MS Ch 10 part 4

“Ah, I’m full.”

Euncho had been so absorbed in eating her meal that she forgot she was in an uncomfortable position. She finally put down her chopsticks.

“That’s all you’re going to eat?”

Ki Taeju scoffed. While Euncho ate, Ki Taeju had played with her hair and rubbed his forehead against the back her her head like an affectionate beast.

His hand that had been busy mischievously roaming around Euncho’s body lifted her tray. She hadn’t even eaten half.

“You still pick at your food like an ant.”

“How could an ant eat this much?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

Ah, he caught her.

Euncho didn’t have anything to say, so she picked up her glass of water and took a sip. Now that she felt somewhat full, snacks naturally came to mind.

“I’m craving fries.”

“……”

“There’s a place right in front that makes homemade burgers, and the fries are really good. Dipping them in a milkshake makes them taste even better… I want to eat their drumsticks, too.”

“How is your appetite still like a child’s?”

When he pointed this out, Euncho glared at him as she grumbled.

“Then what does that make you… Boomer.”

“What?”

“Old fart…”

She had always felt this way. The difference in their preferences was very distinct.

In the past, they ate things like samgyetang, octopus soup, and grilled abalone. And today, they ate galbitang as well. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the menu was all about nutritious food that restored energy. It was also a menu that attracted older people more than younger people.

But Euncho didn’t need to make that kind of guess. She already knew what his exact age was.

This was because she received the guest list when she began to work in the VIP lounge. She had already guessed that there had been a considerable age gap between them, but the details revealed that it was a little bigger than she’d thought.

She must have thought he was younger due to the way he acted like a delinquent and the fact that his face looked relatively young for his age. 

“Ow.”

Ki Taeju pinched her cheek. This time, he put some force into it, so it was quite painful.

“You have a lot of things you want to ask me, right?”

Ki Taeju immediately brought up an interesting topic.

“I’ll answer any questions you have until you finish eating this.”

He tapped the bowl that was more than half full.

“Really?”

Euncho’s eyes sparkled as she picked up her chopsticks and rice bowl without hesitation. Ki Taeju smiled as he watched her and also picked up his chopsticks. She was wondering what he was trying to do when he placed a pickled octopus, one of the side dishes, onto Euncho’s spoon.

Along with some rice, Euncho filled her mouth with it and chewed it diligently. After chewing enough times, she swallowed and asked a question.

“You really didn’t sleep with Kang Seora?”

Ki Taeju had been waiting with interest, wanting to know what she was so curious about. When he heard her first question, he couldn’t hold back his laughter.

“Yeah.”

“Reaaally?”

“I said I didn’t sleep with her.”

“Was she your girlfriend?”

“No.”

For the first time, she received a direct answer from Ki Taeju. Empowered by this, Euncho continued.

“Then what kind of relationship did you have?”

“We don’t have a relationship.”

Euncho narrowed her eyes.

“Strange…”

“What’s strange?”

“Why were you sharing a room with her when you didn’t have any relationship with her? And why were you two walking around wearing only a robe? You… You didn’t even tie it closed!”

“I guess we both liked walking around naked.”

“You’re talking as if you did nothing wrong…”

Euncho grumbled before suddenly closing her mouth.

Ki Taeju lowered his eyes. Tap, tap. The following question must have been a question she had difficulty asking outright. Instead of saying it out loud, her feet began to tap on the floor. Once it stopped shaking, Euncho asked in a tiny voice.

“It’s because of me, right?”

“……”

“The reason why you did that to Kang Seora.”

“No. It happened because I have a short temper.”

Whether it was because he didn’t want her to feel guilty or because he didn’t want her to think about it anymore, Ki Taeju changed the subject. Euncho could see through what he was trying to do, so she gave him a faint smile. A few moments later, the smile disappeared again.

“But you went too far. There was no need to…”

“You’re too precious that even I can’t touch you like that.”

“……”

“So who does she think she is?”

The intensity in his voice removed any chance of compromise.

