DTL Ch 9 part 1

PR by neji

“Good morning, YeonJung-ssi… Uh, why do you look like that? You look very tired.”

DongHoon greeted YeonJung as she arrived that morning. She put down her purse and turned on her tablet.

‘I guess I had trouble falling asleep.’

Last night, she didn’t get a wink of sleep after the man’s sudden appearance. She barely managed to fall asleep at dawn, but her eyes burst open when the vibrating alarm that shook her mattress woke her up.

The moment she saw the record sitting on top of the dining table, the events of last night began to play through her head. She heard that if one was unable to use one of the five senses, another would be sharpened. Possibly due to her deafness, the minute details of events that happened throughout her day would remain clear in her memories.

His slightly trembling hands as he handed her the record. The reddening ears as he turned around. She wished she didn’t remember any of it.

She took a hot shower that morning and drank a cup of strong coffee to pull herself together, but it didn’t seem to help at all.

“YeonJung-ssi, don’t worry. Now that Christmas is right around the corner, you’ll be busy soon enough. Don’t waste your energy just yet. On another note, is your car still at the shop?”

‘They said it would take them about a week. The car is too old, so it requires some repairs here and there.’

“I heard that the area near your apartment has recently become quite dangerous. You’re taking a taxi these days, right?”

Hyejin gripped her bulging stomach and approached them as she asked.

“…Yes, it’s… fine.”

YeonJung nodded her head, but Hyejin didn’t stop there.

“They say that women who walk alone at night are being targeted. Can’t they just get rid of the park over there? It only serves as a place where gangsters can gather and wreak havoc. YeonJung-ssi, if someone knocks on your door at night, never open the door, okay? I heard from Mijin-ssi, the one who works at the traditional medicine clinic downstairs, that they even pretend to be deliverymen and knock on the doors of women who live alone. How vile.”

“Even if… they knock… I cah-n’t heer dem.”

She laughed jokingly, but Hyejin’s eyes narrowed.

“Sometimes I feel like you’re exactly like my younger sibling who never listens to me.”

It took five minutes to get to the office from her apartment by car. Twenty by foot. No matter how late YeonJung worked, she never stayed out past seven o’clock.

After setting Hyejin’s mind at ease, YeonJung checked her email. Compared to two years ago, her client list had shrunk considerably. However, she was thankful that she still got work coming in after the scandal had erupted. They were usually formal wreaths for graduations or interior floral decorations for spring exhibitions.

YeonJung moved her hand and opened the most recent email. It was a company that had been consistently coming to her since a month ago. They said they were a new company that catered to planning weddings both domestically and internationally. They said that they wanted to include her pieces in their brochures and catalogs. She kept declining their offer, but they continued to reach out to her without fail.

[I’m sorry, but I am no longer taking wedding requests.]

As soon as she sent her reply, the team leader from the company responded.

[Our president insists that we must work with you, Lee YeonJung-ssi. If you agree to meet with us just once, I’d be incredibly grateful. Once you hear our side, you might change your mind. I’ll wait for your answer.]

YeonJung sighed as she leaned back against her chair. Five sketchbooks on her bookshelf back at her apartment were filled with wedding bouquet ideas and wedding aisle designs among other things. However, she was no longer taking in any work related to weddings.

A florist who had seduced someone else’s man and even caused the couple to break their engagement… When her relationship with SeonJae ended, that was the title she had been given. Clients began to cancel their business with her one by one. She decided not to return to working on weddings when she heard the news of SeonJae’s broken engagement. She realized then the gravity of what she had done, and she decided to repent for her misdeeds by refraining from wedding planning.

Tap, tap.

Lost in thought, she was trimming the stems of a bunch of flowers when Hyejin tapped her shoulder. DongHoon was currently out on a business lunch.

“YeonJung-ssi, would you like some coffee? I was thinking of grabbing yours while I went to the cafe downstairs to buy mine. I feel a bit drowsy after having lunch.”

Despite her pregnancy, Hyejin was only satisfied if she had a cup of iced coffee. Of course, she made sure it was very weakly brewed. She stubbornly stated that the piled-up stress would be more detrimental for the baby than some caffeine. Husband DongHoon couldn’t find a rebuttal for that argument.

“I’ll… get it.”

YeonJung stood up. It would be better for her to get it instead since Hyejin had trouble moving these days. She also wanted to get some fresh air and clear her head. The whole time she had been trimming the flower stems, all she could think about was the man’s sudden appearance.

– A weak iced americano and an iced latte, please.

The small cafe downstairs was one she frequented often. She typed her order on her phone and held it up to the barista. The always-friendly and tall barista chuckled as he took her order.

“All right. Two pumps of the syrup for the latte, right?”

YeonJung nodded as she pulled out her wallet when someone suddenly stood next to her. She turned her head. SeonJae greeted her with his eyes as he looked down at her. The reason for her lack of sleep last night had appeared once again.

“I’d like to add to that order. Just give me the same as her.”

SeonJae spoke without taking his eyes off of her. YeonJung glanced at the surprised barista with a bewildered expression of her own.

“Ah… are you two together?”

YeonJung shook her head, but the man next to her held out his card.

