Chapter 8 (Part 7)

Wrapped in Do-jin’s jacket, Seo-hye’s figure seemed even smaller and cuter to him, and he collected himself to continue their interrupted conversation.

“Does your sister drink well too?”

“My sister? Yes, she drinks well. I know she has a pretty high tolerance. But alcohol doesn’t suit her physically.”

“It doesn’t suit her physically?”

“Yes. She has fewer alcohol dehydrogenase enzymes compared to most people.”

“I see.”

“Even so, she loves drinking so much that she drinks often, gets sick, and has allergic reactions. I’m worried she might get seriously ill one day.”

Do-jin nodded slowly.

“I heard that our late father couldn’t handle alcohol at all. My sister inherited that gene from him. Fortunately, I take after my mom, so I don’t have that.”

“…….”

“Though I think my tolerance is a bit low.”

Do-jin shifted his gaze to the air, as if contemplating something.

His expression seemed serious, so Seo-hye didn’t say more.

However, Do-jin soon seemed to have organized his thoughts and asked, a beat late, about Seo-hye’s words.

“So, how much can you drink, Seo-hye?”

“I… that day, you know, the day I met you. Two cocktails there made me feel dizzy…”

Do-jin recalled the menu she had on that day.

“You drank some strong cocktails, but still, after two drinks, you were bold enough to try to take off a stranger’s pants—”

“Gasp!”

Suddenly, with the conversation taking an unexpected turn, Seo-hye hit Do-jin’s chest lightly in disbelief and looked around nervously.

“Pl-please be quiet…! We’re in a hospital!”

“Yes, it’s a hospital. Then shall we go to the car and talk more about that day? I was just getting interested.”

“…….”

“Or we could reenact that day.”

“…….”

“So, where do you want to go, to the car? Or should we drive back to the hotel?”

“N-none of those.”

“Ah. Then, should we catch a taxi and go to my place?”

“Why is this conversation going this way all of a sudden? No!”

“There’s nothing you don’t like.”

“……What?”

“I’m about to burst because of you, Seo-hye. Decide where we should go.”

Seo-hye’s gaze involuntarily drifted downward.

“If you keep blatantly staring like that and my pants rip, will you take responsibility?”

Seo-hye blocked her ears as if she couldn’t hear and completely turned her back on him.

Then, he embraced her from behind and whispered intriguing words into her ear.

“Choose a place, Seo-hye.”

“…….”

“And I’ll take you back to the hospital afterward.”

“…….”

“I’m dying because I couldn’t do it yesterday.”

The hot breath touching her ear made her mouth want to open on its own.

She struggled to keep her lips closed, fearing what she might say if they parted, while something firm kept pressing against her hips.

“We could do it here too. But both of us would get arrested for public indecency.”

“…….”

“But then, Seo-hye, you’d have no choice but to marry me, right? The whole world would know.”

Though winter was approaching, Seo-hye’s face turned red as if she alone was welcoming summer.

“Haha, young people are so passionate.”

At that moment, an old man sitting on a bench diagonally across spoke up.

Seo-hye, in shock, elbowed Do-jin away.

“Young man, you seem to like the lady a lot. Seize the moment, time is too precious to hesitate.”

Seo-hye, embarrassed, covered her face with her hands, nodded roughly toward the old man, and ran toward the entrance.

Do-jin gave the old man a faint smile and a nod before moving to catch up with Seo-hye.

As he passed through the entrance into the inner corridor, he saw Seo-hye, who had fled, holding the open button for patients getting off the elevator.

After everyone had exited, Seo-hye, about to board the elevator, hesitated upon seeing Do-jin.

She blushed again, all the way to her ears, and quickly hid inside the elevator.

Do-jin took a big step and followed her in.

Seo-hye stood looking at the wall for no particular reason. Do-jin wondered if he just wanted to keep touching something cute, and he lowered his hand to find and hold hers.

Seo-hye flinched, but upon confirming it was Do-jin, she didn’t shake him off.

Do-jin intertwined his firm fingers with hers, threading through each joint.

It felt as if their hearts were attached to their palms, creating the illusion that they could feel each other’s pulse.

The warmth in their palms gradually increased, as if they had been burned by a stove.

Though he didn’t dislike the feeling and wanted to hold on longer, they soon arrived on the first floor, and the elevator doors opened.

Seo-hye released his hand and stepped out first.

As the precious warmth that had filled his hand disappeared, he reached out to take Seo-hye’s hand again, returning it to its original place.

Seo-hye glanced up slightly.

As she started to pull her hand away, Do-jin murmured quietly.

“I’ll get mad if you pull away.”

Seo-hye’s fidgeting stopped inside his hand.

With a satisfied smile, he led her to the parking lot.

Seo-hye, who had been silent until they got into the car, spoke as soon as she sat down.

“Won Do-jin, why are you really like this? Do you know how embarrassed I was earlier? What…? Do it here? Get arrested for public indecency?”

Seo-hye scolded him for making such remarks in a public place, as if she couldn’t believe it.

However, unlike the excited Seo-hye, Do-jin, with an expressionless face, drove and replied.

“The important part was what I said after that. That you should marry me.”

Seo-hye fell silent.

Amused by how she became so quiet, as if she had never had a mouth to begin with when flustered, Do-jin couldn’t help but keep laughing.

He wondered just how much laughter he had spilled since meeting Seo-hye.

Even when I add up all the time I spent in the United States, I don’t think I’ve laughed this much.

“So, where are we going?”

Do-jin stopped laughing and answered.

“Let’s go to Hannam-dong. I’ll take you back after lunch.”

