BT 10

Chapter 10

Too Easy, or Absolutely Impossible

Monday at least gave Eun-chae a chance to breathe. It was the day of an event where she could sing.

Myeongdong was normally crowded, but because of the event, it was even more packed than usual. Since it was a shopping mall opening event, a famous star was also supposed to stop by briefly for publicity. It seemed like young fans had descended on the place by the busload just to see that star.

Eun-chae was in such a hurry to get there that she desperately tried to push her way through the crowd. But the bag containing her dress and her makeup case kept getting caught on people.

To make matters worse, her phone started ringing. With so many people around and both hands full, it was difficult to answer.

Still, thinking it must be one of her bandmates calling, Eun-chae hurriedly tried to sort out her belongings and get her phone out. Then a calm voice came from beside her.

“Would you like me to carry those for you?”

When she turned her head, a tall man was standing there. His glasses made him look extremely intelligent, and Eun-chae was slightly shaken.

She had a weakness for men who looked smart.

The man was holding a bouquet of flowers, as if he were on his way to a date. It didn’t seem like he was in much of a position to help her, so Eun-chae shook her head.

“Just go to your girlfriend.”

The man looked confused by what she meant, then realized he was holding a bouquet and smiled as he shook his head.

“Ah! A friend asked me to deliver these. She couldn’t come herself, so she asked me to take them instead.”

In that case, Eun-chae figured she could take advantage of his kindness without feeling too bad about it, so she handed him her garment bag and makeup case.

The man looked flustered as he accepted her luggage. Apparently, he hadn’t expected her to hand everything over so readily.

The moment her things were in his hands, Eun-chae pulled her phone from her crossbody bag and hurriedly answered the call.

As expected, it was Dong-woo.

[Where are you? Is it going to take long?]

“No. I’m in Myeongdong. I’m on my way now.”

[Okay. Hurry.]

After hanging up, Eun-chae looked up at the man again.

He politely asked, “Shall I carry these all the way to where you’re going?”

“Are you hitting on me?”

Her blunt question left the man looking awkward.

“I get misunderstood like that often. But it’s just my nature, so I haven’t been able to change it.”

In other words, helping people was simply part of his personality.

Maybe because he looked intelligent and spoke in such a trustworthy manner, Eun-chae didn’t find him particularly off-putting. There were probably plenty of women who had mistaken his kindness for romantic interest.

“I can carry them myself. Just give them back.”

She said it because she really could. It wasn’t because she was wary of his kindness.

But the man seemed to take it that way, because his expression turned somewhat dejected.

As Eun-chae took her belongings back, she offered him some advice.

“If you really want to go around helping people, become a social worker.”

The man smiled brightly.

“As it happens, I have a similar profession.”

‘A similar profession? What is it?’

Eun-chae was curious for a moment, but she didn’t have time to chat with him. The moment she got her things back, she hurried toward the event venue.

Watching her hurriedly disappear, the man muttered,

“I was headed in that direction anyway.”

But Eun-chae had apparently already forgotten about him. Without even looking back, she disappeared into the crowd.

Even though she arrived at the event venue on time, Eun-chae couldn’t relax yet. She immediately had to change clothes and put on her makeup.

There was no separate waiting room, so Eun-chae went into the shopping mall’s women’s restroom, changed into her red dress, and put on bright makeup.

Women passing through the restroom glanced at her as she underwent her dramatic transformation, but embarrassment like that was nothing to her.

Finally, Eun-chae put on a pair of high heels and stepped out of the restroom.

Then she staggered.

The heel of one of her shoes had suddenly snapped.

Before she had time to regain her balance, a man who happened to be coming out of the men’s restroom quickly caught her.

Holding onto his arm, Eun-chae looked up in surprise.

The man was flustered too, and quickly explained,

“I swear to God, I wasn’t following you.”

It was the bouquet man from earlier.

But Eun-chae had no time to be surprised by their second chance encounter in a row. She needed to get the broken heel fixed before her performance.

Instead of the frantic Eun-chae, the bouquet man remained calm and led her to a place where she could get her shoe repaired.

“You looked so different from earlier that I didn’t recognize you at first.”

Exactly. He had recognized her so quickly that it was almost strange.

Wondering if perhaps her makeup wasn’t done properly, Eun-chae took out a compact mirror to check.

“By the way, why did you change clothes in the restroom like that? Were you on your way to meet your boyfriend?”

“Why? Did I look like I was going to do manual labor earlier?”

