The Problematic Helper (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 12
“Is it fun?”
Ji Wan asked the woman who kept giggling nonstop as they exited the food hall.
“……I’ve always wanted to try it. Going grocery shopping with your husband after marriage, tasting samples. You know how in dramas, there’s always at least one scene like that.”
He swallowed the question of why on earth she would want to do something like that.
It was because he didn’t want to take away the joy that was plastered all over Do Um’s face.
Even if he had asked, unless it was absolutely necessary, he was the type who hated wasting time on pointless things, so he knew he would never understand anyway.
“This is our first date gift.”
What Do Um held up was a small keychain shaped like a luck pouch.
“You definitely wouldn’t carry it if I told you to, so I’ll hang it here instead.”
Inside the car, she hung the tiny luck pouch right in front of the passenger seat and looked satisfied.
Thirty-four years old.
The woman had no idea that in his entire life, this was the first time a man had pushed a shopping cart himself, or eaten street food standing up without even sitting properly.
Just that night.
For Do Um, a simple trip to the mart with a husband whose marriage would end in a year felt nothing but happy and joyful.
*****
The room was filled with the fragrance of tea leaves.
As soon as Hyang In from the tea ceremony room emptied three cups and properly filled a real one, Mrs. Jang Ho Mook glanced over Seo Hyun and Gi Hyuk, who were kneeling across from her.
“You’re destined for greatness, it seems—quite versatile in bringing disgrace too.”
It hadn’t been long since the hiring corruption scandal at Bando Electronics broke, and the root of the trouble was receiving a call from Chairman Jin reporting his son-in-law’s misconduct.
“Not only pathetic womanizing, but taking them to a hotel owned by your father-in-law? Even a dog raised in the backyard wouldn’t be ordered to do something that brings such shame to Bando—Senior Managing Director Seo is the one doing it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Aren’t you tired of saying that yet?”
When illegal entertainment venue visits and abuse of power—giving unreasonable orders to his driver outside working hours—also came to light, Chairwoman Jang’s anger toward Gi Hyuk was considerable.
“You know it too, Grandmother. There’s more than one or two people waiting to pounce on me the moment I slip up. Who in the world is flawless? Who doesn’t have at least one scab when scratched?”
“Tsk tsk, what a hopeless human being.”
Chairwoman Jang’s gaze shifted to Seo Hyun, who was sitting straight-backed and bringing her teacup to her lips.
“What do you even do? When a husband can’t settle his heart at home and wanders outside, naturally the reason lies inside the house. What kind of person are you that after two years of marriage you still can’t hold your husband’s heart?”
“It’s my failure.”
“I’ve said it many times—I didn’t bring you into this family to give wings to my eldest grandson. All I wanted was a decent woman who could firmly hold a man’s heart while he works outside. How dare you raise your voice in front of me, using your father as a shield!”
“……I’m sorry.”
Seo Hyun quietly set down her teacup and lowered her head.
If she could one day stand at the very top of the Bando family, a humiliation like this was nothing.
Compared to Bando, Jin Han was less than a drop of blood in scale and asset value, yet the moment they married, her father Chairman Jin acted as though Jin Han had risen to the same rank as Bando.
It was also her father who had planted the ambition to seize Bando by putting his daughter forward.
There was no way Chairman Jin—who valued immediate profit over his own child—had contacted Chairwoman Jang for her sake……
“The civil engineering for Jeju Dion Land has been decided as Jin Han E&C, so know that.”
‘Of course. He wouldn’t step forward for his daughter without wanting something.’
The tea that had been sliding down gently scratched her throat like sandpaper.
“Tell him that using one’s child for this kind of thing once is more than enough.”
At Chairwoman Jang’s sharp rebuke, Seo Hyun closed her eyes deeply and opened them again.
“Yes, I will.”
For Chairwoman Jang, who never abused personal connections for professional gain, this was a significant concession.
She was the type to store up this humiliation and one day sharpen it into a blade to hurl in every direction.
Screech.
The well-oiled sliding door opened silently.
“You’re here.”
At Chairwoman Jang’s voice, now a tone softer, Seo Hyun and Gi Hyuk turned at the same time.
“You called for me, Grandmother.”
It was Do Um, dressed in a black dress with a pure white silk collar.
The woman bowed politely toward Gi Hyuk and his wife, whom she had only seen briefly at the wedding.
“Talk is over, so the two of you may leave now.”
At the piercing glare from Seo Hyun—as if asking why she was here—Do Um shrank her shoulders.
Since Ji Wan rarely visited Anseo-dong, if Do Um had started coming, Seo Hyun calculated there must be some ulterior motive.
It was unmistakably a look of guarded hostility.
“Grandmother!”
Gi Hyuk’s voice calling Chairwoman Jang was more desperate and urgent than ever,
“Get out, I said!”
As if she had expected it all along, Chairwoman Jang roared.
Sending someone to Hwaan-dong at the exact time she had summoned the couple to bring Do Um here had clearly been part of Chairwoman Jang’s plan.
It was meant to put pressure on Gi Hyuk, who arrogantly assumed Bando would be his, and a kind of threat to Seo Hyun for daring to drag her father into Bando affairs.
“No, I’ll stand up. Let’s go for a walk—I was feeling stifled anyway.”
As Mrs. Jang Ho Mook rose, leaving the two pale-faced people behind, Do Um silently followed.
*****
It had been a full four-hour meeting.
The mixed-use new town “Lake Green City” scheduled for Hanoi, the northern capital of Vietnam, was a luxury complex aimed at the upper class, and with commercial facilities and some government offices confirming relocation, the project was gaining momentum.
