Chapter 39
Even though she’d had some beer, she wasn’t drunk yet, so it wouldn’t show in her voice—and she didn’t particularly want to reveal it anyway.
“No. I didn’t drink.”
—Send me your location.
“What?”
—I’ll send Manager Park at least. It’s dangerous to take a taxi late at night.
Dohoon was worried about Eunha getting home.
Who asked him to worry like that?
And the one Eunha had asked to come was Dohoon. Not Manager Park.
“It’s fine. I can go home by myself.”
—Just send it anyway.
His voice was firm, leaving Eunha no choice.
“Fine.”
—I hope you didn’t drink much.
Once Eunha stopped being stubborn and agreed, Dohoon’s tone softened again.
He seemed curious about whether she drank or not—but Eunha was curious about something else.
“Are you coming home today?”
Since he came back to Korea, coming home should be natural… but you never know.
He hadn’t contacted her at all so far. Maybe he wasn’t planning to come home.
Or maybe he hadn’t contacted her because he didn’t intend to.
Either way, she wanted to be sure. She didn’t want to stupidly wait alone for him.
—Of course… I’m coming home.
“I understand. See you later.”
Eunha quickly hung up. The longer the call lasted, the more she felt she’d cling.
But her chest felt lighter.
She sent her location to Youngchul instead of Dohoon, then returned to her friends.
“He says he’s really busy. Told me to tell you he’s sorry he couldn’t make it.”
Eunha added a little exaggeration. Hikyeong grumbled, still dissatisfied.
“That’s disappointing. Usually guys try harder to show off for their girlfriend’s sake.”
“That’s normal guys. Eunha’s husband is a famous, insanely busy man. Just the fact that he agreed to meet us before is an honor. So stop pestering Eunha and let’s just drink.”
Mina once again smoothed things over, and the attention shifted away from Eunha.
“Eunha, stop drinking. You’ve had enough.”
After finishing her call with Dohoon, she had slowly sipped beer on her own—and apparently passed her limit without noticing.
Seeing Eunha’s flushed cheeks, Mina worriedly fussed over her.
“I’m not drunk. It’s just a little beer.”
It was true. No matter how much she drank, her mind felt strangely clearer.
As Eunha smiled and took another sip—
“I thought I told you not to drink too much.”
A very familiar voice rang out.
A voice that wrapped softly around her ears.
The man who recently kept tossing her emotions around—Choi Dohoon.
But there was no way he was here.
Thinking she must have misheard, Eunha ignored it and raised her glass to her lips again.
“Oh my.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“He said he was busy—what is this, a surprise?”
Her friends’ reactions were strange.
And suddenly the glass in Eunha’s hand was lifted high into the air.
Only then did she look up.
Dohoon was really there.
Tall enough that she had to crane her neck, but definitely him.
“Stop drinking.”
He calmly set her glass on the table and took the seat beside her. Eunha stared at him in shock.
“How did you come? You said you were busy…”
“I figured you’d be drunk like this. And your friends wanted to see me.”
Of course her friends shrieked in excitement.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Choi Dohoon.”
As he introduced himself, everyone flocked to him.
The women gaped at his handsome face and luxury clothing, the men were overwhelmed by his charisma.
Dohoon scanned the group, taking in the scene. Seeing not just women but men among them, he felt coming here was the right choice.
“How did you and Eunha meet?”
“Did you feel she was ‘the one’ right away?”
“What did you like about her?”
Her friends fired question after question, their eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Even drunk, Eunha felt embarrassed by their questions and waved her hands to stop them.
“He’s busy—he just came to pick me up. Ask later…”
“It’s fine. You must be curious. I’ll answer briefly.”
Eunha was nervous and flustered, but Dohoon acted completely unfazed.
Her friends were already falling for him.
“We first met in Las Vegas. I felt immediately that she would be someone special to me. Later, when Eunha left me, I searched the entire city like a madman trying to find even a trace of her.”
“Oh my gosh…”
“And when we met again, getting married was the only natural outcome. I’d become someone who couldn’t live without her.”
