FC 05

Chapter 5

With both hands braced against the kitchen counter, Sung-hyun trapped Ji-won between his arms.

His gaze swept over the woman in front of him like that of a patient predator. It was the look of a beast that wanted to bare its teeth but was holding itself back, assessing a weak creature that might still be worth keeping alive.

There was nowhere for her to retreat except until her back was pressed against the counter.

Without hesitation, Ji-won leaned her upper body backward. Her palm, stretched behind her, touched the hard countertop. Her back was pressed uncomfortably against it, but she didn’t care.

“What is it?”

The sharpness of his chin, tilted slightly to the side, was even more menacing than his eyes, putting further pressure on Ji-won, who was already frozen stiff.

She looked so fragile.

He hadn’t even begun questioning her, yet she was already shrinking away from him. It irritated him.

Sung-hyun deliberately moved closer.

The distance, which had already been far too close, narrowed until their noses were almost touching.

Watching her neck bend backward like that made him—

Ha.

He couldn’t keep his expression under control.

A crack appeared across Sung-hyun’s smooth brow.

She was infuriating.

She had been infuriating him for ten years, and now that this infuriating person had suddenly appeared right in front of him, his irritation had reached its peak.

“Wasn’t Seong Ji-won dead?”

He had been afraid that something like that might have happened.

He had desperately erased the worst-case scenario from his mind, telling himself there was no way it could be true.

But spitefully, the cruel words forced their way out anyway.

She had made him say them.

Seong Ji-won had.

The shallow breaths of the woman who was nervously exhaling one tiny sigh after another tickled the bridge of his nose.

The angle at which she had twisted away brought her lips dangerously close to his.

Sung-hyun deliberately roughened his voice.

“You disappeared overnight.”

“You could do that. I mean, you could, but…”

“At the very least, you should have given me some warning.”

“You did everything you should and shouldn’t do with me. Didn’t you? Hmm? Ji-won.”

Even her faintly trembling eyelashes irritated him.

Her clear eyes, filled with apology, irritated him.

Her lips, unable to say anything, irritated him the most.

And her body, screaming that she wanted to escape this place, irritated him again.

“A woman I held in my arms all night disappeared the next day.”

“A woman who said goodbye and even waved her hand as though we’d see each other again soon.”

“Was that supposed to be a farewell? Or was everything we did the night before meaningless?”

“It only takes a moment to make someone look like a fool.”

He had thought that if he ever happened to meet Seong Ji-won again, he would be able to act as though nothing had happened.

Why?

They had been strangers for so many years without even knowing where the other was.

So why would meeting her suddenly make him angry, miserable, or overwhelmed with emotion?

He had been certain he wouldn’t feel such pathetic emotions.

He was certain he wouldn’t create some humiliating scene like this.

And yet—

You crazy bastard.

What the hell are you doing right now?

His palms pressed harder against the countertop.

He pushed Ji-won, who was practically bent backward, even farther.

And then, after all that, the only thing he managed to ask was a trivial question.

One he didn’t want to know the answer to, yet couldn’t rest until he did.

“Where have you been living?”

“………………I’m in Seoul now.”

“Do you think I’m asking because I don’t know that?”

Every time he opened his mouth, nothing good came out.

Her answer of Seoul left him feeling strangely empty, and Sung-hyun merely raised his eyes and stared directly at Ji-won.

Seong Ji-won, you…………….

He wanted to snap at her.

Was some remnant of that feverish heat from that day still burning inside him?

He had never intended to look for her.

He hadn’t even wanted to be curious about her.

After spending that first night together, he had finally become certain of what he felt.

Then he denied it all over again.

He stubbornly convinced himself that it hadn’t been that serious after all.

It wasn’t as though she’d been playing with him.

It was simply miserable to confirm with his own eyes that Seong Ji-won’s feelings, which she had discarded and disappeared with so casually, had meant even less than his own.

That was where his resentment began.

Why did you do that?

By the time he realized he’d been betrayed, he had already been desperately searching for her.

But the great power everyone envied him for was nothing more than the influence of his family.

Twenty-year-old Joo Sung-hyun had been nothing but an inexperienced young man.

