MS Ch 13 part 4

“……”

Ki Taeju emerged from the mountain of memories and gently stroked the back of Euncho’s limp hand as she breathed steadily.

As soon as he found out that Ki Cheonju had returned to Korea, he had put someone on his tail.

But Ki Cheonju had done the same to him.

Who would have thought that the man Ki Cheonju had planted in Ki Taeju’s circle was the man who was tasked with following Euncho? He was fooled by the report that claimed she was having a good time without any issues. By the time he realized the trickery, it was too late. The incident had already happened.

As soon as he realized what was going on, he was able to figure out Euncho’s location thanks to the GPS chip he had secretly installed on her cell phone the day before.

Because of the chip, he was lucky enough to save her life, but…

Ki Cheonju had dared to forget Ki Taeju’s kindness of saving his life when they were young and instead came to find him with a bunch of his subordinates while the shareholders’ meeting was in progress in an attempt to betray him and slit his neck. After a fierce fight, Ki Cheonju lost his eye as soon as he stabbed Ki Taeju in the stomach. Then he ran away to Shanghai once his defeat was certain.

After that, Ki Taeju continued to send his subordinates to Shanghai in an attempt to end Ki Cheonju’s life once and for all.

However, Ki Cheonju managed to arrive in Korea illegally, completely intact. He was also fully aware of the current state of affairs of the company that Ki Taeju was leading. This meant Ki Cheonju still had a considerable amount of influence left within the company.

The position Ki Cheonju had built within the company as the executive director was not something to be taken lightly. There were still people within the company who preferred his unstoppable management style. This had also been the case with Madam Kang, who was in charge of adult entertainment.

How could such a thing be cut down with the mere death of Ki Cheonju?

Probably not. It was more likely that this incident revealed Euncho to be his weakness…

As expected, it was greed.

Could this wrong be considered love?

This was merely his one and only selfish greed.

The happiness he experienced within a couple of seasons had taken over his body, allowing his greed to grow…

Ki Taeju blankly looked out the window. Snow was quietly falling from the sky.

It was the first snowfall of the year.

It was his first winter with Euncho.

* * *

“Where are you going?”

Euncho was pretending to be on her cell phone while she was secretly watching Ki Taeju. She quickly asked her question when she saw Ki Taeju stand up and head for the door. Ki Taeju was only going to answer a work call. He turned around when he heard her immediate reaction. Her face was pale. She was feeling anxious again.

“To the roof.”

“Me too. I want to go too.”

Euncho hurriedly got out of the bed as if she’d been waiting for this and ran to the door.

A small, thin hand grabbed Ki Taeju’s as he stood blankly at the door. Then she interlocked their fingers as if to prevent him from leaving on his own.

Ki Taeju stared at her for a moment and then looked down. His gaze was focused on Euncho’s foot. Even though the cast had finally come off, it was still difficult for her to walk and run normally.

Sensing his doubts right away, Euncho quickly spoke up.

“I can go!”

“……”

“Just as long as you walk a little slower…”

The reckless girl had lost all her spirit.

He should have told her to stay in the hospital room and keep out of trouble for the sake of her recovery, but Ki Taeju was unable to shake her off and ended up leaving the room with her.

The rooftop walkway was covered in layers of white snow.

Only the path where patients enjoyed taking walks was maintained. The tall ornamental trees and other flower beds still showed clear signs of the cold winter.

Was it because she had been too greedy? They hadn’t even taken one full circle around the walking path, but her ankles were starting to ache. She tried her best not to show it, but Ki Taeju, who had been on the phone, suddenly lifted her into his arms. Haa, she let out a short exclamation as her altitude suddenly changed, but she quickly covered her mouth.

He walked past the walking path and placed Euncho on a bench that was in the middle of a circle of ornamental trees. After hanging up the phone, he rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a cigarette.

“See? Why did you come out here?”

Euncho pouted at his blunt statement. She was already feeling embarrassed. He knew better than anyone why she was acting like this. And yet this man was still as affectionate and annoying as ever.

“If you’re cold, head inside first.”

“I’m not cold!”

“Fine. You and your stubbornness…”

Ki Taeju swept back his hair that had been blowing in the cold wind as he smoked his cigarette. Meanwhile, Euncho looked up at him as he stood right in front of her. Did he really think she wouldn’t know? He was standing in the direction where the wind was blowing the most. Wasn’t he blocking the wind from getting to her?

For a person who was so obsessed with protecting her, why did he keep… The tears that she had tried to keep hidden from him began to well up in her eyes. Euncho bit her lips and tried to suppress those emotions.

But it wasn’t easy. The thought of losing him again brought a flood of misery she tried so hard to ignore.

