Chapter : 42
“Jeon-i. We were just making seafood pancakes, too. Come on in.”
Yushin took the tray.
“Sir, please take some pancakes.”
From inside, Jaehyuk called out.
With no other choice, he went inside.
Taesin wasn’t in sight.
“Your brother is studying in his room. The exam is just a few days away.”
Seeing Iseol glance over the living room, Yushin spoke.
“Oh, really. And you?”
“I’m confident I can do well even if I take it a bit easy compared to him.”
Yushin shrugged and smiled before continuing.
“Since making pancakes takes some time, why don’t you go check on your brother’s room? He’s been a bit low today. Doesn’t answer when asked what’s wrong.”
“Low,” he thought.
For some reason, he couldn’t ignore the feeling that Taesin’s low mood was because of him.
Iseol knocked on Taesin’s door.
“Come in.”
Inside, Taesin was sitting at his desk, solving problems.
A math workbook filled with step-by-step solutions caught his eye.
“Sorry to bother you while you’re studying.”
He looked up.
As Yushin had said, he seemed somehow subdued.
“The manager brought pancakes for you.”
“…….”
“Oh, and I’m going to Seoul this weekend for my aunt’s wedding. I’m going with senior Junpil, so you…”
Taesin’s eyes narrowed.
“You don’t need to come.”
Taesin finished Iseol’s sentence.
“……Okay.”
He turned his gaze back to his book.
“Alright then.”
“……?”
That’s it?
He accepted it so easily.
Iseol cautiously asked,
“Are… you angry?”
“Do you think I’m in a position to get angry?”
Those words were scarier than actually saying he was angry.
His indifferent demeanor, not even glancing at her, made her heart sink.
Iseol closed the door behind her and took a step closer to him.
She felt she had to explain something.
“I just happened to go along with Junpil because he was meeting a friend in Seoul. It’s better than going alone, and I don’t think you need to trouble yourself by following all the way to Seoul because of me…”
“Do as you please.”
“……I’m sorry.”
Taesin lifted his head and looked at Iseol.
“For what?”
“……For avoiding you.”
His pupils flickered with surprise.
“No need to apologize. I was the one who told you to keep your distance.”
“Then why are you angry?”
“Let’s just say I’m angry at myself.”
“Why… at yourself?”
“Because I told you to do so, yet I’m angry at you for not even meeting my gaze properly.”
Her resolve to push him away weakened in the face of his honesty.
He had effortlessly broken down her defenses.
If they continued this cold relationship, saying words they didn’t mean, her heart wouldn’t be shaken like this.
Iseol didn’t want to be honest.
You keep pulling me in,
You shake me just by being still,
The more time I spend with you, the more I like you,
Rain pounded the window.
The damp, sticky air enveloped them.
“But… I still plan to keep avoiding you, so there’s no need to be angry at yourself.”
Taesin got up.
Iseol’s gaze followed him.
He stepped closer and asked,
“Now, I really seem scary to you, don’t I?”
Iseol stepped back and shook her head.
“It’s not because I’m scared.”
He closed the distance again.
“……?”
“I… should probably go now.”
She was afraid that if she stayed any longer, she’d end up being completely honest.
“The pancakes should be done by now.”
“Maybe…”
“……?”
“Are you afraid you might start liking me?”
The door touched her back.
There was nowhere left to run.
Iseol stopped.
His large shadow loomed over her, close enough to touch.
While trimming the scallions, Jaehyuk popped a zucchini pancake that Iseol had brought into his mouth and hummed appreciatively.
“Wow, this is really good.”
“Really?”
Yushin also dipped a thin pancake in soy sauce and tasted it.
“Wow.”
“Not kidding, right?”
“What did you put in it? Why is it so good?”
“Just pancake mix, zucchini, salt, that’s about it.”
Jaehyuk tasted it again and tilted his head.
“Maybe it tastes better because it’s raining.”
“Pancakes go well with makgeolli anyway.”
Jaehyuk pulled out the makgeolli and cups he bought at the local store.
“Want some?”
“Bro, if you keep doing this, I’ll get spoiled. Want me to try a drunken stunt?”
Jaehyuk chuckled at Yushin’s reaction and took a sip.
One pancake disappeared in no time.
“This conversation’s getting long, huh?”
As Yushin murmured while looking toward his brother’s room, Jaehyuk’s gaze followed.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen the manager so low. Even when his life was in danger and we were being chased, he wasn’t like this.”
Yushin hesitated briefly, then spoke.
“Is it because of Iseol’s first love story?”
“Iseol’s first love?”
“Yeah. I heard from the others that Iseol talked about her first love in Class 3 today. Of course, it might be idealized, but he said it was a very handsome, cool male student. Seems like he still can’t forget him. His eyes were very wistful.”
“Are you saying our manager is jealous?”
“You like Iseol, don’t you? Didn’t you know?”
“I don’t like her that way. She’s a benefactor, so I have special feelings, but that doesn’t mean I like her romantically. Wouldn’t you do the same?”
Yushin shook his head, arms crossed.
“Even after knowing your brother for so long, you still don’t get it? He’s someone who would put so much care into a woman he has no romantic interest in, just because she’s a benefactor?”
Yushin had a point.
Taesin was fundamentally cold and unfeeling.
He wasn’t easily swayed by emotions and was excessively rational.
“Imagine if the person who saved him wasn’t Iseol but Park Naeun. Would he still care this much? Go all the way to the mainland on the weekend just to protect her?”
According to Kanghoon, Taesin had gone night fishing with Iseol last weekend.
Even if it was reasonable to accompany her when Choi Mugwang took her, there was no need to join her for night fishing.
“So, is it really because of Iseol’s first love?”
“Or…”
“Or what?”
“Over the past few days, Iseol has been avoiding him. She talks mostly to me at work and leaves with the PE teacher. Something must have happened between them, but I don’t know what.”
Jaehyuk, staring at Taesin’s room, lowered his voice.
“Wanna check?”
“What?”
“The manager’s job is to protect Iseol, but my job is to protect him. I need to know what’s going on.”
“Why do we need to know about someone else’s love life?”
“Think about it. If the manager likes Iseol romantically, he might make mistakes in judgment. One mistake could endanger all of us.”
“Even if he falls in love, he won’t mess up work.”
“How do you know? He’s never been in love before.”
Yushin was caught off guard by an unexpected point.
“But still…”
Taesin intentionally kept women at a distance.
Women could endanger his life, but he could also become a danger to them.
He didn’t want women to be his weakness.
But Iseol saved his life, creating an unwanted vulnerability.
It couldn’t be abandoned. He had to protect it to the end.
“The manager must not fall in love with Iseol. It will ruin his work. It will become a weakness.”
“…….”
Jaehyuk stood in front of Taesin’s door.
Hesitant, Yushin followed.