“Please put it on my card. Including YeonJung’s. That’s okay, right?”

He brought his head closer to hers and whispered the last question. YeonJung could see another nearby barista glance at them as they prepared an order. For some reason, the tall barista at the register seemed to be flustered as his face turned red.

She didn’t want to make a scene at the counter, so she merely nodded and walked over to the table closest to the exit. After taking care of the payment, SeonJae followed after her as if nothing was wrong.

– Why did you suddenly appear? And why are you doing this?

She quickly typed on her phone and held it out to him. SeonJae glanced at the screen before settling his eyes back on her.

“Say it, YeonJung.”

A hot fever rose within her chest as she looked at his face. YeonJung bit her lip. When the barista poured the coffee, a suffocating aroma filled the small cafe.

– Whether I speak or write it down, it’s my choice. I asked you why you were here.

“I wanted to drink some coffee.”

YeonJung clearly recalled SeonJae’s coffee preference as if time had never moved forward. Long black, double shot, hot enough to burn your tongue.

– But you don’t like it sweet.

She looked at him in disbelief. There was no way he’d order an iced coffee pumped full of sweet syrup. And Seoul was filled with various coffee shops, so there was no reason for him to come all the way to this neighborhood to this small cafe. 

SeonJae gazed at her as he rubbed his temple. He still had that habit. Whenever something didn’t go his way, instead of showing his emotions on his face, this man had a habit of rubbing his forehead.

“My preferences have changed. Other than coffee, I’ve changed in many ways. Do you want to know more?”

Hearing his response, YeonJung’s brows slightly furrowed as she looked up at him. His sincere expression didn’t seem to suit him. She shook her head. The barista began to approach them with a tray holding their order. SeonJae relaxed his expression and grinned.

“I’ll enjoy the coffee. Well then, work hard today.”

He grabbed one of two identical coffee cups and didn’t hesitate to turn away. It all happened in the blink of an eye.

“Um…”

The barista hesitated as he called out to her. His following question almost made her drop her coffee onto the floor.

* * *

“So you’re saying that Min SeonJae called out to you like that in the cafe?”

Hyejin asked as she picked up a steaming slice of pig’s feet with her chopsticks. YeonJung’s flushed face nodded. She had mulled over it for a long time before deciding to confess everything to Hyejin. There was a chance that Hyejin and DongHoon would bump into that man from time to time in this neighborhood.

“Then DongHoon-ssi must have truly seen Min SeonJae that time. But Min SeonJae still has that crazy intuition. He recognized with one glance that the young owner of the cafe downstairs was interested in you, YeonJung-ssi. He basically declared war and told him to back off of his woman. But did that man always have such a cute side to him?”

Hyejin was always a fast talker, but now that she was stuffing her face with food, it was harder for YeonJung to understand her. YeonJung poured some soda into her paper cup and gulped it down, but she still didn’t feel refreshed at all.

‘I didn’t know you had a lover.’

Today, YeonJung learned two things. The first was that the young, tall employee at the cafe was not a part-time worker but the owner. The other was that there was no doubt that Min SeonJae had been practicing ventriloquism. Otherwise, there was no way she couldn’t have recognized the fact that he had called her ‘sweetheart’ whenever he addressed her.

‘He told me he’d be buying every cup of coffee you order from now on, YeonJung-ssi.’

The first statement had greatly flustered her, so the second statement didn’t faze her much. But thinking about it now, she wondered whether she should stop going to the cafe downstairs. 

“Why… is he… doing… ‘dat? That… man…”

Because Hyejin didn’t understand sign language, YeonJung spoke up to ask.

“YeonJung-ssi.”

YeonJung nodded in response as she gazed at Hyejin earnestly as if she were receiving counseling.

“In my opinion, Min SeonJae is determined and is planning on showing up in front of you from now on. I think you need to be prepared, YeonJung-ssi.”

“Determined… about whah-t?”

“I’m not sure. Only he will know where his heart lies, but if we think about it logically, there’s no way he showed up after two years to make a clean break.”

“Then… what?”

“Isn’t there only one answer left? He came to find you because he missed you. He wanted to try seeing you again.”

At Hyejin’s words, YeonJung felt her throat run dry, so she poured herself another cup of soda. It wasn’t that she hadn’t considered this throughout her sleepless night. As she laid awake, she kept coming to one conclusion.

“Why… is he doo-ing… this now…? Why…?”

Hyejin threw a clean pig’s feet bone into the plastic bag and shrugged.

“He must have tried to forget you, but it doesn’t look like it worked.”

Hyejin’s eyes narrowed into a smile. She took her wooden chopsticks and placed a fatty piece of meat on YeonJung’s plate. 

“It’s hard to give up on something if you like it a lot. With a personality like Min SeonJae’s, how much more difficult would it be?”

Ba-dump. Her heart began to race despite knowing that Hyejin’s words were ridiculous. YeonJung shook her head to shake off the delusion. Then she picked up the piece of meat and began to chew.

‘There’s no way. There’s no way that man would do this now.’

She recalled his face as he held onto her.

‘Don’t go, YeonJung.’