He failed to find her time and time again, and there were limits to how much outside help he could receive.

Even so, he kept searching for a long time, telling himself that if he looked hard enough, he would eventually find her.

Infuriating Seong Ji-won.

He could tell himself that he hadn’t been looking for her because he missed her, but because he missed all the meals he’d gotten from her.

It wouldn’t change the fact that he had desperately searched for this woman.

Recalling that bitter past, Sung-hyun relentlessly held Ji-won’s gaze.

“Where did you go ten years ago?”

“………………I’m sorry.”

“Was I supposed to keep not knowing?”

“Or would something terrible happen if I found out?”

His demanding voice pressed her for an answer.

Eventually, she replied in a tiny voice.

“I was on Seokeungdo……………… Then, because of college, I stayed with my aunt in Changwon.”

“Seokeungdo. Changwon.”

“Yes.”

She mentioned an unfamiliar island and a distant city, and Sung-hyun let out a long breath.

So she had been alive and living in the same country as him all this time.

And he hadn’t been able to find her?

It was pointless to think about it now, but the realization left him feeling hollow.

Without realizing it, Sung-hyun gently bit down on his lower lip.

Ji-won called his name with confused eyes.

“Sung-hyun.”

A heavy silence descended.

When she could barely even swallow, his fingertips lifted Ji-won’s chin.

“Ha.”

His lips twisted into a mocking smile as he muttered in a low, dull voice.

As though he still couldn’t believe this coincidence.

“You really are Seong Ji-won.”

Knock, knock.

Ji-won stood in front of the room at the end of the second floor and took a deep breath after knocking.

How many times had she taken a deep breath today?

She had been tense nonstop, and she couldn’t even remember how she’d managed to finish the fried rice.

After creating an atmosphere in which she could barely breathe, Sung-hyun had calmly stepped aside as though nothing had happened and casually said:

[Finish what you were doing.]

[……………….]

Instead of leaving, however, he had stood behind her and watched her cook.

The gaze from behind hadn’t missed a single movement Ji-won made.

Without saying anything, he had handed her the eggs she’d forgotten to take out.

When she’d finished frying the rice, he’d handed her a plate.

He should have just kept interrogating me.

The silent gaze that followed her every movement, every place her fingertips touched, every step she took, felt painfully sharp.

Part of her wanted him to say something.

Another part desperately wanted him to remain silent.

Because every time he spoke to her, she felt like her heart would explode.

Her hands had been trembling so badly.

She could still hear the sound of her own swallowing so clearly.

What were you thinking while you stood behind me?

Beep—

With the ringing in her head, Ji-won finally managed to shake off the tension that had made it feel as though time had stopped.

Under immense pressure, she stared down at the fried rice she’d made without even tasting it.

She was slightly worried.

But there was no way someone as good at cooking as her could have made something that tasted bad.

She imagined a cute six-year-old with rice grains stuck around her mouth as she ate.

She desperately, stubbornly clung to that image.

Ria, my employer may have already marked me down, but please, at least you.

After praying earnestly inside her head, she opened the door.

The moment she stepped inside, she saw a child sitting at the desk.

The girl was even tinier than Ji-won had expected.

When Ji-won saw her profile, admiration escaped her before she could stop it.

Was this what people meant when they said someone looked like a doll?

Lush, curled eyelashes.

Thick dark-brown hair.

Tiny, adorable eyes, nose, and mouth.

And rosy cheeks.

It was a little funny, but she was reminded of a plump Barbie doll.

Oh my gosh. She’s so cute.

The child’s loveliness exceeded her expectations so completely that Ji-won forgot her worries.

The corners of her lips curled inward as she smiled.

It felt as though her battered mental state was healing.

At least until the child opened her mouth.

“Who told you to come in?!”

……Sadly, the moment she spoke—

“Get out! I’m going to sleep!”

Everything shattered.

Ji-won blinked at the girl’s shrill voice before wiping the bewilderment from her expression.

The instincts of the woman who had once been called the next head teacher at Saetbyeol Kindergarten immediately sounded an alarm.

Our little princess……………… isn’t exactly an ordinary child, is she?

The smile around her lips became solemn.

