IMFOBO | CH 23 | Let’s Go Together

Eun-cho stared at Tae-san with a dumbfounded expression.

What is it with this guy trying to flirt with me all the time?

At this point, it had to be more than just a habit; maybe it was a disease.

“I never said I missed you.”

“Then look all you want. I’ll be stuck to you the whole time.”

Even though you’ll probably disappear again at any moment.

Jeong-seok placed a bowl of rice and a bowl of soup in front of Tae-san.

The rice was piled high enough that you’d believe it was for a farmhand.

Well, considering how tall he is, he probably needs to eat that much.

They weren’t expecting Tae-san, so the side dishes were pretty lackluster.

They were mostly rustic, wild greens, to the point that Su-ji had already teased her, saying a rabbit could frolic on the table.

The man neatly put the food in his mouth and began to chew.

Despite acting like a thug sometimes, he surprisingly didn’t make a single sound of scraping the bowl with his spoon.

The way he held his chopsticks properly suggested he’d been taught strict dining etiquette.

‘He’s exactly my grandma’s type. A man who enjoys his greens.’

She’d seen her grandma just last night, and the memory made her heart ache even more.

Ultimately, after discussing it with the doctor in charge, they decided to move hospitals.

The famous hospitals in Seoul had incredibly long waiting lists, so she was pulling every string she could to try and make it happen.

“Eun-cho, eat something.”

She always got lost in thoughts of her grandma.

Snapping back to reality, Eun-cho took a bite of the dried radish greens stew.

Even so, her gaze often drifted to Tae-san.

‘Huh, he eats those plain-tasting greens pretty well, considering…’

Eun-cho followed Tae-san’s chopsticks with her eyes, noticing which side dishes he reached for most often.

He ate the bracken fern, which was in the same poisonous plant family as Eun-cho, with relish, and especially seemed to enjoy the sautéed Aster scaber (Korean Daisy) salad that Eun-cho had picked herself.

Unexpectedly, he had simple tastes.

And it was also quite strange that they were so similar to her own.

The process of getting to know someone, little by little, wasn’t a bad experience.

“There’s Baekun Retail’s president’s inauguration ceremony the day after tomorrow…”

Tae-san brought up the main topic only after finishing his meal.

Jeong-seok and Su-ji stopped their fussing and finally focused their attention on Tae-san.

Until then, the three of them hadn’t even considered that it might be something related to them.

“Let’s go together.”

“Me?”

Eun-cho blinked at the calm gaze fixed on her.

Her heart skipped a beat.

She knew the day would come when he’d need someone to play the role of his wife, but it was happening sooner than she’d vaguely expected.

It was a notification that he was going to introduce her as his future wife at an official event.

If that happened, the contract would truly begin in earnest.

There would be no turning back.

Unlike the relaxed Tae-san, Eun-cho’s expression momentarily hardened with a slight tension.

“You two can attend as well.”

“Oh, a perfect stage. Is Hyung really going to push our marriage for real?”

“I’m just setting the stage. You’re on your own to clean up the mess.”

“Okay.”

The brothers continued their conversation, as if confirming something already agreed upon.

It was clear that Ryu Tae-san was more dangerous and overwhelming than usual when he was making a deal.

Even though she knew he was talking to Jeong-seok, Eun-cho felt like she was about to be swept away by the arrogant and presumptuous man’s pace.

‘Is this how I take a step into his world?’

It’s alright. There’s no need to be afraid.

If she was by this man’s side, there was no way anyone would dare to harm her.

Eun-cho tried her best to calm her uneasy and trembling heart.

Still, she could handle things up to this point.

The problem she hadn’t anticipated came next.

“Who’s the president of Retail?”

It was a casual question from Jeong-seok.

Honestly, Eun-cho didn’t really care who became the president of Baekun Group’s subsidiary.

Other than playing the role of Ryu Tae-san’s wife at the event.

However…

Tae-san’s indifferent gaze turned to Eun-cho.

She had a bad feeling about this.

“Director Lee Han-mu.”

Ah…

The chopsticks hovering in the air came to a halt.

There was no proper explanation.

Ryu Tae-san wasn’t exactly a kind man.

Nevertheless, Eun-cho could easily piece together the situation.

Why didn’t I think that my father might be involved in this marriage of convenience?

Considering that Ryu Tae-san was the third prospective groom she’d met, it wouldn’t be strange at all if some kind of deal had been made between them.

Just like he’d made a contract for their marriage, he might have made another bargain with her father, offering him the position of subsidiary president.

She’d never had any expectations of her father, so there was no reason to be disappointed, but…

“A woman’s success in life is marrying a good husband.”

Even though she considered it hypocrisy, she’d unknowingly harbored a strange expectation in the corner of her heart.

