WAK 30

Chapter 30

While Jeonghan left for work, Hana decided to take a bath in the tub just as he had suggested.

Among the various bath products provided, she picked one that created rich bubbles and filled the tub. She took off her bathrobe, hung it up, and cautiously stepped into the water from the tips of her toes.

Surrounded by fluffy bubbles, it felt much better than she expected—almost like sitting inside a cloud.

She smiled softly and leaned her back against the rim. Whether it was because of the warm water or just the lingering fatigue from sleeping in, a heavy drowsiness began to wash over her. Hana rested her head back and closed her eyes. The relaxed state of her body quickly put her mind at ease.

After some time, Jeonghan returned from the company.

Entering the suite, he instinctively looked for Hana. After scanning the empty living room, he headed toward the bedroom.

“Hana.”

He knocked, but there was no answer. Even with his low call, silence met him.

Carefully opening the bedroom door, he found the bed just as empty as the living room.

“Where did she go?”

Tilted in confusion, he left the bedroom and headed toward the living room sofa. He worried about her disappearing while he was out, especially since the person who had attacked her hadn’t been caught yet, leaving him even more uneasy.

Jeonghan dialed Hana’s number. But the ringing sound came from an unexpected place—right beside the sofa he had been sitting on. He picked up her phone.

“There’s no way someone who’s hurting would leave their phone behind…”

Jeonghan’s gaze drifted to the only place he hadn’t checked yet: the bathroom.

Knock, knock.

He knocked on the bathroom door, but still received no reply.

“Hana, are you inside?”

“…”

He checked the time on his wristwatch. About three hours had passed since he left. Hana had told him right before he walked out that she was going to take a half-body bath right away.

Is she still in the bathroom? Surely nothing went wrong in there, right?

Knock, knock!

The rapping on the door grew heavier. Still, there was no movement from inside. His expression turned serious.

“Kang Hana. If you’re in there, answer me!”

Calling out repeatedly yielded nothing. Driven by panic, he pushed the door handle down, his mind racing with every worst-case scenario. Had she slipped on the wet floor and hit her head on the edge? Had she fallen asleep during her bath and drowned?

“Hana!”

Throwing the door wide open, Jeonghan finally found her.

She was slumped limply over the edge of the bathtub, having apparently fainted from the hot water. It was a massive stroke of luck that her face hadn’t plunged into the water.

“Kang Hana!”

Rushing to the tub in a single stride, he checked if she was breathing. A faint, fragile sound of air reached his ears. Urgently, he tapped her face.

“Open your eyes, Hana!”

“Uugn…”

Frowning, Hana began to stir.

Immensely relieved, he tightly shut his eyes for a second, then muttered, “Thank God.”

Jeonghan carefully straightened her slumping shoulders. Hana slowly opened her eyes with a grimace.

“Are you okay? Do you know who I am?”

“Senior…”

Dazedly looking up at him, she belatedly felt a chill and gave a slight shudder. Her gaze naturally traveled downward, landing on her naked body submerged in the water where the bubbles had completely dissolved.

“Aah!”

Hana screamed involuntarily.

Jeonghan swiftly grabbed the hanging bathrobe and draped it over the water. Huddled over, Hana hurriedly covered herself.

Straightening up, he stood with both hands on his hips, wearing a slightly irritated expression.

“How can you stay in hot water long enough to faint? You almost caused a disaster.”

Hana’s mind was an absolute blank. She couldn’t remember how long she had been in the tub. Considering she had drifted right off to sleep shortly after getting in, it made sense.

He stepped closer to the disoriented Hana.

“Why, why are you coming closer?”

“The water’s cold. We need to get out.”

He acted as if he was about to lift her right up.

“I can get up by myself.”

“Did you forget you just fainted?”

“I didn’t faint!”

His brow furrowed. He had just found her collapsed a moment ago—was she really trying to lie about it?

“You didn’t faint?”

She shook her head with a frustrated look.

“I just fell asleep.”

“…What?”

“I slept! As in, sleeping! Ah, just go outside already!”

She finally seemed to be returning to her usual self. Realizing he didn’t believe her, she indignantly splashed water at him.