“Ria, hello? From today, I’ll be staying with Ria. My name is—”

“Get outtt!!”

The irritated child slammed her book shut and ran toward the bed.

She stomped along on her short legs, huffing angrily.

She looked exactly like an angry little chick.

Ji-won suppressed a laugh and looked at the book the child had been reading.

The title, Gifted English, suited the bright-eyed child perfectly.

A child who could read a book like that by herself.

Ji-won’s interest in Ria grew.

“Ria, aren’t you hungry? Do you like fried rice?”

“I don’t eat it.”

“Hmm. How about eating this, brushing your teeth, and then going to bed?”

As Ji-won continued smiling brightly, the child poked her face out from beneath the blanket.

Then she asked cheekily:

“Why are you speaking informally to me?”

Ji-won smiled even more broadly, deliberately.

“Oh? Should I be speaking politely?”

“My uncle is paying you.”

Where do I even start with this one?

She was definitely the complete combination of a sheltered flower, a spoiled child, and a princess complex.

The brazen answer made Ji-won’s head throb.

“Ria, whether I’m getting paid or not isn’t important. I think the person who shouldn’t be speaking informally right now is Ria, not me. Don’t you think?”

“Hmph!”

A six-year-old capable of actually saying Hmph. Tch. Pffft. out loud.

Ji-won chuckled as she looked at those plump cheeks, puffed out like a little bag of mischief.

When Ria realized that Ji-won wasn’t going to back down easily, she pulled the blanket higher.

But Ji-won promptly pulled it back down.

“At this rate, we won’t even be able to introduce ourselves properly. Right? Ria, nice to meet you. My name is Seong Ji-won.”

Ria finally sprang to her feet, clenched her fists, and tightly pressed her lips together.

The plump Barbie doll had transformed into a squirrel with its cheeks stuffed full of acorns.

Oh, my, how scary.

“Your big sister worked really hard to make this for you. Just take one bite for me, okay?”

“No! I don’t want it! I said I don’t!”

“Just one tiiiny little bite!”

Ji-won shamelessly shook the tray.

She held the fried rice right in front of Ria’s face and even made an exaggerated, sing-song humming sound.

Ria raised her sharp eyes, wearing an expression that seemed to say:

What kind of woman is this?

“I already told you twice that I don’t eat it! I don’t normally eat just anything!”

“You only said it once. This is the second time. And it’s not ‘just anything,’ either. Hmph. Tch.”

A thirty-year-old Seong Ji-won was perfectly capable of saying Hmph. Tch. Pffft. too.

Ria’s cheeks puffed out even more after being attacked on her own level.

Her maternal uncle, Sung-hyun, merely copied her halfheartedly.

But this woman was different.

I’m not a baby!

“Pretty Ria, don’t be like that. At least taste it, okay? Big sister’s going to get upset. Sniff!”

“You’ll be shocked when you taste it. You’ll regret not eating it. I’m serious, Ria.”

Ji-won acted just as childishly as Ria, coaxing her.

Without realizing it, Ria sniffed.

Entranced by the delicious smell, she parted her lips—

Then suddenly flinched.

The child, who had almost been won over, quickly lay back down.

I’m offended!

The sight of her tiny back turned away was somehow adorable too.

Every time the child’s shoulders rose and fell with the deliberately exaggerated sound of her breathing, Ji-won’s lips twitched.

“Ria.”

“I’ve fallen asleep. Don’t talk to me.”

“Oh my. A sleeping child is talking?”

A frustrated huff escaped from beneath the blanket.

The tiny, fidgeting hand picked up the remote and turned off the lights in the room.

The surroundings became completely dark.

Isn’t she scared?

With a gentle, aunt-like smile, Ji-won carefully tucked the blanket around her.

“Sleep well, pretty Ria.”

Unfortunately, Ji-won surrendered for today.

It wasn’t quite the atmosphere she’d hoped for, but in its own way, it wasn’t too bad.

Ji-won coolly backed away.

The moment she closed the door and stepped outside, the first thing she did was look down at the fried rice she’d painstakingly made.

She sighed, wondering what she should do with it.

“Give it to me.”

Someone suddenly snatched the tray from her hands.