Runaway Secretary - ✿ dusk blossoms ✿

CHAPTER 59

Despite the car speeding along, it felt painfully slow to Taeheon.

“Sir, you’ll have to walk from here. Please take this.”

Secretary Shin handed him a handwritten note, a brief map.

“I’ll go alone from here.”

“Uhmm Sir…”

“Speak.”

“Just don’t harm anyone, please.”

Secretary Shin, with a worried look, glanced back at the rear seat. It seemed he was concerned that Taeheon would harm Hyeonho, perhaps expecting him to do something drastic like he did with the loan sharks.

“If you’re so worried, Secretary Shin, you can hit me over the head if necessary.”

“What?”

Ignoring the bewildered secretary, Taeheon got out of the car. There was no time for unnecessary confrontations.

Taeheon glanced up at the dark stairs.

This was considered a neighborhood?

As he ascended the stairs, the frequency of abandoned houses increased, and here and there, he could see new houses that had been remodeled.

It was a strange sight. At the top of the stairs, Taeheon turned into an alley and stopped in front of a rusty green gate.

Beyond the rickety gate and wall was an old slate-roofed house with worn floors, rusted girdles that slid aside, and a small iron door to the kitchen.

It was not a place suitable for living. Perhaps Yeonseo came here for some reason other than coming here to live. It was an inconvenient thought.

“Hyeonho! Where did you put the tissues?”

Yeonseo’s voice suddenly reached his ears, and Taeheon unintentionally hid himself.

It was Yeonseo. It was really her.

Yeonseo, whom Taeheon had been desperately looking for over a month, was right in front of him.

Just a few steps away, just within a short reach.

“Tissues? Probably in the small room. Did I leave them there?”

“Wow… it’s so dusty. When should we clean this up?”

“Yeonseo, let’s just hire someone. This won’t do.”

Creak. The kitchen door opened, and Yeonseo revealed herself. Taeheon, who had been standing behind the old tree, took a step forward, trying to take in the sight of her.

And then his mind went blank. He realized that his love had become enormous.

Yeonseo, with her hair waving like waves, a beautiful smile in her eyes, came out to the small yard.

Wearing a thin short-sleeved T-shirt and short jeans, she came out into the small yard, looking a little cold.

She sighed, as if the dusty, earthy smell of the yard was a cause for concern.

“It’s a mess here, too.”

A pain pierced through his heart as if it were breaking into pieces. What he had barely held together was now collapsing without a trace.

He was sinking, as if his legs were being sucked into an unknown darkness.

The sight of Yeonseo smiling and living a normal life made him feel distant, as if facing a massive wall.

He was mistaken. He thought she would be waiting for him, lonely and alone, like him. It was an arrogant assumption.

Taeheon stood helplessly against the tree, unable to do anything. Raindrops falling one by one moistened his cheeks and chin.

Taeheon turned around. If he turned back now, he would have another chance. Yeonseo didn’t need him now.

At that moment, the rusty gate creaked open.

“Are you… him?”

It was Hyeonho calling out to Taeheon in a husky voice.

Taeheon looked at him with an indifferent face. Hyeonho extended a folded umbrella he was holding in one hand.

“Take it. It’s raining.”

“…Where’s Yeonseo?”

“She’s doing well. So, from now on, please don’t come looking for her. Don’t shake her anymore now that’s she’s adjusting and living well, don’t try to find her anymore.”

“Did you know I was looking for her?”

“Well, thanks to you, she had a hard time. So… now you can go live in your own world. Don’t bother my poor Yeonseo.”

Hyeonho strode over and forced the umbrella into Taeheon’s hand, then disappeared inside the gate.

Maybe Yeonseo needs someone like him. A person like the kind and warm Mrs. Kang.

Taeheon was desperately aware of his inadequacies, but he was Woo Taeheon.

An inhuman, arrogant, a mechanically-minded man who only knew how to rule.

It was agonizing to the extent that he wished he could be born again.

He would die right now if he could.

He cursed the fact that he was Woo Taeheon.

***

The long-abandoned house needed a lot of work. There were many things to fix, and not only broken things, but there was also a mountain of cleaning to do.

Unable to do much at once, she cleaned a little bit at a time, not overwhelming herself. After calling professionals to fix the water pipes, boiler, and bathroom, it looked somewhat habitable.

Yeonseo sat down on the roughly mopped floor and bit into an apple. A crisp and sweet aroma burst from the autumn apple.

She stretched her legs and looked out at the yard, a small patch of dirt. She smiled faintly at the mossy weeds that crawled through the cracks in the uneven cement floor.

She left Taeheon, determined to live somehow. She turned away from him, to breathe.

And Yeonseo had survived. She was still in pain, but she had the consolation of knowing that she had been able to experience intense love.

