Episode 32
Taeyun brought his hand to Seorin’s lips, making a soothing sound as if comforting a child. It was as if he was asking what would happen if her moans escaped.
“Ohsung Group’s Yu Chaehee, she’s been chasing you for ages, and she finally did it. Anyway, congratulations. No, should I congratulate Chaehee instead?”
Listening absently to the voice over the phone, Taeyun clenched his teeth and thrust his hips. Seorin’s face, biting her hand, tightened.
“You’ll get hurt like that.”
Taeyun said, gently pulling her delicate hand away from her lips. A voice of bewilderment came from the other end of the line at Taeyun’s sudden, quiet words.
“Huh? What did you say?”
“Sorry, I’m a bit busy right now. I’ll call you back later.”
Taeyun, who hung up the phone without the other person’s consent, lifted Seorin’s hand. She had bitten it so hard that faint drops of blood beaded on her bitten hand, where teeth marks remained.
“I told you, you’ll get hurt.”
Taeyun traced her hand with his, as if reading it. Then he stretched out his tongue and licked her injured hand.
Like a beast licking its young, he meticulously licked her hand for a long time, carefully between each finger and knuckle, and then he rhythmically moved his hips again.
“Hah, haa!”
Sparks seemed to fly before her eyes, and an urge to tear at anything within reach surged within her.
Seorin grabbed Taeyun’s forearm with her free hand and dug her nails in. Five crescent moon shapes were deeply etched into his skin, but Seorin didn’t even know what she was doing.
“Hah, ngh, haa.”
Every time Taeyun thrust his hips, a moan escaped Seorin’s lips, as if in rhythm with him. It sounded sweet to his ears, like ripe fruit.
Seeing the trembling Eun Seorin, who swayed with his every move, Taeyun smiled faintly and delved deeper into her body.
Seorin’s body stiffened for a moment, then seemed to lose all strength and fell limply.
Taeyun caressed Seorin’s unfocused eyes with his hand, then gently cupped her small face in one hand.
‘You’re mine forever. You can never escape.’ A strange sense of conquest surged from below his navel, spreading throughout his entire body.
It was a sensation so intensely addictive that nothing else could compare. Around the same time, Chaehee was staring intently at her phone screen. The new phone, bought to replace the one she broke today, gleamed without a case.
However, Chaehee’s face, staring at the phone screen, was more desolate than ever.
The screen was filled with a picture of Seorin and Taeyun entering a hotel. Below it was a brief report stating that the two who entered the hotel had not yet come out.
“Eun Seorin, how dare you deceive me?”
Thinking of Eun Seorin, who ruined her mood today and left the shop to go to a hotel room with Taeyun, made her blood boil.
Her hand, gripping the phone, tightened.
Chaehee, who had clenched it again as if to break it, suddenly contorted her face and clutched her head.
A scream, as if she couldn’t overcome her anger, continued for a long time. Everyone in the house, startled, rushed to Chaehee’s room.
“Chaehee, what’s going on?”
Chaehee’s mother, Go Hyeran, quickly ran over and embraced her sweating daughter. Seeing her mother, Chaehee quickly grasped her and burst out.
“Mom, Mom, can’t I marry Taeyun oppa quickly?”
“Marry? No, we’ve already talked about that…”
“Huh? Please, I really can’t stand it anymore. Huh?”
Go Hyeran gently rubbed Chaehee’s back and answered, but she still looked anxious.
“Oh my, why is she acting like this?”
“What’s important about marriage? You can keep those traditions when your older siblings get married. I want to marry Taeyun oppa right now.”
“Chaehee.”
“If marriage isn’t possible, then an engagement right now, even that, please? Huh?”
At Chaehee’s continuous pleas, Go Hyeran looked back with a troubled expression.
“Honey.”
There stood her husband, Vice Chairman Yu, looking at the two of them with worried eyes. Vice Chairman Yu sighed deeply.
“I don’t know who she takes after to be like this. First, I’ll try to expedite the engagement date, so calm down a bit.”
‘Tsk,’ Vice Chairman Yu clicked his tongue briefly and went outside. Behind him, the laughter of Yu Chaehee, like a madwoman, could be heard.
Inside the moving taxi, Seorin stared out the window with a hardened expression. Worry was etched on her face, reflected in the glass.
‘Since when was he sick?’
Seorin was on her way to the hospital where her father was hospitalized. Last night, Seorin received a call from her aunt saying her father had collapsed.
“Your father had heart bypass surgery a few days ago. When he collapsed before, I told him to rest for a few days, but he just went missing from home. I knew something like this would happen.”
Seorin recalled her aunt Aeseon’s behavior during a recent phone call, when she seemed to be about to say something but stopped. At the time, she didn’t quite understand what it was, but thinking about it now, it was clear that she had been trying to say something.
He was her only family. Having lost her mother over a decade ago, if she lost her father too, she would be an orphan.