At the time, he would have liked anyone. He may have even found someone else who matched his well-organized and perfect routine. The six months had merely been a deviation for him, and the same went for her. However, they were older now, and those events would not be repeated again.

* * *

As if to prove that Hyejin’s advice was correct, SeonJae’s brief visits continued on.

<Do you have any business with me?>

That day, DongHoon, who didn’t know anything about what had occurred, told her that he saw Min SeonJae sitting at a table outside downstairs as he enjoyed a cup of coffee. Hearing this, YeonJung burst out of her seat and began to head down.

“The coffee here is delicious. Why don’t you sit down and enjoy a cup?”

He was looking down at his laptop underneath the bright winter sun. Then he looked up at her and flashed her a grin.

<If you don’t have any business with me, I would like you to stop coming here. You’re bothering me at work.>

SeonJae received the scrawled message on the post-it and nodded before packing his things and disappearing. However, from then on, he began to show up at her apartment instead. Unlike before when he barely had time to breathe due to the large amount of work, he seemed to have a lot more free time these days. But he didn’t show up and take much of her time either.

“Here.”

He would often show up at 10 PM and hand her something before disappearing for the night. Sometimes he’d hand her a carton filled with half-fried and half-seasoned chicken. On another day, he handed her a large, fluffy scarf.

He’d give her excuses that were obviously false. His friend ordered some chicken, but two orders came instead of one. An ahjumma street vendor was selling scarves and told him that if he bought two scarves, she’d offer them at a cheaper price, so he bought it.

This man wasn’t the type of person to enjoy a late-night meal with anyone. He wasn’t someone who’d go shopping at street stalls, and he definitely wasn’t someone who’d buy something in pairs because it’d be cheaper if he did. Instead of telling him she didn’t want it, she’d coldly shut the door in his face. In these instances, he’d merely hang the bag on the doorknob and disappear.

“……”

Although they were inside a building, the apartment corridor was still very cold in the winter. Accepting Hyejin’s invitation, YeonJung had dinner with them at their home in the neighboring town. When she returned home, she frowned. SeonJae was leaning against her door in the dark. When he saw her, he lifted his head.

“You’re home? You’re a bit late today. I just wanted to give this to you before I left.”

He held up a white and pink paper bag. His deep, monolid eyes. His tall, sharp nose. When they were closed, his lips hid his stubborn nature. These lips stretched into a smile. The dimple on his chin deepened.

“It caught my eye as I was taking a stroll. You like the macaroons here.”

I don’t like them. I don’t eat late at night anymore. She held back these words. She never wanted to speak aloud to him ever again. She didn’t want to let him hear her voice.

‘Shut your mouth. Don’t speak.’

His fierce expression as he watched her stutter overlapped with his smiling face now.

‘Why are you doing this to me? Why? Why are you showing up so suddenly and acting like this now?’

YeonJung kept her mouth shut and glared at him. How nice would it be if people could speak with their eyes? No, what if they had evolved to a point where they could communicate telepathically? How comfortable would that be?

“They had a variety of flavors, but I couldn’t remember what other flavors you liked other than these. Sorry.”

The man apologized for such a ridiculous reason as he laughed awkwardly. But his gaze remained glued on her. His gaze was so obvious and open that she felt her body begin to grow warm.

The paper bag dangled in front of her eyes. How does this man see me? Does he see me as a young child who can be won over with a few cookies? With this, does he think that we’ll go back to being sex partners as if nothing happened?

Tap—.

The paper bag fell out of his hand and onto the concrete floor. No, it was more accurate to say that she flung it out of his hands. Her face stiffened coldly. She held up her chin and looked up at him. What are you going to do now? Her eyes asked him.

“What is it? Do you… not like how they taste?”

This man knew how to glare. His handsome, thick brows knew how to furrow into a frightening scowl. However, this man was now picking up the bag on the floor and asking her a question as if nothing was wrong. She was the one who was scowling.

“…Should I buy something else?”

Her brows began to twitch, so she quickly opened her front door and rushed inside. Her heart was unpleasantly thumping inside her chest. She walked over to her sketchbook on the table and ripped out a page. She grabbed a permanent marker and began to scribble something on the paper. Then she walked back outside and held the paper up to him.

<Whether it’s at my home or at my workplace, I’d like it if you’d stop showing up in front of me!>

She finally saw SeonJae’s eyes shake slightly. Was he angry? As someone who had always put his own emotions first, he must be angry. However, the expression he was making as he glanced at her was completely unexpected. He didn’t frown at her, nor did he shout.

“I’ll leave for today.”

He smiled at her as if nothing was wrong. Only the slight trembling of his lips betrayed the unrest within him. YeonJung frowned. That expression didn’t seem to suit him. What did it mean?

She was the one who had been hurt. She was sorry that his engagement had been broken, but she didn’t appear before him for two years and lived in hiding. His stepmother had grabbed her by her hair, and she had inflicted pain upon her own parents that could not be healed. So why was he looking at her as if he were in pain? She began to grow angry.

While he was holding the paper in his hand and standing in silence, YeonJung slammed the door shut. She leaned on the door and slid to the floor. She felt as if a fist was constricting around her heart. It felt suffocating.