“There doesn’t seem to be anything unusual today either. I’m in a good mood seeing that you’ve come to your senses.”
This is totally treating me like a returned prodigal son. If he’s pleased enough seeing Cha Jaehyun to be in a good mood, the Chairman must have decided to try trusting Cha Jaehyun.
“I’ll take my leave now, so have a chat with your hyung.”
The Chairman left after showing an unwanted favor. I already talked with Cha Taehan earlier, and now I have to be alone with him again. I glanced at him slightly, hoping Cha Taehan would refuse first, but he didn’t even acknowledge my gaze.
‘What should I say?’
“…Executive Director-nim, the fireworks are really beautiful.”
I had nothing to say, so I just threw out any words.
“You’re saying things that don’t suit you. …And why are your ears so red? Are you cold?”
Cha Taehan suddenly touched my ear. These damned ears turn red at any time. Cha Jaehyun’s ears seem to be bewitching ears that call for others’ hands.
“Haha, it seems so.”
“Cha Jaehyun. You shouldn’t drink alcohol.”
He seems to want to talk about my disgraceful behavior last time. If I had drunk with my original body, I could have competed with Cha Taehan. It’s really unfair that Cha Jaehyun’s alcohol decomposition ability is seriously poor and I can’t even say this.
“I’m sorry. I don’t handle alcohol very well.”
“So today’s strategy is to consistently say ‘I’m sorry,’ is it?”
“…”
Not only the Chairman but even Cha Taehan’s attitude has subtly changed. But my heart still isn’t at ease. Cha Taehan knows everything Cha Jaehyun has done, and now even Lee Dojun is trying to hold my leash.
If Lee Dojun launches an exposé for fun, this peace will break immediately. And the two father and son will coldly cast me out.
* * *
“Our Young Master Cha is here~”
The scheduled escort duty I promised Seo Hanryul arrived. It’s been so long since the request date passed, yet Seo Hanryul, unable to get his wits together, was activating his annoying skills.
‘This life again….’
I thought I’d naturally be on American soil by this time. To have daily life with Seo Hanryul again—only a hollow laugh came out.
“Try calling me Young Master one more time. Always call me Seo Jiwon.”
“Snapping as soon as you see my face again? When we’re alone, I’ll call you whatever I want.”
“The contract is over now. You’ll have to care about my mood now.”
“Isn’t that obvious? I have to cater to our Young Master’s temperament.”
I coldly informed him to come to his senses, but whether Seo Hanryul left his sense at home, he hugged me from the back seat like hugging a large teddy bear.
Sly bastard, I couldn’t get more irritated at his flustering behavior.
“…What’s this? What’s wrong with your face? What happened?”
I just glared at him with an absurd expression, but in that moment, whether he saw the injury on my face, he wiped away all traces of laughter and asked me.
Of course something happened. From Lee Dojun to the unwanted attention from the two father and son. When I barely solve one thing, other problems keep appearing in succession, so there’s no way I’d be in a good mood.
After the gathering, Cha Taesan kept contacting me and even started pressuring me to gradually start doing something.
‘Like I don’t want to either. I want to study a bit too.’
“What are you going to do knowing? I bumped into the refrigerator while opening it.”
“How do you open a refrigerator to get an injury like that on your face? A lie needs to make some sense for me to believe it. You have no talent for lying. What happened, tell me honestly.”
Irritation suddenly flared up. Right now I’m stuck here again because of who? I voluntarily took on this pushover-like task saying I’d protect Seo Hanryul, but that didn’t mean I’d listen to his nagging too.
“Do I have to tell you every detail about why I got hurt? I told you earlier. You’ll have to care about my mood now too.”
“You’re being irritable after seeing me for the first time in a while… Then why are you in a bad mood?”
“Then do you think I’d be in a good mood having to work as a manager by your side again?”
This is a mistake. Because Seo Hanryul kept asking and I got irritated, words I didn’t mean suddenly came out. He’s done nothing wrong. I was the one who first said I’d do the manager job. Even I think I’m human trash. From here on, it’s a situation where Seo Hanryul would be innocent even if he got angry.
“…I have feelings too. How do you think I feel when you act like this?”
I thought he’d glare at me like he’d kill me and get angry, but instead he made a hurt expression.
“…”
“There must be a reason you’re angry. Just tell me the reason. Manager? If you don’t want to do it, don’t. I never asked you to. If you’re in a foul mood because of that, just don’t do it.”
“…”
“I asked about your injury because I was worried. I’m sorry if it bothered you.”