Dohoon looked straight into Eunha’s eyes as if confessing his heart. Eunha knew he was exaggerating—but her heart still pounded.
Maybe it was the alcohol. Or because some of what he said wasn’t entirely false.
Especially the part about desperately searching for her in Las Vegas. She knew that was true.
Why did he keep shaking her like this?
And judging from her friends’ reactions, she wasn’t the only one whose heart fluttered.
“Kyah!! That’s so romantic!”
“Eunha, I’m so jealous!”
Her friends went wild. A handsome man like Dohoon as a husband was one thing—but a romantic love story too? They were envious.
Eunha felt her stomach burn and chugged her beer.
Dohoon noticed and moved to stop her, but it was too late.
Before he knew it, she had emptied the beer on the table and was now actually drunk.
He frowned, then reluctantly wrapped things up.
“I’d love to tell you more, but as you can see, she’s quite drunk. We should get going.”
Just then, Eunha lifted the beer toward her lips again—only to freeze at his voice.
Hic.
She hiccupped like someone caught in the middle of mischief.
“I can drink a little more. I’m not drunk yet.”
“Shall we go?”
“A-ah… yes…”
At his firm tone, Eunha nodded and began gathering her things.
Funny—she’d been hurt and annoyed at him earlier, but now that she was drunk and in a good mood, those feelings had evaporated.
“Leaving already?”
“Aww, too bad.”
“I’ll cover tonight’s drinks. Enjoy yourselves.”
The moment Dohoon offered, cheers exploded.
He immediately called Youngchul and asked him to handle the payment.
“Thanks for coming. Eunha can hold her head high now. Since she got married, we teased her a bit…”
Mina explained the situation, still looking out for Eunha.
Dohoon had already guessed. Otherwise, Eunha wouldn’t have called him that way.
Of course, the way Eunha kept giggling drunkenly irritated him… but still.
“Eunha, get home safe.”
“Call me later.”
“Goodnight.”
“Yes. See you again.”
Dohoon politely responded to Mina and led Eunha out of the bar.
“Can you walk alone? Or do I need to carry you again?”
“No, I’m not drunk at all.”
“Now you’re lying. Come on.”
At least tonight wasn’t urgent. Her clothes were normal this time.
But the way nearby men kept staring at her—that was annoying.
Eight days.
For eight days he’d forced himself to suppress thoughts of her… and the moment he returned, she was drunk out of her mind.
Eunha walked fine for a bit, then stumbled.
Dohoon supported her by the waist.
At that moment, he felt again that it was good he came himself—not Youngchul.
He didn’t want any man touching Eunha.
He managed to settle her into the passenger seat and got into the driver’s seat.
“I didn’t think you’d come. I was so surprised.”
Eunha muttered to herself, then suddenly seemed to realize something and brightened.
“Oh…! Manager Park must’ve been busy. I could have gone home alone—sorry for the trouble…”
She bowed her head deeply, then took forever to sit upright again, giggling to herself.
Infuriating.
“I happened to be free.”
Deciding it was better not to look at her, Dohoon kept his answer short and focused on driving.
Earlier, when Eunha had called—
Dohoon had arrived in Korea that morning, gone straight to work, then was on his way to report to his father at the family home.
Before leaving for the U.S., he had assigned guards to the VIP ward—just in case.
Though Youngchul was investigating, both the core technology theft at Haneul Foods and Eunpyo’s hit-and-run were nearly impossible to trace.
The evidence was too perfectly erased.
If someone had concealed everything that thoroughly, they might try to get rid of the witness too.
Other people could be bought off with money—but Eunpyo couldn’t. He was the victim and the most crucial witness.
If he died, fine. But if he survived, he’d become a major threat to them.
If Sehun and Chanwoo were involved, they would undoubtedly try something.
And when Dohoon heard Chanwoo had actually shown up at the hospital and caused a scene, he was shocked.
Chanwoo’s violence only confirmed Dohoon’s fears.
He had rushed back from the U.S. because of that.
The sooner he finished company work, the sooner he could deal with Chanwoo.
