Runaway Secretary - Chapter 42

CHAPTER 42

The rainy season is over.

Taeheon had left for a business trip to the United States, and Yeonseo carefully nursed Mrs. Kang every day, feeling like she was walking on thin ice. With each passing day, Mrs. Kang’s strength waned, and she gradually lost her sight. Her vomiting became increasingly severe.

Her headaches were crushing, and no amount of painkillers and needles could solve them. The day the resident doctor shook his head, Mrs. Kang was rushed to the hospital.

Inside the ambulance, Yeonseo held Mrs. Kang’s almost lifeless hand and cried. It had been agreed among the children that if it turned into an emergency, they would proceed with the surgery.

Yeonseo wondered if Taeheon had influenced this decision. Taeheon was confused by Mrs. Kang’s decision to die a slow death in the Yongin house. If he’d heard the news, he’d be conflicted too.

It was nearly dawn. Quickly calculating the United States time difference, Yeonseo called Taeheon after the operating room door closed. She waited anxiously for the call to connect.

Usually, Taeheon contacted her at least once a day. Today, ten days since his business trip, was the first time Yeonseo had called him.

–        Yes?

Taeheon’s surroundings seemed quiet.

“Sir Taeheon”

–        Grandmother’s situation, I heard about it.

“The doctor said she’s in critical condition. The surgery will be very difficult. Please be aware of that.”

–        I know. Is that all you have to say?

Contrary to what Yeonseo had anticipated, Taeheon sounded indifferent and cold. Still, she hoped that wasn’t the case, so she asked him a question.

“When are you coming back to Korea?”

–        It will take another week at least.

“You can’t come back …… right away?”

–        Yeah, if there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up now. I’m quite busy at the moment.

“I see. I’m sorry.”

Yeonseo blinked painfully through her w*t eyes after the call ended. A sense of emptiness and despair enveloped her, like a cold gust of wind.

She’d expected Taeheon to at least ask about Mrs. Kang’s well-being, or say he’d be there soon, or ask her to take care of his grandmother, or any number of other things he could have said.

In truth, Yeonseo wanted to rely on Taeheon. Mrs. Kang’s hands were becoming too feeble; she feared she might lose her strength at any moment.

At times like this, she wanted someone to rely on, and she had hoped it would be Taeheon.

She wanted to comfort him too…

Yeonseo slumped in the hallway of the operating room. Mrs. Kang’s relatives were arriving one by one.

After a lengthy surgery, Mrs. Kang’s was transferred to the intensive care unit.

The surgery, performed by a renowned professor, had been successful. However, they couldn’t let their guard down. They had been told that her age might slow down her recovery.

The chilly atmosphere in the busy ICU corridor seemed to reflect the darkness that had settled in the hearts of the waiting families. Reading the depths of anxiety on their faces, Yeonseo stepped aside, her insides blackened with despair.

*

Fortunately, the critical period had passed, but Mrs. Kang remained unconscious. It was advised that she wouldn’t leave the ICU until she regained consciousness.

Visits were limited to twice a day. The relatives took their turns to enter the ICU, and naturally, Yeonseo’s turn never came.

Still, Yeonseo didn’t leave the hospital. She lingered near the ICU, consumed by her futile hope. Her behavior irritated Yoonhae, who had noticed her wandering around the ICU for days.

Frustrated, Yoonhae scolded Yeonseo and sent her out of the hospital, urging her to take a break for a while.

Yeonseo knew she couldn’t do anything, so she reluctantly left the hospital. She took a bus and returned to her tiny room for the first time in a long time.  Thanks to the regular deposits of 350,000 won each month that Taeheon had provided, she was able to avoid being kicked out of this small dormitory.

She exchanged a polite nod with the landlady guarding the entrance on the first floor and climbed up to the third floor, which was marked with a sign for women only. Her room was at the end of the hallway, the last one in a row of closely packed doors. She had chosen this room with a window, hoping for a breath of fresh air. Even though it was a small window, the lack of it would have made her boarding house life even more stifling.

As she entered and punched in the password, the stale air greeted her. Wanting to dispel the dampness, she opened the window. Instead of the beautiful scenery she had seen from her home in Yongin, she was met with the view of the neighboring building’s dull exterior and a commercial building that filled her field of vision.

“Haa…….”

During the time she had been living at the Yongin house, these small rooms seemed cramped and suffocating. She had grown accustomed to spaciousness.

While Mrs. Kang was in the hospital, Yeonseo had to eat and sleep here once again. She didn’t take the officetel Taeheon gave her. It might have been for convenience, but to her, it felt like a luxury. The overflowing gifts made her feel pathetic.

Returning to her original circumstances, she felt like she had become the loser. She was anxious that Taeheon might find out about her current situation, but she worried even more about his coldness. It was foolish to expect his affection.

But if the small one-room accommodation was Yeonseo’s reality, and Taeheon was her fantasy, then being disappointed in Taeheon’s bitterness was greed, and wanting his affection was hunger.

“I should do the laundry first.”

Yeonseo sighed and started cleaning.

*

Should I have a roll of kimbap for dinner?

Yeonseo pondered while looking out of the boarding house window. She didn’t have much appetite, but she hadn’t eaten in a while and had lost a few pounds from traveling back and forth between the ICU and the boarding house.

