The Problematic Helper - Chapter 27

When the sedan carrying Woo Seok drove away and Eun Hyeok was out of sight, Do Eum shifted in her seat.

“Now, can I really get down?”

“Just stay.”

“It’s really okay.”

“I’m not okay, that’s why.”

Hiccup, hiccup.

With the continuing hiccups, Ji Wan’s firm back repeatedly touched and separated from Do Eum’s chest.

His broad back was warm and comfortable, and there was even a faint forest scent, so her heartbeat, which she had been worried about being detected, became somewhat calm.

“I remember.”

“…Huh?”

“Last night.”

“…Ah.”

As the two remembered the same night differently, one contemplated an apology while the other blushed with embarrassment.

“I, um. Should apologize again…”

“You didn’t do anything. So you don’t need to apologize.”

Hiccup, hiccup.

There was silence except for the loud hiccups.

“Why did you look so scared if I didn’t do anything?”

The hazy memory questioned curiously,

“Because I was naked. I guess you don’t remember that either.”

The clear memory covered it up with a lie.

“Unfortunately.”

Despite the blurry memory, the woman’s dazzlingly white skin was vivid, so saying he didn’t remember was clearly a lie.

“Still, I should apologize. You got hurt because of me. You may not believe it, but this is really the first time. I’ve never made such a mistake while drunk before.”

“Someone listening would think you made a terribly big mistake. I got hurt just a little, and anyone can make such mistakes even without being drunk.”

The words of comfort from a woman much younger than him, ridiculously, became consoling again.

“I’ll be careful from now on, so this doesn’t happen again.”

“Me too.”

Although Ji Wan didn’t say anything, Do Eum, feeling guilty, confessed first.

“I should have been careful, coming all the way to the neighborhood, and in front of someone else’s house at that. I’ll be careful too.”

After a slight pause, Do Eum brought up what she wanted to say before apologizing.

“I’m telling you this in case you misunderstand. Eun Hyeok is just a friend. He has so many pretty girls who like him. He probably doesn’t even see someone like me as a woman.”

“…”

It seemed like making a humble excuse would make her feel better.

“He’s known me for a long time, and he knows my situation well, so he just feels sorry for me.”

“Are you stupid?”

“Pardon?”

Even at a glance, it was obvious the man was smitten with Do Eum, but she was the only one who didn’t know, pathetically calling herself ‘someone like me’.

“He must have very low standards or a pitiful way of loving.”

It might be something to regret.

That he ended up saying this out loud, when there was nothing for him to gain.

Nevertheless, the reason he said it was purely for the woman’s sake.

The hope that when they both returned to their places after 6 months or a year, at least Do Eum wouldn’t be alone.

“The hiccups have stopped.”

It was Ji Wan’s muttering to himself, noticing the back behind him had become quiet at some point.

Thanks to the loud hiccups, he had secretly liked the woman’s presence transmitted clearly through his back.

The touch of her hand quietly wiping the sweat flowing down his nape wasn’t bad either.

They arrived home before they knew it.

Standing in front of their respective rooms at opposite ends of the hallway with the living room in between, Ji Wan spoke.

“If there’s a situation I should be aware of…”

“…?”

Do Eum tilted her head in confusion.

“If you happen to develop feelings for your friend Eun Hyeok or something, please make sure to tell me…”

“No, no! As I said earlier, we’re just… There’s nothing like that.”

He remembered feeling numb at this one word from Do Eum before.

Come to think of it, it was just a habitual, casual word the woman used.

“Alright, I’ll take it as that for now.”

Ji Wan turned around with an inexplicable bitter feeling.

“Oh, um! My bag.”

Ji Wan stopped and looked down at the bag hanging from his neck.

It was an item that had lost its presence, with no weight at all.

“Why is a student’s bag so light?”

Chuckling and walking slowly, Do Eum came to Ji Wan.

She walked like that on the rather long hallway, as if on a runway under a single long yellow light.

“It’s the first day of the semester. There’s no way there would be books.”

She reached for the bag hanging from the man’s neck.

Ji Wan bent his knees to lower his height without saying anything, and his face came close enough to almost touch.

“…Um. About what I said before.”

Do Eum’s words were slow, as if unsure what to say.

“About what couples do when dating, and how I said I’d try it out with you as practice… Do you remember?”

“Yes, you said you’d make proper use of me.”

As if he could forget.

It was a declaration right to his face that she would use him.

Ji Wan replied sharply, clearly remembering the disappointment from that day.

“Can I try just one thing?”

“Now?”

“Now.”

What could she be planning to do, taking so long?

It would probably be just asking for a date or practicing a confession.

Ji Wan took his suit jacket from Do Eum’s hand and leaned against the hallway wall, standing crookedly.

As if to say, whatever it is, go ahead and try.

“Go ahead.”

The man’s gaze looking down contained ridicule or mockery.

Do Eum, who seemed to hesitate a bit, raised her heels high and stretched out both hands to cup Ji Wan’s face.

It was truly sudden.

The small woman’s lips overlapped with the man’s.

At that childish kiss like that of four or five-year-olds, the bag that fell from Do Eum’s fingertips made a loud noise.

The expectation that a woman who said she had never dated before wouldn’t do much was completely off the mark.

The woman who boldly pressed her lips first was certainly clumsy.

She didn’t even seem to know exactly what she was trying to do, yet she was testing him as if it were an experiment, so from Ji Wan’s position, there was no reason not to comply.

