Chapter 22

“I’m not very close with my father. These days, he occasionally works at construction sites and takes care of my mother.”  

At that, Dokyeom finally nodded as if that was enough.  

Leeyeon exhaled the breath that had been stuck at the tip of her throat.  

“So that’s why you needed a large sum of money.”  

A poorly earning father.

But a mother who required a lot of money.  

Now that he understood this background, Dokyeom could fully comprehend why Leeyeon was so determined to endure by Cha Heeyoung’s side.  

Even though it might have been an embarrassing story to share, Leeyeon remained calm throughout.  

There was only one moment when she had shown any sign of wavering.  

It was when she had cut off her report about Cha Heeyoung and Dokyeom had asked what she had been doing before coming here.  

Reading the emotions that flickered in her otherwise serene gaze had been quite intriguing.  

It hadn’t been a deliberately intended question on Dokyeom’s part.  

The curiosity he had been trying to ignore all day had suddenly burst out without even passing through his brain.  

For some reason, questions and words he didn’t even understand why he was saying would often come out when he was with Leeyeon.  

He could have just listened to her report and asked questions solely about Cha Heeyoung, but he found himself wanting to know how Leeyeon had spent her day.  

After asking various questions about Leeyeon, Dokyeom placed his phone on the table.  

It looked so new that one wouldn’t think it was the phone with the cracked screen.  

“It was handled through the official process at the service center. I didn’t look at any of the information inside, so don’t worry.”  

“Thank you. Then, I’ll head out now.”  

As Leeyeon was about to leave the office, Dokyeom called out to her.  

“I’ll be leaving for a business trip starting tomorrow.”  

“How long will you be away?”  

“About a week.”  

“Understood. Then I’ll report everything at once when you return from your trip.”  

“All right.”  

***

Late at night, in the hotel lounge bar.  

“Yerin, I’ve ended things with Han Leeyeon.”

Even at Junho’s words, Yerin simply stared at her phone and replied indifferently.  

“You told me to end it quickly, so I did.”  

Junho spoke in a voice that sounded like he wanted to be praised, leaving out the part about how he had once clung desperately to Leeyeon.  

He had thought about trying to win her back, assuming Dokyeom and Leeyeon were just having fun together, but he completely abandoned that thought after their encounter at the emergency stairs.  

‘Focus on Yerin. Her family is much better off anyway.’  

In fact, breaking up with Leeyeon might be another turning point in his life.  

“I did well, didn’t I?”  

“Yeah, you did well.”  

Looking at Yerin, who still didn’t lift her gaze from her phone, Junho spoke again, sounding slightly hurt.  

“Yerin, aren’t you paying too little attention to me today?”  

“Sorry. I have something to take care of right now. Can you just entertain yourself for a bit?”  

Yerin, looking annoyed, brushed off Junho’s hand as he subtly tried to intertwine his fingers with hers.  

In truth, telling him to break up with Leeyeon had been a spur-of-the-moment remark.  

Having never shared anything with anyone in her life, Yerin wanted Junho to feel the same way.  

However, she hadn’t expected Junho to cling so much after that.  

“I should’ve been the one to tell Han Leeyeon we’re over first, but it’s so frustrating. That Han Leeyeon girl is such a shameless little tramp, isn’t she?”  

“Really?”  

Still scrolling through SNS on her phone, Yerin responded in a dry tone.  

“I don’t know how she managed to seduce someone like Ji Dokyeom. She used to get embarrassed just holding hands with me, but under some rich guy, she spreads her legs just like that.”  

Junho trembled with anger, as if the thought alone still made his blood boil.  

“What did you just say, oppa?”  

A sharp voice cut through, calling Junho.  

“Huh?”  

“What did you just say?”  

“That Han Leeyeon was fooling around with Ji Dokyeom behind my back. Isn’t she filthy?”  

“What?”  

Yerin screamed.  

“Dokyeom and Han Leeyeon?”  

“Yeah.”  

“This is insane.”  

Yerin’s face twisted with venom.  

“Why are you only telling me this now?”  

