DH ✦ Ch 27

✦ Chapter 27 ✦

Around eight in the evening, Hyun-jae ventured an early departure from work. After parking his car, Hyun-jae walked leisurely toward the detached house. When had summer set in so fully? The trees in the garden were lush with green leaves, and the air of the mansion was permeated with the scent of flowers. Hyun-jae took off his jacket and held it in his hand. On a June evening that wasn’t yet sweltering, the gentle breeze blowing in and sliding through his dress shirt felt cool.

Enjoying a rare slice of evening leisure, he reached the entrance of the detached house when Mrs. Eom’s voice drifted over from the direction of the management building. “Executive Directo~r?”

From the spot he turned to look, Mrs. Eom was holding a laundry basket and hurrying her steps while tugging along a hesitant Ga-young by the wrist. Soon, the two women stood side by side in front of Hyun-jae. “You’re home early for a change.”

While Mrs. Eom beamed brightly, Ga-young kept her gaze cast somewhere else, lowering her head flatly. Hyun-jae turned his eyes to Mrs. Eom. “Any trouble today?” “No, a day here is always the same. What about your dinner, Executive Director?” “I’ve eaten. Is that the laundry?” “Ah, this?”

Following Hyun-jae’s gaze, Mrs. Eom lifted the laundry basket forward. “The weather’s nice, so I dried the clothes and boiled undergarments outside. No matter how good dryers are, nothing beats sunlight. I just brought them in, and I was just going to fold and put them away, but…” “Thank you for your hard work.”

Hyun-jae decisively cut off Mrs. Eom’s words. He didn’t want his time alone with just the two of them to be disturbed. Showing enough tact to pick up on that, Mrs. Eom let out an “Ah” and backed off. “I’ll fold the laundry tomorrow. I’ll be off now, so you two have a comfortable evening.” “That basket, let me…”

Hyun-jae reached out his hand, but Ga-young snatched the laundry basket away before he could. “I’ll fold them.” “No, you don’t have to. Just leave it. I’ll sort them out tomorrow.” “Go on inside and rest.”

Bowing her head lightly, Ga-young walked away toward the detached house first. Whether the reason she was avoiding Hyun-jae was because of shame or because she was sulking, it was an amusing attitude.

Telling Mrs. Eom to be on her way, Hyun-jae followed behind Ga-young.

Ga-young dumped the contents of the basket onto the living room floor and sat down to start folding the laundry. Her posture, with her back turned toward the entrance, was unmistakably a stance rejecting Hyun-jae’s gaze.

Whether she did or not, Hyun-jae headed for the sofa positioned right in front of her. Tossing his jacket down and sitting on the sofa, Ga-young’s shoulders shrank back minutely. “Shall I help?” “There aren’t many, I can manage fine on my own.”

It was entertaining to watch Ga-young speak crisply even while she couldn’t lift her eyes to look at him. When he let out a dry snort of laughter, Ga-young slightly furrowed her brows. This time, Ga-young spoke up first. “Shouldn’t you go wash up?” “In a bit.”

Answering in an idle tone, Hyun-jae slumped deep into the sofa, resting his arm over the backrest and propping his head up.

As he watched her motionlessly, Ga-young’s hands folding the laundry fumbled. She probably hadn’t been able to sleep, she must have cried a lot, and perhaps because of that, the woman’s complexion was haggard. In contrast to her pale, lifeless cheeks, her lips alone were redder and plumper than usual. Given how thoroughly he had sucked on them, it was only to be expected.

How sweet had those lips been? They were like fruit-flavored jelly. A taste he wanted to trap inside his mouth and suck on infinitely.

Licking away an uncalled-for thirst with his tongue, Hyun-jae brought out a tone meant to sound reasonably affectionate. “Since when have you been so pretty?”

At the lighthearted remark filled with high-purity sincerity, Ga-young’s fingertips twitched. Her lips moved, trying to figure out what to answer, before slowly parting. “Thank you… for looking at me kindly.”

Hyun-jae forced down a laugh bubbling all the way up to his throat. He felt too guilty to show mockery to a woman trying her absolute hardest not to get caught being nervous.

She’s innocent when it comes to sex, yet her usual speech and behavior are so adult-like. The polite honorifics with every single sentence, the attitude completely devoid of complaints, and her diligent demeanor in everything she did.

Her personal grooming was always simple. Her face was free of makeup, and her long, natural-brown hair was tied back with a black hair tie.

In the dressing room, there were designer clothes and accessories given by Chairman Kwon to the point of overflowing, yet she hadn’t touched a single one of them until now, wearing only the clothes she had brought from New York.

What was Shin Se-jung like at that age? What about the girls who used to swarm around Hyun-jae back then? Every single one of them whined in a nasal voice, dropped responsibility like it was nothing, and were full of vanity.

