The man, who didn’t resort to the usual threats or coercion, made his meaning even more clear.
“I knew there would be no fun.”
A moment of silence followed the subtly enraged tone of the voice.
A single word not filled with verbose expressions was undeniably threatening, and the only thing flowing through the phone was a taut tension.
He was that kind of man.
Even if he took all the blatant tricks and endured them without batting an eye, if he stepped even a single foot over the line I set, it was a decisive strike.
What she did to me, I could overlook, but that was it.
It was a kind of warning that if she did the same thing to people around me, I wouldn’t stand still.
Without raising the tone of his voice or making any subtle nuance changes, Isol lowered her posture in front of the man, showing that she was considerably uncomfortable.
The problem that arises when one fails to understand the meaning properly was enormous.
“I understand what you mean. I won’t do it again. Instead, don’t change the password for Oppa’s officetel. I occasionally go there, you know. Huh? Are you listening?”
Thud.
With the response that she won’t do it again, the call ended simultaneously.
If I clearly convey my business, that’s all. Ji-wan, who threw the phone nervously, opened the drawer and took a sleeping pill, putting it in his mouth.
I need to sleep.
Without thinking, I felt that the headache that had bothered me all day would get better.
7:50 in the morning.
Ji-wan’s room was at the end of the long corridor, centered around the kitchen, and on the opposite end was Help’s room.
Help had been pacing in front of Ji-wan’s bedroom corridor for ten minutes.
By now, he should have come out and had breakfast to avoid being late for work, but, for some reason, the man’s room was quiet.
Knock, knock.
No answer.
Again, knock, knock.
With no response again, Help gently opened the door.
Through the slightly open door crack, darkness flowed like ink.
“…Mr. President?”
Under the thick blackout curtain, three adults lay on a bed large enough to accommodate them even if they slept.
The man lay motionless.
Whether he closed his eyes or opened them, it was hard to see because of his right arm on his forehead, but Help approached closely.
Is he sleeping?
He was said to be a person who kept time like a knife.
At this rate, he will undoubtedly be late.
Checking the heavily drooping eyelids and about to wake him up, she turned back, thinking again about the time the company president should arrive and leave work.
Just when she was about to leave the bedroom.
Sigh…
It was the sound of wheezing rising from the depths of the throat.
At the groan that sounded like it could be heard even through the sleeping man’s breath, Help turned away abruptly.
She approached the man, lowering his arm from his forehead, and placed her hand on it.
The crackling fire that was constantly burning without a break was a lump when she touched it, like a burning coal.
‘Unbelievable, a man who seems to have made his heart out of iron is in pain.’
After rummaging through the house to find a first aid kit and measuring the body temperature after waking up, she gave him a fever reducer.
Around the time she was doing this, Wooseok’s car entered the garden.
“Make up your mind once a year, please. You always seem to be like this around early winter, but is it summer this time?”
While moving to Ji-wan’s room, Wooseok called Dr. Choi, the family doctor.
She informed the team leader Yeon in the secretary’s office of Ji-wan’s condition and instructed her to postpone the held schedule.
She even added a request not to let the family know about Ji-wan’s painful state.
After Dr. Choi, the family doctor, left, the newlywed house in Hwan-dong became quiet.
“Since the president is sick, I think I need to go to the company urgently. Please take care of the president. Thank you very much.”
In response to Wooseok’s farewell, Help nodded her head.
His appearance was so dignified that Wooseok couldn’t help but smile.
“Don’t worry too much; he’ll soon get up. But still, it’s reassuring to have you here when he’s not always alone.”
Turning around to see off Wooseok, Help asked.
“May I ask why you have to hide the fact that the president is sick from his family? People can get sick too, you know…”
Descending to the garden, Wooseok raised the corners of his mouth slightly and smiled.
“Madam, have you ever watched the documentary ‘Kingdom of Animals’?”
To the unknown question, Help simply nodded her head a couple of times.
“In the documentary about the Serengeti in the Wild Plains, there’s a scene where the head lion is surrounded and fights by a hyena pack. Despite being covered in wounds to the point of not being able to stand straight, it proudly displays its dominance with a fierce roar. It never shows its back until its last breath is taken away.”
I already knew the story about the leaders of animals living in herds in the wild.
“Whoever it is, they should never show a weak appearance, just like our president. The president is like that. He inherently dislikes showing any vulnerability, especially in front of his family.”
“Even so, the place to trust and rely on would be family, right?”
When she went to Anseo-dong, Ji-wan’s expression and gaze, colder than usual, came to mind.
“That’s right. Without anywhere to lean on, he must be a truly lonely person.”
Receiving Help’s complaining remark, Wooseok hastily erased his expression and got into the car.
“I spoke too much. Well then, I’ll visit again tomorrow morning.”
After seeing off Wooseok, Help, who had come back into the house, ground the soaked rice and pine nuts.
Grind, grind.
The noisy sound of the mixer made her head even more complicated.
Whether it was a man who had a family but was thoroughly indifferent to them, or a man who should not show weakness even to his family, they didn’t seem so different.
There were times when she once thought that her loneliness, having nothing, was even more severe, but seeing the man, she felt uneasy in various ways.
‘Whether you have money or not, loneliness is the same.’
Holding the ground pine nut porridge, she headed to Ji-wan’s bedroom.
To take medicine, he needed to eat something, but the man was sleeping silently as if dead.
Due to the lights attached to the bedside and the walls, a yellow light poured over the man’s face.
Below neat eyebrows,
The eyes without horizontal double eyelids, both scary when closed and open, made her slightly turn her body and sit on the edge of the bed.
Facing him head-on was terrifying, so it was somewhat relieving when the scary man turned to the side.
Reaching out, she touched his forehead.
The forehead that hadn’t cooled down was hot.
She brought lukewarm water and washed her face, wiping the sweaty neck.
When the time for the medicine came, she dissolved the pill in water and let it flow into his mouth little by little.
Late at night,
The doctor came to change the IV, and the woman’s nursing continued throughout the night.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