Her mischievous remark left the man flustered.

“No. You were pretty earlier too.”

Eun-chae chuckled.

What was she even doing getting her shoe heel fixed beside a man she’d met for the first time in her life?

“I sing at the event. Believe it or not, I’m a singer.”

Only then did the man seem to understand why she’d had to put on a fashion show in the restroom.

“Ah! Then perhaps you know that singer too? Indi—”

“It’s done.”

The repairman cut the bouquet man’s words short and handed Eun-chae her repaired shoe.

Her shoe was the more urgent matter, so Eun-chae hurriedly took it and put it on.

Then she realized something.

She had no cash in her wallet.

Out of her entire fortune of thirteen thousand won, she’d only withdrawn three thousand for transportation. She had deliberately left the remaining ten thousand won in her bank account so she could treat Do-hyeok to the early-bird movie.

Eun-chae looked at the bouquet man with pleading eyes.

“I’m really sorry to ask this when we’ve only just met, but could you lend me some money?”

The bouquet man chuckled.

He probably thought she’d gone pretty far for someone she’d just met.

In the end, the bouquet man paid for her shoe repair.

In return, Eun-chae got his name and bank account number.

His name was Moon Tae-kyung.

For some reason, even his name sounded intelligent.

Eun-chae promised the bouquet man that she would definitely pay him back, then parted ways with him and hurried back to where the event stage was.

It had been a hectic day even before she stepped onto the stage.

“Hello! I’m India Red!”

Unlike Hongdae, there weren’t many people who knew her band. Still, since they were a visually striking band, there were quite a few people who responded enthusiastically.

Among those people, one audience member immediately caught Eun-chae’s eye.

Because he was holding a bouquet.

Huh? Did he come to watch out of loyalty?

When she gave him a bright smile, the bouquet man seemed to smile back.

Then, all of a sudden, he raised the bouquet high and threw it toward the stage.

Eun-chae’s eyes were drawn to the red roses flying through the air.

The bouquet landed right in front of her feet.

The sudden bouquet flying onto the stage sent the audience into louder cheers.

The performance began without missing a beat, and the audience started responding to the lively rhythm.

Eun-chae bent down, took a single rose from the bouquet, held it in her hand, and began to sing.

Standing among the audience, the bouquet man no longer felt like a stranger to Eun-chae.

A pleasant excitement bloomed red within her.

The performance was a success, and having received flowers as well, Eun-chae headed toward Do-hyeok’s house humming happily.

It would have been perfect if she’d been able to go to the after-party too, but it was a little disappointing that she had to hurry back as soon as the performance ended because of her helper work.

She had been riding the subway for quite a while when her phone rang.

<Are you working properly without slacking off?>

Of all days, Do-hyeok had to text her on the exact day she’d deliberately decided to slack off.

Surely he didn’t know anything, did he?

Convinced that there was no way he could, she replied.

When people lie, they have to be shameless about it.

If you did it half-heartedly, you’d be found out immediately.

<Did it all break apart and turn to dust? Is that why I can’t see you?>

What was that supposed to mean?

Eun-chae suddenly became anxious. She quickly sent another text.

<Don’t tell me you’re home right now?>

<If you were home right now, I don’t think you’d need to ask me that.>

This was definitely a trap.

Kwon Do-hyeok absolutely wasn’t home right now. He was at work.

Eun-chae mentally warned herself not to fall for it.

If she just kept her head straight, she could fool Kwon Do-hyeok too.

With that thought, Eun-chae turned off her phone.

Only then did she feel at ease.

It was like closing your eyes after a ghost appeared in front of you and telling yourself there was no ghost anymore.

Still, since she felt better, Eun-chae was satisfied.

[The customer’s phone is currently turned off…]

Do-hyeok learned from the automated voice that Eun-chae had actually turned off her phone completely and let out a dry laugh.

Someone whose behavior was this predictable was actually refreshing.

He would never encounter someone like this in business.

She would go bankrupt immediately.

Do-hyeok already knew that Eun-chae had gone to the Myeongdong event today.

He was the one who had arranged the opportunity for her, after all.

He had only sent her a text because he was curious about how she was doing, but when Eun-chae reacted like this, his dormant mischievous streak came back to life.

She’d been around him enough to know that this kind of behavior would only backfire.

Why hadn’t she figured that out yet?

Do-hyeok pressed the intercom phone and informed Manager Park.

“I’ll be leaving work at six today.”

