DH ✦ Ch 36

✦ Chapter 36 ✦

Hyun-jae cupped the tear-streaked woman’s cheek. As he gazed at her quietly, her tearful expression gradually returned to normal.

He didn’t want to apologize.

If this was something he had to apologize for, there would be countless things he would have to kneel down and beg forgiveness for in the future.

“Do you need a painkiller?”

When he wiped the dampness from the corners of her eyes with his finger, Ga-young flinched and met his gaze. The seductive look she had worn when they were intimate had disappeared, leaving behind pure, innocent eyes.

“It’s not that bad.”

Judging by her calm voice, she seemed to have settled down considerably.

Hyun-jae lightly tapped the tip of her cute little nose. The corners of Ga-young’s mouth twitched upward awkwardly.

“Are you really okay?”

“Yes.”

Hyun-jae lightly tickled her chin before withdrawing his hand.

“Then that’s fine.”

Only belatedly did he begin to feel the fatigue from the time difference. He wanted to wash his sweat-soaked body as quickly as possible.

After getting out of bed, Hyun-jae kindly suggested it to Ga-young, who was busy pulling the blanket up to cover herself.

“Want to shower together?”

“I’ll shower in the morning.”

He had wanted to wash her himself, but Ga-young politely refused. He figured she needed sleep more than anything right now, so he didn’t force her and went into the bathroom alone.

Hyun-jae quickly finished his shower with lukewarm water. Thinking that from now on he should hold Ga-young tightly and pat her to sleep, he put on his robe and came out.

His eyes fell on Ga-young, who was almost fully dressed and fastening the last button of her blouse.

“Why are you getting dressed?”

It was an obvious question, yet Ga-young looked at him as though she found it strange.

“I should go back to my room.”

“You’re not sleeping here?”

After spending a night like this, she was going to sleep in a separate room?

Hyun-jae approached her, intending to stop her. But despite what they had just done together, Ga-young cautiously stepped backward, putting distance between them.

“You said we’re dating.”

Hyun-jae felt as though he had been hit on the back of the head.

He could already guess what she was going to say. He watched her from an angle, as if telling her to go ahead and let him hear the predictable speech.

Ga-young lowered her eyes and spoke.

“We’ve only been dating for a few days. If we start sleeping together already, won’t we lose the excitement too quickly? I think a romantic relationship needs certain boundaries. I think it would be better if we continued sleeping separately, like we have until now.”

Even in this situation, her logic remained rock-solid, and Hyun-jae let out a small laugh.

“You think so?”

“Yes.”

He couldn’t exactly tie a woman who was saying this to the bed. Without giving it much thought, Hyun-jae readily accepted.

“Fine. We’ll sleep separately.”

“Yes, then…”

Ga-young politely folded both hands over her abdomen.

“Good night.”

Can’t she stop talking to me like I’m some middle-aged man?

Her manners had once seemed like a mature attitude to him, but now they felt different.

It was almost as though she was desperately trying to draw another line beneath the line she had already crossed.

As if another step wouldn’t let him cross it again anyway.

“Sleep well.”

Hyun-jae sent her away with a smile mixed with quiet amusement. Lying in bed and looking at the empty space beside him, he kept chuckling to himself.

Yoon Ga-young is playing hard to get.

Late that evening, while Ga-young was alone in the annex, she received a phone call.

She checked the name Shin Hyun-jae displayed on the screen and tapped the answer button.

“Yes, Executive Director.”

—What kind of ice cream do you like?

The question came completely out of nowhere, making Ga-young respond with a confused, “Pardon?”

Without any explanation, a string of ice cream names followed from the other end of the phone. They were complicated flavors mixed with combinations of chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and others.

Not knowing what any of them were, Ga-young simply named the kind she usually liked.

“I like sherbet.”

—Then shall I get rainbow sherbet?

“Yes. Huh?”

The call abruptly ended.

Ga-young lowered her phone and tilted her head.

Why had he suddenly brought up ice cream? And what did he mean by getting rainbow sherbet?

She couldn’t understand it at all.

Her questions were answered about twenty minutes later.

When she heard the doorbell and went to the entrance, Hyun-jae held out a shopping bag from an ice cream shop.

“Eat this.”

Ga-young was about to look inside the shopping bag, then raised her eyes instead.

A man who buys a late-night snack on his way home…

The unexpected gesture left her feeling bewildered.

“Was what you asked me about on the phone earlier your way of saying you were going to buy ice cream?”

“Then what did you think it was?”

“Uh, I…”

“It was hot today. And I thought you might like ice cream.”

Apparently, Hyun-jae had inferred her preferences from the ice cream latte they had shared at the café on Jeongdong-gil.

Ga-young hadn’t noticed because she had been staying inside the cool annex, but the temperature had exceeded thirty degrees Celsius during the day.

“I’ll enjoy it. Thank you.”

