The Hidden Woman - Chapter 1

3, 2, 1. Ding−!

It’s 6 o’clock. As soon as it turned 6, Ba Ha anxiously rolled her eyes and kept clicking her ballpoint pen.

Today, she must leave work on time no matter what. Even if a knife is held to her throat, she’ll leave on time.

[ Elder brother, what time will you arrive today? ] [ I think it’ll be around 8 when I arrive. ] [ 8 o’clock? Okay. See you later. Love you♥ ] [ See you later. ]

There was no time.

Ba Ha fidgeted on her chair, eager to leave work quickly.

Time was of the essence.

Ba Ha silently prayed, ‘Please, just one person leave.’ If even one person took the lead, Ba Ha planned to immediately get up from her fidgeting bottom and rush out.

“Senior, what are you doing after work today?”

“……”

Ba Ha was so focused on the timing game, rolling her eyes intently, that she didn’t hear a word from her junior colleague, Doo Na, sitting next to her.

All Ba Ha could think about was quickly leaving this company and rushing home.

“Alright, let’s all head home!”

At Manager Park’s words, everyone started laughing and preparing to leave. Ba Ha hurriedly threw down the pen she’d been clicking and stood up abruptly.

“Huh? Miss Doo Na, why?”

Doo Na stared blankly at Ba Ha, who hadn’t even heard her and looked beyond rushed, almost anxious. What could be so urgent? When Doo Na grabbed her wrist, Ba Ha, startled by the sudden touch, opened her eyes wide and asked.

“Senior, why are you in such a rush that you can’t even hear me? How about dinner today? Want to go out for a drink now?”

“Sorry, sorry Doo Na. I have to go quickly. Let’s have dinner next time. I’ll go first.”

“Se-Senior!”

Ba Ha felt bad for Doo Na, but she couldn’t help it.

Today was an important day. More important than anything else.

“Good work everyone! I’ll be leaving first. See you tomorrow!”

Leaving Doo Na behind, Ba Ha smiled brightly, gave a loud farewell, and headed home. Ba Ha’s steps leaving the company were so light, and somehow the scenery outside the taxi window looked especially beautiful today.

The sky she saw every day, the buildings she saw every day, yet today they all looked different to Ba Ha’s eyes.

Today’s the day.

The day he returns. After a month.

Ba Ha had been counting the days until his return from abroad. The first week after he left, she was satisfied with just FaceTiming him, happy just to see each other’s faces and talk, but that satisfaction quickly bottomed out.

She couldn’t touch him, and the screen between them started to bother her more and more.

Just when she was about to be unable to bear missing him, finally today he’s coming back.

“Come quickly. I miss you.”

Ba Ha murmured softly, looking out the window of the speeding taxi. Thinking about whispering love to him up close, face to face, not through a screen, Ba Ha suddenly got excited and flared her nostrils, her raised cheekbones refusing to come down.

He was already making Ba Ha’s heart flutter before even arriving.

“Thank you, driver!”

[This is the timeline separator]

“Hurry. Hurry!”

As soon as she entered the house, Ba Ha threw her bag in the corner and quickly put on an apron. She had bought a huge pile of groceries the day before for tonight’s dinner with him after so long, so she stood in front of the refrigerator, humming, ready to start preparing to welcome him.

“Hmm… What should I do first? What should I start with?”

Ba Ha muttered as she opened the refrigerator door wide and started taking out all the ingredients she had bought. When she saw all the ingredients laid out one by one, she suddenly felt dizzy and lightheaded.

“Did I really buy all this? Sigh… Can I finish it all in time? No. Han Ba Ha! You can do it.”

Having successfully hypnotized herself while looking at the ingredients spread out before her, Ba Ha let out a deep sigh and hurriedly started cooking.

She chopped green onions finely to make egg rolls, his favorite, and even his favorite stew. Though she bought the difficult side dishes from a side dish store, the rest came from Ba Ha’s hands.

With Ba Ha’s quick hands, a quite impressive meal was almost complete.

“Are you here? Do you want to eat first? Or me first…? Hehehe.”

As if she had some perverted imagination, Ba Ha blushed alone, and while grinning, she suddenly came to her senses and checked her phone, seeing that there wasn’t much time left until he said he would arrive.

Ba Ha pushed away the strange imaginings floating in her head and started focusing again to finish the cooking she was doing.

Beep beep beep beep.

“Elder… brother?”

In the midst of concentrating on cooking, she heard someone entering the passcode at the entrance, and there was only one person who would come to this house today.

The only person who knows Ba Ha’s house passcode.

