Couldn't Help But Love You - Chapter 11

“Oh!”

Winter startled and pushed away Tae Wook’s hand with her palm.

“I can do it myself.”

She grabbed the seatbelt from his hand and pulled it towards her side.

Opening the car door for her and

Fastening her seatbelt had been natural actions for Tae Wook.

But that was before their divorce.

Now even such consideration felt cautious.

“Is that so? Go ahead then.”

He made a regretful expression as he slowly removed his hand from the seatbelt.

Click!

Tae Wook watched the clip insert into the buckle, rubbing his thick eyebrows several times with his long fingers.

Winter knew well this was a habit he had when he had something to say or his thoughts were complicated.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

“Grandfather may have lost a few years of memories, but he’s still the same as before.”

Winter tensed up, straightened her back, and looked at Tae Wook.

She thought he was going to warn her about something related to Chairman Kang.

However, the words that came out of his mouth were unexpected.

“Actions like just now are problematic.”

“Actions like just now?”

“Snatching away the seatbelt, things like that.”

Was that really such a big mistake?

Winter tilted her head in confusion.

“Don’t forget that we’re going back to when we appeared as a loving couple to grandfather before our divorce.”

Winter now realized what Tae Wook was saying.

“I’ll be careful.”

“No. Being careful isn’t enough. There’s no guarantee you won’t make a mistake in front of grandfather if you act like this.”

Then what are you suggesting?

“I plan to treat Secretary Han exactly the same as before. So I hope Secretary Han will act that way too.”

“What? Why go that far? Isn’t it enough to just be careful in front of the Chairman?”

Winter asked in bewilderment.

“You should know how sharp grandfather’s eye for detail is.”

Winter couldn’t argue with Tae Wook’s words.

Chairman Kang never missed a person’s tone, gestures, or expressions.

And he had keen eyes that could see right through a person’s thoughts.

Winter recalled the time she and Tae Wook went to see Chairman Kang to say they were getting married.

Not only did they have to practice matching their words to anticipated questions, they also had to practice skinship so it wouldn’t look awkward.

It was all an effort to completely deceive Chairman Kang.

“If it’s difficult to change suddenly, just don’t push me away. I’ll take care of it.”

Winter didn’t know what he meant by taking care of it.

However, she thought it would be better to do as Tae Wook said rather than make a mistake.

“Alright. I’ll do that.”

[This is the timeline separator]

16th floor of Jisung General Hospital.

The elevator doors opened and Tae Wook stepped out first. Winter followed closely behind him.

The moment her shoes with purple cubic zirconia touched the marble floor.

“Hah!”

Winter sharply drew in her breath.

Security guards standing throughout the hallway.

Their piercing gazes all focused on her at once.

She hadn’t expected such strict security.

Winter felt suffocated by the oppressive atmosphere that seemed to press down on the air.

Perhaps that’s why her feet felt frozen in place, unable to move.

“Secretary Han.”

Noticing that Winter wasn’t following, Tae Wook stopped and turned around.

“I-I’m coming.”

She went to his side and walked shoulder to shoulder with him.

In front of the hospital room with burly security guards standing on either side of the door.

‘Is he really suffering from memory loss?’

A doubt Winter had never had before suddenly crossed her mind.

If that wasn’t the case…

In that moment, all the blood in her body seemed to freeze and her muscles tensed up.

‘I want to run away!’

As Winter was inwardly shouting, Tae Wook came to a stop.

She also stopped, following his lead.

“You’ve arrived, sir.”

A security guard bowed his head to Tae Wook and placed his hand on the doorknob.

“W-Wait a moment!”

Winter cried out urgently, grabbing Tae Wook’s sleeve.

“Just a little time…”

She looked up at him with pleading eyes.

“Step back for a moment.”

At Tae Wook’s order, the surrounding security guards smoothly retreated a distance from the hospital room.

“Are you alright?”

Tae Wook asked, keeping his gaze fixed on Winter.

Her face had turned so pale it was hard to find any hint of color.

It was unexpected.

He had anticipated Winter would be nervous about seeing his grandfather.

But not to this extent.

The Winter in his memories was a woman who didn’t even blink at things far worse than this.

To the point where he thought she had nerves of steel, even more than the average man.

But the Winter desperately clutching his sleeve now seemed like a different person.

“You don’t need to be so nervous.”

“What if the Chairman suddenly remembers me when he sees me? I’m scared he’ll recognize me.”

Winter’s eyes shook severely, like someone utterly terrified.

“If it was a memory that could return so easily, there would have been no reason to bring Secretary Han all the way here. Don’t you think?”

“But still…”

“What Secretary Han is worried about won’t happen. So relax.”

Tae Wook said this, but inwardly he let out a hollow laugh.

Had there ever been anyone who wished for his grandfather’s memory to return as much as he did?

Yet here he was, assuring Winter that his grandfather’s memory wouldn’t easily return for her sake. The situation felt absurd.

“Take a deep breath.”

Winter followed Tae Wook’s words, inhaling deeply and then slowly exhaling.

“Again.”

After repeating the deep breaths three or four times, Winter’s expression looked a bit more relaxed.

“Can we go in now?”

“Yes.”

Tae Wook tried to move after hearing Winter’s words.

