Couldn't Help But Love You - Chapter 42

Gyeo Wool desperately wanted to confide in Mrs. Lee.

Wouldn’t it be okay if at least one person knew her true feelings?

Gyeo Wool hesitated and opened her mouth heavily.

“What’s for dinner tonight? It smells delicious.”

Words completely different from what she was thinking in her head flowed out.

“Oh my, look at me. Go wash up and come out. I’ve made dinner with things the young lady likes.”

Gyeo Wool, who came out after washing up brightly, entered the dining room.

The table was already set with food.

Seeing the side dishes she liked, Gyeo Wool felt a slight hunger.

But that was only for a moment.

Tae Wook’s empty seat caught her eye.

Even the slight hunger that had arisen disappeared completely.

A feeling of emptiness in her chest.

She felt desolate and sad, as if she had lost something precious buried deep in her heart.

“What are you doing not sitting down?”

Mrs. Lee brought steaming rice and soup and set them down in front of Gyeo Wool.

Gyeo Wool was about to sit down but grabbed Mrs. Lee’s arm.

“Eat with me, Mrs. Lee.”

“You don’t want to eat alone?”

“Yes.”

Gyeo Wool nodded.

“Let’s do that. How can the food taste good eating alone when Director Tae Wook isn’t here?”

Mrs. Lee quickly went to the kitchen and brought her rice, soup, and utensils.

In the past, when Tae Wook wasn’t around, Gyeo Wool and Mrs. Lee would often eat together.

“Does it not suit your taste?”

Seeing Gyeo Wool’s chopsticks not picking up speed, Mrs. Lee asked worriedly.

“No, it’s delicious.”

There was no way Mrs. Lee’s cooking could be tasteless.

The food not going down was purely because of Gyeo Wool’s troubled heart.

“Eat a lot and gain some weight. Do you know how shocked I was to see how thin the young lady has become?”

“I’m not thin.”

“Not thin? What if you fall ill like before……”

Mrs. Lee pushed the beef fried with glass noodles towards Gyeo Wool.

“Remember what the doctor said back then, to eat lots of meat no matter what?”

“You still remember that?”

Gyeo Wool made an embarrassed expression.

“How could I forget that? It was an incident that took 10 years off my life from shock.”

“I was really sorry back then. And grateful that you were by my side.”

“After that incident, I was so worried something big might happen… When I saw you two divorce, I regretted so much, wondering if I shouldn’t have kept quiet to Director Tae Wook after receiving the young lady’s request.”

Mrs. Lee’s eyes reddened and she couldn’t continue speaking.

“It’s not your fault, Mrs. Lee. The divorce was entirely an issue between the two of us. So please don’t blame yourself needlessly.”

“They say you become more tearful when you get old… That’s exactly me. Why am I crying when you two have met again and are living beautifully?”

Mrs. Lee wiped away the tears flowing from the corners of her eyes with her fingers.

Then, deliberately smiling brightly, she said:

“Live happily with Director Tae Wook until you die, young lady.”

“……”

Gyeo Wool silently gave a faint smile.

It was strange.

It would have been simple to lie and say ‘Yes’, but even that wouldn’t come out as words.

That’s when it happened.

The sound of the front door opening and closing was heard in the dining room.

“It seems to be Director Tae Wook.”

“That can’t be. He’ll be coming late.”

Gyeo Wool thought there was no way Tae Wook would return at this hour.

Even if the book launch event ended early, he still had to meet with Assemblyman Choi and his daughter.

If they moved to another place for conversation, it would be hours before Tae Wook returned to the apartment.

“It must be the previous housekeeper who worked here, Mrs. Lee.”

The only person who would come in without ringing the doorbell that came to mind was the housekeeper who had quit.

“He left his mobile phone. Stay here. I’ll go check.”

Gyeo Wool got up from the table.

“The mobile phone was in the study.”

She remembered Tae Wook had taken it into the study.

As she was about to go out, her eyes met with Tae Wook’s, who was striding into the dining room.

Gyeo Wool froze like ice at his appearance.

Why did he come back so early?

He shouldn’t have come back so soon.

“Why, why did you come?”

Too surprised, the question that arose in her head came out as words without being refined.

Tae Wook looked at Gyeo Wool strangely.

“What do you mean why? Do I need permission to come to my own home?”

“No, that’s not it. I mean… I thought you’d be back late, but you’re already here.”

At Gyeo Wool’s flustered words, Tae Wook narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“You weren’t talking behind my back to Mrs. Lee while I was gone, were you?”

“Of course not!”

Gyeo Wool denied it with surprise, even waving her hands.

“Your surprise makes me more suspicious.”

“Director Tae Wook, stop teasing the young lady. You know she’s happy to see you.”

Mrs. Lee scolded Tae Wook.

At that, Tae Wook grinned.

“Mrs. Lee, is there food for me too?”

“Of course, how could there not be food for Director Tae Wook.”

“Please give me a lot of rice. I’m about to collapse from hunger.”

