Chapter 9 (Part 3)

The whole country was abuzz.

Hwa-woong’s criminal activities had been fully exposed.

Seo-hye, who first learned of this through an article rather than from Do-jin, was so shocked that she almost fell while getting down from the caregiver’s bed.

Clutching her pounding heart, she called Do-jin.

But Do-jin forwarded the call.

Even though she hadn’t arranged to meet Do-jin, she ran towards the entrance.

“Mom! I’m just going to meet Do-jin for a bit!”

And it was at that moment when she opened the door.

She bumped her head against something hard with a thud and staggered.

Do-jin, who gently supported Seo-hye’s waist, greeted her.

“Were we supposed to meet?”

Seo-hye opened her eyes, which had been closed, and looked up at Do-jin.

Then, quickly regaining her balance, she stared intently at his face.

“……That’s not it, but.”

“But you ran out calling my name so eagerly?”

“Think for 5 seconds before answering from now on. Saying ‘no’ has become a habit, hasn’t it? Hmm?”

Seo-hye, who was about to say no again, remembered what Do-jin had said last time.

And she stared at him for five seconds.

Then, strangely, her answer changed.

“That’s right.”

Do-jin’s eyes slightly crinkled and then relaxed.

“I didn’t hear you well.”

“I said that’s right. I ran out calling you, Won Do-jin, very eagerly.”

Do-jin, as if surprised, asked with a smile in his eyes.

“Are you happy to see me, or happy that I brought down Lee Hwa-woong?”

“Both.”

Do-jin, seemingly dissatisfied with her answer, bumped her nose lightly with his sharp one.

Seo-hye smiled faintly and then spoke with sincerity.

“It’s you, Do-jin.”

“I like that.”

He pulled her waist firmly and this time lightly bit her lips before letting go.

Even after their lips parted, the two exchanged glances for quite a while.

Their intense gaze was only broken by the sound of someone clearing their throat from further behind Do-jin.

Seo-hye was startled, pushed Do-jin’s chest, and stepped back.

Then Seok-young leaned forward and peeked his head out.

“Oh…! Secretary Yoo…!”

“Hello, Miss Seo-hye. I must have been oblivious. But my hands were full, and I thought I might drop something.”

He quickly stepped in through the gap in the door that Do-jin had briefly moved away from.

In his left hand was a bouquet of flowers too large for an adult man to hold with one hand, and in the other was a cake box.

“What is all this? Don’t tell me…”

Seo-hye instinctively glanced back at Hyo-young. Today was her birthday.

Do-jin spoke up instead of Seok-young.

“I heard it’s your mother’s birthday.”

“……That’s right. But how did you know?”

Do-jin turned his body slightly more, moving away from the door.

Then someone appeared beside Yoo Seok-young.

It was Mr. Kim.

Seo-hye widened her eyes and called out to him.

“……Mr. Kim?”

“Miss Seo-hye.”

He looked as if he had lost about 10kg since she last saw him, appearing much more gaunt.

It seemed he had suffered greatly, both mentally and physically.

“Thankfully, Mr. Kim informed me.”

Seo-hye was still bewildered by the situation.

At that moment, noticing a slight change in the sound of the respirator, Seo-hye quickly turned around.

Hyo-young was moving her hand, trying to remove the respirator.

Seo-hye hurried over and took off her respirator.

“K…Kim….”

Seo-hye was somewhat surprised.

Why was her mother so glad to see Mr. Kim?

Mr. Kim quickly approached and stood on the opposite side of Seo-hye.

He held Hyo-young’s hand.

“Seo-hye.”

At that moment, Do-jin called Seo-hye.

“Shall we step out for a moment?”

Seo-hye looked back and forth between Do-jin, Mr. Kim, and Hyo-young several times, and thinking that Do-jin, who brought Mr. Kim, would be the quickest to explain the situation, she went out into the corridor with him.

Yoo Seok-young, who had left the gifts in the hospital room, followed them out and spoke to Do-jin.

“Executive Director, I’ll be on the first floor, so please contact me if you need anything.”

As Yoo Seok-young disappeared down the corridor after Do-jin nodded, Seo-hye grabbed Do-jin’s wrist tightly and shook it as she asked.

