DTL Ch 6 part 2

PR by neji

“Damn it!”

SeonJae threw his phone under his desk. The telephone cord snapped out and fell down with it. However, it did nothing to make him feel better. If he could, he wanted to grab his father’s throat and wring it. This morning, he had received the news that his and Kim Chaerin’s wedding date had been set for Christmas Eve, so he had already been in a bad mood. However, he never expected to hear the ridiculous news that was just relayed to him.

— We’ve decided to put your older brother in charge of the hotel construction in Shanghai. We were thinking about setting up a chain of department stores there in a few years anyway, so it’ll save us some time if we do it this way. I’ve already discussed this with President Kim, so I’m just informing you of our decision. Good work.

If this wasn’t an example of one beating the bushes and the other catching the birds, he didn’t know what was. SeonJae was the one who had put all the effort into gaining favor from Samil Construction. If he wasn’t going to become their son-in-law, then all of this wouldn’t have been possible.

“…What are you going to do when the construction is finished? Are you planning on leaving all the managerial duties to Director Min KunHyung?!”

Recalling his second brother’s cold eyes flashing from behind his rimless glasses, SeonJae began to grind his teeth.

SeonJae swallowed the curses threatening to leave his lips and pulled at his necktie. He kept replaying the firm words of President Min that had flowed out through the phone.

—You should focus on your businesses in Korea for now. You even have that plot of land on Jeju Island to consider. You have a lot on your plate right now. And President Kim doesn’t seem too eager to send his newly married daughter far away either. Every person must wait their time. With your personality, you’ll run after a big dream and only come back with a great loss. If you just bow your head this once, a better opportunity will be waiting for you in the future.

SeonJae wanted to shout at his father and tell him to take those words and shove them somewhere else. From the very beginning, he never insisted that Kim Chaerin follow him to Shanghai. Actually, he felt relieved that he could use this time abroad for business as an excuse to skip out on his honeymoon. If he had to enter the Samil household as a live-in son-in-law, he wanted to avoid that for as long as possible.

His plan was to stay in Shanghai during the construction of the hotel for a year while living apart from Kim Chaerin. During this time, he was going to try and convince her that they should buy their own house and move out when he came back from his business abroad.

But until the very end, he remained a chess piece on his father’s chessboard. Not only that, he was a mere pawn that was sacrificed for his father’s goals. It was the perfect position for someone like him. SeonJae could pose as a threat, so if he died, nothing bad would come of it.

“…If that’s all you called to say, I will be hanging up now.”

He barely managed to steady his voice. The tendons in his clenched fist began to tremble. If he knew this is what would happen, he would never have worked so hard to gain Samil’s favor. If he knew that he would gain nothing in return… If he had only known… He wouldn’t have worked so hard to benefit others.

— One more thing. Make sure you act properly so that nothing bad will come up before your wedding.

“What do you mean by that?”

He could hear his father click his tongue on the other end of the call.

— I’m telling you to clean up any relationships you might have with other women. I wouldn’t say anything if you were meeting many women as a young bachelor, but your wedding is right in front of your nose. Make sure no one says anything that can ruin it.

“…Have you been sending people to keep watch on me?”

— Do you think there aren’t eyes watching you in the hotel? Take care of this before I do send someone to watch you. I don’t want to hear about you hanging around people of such low class.

The call ended.

“That fucking… Damn it!!”

SeonJae slammed his fist down on his desk. Until now, he had embraced countless women. The woman President Min had just referred to could only be one woman. The only woman he had invited to his penthouse, the only woman he had spent the night with and woke up to in the morning, Lee YeonJung. According to President Min, SeonJae was currently hanging around a woman of low class.

‘Just how high is your own position for you to be saying something like that?!’

The words he couldn’t say rumbled inside his chest. The pile of documents on top of his desk was swept aside and crashed onto the ground. With the mess of an office behind him, SeonJae left the hotel. Although it was still light outside, he needed liquor to numb the distress brewing inside him.

One glass. A second glass. As he continued to pour the straight liquor down his throat, he felt the anger dull. Instead, stinging despair began to fill its place. His twisted face fell onto the counter of a bar illuminated by blue halogen lights. SeonJae closed his eyes and began to think.

