Once Love Begins - Chapter 19. Part 1

Chapter 19. Part 1

I rushed to the airport and found her immediately. She was there, at the end of everyone’s gaze, following behind an airport employee, her shoulders slumped in a way that made her look so fragile. I wanted nothing more than to take her in my arms and gently comfort her, but I knew she would hate that, so I held myself back.

She noticed me while glancing around nervously, and she bit her lip. Her already bright red lips looked almost as if they were bleeding. My eyes couldn’t help but linger on them. When I finally managed to look at her face, I saw that she was furious. I wasn’t surprised; I knew why she was so angry. But the icy, hateful look in her eyes made me sigh involuntarily.

Her great-uncle had pulled some strings and put a travel ban on her before the funeral was over. She had no idea and had come to the airport anyway. I felt a pang of guilt as I realized how desperate she must have been to leave the country so quickly. My heart grew heavy, sinking deeper and deeper. I closed my eyes tightly for a moment to hide my troubled look before opening them again.

As I got closer, I could see her pale face, drained of color. Her lips were chapped and raw from how hard she had been biting them. I moistened my lips with my tongue, resisting the urge to do something foolish, like embracing her right there. Despite the dizziness from lack of sleep and overwork, I had to stay focused—there was too much to be done.

When I finally stood in front of her, the familiar, sweet scent I missed so much filled my senses. I instinctively shoved my hands into my coat pockets, afraid that I might reach out and pull her into an embrace without thinking.

“My assistant will take care of everything here,” I said.

Her chest heaved with deep breaths, but there was no trace of the little girl who once loved me so much in her expression, and it made my heart ache. Yet, despite everything, I couldn’t help but hope that one day, she might look at me with those bright, adoring eyes again, like I was the center of her world.

“Let’s go.”

“No!” she snapped, rejecting me with fierce determination. I forced a smile, even though her reaction felt like shards of glass cutting into my heart.

“What’s going on with the travel ban?” she demanded.

“We’ll talk about it when we get there,” I replied.

“I’m going to New York. So, tell me right here. What happened?” she demanded, her tone sharp. I took a step closer, and just that small movement made her shoulders tense up.

“…People are watching. Let’s talk in the car,” I suggested.

She looked like she was about to refuse, but as more people started to gather, she reluctantly closed her mouth. I led her to the car, and as soon as we were inside, I noticed how she pressed herself against the window as if being in the same space with me was unbearable. It left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“What’s going on?” she demanded, even before the car door was fully closed, her eyes glaring at me. Even in her anger, she looked beautiful, and it only made things harder.

“Why was there a travel ban?” she asked.

“It was your granduncle’s doing,” I replied.

“What?” she asked, clearly confused.

“If you leave the country, he won’t have any leverage over you,” I explained.

She bit her lip hard again, and I had to fight the urge to reach out and stop her. Instead, I turned my gaze straight ahead, trying to keep my focus away from her and those lips.

“I’ll go back to where I was as soon as the travel ban is lifted,” she said, making it clear she didn’t want to be stopped.

But I couldn’t let her go.

“You need to be here to sort out the inheritance. And the chairman entrusted you to me, so please, let me fulfill his will.”

“I can take care of myself,” she insisted.

“I’m asking you. If you don’t want to stay under the same roof, I’ll move out. Just stay in Korea until the inheritance is settled.”

I wanted to drop to my knees and beg her as she hesitated, clearly considering her options.

“I have a reason to protect you,” I said softly.

“I don’t need your protection. I can live just fine on my own.”

“Your relatives won’t leave you alone.”

“Even so, I don’t want to stay.”

“Then at least stay until the inheritance is finalized. It won’t take long, just a couple of months,” I pleaded.

“……”

“Please, just do that. Okay?”

I desperately prayed for her to say she agreed.

“…Alright,” she finally said.

It wasn’t until I heard her response that I realized I had been holding my breath. The sigh of relief I let out was so deep it felt like it might pull me inward.

* * *

Even though I had agreed, being in such a confined space with him made me feel suffocated. I cracked the window open slightly, but he immediately closed it again.

“You’ll catch a cold.”

“…I’ll stay in Jeju Island, then. Is that okay?” I asked.

He hesitated for a moment, but then he nodded. It seemed like sorting out such a large inheritance would take a long time. Since staying with him wasn’t an option, I figured going to Jeju, where I could do some scuba diving and think about my future, would be the best choice.

Up until now, I had just been living day by day, planning to travel for the rest of my life. But now, I realized I needed to start thinking about what I wanted to do with my future. The thought that I had been living so carelessly filled me with a sense of guilt.