There were many things she wanted to ask regarding Kang Seora, but there wasn’t enough time. Ki Taeju diligently brought side dishes to her spoon to keep her hands from stopping. If her hands slowed down, he’d tap her spoon with his chopsticks to remind her to eat.

“How did you find out about Lim Kyujin?”

“By chance.”

“Liar.”

He laughed.

“Yeah, that was a lie.”

She didn’t expect him to admit it so easily. Euncho looked down at her bowl of rice as she chewed her food. There were only a few bites left.

If that was a lie, doesn’t that mean he found it intentionally? Did that mean he appeared as the hotel owner on purpose?

Her thoughts kept spinning inside her head. Suddenly, she remembered that out of the five hotels she applied to four years ago, this was the only one that hired her.

As soon as she realized this, she stopped chewing.

“…That’s not what happened, right?”

“What?”

If she thought about it closely, it was strange.

The hotel was taken over by Daewoon just before she joined the staff. The only hotel where she passed the interview stage after graduating from a two-year college. Four years later, the owner of the hotel appeared in front of her, and the whole staff came to know the secret side of Lim Kyujin that no one knew about and even warned her about him.

It was as if someone was following her around like a shadow.

No, ‘following’ might not be the right word.

Perhaps it would be more apt to say it was like a bright sun illuminating the path that she should take in advance.

“Are you the one who got me hired?”

Unlike her grave expression, Ki Taeju calmly brushed her hair back from her face.

Then he laughed again, not even considering the complicated thoughts that filled her head.

“If I want to protect my Park Euncho’s pride, I should probably say ‘no comment’.”

“…What, are you serious?”

He tapped her spoon. Euncho didn’t take her eyes off of him as she brought the spoon to her mouth.

“I don’t get involved in things like that.”

The tension that began rising to the top of her head disappeared at his unexpectedly lighthearted answer. Euncho looked at him awkwardly and swallowed the food in her mouth.

Now there are really only a few spoonfuls left.

That’s why Euncho decided to move on to the next topic.

There were more important questions to ask than these shallow ones.

“Why didn’t you come back to the villa?”

You came all the time despite the heat waves and heavy rains.

“It’s not that I didn’t go. It’s that I couldn’t go.”

“Why?”

“……”

“…Is it because of what happened to Heejin-unnie?”

Their eyes met.

His silence was affirmation enough.

It was the only conclusion she could draw coming from a man who kept a lot of secrets.

Suddenly, she lost her appetite. No, it was as if the word ‘Heejin’ was some kind of button that caused a lump to form in her throat.

Euncho put down her spoon and looked directly into his eyes.

“You didn’t do anything to Heejin-unnie, right?”

“……”

“Right?”

Ki Taeju’s hand stretched out towards Euncho’s eyes.

Did she look like she was going to cry again?

Euncho’s eyelids fluttered as his fingers gently caressed them.

“If I say I didn’t, would you believe me?”

He was putting it off again.

Does he not know me yet? Euncho grabbed his wrist as his hand wandered over her eyes and spoke in a firm voice.

“I’m going to believe you.”

“……”

“So tell me.”

This man had warned her about Lim Kyujin because he was worried she’d get involved in something dangerous and dirty. Just because she had gotten slapped, this man had carried out a brutal punishment that was a hundred times worse.

No matter what it was, he did not hesitate to do it if it was for her sake.

She wanted to believe him because this was the kind of person he was.

“I didn’t do it.”

Ki Taeju lowered his hand that was being held in her grasp and answered without looking away. It was different from the way he’d answered the question yesterday. Yesterday’s answer had been ambiguous depending on how one interpreted it.

This time, he said it firmly and clearly, leaving no room for doubt.

Only then did the twisting tension in her heart begin to relax. It felt like a wisp of light was reaching all the shadowy corners. However, she could not deny that she felt like she could finally breathe again.

It felt like she had been trapped underwater this whole time, gasping for air, and was now being pulled up to the surface.

“…Okay. Then I won’t bring it up anymore.”

Euncho enthusiastically brought the final bite of food into her mouth.

And like that, the meal exchanged for the truth finally came to an end.

It had been a long time since she’d had such a filling meal.