‘This damned life where I can’t even act like a proper puppet. I just want to die. After losing consciousness from all this liquor, I’d rather not wake up.’

In the faint darkness of his mind, only one name popped up. His eyes slowly opened. His hand rummaged around in his jacket pocket as if out of habit and pulled out his cell phone.

It was 2 AM when he returned to his office apartment. His whole body smelled of whiskey. SeonJae staggered as he took off his dress shoes and entered inside.

What’s that?

SeonJae’s drunken eyes fixed on a large, orange dome in the middle of the living room. A light was glittering from inside as it illuminated the dark. He squinted his eyes as if he couldn’t see straight and glared at the light.

Instead of flipping the switch to turn on the light, SeonJae stumbled past the dining table. Inside the miniature tent, the woman was laying down with her eyes closed. She had headphones over her ears. The volume was turned all the way up, so he could hear the music from where he was standing.

SeonJae recalled how he had called her multiple times in a drunken stupor. He had called a woman who couldn’t hear and ultimately hung up in frustration every single time.

“…Lee YeonJung.”

The tent was large enough to fit two people, so she looked very comfortable inside. She looked like she was currently camping inside a forest full of glowing fireflies. SeonJae burst into laughter at the thought.

The hotel in Shanghai had escaped his grasp. While he was currently on the verge of death from despair, what was this woman so happy about that she had such a satisfied expression on her face?

He frowned. All of this might be because of this deaf woman. Because of this deaf woman who foolishly continued to listen to music. Just like his father said, this low-class woman might have taken away the energy and effort he should have poured into the Samil Group. And now he had ended up like this.

“……”

When he passed through the open entrance of the tent, the woman’s eyes opened. He could still hear the loud music coming from her headphones. He crouched down next to the woman and sneered at her.

“A deaf woman who enjoys music…”

“……”

“Isn’t that way too ridiculous?”

The woman merely stared at him in silence. He would rather have heard her whimpering voice, but she remained silent. The string of lights strung around them continued to blink.

He swept the hair that had fallen across his forehead. It had been a while since his well-kept hair had become disheveled like this. He fell to his knees and placed his hands on the ground as he shook his head.

“You… can’t hear. You can’t hear anything. But your hobby is listening to music? Haha. You’re only spewing that nonsense due to a sense of inferiority. Lee YeonJung. Or do you think that you can hear if you just try hard enough? No, are you brainwashing yourself into thinking you can hear? No matter what your reason is, isn’t it too… pathetic?”

He snorted. There was nothing more pitiful than striving for something one could never obtain. It always made people laugh at you. No matter how much he tried to be perfect, in the end, he was merely the illegitimate son his father had produced from an affair. From birth, he could never reach the status of his royal brothers no matter how hard he tried. Dirty water flowed in his blood. SeonJae’s face twisted into a frown.

“Isn’t life shit? No one was born this way because they wanted to be. Right? You weren’t born deaf because you wanted to be deaf. It’s not like you can’t hear because you don’t want to hear. You just had shit luck, right?”

If he could choose his parents, he would rather have been born into a normal family. No matter how much he grit his teeth and worked hard, what came back his way wasn’t compliments but scorn. Although he was stepped on, he always held his head up high. Therefore, his brothers always looked at him as if he were a cockroach.

“Fuck… Say something.”

A curse burst from his mouth, but the woman remained lying down and stared up at him in silence. Her pert lips were slightly tilted up as she gave him a faint smile. SeonJae felt as if he were suffocating, so he began taking his shirt off. His fingers moved as if they had a mind of their own, so a couple of buttons ended up ripping off and scattering onto the floor.

“People are going to laugh at you. When they watch you use up the last of your energy, I’m sure they’ll tell you you’re amazing to your face. But they’ll be laughing at you behind your back. They’ll take pity on you. They’ll feel a sense of superiority as they trample all over you. Do you know how miserable that can make a person?”

Although he had partially unbuttoned his shirt, he still felt as if he couldn’t breathe. He felt as if his throat was parched as well, but maybe it wasn’t. He frowned as he shouted at her. He felt as if a heat within his chest was continuing to rise and closing off his throat.

“Why aren’t you stuttering at me like you always do?! Fuck!”