How did I survive those seven years? I’m going to lose him again? This time, who knows how many years it’ll take? Given the man’s ridiculous stubbornness, it might take a lifetime.

What did that mean?

Did it mean this was truly the end?

If that distant event were to ever become a reality, she couldn’t imagine how long this emptiness would last. The distant future was eating away at her.

Ki Taeju flicked the cigarette as he glanced down at her. Suddenly, he froze. Tsk, he clicked his tongue and stretched out both his hands. His warmth and smoky scent settled over Euncho’s cheeks.

Euncho felt even more miserable as his hand wiped away the tears that were blurring her vision.

Why are you always so affectionate?

Like a person who’s really going to leave.

Like a person who wants to disappear without any regrets?

This was how you were back at the villa. You wiped away my tears so affectionately as I cried while telling you to end things with Heejin-unnie. And then you disappeared without a trace.

Euncho pushed Ki Taeju’s hands away. Then she abruptly stood up. Despite her limp, she walked somewhere with determination. Ki Taeju watched her in silence. Suddenly, his eyes trembled.

“Park Euncho.”

The cigarette fell from his fingers.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Euncho had climbed over the railing that had been set up at the edge of the rooftop to prevent people from falling. She would fall if she let go of the railing. Once she was in position, she glared at Ki Taeju.

“Come back here right now!”

Euncho flinched at his fierce expression and the voice he spat out. But she endured it anyway. In order to break Ki Taeju’s stubbornness, she had no choice but to resort to this.

On one hand, her sorrow doubled.

“How can you leave me when you can barely stand this kind of thing?”

“……”

“Or were you planning on disappearing from my sight but still keeping watch over me from afar? Like you have been for the past seven years?”

“Yeah.”

Ki Taeju roared as if he were about to start a fight. Euncho glared at him with all her might and shouted back.

“I’ll make it so that you can’t do that.”

“……”

“I’m only going to date strange men. And do you think I’ll leave it at that? I’m going to marry them and have children with them. I’m going to make you so anxious that you can’t stand staying away from me!”

The words that came out of her mouth bruised her own heart.

Her lips that were dried in the cold air slowly grew moist. Euncho kept her eyes on Ki Taeju even though her vision was blurring within her tears. She held on to his hazy figure as if it were her only lifeline as she sobbed.

“Who asked you to protect me?”

“……”

“Can’t you just, can’t you just love me in peace? Is that so hard?”

Ki Taeju’s expression slowly sank.

Her tear-filled eyes.

Her thin, trembling voice.

The pale back of her hand as it clenched the railing.

Her hair fluttering in the cold wind.

It felt as if everything about her was begging him.

Don’t leave. Don’t do it.

A misty breath burst out of Ki Taeju’s mouth as he slowly crouched down.

Euncho was slightly surprised by the sudden change in his stance. However, she quickly came to her senses and stiffened her neck as she added on.

“I don’t need your protection. I’m not a child anymore.”

That’s not the issue.

Even though he thought this to himself, Ki Taeju kept his mouth shut and listened. His greed was bursting out of nowhere again. Even though he knew this wasn’t right, his instinct was screaming at him to feign ignorance and let it go. It was annoying but honest.

“But if… If it does seem like things are going to get dangerous…”

Her throat closed up. Her attempts to clear her throat seemed to exude her own determination and sorrow.

“Then you can protect me.”

“……”

“Not from afar but by my side.”

“……”

“It’s that simple…”

In the end, this was it.

No matter how hard he tried to hide, he couldn’t hide himself in the shadows when faced with her adorable charm. No matter how much he tried to hide and conceal himself, everything was destined to be exposed under the sun’s direct light.

Even though he knew he should leave, he couldn’t be more certain that he had been pierced so thoroughly. Actually, that was correct. The fact that he continued to stay by her side and worry about her over and over again was proof enough that it was impossible for him.

“I don’t think you know this.”

Ki Taeju lifted his head and opened his mouth after a long while.

“But this is an opportunity for you, too.”

“……”

“Even if beg me to break up with you later on, I won’t let you go.”

Although his voice was soft, the wind carried his words to her and pierced her ears. Euncho was shocked for a moment. Then she quickly raised her arm and rubbed her wet face.

Again, this time, he didn’t know.

That what he wanted was the same as what she wanted.

“Then come here and hug me.”

“……”

“My legs are too weak, and I can’t move…”

When he heard Euncho’s crying voice say, ‘If I fall from here, I’ll have to get another cast’, the tension immediately left Ki Taeju’s body.

As soon as she saw his bewildered face, Euncho bit her twisted lips.

She could read what was written on his face…

His face told her the he had been completely defeated by her.

* * *

“It’s fine now.”

