The Problematic Helper (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15

Whenever someone asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Do Um’s answer was always the same, without a moment’s hesitation.

“Every day, a wife and mother who stays in the same place.”

In an era where people even travel to space, the auntie in charge of the teppanyaki grill at the drivers’ cafeteria said it was such an old-fashioned idea,

“A woman should get a good job and live large and proudly. That’s the best.”

she said.

The butcher Mr. Choi from the butcher shop asked back,

“That place—what kind of place is it exactly?”

“I want to become a wife or mother who, when you look back, is always standing in the same spot. Always there without needing to search for her.”

Whether a working professional, a housewife, or a student, everyone has a position they always occupy.

Even without looking, you think, Ah, that person must be there right now.

A predictable place where you can guess, Around this time, they must be there—that’s what it was.

The joy of being able to pay off all debts and even change her name after agreeing to a contract marriage was part of it, but this excitement was an even bigger reason.

She wanted to become a wife who faithfully fulfills her duties in the place where she always is when he returns.

If he’s going, he’s going; if he’s coming, he’s coming—a wait with certainty was nice too.

She hoped the home he returns to would be comfortable for him.

The man who seemed to have nowhere to truly attach himself to wherever he went reminded her exactly of her childhood self, so even if only for a few months, she just wanted that man to be at peace.

In front of people who were endlessly intimidated by her, in front of Chairwoman Jang who could save or kill her with a single word, the man who always tried to appear calm looked just as pitiful to Do Um as she felt.

Rather than the “love” he couldn’t stand, yes, it was fine to call it simply “affection.”

“If you’re grateful, just be grateful—it’s something I have to do anyway. Do you think I wouldn’t just because of that? Did you think Kang Do Um’s personality was that easygoing?”

She boldly declared she wasn’t the type to stop just because someone told her not to, that she would do whatever she wanted, yet the pillowcase she had kept getting wet despite her efforts to change it.

“…This is all because of you, Dad. All this sentimentality is because of you.”

Because he gave her this name, making her desperately want to be helpful to that person even when he said he hated it.

*****

From the morning, Ji Wan’s mood had been bad.

Did they fight?

Last night they had affectionately linked arms and entered the house, so it couldn’t be, yet the fact that Do Um, who saw him off to work every morning, was nowhere to be seen this morning felt deeply suspicious.

Woo Seok, who left only the lunchbox at the entrance without even thanking her for the rare home-cooked meal, had been constantly worried about Ji Wan.

That was why, even after finishing all the documents and reports needing Ji Wan’s approval, he lingered at the office door.

“Director Han.”

Without lifting his eyes from the documents, Ji Wan lowered his thick eyebrows.

“Yes, CEO.”

“If you have something to say, say it. Don’t act in a way that distracts me.”

The tone sounded quite lenient, but anyone fooled by it and actually said everything on their mind would face sharp criticism afterward.

Woo Seok hesitated.

“Last night, photos of the two of you entering affectionately were published, and the malicious speculation has somewhat died down.”

Nod nod.

With a swift flick of the pen tip, he marked a document and moved the rejected one to the left—his gesture was relaxed.

As if unaware that someone’s mouth was bone-dry and they were burning with anxiety.

“”

“Wouldn’t it be better… to tell Madam the truth about Miss Lee Seol?”

At Woo Seok’s cautious words, Ji Wan replied without even lifting his gaze from the papers.

“Is there a need to explain in detail something she doesn’t even care much about?”

He wasn’t unaware that the woman’s composure the previous night, when she asked nothing, was false.

Still, since it was a marriage whose end was already decided, Ji Wan had chosen to play the villain so no poisonous feelings would remain.

“What did Chairwoman Jang in Anseo-dong say?”

The man flipping to the next document lightly stroked his chin.

“She told me to step down from the position.”

“Yes… Y-yes!!??”

At the calm sight of him leaning deep into the chair and tilting his head side to side, Woo Seok quickly stepped up to the desk.

[If you get tangled with that wench one more time, I’ll drag you out of there immediately, construction or whatever. What the hell is a man doing with no better thing to do, tsk tsk. Even if I die, no affairs!!]

That was what his father, Chairman Seo Myeong Han, had said before becoming a monk.

The story that he had abandoned both family and company to elope to Japan with the top actress of the time was well-known among anyone in politics or business.

That was also why the usually composed Chairwoman Jang trembled at the mere mention of celebrities.

“She told you to step down—weren’t you at all shaken? Ha, really.”

“I’m sitting here terrified I might lose this seat right now. I’m going absolutely insane.”

“…Pardon?”

“If she says that, what can change? If the one who put me in this seat and the one who can pull me out both want it, I have no choice but to obey.”

Woo Seok silently gathered the documents set aside on the left.

They were all rejected by the picky CEO.

“Some people clearly need to relearn document formatting from scratch. Contact the department heads and tell them if they waste my time like this one more time, I’ll deduct the equivalent hours from their salary.”

He merely nodded at the chilling remark.

It was routine.

More than half the submitted documents were rejected, so department heads obsessed over “Seo Ji Wan-proofing” everything from approval formats to font spacing.

“Ah, Director Han.”

“Yes.”

Ji Wan called Woo Seok, who was about to leave.

“Are the gardener couple coming to Hwaan-dong today?”

He had instructed no entry this week until security could be arranged just in case.

“No, we’ve restricted all outsiders from Hwaan-dong this week.”

“…Hm.”

His long fingers tapped the desk a couple of times.

“Why do you ask?”

“No, never mind.”