Ji Wan peeled off the woman’s hands that were holding his face as if it were her lifeline, one by one, and wrapped them around the back of his neck.

With one hand he wrapped around the woman’s waist, and with the other he cradled her small, trembling head.

Seeing that she didn’t seem to be breathing, he separated their barely touching lips and added,

“Breathe.”

As if determined to do his best in his role of being used, Ji Wan’s instructions began.

Seeing her closed eyelashes trembling pitifully despite the bold attempt,

“Don’t squeeze your eyes shut, close them lightly.”

He murmured softly in a low tone.

“Is it your face that’s shaking, or your legs?”

The woman, focusing all her nerves on the tips of their lips that still hadn’t touched, retorted irritably.

“It’s my heart!”

Ji Wan’s eyes asked what she meant by that.

“My heart is shaking so much I could die, so how could my body not shake? It’s because I have nothing to lean on.”

As soon as she finished her complaint, opening her eyes wide that had been closed, Ji Wan turned and pressed Do Eum against the wall.

“That’s a bit better.”

The woman clearly shook less now that she had something to lean on.

Leaning against the wall, the small woman gently closed her eyes, her arms around his neck.

Now, all that was left was for their lips to touch, but Ji Wan hesitated right before the finish line.

A kiss was trivial to Ji Wan.

Even kisses without feelings weren’t a big deal, and he had had quite a few such relationships.

But strangely, in front of this woman, his heart was in turmoil.

The kiss that was nothing special to him seemed like it would be extremely important to Do Eum, and he wasn’t sure if what she wanted was exactly a peck or a kiss.

He couldn’t ask, ‘Do you want to do a peck or a kiss with your boyfriend?’, so he was torn between just touching and separating, or properly showing her what a kiss was.

She was a woman who had no idea what kind of creatures men were.

She was a woman who would coldly turn away saying ‘That’s enough, up to here’ once she got what she wanted, and even if she did, the man too believed he would let go of the touched lips saying, ‘Alright then’.

“Okay, that’s enough now.”

Sure enough.

Before anything could be done properly, Do Eum opened her eyes wide as if struck from behind, picked up the bag lying on the floor, and ran away to her room as if fleeing.

Their lips hadn’t even touched yet, but before they could start, she said it was enough.

I knew this would happen.

It was as expected.

Do Eum’s adventure, which had started grandly, ended so futilely.

The man who had served his purpose also soon turned to his own room.

*****

As soon as she closed the door, Do Eum collapsed to the floor.

Her hand holding the bag trembled.

She thought that even if she had never done it before, would she tremble this much if she were stealing something from someone?

The kiss was a test to see if she really had feelings for the CEO.

If wanting to explain the situation of being with another man so badly was because of liking him, if she really had feelings as Jae Han said, wouldn’t the kiss feel incredibly good?

It was more of a momentary touch than a kiss, but the important thing was that it felt so good her chest could burst even before it started.

It felt good.

So good she couldn’t open her eyes and look straight at him.

So good that the man’s orderly instructions were resentful.

The conclusion was reached, so now she had to make sure.

Absolutely, not to be found out.

To hide this feeling tightly so it wouldn’t be revealed.

*****

Although her name was listed as CEO of Hotel Bando, Seo Hyeon mostly stayed in the Jin Han Welfare Foundation office.

“…What did you say the name was?”

“Im San Ha.”

The casually thrown voice sounded unfamiliar.

With a height easily over 180cm and an appearance that could be believed to be a former athlete, the name sounded somewhat familiar.

“Report.”

Seo Hyeon asked with an unlit cigarette in her mouth.

San Ha, who had been quietly watching, unsure if she was about to light it or if it was just a habit, slowly opened his mouth.

“From what I’ve found out, the madam of Hwa-an-dong does not appear to be pregnant. She has been seen drinking alcohol several times at school events and gatherings, and importantly, there are no obstetrics and gynecology medical records.”

“Is that so? That’s good news to hear.”

Seo Hyeon lit the cigarette in her mouth with a hiss and spoke self-mockingly.

“As you instructed, we installed our own CCTV in locations around Hwa-an-dong that don’t overlap with existing CCTV routes. According to the laundry collection company we bribed, two sets of sheets come out at the same time each time, so it seems the two people are using separate rooms.”

“…Separate rooms. I like that too.”

For someone who liked the report content, Seo Hyeon looked at the reporting man with a chilling face.

It was because of the man who showed no self-satisfaction or even a hint of expectation for reward while making a report that more than satisfied her.

Where had she seen those arrogant eyes that didn’t fear her at all?

“If you want me to find out more, I can look into the Hwa-an-dong madam’s school friends in detail…”

“No, that’s enough. Kang Do Eum’s private life is none of my business. Chairman Jang must have brought her in thinking she was useful. It’s up to that old man to discard her when her role is done.”

The stubborn old man would have brought in the woman so as not to blemish the Bando family.

If not, she was not someone who could influence Bando much.

The old man would be waiting, hiding his claws as much as possible, for the woman his grandson, who had no interest in women at all, said he would marry and brought in.

How much that wench would shake up the stone-like Seo Ji Wan.

If she seemed to have shaken him up properly, he would obviously bring in another woman to his liking in that place for all to see.

Chairman Jang was someone who looked not one, but two or three moves ahead, so all she had to do was prevent that wench from bearing Bando’s eldest grandson before her.

“You can go now.”

Just as San Ha, who had finished reporting, was about to turn and leave.

The corners of Seo Hyeon’s mouth rose crookedly.

‘I remember you now.’