The woman finally sat up slowly. Her pale hands moved and placed her headphones on top of his head. He couldn’t hear anything but the music. Although she had lowered the volume, all he could hear was the melody of the song. The drumbeats sounded louder than normal.

“…What are you doing?”

The woman stretched out her hands and began caressing his face. SeonJae hissed out the breath that seemed to have been stuck inside his chest. Her lips followed her fingers as she placed kisses on his brow, nose, and cheeks. Her slender fingers went down his neck and began to unbutton the rest of his shirt one by one.

“…I asked you a question. What are you doing?”

It seemed that the bottle of whiskey he had finished seemed to be having its effect now. He couldn’t push her away. Instead, he propped his hands behind him and remained sitting as he nibbled on her lips. As he listened to the music flowing out of the headphones, SeonJae felt as if his body was floating in the air. 

“Don’t joke around, Lee YeonJung.”

She wasn’t looking at him. His words disappeared into the air. No reason was given. There was no way his threats had reached her.

Her hands were now unbuckling his belt. Although she hadn’t touched it, his staff grew stiff and was now twitching painfully as it pushed up against his underwear. The moment she lowered her head, his body fell back.

The music grew louder and louder. His heartbeat matched the rhythm of the melody as heat rushed through his veins. He closed his eyes. He threaded his fingers through her hair as she hovered over his groin. As her tongue stroked his length, he thrust deeper into her mouth. He couldn’t clear away the fog in his mind.

“Ugh! Aah, damn it!”

The music blasting into his ears was too loud, so he couldn’t hear the cries coming out of his own lips. Grasping her small head, SeonJae began to pump his hips.

When he reached the peak of his climax, he opened his eyes. The glittering light bulbs strung across the orange tent were right in front of his eyes. It reminded him of a far-off memory of the ceiling of a merry-go-round he had seen a long time ago.

When he turned his head, he saw her back as she tried to exit the tent. He felt as if tears were about to leave his eyes, so he frowned. Then he stretched out his hand and snatched her back inside.

“…I never said you could leave.”

Lying underneath him, she blinked up at him. SeonJae threw off the headphones and painfully grasped her shoulders with both hands. He swallowed before he began to whisper to her.

“…I never said I wanted you to console me.”

“Did yoo… not… like the… moo-sic?”

“No.”

SeonJae shook his head. She stared up at him drowsily. He placed more of his weight on top of her.

“I almost had a heart attack.”

“I’m… glah-d.”

Her lips slowly tilted up. She let out a breathy chuckle.

“You’re seriously… a weird woman, Lee YeonJung. You know that?”

SeonJae pulled her t-shirt over her head and dragged her cotton shorts and underwear down her legs. Her slender shoulders and soft breasts. Her tender hips and flat belly. Her round belly button. Her plump bottom that didn’t seem to suit her petite body. This was the body that never failed to boil his blood whenever he saw her. SeonJae gazed at her and began to speak in a soft voice.

“Tell me what you want.”

“……”

“I feel like I can fulfill any wish you have right now, so tell me.”

SeonJae slowly murmured as he looked down at her face. Suddenly, YeonJung let out a faint laugh.

“I wah-nt too hear, too.”

Suddenly, SeonJae felt as if someone had pricked his heart. The woman was definitely laughing right now, but it also seemed as if she were crying as well. His thick brows furrowed.

“I also wah-nt too hear. Juh-st once… Juh-st once…”

As she spoke in a soft voice, SeonJae’s hand slowly stretched out. With a trembling hand, he picked up the headphones from the ground and placed them on her head. Even though he knew it would be no use, he prayed that the melody would reach her and raised the volume.

His heart thumped inside his chest according to the drumbeats in the song. While lying in the nude, the woman’s lips slowly stretched into a smile as she closed her eyes. His heart felt sore as if someone had squeezed it with a tight fist. 

Why did this woman bring out these emotions from him? At this moment, SeonJae felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness because he could not help her hear. 

In order to hide the warmth traveling up his face, SeonJae crouched down and greedily sucked her breasts. He buried his face against her chest and drew a deep breath. The despair he had felt earlier in the day had dissolved as if it had happened a long time ago. No, maybe this moment right now wasn’t real. Or maybe this was all because of the liquor.

