The Hidden Woman - Chapter 33

“Then let’s cover together.”

Tae Un and Ba Ha strolled along the quiet beach and sat down on the sand, slightly away from the lapping waves.

Ba Ha spread out one side of the large blanket she had wrapped around herself to cover Tae Un’s broad back. Sharing the blanket together made it feel smaller somehow, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Being close to him, even the cold wind didn’t feel chilly.

“No. You use it.”

“You’re cold too, Vice Chairman. Didn’t you say it’s boring if everything’s too perfect? Let’s share it.”

“Miss Han Ba Ha, I’m fine. If you catch a cold again…”

“Shh! Did you forget today is the day I do whatever I want?”

Ba Ha cut off Tae Un’s words before he could finish. Tae Un smiled broadly at her unexpectedly forceful demeanor.

“Thank you so much for today, Vice Chairman.”

“I should be the one thanking you. You prepared everything. Thank you.”

His casual words made Ba Ha’s heart flutter. She was grateful to Tae Un for making an ordinary date feel special with just one word of thanks.

“Vice Chairman, can I ask you something?”

“You can just ask. I’ll tell you anything.”

“Why do you… like me? We just met that day. At Alice.”

She was curious.

Even if it was just one night, it was a night that could have been ignored.

And when she said she was going on a blind date with Min Seok, it would have been enough to end things with just a word, telling her to stop, to not get involved anymore. Despite being at a stage where they hadn’t even begun, Tae Un never did that.

“Is that what you’re curious about?”

“I’ve always wondered. Why someone like you is by my side. Why you say you like me.”

“Because you’re pretty.”

Her crying face reminded him of someone, and he couldn’t look away. After learning the reason for those tears, he was even more unable to take his eyes off her. That’s how it was at first. Seeing her smile so brightly her eyes disappeared made his heart flutter with how pretty she was.

He always wanted Ba Ha to smile, because her smiling face was prettier than her crying one.

“What did you say? Vice Chairman, are you joking again?”

“Stop crying.”

“…”

“You still don’t remember?”

Ba Ha’s face turned red in an instant. The forgotten moment quickly flashed through her mind. Hearing those words again in his voice, she finally seemed to understand. Who it was that had offered a handkerchief and comforted her, though not quite comfort, when she was shedding endless tears in sorrow.

“I like the rooftop. The wind there is different. It feels like it can blow away all the frustration in an instant.”

“…”

“It was right after I returned to Korea. I went up because I missed that wind, and you were crying there. That image lingered in my mind, so I went up to the rooftop again just in case, and this time you were smiling. That sight was so beautiful.”

Surprised to hear the answer she had wondered about from Tae Un’s own lips, Ba Ha’s face reddened as she moved slightly away from him and looked at him with wide eyes.

“You just remembered now?”

“Well, I couldn’t see your face then! Wow, you’re only telling me this now?”

“Should I tell you more? I have more to say.”

As his eyes gradually filled with mischief, Ba Ha’s face turned red once again.

Red enough to be visible even in this dark night sky.

“St-stop! That’s enough. If I hear any more, I won’t be able to show my face.”

Ba Ha squeezed her eyes shut and covered Tae Un’s mouth with her hand. Still unable to fully grasp that the man had been Tae Un, Ba Ha took a deep breath. Tae Un removed Ba Ha’s hand from his mouth and enveloped her cold hands in his.

“Why did it have to be the rooftop…”

“What’s wrong with the rooftop? It’s where I first met you. I like it.”

“No… but the first time you saw me I was crying, and the reason…”

“Don’t worry about the rest. You were there, so I was able to meet you. I love that moment so much.”

Tae Un spoke softly, looking at the crashing waves beside Ba Ha.

She was happy.

The time spent with him today was a calm happiness. It wasn’t anything special, just an ordinary day, but it was happy.

Even though she had learned painfully, again and again, that nothing lasts forever, she couldn’t give up. This time, she really hoped this happiness would last forever.

Could she hold onto this happiness this time?

If she grasped this happiness, would it run away again?

