The Problematic Helper (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 10
“What?”
“I’m asking whether the order to go and find out my intentions was also Chairwoman Jang’s instruction.”
Ji Wan’s eyes, hiding his emotions, glinted sharply.
“You must have seen the news article about your only son’s marriage—how hurt must your mother have felt? She may be called the director of an art museum, but it’s no different from being exiled to a place out of sight.”
It was sarcasm disguised as concern.
The man blamed Ji Wan’s biological mother for the death of his own wife, who had passed from a chronic illness, so even though he chewed him out openly, Ji Wan remained calm.
“If we’re talking about feeling hurt, is big madam the only one?”
This time, Gi Hyuk’s eyebrows rose fiercely.
“You brought in a second daughter-in-law as if you’d been waiting for her to die. She might not even be able to close her eyes in the afterlife.”
“What did you say, you little—!!”
Afraid that the early death of a young man would spark ugly rumors in the Bando family, Mrs. Jang held her daughter-in-law’s funeral as quietly as a dead mouse.
With no regard for the grief of the grandson who lost his mother or the sorrow of the son left alone, Mrs. Jang simply said,
“Bring in the younger one.”
Just that one sentence.
Before the funeral was even fully over, Mrs. Jang replaced her daughter-in-law as if swapping out a battery.
That was why Gi Hyuk believed his mother’s death was not unrelated to Ji Wan’s biological mother.
“How dare a thing like you mention my mother?”
At the dangerous atmosphere, Woo Seok, standing at the entrance, shifted his body, but Ji Wan raised a hand to stop him.
Straightening his suit collar and brushing off the dust with his fingertips, the man remained composed to the very end.
“In the future, please inform me in advance. Then I will receive you with proper respect.”
For someone who had just stabbed with a sharp dagger, the greeting was excessively neat.
Woo Seok quickly followed behind Ji Wan as he left the office.
*****
Every piece of clothing the man had bought her was either flamboyant or overly elegant.
Yet wearing just jeans and a T-shirt didn’t feel right either, so she tried on and took off the few outfits she had multiple times.
Considering Ji Wan would be in a suit after work, she chose a dress that was neither too heavy nor too casual.
A small floral-patterned V-neck dress.
She checked that the hem reached just above the knee, and the moment she stepped into the garden was exactly 6:50 p.m.
She thought ten minutes would be fine, but the wait dragged on past thirty.
The air, still warm from the midday heat, remained hot even in the afternoon.
Unable to sit for fear of wrinkling her skirt, she stood until sweat beaded on her forehead and trickled down her neck.
‘Should I call him? No, the meeting might have run long, or he could be driving.
There must be a reason he’s late.’
She decided to wait exactly one full hour and then go inside.
Just then, a black sedan appeared climbing the hill.
The anxiety from the long wait melted away like snow, and the excited woman’s sandaled feet began bouncing on the green lawn.
*****
Having left Gi Hyuk alone in the office, Ji Wan hurriedly ordered them to head to Hwaan-dong.
On the congested road, he kept checking his watch and picking up and putting down his phone—uncharacteristically restless.
“Is something the matter with madam?”
When Woo Seok, who had only been watching his mood, finally asked, Ji Wan merely shook his head without a word until, at the entrance to the Hwaan-dong garden,
the moment he spotted Do Um through the windshield, Woo Seok caught the smile that rose to Ji Wan’s lips.
“It looks like the two of you are headed somewhere nice.”
Because the man had kept it a complete secret from him, he hadn’t even called—just kept fidgeting with his phone—so Woo Seok felt both sulky and very curious, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
“Were you afraid I might follow you?”
Leaning leisurely against the back seat, gazing only beyond the car window, the man who rarely smiled clearly looked happy, as though he wasn’t even listening.
The floral dress that fully revealed her slender neck fluttered with her bouncing steps, and finally Ji Wan raised his right hand to cover his eyes.
Forgetting in an instant how long she had waited, the woman who got excited just seeing his car was like a puppy wagging its tail nonstop at the words “let’s go for a walk.”
‘Pfft.’
The helpless laugh that escaped beneath his hand carried both the bewildered feeling of ‘what am I going to do with that woman’ and the faint regret of ‘I should have come earlier.’
Yet he was not the type to coo and fuss over an excitedly tail-wagging puppy, so when Ji Wan stepped out of the car, he showed no reaction beyond forcing down the corners of his mouth.
“Did you wait long?”
“No, I just came out. Just now.”
She said she had only just come out, but the beads of sweat on her forehead bothered him.
“Madam, here.”
Woo Seok, standing behind, held out a handkerchief.
Ji Wan narrowed his brows at Woo Seok’s tactless act of offering it to a woman who didn’t want to reveal how long she had waited—as if announcing ‘you’re drenched in sweat right now.’
No wonder this guy, despite having everything else, had never once been in a relationship.
“Ah, sweat. Ah, haha.”
As expected.
Taking the handkerchief and wiping her forehead, the woman laughed exaggeratedly.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
As Do Um cheerfully moved toward the black sedan at the man’s “let’s go,” Ji Wan grabbed her arm.
“No, Director Han, not that way.”