SeonJae widened her legs and stepped into a distant world. Her voice replayed inside his head over and over again.

‘I want to hear, too. I want to hear. I want to hear…’

A single tear escaped her closed eyes. SeonJae licked away the salty tear and buried himself even deeper inside. The woman was shaking underneath him as she tried to hold back her cries. SeonJae pounded into her even harder as he shouted out like a beast. If he didn’t leave traces of himself like this, if he didn’t take this woman to the breaking point, then her silent world would hold no traces of him.

* * *

He glanced at the clock. The fact that there was still ten minutes left until six annoyed him. After he saw her tears in the orange tent, if SeonJae didn’t have any pressing appointments, he usually went straight to the office apartment and spent his free time with her. 

After the Shanghai hotel project was handed off to his second brother, SeonJae completely took his hands off the matter as if to prove to everyone that he was no longer involved. He had no lingering attachment to that project. He actually felt relieved. He mustered up the energy and met with his fiancé a week ago to share a proper dinner. During the dinner, he dug his heels and refused to enter the Samil household after their wedding.

“I’m not sure what Father will say, but I’m okay with that.”

Kim Chaerin didn’t hide her discomfort. SeonJae wiped his mouth with his napkin and replied in a dry voice.

“If President Kim trusted me a bit more as his business partner, I would understand his desire to have me close by. However, with the state of things now, isn’t it a bit unreasonable?”

After this wedding, if he was only used to benefit others, then this marriage was useless to him as a whole. He wanted his stupid fiancé to figure out the meaning behind his words. It wasn’t that he wanted them to go back and return the project to him. He’d rather have the Samil Group offer him a brand new project.

“I think we’re finished, so why don’t we leave.”

The woman had barely nibbled on her food. Before she could put down her knife, SeonJae called for a waiter. His fiancé’s face flushed with embarrassment.

“I thought this marriage was important to you, Min SeonJae-ssi.”

“It’s very important to me. That has not changed. But since I am a businessman born and raised, I don’t go into any business deal that will bring me a loss.”

His lips twitched into a smile. He tossed his crumpled napkin onto his plate. Watching this, Chaerin’s face grew red.

“Are you being like this because you couldn’t go to Shanghai by any chance?”

“I’m not sure. It just feels like this isn’t as fun anymore. If you haven’t finished your meal, please enjoy it at your own pace. I have a previous engagement, so I’ll take my leave now.”

Seeing her plump lips part in shock, SeonJae grabbed his suit jacket and hung it on his arm before standing up. He didn’t show any concern for the rage expressed in his fiancé’s face. 

He knew very well that the Samil Group could not break this engagement. The contract had already been completed, and if his and Kim Chaerin’s engagement was broken, all the business deals that had been made in the name of their marriage would crumble into dust. There was no way SeonJin or Samil would do something as insane as that. He quickly walked out of the restaurant. For the first time in a long while, the wind felt refreshing against his face.

* * *

“Lee YeonJung.”

She wasn’t home. He popped his head into the orange tent she was usually in. He didn’t see her anywhere.

‘What the hell.’

He suddenly felt a wave of frustration. He had personally bought some fresh sushi and driven all the way here. He threw it on the sofa.

Last time, she had made a huge fuss about having seen it on a food blog, so he had gone to Mapo and spent an hour trying to find the Japanese restaurant. Thanks to her, he ended up visiting a variety of popular restaurants all over Seoul. After work, he had gone through the heavy rush-hour traffic, expecting her to be waiting patiently at the apartment. Instead, she had gone out.

He grabbed his phone and texted her, asking her where she was. She quickly replied and told him she was at her workspace.

[Hurry up and come home. What is a woman doing out so late?]

A reply did not come right away. SeonJae picked up the sushi and put it in the fridge before heading into the bathroom. If she didn’t come back by the time he finished his shower, he was going to eat it all on his own.

He was going to make sure to place the empty paper bag stamped with the Japanese restaurant’s logo in a place where she could see it. He imagined her reaction happily as he increased the water temperature. He wanted to refreshingly sweat it out today.

He purposefully enjoyed his shower for an hour, but when he came out, the woman had still not returned. SeonJae put on a pair of sweatpants on his feverish body and sat down on the sofa. He took out his phone and sent another message.

