CHAPTER 46

He lifted her and took her to the bed. Then he lowered her onto it and helped her get dressed. Her body was sensitive to the touch.

“Hmm….”

As his fingers brushed her thigh while putting on her panties, Sunwoo unconsciously bit her lip slightly and moaned softly.

“I can’t help you even if you make such a sexy noise. I have a conscience too.”

“That’s not it.”

She muttered in a husky voice, but when his fingers touched the hollow part inside her thigh again, she felt her body flinch involuntarily.

“It’s hot.”

He, who had been touching her for a while, suddenly got up from his seat. He went downstairs and came back up with a cup of water.

Thanks to the IV, her throat wasn’t dry, but perhaps because she hadn’t eaten anything all day, the feeling of lukewarm water going down her throat was vivid. Her body relaxed warmly. Only then did she feel a bit conscious and feel like she was alive.

“Can you bring my bag?”

“What for?”

There was a cell phone in the bag. Since she had disappeared without a word at Rain Avenue yesterday, she thought Hee-won would be very worried. But it was difficult because she couldn’t ask Taeju to pass on the message on her behalf.

“Anyway, give it to me.”

“Because of Hee-won?”

Surprised, she couldn’t answer and just blinked her eyes, and he brought the cup of water to her lips.

“Why are you so surprised? It’s obvious.”

“Still… please bring it.”

“Is this the time to think about that? I’ve taken care of it, so don’t worry and sleep more.”

Sunwoo took another sip of water and lay back down. She kept thinking that she should call Hee-won, but she fell back asleep.

Clang, thud.

As she woke up to the noise coming downstairs, the room was completely dark. She couldn’t guess how much time had passed again. Light was seeping through downstairs.

“I did, I did wrong. That… really… even if I didn’t go with her, somehow, I thought you would… I’m sorry.”

Hee-won’s voice came intermittently.

“Ah! Hyung, I did wrong.”

Startled by that sound, Sunwoo, who had fully woken up from sleep, got out of bed. Standing against the wall, she took a deep breath and straightened her posture. Although she still felt dizzy, having slept deeply seemed to help, and her body condition was better than before, and there was nothing on her arm as the IV had been removed while she was sleeping, so there was no hindrance to moving.

“Dan Hee-won, if you ever try to do something with Sunwoo-ssi without me knowing….”

Chills ran down her arm at Taeju’s voice, which was getting quieter and quieter.

“I won’t, I won’t.”

What kind of threat could make a child’s voice so timid? She went down the stairs on her shaky legs.

“Why are you coming down here when you are not yet alright?”

When she suddenly raised her head, Taeju was already standing at the bottom of the stairs.

“Why, why are you doing this?”

“What.”

He came up the stairs and tried to hold Sunwoo. She pushed his hand away, shaking her head.

“Why are you doing this to Hee-won? He just did what I asked him. I didn’t have anyone to ask for help, and I didn’t know anything properly, so I forced him to help me. I was the desperate one. If you’re angry, be angry at me.”

“It’s not like that.”

“It is, I heard everything. You didn’t hit him, did you?”

He was the first friend she had ever made. She felt guilty enough for asking him such a difficult favor, and thinking that Taeju had hit Hee-won made her feel as if he had hit her.

Sunwoo looked down at Hee-won, who was standing in the living room on the first floor, avoiding him who was blocking the way. Hee-won, who seemed to not understand the situation, just blinked at her with a dumbfounded face.

“I didn’t hit him.”

Despite Taeju’s blunt answer, she finally went down the stairs and checked Hee-won from top to bottom. Her pale face was shiny. It didn’t seem like she was hit anywhere.

“Hee-won, were you not hit?”

“Me? I’m fine.”

Hee-won laughed nervously.

“Really?”

“Yes. But you… no, Nuna. What happened to Dan Taeju? Why is he suddenly like that? It’s suspicious.”

He lowered his voice and quickly whispered to her. Dan Taeju was standing in front of the stairs, his arms crossed and his brows deeply furrowed, looking this way.

“What happened? Nothing happened.”

“But why is he suddenly looking at you like that?”

What kind of look is he giving me?

Sunwoo also frowned at Taeju. Then he came over, grabbed her shoulder, and gestured for Hee-won to leave.

“If you’re awake, let’s eat. You can go now.”

“I’m not hungry. I’ll eat later.”

“You need to eat to take medicine. You must be famished from sleeping all day.”

