Scandal Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Although Lee Hee-won is under 170 cm, her proportions appeared tall, probably because her face is so small.

She was so thin. She looked like she might collapse if he just nudged her, and he couldn’t help but feel uneasy in his chest.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes?”

Lee Hee-won blinked her deer-like eyes, not knowing what was going on.

There seemed to be something in those eyes.

Even though it was just a casual gaze, he couldn’t help but keep staring at her. Maybe even someone like Jiseop, who doesn’t believe in fortune-telling, might think there’s such a thing as a ‘peach blossom curse¹‘ for women.

It was better not to read too much into it.

For someone like Kwon Jiseop, who absolutely hates superstitions, to talk about a ‘peach blossom curse’—he must be going crazy from not sleeping for a few days.

“I thought you were about to collaspe.”

“I’m fine.”

“You looked like you were swaying.”

“I wasn’t.”

“Then why did you call me?”

“When you come… Could you buy me some tteokbokki?”

Lee Hee-won blushed so much at her own words that her earlobes turned bright red.

Her appearance was so much like someone in their early twenties that he couldn’t help but laugh softly.

“Ask your manager to do that.”

“But my manager’s not here. Also, asking him to buy tteokbokki would be abusing my power as an actor.”

“Is it okay to abuse power with my personal secretary?”

“I’m asking you, the director.”

“Does that mean you’re asking me to run errands and buy tteokbokki for you?”

“I’ve been starving for days… everything’s been so unclear…”

“If you’ve been starving, you should eat something, not just tteokbokki.”

“No! If I’m eating carbs, it has to be tteokbokki. Absolutely no rice. Please buy it for me, okay?”

Heewon begged Jiseop to buy tteokbokki, as if asking for something grand. 

Her appearance was so fresh and new that he couldn’t quite make sense of it.

“I don’t know where they sell tteokbokki.”

“I’ve been… starving for days… I don’t have the strength to hold a pen… If you search on the internet map, it’ll show up. Can’t you just buy it for me?”

Her voice, speaking so calmly, made Jiseop’s temples throb with a dull ache.

He didn’t want to do the errand for tteokbokki, but when she argued, it seemed easier just to buy it for her.

“Haa…”

“You’re going to buy it, right?”

“Fine.”

“Oh! It has to be rice cake! Not the wheat ones!”

Another annoying request was added. Jiseop furrowed his brows but let out another sigh and wiped his face with his hand.

“Should I just ask for rice cakes?”

“Yeah. You have to ask before you buy it.”

She sure has a lot of demands.

Jiseop thought about scolding her, telling her to use a delivery app if she wanted something. However, she then realized it wouldn’t be great if delivery people kept coming to her house, so he kept his thoughts to himself.

Seeing Heewon looking so happy when he said he’d buy it for her, he found it somewhat cute.

Is it really worth getting that happy over just tteokbokki?

It was new to him that even a star shaking up Korea could find joy in such simple things in everyday life.

“Alright, if you’re going to eat it, rice cakes are better than wheat cakes.”

“Thank you. The credit card is here…”

Heewon quietly took out her credit card from her pocket, and Jiseop was left dumbfounded as he left the house.

Should I call this cute? Or should I say she’s a little lacking?

Anyway, she must be pure.

Jiseop had so many stocks and buildings that he couldn’t even keep track of how much his assets changed daily. Yet, he found it almost laughable that Heewon was giving her card for tteokbokki.

Instead of sending his assistant on an errand, Jiseop decided to go out himself, buying stationery and tteokbokki before coming back.

When he saw the paper she had practiced writing on, he couldn’t help but feel taken aback at how sloppy her handwriting was.

The scribbled letters didn’t match her pretty face at all, and it left him feeling perplexed.

He wanted to ask her if she hadn’t studied. However, since it was his father who had prevented her from studying, he couldn’t bring himself to ask.

Jiseop placed the stationery and tteokbokki on the coffee table and handed her the pen.

“Here, quickly write on the stationery as you practiced. I even bought the dark pink pen you asked for.” 

“I practiced a lot here.”

“You follow instructions well.”

Heewon laughed with a little giggle, probably enjoying Jiseop’s compliment.

It was absurd that she could be laughing in this situation, but her innocent, almost pure appearance made her seem cute.