She lifted her head a little and looked at the sky. It wasn’t as nice as the scenery in Canada, the Philippines, or Japan, but it was comforting.

‘Yeonseo, let’s eat.’

‘Yeonseo, want me to add some seasoning to the bean sprouts?’

She could hear her mom’s gentle and warm voice from inside the kitchen of this house, and she was overwhelmed with emotion.

The house had been seized by a loan shark and put up for sale, and when it didn’t sell, Hyeonho bought it back. She was constantly feeling a source of guilt for Hyeonho. Maybe in a couple of years, after getting a little healthier, she’ll work hard to pay off her debt.

Hyeoho told her to pay it back slowly, that she didn’t have to pay it back if she couldn’t, but it was a lot of money to ignore. Debt was also a temper that had to be repaid. She didn’t want to be like her father, Moon-sik.

Her memories of her mother was all good, but the image of a drunk Moonsik causing a commotion, lingers like a stain on the house.

She bit into the apple she was eating and put it down carefully. Then, she patter her belly gently. Afterward, she put her phone on her ear.

“Hey, Hyeonho.”

- I might be a bit late. Got caught up in a company dinner.

“I said I can be alone.”

Hyeonho suggested that she move to his place, but Yeonseo thought she couldn’t keep relying on him indefinitely. Hyeonho had to date and get married, and having Yeonseo too close could be a hindrance.

- Why stay alone? It’s the two of us now.

“Yeah, that’s true. I almost felt unworthy.”

- What should I bring when I come?

“Melon ice cream. I’ve been craving that.”

- You’re supposed to be eating well. Oh, they’re calling. I’ll call you when I get in.

“Okay.”

Hyeonho went to Yeonseo’s house almost every day after work. While part of her thought it might be better to stay at his place instead, she reminded herself that becoming too dependent on him wasn’t a good habit.

Entering the house, she covered herself with a new blanket and fell asleep, smelling a strange earthy scent.

When she woke up, the clock showed 7:10 PM.

Should I eat dinner?

To calm her uneasy stomach, eating something might be helpful.

Yeonseo pondered for a moment before coming out of her room. Sitting on the floor, she looked towards the front door.

At 7 PM, he always came. Even though she pretended not to know, it was impossible not to notice.

Woo Taeheon had left such a big mark on her life that she had to run far away to get rid of it.

Why did he come looking for me? How did he know where I was?

She wanted to ask him if he wanted to have s*x with her, to tell him to go back, but she felt like she would burst into tears if she spoke to him.

She still hesitated to step forward, afraid that he would see how weak she still was.

She was afraid of being hurt by him again and again. That he’d come all this way to hurt her with his words.

No, he would have done that already.

She’s afraid she’ll be swayed by Taeheon’s vague sympathy and get entangled with him again. She’s afraid that the remnants of her unrequited feelings will be rekindled like embers.

She had no confidence to love Woo Taeheon for the second time. It was a completely different person holding her together when she was almost an empty shell.

Yeonseo wondered that perhaps today, he wouldn’t come. Well, coming every day was strange.

She looked over the gate and shook her head.

It was funny.

What was I trying to confirm?

Yeonseo grabbed her purse and stepped out the gate. She carefully walked down the steep stairs. She bought bean sprouts for dinner and ice cream because she couldn’t wait for Hyeoho to come home.

Holding a black bag, she climbed back up. However, she paused for a moment, clutching her waist. For a moment, the stairs seemed blurry.

Is it my anemia again?

She had been told to be careful.

When Yeonseo stumbled and staggered, someone grabbed her wrist.

“Ah…… thank you, sir.”

She touched her forehead and exhaled deeply. Without thinking, she looked up and there was Taeheon.

He was so close, his hand outstretched, that Yeonseo’s face slowly contorted with the realization.

Under the harsh orange glow of the streetlights, he revealed a suddenly sharp expression that didn’t suit Taeheon’s face.

His jawline and eyes looked more like Taeheon’s, but he looked slightly different. He was still big, but he seemed to have lost a little weight overall.

Yeonseo spoke under her breath.

“Let go, please.”

He twisted her wrist.

“It’s dangerous. I’ll help you come up then I’ll let go.”

His tone sounded softened, or it might just be her illusion.

It’s just another one of his tricks to lull her into a false sense of security and then crush her with nonchalantly.

He’s going to put Hyeonho and Jiyoung in danger.

The cold, bloodless, tearless Taeheon would hurt anyone for his own ends, if it meant holding Han her in his arms unhindered.

Taeheon let go of her hand only after she was well into the alley.

“Why are you here?”

It was fortunate that she could ask in a voice colder than she had expected.

“Are you okay?”