CHAPTER 63

Very plain and emotionless in his tone, but every time he mentioned the word ‘mom,’ she could clearly see a subtle crack appearing on his face. It hurt so much that she couldn’t even muster to find the words to comfort him.

As she wondered why he was telling her such a story, she who was nothing more than an aberration, a fleeting connection, Taegyeom looked at her with resentful eyes.

Despite thinking of him as having a bad personality and a disorderly private life, and despite making every effort to keep her distance, she couldn’t resist the instinct to be drawn to Kwon Taegyeom in the end.

So she decided to be a little greedy for a moment.

If I do this, how can I forget you?

Looking at Leeseo’s distorted face for a moment, Taegyeom smiled faintly and said, 

“I didn’t mean to darken the mood. Eat, it’s not good when it’s cold.”

Taegyeom waved his fork at Leeseo, who had stopped swirling her spaghetti, and urged her to continue eating. Still, when she didn’t move her fork, he rubbed his thumb lazily under her chin.

“Don’t look at me with pitiful eyes. There are plenty of guys with stories like mine around. If you feel sorry for me, comfort me in bed later.”

Even in the midst of this, with such suggestive remarks, Leeseo was amazed by his brazenness and let out a short chuckle. With a dry smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, she scooped up the spaghetti with her fork again and brought it to her mouth, and only then did Taegyeom pick up his own utensils with a satisfied look on his face.

Throughout the meal, her mind kept drifting back to the unexpected details of his dark past. That maybe his obsessive fear of darkness is somehow connected to that past, and that’s why he became the uncontrollable man he is today, a twisted and distorted version of Kwon Taegyeom.

It was not easy to imagine what Taegyeom looked like in his younger years from his current sturdy appearance, but the image of a beautiful youth with a pretty face struggling in the kitchen kept appearing in her mind.

As she silently finished her meal, Taegyeom, who had emptied his glass faster than Leeseo, filled her glass again frighteningly. In the meantime, her body which shivered from the brief exposure to the wind gradually recovered its temperature.

By the time she was sipping her third glass, Taegyeomhad finished his spaghetti before she did, and wiped his mouth with a napkin, then said,

“Keep your schedule open tomorrow evening.”

“Tomorrow evening?”

Seeing the confused look on her face, Taegyeom suddenly reached out his hand. He swiped the sauce off the tip of her lip and casually brought it to his mouth. He sucked his fingertip that had wiped her lips clean and swallowed hard, the corners of his mouth curling up in a sly manner as he watched her stare at him, seemingly frozen in place.

“The sauce on your lips is tastier.”

“Could you use a tissue to wipe it off?”

“I was thinking of wiping it off with my mouth.”

She realized that his casually thrown words were not a joke. The area where his fingertips had touched felt hot.

“Why…… in the evening?”

“Oh, a friend of mine who recently opened a restaurant keeps bothering me to visit. I’m thinking of going tomorrow, and I thought it would be nice if you came with me.”

Taegyeom’s words almost caught her off guard and she almost choked. Not just any restaurant, but a restaurant owned by a friend. She cleared her throat and wiped her lips on a napkin to stop a lingering cough from escaping.

Of course, she could always be casual with his friend over a meal. There was no need to read too much into it.

“Why all of a sudden?”

“Because I’ve been feeding you these simple things every time.”

“I didn’t really think of it that way.”

“If you think about it, it’s annoying. A guy with a lot of money just keeps feeding you poor stuff like spaghetti and sandwiches and insists on nothing but s*x. Isn’t that the scummiest thing in the world?”

Insistent s*x. There were no better words to describe their relationship, but Taegyeom’s words seemed to declare a turning point in their relationship.

Leeseo bit her lip, feeling a strange heat building up in her stomach. She felt resentful and disgusted with the man who kept making her have futile expectations.

“You bought me a necklace, too.”

“At one point, you said it made you feel dirty because it looked like a shackle. Let’s pretend you’re saving a piece of trash and tomorrow, we’ll go on a date.”

He declared with an indifferent tone as if notifying a schedule.

What kind of man asks someone out on a date with such a dry and threatening proposition? Why does my heart flutter so recklessly at such uncool words?

Taegyeom put down his fork and stared down at Leeseo’s bowl. When he was sure she was finished, he pushed his chair back and stood up.

“If you’re done, shall we go up?”

Leeseo, who had been looking at Taegyeom, suddenly lowered her gaze. The bulge in the front of his pants was embarrassingly large in his comfy homewear, but it was her who was on fire from ear to ear. There was no trace of embarrassment in Taegyeom’s smooth and indifferent face.