Why does this man always want to feed her something? Sunwoo sighed softly, and Hee-won was constantly looking at the two faces as if watching a ping-pong match. Then his expression slowly started to change.

“No way… ah, no, right?”

She doesn’t know what he’s thinking about.

“What.”

“Aishh, no. No way. Ah, I have goosebumps.”

Hee-won rubbed his arm and shivered, and when his eyes met Taeju’s, he turned pale and lowered his head.

“I didn’t see anything.”

“Go.”

“Ah, okay. I’m going, I’m going. Oh, nuna, I bought some grape twists in the freezer.”

“Huh?”

“You said it was delicious. I bought it. Eat it. Get better from your cold soon.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Even while being pushed out the front door by Taeju, Hee-won waved at her through the crack in the door. After Hee-won left, Sunwoo turned towards the stairs and said,

“I’m going home too.”

“What? Why?”

When he asked, she was momentarily at a loss for words.

“Why? Because that’s my home. Didn’t you buy that apartment for me? And my tutor is coming tomorrow morning….”

“No, stay here today. You’re not well yet. You might faint.”

“I’m okay now.”

Although she was a bit weak, her condition was much better, probably because she had slept deeply.

“Anyway, if it’s not okay, it’s not okay. And right now, you only have those clothes. Are you going to walk there in your pajamas?”

Sunwoo looked down at the clothes she was wearing. Come to think of it, whether he bought it or not, she was wearing pajama pants and a shirt.

“What about my clothes?”

“What clothes?”

“The dress I wore yesterday.”

“I tore it up and threw it away.”

Ah, whether Sunwoo sighed in disbelief or not, he held her. She shook her head because it made her uncomfortable while he kept holding her.

“I’m not a seriously ill patient, why do you keep trying to carry me? I’ll eat here.”

“Okay, then.”

He turned towards the refrigerator as it was. As he took out a disposable container from the refrigerator and transferred the contents to a bowl, she had no choice but to sit in the dining chair.

Yes, I need to take medicine.

“Did you buy too much?”

It seemed like there were about twenty packages of porridge on the table.

“I’m going to eat it.”

“All of this?”

“I like porridge. You don’t have any seafood allergies, do you?”

When she picked out the vegetable porridge, he swapped it for the abalone porridge he was holding. She nibbled at the abalone porridge in front of her, watching him empty a bowl in five minutes. It was amazing how a person could eat like that.

“Why are you just looking and not eating?”

On top of that, Dan Taeju fed her too much.

“You feed me too much.”

Every time she put down her spoon, another spoonful came into her mouth.

“Aren’t you eating too little, Sunwoo-ssi? What kind of stamina is that? You have a cold.”

Whether it was due to her accustomed small meals or her limited and uncomplicated diet, she had yet to acclimate to eating here. The abundant accompaniments, oil, spice, and meat were enjoyable, but they could feel overwhelming at times just by sight.

“It’s like you’re really trying to fatten me up and eat me. There’s something like that in fairy tales. You know? Hansel and Gretel.”

It was one of the fairy tale books in the abandoned school.

“Similar.”

He replied without laughing.

“I said it as a joke, but your response is a bit scary.”

She tried to have a light conversation, but there was already an awkward atmosphere between them. Because of Dan Taeju, who was sitting expressionless and staring intently.

“I feel like I’m really going to gain weight.”

At her mumbling words like a monologue, he abruptly got up from his seat, took a bottle of water from the refrigerator, and brought it over.

Then the doorbell rang. When Taeju went to the front door and opened it, Seo Jin-hyuk was standing there with a stern expression.

“Come in. Where are Sunwoo-ssi’s clothes?”

“I contacted the personal shopper. They will be coming here.”

Jin-hyuk looked at Sunwoo, who was sitting at the dining table, with a worried look.

“Sunwoo-ssi, are you okay? The doctor came, right?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

After exchanging brief greetings, Jin-hyuk and Taeju sat on the sofa and immediately started talking about work. Sunwoo was sitting behind them, eating the remaining porridge.

“As you said, I have postponed all schedules until tomorrow. Director Kim went to Busan instead, and Director Park is acting on behalf of the meetings and other tasks. The previous design was included in the development process and is stored on USB. Please make a decision by tomorrow afternoon. And this needs to be reported at the meeting tomorrow morning, so please review it now and I will take it back.”

“Wait here for a moment.”

Since coming to Seoul, Sunwoo has never seen Dan Taeju take a day off from work. But according to his secretary, he had taken the whole day off yesterday and today. She tilted her head, thinking it was a bit strange.