BYB 6

Chapter 6

The man who had been holding Jiwoo as if embracing her released his arms. Then, as if startled, he forced the fallen apron into her hands and smiled.

It was amusing. The way her cheeks flushed red at his light joke was entertaining, and the way her body trembled faintly despite being held gently was also entertaining.

He didn’t dislike this strangely ticklish situation. Just who was this woman?

She was the woman who had stolen his gaze the moment he arrived at work. The moment he entered the shop, the woman who caught his eye was sitting upright, blinking her eyelashes as she sliced cabbage. Neatly, slowly. And very messily.

Even to him, who knew little about cooking, the woman seemed quite unskilled with a knife. It meant she wasn’t such a remarkable talent that she absolutely had to stay in this shop under the name of “manager.” If she had decided to inherit her father’s shop instead of getting a job, she should practice with a bit more passion and dedication.

Or maybe he should casually ask about her major.

It wouldn’t be difficult to get her a job at a suitable affiliate of Songhwa. The moment he thought that, he became pathetic again at the reminder of his own situation.

Worrying about someone else…

“Let me do it again for you. Then… bow your head a little.”

The woman, who had been flustered alone with a red face, seemed to have regained her composure and spoke calmly.

She held up the apron, flicked her fingers, and demanded he bend his waist. Her slender white fingers were clean. Suppressing the urge to grab them without permission, Eunho gently nodded.

“How much do I need to bend?”

When he looked at the woman, she averted her gaze.

“Just bend over?”

He wondered if this woman knew that he had almost never bowed in his life. He, who always stood tall in places where everyone bent over, was now bowing at the command of just two fingers—it was strangely amusing.

Eunho bent down low. Seeing the world from the woman’s perspective, everything seemed a little closer. The chair, the table, the floor, and the woman’s red lips.

As Eunho let out a chuckle he couldn’t suppress, Jiwoo glared at him with a look that wasn’t quite angry and spoke.

“Why are you laughing? Are you making fun of me for being short?”

“Of course not.”

Eunho lowered his head close enough to touch her ear and whispered with a faint breath. It was as if he was seducing her.

“I’ll be the big one. I’m big in everything.”

Then he met Jiwoo’s eyes. The woman’s brow twitched slightly. It seemed closer to tension than displeasure. Eunho quite liked her tension.

Well. She could imagine which other parts were bigger.

As he tilted one corner of his mouth while maintaining eye contact, the woman’s eyelashes finally trembled. What would it be like if dewdrop-like tears formed between those thick, long lashes? The woman who seemed like even her tears would be sweet finally hung the apron around his neck.

Eunho’s faint breath brushed past Jiwoo’s earlobe. At that moment, Eunho impulsively asked.

“How old are you?”

“……”

“You seem younger than me.”

As he slowly straightened his back and met her eyes, Jiwoo’s eyes widened and she spoke sharply.

“Yes. I’m younger than you.”

“How do you know how old I am?”

“You look older than me.”

At that, Eunho tilted his head crookedly and teased.

“So how old? Eighteen? Nineteen?”

Knowing it was an absurd provocation, her cheeks instantly flushed red. The look she gave him through narrowed eyes was quite worth seeing.

“How can you say that…! I’m much older than that.”

Seeing how she reacted so quickly to such a trivial joke, her personality was no different from an eighteen-year-old high school girl. Eunho retorted in his characteristic low voice.

“Really? Then I’m relieved you’re not a minor.”

“……”

“So you can date.”

Once again, the woman whose cheeks flushed red flinched away from Eunho. Then she incoherently demanded he hand over his resume immediately, saying she needed to check his age too.

“Give me your resume. My dad said so.”

Eunho was lost in thought for a moment. The resume his former secretary had prepared was probably buried somewhere in his luggage, but he hadn’t looked for it yet. No, to be more accurate, he just hadn’t wanted to touch it since his luggage consisted of nothing but cheap sweatsuits.

“I’ll… look for it.”

“Make sure you bring it tomorrow. Got it?”

Despite her warning tone, Jiwoo was already turning and fleeing toward the kitchen, looking like a frightened rabbit. What was she so scared of? Just because I’m a little big.

Eunho laughed lowly.

It was the moment an absurd exile transformed into a deviation.

The Songhwa owner family gathered at a Korean restaurant for dinner. Present were Song Jong-ui, chairman of Songhwa Group, Song Dong-young, representative of Songhwa Foods, his wife Woo Young-hee, and Song Ju-ho, who had just returned from overseas.