Ba Ha put down the knife she was holding and ran to the front door with a bright smile.

Lee Han.

He is a well-known top actor in our country. A height that could pass for a model, with leg length to match. A face as big as a fist. Eyes, nose, and mouth all fitting in. When he smiled, those big eyes instantly folded in half, becoming crescent moons, and that look shot up in popularity for its gentle puppy-like charm.

[ Korea’s top handsome man chosen by overseas fans. ‘Lee Han’ ]

Articles about his looks came up every time, as if his appearance was the one thing that elevated him to top star status, but Lee Han, who disliked the saying that looks are everything, didn’t rest on his handsome face and steadily built up a solid filmography. And his good deeds that came up every time.

All of this brought him to his current position.

Because of this Lee Han, Ba Ha became the hidden woman of a top star, and their love was different from ordinary love. It was a love that had to be hidden, that could not come out into the world.

That’s why today too, as soon as his overseas schedule ended, Lee Han came to Ba Ha’s house all bundled up.

“Elder brother! You’re here?”

Ba Ha, who was standing in front of the door, jumped into his arms as soon as the door opened and Lee Han appeared.

“Ah… Elder brother’s scent. I’m smelling it after so long. I missed it.”

As soon as she hugged Lee Han, the fresh citrus scent slightly remaining on his clothes tickled Ba Ha’s nose, and at the smell of him after so long, Ba Ha buried her nose in his chest and took a deep breath.

She was happy.

Smelling his scent made it feel more and more real that Lee Han had really returned.

“Sigh. You came like this again? I’m telling you, it’s noticeable even if you cover up like that! You can’t hide it.”

“……”

“This won’t do! Next time we meet, we need to think of another way!”

Ba Ha, who had been bouncing around excitedly as soon as she saw Lee Han, looked him over seriously, muttering with only his two eyes visible.

Since it was a hidden love, nothing was more important than that.

“Elder brother, have you eaten? Let’s eat. I’ve prepared everything. Just wait a little.”

Finally, it was Lee Han in front of Ba Ha’s eyes, not Lee Han on a screen.

Ba Ha, feeling elated that she could touch him and be held in his arms, grabbed the wrist of the statue-like him and sat him in a chair, then chattered away as she placed the food she had prepared for him on the table one by one.

“Ta-da! Look at this, elder brother. Isn’t it pretty? I put my heart into it. How is it?”

Ba Ha had been excited day by day waiting for Lee Han, her heart fluttering at the thought of sitting face to face with him for a meal after so long.

Ba Ha was so grateful that he came right after his schedule ended that she wanted to give Lee Han something a little more special, and after days of deliberation, she found recipes on blogs as soon as she got off work, practiced and practiced, and finally succeeded today.

The so-called newlywed’s meal waiting for her husband returning from a business trip.

A meal full of hearts that make you cringe just looking at it.

Even while practicing, her body had shuddered, but when she actually showed it to him, she twisted her body in embarrassment.

“It looks totally full of love, doesn’t it? Elder brother, you have to eat it all even if it’s a shame!”

Ba Ha felt like she had confessed her feelings for him once again after actually giving it to him. Her face grew redder, and her heart beat faster and faster. Ba Ha looked at him shyly and gave a faint smile.

How could it feel this good no matter how many times she looked at him?

Seeing Lee Han after so long, Ba Ha’s heart quickly became fluffy, and she chattered more to him.

“Elder brother, was the filming okay? It was hard, wasn’t it?”

“……”

“You always just say you’re fine, so how can I believe you?”

“……”

Because it was him whom she was meeting after so long, Ba Ha had a lot to say.

“You know. Today, the department head…”

From trivial daily life she couldn’t tell him about until now, to whispers of love she had suppressed from not seeing him.

There was so much.

“……”

“Elder brother, you must be very tired?”

Seeing Lee Han looking somehow tired despite Ba Ha’s chatter, Ba Ha gave him a sympathetic smile. Although Ba Ha felt disappointed by Lee Han’s lukewarm response, she was just grateful.

She was so grateful that he came to see her right after his schedule ended, even though jet lag must be difficult, and she was grateful again that he came to see her despite being tired, seeming to have lost weight since she last saw him due to the schedules he always completed without sparing his body.

So she pretended to be even more okay.

Seeing him not saying a word.

“Let’s break up.”

“…What?”

While white steam was still rising from the hot stone pot, his first words to Ba Ha were about breaking up. Not an expression of affection for her, not even a common greeting, but too cruel first words for a lover who had been excited all day at the thought of seeing him.

Even more cruel first words for a long-time lover.

“I said, let’s break up.”