Secret Cohabitation Love - Chapter 40

The man in an all-black suit with pomade hair stopped precisely next to Eun Seo. A heavy musk scent lingered at the tip of her nose.

Eun Seo raised her head at the familiar fragrance.

“It’s been a while, Jung Woo.”

The man smiled brightly, lifting the corners of his mouth upon seeing Jung Woo. His previous high-handed attitude melted away like snow.

“You too. Have you been well?”

Jung Woo greeted gently as always, opening his fine lips.

“Yes. I got promoted to executive director this time.”

“Congratulations.”

Ju Ho scratched his nape while laughing.

“But what are you saying? Song Eun Seo being a con artist?”

Jung Woo gestured with his eyes towards Eun Seo beside him, then removed his hand from his pants pocket.

As if waiting for a proper answer from now on.

As if saying to prepare for a hit if unable to answer properly, while smiling gently.

“Song Eun Seo?”

Ju Ho, thinking that a name didn’t suit a con artist, blinked for a while even with her in front of him.

Then, as if suddenly realizing that the owner of the name ‘Song Eun Seo’ was the con artist standing before him, surprise filled Ju Ho’s eyes.

“Song Eun Seo? You know this woman?”

“Yes. She’s our employee.”

Jung Woo replied with a calm face.

“Employee?”

Ju Ho’s eyebrows raised sharply as he carefully examined Eun Seo. Then, unable to erase his doubts, he looked back and forth between Eun Seo and Jung Woo, shaking his head.

“No way.”

His words, escaping like empty air, were full of disbelief.

“Tell me. Why is she a con artist?”

However, for some reason, Ju Ho couldn’t speak to the chilling question that sent shivers down his spine. He knew Tae Ha’s temper.

Even if Jung Woo was Tae Ha’s cousin, once out of Tae Ha’s sight, that relationship would be irreparable. There was a hierarchy in this world, and Tae Ha was the apex predator of that hierarchy.

“I must have been mistaken. Someone you know couldn’t possibly be a con artist. She just looked similar to a con artist I saw before, so I got confused.”

Ju Ho, filled with embarrassment, blurted out the easiest excuse.

“You’re saying you saw wrong.”

“It seems so.”

“Then.”

A straightforward statement fell precisely.

“Apologize.”

“What?”

“I said apologize.”

Jung Woo, erasing his previous gentle smile, spoke with a voice that had swallowed the coldness of the polar regions.

“Why should I? It was just a mistake. Losing face to a mere employee.”

“This side lost face too. What? Don’t want to apologize?”

With each opening of his lips, authoritative words firmly settled in the air.

“No, there’s a reason for all this…”

“What reason?”

“Ha… Alright, alright, I got it.”

Ju Ho recalled Tae Ha’s face in his mind. The consequences he would face from Tae Ha if rumors spread were unimaginable.

“I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”

“Not ‘I’m’, but ‘I am’.”

Jung Woo emphasized ‘I am’, glancing at his wristwatch as if to say let’s stop wasting time.

“Why are you acting like this today?”

“I can’t stand seeing good people being wronged. Rewarding good and punishing evil is my motto.”

“Hoo.”

Ju Ho, thoroughly annoyed, scratched his forehead and apologized in a deflated voice. That Jung Woo guy was only gentle on the outside; he never made things easy.

“I am sorry. I made a mistake.”

Ju Ho left the place hastily after making his apology with a sour expression. Only then did Eun Seo let out a sigh of relief from her anxious chest.

Being around Kwon Tae Ha is like walking on thin ice. Step on it and you’ll fall through and die. If it wasn’t for Jung Woo, rumors of her being a con artist might have spread throughout the hotel.

“Thank you.”

“I don’t know what it was about, but don’t take it to heart. People in this field can be quite arrogant. You know?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because I’ve only seen the CEO and Team Leader Yoon Jung Woo.”

Eun Seo replied with a quiet laugh. It seemed like a small repayment for today’s help.

“Is that flattery?”

“A little.”

Eun Seo pointed to the first joint of her index finger with her thumb.

Jung Woo smiled broadly at those words.

“Cheer up, good person.”

“Thank you.”

“And if you’re grateful, buy me a drink. How about beer when you have time?”

Eun Seo nodded readily. Each time she did, her calm bangs lightly rose and fell.

* * *

“While knowing.”

Tae Ha spat out words chewed between his teeth piece by piece. Water droplets falling and shattering onto the dark gray suit rippled coldly.

“Did you deliberately hide it?”

“How could that be?”

Ha Eun refuted while twisting the hem of her dress tightly in her hands.

“You wouldn’t even meet me. Even when we met, you just left saying you were busy. What could I have said?”

Ha Eun made excuses to the extent of not upsetting his mood.

“If you wanted to, you could have done it anytime.”

“What would have been different if I had known you had my initials?”

“I wouldn’t have been surprised. At least not like now.”

“I also found out here that Kwon Tae Ha is my fiancé. I was surprised when I learned that fact too. It’s the same for me.”

“Ha.”

Tae Ha’s head, which had been raised towards the sky in bewilderment, came down with a sneer.

“I was happy no matter what Kwon Tae Ha said. Because I’ve liked you since I was in America. No matter what anyone said, the person who was like a dream became my fiancé, what would I be afraid of? Your late mother said so. That we are destiny.”

Destiny.

Something incinerated rose, filling in faint outlines distinctly. A form that had sunk into the abyss slowly raised its anchor.