* * *

Last night’s typhoon seemed almost like a lie.

The pounding of the rain on the windows, the occasional flashes of lightning penetrating the bedroom, and the rumbling thunder, all seemed to penetrate deep into her being, as intense as the man who thrust into her, with such desperation that it felt like it was the last time.

When she woke up in the morning, her head felt hazy, wondering if she had been dreaming. The sky after the typhoon had passed was eerily clear, with a pale blue that felt cold. The radio was broadcasting a weather report that the typhoon had dissipated over the Sea of Japan after racing through the Korean Peninsula at high speed.

Having been embraced by him all night, she was still groggy from the lack of sleep. Or maybe it was because of the few glasses of wine she had hastily drunk that she got a hangover. She chuckled to herself as she remembered the lemonade he had made for her.

Mrs. Seo, who had been discreetly watching Leeseo staring into the distance, seemed to notice something unusual. She narrowed her eyes slightly, then slyly asked, raising the corner of her mouth.

“Leeseo, are you in a relationship these days?”

“What? No.”

“Really? I thought I saw you smiling secretly to yourself all the time. Who is it, a friend from school? Is that why you’re going back to school?”

Ever since Leeseo announced her decision to return to school next semester, Mrs. Seo seemed noticeably happier. Instead of strongly denying, Leeseo laughed without much enthusiasm.

“So it’s a guy from the same school after all? That’s great, I was getting frustrated with you being stuck in the mansion all the time.”

A guy from the same school? What? 

Though she struggled for a while to catch on, Leeseo couldn’t reveal who it was and subtly lowered her eyelids, avoiding the lady’s gaze.

“When you’re young, you should freely enjoy dating. Meeting several men helps you develop a discerning eye. But how old are you?  Is he younger? These days, older women seem to like younger men.”

Recently, the male lead of a weekend drama that all the employees, staying at the quarters, watched was five years younger than the female lead. Day by day, the drama was garnering high ratings and causing the younger man syndrome.

Mrs. Seo, who was carefully observing Leeseo’s face, crossed her arms and said.

“Judging by your expression, it seems like he’s not younger. I see. Being too young might be an issue for you. How about his face? Is he handsome?”

Leeseo smiled awkwardly.

He’s handsome. More than necessary.

“The saying that a man’s face disappears when you turn off the lights, you know that’s just nonsense made up by ugly men, right? When choosing a man, being handsome is the most important. A handsome face and a height of at least 180 centimeters, even if he’s about to die. You should keep that in mind. Got it?”

Mrs. Seo advised with a serious face. Nothing about Kwon Taegyeom’s face, his huge bulk, or his height of over 180cm would ever let her down. Mrs. Seo was one of the few people on the staff who appreciated Taegyeom’s good looks to the point of almost worship.

But if she were to find out that the person Leeseo was meeting was the young master of this house, Leeseo shuddered at what kind of reaction Mrs. Seo would show. Just the thought alone was dizzying. It was a situation where Mrs. Seo might collapse in surprise or astonishment. 

“I won’t interfere in your love life, but the man you’re going to marry, you must show him to me first, understood?”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

As she nodded, her cell phone vibrated loudly in her pocket. Only after Mrs. Seo’s attention shifted elsewhere did Leeseo take out her phone to check the screen.

[Tell me when you’re done, I’ll come pick you up].

A small ripple spread through her chest as if a pebble had dropped into water. She pressed down on her involuntarily twitching lips and sent a reply.

[Sure. I’ll contact you.]

Putting the phone back into her pocket, Leeseo absently fidgeted with the hem of her T-shirt. Although the heat had eased compared to the scorching days of midsummer, the midday weather was still hot enough to make the heat waves visible.

While not someone who sweats excessively, she was still conscious of it. The T-shirt she had been wearing all day might not be suitable.

Thinking that she should stop by home to change before meeting Taegyeom, Leeseo recalled the clothes in her closet that she had seen in the morning. All of them had similar colors, consistent designs, and practicality as a priority. 

‘Let’s pretend you’re saving a piece of trash and tomorrow, we’ll go on a date.’

It’s an incredibly intimidating way to ask someone out. Still, the thought of a date made her head spin with ideas of what to wear. If she’d known this would happen, she would have picked out an outfit beforehand.

While Leeseo was in a dilemma, Mrs. Seo, who had just gone outside, opened the side door and came in. Placing the mail on the table, she said,

“Leeseo, some mail arrived. Take it with you.”