The Season I Loved You Without You - Chapter 44

CHAPTER 44

Go-yeo discussed the next shoot with stylist Jung and Ms. Song and observed Ga-eul wedged between the models. He stood out amongst the models, especially the female models, who were flirting and whispering to each other as they stood in front of him. The whole scene was hilarious.

Ms. Song turned around at the slight disturbance and admired Ga-eul between the models.

“Oh. How many shoots has he done?”

Then pointing at Ga-eul, she asked. Checking the contacts, Ji-yeon corrected Ms. Song about the person Ga-eul.

“Oh. Ga-eul is not a model but a boutique employee.”

Ji-yeon didn’t specifically point out that Ga-eul was Go-yeo’s personal driver. Stylist Jung also sincerely admired him.

“Oh my. His physique and proportions are amazing. Like an item. An item.”

Ms. Song nodded in agreement with Stylist Jung’s words.

“He says he’s not interested in modeling?”

“Ask him directly.”

Go-yeo didn’t answer directly to Ms. Song’s words. Ms. Song, who called Ga-eul, made him stand in front of the camera. Awkwardly standing because he didn’t know anything about modeling, Ms. Song held the camera. Clicking away with a click, the result appeared on the monitor. Although the figure was awkward, strangely enough, the result itself was not bad. Go-yeo also quietly admired it.

In the end, Ga-eul decided to try on the last men’s clothing. Hesitant at the proposal, Ga-eul agreed after seeing Go-yeo smiling at his reflection on the monitor.

Ga-eul did makeup and set his hair. This series of processes was very awkward. Then, he put on a hoodie and a loose-fit light denim jacket. The male model approached and advised on poses and expressions to highlight the clothes.

“Could you tilt your head a bit?”

Once Ga-eul stood in front of the camera, he had a moment of regret. Feeling the eyes of strangers looking at him was burdensome. Nervously, he couldn’t tell if he was doing the poses and expressions he’d learned a moment ago correctly.

“You’re very nervous, you know? Let’s relax instead of being like that. I won’t take many shots. Just relax like you’re out for a spring outing with a friend.”

Closing his eyes at the advice of the photographer holding the camera, he took the poses the model had taught him earlier. Encouraged by small compliments, he moved this way and that.

“Oh, great. You’re doing well. Now it’s almost the end, think of going to see cherry blossoms with your girlfriend.”

Thinking of the cherry blossoms, he walked along the path where the library was. The flowers fell in the breeze, and for a moment, they resembled snowflakes. He was gently hit by the white petals, feeling the faint fragrance of the flowers, and was excited. It would be even better if she were there with him.

“That expression is great.”

With Ms. Song’s admiration, Ga-eul’s final shoot ended.

“Good job.”

Ga-eul bowed slightly and thanked the photographer and the surrounding staff. Ms. Song approached Ga-eul and admired the outcome quietly.

“Do you ever think about continuing as a model?”

Ms. Song’s almost rare proposal, which she usually never made, was asked seriously, perhaps showing genuine interest.

“Thank you for the offer. I don’t think it’s for me, though.”

Ga-eul knew he lacked talent in this area. Even setting talent aside, and standing in front of the camera didn’t evoke any desire to try. He was satisfied with today’s special event.

After changing clothes, Ga-eul quietly approached Go-yeo’s side. Ga-eul’s shoot had ended, but there was still a women’s clothing shoot remaining.

Go-yeo looked at Ga-eul. His spotless white skin and forehead-revealing hairstyle were dandy…

“So cute.”

Ga-eul blushed at Go-yeo’s words. Feeling embarrassed, he hurriedly covered his face. Go-yeo laughed softly at Ga-eul’s reaction. Only Ji-yeon heard Go-yeo’s laughter nearby. Ji-yeon turned around, smiled wryly, and nodded her head.

‘Laughing while being shy.’

Sometimes Ji-yeon worried that Go-yeo would end up spending the rest of her life alone with Moon Ji-hyuk. But today she learned definitively that such worries were a luxury. Since her divorce and entanglement with Moon Ji-hyuk, she had always maintained an indifferent and jaded expression. But now, Go-yeo was laughing brightly next to him. The saying that people forget people is not without merit.

* * *

Ji-hyuk had been staying near Dubai in Sharjah, a large city by the sea in the United Arab Emirates, for a month. He planned to build a 120-story building representing Sharjah for MMK Construction. He chose this place by turning his eyes away from the domestic market. With steel and construction technology, he introduced MMK to the Middle East, pioneering new markets.

Ji-hyuk returned to the hotel and loosened his tie. After finishing discussions with locals, he was physically and mentally exhausted from a long meeting with group staff.