Mrs. Lee smiled brightly and went to the kitchen.

Only then did Tae Wook turn his gaze back to Gyeo Wool.

“Secretary Han hasn’t been to a book launch before, right?”

“Huh? Why suddenly ask that.”

“You seemed surprised that I came early. It was so boring I felt like I was dying, so I escaped. I’ll just change clothes and come out.”

Tae Wook finally gave an answer to Gyeo Wool’s curiosity and left for the dressing room.

“Because it was boring?”

Tae Wook’s answer rather raised more questions for Gyeo Wool.

Wasn’t it supposed to be a meeting with Assemblyman Choi’s daughter?

Or did he find her unappealing after meeting her?

Maybe they made plans to meet next time and parted early?

Gyeo Wool’s mind became noisy in an instant.

But on the other hand, she breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that Tae Wook had returned early.

And without realizing it, a faint smile had appeared on her lips.

[This is the timeline separator]

The next day.

Tae Wook had lunch with Secretary Kim, who had returned from vacation, at a restaurant near the company.

“I thought lunch would be in the company cafeteria again today… Thank you for the meal.”

“That was just last time, I’m not a cruel boss.”

“I know. It’s because of Secretary Han.”

Secretary Kim smiled knowingly.

“It’s Secretary Han.”

They saw Secretary Han and the employees just entering the company.

They had gone out to lunch much earlier than Tae Wook, but it seemed their chat had gone on long as they were just now returning from lunch.

Perhaps because he felt glad to see them?

Tae Wook’s steps quickened towards the company.

As they entered the company building, they could see Gyeo Wool and the employees standing in front of the elevator at the end of the lobby.

Seeing everyone laughing happily, it seemed someone had cracked an amusing joke.

“Let’s hurry.”

Thinking he should ride the elevator up together with them, Tae Wook urged Secretary Kim.

When they were halfway across the lobby.

The elevator opened and the employees piled in.

But only Gyeo Wool stepped back, gesturing for the employees to go up first.

It seemed to be because of a phone call that came just then.

She hesitated before bringing the phone to her ear.

And a moment later, she turned to the left and walked away.

“Whose call did she receive to do that.”

Tae Wook clearly saw Gyeo Wool’s face turn pale as soon as she answered the phone.

He walked towards the corridor where she had disappeared.

But she wasn’t there.

“Where did she go?”

“Didn’t she go outside?”

Secretary Kim, who had followed behind Tae Wook, pointed to the small exit door at the end of the corridor.

“Is that so? I’ll bring Secretary Han up, so you go up first.”

Tae Wook opened the door that he expected Gyeo Wool had gone through and went outside.

However, Gyeo Wool wasn’t visible outside the door either.

“Hmm……”

Tae Wook rubbed his chin with his finger as he looked around.

The left led to the main street, while the right was where the ground-level parking lot was located.

“If she wanted to take the call quietly, it would be the parking lot side, right?”

Tae Wook headed towards the ground-level parking lot.

.

.

.

Gyeo Wool walked towards the parking lot, clutching her mobile phone tightly in her hand.

When Tae Wook, who had attended the book launch, returned early, she felt relieved but also anxious on the other hand.

Would Ki Bum really stay still?

It wouldn’t have been the result he wanted.

As expected, Ki Bum called asking to meet for a moment.

“Haah……”

A sigh drawn from deep in her chest flowed out.

“He is waiting.”

Ki Bum’s secretary gave a slight bow to Gyeo Wool and opened the back seat door.

“What happened yesterday!”

As soon as she got into the car, Ki Bum yelled at her.

Startled by the sudden shout, Gyeo Wool closed her eyes tightly and then opened them.

“Why did Tae Wook leave the book launch right after going?”

“I, I don’t know well.”

“You don’t know? Are you saying he didn’t say anything after coming back?”

“Only that it was boring……”

“What? Boring? Just for that reason?”

Ki Bum refused to believe Gyeo Wool’s words.

“You didn’t make him notice anything strange, did you?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“How could you let such a carefully created opportunity slip away! I heard he came back without even meeting Ms. Hee Won!”

Eyes filled with anger constricted Gyeo Wool’s pupils.

Even though it wasn’t her fault, Gyeo Wool could only say, “I’m sorry.”

If she had known this would happen, she should have accompanied him yesterday.

She should have waited outside until the book launch was over.

She regretted it, but now it had become something that couldn’t be undone.

“You made a contract to help Tae Wook? What help when things are going wrong from the start! I don’t want to see you by Tae Wook’s side. So pack your things and go back to where you were.”

“Vice Chairman……”

Gyeo Wool couldn’t follow Ki Bum’s order.

“You know that I need to be by the Director’s side, if only for the Chairman’s sake, don’t you?”

“You’re going to defy my instructions?”

Ki Bum glared at Gyeo Wool with sinister eyes.

Then, twisting one corner of his mouth into a sneer, he uttered words that shouldn’t be said.

“I hear your mother runs a business in Jeju Island?”