“Me?”
“Please go home and clock out for the day.”
Ji Wan slightly turned and chin-gestured toward the black sedan he had just arrived in.
Woo Seok took quite a while to understand the blunt message to get lost now—or rather, pretended not to.
“Yes, I’m going. As if I would follow you two on your date. I’m a very busy person with countless things to do after work, haha.”
This morning he had been told through Driver Park to leave a personal car at Hwaan-dong—Ji Wan had planned everything from the start.
Only then did Woo Seok nod as if he finally understood.
“Please enjoy your time together.”
The two climbed into a sleek black sports car and drove along a quiet national road to a high-end restaurant on the outskirts of the city, designed like a glass greenhouse.
The dome-shaped restaurant floating on a calm lake shone brilliantly, like a moon hung in the black night sky.
Soft light spilling through the glass illuminated the dim surroundings, making the tranquil lake sparkle.
The croaking of frogs in the lake was unmistakably a midsummer night.
“Are you very hungry?”
“I’m all right.”
“Then let’s walk a little before going in. I love this sound so much.”
Perhaps because of the light leaking from the round dome, the woman’s joyful face was dazzling too.
“All right.”
The two walked side by side along the long wooden deck by the lakeside.
The fierce croaking of frogs, as if competing to cry louder, buried the silence between them.
“Are you okay?”
“Hm?”
He had always walked beside Woo Seok; this was the first time a woman walked shoulder-to-shoulder with him.
He only realized late that when Woo Seok walked with a woman, he slowed his usual stride—it was a kind of “consideration” to match her pace.
Ji Wan waited after asking whether this walking speed beside him was comfortable.
“Yes, it’s nice.”
“They say I’m not an affectionate person, so it must be hard for you.”
“Who said that?”
“Director Han.”
“Director Han is as attentive as I thought.”
Ji Wan narrowed his brows at the sudden praise for Woo Seok.
“Does that mean you agree?”
The woman who had been leaning on the railing around the lake turned around with a whirl.
A hot breeze suddenly blew, carrying the woman’s clear scent.
“Suppose we had really married for love—have you ever imagined how you, CEO, would treat a woman you love? I tried, but I couldn’t picture it at all. You smiling and looking happy while looking at me.”
It was an imagination he himself had never entertained.
In all his previous relationships, even setting aside contracts, he had never once been affectionate toward the opposite sex.
Since they weren’t relationships containing the emotion called “love,” they must have been very different from ordinary couples’ ordinary dates.
It wasn’t just dating—all his relationships with people had been that way.
Even to Eun Hee, the mother who gave birth to him, he had never been warm.
“You’re affectionate to everyone else, so if you were cold only to me I’d feel hurt, but… well, that’s not the case.”
Do Um turned back toward the lake, wryly pointing out that he was not affectionate to anyone.
“…Still, I want to see it.”
Her voice was as clear as the calm lake.
[I want to see it.]As the woman who had been peering deeper into the lake on tiptoes lost balance and staggered, Ji Wan hurriedly reached out.
A firm masculine hand supported her slim waist and steadied her.
From a distance far too close, Do Um continued.
“That you look at me with truly loving eyes and feel happy.”
Not only did she imagine a version of him she had never thought of herself, she even boldly said she wanted to see it—Ji Wan’s eyes shook.
“When you truly fall in love with someone, I want to see what you’ll be like.”
The woman slipped out of his hand, fluttering her skirt as she walked ahead.
As if she didn’t care at all about the ripples spreading wildly after tossing a single pebble into the calm lake.
She walked ahead, then spun around several times, smiling brightly at the man.
Unlike the purely joyful-looking Do Um, Ji Wan did not smile at all.
Perhaps the arrogance that he could place that small woman on his palm and manipulate her as he wished had been mistaken.
The one who could tickle her gently on the palm and then crush hard might end up being not him, but her.
It felt terribly wrong.
At the same time, it was the first time he had ever tasted this sense of dismay.
“Let’s go in now, CEO. I’m hungry.”
Do Um turned from the walking path and headed toward the restaurant entrance.
Even with the feeling of falling into an abyss, Ji Wan’s steps chasing after the woman were strangely light.
*****
Jin Han E&C’s only daughter, Jin Seo Hyun.
Marrying Gi Hyuk—at twenty-nine, having met only five times—was a gamble and an adventure.
It was the opening battle of her ambition to possess not just one Bando hotel, but the entire Bando Group.
Yet this damn husband of hers was content with just the single hotel put in her name and acted all high-and-mighty, so Seo Hyun’s insides were burning black.
Wearing a silk robe, Seo Hyun stood at the front door and greeted Gi Hyuk, who had just come in.
“Where did you sleep last night?”
He had been away for a full day.
“I slept on the office sofa. I dozed off while working and ended up like that.”
“Oh, so Seo Gi Hyuk’s office sofa puts you to sleep, makes you feel good, and grants all your wishes?”
“…What?!”
“When did Clara become your sofa?”
The rising star of Eden Entertainment, model and rookie actress Clara.
She was twenty-three, they said.
The woman rumored to be secretly meeting Gi Hyuk.
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
_____
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