Instead, he’s apologizing. Seo Hanryul has changed. He’s become unbelievably gentle. To think a person can change this much in such a short time.
“…I’m sorry too. As you know, something came up so the schedule got postponed and I’m a bit sensitive. Try to understand.”
I thought a big fight would break out, but I felt strange at how the situation passed smoothly like flowing water. Why is Seo Hanryul acting like that?
“If you’re going through something difficult, tell me too. We’ve been together for quite a while now, I can at least do that much, right?”
“Quite a while? It hasn’t even been a year.”
“…It’s frustrating when you don’t tell me anything at all. …Tell me about yourself now too.”
My heart weakens. If he had yelled and provoked me like before, I wouldn’t have felt anything. Why has he become so nice that it weakens a person’s heart? But I absolutely can’t tell him my circumstances.
It would have been better if we had a refreshing big fight. With Seo Hanryul coming at me like that, I felt like another burden was added to my heart.
* * *
[Saturday 11:00, let’s meet in front of my house.]
His house again? Really the worst. That crazy CEO summoned me again. He’s not planning to call me out every precious Saturday from now on, is he? Using Seo Hanryul as an excuse to take revenge and play with me—what a ridiculous guy.
‘Ah, there’s that method.’
Why didn’t I think of this until now? Lee Dojun extremely hates dirty things. The novel said he values cleanliness to a pathological degree. Actually, even without those words, anyone with a bit of discernment could notice right away.
The house was clean to a degree ordinary people couldn’t even imagine. When I first entered Lee Dojun’s house, it felt like entering a new house I shouldn’t enter, which made me uncomfortable.
Right, I’ll go with the flower-head strategy. Smell stays in a person’s memory longer than you’d think. I won’t wash. If I gift him the worst smell to the point of suffocation, he’ll lose interest in me, and after losing interest, I’ll be able to negotiate in a rational way.
I immediately put the plan into action. I didn’t wash for about 3 days. After one day passed, it wasn’t Lee Dojun who was the problem—I felt like I couldn’t stand it. Since I only brushed my teeth and didn’t wash my face or shower at all, it was hard for even myself to endure.
If the operation just succeeds, Lee Dojun will feel disgust just facing me, so I gritted my teeth and endured through sheer grit.
‘This is perfect.’
In front of Lee Dojun’s house, when I did a final check of my appearance before pressing the doorbell, I felt great satisfaction.
Greasy hair, darkly grown stubble, and a rag-like t-shirt with a stretched-out collar. Still, the face was still shining, so it was regrettable to definitively call it a beggar. Why is this guy so unnecessarily handsome?
“CEO-nim, hello.”
When Lee Dojun opened the door, I smiled brightly and strode toward him. Experience a smell you’ve never smelled in your life and come to your senses.
“What is this?”
Perfect success. Lee Dojun covered his nose with his hand and frowned hard. Hurry up and kick me out. If I get kicked out, I’ll go straight home and shower first.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I answered him grinning like a fool. Lee Dojun’s facial expression became even more distorted than before. I also had a terrible time for 3 days, but for someone with a cleanliness obsession, enduring this situation itself would be impossible.
“We can’t go to a restaurant with you looking like this.”
He must have planned to go to a restaurant with me today. But that will absolutely never happen.
“What’s wrong with how I look? Let’s go straight to the place you mentioned.”
“…Go wash up right now.”
I thought I’d be sprinkled with salt and banished immediately, but wash up in this house? That’s a much bigger problem than being sprinkled with salt.
“Haha, CEO-nim. What hurtful words. I’m so clean.”
“…”
Whether he was quite angry, he didn’t say anything. At results more successful than expected, flower petals began to flutter in my heart.
“CEO-nim, I don’t know the reason, but if you’re angry because of me, I want to say I’m sorry. You don’t look in good condition today either, so shall we meet next time?”
I approached the front door again, but Lee Dojun grabbed the doorknob so I couldn’t open the door.
“Stop playing around. Do I need to wash you myself?”
“Am I that dirty? That’s sad.”
“I won’t say it twice. If you don’t go wash up right now, you know we’ll enter the shower room together.”
If I go home like this, it’s a perfect success, but it doesn’t seem things will go according to plan. Looking at Lee Dojun’s expression, it didn’t seem like saying we’d enter the shower room together was a lie.
‘Damn it…’
“This is really embarrassing. Then excuse me.”
In the end, I had no choice but to go straight to the bathroom and wash as he wanted.