Yeonseo had become quite pale, to the point that Songhyun passing by in the hospital corridor even commented that she should eat properly.

She thought it would be better if they let her into the intensive care unit for once, instead of saying such things.

When the Sewon Group family and their secretaries occupied the hospital corridor, Yeonseo was pushed to the end of the hallway. The Sewon Group people seemed to come at scheduled times and dates. Two people at two different times each day, all different individuals.

There was a day when she ran into Director Woo. Fortunately, she didn’t see Seungbin. In any case, Yeonseo was always there, like air. There was no place for her on the visiting list.

Should I try calling Taeheon to ask when he’ll come back?

When Taeheon returned, maybe she could try to persuade him to let her visit. She missed Mrs. Kang terribly, and it ate away at her.

Her cell phone rang, Yeonseo snapped out of her thoughts by the boarding house window. She picked up her phone and checked the caller ID, then smiled.

“Are you done with your schedule?”

–        Yeah, just a while ago. What are you up to? Are you home?

“Yeah.”

–        Come out for a meal. I’m right outside.

“Hyeonho, are you outside the boarding house right now?”

Yeonseo was surprised and slightly flustered.

–        Yeah. Come out quickly.”

After quickly hanging up the phone, she prepared to go out. She contemplated changing her clothes but decided to go as is, wearing a hat roughly flattened in order to hide her disheveled appearance.

As she rushed out of the boarding house entrance, she saw Hyunho waiting in the alley. He flicked the cigarette b*tt he had been smoking into the trashcan.

“You really came out quickly. Did you run?”

“Yeah. I was so hungry. How about some samgyupsal?”

“Sounds good. But why are you wearing that hat too?”

“My face is a mess.”

Yeonseo laughed softly and flicked the cap’s brim that Hyeonho had once brought back as a souvenir from a fashion show. She hadn’t expected Hyeonho to wear one too, but it was black, so it didn’t stand out too much.

Hyeonho’s well-groomed eyebrows arched in amus*ment.

“Take it off. People would say things.”

“Why?”

“If we both wear it, people might mistake us for a couple.”

Shivering at the thought, Yeonseo took off the hat and she placed it on Hyeonho’s head. Hyeonho then said it was a joke and put the hat back on Yeonseo’s head agan-in.

“That’s enough.”

Yeonseo hit Hyeoho on the back with the hat, and he laughed out loud. Yeonseo smiled brightly, trying to forget the man who kept popping into her mind at moments like this.

She thought that if she repeated this mantra enough times, she would really start to feel better. They headed to the pork belly restaurant and grilled the meat. The dinner became an excuse for them to be together.

Yeonseo tilted her soju glass repeatedly, emptying two bottles in a row.

“Han Yeonseo, wake up. I can’t enter the boarding house. It’s for women only. They won’t let me in.”

“Hyeonho.”

Lying on the table with one arm supporting her, she continued to mutter Hyeonho’s name since earlier, which sounded far from rational.

“I’m going to die, seriously.”

“Hyeonho, why are you Hyeonho?”

“You’re seriously insane.”

Hyeonho, his tongue clicking, only drank the cold water brought to him by the waitress since he couldn’t drink any alcohol. His stomach was churning.

He notices Yeonseo’s screen lighting up.

“Yeonseo, your phone’s ringing. The director? It says ‘Director.'”

Yeonseo, who had been sprawled on the table, swiftly grabbed her phone at lightning speed.

Ahem. Clearing her throat, she ignored Hyeonseo’s teasing tongue and answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Uh.”

Hyeonho chuckled at his friend’s antics. Whether he said something or not, Yeonseo strained to hear the voice on the other end of the phone.

–        Why does your voice sound like that?

“Well, I had a little to drink.

–        Han Yeonseo.

“Yes?”

–        You’re not moving into the officetel? Are you still in your rebellious phase?

It was a disdainful remark aimed at Yeonseo for not moving to the apartment yet. She didn’t want to entrust him with more, especially when she already owed him so much.

She felt embarrassed, and truthfully, she felt a bit resentful towards Taeheon.

It was heartbreaking to be neglected…

“It’s too big there. It’s so lonely to live alone…”

–        Come to the officetel now.

“Now?”

–        You’ve become less talkative. Should I come pick you up?

“Sir you’re back in Korea… right?”

Yeonseo hiccuped, her eyes widening.

–        I don’t really like people who drink too much.

“I’m with a friend right now. I can’t come right away…”

–        Come to the officetel.

The call abruptly ended. Yeonseo put down her phone and gulped down a glass of cold water.

“Hyeonho.”

“What? Why are you looking at me like that? Your eyes are watery. Is something creepy?”

“He told me to come right now…”

“If it’s the director, it’s the person from before, right? That day…”

Hyeonho abruptly swallowed the rest of his sentence. He was about to ask if it was the person he had met on the day Moonshik died, but his mouth felt parched.

“Hyeonho, do I seem hesitant?”

“No. You seem completely crazy.”

Hyeonho chuckled, and Yeonseo scowled.

“I’m sorry, but I think I should go. Can you give me a ride?”

Yeonseo spoke cautiously, her eyes flickering. Sensing the change, Hyeonho narrowed his eyes suspiciously.