It seemed like Heewon had practiced her handwriting a lot as Jiseop had asked, but in reality, he couldn’t tell which writing was from the beginning and which was from later.

Jiseop realized once again that handwriting couldn’t improve in a single day.

“But, Executive Director, can’t I eat the tteokbokki first and write later? It’ll taste bad if it gets cold… Since it’s rice cake, it’ll harden quickly.”

What should he do with this childish woman?

He needed to post a clarification online as soon as possible, but Heewon seemed completely absorbed in the tteokbokki right now.

“Is the tteokbokki the problem right now…?”

Growl.

Just as Jiseop was about to say something to Heewon, a loud rumbling sound came from her stomach.

Hearing the growl reminded him of what Heewon had said about starving for days, and he couldn’t bring himself to rush her. Looking at her soft, glistening eyes, she seemed pitiful.

She was doing all of this just to survive, but he figured he’d better feed her something first, especially since she hadn’t eaten for a while.

“Alright. Eat slowly, then write.”

It wouldn’t be the end of the world if it was 30 minutes late.

No, wait.

Heewon was missing the chance for the world to go into a frenzy 30 minutes earlier, all because of the tteokbokki!

Sigh…

Even though she was young, this was too much. Putting age aside, Heewon was so different in personality from Jiseop. No matter how hungry he was, he always prioritized important tasks first to feel at ease.

But even in the midst of a scandal about dating a host, Heewon was too busy devouring tteokbokki to care.

“Ah, Executive Director, do you want some too…?”

Realizing she had eaten the tteokbokki alone, Heewon seemed a bit sorry and asked Jiseop.

“It’s fine. I don’t really like snacks.”

“Oh, I see… I guess that’s true.”

Her sharp response didn’t sit well with him.

The way she was speaking so assertively made her seem less innocent in moments like this.

Just as his irritation was about to rise again, Jiseop couldn’t help but smile when he saw the red tteokbokki sauce smeared around her lips.

“Why are you laughing?”

Heewon blinked, not understanding the reason for his smile.

Ah, those eyes. It’s dangerous.

Jiseop handed her a tissue and said,

“It’s nice to see you enjoying the food, but try wiping your lips while you eat.”

“Ah, is there sauce on my lips?”

Heewon awkwardly pressed the tissue against her lips while continuing to munch on her tteokbokki.

Even with the sauce on her lips, her lips were still beautiful.

He had thought he was only paying attention to her eyes, but upon closer inspection, there was nothing about her face that wasn’t pretty.

Damn it. Not these crazy thoughts again.

“You must want some too, Executive Director?”

“Not at all.”

“Oh… I thought you were watching me eat.”

“No. I was just waiting to see when you’d finish eating.”

“If you keep rushing me, I think… I’ll get a stomachache.”

“Take your time.”

“Yeah… Please wait a moment. It’s been so long since I had tteokbokki, I don’t want to rush eating it. I need to savor the taste. This way, I can survive for another two years.”

It seemed she was really hungry after all.

After a 20-minute tteokbokki feast, Heewon began cleaning the table.

Jiseop had expected that the famous actress would leave her trash scattered around, but her quick, tidy hand movements while cleaning the table suggested otherwise.

It didn’t seem like she had lived her life like a princess. Her fast and neat movements showed she had experience in taking care of things.

“I’ll clean up, so just leave it and write the letter.”

“I’ll do it.”

“I need to post something online quickly, so just write it.” 

“…Okay.”

Jiseop snatched the pile of trash from Heewon’s hands, which were trying to clean up the remnants of the snacks.

For some reason, Heewon’s delicate hands didn’t seem to match the task of cleaning up. 

He might as well do it himself.

Jiseop ended up doing the cleaning, something he’d never done before in his life. Meanwhile, Heewon silently watched him wipe the sauce stains off the coffee table with a dishcloth.

With a downcast face, Heewon began to write a letter on the stationery Jiseop had bought.

After cleaning up the tteokbokki mess, Jiseop returned and glanced at the letter Heewon had written.

 

 

Jiseop ghost wrote the letter in a style appropriate for Heewon’s age. Thankfully, since her handwriting was on it, no one would notice that Jiseop had written the letter on her behalf.

“Don’t look.”

“What did you say?”

“The handwriting…”

Heewon, like a child, hid the letter with her body and said. She seemed innocent, fully aware of her bad handwriting, but it only made her look even more childlike.