Sitting on the couch, he looked at his watch. It was past 10 p.m. locally, and around 5 p.m. in Korea. No messages had come in on his phone. There was no response from Go-yeo to calls or messages. It was an action worthy of anger and a slap. He admitted it. It was a crazy thing to do to Go-yeo.

But he didn’t know how else to express those feelings. If he could go back, he probably wouldn’t do the same thing. Moon Ji-hyuk was originally such a person.

He was scheduled to return to Korea soon, followed by an engagement ceremony with Jo Yoon-young.

He held up a glass filled with alcohol and looked out the window. The night in Sharjah lay before him. Water spewed from the colorful night fountain.

A story of breaking off the engagement had to come out of Jo Yoon-young’s mouth, but the current route seemed elusive. Then he would have to use Jo Hee-chang in the end. In return, he had to offer something more valuable than marrying his daughter.

Ji-hyuk thought about the data he was currently collecting. Was this enough on its own? He shook his head. It was still insufficient. Something decisive was needed.

He turned around at the sound of an incoming email and picked up his phone. There, Go-yeo’s daily activities were listed. Nothing particularly stood out, except for constantly being with the driver. They even went to the arboretum together. Ji-hyuk furrowed his brow at this part.

He thought about the boy with the defiant look he had seen in Go-yeo’s office.

‘No way?’

But he quickly smiled and shook his head. He knew exactly how such a young boy would look to Go-yeo.

“He probably doesn’t seem like a person of this world.”

What mattered was Go-yeo’s taste. She had strict standards and Ji-hyuk had been by her side for a long time because of this. So, he was confident that Yoon Ga-eul was not to Go-yeo’s taste.

“I miss Go-yeo.”

He opened the red box on the table. It was a ring purchased here. It had a pear-cut blue diamond the size of a thumbnail with small sub-diamonds densely set around the edges.

Go-yeo liked colored gemstones and also enjoyed wearing rings. He had known this even before coming here. There were many high-quality colored diamonds here, and they were easy to procure.

There had been no time to think about such things before getting married or during married life. There was pressure from his mother to establish himself at work during that time, but knowing Go-yeo’s background made him even more ambitious.

What hadn’t resonated much while dating became apparent around the time of marriage. Wushin’s only daughter, who was loved and raised, her mother-in-law’s disapproving eyes, and the life she had led.

It had been an ironic time of striving to satisfy Yun Seung-ok to escape from Yun Seung-ok. Looking back now, he wondered if those things were truly necessary. Unable to leave his mother, he ended up embracing both of them and nearly losing both.

Ah. He had just unconsciously lost Go-yeo. He chuckled disappointedly and downed his drink. Lately, he couldn’t sleep without it. To work the next day, he had to sleep, so he drank and lived. Being in a foreign land for so long had somehow relaxed him. So, he often found himself reminiscing.

The time when it was just Yun Seung-ok and him wasn’t a particularly fond memory for him either. His mother probably felt the same way. She had not been satisfied with a certain level of wealth.

Since he could remember, he had grown up in a large, flashy house, with good clothes, various luxuries, and the best education, but there was a sense of emptiness somewhere.

Yun Seung-ok expressed hysteria within the household, which did not go as planned, to the weakest in the family, and the child had no choice but to bear the brunt. After that, he cried like a madman and blamed his absent father, whom he had rarely seen. So he grew up thinking that the world’s worst man was his father.

A ruthless person who abandoned his mother and himself.

Although he knew it wasn’t true as he grew older, the psychological domination that had been going on for a long time was so deeply ingrained that he couldn’t easily escape from it, even if his head grew thick. That’s why his mother continued to bother him. He learned a lot from talented people, but he never learned how to handle a heart.

His mother’s concern was like a thorn under his fingernail, grabbing onto him and pleading. Ji-hyuk knew it was her own selfishness. But no matter how arrogant she might have been, he thought that was his mother’s love.

But now, he doesn’t know if Yun Seung-ok has anything overly sentimental called ‘love.’

He knew Yun Seung-ok didn’t like Go-yeo, but he didn’t know why. That was still the case. It was impossible to grasp for someone who couldn’t understand her enigmatic mind.

According to Go-yeo, it might be because of his grandfather who was a gangster. It seemed absurd to think that way, like a pot calling the kettle black. But even that was not pointed out, so it was unclear.

Ahn Pil-jo seems to know, but nothing is clear. Now, Ji-hyuk doesn’t need anything else; he just needs Go-yeo.

“… Go-yeo.”

If things didn’t go as planned, he was willing to throw everything away. Living quietly together without any interference seemed fine.