A vain hope that her father might genuinely be doing this for her sake.

That familiar despair pricked at Euncho’s old wounds, twisting the knife ever so bitterly.

‘Figures. I’m so sick of this.’

A heartless father who sells off his daughter for his own advancement.

He hadn’t changed at all since the old days when he’d left his young daughter with his in-laws after losing his wife.

People don’t change that easily.

“That position should be a good enough facade.”

Facade. Eun-cho bit her lip at the dry, matter-of-fact remark.

Her lips turned pale before regaining moisture and becoming even redder.

From a purely objective point of view, it was an extremely efficient plan.

Ryu Tae-san didn’t know what kind of relationship Eun-cho had with her father, so it was something he could easily do.

For her father, and for Ryu Tae-san, this marriage was nothing more than a business deal.

“Yes, I suppose so.”

Eun-cho tried to sound calm as she gathered her troubled thoughts.

She’d thought she had the power to choose her own life, but it turned out she’d been played in the palms of Ryu Tae-san and her father for a long time.

Realizing that made her heart feel scratchy and uneasy.

“The wedding should be in about three months.”

The man, oblivious to Eun-cho’s feelings, dropped another bomb.

As if determined to keep Lee Eun-cho by his side no matter what, even if he had to rush things.

In the end, there was no one on her side.

At that moment, Eun-cho missed her grandma so much.

* * *

“Oh, our sweet puppy is here? Why do you bother coming all the way to see this old woman? I’d love to see my puppy’s face one more time, though.”

Even though her wrinkled face was lit up with a bright smile, Eun-cho could see that her grandma’s strength was gradually fading.

Wasn’t it incredibly difficult to fight cancer with a weakened, elderly body?

Even young people’s bodies were breaking down.

“Is something wrong? Why does our puppy look so gloomy?”

“What could be wrong with me? All I do is go between home and the clinic.”

Eun-cho mumbled in response, burying her face in her grandma’s lap.

The familiar scent of her grandma, layered over the smell of hospital medicine, seemed to ease her sharp, edgy heart.

Even so, she couldn’t bring herself to reveal her festering feelings.

Nowhere.

There was nowhere she could open her heart and be comforted.

“When our puppy’s feeling down, Grandma needs to make scorched rice porridge in the cauldron. And catch a hen, too.”

Without being told, her grandma sensed that her granddaughter’s condition was unusual and stroked her hair.

She felt like her eyes were about to turn red for no reason.

“Grandma’s just a burden to our puppy because I’m so sick.”

“Don’t say things like that.”

The marriage with Ryu Tae-san would proceed as planned.

The moment he added the condition of three months, she would keep going up and down, repeating it like riding a fast roller coaster.

The inauguration was tomorrow.

Even though she was just doing what she’d agreed to do beforehand, a sense of doubt hadn’t disappeared from a corner of her heart ever since hearing about her father.

Like falling into a deep well where it was hard to distinguish the view.

“[If you leave your account number, I’ll process the payment immediately.]”

She didn’t reply to the message from her father’s secretary.

It had started with the excuse of receiving the overdue child support, but it felt wrong to receive an illegitimate payment using her marriage to Ryu Tae-san as a pretext.

Even though she needed the money to move her grandma to a new hospital and start treatment right away, she couldn’t bring herself to reach out.

She couldn’t deny that Ryu Tae-san buying the traditional house had eased her financial burden a little.

If not for that, she wouldn’t even have the luxury of weighing her pride right now.

“Grandma, someone wants to give me a lot of money. Should I take it?”

“Is it your father? Did you go see your father?”

Even though she tried to hide it, her grandma recognized it right away, her eyes sinking with a look of regret.

Her hands, which had been making pottery all her life, were rough but warm.

Her grandma carefully and gently caressed Eun-cho’s cheek, as if molding clay.

Eun-cho rubbed her cheek against her grandma’s palm like a puppy.

“…Don’t hate your father too much. When I’m gone, my baby needs somewhere—someone—to lean on… He’s your blood, after all.”

“Why are you talking about leaving, Grandma?!”

Eun-cho raised her head and shouted, startling her grandma.

She was upset, and ended up taking it out on her grandma for no reason.

“Your father’s not that bad of a person. Your grandpa was just upset after your mom passed, so he was a bit harsh.”

“A man who left his child behind and never even looked back—that’s a bad person. If not him, then who is?”

Eun-cho huffed and then buried her face again.

Actually, it wasn’t something to react so sensitively to.

Her grandma had no idea that whatever her father had been like in the past, that person had already been worn away and disappeared by the storms of time.

She felt cold.

Strangely, she felt a chill, like she had a premonition that she was about to get seriously sick that night.