[Understood.]

After Do-hyeok’s instructions came down, the atmosphere that brightened was the secretary’s office.

“President, you’ve been leaving work earlier lately. Are you dating someone?”

The youngest secretary in the office—and the only woman in her twenties—said brightly, pleased that she would be able to leave work early.

“Don’t go around talking about things like that outside the secretary’s office, Ms. Yeo-jin.”

Manager Lee, second only to Manager Park in rank, cautioned the youngest secretary.

The most important virtue of a secretary was knowing how to keep one’s mouth shut.

“I’m not saying I’m going to spread rumors somewhere. Dating someone is a good thing, isn’t it? Don’t you think so, Manager?”

Perhaps because she belonged to the younger generation, the female secretary still said exactly what she wanted even though she’d been chastised.

Manager Park, being the generous superior that he was, gave a broad smile and murmured,

“Of course. It’s a good thing.”

Worried by Do-hyeok’s text, Eun-chae had rushed to Do-hyeok’s house so quickly that dust practically flew from her feet.

When she saw the empty house, she exploded in frustration.

“I knew it! I knew this would happen!”

Chanting, ‘Be careful of Kwon Do-hyeok whether you’re awake or asleep,’ Eun-chae headed for the kitchen.

She took out a large cup, filled it with water, and put the roses from the bouquet she’d brought into it.

Only then did she feel as though she’d wrapped up the day nicely.

She hoped that, starting today, she would gradually get more and more stages where she could sing.

Grrrrr—

The sound from her stomach made Eun-chae realize something.

She hadn’t eaten anything all day.

It would have been nice to eat something before starting work, but she was in a hurry.

Before Do-hyeok returned, she needed to clean at least the places that were visible.

After all, the obsessive-compulsive Kwon Do-hyeok could spot even a piece of porcelain that was slightly off-center.

* * *

As Do-hyeok was preparing to leave work at six as he’d announced earlier, Manager Park handed him a paper bag.

Do-hyeok looked at Manager Park as if asking what it was.

“Two servings of sushi. I’m guessing Eun-chae hasn’t eaten today.”

“Does Manager Park have her phone number?”

Her phone was definitely turned off.

“She didn’t answer, but she probably will.”

Do-hyeok wondered what exactly he meant by that.

For some reason, he didn’t particularly like the way Manager Park seemed to know something today.

“I’m not hungry.”

Do-hyeok flatly refused, saying he didn’t need it, but Manager Park still didn’t give up.

“Then please give it all to Eun-chae. I’m sure she’ll like it.”

“Why should I do something that makes that woman happy?”

Do-hyeok asked rebelliously.

Manager Park calmly asked,

“Then why did you let Eun-chae stay in your officetel?”

That was because…

He’d simply gotten angry when he’d heard about the sexual harassment.

He’d wondered how carelessly she must have gone around for her to end up suffering something so ridiculous.

“It’s not free. I charge her rent.”

“President, you’re not someone who needs rent money.”

Do-hyeok clicked his tongue and snatched the paper bag Manager Park was holding out to him.

If he didn’t take it, Manager Park seemed likely to keep questioning him like this.

* * *

Eun-chae had been mopping as quickly as she could, but eventually she couldn’t take it anymore and collapsed flat on the floor.

She was so hungry.

“No. I have to get up. There’s no time.”

She tried to encourage herself, but it didn’t help much.

She really needed to eat something.

Only then would she be able to finish the rest of the cleaning.

Eun-chae crawled on all fours toward the entrance.

Because Kwon Do-hyeok disliked the smell of food, there was never anything to eat in this house.

It was truly a house that was impossible to grow attached to.

There was no smell of food cooking in the house.

And she hated even more that she had to go all the way down from the sixty-fourth floor just to buy something to eat.

She had barely reached the entrance when she heard the sound of someone entering the passcode.

It was still far too early for Kwon Do-hyeok to return, so Eun-chae stared at the front door with a look of disbelief.

She desperately hoped she’d heard wrong.

But the person who opened the front door and walked in was none other than the owner of the house, Kwon Do-hyeok.

Eun-chae was on all fours on the floor because she’d run out of energy, while Do-hyeok was standing tall.

The difference in their eye levels was enormous.

“Did you devolve in just one day?”

Eun-chae’s eyes were fixed on the paper bag from the sushi restaurant in Do-hyeok’s hand.

There was no way he’d normally carry around a lunch bag like that, but somehow she imagined she could smell food.