[Are you still at your workplace?]

He decided to go pick her up. Her workplace was located in an alleyway where cars rarely passed through. And it was so gloomy that it wouldn’t be shocking to hear that something strange took place in a location like that. 

He placed his cell phone on the table and poured himself a glass of water. His appetite had long disappeared. It was annoying that she continued to go to that place every day just because it was close by. However, she still hadn’t replied to his text.

Whoosh—.

SeonJae placed the cup in the sink and watched as the tap water filled the cup before turning it off. Twenty minutes had passed, but he still didn’t receive a response.

After putting on a t-shirt, he snatched his keys and stood up. An unpleasant anxiousness spread throughout his body. His steps quickened as he made his way to the parking lot.

Boom, boom, boom—.

After he arrived at her workspace, he banged his fist against the front door. He heard the barking of a dog from far away.

Damn it…

He couldn’t see through the old glass door. Seeing that her junk car was parked outside, he knew that she was definitely inside. However, all he could see was a dim light.

“Lee YeonJung! Open the door!”

He shouted until his throat grew hoarse, but he knew better than anyone that it was useless. SeonJae chewed on his lips as he took out his cell phone. She had sent her last message three hours ago. After he had threatened her not to ignore his messages, she rarely didn’t respond to his texts.

Once he was overwhelmed with a strange air of anxiety, he stopped thinking. The dim light flickered for a moment before turning off with an unpleasant tick. 

Crash—.

He kicked the door hard, causing it to shatter. With the glass crunching underneath his feet, SeonJae hurriedly entered inside. The workplace was located on the other side of the old corridor. After walking through the dark entrance, he entered an open area. When he saw the woman busily moving on top of the large table, he sagged in relief.

With her hair tied up in a ponytail, she took a pair of large scissors and began cutting a bunch of unfamiliar flowers from its stems. Flowers were attached to a long, wooden structure that had been carved into the shape of a boat. The woman moved with determination.

Snip, snip. The stems fell down beside her feet. The two vases that came up to her hips were already completed. She used her scissors to cut the flower-like leaves and formed a bridge going from one vase to the other. SeonJae had never seen anything like the piece she was currently making with her own two hands. 

“……”

SeonJae mindlessly walked over to the dusty couch and sat down. He continued to watch her work.

Cough.

She let out a light cough and took out a reed from a crudely constructed vase. The yellow reed was cut to a desirable length in her hands. There was no hesitation in her movements as she placed them in her piece. The ripe reeds were placed between the flowers, and it almost looked like they were brought back alive.

With the scissors in one hand, she placed her other hand on her hips and stretched her neck. Because she was so focused, and because the light in the room only illuminated the table, SeonJae remained undiscovered. 

Sitting on the sofa, SeonJae crossed his arms. He felt the urge to snatch her down from the table and place kisses on the baby hairs on her forehead, but he didn’t want to bother her work. Although she was only wearing her faded jeans and a worn, white t-shirt, she was shining brightly in his eyes.

SeonJae reflexively swallowed. According to her, the thing deaf people hated the most was being scared from behind. After teasing her like this a few times, he noticed how pale her face became and decided not to repeat it ever again.

“…Aagh!”

Before he could act on his kind consideration, she turned around. When their eyes met, she let out a shriek. SeonJae let out a quiet sigh.

“Seon… SeonJae-shi…?”

She blinked at him for a few seconds before being overcome with a sense of relief. SeonJae finally stood up and walked over to her.

“Wh…Why ah-re yoo here?”

She drew in a breath as her eyes widened. SeonJae grabbed the scissors she had dropped and opened his mouth.

“Don’t tell me you were shocked. I was even more shocked. I rushed over here, afraid that you were kidnapped or maybe even fainted from eating something bad. So don’t tell me you’re the one who’s surprised. Just where did you leave your cell phone?”

He spoke first in case she would be angry with him. YeonJung let out an ‘ah’ before running into the corridor. It seemed that she just remembered she had left her cell phone on the sofa near the entrance.

“Haagh!”

He heard her strange shriek once again. He heard her stomping footsteps. She came back, her face red as she panted in anger. It seemed that she had finally discovered the door he had shattered with his foot. SeonJae sighed for a second time.