But he couldn’t.

“Why…”

Winter blinked her large eyes with an expression that said, What’s wrong?

“Let go of my clothes.”

Winter was still holding onto Tae Wook’s sleeve.

“S-Sorry.”

She released the sleeve she had been gripping.

Flustered and embarrassed, her densely-packed eyelashes fluttered.

“It’s alright.”

Tae Wook’s strange gaze lingered on Winter for a moment before moving away.

[This is the timeline separator]

A living room-like space with a reception set.

A woman in her late 40s who had been sitting on the sofa reading a book jumped up when she saw the two enter.

“You’ve arrived?”

The woman greeted Tae Wook and then looked at Winter with curious eyes.

“This is grandfather’s caregiver.”

Tae Wook introduced the caregiver to Winter and then introduced Winter to the caregiver as “my wife.”

Winter’s heart skipped a beat at the word “wife.”

However, hiding that emotion, she smiled gently at the caregiver and bowed her head in greeting.

The caregiver was the person who spent the most time with Chairman Kang.

So it was natural for Tae Wook to introduce Winter as his wife.

“Is grandfather sleeping?”

“Yes. He fell asleep a while ago, so he should be waking up soon.”

The caregiver had apparently come out to read a book so as not to disturb Chairman Kang’s sleep.

“Ma’am, please take a break for a while.”

“Yes.”

After confirming the caregiver had left, Tae Wook opened the sliding door to the inner room.

This time, Winter entered first.

By the window where warm sunlight was gently seeping in.

Chairman Kang could be seen sleeping on the bed there, wearing a white cap.

Winter, who had been anxious and tense until now, moved towards the bed as if drawn by something.

“How…”

Winter made a sorrowful sound as she raised both hands to her lips.

Chairman of Jisung Group, Kang Man Ho.

Had the storm of time been particularly harsh only to Chairman Kang?

A face that had aged too much.

His face, deeply etched with the traces of time, was covered in age spots.

Moreover, he had lost so much weight that the patient gown he wore looked oversized, as if he was wearing a sack.

Nowhere could Winter see the Chairman Kang from her memories, who had looked as solid and healthy as a jujube pestle.

“Hic!”

The moment she swallowed a painful breath, tears burst forth without her realizing.

Her heart felt like it was breaking into pieces.

“His recovery has been slow. He sleeps about two-thirds of the day.”

When had he approached?

Tae Wook spoke in a lowered voice.

“I didn’t know he was this unwell.”

“He’s of advanced age, and it was a risky surgery. And I didn’t mention this, but…”

Tae Wook’s face darkened as he looked down at the sleeping Chairman Kang.

“He can’t walk.”

“What? He can’t walk?”

“He’s a person with a strong will. He’ll probably be walking again soon.”

Tae Wook’s answer came as an even greater shock than if he had simply confirmed “Yes” or “No.”

To think that the aftereffects of brain surgery would affect not just his memory, but his legs as well.

The tears that had welled up in Winter’s large eyes rolled down her cheeks.

Tae Wook silently pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and held it out to Winter.

“I’m fine.”

She wiped away her tears with her fingers. But the tears flowed endlessly, more than her fingers could handle.

“Take it.”

Unable to refuse any longer, Winter took the handkerchief and wiped her tears.

“Sit down until grandfather wakes up. You look exhausted.”

Tae Wook pointed to a chair placed against one wall.

But Winter shook her head sideways.

“So stubborn…”

Tae Wook moved to bring the chair over.

“Sit down.”

“I’m alright.”

She refused to sit again.

“You really don’t listen.”

Tae Wook placed both hands on Winter’s shoulders. Then he pressed down on her shoulders, forcibly making her sit in the chair.

“You can’t collapse before grandfather wakes up.”

With a slight grin, Tae Wook walked over to the window.

Then he leaned his back against the wall at an angle and stood there.

As if thinking it would make her more comfortable than standing next to her.

How much time had passed?

Rustle.

A sound of movement came from the bed.

Winter and Tae Wook’s gazes turned to Chairman Kang simultaneously, as if by agreement.

Chairman Kang was waking up.

His tightly closed eyelids twitched several times before slowly rising.

He blinked his dry, unfocused eyes several times before fixing his gaze on Winter.

“Winter, you’ve come.”

Male lead first thought she played hard to get, only to realize she

really disliked him

Short intro:

What she can’t stand the most is the streets full of effeminate men, especially that so-called top beauty whom she avoids at all costs.

Shen Yaoxing looks at Jiang Mingyue, who keeps approaching her with coy shyness.

Shen Yaoxing: Bro, don’t be like this, I’m really about to throw up!

She fears nothing in heaven or earth, except for him getting close to her.

*

At first he thought she was just using the trick of feigning indifference to attract his attention. Later, he learned that she truly despised him.

This dealt a heavy blow to Jiang Mingyue, and he vowed to make her, like everyone else, fall at his feet in worship!

***

Synopsis:

Before transmigrating, Shen Yaoxing only wanted to find a reliable man to spend her life with. Who knew that after transmigrating, she would become a reliable woman herself…

A forced misandrist, highly skilled, and reliable female lead

vs.

An initially aloof and arrogant, later morbid, obsessed male lead

_____

Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.

If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.

[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]