Still, she wanted to try and hold onto this happiness.

“Thank you… Tae Un.”

“Now I should clean all this up too.”

After parting with Tae Un, the house Ba Ha entered suddenly stung her. The kitchen she went to for water had all the dishes they used together still set for two, and the bathroom she went to wash her hands had everything from his razor to his toothbrush.

His traces were still everywhere.

Lee Han’s belongings that she hadn’t gotten around to clearing away.

No.

His belongings that she hadn’t cleared away because she couldn’t accept their breakup were all over the house.

“Hah…”

She knew she couldn’t put it off any longer. She sensed that now was the time to clean it up.

Because she wanted a new start.

So now she’s trying to erase everything of his.

“Hah… why is there so much? I don’t know if this is my house or oppa’s house.”

There were many memories.

After leaving the Taesan family and moving into this house, there were so many happy memories. As those happy memories increased one by one, his traces in this house also grew.

Back then, every time his belongings increased in this space, happiness grew a little too.

Seeing his things gradually increase, thinking this place was our nest, there were no days without happiness.

That’s how it was then.

“Hah… when will I ever finish organizing all this.”

Now she’s trying to let go.

She’s trying to let go of all the happy memories, sad memories, and everything related to him. Because now she wants to grasp another happiness that’s not him, she’s decided to let go of her feelings for him, the memories, everything she was holding onto.

“Hah…”

Sighs kept escaping her lips. Though the house wasn’t that big to begin with, there was a lot to organize. His belongings, which had accumulated over the time they lived in this house, were more than she expected. Ba Ha sighed involuntarily and felt suffocated.

As much as there were many happy moments, there was also a lot of pain rushing in at this moment.

“Huh…?”

As she started organizing, pulling out luggage from the corner with a heavy heart, memories associated with each item flashed through her mind. The suffocating feeling disappeared, and a smile spread across her face.

“I wondered where this went. So it was here.”

The clothes she bought with her first paycheck, gifts from Roo Mi, pulling out forgotten memories felt somehow new.

“This is fun.”

The distraction while organizing was the sweetest.

Excited by the suddenly rising tension, Ba Ha, in the middle of packing his things, opened an old photo album she found with great interest.

On the first page of the opened album was a photo of young Ba Ha and young Roo Mi with dirt on their faces.

“Roo Mi was so cute back then. Now… I’m sorry, Roo Mi. I haven’t said anything yet.”

Ba Ha murmured softly, looking at the photo with Roo Mi with a bright smile. A faint smile settled on Ba Ha’s face at the long-forgotten memory.

She turned the pages one by one, reminiscing with each photo in the album. Then her eyes wavered at one particular photo.

“…”

Two people standing, smiling awkwardly.

Ba Ha’s eyes instantly became moist.

‘Young lady. Shall I take a photo to commemorate your arrival at this house?’

‘A… photo?’

‘Yes. Let’s take one with Han to welcome you. I’ll take it for you.’

The only person who welcomed Ba Ha in a house where no one else did was Lee Kang, Lee Han’s father and the driver of that house. Feeling sorry for the young Ba Ha whose face was full of darkness, Kang suggested taking a photo.

He must have wanted to tell her.

To that young child, that ‘there is someone in this house who welcomes you’.

‘Han, come here. Let’s take it together. Stand next to the young lady.’

As Kang patted the head of young Lee Han standing beside him, Lee Han approached Ba Ha hesitantly and stood next to her as Kang said, and Ba Ha lightly grasped the hem of his clothes with her small, trembling hand.

‘Okay, I’m taking it! One, two, three!’

Click-!

How could she forget?

That was their first photo together, and the beginning of Lee Han becoming Ba Ha’s world.

Even if she wanted to forget, it was Ba Ha’s precious memory that she couldn’t forget.

Ba Ha’s heart stirred at the memories that flashed by as soon as she saw the photo, and the tears welling up in her eyes seemed about to overflow soon.

She stared at it for a long time with teary eyes. Ba Ha stroked the face of young Lee Han in that small photo and murmured.

“How can I throw this away…”