Jeonghan flinched in surprise but didn’t back away, causing his shirt to get soaked.

“Really? Tell me the truth.”

“How much truer can I be? And why would I even lie? Just go outside!”

Now Jeonghan was the flustered one. He spun around so fast it stirred the air.

“I… I’m sorry.”

“Can’t the apologies wait until later?”

Jeonghan exited just as quickly as he had entered.

Left alone in the bathroom, Hana stared down at the bathrobe soaked like a rag.

“No, wait… if he throws it in the water like this, what am I supposed to wear out there?!”

Hana pulled at her wet hair and thrashed around in frustration. Splashing about like that finally made her realize how cold the water really was. Shivering from the sudden chill, she dragged the wet robe out of the tub and managed to stand up, though a wave of dizziness made her vision go completely dark for a second.

She quickly steadied herself against the wall, squeezing her eyes shut and opening them again. The thought that she almost had a real accident just because she wanted to relax her sore muscles sent a cold shudder down her spine.

Outside the bathroom, Jeonghan kept a calm face, but his actions said otherwise.

Not knowing what to do with himself, he paced back and forth across the spacious living room. Wandering around aimlessly, he finally called the front desk to order warm soup. Even after that, he couldn’t sit still and remained completely restless.

Jeonghan was terribly worried about her. What if she had hurt her body? What if she caught a cold? A million thoughts raced through his head.

He couldn’t help but find his own behavior absurd. He sank onto the sofa and let out a long sigh.

Click.

The sound of the bathroom door opening cautiously reached his ears. She must finally be coming out.

“Um… Senior.”

“Yeah?” he answered without turning around.

“My robe got all wet, so…”

Jeonghan remembered tossing her robe into the tub.

“Ah…”

He stood up with his large frame, pulled a fresh robe from the cabinet by the bathroom, and blindly extended his arm toward her.

“Here.”

Hana, hiding behind the door, waved her hand around to find it. Her groping fingers finally brushed against the target—which turned out not to be the soft robe, but the back of Jeonghan’s hand.

“Oh!”

Hana let out a dainty gasp and instantly regretted it. She snatched the robe away like a thief and slammed the door shut.

Jeonghan instinctively stretched his neck from side to side, then scurried right back to the sofa he had just been sitting on.

Jeonghan stared intently at her as she sat cross-legged on a chair wearing a matching pajama set, her hair twisted up on top of her head, and oversized sunglasses perched on her face while she eagerly slurped down her soup.

“Is it good?”

She polished off the bowl and set the spoon down with a look of lingering regret.

“I was just so hungry…”

The only things she had eaten all day were the bread and Americano from the morning. After being stewed in hot water for who knows how long, it was natural for her to be starving.

“Any signs of a cold?”

“None.”

At first, she had felt a bit dizzy and shivery, but she was fine now.

“How on earth do you fall asleep while taking a bath?”

“It’s my first time too, so I’m a bit stumped for an answer.”

She glanced sideways to gauge his reaction.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“I should.”

He pushed his chair back, stood up, and brought over the room service menu.

“I figured you wouldn’t want to go out, so let’s order in.”

“In that case, let’s get meat…”

“You really love meat, don’t you?”

“I love it enough to eat it every single day.”

Hana debated between steak and Korean-style beef ribs before ultimately ordering Korean food.

While waiting for the food to arrive, Hana hid behind her sunglasses and observed Jeonghan sitting a distance away.

He must have seen everything, right?

Thankfully, he wasn’t dropping any hints about it.

If only there had still been bubbles…

Then her body would have been covered. No, she shouldn’t have fallen asleep in the first place. What on earth possessed her to let her guard down in someone else’s hotel room?

As Hana was lost in a spiral of thoughts, the food arrived. The hotelier transferred the dishes to the table and promptly disappeared.

“I love how fast the room service is at this hotel.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

The two of them sat facing each other across the spread.

“Eat up.”

“Yes. You eat a lot too.”

“Heh, alright.”

What was that? What does that smile mean?

Hana’s eyes narrowed. She couldn’t read Jeonghan’s intentions at all.