Though three generations were all present, the youngest son, Eunho, was not there.

“Grandfather, you look as healthy as ever.”

Song Ju-ho, who boasted a tall and handsome appearance, greeted his grandfather Chairman Song Jong-ui with a polite smile. Song Jong-ui nodded in acknowledgment.

“Well, I should stay healthy. In one’s later years, only health remains.”

“Later years? Father, you’re still in your prime.”

Woo Young-hee, with a gentle smile, poured tea into his cup as she greeted him.

“Ju-ho, is the work at the US branch manageable?”

“Yes, I learned a great deal.”

As the conversation continued, waiters entered and set up the meal. A soft porridge made with pine nuts came out first, followed by a salad with salmon and lemon, aged raw fish, grilled abalone, and more. Finally, a whole boiled chicken with octopus appeared.

“I specially ordered it for you, Father. You like boiled chicken.”

They took care of each other’s meals, creating a warm and harmonious atmosphere.

Song Ju-ho was scheduled to start working at Songhwa Foods from next week and participate in formal management training. Advice and words of encouragement were exchanged warmly.

“Honey, you should say something to Ju-ho too. Father is giving him so much encouragement, your support can’t be missing.”

Song Dong-young, who had been quietly listening with his taciturn nature, was urged by Woo Young-hee with a gentle smile. Song Dong-young put down his chopsticks and looked at Ju-ho.

“I believe you’ll do well.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Father, look at this. Ju-ho’s father is like this. How can a person never change? He was gruff even when we were dating, and he’s still like this. It’s so upsetting.”

Woo Young-hee feigned a slight pout to lighten the mood. She was the perfect chaebol wife, equipped with both sociability and social skills.

“Eunho is.”

It was none other than Song Jong-ui who broke that harmony.

“Why doesn’t he ever come to family gatherings?”

Song Jong-ui asked casually, tearing apart the tender boiled chicken and putting it in his mouth. As Song Dong-young paused with his chopsticks reaching for spinach, Woo Young-hee spoke first.

“Eunho is a workaholic too, Father. When we said we’d all eat together to celebrate his older brother’s return, he said he was so busy he went on a business trip. How can both sons be like this?”

The smile at the corner of her eyes showed no wavering whatsoever. Her attitude was as natural as if she had forgotten that he was a child her husband had fathered outside their marriage.

“Next time, let’s see Eunho too. Why do you always schedule things on days Eunho isn’t here?”

Song Jong-ui said without smiling.

It was already public knowledge that Song Jong-ui, the head of the Songhwa Group, favored Eunho especially among his many grandchildren. While his older brother Song Ju-ho received full support from his parents and gained much, Eunho received great love from his grandfather.

Woo Young-hee’s eyebrows twitched slightly. She didn’t like that old man who doted on Eunho, even knowing he was a child born from her husband’s affair.

If only Song Eunho had received only love. The properties he had steadily gifted to Eunho—stocks, real estate, land—came to mind and suddenly made her stomach ache.

“I will, Father.”

But Woo Young-hee wasn’t foolish enough to voice such thoughts. She smiled elegantly and answered again.

“Next time, I’ll definitely bring Eunho too.”

His first day of work was a mess. The suspicious man couldn’t do anything. He even asked her to show him how to turn on the water, claiming the kitchen faucet was different from the one at his house. Jiwoo was dumbfounded.

How could someone have absolutely no common sense?

Couldn’t tie an apron. Couldn’t empty the trash. Couldn’t wash dishes.

5 out of 100 points.

That was the clear score Jiwoo gave after spending a day with him. Even those 5 points were given because of his handsome face—if his face matched his behavior, it would have been negative.

She couldn’t tell how the day had passed. After closing the shop, Jiwoo let out a long sigh. It seemed she had been ten times more exhausted than usual because she was constantly conscious of the man.

But why did he just smile even when scolded?

Could there be something on my face? A belated realization struck and she hurriedly looked in the mirror, but she looked fine. Then the low voice that had tickled her ear came to mind.

—I’ll be the big one. I’m big in everything.

Really, what is he saying? Her cheeks grew warm.

Come to think of it, she was so flustered that she realized she hadn’t even asked the man’s name. Why was everything such a mess? Overwhelmed by a sense of futility, Jiwoo let out a short laugh.

Everything was so strange.