A fresh, grassy scent tickled Woojin’s nose. Unknowingly, he reached out his hand, only to retract it.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a plant.”
Hearing the word “plant,” Woojin’s face hardened.
“You want me to take care of something I can’t even see?”
“It’s not about seeing, it’s about touching.”
“What?”
“Can I touch your hand for a second, Woojin?”
“No.”
“Come on, just once.”
Before he could react, she swiftly grabbed his hand and brought it to the plant.
Feeling her warm touch on the back of his hand and the rough texture of the plant on his palm, Woojin couldn’t pull away, letting her guide his hand.
“Stroke it like this, up and down. The scent becomes stronger. It’s interesting, isn’t it?”
Her voice sounded excited. However, as soon as she stopped moving his hand, Woojin abruptly pulled away.
“Hey, why?”
“I hate plants like this. Did you check if there are bugs in the pot? I need to wash my hands.”
Woojin abruptly stood up and went straight to his room, slamming the door shut.
What’s with him? Does he have a germ phobia or something?
Despite her frustration, Suyeong realized his room also had a bathroom. But feeling slighted by his outright rejection of the plant she’d brought thoughtfully, she grumbled to herself.
“Right, with that temper, why would he care for a plant? It would probably die in this house anyway.”
She was about to put the plant back into the shopping bag but paused, instead placing it on a shelf in the living room, tucked in a corner where he wouldn’t knock it over.
“I hope you can soften up his temper. Even if you don’t get stroked, keep releasing your phytoncides. Maybe it’ll help him mellow out. He won’t be able to survive in society with that attitude. It’s not his blindness, it’s his temper. But he probably thinks it’s his blindness. Speaking of which, I need to find a job too… So suffocating.”
Unaware that Woojin’s door was slightly ajar, she continued her monologue to the plant.
Woojin, feeling breathless from stress and lack of sleep, was using a nebulizer, inhaling the mist.
He overheard her rambling in the living room.
At first, he thought she was on a phone call, but then realized she was talking about him. Why is she asking the plant to fix my temper? She’s worried about my social life? And now she’s fretting about her own job. She’s really one to talk…
He was baffled by her interest in him. It seemed more than mere sympathy. Could she be interested in him?
Then, he scoffed at himself. How absurd, Woojin.
He knew another housekeeper was scheduled to arrive in two weeks. What would she do then? Continue job hunting?
The thought of her not coming back in a fortnight oddly unsettled him. He inhaled the fine mist more deeply.
“Cough, cough.”
Woojin, who was eating and constantly clearing his throat, caught Jihyun’s attention.
“Don’t look. I’m fine.”
Despite his reassurance, Jihyun chuckled. “You really look like you can see sometimes.”
“Why is there a plant in the living room? Did Suyeong bring it?”
“Yeah.”
Woojin noticed the plant that Suyeong had pushed into a corner to keep out of his reach, its fragrance giving it away. Was she naive?
“You don’t like plants, right? Worried about bugs.”
“Yeah.”
“Should I throw it away for you?”
“Leave it.”
Woojin’s cold response left Jihyun observing him intently. Had the boy changed? Was it the girl’s influence?
“Cough, cough.”
As his throat tightness turned into coughing, Jihyun quickly reached for his phone.
“I’m fine, cough! Really, cough, cough!”
Woojin tried to stop him, but Jihyun didn’t heed his protests.
Shortly after a few calls, a grey-haired man with flecks of white in his hair arrived at Woojin’s house.
The man, examining Woojin with a stethoscope while sitting on the sofa, smiled kindly.
“You seem to have a recurrence of bronchitis due to a cold. I’ll send a nurse with some medication. Take it 30 minutes after your meal.”
When Woojin was rescued from a fire incident, he had no external injuries but had inhaled a lot of smoke, damaging his bronchi. Although his condition had improved with continuous treatment, chronic bronchitis was inevitable. On days with a cold or high air pollution, he would suffer from coughing, phlegm, and breathing difficulties. But Dr. Kang always consoled him, reminding Woojin of those who perished in the fire, making his blindness and bronchitis seem trivial.
“Your face looks better than before. Are you eating properly?”
Dr. Kang Hyung-min had been the personal physician of Woojin’s grandfather, Chairman Seol Majung, for 40 years. He was practically family to Woojin and Jihyun, having known them since birth.
However, Woojin resented Dr. Kang for overseeing his numerous tests and treatments after losing his sight, often being incredibly rude. But Dr. Kang always patiently handled him.
“I don’t eat breakfast, but I make sure to have lunch and dinner.”
Woojin, not responding to Dr. Kang’s words, stood up and retreated away, leaving Jihyun to speak warmly.
“Right, he needs to eat well. Exercise alone doesn’t ensure good health.”
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