What could it be?

The grief and sorrow that hotly gouged his chest.

Sobs and groans.

The feeling of all flesh torn by claws falling off.

A fear that no words could express.

Although nothing could explain this feeling, it seemed he had once cried his heart out.

Two hands that covered the swollen eyelids black, cutting off the world.

The heart that had been sobbing in agony could finally breathe with the warmth of small hands. Whoop, the throat opened, bursting out a breath to live.

There was someone. Certainly.

[Your mother died in a hit-and-run accident, only you were there. It’s a truth only you know. Still can’t remember?]

The pressure that always weighed him down.

[A child who can recite fairy tales without missing a single letter can’t remember anything. The shock must have been big.]

They couldn’t catch the culprit. Because he couldn’t remember anything.

[Your mom never put you down from her hands. She kissed you until your cheeks swelled. Before you fell asleep, she always held your hand and told you stories.]

The warm embrace too.

[When you cried, she stamped her feet, and when you were sick, she stayed by your side without sleeping. When you started walking, she pulled out all the rose bushes planted in the fence and threw away all the sharp stones on the garden floor. That’s your mom.]

All memories of his mother had disappeared too. Even hypnosis couldn’t uncover what happened that day.

A huge wall surrounded everywhere like an enormous sphere, there was no exit anywhere.

[It seems she died saving the child.]

That was his mother’s last will and wish, marriage with Yoo Ha Eun. So desperate to even get a tattoo.

Does this make sense?

The vivid letters on the delicate skin he saw when having nightmares, you say you’re the owner?

Both the pain that tore his whole body apart and the absurd marriage owner were all Eun Seo.

But how can you be my marriage?

“Excuse me.”

Tae Ha left those words and firmly grabbed Ha Eun’s two hands. Then he placed them directly over his eyes.

One second, two seconds, that moment that felt like an eternity.

Ha Eun’s heart pounded violently as if the earth’s axis would split. The two hands covering his eyes trembled slightly.

The man’s large hands covering hers didn’t move at all.

Even though her rudely grasped hands were turning red, Ha Eun breathed heavily, unable to calm her tumultuous heart, let alone shake them off.

When the fountain’s water droplets scattered and densely covered Ha Eun’s hands, he removed his hands. Then he opened his tightly closed mouth.

“It’s not you.”

The cold voice that parted his lips disappeared along with his fierce gaze.

Ha Eun was left alone in front of the fountain, dejectedly following his retreating figure.

* * *

“Good night.”

“Sleep well.”

“See you tomorrow.”

As the elevator went up carrying Woo Young and Jung Woo, Eun Seo also stepped towards her room.

After standing and working for several hours, there wasn’t a part of her body that didn’t ache. Eun Seo massaged her neck and arms as she opened the door.

Thanks to the attentive care of the Dongtaek people, the room was very clean. If it were in the countryside, it would all have been her job.

This luxury, it was happiness.

Eun Seo undressed and turned on the shower lever. The comfortably warm temperature enveloping her whole body felt good.

After finishing her shower, Eun Seo sat in front of the mirror and started drying her hair. A clear face without a trace of makeup was in the mirror.

Tae Ha didn’t come after all.

He was a man who strived for perfection in work. Yet he didn’t return after going out with Ha Eun.

After that, Ha Eun couldn’t be seen either.

Where could they have gone?

Hoo.

Did Ha Eun say Tae Ha was hers? Did she say not to pick up what’s not a candy dropped on the ground?

“Ah, hot!”

Eun Seo quickly rubbed her scalp that had become hot from the hair dryer’s heat.

This is bad. Getting lost in thoughts about that person and losing focus.

Eun Seo unplugged the hair dryer cord, wrapped it neatly, and placed it in the basket, cutting off her lengthening reverie.

Looking at the clock, it was 1 AM.

Eun Seo sat at the desk and opened the bookmark part of the book .

Her eyes were half-closed from fatigue, but she couldn’t just go to sleep.

It was her future.

‘Let’s become independent. Translation was your dream anyway.’

Eun Seo made a firm resolution and roughly tied her hair, securing it with a pin.

Scratch scratch, the room was filled only with the calm sound of pen scratching paper, keyboard sounds, and occasionally the sound of Eun Seo stretching her neck and patting her shoulders.

How much time had passed?

Knock knock.

Eun Seo turned towards the door at the unexpected knocking sound. Looking at the clock, it was a little past 2 AM.

Knock knock.

Who could it be at this hour?

Knock knock.

At the persistent knocking sound that had grown a bit louder, Eun Seo seemed to know its owner. Her calm heart started pounding.

She both wanted to see and didn’t want to see him.

But Eun Seo now knew Tae Ha a little.

Because he lived a life where almost nothing went against his will, he had no hesitation when he wanted something.

Knowing that he would soon open the door, Eun Seo pulled down the sleeves of her T-shirt that had been rolled up and retied her hair neatly.

Then she left the pen on the book as it was and stood up from the chair. After that, she opened the door.

As expected, it was Tae Ha.

He was in an impeccable dark gray suit without the slightest disarray, but his eyes were somehow a mess.

“You’re here now? We just came back because you didn’t show up while we were waiting.”

“There’s something I need to confirm.”

A faint champagne scent slowly flowed through his parted lips.

“What is it?”

“You.”

Tae Ha’s rough gaze poured down like a downpour onto her slender shoulders.

“Take off this clothes.”