Ga-young expressed her gratitude.

Hyun-jae passed by her and casually spoke.

“Eat it and get plenty of rest. I’m going straight upstairs.”

His attitude suggested that his business with Ga-young was finished simply by seeing her face for a moment and handing her the shopping bag.

Ga-young stared blankly as he climbed the stairs to the second floor.

It felt strange.

He disappeared into his own space without a hint of lingering, almost as though he were simply another resident of a multi-family house.

A little while later, Ga-young sat at the kitchen table and opened the ice cream container.

A huge tub, almost as large as her face, was filled with rainbow sherbet.

There was so much that she figured it would take her a full week to finish it alone.

Holding the tub against herself, she scooped up a spoonful.

The cool, sweet-and-sour flavor made her scalp tingle.

“Delicious.”

That was how the first bite felt.

Sweet, delicious, it tasted good, it tasted good, and that was all…

Ga-young put down her spoon, overwhelmed by a gloom that even sweetness couldn’t overcome.

“Why couldn’t he just do one thing?”

If he was going to leave like that, he shouldn’t have bought the ice cream in the first place.

For a brief moment she had felt touched, only to feel abandoned barely a minute later.

Or am I overreacting? Maybe he was in a hurry to cool down after being out in the heat.

She stared blankly at the seven-colored sherbet before suddenly springing to her feet.

A decision had unexpectedly popped into her head amid all her futile thoughts.

I’ll ask him to eat it with me.

There was no need to overthink it.

Delicious things were meant to be shared. Besides, eating something Hyun-jae had bought all by herself would be stingy.

Ga-young took a scoop and two ice cream bowls from the shelf above the sink.

When she placed a glass bowl filled with ice cream and two spoons on a tray, she strangely felt cheerful.

After going upstairs, Ga-young called out to Hyun-jae, intending to ask him to come out to the living room.

“Executive Director. Executive…”

The study door was open rather than the bedroom door, and bright light spilled from inside.

Ga-young walked over and looked inside.

Hyun-jae was sitting in front of his desktop computer.

Judging by his comfortable clothes and damp hair, he had apparently gone straight to the study after showering to finish some work he hadn’t completed.

“Executive Director.”

Hyun-jae turned his eyes away from the monitor.

Even when he saw Ga-young, there was no particular reaction on his face.

“What is it?”

“I brought you some ice cream.”

“I don’t need any.”

Something about it sounded like a lie.

Could this really be the same man who had been so passionate with her last night?

His gaze, voice, attitude—everything about Hyun-jae was utterly dry and emotionless.

“You bought it, so you should at least taste it.”

Did I come here for no reason? Am I disturbing his work? Should I leave?

Ga-young fidgeted uncertainly.

“If you’re busy…”

Just before she turned around, Hyun-jae gestured toward the window with his chin.

“Come in and sit over there.”

There was a three-seater sofa and a table positioned with their backs to the window.

“Eat first. I’ll eat after I finish this.”

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of his fingers striking the keyboard resumed.

Ga-young hesitated at the threshold for a moment before going to the place he had indicated and setting down the tray.

Hyun-jae working at his desk and the bowl of ice cream on the table were both sources of anxiety.

Especially the sherbet, whose edges were already beginning to melt.

Deciding to finish it quickly and leave, Ga-young picked up her spoon.

She didn’t even want to waste time letting it melt, so she chewed the sherbet with her teeth.

She was so focused on eating quickly that she barely tasted it.

Then she suddenly realized the sound of the keyboard had stopped.

Ga-young swallowed the sherbet in her mouth and turned her head diagonally.

Hyun-jae was resting his chin on one arm propped on the desk, watching her eat.

His long, narrow eyes held a languid weariness.

“What are you looking at?”

“A woman who looks like she’s going to choke on her ice cream.”

Her stomach had been handling it perfectly well, but his words seemed to work like some kind of spell that suddenly made her feel indigestion.

Ga-young rubbed her abdomen and gave an awkward smile.

“I’m digesting it just fine. When are you going to eat yours?”

“I’ll eat now.”

Hyun-jae moved over and sat beside Ga-young.

She had been nervous that he might sit too close, but that worry had been premature.

Hyun-jae sat with plenty of space between them and took a spoonful of sherbet.

Ga-young followed and scooped up a generous spoonful.

Not wanting him to tease her about choking again, she let the sherbet slowly melt in her mouth this time.

As she wondered how long it would take her to finish the entire bowl, Hyun-jae took only one bite before setting down his spoon.

He didn’t seem particularly interested in the sherbet.

If this was all he was going to eat, he could have just told me to leave.

“Why aren’t you eating any more?”

Instead of answering immediately, Hyun-jae leaned back deeply into the sofa.

Naturally, Ga-young’s gaze followed his face.

Hyun-jae met her eyes and spoke in a bored tone.

“I don’t like sweet things. Except you.”