Euncho spoke up as stared off into the distance. However, Ki Taeju did not take his hands away until Euncho’s hair was fluffy and dry. He pulled the towel away after all the moisture had completely dried from her hair.

“Give me your foot.”

“It’s fine.”

When he flashed her a scolding gaze, she quickly extended her foot. Ki Taeju’s fingers slowly pressed the area around her swollen ankle. She felt a little pain, but she kept her mouth shut and endured it. However, Ki Taeju seemed to have noticed her flinching expression and let out a sigh.

“If you ever do something like that again…”

He scolded her as he moved to press the button to call the nurse.

“Can you just call her tomorrow?”

“Why?”

“I’m sleepy.”

Ki Taeju looked at Euncho before pushing her shoulders to lay her down on the bed. He then spread out the blanket that was neatly folded at her feet and covered her. He looked back down at Euncho and let out a hollow laugh when he saw her grinning back at him.

“Can’t we lie down together?”

“It’s too small.”

“That’s okay.”

She spoke as she lifted the blanket. Ki Taeju just stood there and stared at her.

She wondered if he’d do as she asked and was starting to feel disappointed. Suddenly, Ki Taeju touched his wrist. He took off his watch and his shoes and climbed into the bed.

Just as he said, the bed was too small. It was too narrow for the both of them. This was especially the case because Ki Taeju had quite a large body. Therefore, in order to stay on, they had to stick their bodies together. Euncho liked that.

His arm slipped underneath her head, and she rested her head on it as she rubbed her face against his chest.

“You said you were sleepy. Go to sleep. Stop rubbing your face.”

He pulled the disheveled blanket up and patted Euncho on the shoulder like a parent who was putting their baby to sleep.

It felt the same but different from when she had fallen asleep with him inside the apartment. Now, Ki Taeju didn’t feel so far away. That summer night. She felt like she understood what Ki Taeju was thinking as he kept his eyes open all night to watch her sleep.

“I heard about it.”

“Heard what?”

“I heard… you were going to send Heejin-unnie abroad.”

Ki Taeju didn’t say anything.

Euncho didn’t bother to raise her head and check his face. Every time she spoke about Heejin-unnie, every time she spoke about how she was like precious family to her, she could imagine the way his eyes deepened. 

Now she clearly understood the relationship between Heejin-unnie and Ki Taeju.

The two of them had a business relationship with no special feelings.

If Ki Taeju had only used Heejin-unnie until the very last moment, she would have felt differently. However, he had tried to smuggle her out of the country for Euncho’s sake, so she felt that he had done everything he could.

It was useless to ask why he didn’t step forward to prevent her death. Euncho knew this well because she herself had been kidnapped by Ki Cheonju. It must have been an accident where Ki Taeju’s subordinates hadn’t been able to intervene in time.

The one who killed Heejin-unnie was Ki Cheonju.

And now, Ki Cheonju was…

“Do you regret it?”

She asked as a lump of unease formed in a corner of her heart.

“No.”

A sharp voice answered back.

Euncho finally raised her head from within his embrace. Ki Taeju eyes were on her as if he hadn’t been looking anywhere else this whole time. The cold yet firm expression on his face supported his answer.

“Even if I were to go back in time, I’d do everything the same. As long as you’re safe, I don’t care if ten or twenty of those bitches die.”

She recalled the way he looked down at Kang Seora on the CCTV footage. And the fact that Kang Seora was kicked out of the hotel and put in a mental hospital.

It was obvious. He had done it so that Kang Seora wouldn’t be able to put Euncho in danger over her petty vengeance.

Like this, Ki Taeju’s only concern was her safety.

It was no exaggeration to say that his life revolved around this one goal and purpose.

He came from a completely different realm full of completely different people, and the line between their worlds was a boundary that was clearly exposed through the occasional display of violence and ruthlessness.

But now she had to face it.

Because Ki Taeju knew that he had this side of himself and the threat it posed, he didn’t want to appear in front of her. Since he continued to hold onto her solely due to his love for her, Euncho had no choice but to embrace everything about him.

Unnie, I’m sorry. I might be doing you wrong.

But I had so many regrets after losing you.

I don’t want to lose someone precious to me and have those regrets again.

So…

Euncho closed her eyes without saying anything else.

His curved fingers caressed Euncho’s eyelids before moving down to her cheeks. They fell to her jawline and then her shoulders. His hand moved as if it were trying to relieve the burden of her heavy thoughts. Under his gentle caress, Euncho gradually fell asleep.

Ki Taeju watched as Euncho slept soundly in his arms. Then he raised his eyes.

Outside the window, from far away, a splendid winter’s dawn was rising.

All traces of the suffocating summer disappeared without a trace.