He answered that it was not that either. Originally, he tended to push himself excessively once in a while, and since he usually had good physical strength, he told him not to worry.
When they arrived at the house they were staying at, the first to open the door and come out to hug Yeon was Jaehui.
After completing the funeral procedures at the church, she was sad, thinking that they were returning to Korea with the broadcasting team.
“Did oppa catch him? Or is it Yoon Anchor’s determination?”
“Both.”
“Yes, come in quickly.”
Jaehui readily offered the guest room to Yeon.
It was a room at the end of the second floor, with an unusually large window and a somewhat spacious space to use alone.
The room exuded Cha Yoonhwa’s gentle spirit, reflecting how considerate she usually was for her guests. Yeon turned her gaze towards the window where the sun was slowly setting. It seemed like Cha Yoonhwa knew why she wanted her final moments not in the Chicago hospital but here. The place she lived was a rural village halfway between Toronto and Chicago. Besides a spacious garden and a swimming pool, the cozy house offered a view of bright sunlight and blue starlight whenever the windows were opened.
Although the neighbors, who were close to Cha Yoonhwa, continued to bring food to the house, and the place was overflowing with food, Taekyung felt as if he couldn’t touch anything. He was preoccupied. While Director Han took the depressed Jaehui out, and Yeon rested alone in an empty room, Yeon knocked on Taekyung’s door to check on him.
“President.”
“Come in.”
As she opened the door and entered, he was looking at documents with a lawyer, a scene that deviated significantly from Yeon’s expectations of him taking a break.
After knocking, without saying anything, when Taekyung took off his glasses and looked at her, Yeon met his eyes.
“Is there anything uncomfortable?”
“No. It’s not that…”
“Attorney Jung, let’s finish the rest tomorrow.”
With Taekyung’s words, the lawyer hurriedly gathered the documents and left, politely greeting Yeon on the way out. She also exchanged greetings with him while briefly glancing at Taekyung.
Unlike the disheveled Cha Jaehui, who was adorned entirely in black, he was immaculate, and even now, there wasn’t a strand out of place. He somehow continued to captivate her heart.
Instead of the hot air that had entered after opening the window, she wanted to smell his scent. When she approached a step closer, Taekyung tilted his head.
“Ms. Yun Woo Yeon.”
“Yes.”
“Do you have something to say to me?”
Looking at his face, which seemed to have become even colder in front of her mother’s death, Yeon shook her head.
“Yes. President, I’m hungry.”
“…”
“Let’s go eat.”
With a smirk, he stood up from his seat.
Whether in Korea or the United States, the rural roads looked similar. Even after driving for a long time, there was only a plain, and there was no sign of a restaurant. Yeon asked Taekyung while he was driving.
“How long have you been living here?”
“Since high school, I haven’t lived here for that long, as I went to the city for boarding school.”
“That’s strange.”
“What’s strange?”
“Subconsciously, I unknowingly thought that you must have been born and raised in a grand and splendid house. You seem like someone who naturally fits into that world since birth.”
Taekyung chuckled at Yeon’s words. When he slightly lowered the window, the dry wind tousled Yeon’s bangs.
“Because I worked hard.”
Taekyung’s voice penetrated her ears, deeply touching her heart. He revealed that it was not something that had been the case since birth but a result of relentless effort.
Yeon wanted to ask.
Whether he resented his father a lot throughout his life. But she couldn’t bring herself to ask.
The car drove further, and soon several restaurants came into view.
When Taekyung asked what she wanted to eat, Wooyeon pointed to a hamburger with her hand.
“Hamburger?”
“Yes. This is America, after all. President, you must have eaten a lot of it when you were young, right?”
“I ate a lot.”
“That’s right. I want to eat what the president used to eat a lot when he was young.”
“Let’s do that.”
Unknowingly, the sun had set, and the red sunset engulfed the surroundings. With the long lake in front of them, the two shared a hamburger.
The sunset was so beautiful that Wooyeon felt like tears were about to come out. Taekyung, who never cried even once, seemed to be in pain, so Wooyeon silently ate her hamburger instead of shedding tears.
“Is it delicious?”
Even to that question, he simply nodded without saying a word.
Taekyung ruffled Wooyeon’s hair, and having already finished one, he clapped his hands.
Wooyeon understood that it meant to come closer, but she didn’t lean into his embrace.
His mother had passed away. After firmly chewing the remaining hamburger, Wooyeon spoke slowly.
She felt sorry for Cha Yoonhwa.
For deceiving her and not telling her the truth until the end.
Perhaps she knew everything, and that made Wooyeon even more apologetic.
Wooyeon’s eyes were cold.
“So, what happens to us now?”
“If you want to say, ‘let’s go back,’ then just shut your mouth.”
“…”
“Were we, fake?”
“That’s…”
“Do you think I deceived my mother? Did you and I really seem that way?”
“President.”
“Just stay there.”
If you don’t come, I’ll go, he seemed to say. He reluctantly embraced Wooyeon.
In his rustling suit, Wooyeon buried her face. Looking back, she didn’t know if she would regret this moment someday.
She might have regretted not letting go of this person a little faster.
Life never moves the way I want it to, and when I look back, those days are filled with nothing but regrets.
So it’s probably okay to go a little further.
Taekyung’s scent vibrated at the tip of her nose.
Wooyeon took a deeper breath.
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