As if telling him to swallow the rest and leave, Ji Wan waved his hand.

After Woo Seok left, Ji Wan took out his phone and hesitated for a long time.

It was because the woman hadn’t appeared that morning.

He could understand skipping meals—she had even cited contract rules telling him not to—but not showing her face even once felt strange.

The moment he stepped out into the silent living room and saw the neatly lined-up shoes,

he regretted not having gone to her room instead of leaving like that.

No—he had regretted it long before.

When he had coldly told her not to do anything in front of the carefully prepared meal; the moment the woman barely swallowed her tears and buried her small head on the table.

Damn it.

The man who had never let emotion override reason couldn’t sleep all night, filled with regret that nothing would change anyway.

He couldn’t erase the question of whether the words “don’t do it” he had told her should actually have been told to himself.

Even while lying in the rustling bedding, while choosing the tie to wear, while slipping his feet into the neatly placed shoes—his mind was entirely occupied by the woman whose face he hadn’t even seen.

“Yes, CEO.”

Team Leader Yoon from the secretarial office across the line answered on the first ring.

“What’s my afternoon schedule today?”

“Site inspection of the Paju civil engineering site at 6 p.m., followed by dinner with the facility management team.”

It was already past 4 p.m.

Confirming the time, Ji Wan gave quick orders.

“I’m heading to the site now. Postpone dinner to next week. Have the car ready.”

*****

She woke up even before the alarm.

Despite crying and blowing her nose all night, she had still planned the breakfast menu.

The moment she took her first step out of bed, she saw it—the fresh white sheet she had changed yesterday, now stained red.

It was the devil’s second day.

A hellish day with heavy flow, with peak back pain and headache.

In a hurry, she gathered the bloodstained sheet, neatly folded it at the foot of the bed, and headed to the bathroom.

Even in the midsummer heat, her body shivered for no reason, so she stood under the hot shower for a long while.

Water droplets dripped from her roughly dried hair, soaking the shoulders of the shirt she had just put on.

Finishing one thing only created another problem.

‘…Haa.’

Her eyelids were heavy, her head throbbed, and her body felt like it weighed a thousand tons.

When she took off the wet shirt to change into a new one,

Do Um swayed and collapsed straight onto the bare mattress.

She had planned to make simple toast.

If he ate the nicely toasted bread and fresh salad, he would forget yesterday’s anger and just smile—she had intended that.

The eyelids that had struggled to open and close repeatedly finally refused to open again.

Click.

Through her hazy mind, she distantly heard the front door closing as the man left.

*****

“The neighborhood that was in an uproar about the factory has finally quieted down a bit.”

Woo Seok and Ji Wan, having finished the site inspection earlier than planned, arrived at the Hwaan-dong garden past 7 p.m.

“They’re cooperative, but we’ll always have to be careful. It would be good to use the excavated soil for nearby farmland conversion rather than external disposal, and when noise or dust occurs, visiting in person to ask for understanding is far more effective than official letters.”

As they passed the central entrance, Woo Seok craned his neck forward, his face clearly showing disappointment.

It was because the spot where the woman always stood was empty.

“Anyone would think it’s Director Han waiting for someone.”

He acted as if it didn’t concern him, but according to Driver Park, who had watched them from the car, exactly two people were disappointed by the woman’s absence.

Unlike Woo Seok who openly craned his neck, Ji Wan had quietly opened his eyes earlier and straightened his back from leaning on the headrest.

Pretending not to wait while clearly waiting—it was obvious.

Woo Seok, who had primly opened the back seat door, suddenly raised his voice.

“Huh, huh!”

The yellow lunchbox he had left that morning was still by the door.

“CEO, did you happen to see Madam this morning?”

Ji Wan shook his head, and both stared at the firmly closed entrance.

Only then did a sense of something was wrong dawn on the man’s face.

Bang.

The living room he entered by flinging the door open was exactly as he had left it that morning.

Not a single curtain drawn, no sign of life, only the woman’s small shoes neatly placed there alone.

“Hurry, hurry!!”

For the first time, Woo Seok pushed Ji Wan’s back, urging him.

He couldn’t very well burst into the wife’s room with her husband right there, so Woo Seok just stamped his feet.

Knock, knock.

He knocked on the door of the woman’s room, which was in the completely opposite direction from his own across the hallway.

Come to think of it, it was a place he had never once stepped into since marriage.

He had no idea how her room was decorated or where anything was placed.

Knock, knock, knock.

No response.

“Kang Do Um-ssi.”

When he turned, Woo Seok was frowning deeply and motioning with one shoulder as if to say, Why are you just standing there instead of kicking the door in?

At some point, Ji Wan, who had been silently following Woo Seok’s instructions without protest, looked as if he had forgotten he was doing so.

With a voice full of tension and obvious anxiety,

“I’m coming in.”

Through the slightly opened door crack, along with thick darkness, came the faint scent of the woman that used to tickle his nose whenever she rustled beside him.

It wasn’t perfume—nothing artificial or strong—just a gentle, spreading aroma,

perhaps fabric softener or shampoo.

The room, without even the air conditioner on, was filled with heat.

The subtle fragrance in the sweltering room felt like a greenhouse in full bloom.

As light from the living room seeped in through the open crack, the interior gradually came into view.

“Where’s Madam? Madam, are you in there?”

At the sound of Woo Seok rushing over, Ji Wan shouted.

“Don’t come, stay there. Just stay put, Director Han.”

On the completely disheveled bed,

Do Um lay collapsed, limp.

Soaked—whether in sweat or water—half-naked.