“Don’t tell me that’s something to eat?”

At her starving gaze, Do-hyeok began to feel an unusual attachment to the sushi lunchbox that had felt like a burden in his hand.

“There’s only one serving.”

In truth, conscientious Manager Park had prepared two servings so they could eat together.

But Do-hyeok was mean enough to lie and claim there was only one.

“You have so much money! If you’re buying it anyway, you should’ve bought about a hundred servings! How stingy can you be, bringing only one serving?”

When she was hungry, Eun-chae got excited easily.

And disappointed just as easily.

“I’m really hungry. Can’t you just give it to me?”

Eun-chae clasped her hands together and held them out as if begging.

Since she was lowering herself so easily today, he couldn’t bring himself to attack her.

“Aren’t you throwing away your pride a little too easily when there’s food involved?”

“Pride doesn’t feed me. So are you giving it to me or are you going to eat it all yourself?”

“I don’t like hearing the word ‘gorge.’ It lacks class.”

“I already apologized here. If there’s nothing to eat inside that paper bag, even you would tear me apart and eat me.”

Eun-chae gave him a dark warning, then smiled brightly as if nothing had happened.

“Let’s share it nicely.”

Apparently satisfied, Do-hyeok placed the paper bag into her hands like a king bestowing a royal gift.

When Eun-chae looked inside and saw the sushi lunchboxes, her face filled with emotion.

“It’s really sushi.”

For a moment, Do-hyeok thought that making this woman happy was much easier than he’d expected.

But if Manager Park hadn’t practically forced the bag into his hands, this was something he would never have done.

Too easy, or absolutely impossible.

It was a subtle boundary.

The moment Eun-chae opened the lunchbox, she popped a piece of sushi into her mouth and began eating with great enthusiasm.

When Do-hyeok didn’t eat and simply watched her, Eun-chae asked while chewing on eel sushi,

“Why aren’t you eating?”

“If you’re curious, go look at yourself eating in the mirror.”

She wasn’t sure whether that was a compliment or an insult.

But since Do-hyeok had generously given her a sushi lunchbox today, Eun-chae decided to take it as a compliment and continued eating.

She picked up a fluffy piece of egg sushi and was just about to put it into her mouth when Do-hyeok noticed the flowers sitting in the kitchen and asked her,

“Did you spend your entire fortune of thirteen thousand won on flowers?”

“No, I didn’t!”

Eun-chae popped the egg sushi into her mouth and chewed.

It must have been a really good restaurant, because even the egg sushi tasted exquisite.

“Then where did they come from?”

Eun-chae was completely absorbed in the sushi, while Do-hyeok kept asking about the flowers.

Meanwhile, Eun-chae’s eyes wandered toward the untouched sushi in Do-hyeok’s lunchbox.

“If you’re not going to eat it, I can have it, right?”

She grinned and reached for an eel sushi from his lunchbox, but Do-hyeok quickly blocked her chopsticks with his own.

She glared at him as if to say, ‘You’re not even eating it, but you still won’t give it to someone else? What a rotten personality.’

Do-hyeok ignored her expression and asked again as if interrogating her.

“I asked where you got the flowers.”

“I found them!”

That was actually true.

She had picked them up after they fell onto the stage.

“So you’re saying you picked up garbage and put it on display in my house?”

Do-hyeok seemed genuinely angry, so Eun-chae began watching him carefully.

Maybe because he was a man, he was frightening when he really got angry.

“They’re pretty. How can you call them garbage?”

“You said yourself that you found them.”

“I mean, a man threw them to me and I picked them up. I didn’t pick them up off the street.”

“What man?”

Do-hyeok’s voice grew increasingly ominous, and Eun-chae put down the chopsticks she’d been using to eat sushi.

She had spent her entire life listening to her father’s nagging, so she was exceptionally good at recognizing exactly when unpleasant words were about to come.

“If you don’t want to look at them, I can just take them.”

She picked up the flowers and prepared to leave.

But Do-hyeok’s legs were longer than hers, so he grabbed the flowers first.

Thinking he was about to shove them straight into the trash, Eun-chae was startled and rushed toward him.

“Give me my flowers!”

With the mission of protecting her flowers from Do-hyeok, Eun-chae threw herself forward.

But Do-hyeok easily dodged her, and she went sprawling onto the floor.

Crash!

The sound of her fall was so loud that even Do-hyeok was startled and turned to look at her.