“Huh? Well, you said you were busy, so…”  

“Stop spouting useless nonsense and start with the important stuff next time. Ugh, this is so annoying.”  

Yerin snatched her bag furiously.  

“Yerin, are you leaving already? I booked a room here…”  

Junho’s face showed signs of disappointment.  

Yerin frowned in annoyance as she looked at Junho, who was always desperate to sleep with her whenever they met.  

It seemed like the time had come to cut ties with this guy too.  

He had been decent enough in bed to play around with, but if he was going to cling to her like a leech, as if he were serious, that was a different story.  

“Oppa, what about the apartment I said I wanted to live in? I heard there’s a listing available.”  

“Huh? Oh, that… I’m looking into it.”  

Yerin laughed to herself mockingly.  

She had asked because she already knew exactly how much Junho earned.  

“You know you need to prepare at least that much if you want to keep seeing me, right?”  

“Of course. Just trust me.”  

There was no way Junho would ever be able to get that apartment.  

When he failed, she could use it as an excuse to say their levels didn’t match and that they couldn’t keep seeing each other.  

But now wasn’t the time to be worrying about such things.  

Who did he think he was to dare meet someone like her?  

Yerin’s face turned even colder.  

“Oppa, something urgent came up, so I’ll be leaving first.”  

***

It had already been five days since Dokyeom left for his business trip.  

Without having to go to where Dokyeom was every evening to give her reports, her evenings were now completely free.  

She should have felt happy about that, but strangely, every time it was time to leave work, she felt an odd sense of emptiness.  

It seemed that meeting Dokyeom after work to give her reports had become a part of her daily routine.  

‘Stop thinking about useless things, Han Leeyeon.’  

Leeyeon tried hard to erase Dokyeom’s face, which kept popping into her mind, while glancing at the firmly closed meeting room door.  

Cha Heeyoung was in a meeting for the rookie artist discovery contest.  

Once the meeting ended, she would surely demand a freshly brewed coffee to be brought to her immediately, so Leeyeon was waiting on standby for her.  

At that moment.  

The sound of quick high-heeled steps echoed down the hallway, and a familiar face appeared.  

Leeyeon stood up and spoke to Yerin, who had a venomous expression on her face.  

It was strange for Yerin to suddenly show up here, as she hadn’t made any prior appointment with Cha Heeyoung.  

“Director Cha Heeyoung is currently in a meeting.”  

“Are you seeing Ji Dokyeom?”  

It seemed Yerin’s visit to Jicheol Gallery today wasn’t to see Cha Heeyoung.  

With a sharp voice and glaring eyes, Yerin looked Leeyeon up and down, letting out a mocking laugh as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.  

“Who do you think you are to covet Ji Dokyeom?”  

Her expression was one of utter disbelief.  

There was no need to engage in personal conversation with Yerin.  

Even though she was a rookie artist cherished by Cha Heeyoung, that didn’t mean Leeyeon was obligated to share details of her private life with her.  

Leeyeon gave a faint, professional smile as she looked at Yerin.  

“Are you here to see Director Cha Heeyoung?”  

“I’m asking you a question!”  

“That’s my private life, Artist Bae Yerin.”  

“What?”  

“I can assist you with work-related matters, but I don’t believe I’m obligated to answer questions about my personal life.”  

“Wow, look at this woman!”  

Yerin slammed her bag onto Leeyeon’s desk with a loud thud.  

Her eyes widened as she stepped closer, closing the distance between them.  

“Do you think you’ve become someone just because Ji Dokyeom is dating you?”  

As Leeyeon pressed her lips tightly together, Yerin grew increasingly furious.  

“Hey! You knew I was Ji Dokyeom’s fiancée, didn’t you?”  

“Aren’t the two of you yet to hold an engagement ceremony?”  

“What did you just say?”  

“I understand that while there has been talk of an engagement, the two of you haven’t formally held an engagement ceremony yet.”  

“What kind of woman are you?”  

Yerin roughly swept her hair back with her hand.  

“Anyway, you knew there were talks of marriage between Ji Dokyeom and me. And yet, you blatantly stole someone else’s man! What a woman with no sense of decency!”