Handsome Trash - 29
Eunhyuk checked out of the hotel that night as scheduled.
“I have finished checking out, Chairman.”
Secretary Cho, who had gotten into the driver’s seat sometime later, reported to Eunhyuk.
“Let’s go.”
“… Are you not going together?”
Secretary Cho’s voice was overly cautious.
“Who? Hyewon?”
“Yes.”
“Correct.”
Eunhyuk, who looked away from the tablet he had been staring at, continued.
“I didn’t ask her to go with me, so we won’t be going together.”
“I see.”
Convinced they had to turn back, Secretary Cho started the car.
“By the way, Secretary Cho.”
Before the car pulled away, Eunhyuk lowered his eyes back down to his tablet.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Tell you about what?”
Secretary Cho slightly turned around to see Eunhyuk staring at his tablet in the back seat.
“Remember when I asked you to do a background check on Grandma Soonok and Hyewon a while back?”
“Yes.”
“About Hyewon’s situation. You had plenty of opportunities to tell me what happened to that old lady, my grandfather’s first love.”
Secretary Cho was silent for a moment after Eunhyuk’s question.
“… That’s right. I had enough chances, but I didn’t tell you of my own volition.”
“It seems you didn’t want me to meet Hyewon, Secretary Cho.”
Secretary Cho admitted the truth, but Eunhyuk didn’t press further.
“Do you know what the first thing I did when I joined the company and assisted the previous chairman is?”
“What?”
“It was to keep an eye on Kim Soonok.”
“…”
“There; ‘s a villa near Bonjuri that belongs to the previous chairman, and Kim Soonok stayed there for a while. It was my job to keep an eye on her to make sure she didn’t escape.”
Secretary Cho tightly gripped the steering wheel and let out a low sigh.
“At first, it was hard to understand, and I wondered if he loved her. He would only sometimes go for the weekend, but then he wouldn’t go for half a year.”
“So he ordered her confinement.”
“The chairman hadn’t been to the villa for a long time. I was also a m*mber of the company, but I wasn’t learning anything and was only killing time there, so I went to go and see him.”
Eunhyuk stopped interrupting and listened to the secretary with bated breath.
“The chairman, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, was in a relationship with someone new. He forgot about Kim Soonok’s existence.”
The previous chairman’s history with women was so colorful that not even Eunhyuk knew about all of it.
“When I asked him why he had to keep Kim Soonok confined, he said he didn’t want her to get out of his control and fall into the hands of another man.”
Hyewon’s thoughts, spoken while she trembled in fear, were unmistakably true.
Hyewon didn’t want to live like a bird in a cage like her grandmother.
“That day, I went back to the villa and released Kim Soonok. I felt like a sinner for making her unhappy just because I was an employee.”
“…”
“Nevertheless, she waited for him and loved him.”
“It’s hard to listen to that without tears.”
In the end, it resulted in Eunhyuk and Hyewon being caught in a love-hate relationship.
“Whether it’s a love-hate relationship or an obsession, it was hard for me to fully support their love. It was difficult for me to support you and Kang Hyewon for the same reason.”
It was amazing to Eunhyuk that Secretary Cho didn’t open their mouth sooner, even though they had their own circumstances.
Of course, it was irrelevant now.
“I’m only saying this now, but it’s very strange that the chairman… remembered Kim Soonok only after he was given a time-limited diagnosis.”
Secretary Cho’s expression turned bitter.
“Hyewon must have been afraid because she watched the whole process.”
Eunhyuk thought about it.
His grandfather hadn’t been the most affectionate or supportive of Eunhyuk, but he was the only blood relative he had left in the world.
“Can we leave then?”
“Yes, let’s go.”
It was the most baffling contradiction of all: the scum of the earth, remembered as trash by most, was indispensable to Eunhyuk.
*.*.*.*.*
After Eunhyuk left, Hyewon continued her life as usual.
‘Things are different now. I can call him and we can go back and forth if I want to.’
Hyewon stared at the screen where Eunhyuk’s contact information was saved.
“You’re right. We should be able to know better now that we’ve seen the worst of one another. Is this love or is it just an illusion?”
Hyewon thought back to Eunhyuk’s words just before he left.
“I wasn’t ready to let go of you then, and I’m not ready to let go of you now. I’m not satisfied with just being a d*ck to you anymore.”
Hyewon left without consulting Eunhyuk.
Eunhyuk accused Hyewon of forcing him to become obsessed with her.
They hit rock bottom because of each other.
Both parties were at fault.
“The choice is yours.”
But Eunhyuk’s last words shook Hyewon to the core.
It was a terrible feeling for her to miss him so much.
After much deliberation, Hyewon finally called Eunhyuk.
“Hello.”
His voice sounded through the phone, but Hyewon remained silent for some time.
Eunhyuk held onto the phone for a long time without speaking, staying patient.
“It’s Kang Hyewon.”
“I know.”
“I’d like to see you this weekend.”
Eunhyuk had already been thinking about Hyewon for a long, long time, so he just said his thoughts out loud.
“Now.”
“N-now?”
“If you want to see me, you can see me now.”
Hyewon suddenly sat up and checked the time.
“… It’s after midnight.”
“I know you can’t, but words aren’t enough.”
Eunhyuk knows she can’t, but Hyewon’s words aren’t enough.
Ever since that day when she spilled all her pent-up frustrations to Eunhyuk, Hyewon had made one promise to herself.
“I want to see you… now.”
Say what she wants to say when she can say it. Don’t hold it in.
“F*ck.”
“Why are you swearing?”
There was a moment of silence over the receiver.
Hyewon was about to ask if he didn’t like what she said because she couldn’t stand the brief silence.
“I like it.”
“…”
Eunhyuk affirmed that he liked her being honest.
“Where are you now?”
“Are you really coming?”
“Will you meet me when I get there?”
“It’s too late now, but I’ll see you on the weekend.”
If she knew that the phone call she mustered up the courage to make was more than just a routine, she would’ve waited a few more days.
“I already started the car.”
“Please don’t do that. I have to go to work again tomorrow. I don’t want you to drive all the way back and forth.”
“Why not?”
“It’s not a short drive. It’s from Seoul to Daejeon.”
“Come on, it’s not that far.”
“I might have to leave after seeing your face only for a short while.”
“I know.”
“But then I might be too tired to see you on the weekend.”
“No way.”
She asked to meet on the weekend because she can’t commute right away. If they meet up right away, it’s unlikely they’ll see each other on the weekend.
“Are you really coming?”
“I don’t lie, unlike someone else.”
Translator