“Do-jin, what happened with Mr. Kim? I thought he was just following my grandfather’s orders to monitor my mom.”

Do-jin hesitated, looking at Seo-hye, who was expecting an answer with a puzzled expression.

He had told Mr. Kim that he would convey everything to Seo-hye properly.

Faced with this innocent face, it was truly difficult to speak about the selfishness of adults.

“Wow, not telling me makes it even more suspicious. What is it, really?”

Do-jin suggested that they go to the car, as it wasn’t the place to talk here.

If it wasn’t a conversation for here, just how serious could it be?

Holding Seo-hye’s hand tightly, Do-jin told her about Mr. Kim and Hyo-young as soon as they got to the car.

He explained that Hyo-young was actually a servant at the Cheongun-dong house and that she and Mr. Kim were close colleagues.

And even the unpleasant story of how Seo-hye came to be born.

However, Seo-hye had an unexpectedly calm expression.

“Are you okay?”

Seo-hye, in a daze, answered slowly.

“……Yes. I mean, I was born anyway… I can’t undo that, right?”

She wasn’t calm.

She felt disgust about her birth and resigned herself to it at the same time.

Do-jin held her hand and made her look at him.

Seo-hye’s pupils were completely clouded.

“Do you think my mom… disliked me?”

Do-jin answered without hesitation.

“You’ve never doubted your mother before, so are you really so weak to doubt her now because of this story, Seo-hye?”

“…….”

“As far as I know, she cherished you very much.”

“…….”

“She had plenty of time to make a choice. But she chose to meet you.”

Seo-hye’s eyes wavered.

“You were born with her expectations and blessings.”

Though her clear eyes filled with a transparent film, Seo-hye didn’t cry.

And clearing her throat filled with sobs, she cautiously asked Do-jin.

“So I was born this way. I’ve lived this kind of life.”

Do-jin listened intently to her voice.

“Do you still like me, Do-jin?”

“I’m crazy about you.”

At that, Seo-hye let out a small laugh.

“Even your tear-filled eyes are so pretty, I just want to strip everything away and devour them.”

“Oh… really. How can you joke even in this situation?”

He moved Seo-hye’s hand.

The destination was the front of his pants.

“Does it still feel like a joke?”

Seo-hye pursed her lips tightly at his mischief and gave a light smack with her hand.

Do-jin looked at Seo-hye with a bewildered expression.

“What did you just do?”

“What did I do?”

“You just touched me.”

“I didn’t touch you.”

At Seo-hye’s denial, Do-jin laughed in disbelief, then immediately hardened his expression.

In an instant, his gaze changed as he grabbed her chin and kissed her deeply, capturing her at once.

Seo-hye briefly pushed him away but then wrapped her arms around his neck, accepting him.

Driven to the brink by her proactive provocation, Do-jin reluctantly pulled his lips away.

“Let’s do it here.”

Seo-hye, panting heavily, refused.

“It’s broad daylight right now.”

“Should we move to the back seat?”

“With your height, Do-jin, everyone will see.”

“Oh, you even imagined it.”

“No…”

Seo-hye, embarrassed, averted her gaze.

Do-jin looked at her warmly for a long time, then finally let out a groan and spoke with difficulty.

“It’s good to be with you, Seo-hye, but it’s really hard.”

Seo-hye flinched slightly. Noticing even that, Do-jin turned her chin to make her look at him.

“But I’ll endure it. We’ll do it thousands of times more in the future, so what’s the big deal if I can’t hold back just once today?”

He naturally envisioned a future with Seo-hye.

Seo-hye did not retort with her usual strange comments.

Finding her endearing for no longer rejecting him, Do-jin wrapped his arms around her waist and swiftly lifted her to sit on his lap.

When Seo-hye flailed and bumped her back against the steering wheel, Do-jin apologized on her behalf and gently rubbed her back.

And promising that he would really do nothing but hold her, he embraced her tightly.

Seo-hye grumbled about being suffocated, but soon she surrendered herself into his arms and leaned her head against him.

As silence fell, the intertwined heartbeats of the two resonated even louder inside the car.

Feeling not only his own but also Seo-hye’s heart pounding through his entire body, a satisfied smile appeared on Do-jin’s lips.