However, while her only family member was collapsed in the hospital, she had been rolling around in a hotel room with Taeyun, disconnected from her father’s time. This fact weighed heavily on Seorin with immense guilt.
Getting out of the taxi, Seorin felt a sense of urgency. She asked the nurse for her father’s room and hurried down the hospital corridor. Opening the door to her father’s hospital room, she saw Eun Seunghyun, who smiled broadly and greeted her.
“Seorin, you’re here.”
She had been in a hurry to see her father as soon as possible before coming to the hospital room, but once she saw him, it was as if all the tension drained out of her, and she felt completely exhausted.
Her father’s face was a little thinner and gaunt than before, but he seemed to have no problem moving his body.
It was a relief. She had imagined all sorts of terrible things before coming here.
Seorin suppressed the stinging at the tip of her nose and went to her father’s side.
“Dad.”
Seorin called out to her father and held his hand tightly. In her father’s large hand, she could feel the bones.
‘When did Dad get so thin?’ To her, her father had always been like a massive mountain. His changed appearance felt strange and unfamiliar to Seorin.
“I told you there’s no rush, why did you come so early?”
“What do you mean, ‘early’? Dad had surgery, and Auntie, too, how can you tell me about Dad’s surgery only now?”
This time, Seorin was truly furious.
When Aeseon said that her father had asked them not to contact her so she wouldn’t worry, Seorin felt her heart crumble.
‘Why do I always have to be pushed to the back like this, even for things like this? I want to protect my family, I love and worry about Dad and our family,
And what if something really big happens? What then?’
The responsibility fell on Aeseon, who waved her hand as if protesting.
“Who can stop your dad’s stubbornness? Even when I tried, he insisted on stopping me. Oh, even while he was being taken away in the ambulance, he held my hand and wouldn’t let go, just in case I called you. So what could I do?”
“Dad!”
Seorin bit her lip and looked at her father. Seunghyun cleared his throat, somewhat awkwardly.
“No, there’s no need to upset her when she’s already having a hard time. Anyway, it all ended well, see? I’m healthy now.”
Seunghyun bent his arm and made a bicep, joking around. It wasn’t funny at all. Seorin’s expression remained unchanged, so Seunghyun awkwardly lowered his arm.
Her father’s clock had completely stopped after her mother died; in it, Seorin was always still fifteen, a protected teenage girl.
Even though she had grown up and been an adult for a long time, Seorin felt a little choked up, sensing her father’s desire not to burden her at all.
Seorin, who had been staring at Seunghyun with a hardened expression for a long time, sighed deeply. Then, in a slightly softened voice, she asked.
“Are you feeling better now?”
Seunghyun, who had been watching Seorin’s expression, quickly raised his voice and answered.
“Of course, I’m fine! Do you know how much Korean medical technology has developed? Look, they just made two small holes here, that’s all. It’s not even like surgery. I’ll be discharged soon.”
Seunghyun poked his chest with his index finger, speaking playfully.
Aeseon, sitting next to him, grumbled.
“Discharge, what discharge? Didn’t you hear the doctor say you need absolute rest for a while? Don’t even think about going to work for a while. How long are you going to keep working like that, CEO?”
At Aeseon’s words, Seunghyun quickly averted his gaze. He cleared his throat unnecessarily and hurriedly changed the subject.
“Is our daughter doing okay?”
“Yes, Dad.”
“Are you really okay living there? I heard that Chaehee and Taeyun are going to get engaged soon.”
Their engagement was scheduled to be announced tomorrow at the MOU between Ohsung Group and TK Group. It was much earlier than expected.
It seemed that the news had already reached her father’s ears.
Seorin’s gaze lowered significantly. ‘When will Taeyun abandon me?’ Their twisted and tangled relationship clearly had to end, but it remained unchanged. In fact, it was flowing more sticky and persistent, making Seorin feel a little troubled.
However, it wouldn’t take long. Chaehee wouldn’t leave the two of them alone. Seorin smiled bitterly and replied.
“The situation isn’t completely resolved yet. But it won’t take long.”
“Really? That’s a relief then.”
Aeseon observed Seorin’s expression and replied somewhat hesitantly. ‘There must be a reason. Surely she wouldn’t have gone there because she wanted to.’ Seorin smiled slightly, as if Aeseon’s thoughts were clearly written on her forehead.
The three continued their conversation for a while. They talked about the atmosphere of the factory, which had restarted, and the employees who had become energized by it.
A faint sense of happiness appeared on her father’s face. ‘That’s enough.’ It was time to leave. Seorin smiled quietly and backed away.
“I’ll be going now.”
“Okay, you should go now, you must be busy.”
Seunghyun, who had shown a regretful expression but quickly hid it, said.
“Auntie, don’t come out.”
Seorin stopped Aeseon, who was about to follow her out, and left the hospital room.