Compared to her peers, Yoon Ga-young truly was a mature adult.

Even her nimble hands folding each piece of laundry with precise, sharp corners were pretty. As he watched in a half-dazed state, a pink flush crept up onto Ga-young’s earlobes. Did she get aroused from my gaze? Just as he was thinking that, Ga-young untied her hair tie and used her hair to cover her ears.

“My neck was cold.”

Her faint murmur—hardly even an excuse—was cuteness personified.

This is why, whenever I see Yoon Ga-young, I either laugh or get aroused.

As if trying to change the subject, Ga-young spoke up. “Thank you… for returning the bed.”

Would it have been better to just leave a single bed in the detached house? Hyun-jae clicked his tongue inwardly at the selfish thought. It wasn’t something to say out loud. “Why didn’t you sleep some during the day? You have dark circles under your eyes.” “…” “Did it hurt?” “Did what swell?” “Weren’t you swollen anywhere?”

He mischievously probed for no particular reason. Ga-young’s eyelids fluttered rapidly. “A-ah, no.”

Her hands folding the clothes sped up. Hastily shoving the clumsily folded clothes underneath the living room table with trembling hands, Ga-young sprang up from her seat. “I’ll organize them in the dressing room tomorrow, so you don’t need to worry about it. I’ll head to bed first. You have a good rest too, Executive Director.”

With her gaze pinned to the floor and delivering a hurried greeting, Ga-young turned on her heel.

Enjoying the sight of her scurrying away, Hyun-jae didn’t bother to stop her, simply calling out,

“Shall we rewind? Starting from dating?”

Ga-young came to an abrupt halt. Slowly turning back around, her clean eyes asked what he meant.

Matching gazes with this lovely, adult woman, Hyun-jae smiled gently.

“I’m asking you out on a date. How about tomorrow evening?”

All day long—no, ever since last night—her heart had been fluttering with nervous excitement. A date with a man; that was a first in her entire life. Even though the other person was the burdensome Shin Hyun-jae, it was strange that she felt this flutter, and she couldn’t do anything about her heart floating as if she had climbed up onto the clouds.

Ga-young checked the mirror attached to the detached house’s foyer. Does it look way too obvious that I dressed up?

For the first time, she had pulled out and worn one of the designer clothes that had previously been mere display pieces in the dressing room. Out of Chairman Kwon’s gifts, it was still the most modest three-quarter-sleeve dress. It had a beige chiffon base with a dense stripe pattern, and the skirt hem fell just below the knee. It suited her tall, slender frame wonderfully. It was prettier than any clothes she had ever owned. Combined with her long, naturally flowing hair for a change, the look was quite decent. Should I change?

Among the clothes she had brought from New York, there was nothing appropriate for a date look. They were clothes suited more for roaming around the neighborhood or the campus. Besides, wasn’t this a date with a chaebol man? Going out looking shabby would be a nuisance to Hyun-jae.

Not only had she picked her outfit with that thought in mind, but she had even put on makeup. Base makeup wasn’t really necessary so she skipped it, but she did apply lipstick. Her lips, shining with a dried-rose gloss, looked embarrassingly conspicuous on their own. What do I do?

After hesitating for quite a long time, Ga-young looked at the clock hanging on the living room wall. 6:25 PM. Even if she sprinted right now, she would likely be late for the time Hyun-jae had promised to meet her in front of the main gate.

Oh well, whatever. Ga-young jammed her feet into yellow leather flats. These, too, were the most modest shoes among Chairman Kwon’s gifts.

Running all the way across the vast garden to the main gate left her breathless. Catching her breath inside the side gate, Ga-young smoothed down her hair one last time and stepped outside the mansion grounds.

Hyun-jae had already arrived. Leaning against the body of the car, Hyun-jae was dressed in a suit more casual than usual. Judging by the fact that he was gazing down at a tablet, he seemed to have arrived earlier than the promised time.

Opening her mouth to call him Executive Director, Ga-young closed it and quietly walked down the stairs. With every step—one, two—her heart pounded heavily.

She felt mortified at the thought of showing her carefully dressed-up self to Hyun-jae. She was terrified he might criticize her for not suiting it. And she even harbored impossible worries: What if—just what if—he says I’m pretty? How am I supposed to handle this trembling heart?

As she stood before him, Hyun-jae lifted his eyes, which had been buried in the tablet. “I’m a little late.”

Awkwardly, Ga-young’s hand instinctively moved up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Her fallen gaze rolled restlessly left and right.

Hyun-jae let out a heavy hryum of a sigh and tilted his head at an angle.

“If you show up looking like this, will I even be able to eat a proper meal?”