What is it? You can ask me anything. I’ll give you an answer. If you want to know the balance in my bank account, I can show you if you’d like.”

YeonJung ignored him and took out her tablet from her shoulder bag. Her pale fingers flew across the Bluetooth keyboard. His eyes were focused on her hands.

‘Why did you start this company? I’ve wanted to ask since the beginning.’

“Why, does it not suit me?”

‘Not at all.’

SeonJae laughed with a pleasant expression on his face. Then he asked her another question in response.

“I wonder why… What do you think?”

‘Stop fooling around and tell me clearly.’

“…Do you really not know? You don’t know why I started this company?”

His index finger began to tap on the table surface again. Tap, tap. As if he wanted to reach out and touch her hand, his finger stretched out towards her. Distracted by this movement, YeonJung’s lips tensed up.

‘No! Why did a successful hotel CEO get kicked out and go through all this hardship? It’s incomprehensible to me.’

He shook his head.

“I wasn’t kicked out. I walked out on my own. Although, people have a hard time believing it.”

Was this true? Or was he just saying that? If it was true, why?

This man was always busy because of the hotel. He didn’t have to tell her for her to know how important it was to him. When YeonJung looked up at him with a frustrated expression, SeonJae laughed. His eyes slightly lowered.

“It’s true. And thanks to that, I’m now able to sit across from the best business partner in the field. Of course, Team Leader Ahn did his best to make it happen as well.”

He was talking about his employee who continued to email her despite her rejections. SeonJae shrugged.

“But it was also a good opportunity for him as well. I told him to turn in his resignation letter if he wasn’t able to convince you.”

Those smiling lips made it seem like he was joking, but knowing his personality, YeonJung knew that wasn’t the case. She slightly bit her lip.

‘Don’t change the subject.’

After glancing down at the tablet, he looked back up at her with an earnest expression.

“For six months, I went around as I developed my business plan. For those six months, I looked for investors. I disposed of my identity as a member of SeonJin and went around asking for money, but people didn’t look down on me. It wasn’t that bad. It felt like I discarded the heavy armor that protected me. It was quite liberating, actually. I found the work to be fun. I wasn’t doing it to show or prove anything to anyone, but my target was clear.”

‘So what was your target, Min SeonJae-ssi? Why did you set up a company in a field you had nothing to do with?’

Her hands froze above the keyboard. YeonJung blinked. He gave her a meaningful smile. Something flashed across her mind. With her hands floating above the keyboard, she slightly raised her head.

She didn’t think she should ask any further. Whatever answer left those lips… She didn’t think she should hear it. She reached out her hand to pack her tablet and keyboard.

“I set up the company because it was work I could do together with you.”

It was too late. She had clearly seen his lips move.

“My target is you, Lee YeonJung.”

His words flipped her mind upside-down. He continued to stare at her. His gaze was so heavy that she had to turn her head away.

“I-If ‘dat’s all, I’ll be leaving.”

Clutching her chest to steady her heart, she ran down the spiral staircase of the cafe. She almost lost her footing and barely managed to avoid falling down the stairs.

“YeonJung-ssi, I heard that the mugger who was targeting young women near your apartment was captured last night. Mijin-ssi’s boyfriend is a policeman, and according to him, a man who was passing by caught him. They said the culprit was holding a knife, and apparently, the two men got into a fight. It looks like everyone in the neighborhood can sleep easy now, thank goodness.”

Late in the afternoon, Hyejin was chatting with YeonJung. Recalling SeonJae’s behavior earlier that day, YeonJung couldn’t focus on anything following that sentence.

‘My target is you, Lee YeonJung.’

The heating inside the room must have been too high because she was beginning to feel warm. She had to go to the bathroom and wash her face with cold water several times.