I turned my head to look out the window, and the clear sky caught my eye. The clouds were scattered across the sky, each one unique, like they had been dabbed on with watercolor paint in shades of sky blue and white. I got so lost in the clouds that I didn’t even realize we had arrived home.

“Let’s get out,” he said, snapping me back to reality as I stepped out of the car.

As I walked toward the house and climbed the stone steps, I suddenly saw a scene that stopped me in my tracks.

“Huh? Huh?”

I stood frozen at the top of the steps, my eyes wide with surprise.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“What… is that?”

I asked, my voice shaking as I stared at the small creature darting around the garden. My eyes were trembling as I watched the tiny life form scampering across the grass.

“Oh, the dog.”

“Why is it here?”

I couldn’t believe there was a dog in this house. The moment it saw me—or rather, the moment it saw him standing behind me—it started bouncing toward us, its short legs working hard to close the distance.

“You’ve always wanted to have one,” he said.

“But you said you’re allergic.”

“I take medicine for it.”

“When did you start keeping it? It wasn’t here yesterday.”

“About a year ago. I couldn’t take care of Kiwi because of the funeral, so I asked a friend to look after him.”

“Kiwi? His name is Kiwi?”

“Yeah.”

I crouched down and patted Kiwi’s head as he wagged his tail excitedly, begging to be picked up. When he rolled over, exposing his belly, his entire body wiggled with joy. His fluffy white fur swayed gently, and I couldn’t help but smile at the soft, velvety feel of his coat in my hands.

“He’s so cute. Is he an outdoor dog?”

“No, he stays inside.”

He had always said he couldn’t have a dog because of his allergy to dog fur, so his claim that he had been keeping one for a year felt strangely off. I tried to suppress the smile tugging at my lips as Kiwi kept licking my hand, but the tickling sensation seemed to spread through my whole body.

“It’s cold. let’s go inside,” he said.

“Okay.”

I tried to act nonchalant as I stood up, but my heel slipped on the stone step and I almost fell. He was a step away, but he quickly reached out and caught me, his arm wrapped around my waist. I was relieved, but at the same time it was too close – his firm grip felt too solid against me.

Flustered, I pushed hard against his chest, and he awkwardly stepped back with a small, embarrassed smile. I quickly turned away, not wanting him to see the redness spreading across my face. He picked up Kiwi and urged me to hurry inside.

Once we were in the house, the warmth contrasted sharply with the cold outside.

As I turned around at the sound of him sniffling behind me, I saw him holding Kiwi and sneezing. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that his eyes were slightly red. Realizing it was because of his allergy, I quickly took the puppy from his arms and held him close.

“Shouldn’t you take some medicine?”

I asked, surprised at how severe his allergy seemed to be. How could someone like him keep a dog?

“It’ll get better as soon as I take it,” he reassured me, waving off my concern. But even as he said that he was still sniffling.

“Go take your medicine already,” I insisted.

He rubbed his eyes and left to get his medication, leaving me alone with Kiwi, who was now staring up at me with wide, innocent eyes.

“Oh, you’re just too cute,”

I said, bringing my cheek close to his face. Kiwi responded by licking my cheek, making me giggle from the ticklish sensation. Instead of going to my room, I sat on the sofa, playing with Kiwi for a while.

A bit later, he came back to the living room, his hair wet from a shower, still sneezing occasionally. I watched him for a moment before setting Kiwi down and heading upstairs, giving him some space to recover.

After staying up all night to go to the airport, I was overwhelmed with exhaustion. But I wanted to shower first. A good shower, a meal, and then a deep sleep—that was the plan. As I started undressing, I already found myself missing Kiwi. But that would mean going back downstairs to the first floor where his room was.

With a sigh, I stepped under the shower. Two months, maybe three if it dragged on. After that, I could head abroad again. The warm water poured over me, and I closed my eyes, hoping it would wash away the complicated thoughts swirling in my mind.

The next morning, I headed downstairs as soon as I woke up.

“Kiwi! Kiwi!”

I called out, but there was no sign of him.

“Are you looking for the puppy? He’s probably in the boss’s room,” a staff member informed me.

“Oh, really?”

It struck me as odd. At 5:30 a.m., he would have already left for work, so why would Kiwi be in his room? I tilted my head in confusion.

“The boss seems to be unwell. I asked if he was sick, but he just said he was fine. He didn’t even go to work today.”

I froze at the mention that he couldn’t go to work. The thought of Cha Kang-jae being sick was something I had never considered. Then I remembered how he had been sniffling yesterday, and after hesitating for a moment, I made my way to his room.

The door was slightly ajar, so I peeked in, and there he was, lying motionless on the bed as if he were dead.

“Um… hey…”

I called out, unable to bring myself to say “oppa,” so I settled for something more neutral as I opened the door wider.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“…”

“Are you in a lot of pain?”