“Starting from Hanoi, my goal reaches all the way to Ho Chi Minh, the largest city—‘the second Lake Green City.’ So by the end of next month, the global infrastructure conference held in Korea must be prepared perfectly.”
The moment the existing tasks were resolved, Ji Wan tossed out new ones and left the conference room; Woo Seok hurriedly chased after him.
“Madam has gone to Anseo-dong.”
The sound of shoes crossing the marble hallway suddenly stopped.
“Why would she go there.”
“It’s a summons from the Chairwoman. She apparently sent a driver directly to Hwaan-dong.”
Ha.
He could already picture the tiny woman trembling again in front of the stubborn old lady.
She had trembled even on the first day she came with him—how much more so now, alone and without warning.
“Have the car ready. We’re going to Anseo-dong.”
As if reflecting the heart of a man who rarely got nervous, the footsteps crossing the marble hallway quickened.
*****
It was a birch forest path.
The densely packed white bark and blue leaves covering the sky reminded her of the time she had taken a leave from school to work as a domestic helper in a wealthy neighborhood.
The pay was high, but the elderly homeowner’s personality was so difficult that everyone avoided the house.
The owner, a displaced person whose hometown was in the North, had founded a cement company, handed it to his three sons, and retired from the front lines. Because of his stubborn and inflexible personality, the only person who kept the former chairman company was the housekeeper—Do Um.
The former chairman’s backyard, well over 100 pyeong, had looked exactly like this.
Unlike evergreens that stayed green year-round, walking between the pure white birch trunks while pushing a wheelchair always felt like stepping into another world.
She had called her here, yet for several minutes she just walked in silence.
“Mountain homes have beams, pillars, and lattice doors all made of birch. At night, even the mountain where foxes howl is birch.”
Afraid of the deathly silence, Do Um recited a poem the former chairman had loved.
It was Baek Seok’s , a poem the old man had recited so often that she had memorized it too.
“Even the firewood used to boil that delicious buckwheat noodle soup is birch.”
Rustle, rustle.
The soft sound of Chairwoman Jang Ho Mook’s hanbok brushing against her gentle steps grew closer, and then, over slightly roughened breathing, a calm voice continued.
“……And the gourd well where sweet dew-like water springs is also birch. This mountain village—where beyond the ridge you can see the land of Pyeongan Province—is entirely birch.”
Only after Chairwoman Jang recited the rest of the poem following her did the distance between the two close on the birch forest path.
“Do you know whose poem it is?”
“I believe it’s Baek Seok’s Birch Tree.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
For a while, the old woman said nothing again.
“Not bad.”
Even at her age, she never bent her back once, and her steps were neat and precise.
“Baek Seok’s hometown was in Pyeongan Province. The elder I once served also had his hometown in the North. Until he passed, he loved this poem because of his longing for his parents who remained there.”
Through the gaps where thick leaves failed to block the sky, blinding sunlight poured down.
“Was that old man’s hometown Hamgyong Province as well?”
Birch trees, which generally grow in high-latitude cold regions, were mostly native to the Hamgyong Province area in Korea.
Chairwoman Jang’s voice continued like a soliloquy.
“My hometown is the same.”
She had thoroughly read the biography Woo Seok gave her, but there had been no mention of her hometown.
No wonder—the biography mostly began with how Chairwoman Jang, widowed early, had single-handedly built Bando starting from a small shop.
At this new information, Do Um nodded.
At that moment, far ahead, she saw a man striding quickly across the birch path.
“……You’re later than I expected.”
Chairwoman Jang stood with her hands behind her back, gazing blankly at Ji Wan hurrying up.
It was strange.
The eyes of an old woman who had never once spoken a warm word to him until now were unusually tender as she looked at the man.
“……Did you call for me?”
Ji Wan caught his breath, straightened his suit jacket, and stood before Chairwoman Jang.
“Did Director Han say that? That I was looking for you?”
That question essentially meant: The person I called for is the woman beside you, not you.
If he answered yes, Woo Seok would get in trouble; if he said no, it would be admitting he had rushed here because of the woman—so Ji Wan simply swallowed his reply.
His eyes glanced at Do Um, standing a couple of steps away.
Checking if she was hurt anywhere, if she had perhaps been crying.
“Or did she tattle on the way here? Was she afraid I might eat her alive?”
When Chairwoman Jang turned her gaze to Do Um and asked, Ji Wan stepped forward.
“No, that’s not it……”
Judging by the sweat beading on his neatly combed forehead, he looked uncharacteristically anxious.
“That’s enough. Do you think I don’t know what a capable person CEO Seo has in his grasp?”
Chairwoman Jang’s eyes gestured toward Woo Seok standing at the forest entrance.
When Woo Seok bowed deeply and greeted her politely, a faint smile appeared at the corners of her wrinkled eyes.
“Now, take her and go. I’ve done my part.”
With those words, Chairwoman Jang turned away.
It was a cryptic statement.
The woman, unaware that her “part” had simply been to appear before Gi Hyuk and Seo Hyun, merely tilted her head in confusion.
“Let’s go down now.”
As soon as Chairwoman Jang’s retreating figure disappeared from the birch path, Ji Wan turned without hesitation.
“Wait a moment.”
Do Um pulled a bright yellow handkerchief from the small crossbody bag she wore.
Stepping right up to Ji Wan’s face, she casually wiped his damp forehead.
The man who quietly accepted her hand wiping his forehead finally lowered his eyes and looked closely at the woman.
“……Were you crying?”
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
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