“D…Doh! Door!”

She was so riled up that she couldn’t speak properly.

“So why didn’t you answer me? It’s all your fault. It was the best decision I could make in an emergency situation.”

“Still… Hah… How could… yoo bra…break the… doh..door?!!”

“Be quiet. I’ll just have it fixed for you. And if it was a door that could break just from a kick, it needed to be replaced anyway.”

She looked at him in disbelief and began to angrily reply. However, because she was so worked up in anger, it took him a little longer to understand what she was saying. Because the flowers had been delivered late, she ended up staying in the workplace later than expected. Because the exhibition was tomorrow, she needed to finish the piece today. All she had to do now was clean it up a bit, and the people would be here tomorrow morning to pick it up. But now he had gone and shattered the door, so she was going to spend the night here and watch over it.

“Who’d steal something like that? I’d understand if it was money or something like that.”

When she heard his empty words, her eyes narrowed into a glare. She was cute. Damn it. He just wanted to lay her down right here and embrace her. He yawned and gave her a tired look.

“O-Okay. Then we can just stay here until tomorrow morning. I can just replace that damned door for you.”

Her eyes widened. It didn’t look like she understood him, so he kindly repeated the words to her.

“Go ahead and finish your work. We’ll just spend the night here. But where is the bedroom? Don’t tell me there isn’t one. Bed. I’m talking about a bed. A place to sleep.”

“D…There… isn’t one.”

He knew it. It wasn’t even surprising anymore. He calmly found a spot on the couch and sat down. She looked at him in bewilderment, but she soon turned back to her work.

She returned to the table and put on a pair of cotton work gloves. She began to clean the vases. Although she was small, she carried those large structures as if they were nothing.

He wondered if he should offer his help but ultimately decided against it. He knew what her answer would be. Instead, he never took his eyes off her. No, he couldn’t. His heart began to beat a bit faster.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

Once she was done with her work, he could hear a rumble coming from her stomach. The woman handed him her cell phone and told him to order some jajangmyeon. SeonJae obediently did as she asked. He had ordered it a few times with her before. The Chinese restaurant in this neighborhood was pretty good. The delivery man seemed a bit reluctant when he saw the shattered door, but the police weren’t called.

Meow.

When they were unwrapping the plastic wrap from the bowls of jajangmyeon, a cat quietly crawled out.

“Ah, what the hell! That surprised me.”

Seeing SeonJae jump up in shock, the woman grabbed her stomach and laughed.

“What’s so funny? Please get rid of that dirty thing.”

The cat had surprised him from the first moment he saw it. The black cat glared at him and mewled. The woman glared at him as she opened a can of tuna. Seeing the cat rub its head affectionately on the floor, SeonJae frowned in displeasure as he split his wooden chopsticks.

After eating up the double portion of jajangmyeon, SeonJae embraced the woman just as she finished slurping down the last of her noodles. On top of the dusty sofa, he pulled down her jeans and positioned himself between her legs before pushing his stiff length inside. Ever since his heart gave a jolt when he saw her working, SeonJae couldn’t think straight. 

“I never dreamed things would turn out like this when I first met you.”

“Haa… wha-what…?”

At SeonJae’s murmur, the woman drew in a ragged breath and asked back.

“It’s nothing.”

He shook his head before burying his face into her neck. He didn’t want to think about anything right now. He only wanted to focus on his desire for her.

After they finished their explosive round of sex, the woman promptly fell asleep in his arms. Lying side by side on the narrow sofa, SeonJae caressed her exposed breast as he buried his lips against her neck. Even in sleep, the woman squirmed.

Surrounded by her work, SeonJae couldn’t sleep. It was as if she were so bright that he couldn’t approach her. The image of her working was engraved into his mind. Far from the trembling retard he had first thought her to be, seeing her so engrossed in her work was such an amazing sight to see that he couldn’t take his eyes off her. 

His eyes gradually closed. Clouds of dust floating around in the workspace. The messy cat hiding somewhere. On top of the worn sofa. He was currently lying down in such a ridiculous place, but he felt a sense of peace that he had never felt before. If something was wrong with his head, it didn’t look like it would get better anytime soon.