“At your house? Are you cooking?”

“……You’re burdening me by asking me to cook.”

Seo-hye shook her head, indicating it wasn’t true.

“I was actually thinking of having the hotel kitchen deliver it, but what do you want to eat?”

Seo-hye seriously pondered Do-jin’s shortened question again.

“I’m not expecting any special dishes… you can just make ramen.”

Do-jin’s eyes narrowed slightly.

With all the delicious food in the world, ramen?

“Oh, you might not know how to make it.”

At Seo-hye’s muttering, Do-jin let out a chuckle.

“What did you say?”

“Huh? I said you might not know how to make ramen… because you’re THE Won Do-jin.”

Do-jin quickly corrected her assumption so Seo-hye wouldn’t feel any distance.

“I cooked a lot of Korean ramen in the United States. Don’t be surprised if it’s good.”

Seo-hye snickered.

She thought she was being discreet, but since the car was so enclosed, even her small breath sounded loud.

Do-jin was overwhelmed with the urge to stop the car immediately and kiss her passionately.

However, if he stopped now, it would be even harder to hold back until they got home, so he pressed harder on the accelerator.

***

As soon as they got home, Do-jin, who was eager to rush Seo-hye, so they had to eat late in the afternoon.

No sooner had she come out of the bathroom after washing up than Do-jin opened the door.

“If you’re done washing, come out, it’s all cooked.”

After moving passionately with him for hours and then washing up, she was extremely hungry.

With a delighted expression, she quickly left the room and headed to the kitchen.

The kitchen was filled with the smell of ramen.

As Seo-hye sat down and reached for the chopsticks, Do-jin asked,

“But are you really okay with just this? I can still contact the hotel.”

Seo-hye waved her chopstick-holding hand in the air.

“No, this is enough for me. I like ramen.”

She blew on the noodles on her spoon and then glanced up, asking quickly,

“Do-jin, aren’t you eating? Can I start first?”

As soon as Do-jin nodded, Seo-hye stuffed her mouth full of noodles.

Finding her chewing adorable, Do-jin felt full without having eaten anything himself.

Since meeting Seo-hye, he had been experiencing unfamiliar emotions he had never felt before in his life.

“Though I hate to admit it.”

Do-jin slightly lifted his gaze from her lips.

“It’s delicious. Really.”

Hearing Seo-hye’s bright voice, he almost blurted out that he would make anything else she wanted.

Born into the Seonghan family, he had experience in horseback riding, self-defense, and various arts and sports, but he had never learned cooking.

So instead of just making empty promises and disappointing her, it might be better to properly learn how to cook first.

Unaware of what he was thinking, Seo-hye was focused on eating her ramen.

Then, feeling Do-jin’s gaze, she asked why he wasn’t eating, and before he could even answer, she was at a loss for what to do.

“Wow, see? Won Do-jin, you don’t usually eat things like ramen, right? What will you do if there’s nothing to eat? What ingredients do you have at home? Should we try making something?”

Seo-hye anxiously worried about Do-jin’s meal.

To ease her concern, Do-jin started eating the ramen.

Only then did Seo-hye seem reassured and continued her meal.

As Do-jin was finishing his meal, he asked,

“But there’s something I didn’t get to ask earlier.”

“What is it?”

“Earlier, you mentioned that your father couldn’t drink alcohol due to his constitution, right?”

Seo-hye looked somewhat puzzled as to why he was bringing up her father again, but she answered earnestly.

“Yes. I don’t know much, but I heard my father was particularly sensitive, so he didn’t even touch alcohol.”

“That’s strange. I heard the cause of death was Hwa-jun’s drunk driving accident.”

Seo-hye’s expression turned somewhat serious.

“…That’s right.”

“Would someone who can’t drink alcohol drive after drinking enough to cause an accident?”

Seo-hye was silent for a while. Then she lifted her tightly closed upper lip with difficulty.

“Around that time, my grandfather took me home without my father’s permission, forcibly. So.”

“….”

“They said that a once-harmonious family was ruined because of me… that he drank a lot because he was having a hard time because of me. So after my father passed away, people criticized me immensely.”

Do-jin’s expression turned grim.

Hwa-jun’s death was suspicious enough that even a little scrutiny would reveal it. It was possible to predict that Hwa-jun might not have been the one driving at the time.

“Do you feel any guilt about your father?”

“It would be a lie to say I don’t.”

“…….”

“They brainwashed me like that. Being human… even though I knew my father’s death wasn’t my fault, everyone said I killed him.”

“…….”

“At some point, I really started to believe it.”

Do-jin let out a small sigh.

“So that’s why you had no choice but to paint for Lee Hwa-woong. Not just because of your mother’s hospital bills… but because of that damned guilt.”

Seo-hye did not deny it.

When Do-jin didn’t continue the conversation and just quietly watched her, Seo-hye shifted the mood.

“If you’re not going to finish that, can I have it?”

Do-jin was taken aback by Seo-hye’s unexpected request.

“Why would you want leftovers? The noodles are all soggy.”

Do-jin stood up.

“I’ll make you a new one.”

“No! Even if you make a new one, I can’t finish it all anyway.”

Seo-hye insisted on eating Do-jin’s leftovers, tapping the table.

Reluctantly, he pushed his bowl toward her.

As she ate Do-jin’s ramen, she said,

“You know, I usually can’t eat what someone else has been eating.”

Do-jin’s eyebrows rose neatly.

“But for some reason, I wanted to eat yours, Won Do-jin. I don’t feel any aversion… at all.”

Do-jin smiled.

“See? That’s why we should get married.”