Swallow One’s Breath -R19 - Chapter 8

***This Chapter Contains Smut***

“Ha, ha, hmm, ah… aht!”

Today, Do-won was rough from the start. As soon as they reached the hallway, he pinned Se-eun against the wall, rolled up her skirt, and quickly buried himself deep inside of her.

He had no trouble pressing into her as she was already wet by the time he removed her panties. Still, it was difficult for her to handle his thrusts with one leg high in the air while she was leaning against the wall. Besides, he was moving much faster and harder than usual.

His length, slick with her love fluids, plunged deeply inside as she clenched around him without pause. Se-eun clung to Do-won with all her might, her breath shallow and erratic while accepting each and every stroke that plunged into her core endlessly. His movements made her roll her eyes back both in pain and in pleasure, pushing her into a state of confusion.

“Ah, too… haa… deep, ah…”

The words that unconsciously slipped from her lips, alongside her moans, made Do-won more eager.

“Do you want it deeper? Like this?”

“Aht, Haah!”.

Do-won tightened his grip on her body as he watched her arousal drip down her thighs from where they were connected. He clenched Se-eun’s ass, spreading her legs further while trying to occupy every inch of her tight depths. He shoved himself in and out of her, making a loud smacking sound.

Se-eun was having difficulties catching her breath due to the intensity of his actions. The moment she let out a sharp moan with her face buried against Do-won’s neck, he also reached his climax and released his desires inside of her. Leaning her on his chest, he then held Se-eun’s body tightly and made his way to the bedroom.

The first thing Se-eun felt when her rough breath subsided was the touch of Do-won, who was slowly massaging her chest. She didn’t even remember the time during which she had removed her clothes and laid in bed. The two were lying on their sides so closely that she could feel his heartbeat on her back.

As sleep crept over her, she closed her eyes without hesitation. Now, falling asleep in Do-won’s arms has become so natural.

However, Se-eun, who had fallen asleep, woke up after a few hours only to find that the space next to her was empty. Being alone in his bed gave her an empty feeling, but she didn’t care, thinking he might have gotten up to answer a phone call.

Perhaps Do-won will come back in a while and embrace her again, as he always did. As she thought about his body on hers, her body naturally heated up, and the longer she waited, the thinner her patience grew, desperately yearning for his touch.

But Do-won still did not come back. Se-eun ended up falling asleep while waiting for the minute he’ll finally join her side, but to her disappointment, he still wasn’t there when she woke up.

Thinking that a sudden matter may have occurred at work that kept him up all night, she hurriedly threw on her clothes and went outside, her searching eyes soon landing on his back. He was fully dressed, oblivious to the eyes observing him. The moment she saw him standing by the window in the living room, she suddenly remembered the words that Charles told her the other day.

‘The relationship with you and President Kang is serious, right? Will you be able to see him go out with another woman?’

The moment she heard his words, she instinctively realized that Charles had seen something that she hadn’t. But she laughed it off because they were just sex partners.

But now that she was looking at Do-won’s back like this, a bad feeling settled in her heart. It was the first time he had left her side in bed in the two months that they had been dating.

“What’s going on?”

After Se-eun’s query, a few seconds passed by before he slowly turned around. Now that he was facing her, she could see that his hair was still drying from a recent shower, meaning he had been up long enough to take a shower and put on fresh clothes.

‘I should stop coming to his house.’

At that bitter thought, she continued.

“If you had to go out, why didn’t you wake me up earlier?”

“It’s not that urgent.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll wash up before going out then.”

Do-won turned his gaze, not even looking at her as she entered the bathroom. As agreed, when she came out all freshened up, he drove her home. With an expressionless face that didn’t even send a single smile her way, he dropped her off without a word about arranging another meeting for the next day.

When Se-eun arrived home, she sat there blankly for a long while, not knowing what to do with her time.

She had spent the weekends of the past two months with him only. Still, she was so accustomed to spending her time with him that it felt unusual for her to spend even one and a half days alone on the weekend.

‘You’re such a fool, Jeong Se-eun,’ she thought while crouching down on her bed.

It was only two months ago that he agreed she would sleep with him whenever she pleased and break up whenever she wanted, and after that, they won’t see each other again. As expected, it would be Do-won, not her, who broke things off first this time too. It was a relationship that was initiated to shake off all the lingering feelings, but instead of shaking them off, they ended up accumulating.

She considered the matter, but time passed without reaching a conclusion. Eventually, Se-eun got up from her bed and started cleaning her place hoping that the physical labor would alleviate her depressed mood and keep her mind occupied.

 

 

“Se-eun, what are you going to wear on Thursday?”

Se-eun frowned at Charles’s sudden question. What’s going on this Thursday? I don’t think we had any events planned out for Thursday?

“Are there any events this Thursday?”

Hearing her confused question, Charles threw her a ‘you seriously didn’t know?’ look.

“Didn’t you hear about it from President Kang?”

“Hear about what?”

“This Thursday happens to be the VIP party of Shinhwa Department Store.”

“Ah……”

Charles raised his eyebrows at Se-eun’s dumbfounded reply.

“Oh, no! Weren’t you going to attend as President Kang’s date that day? He really didn’t mention anything about it?”

“Well, it’s not like we’re in the type of relationship where we attend events together.”

“What do you mean? Aren’t you two dating seriously right now? Why aren’t you going together?”

“It’s not that serious.”

Charles narrowed his eyes, not liking her answer at all.

“Are you sure you didn’t have a fight with President Kang?”

“Of course.”

“Really?”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

Charles looked at her in disbelief, but he didn’t question her any further. Leaving Charles’ office, she returned to her management team with a bitter smile.

She thought that was the correct action to ensure that his word was kept on concealing their relationship from the public. But even if she hadn’t made that condition, would Do-won have asked her to attend an official event with him?

…To be honest, she wasn’t sure. Considering that Do-won is getting colder towards her these days, she didn’t think there was any need to check that in the first place. The more she thought about it, the more she felt like an idiot.

‘Not everyone can handle this kind of relationship…’

After that thought settled in her head, Se-eun sat down and started working.

Charles no longer talked about the Shinhwa department store VIP party. At the same time, there was no contact from Do-won. Se-eun tried not to care about the party, but that was clearly impossible. So when Charles called her to his office on Thursday’s lunch and asked this question, she couldn’t help but agree.

“Let’s go to Shinhwa Department Store’s party together today.”

“What about the boss?”

“He got a call from home, so he won’t be able to make it.”

That must be why Charles’ expression is not good. Se-eun revised her words, thinking that she had asked the wrong question.

“Is that why you want me to go with you?”

Charles nodded bitterly.

“Then do you want me to go alone?”

“I’ll pick out the clothes for you, so come over after work.”

“Okay.”

The evening dress that Charles chose was more revealing than she expected. Since it was a halter neck, half of the shoulders, arms, and back were exposed. Se-eun, who was looking at the dress with a complicated expression, muttered without realizing it.

“At least the legs are all covered.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Hurry up and get dressed. I still need to do your hair, too.”

“Okay.”

After changing clothes, Charles pulled her hair up in a sexy updo and did her make-up. Confirming that she had her entire ensemble including her shoes, clutch, and accessories on, she headed out with Charles.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

It took Se-eun some time to get ready, so when they finally arrived at the Shinhwa Department Store, the party was in full swing.

Se-eun went inside holding Charles’ arm and was surprised by the luxurious atmosphere and the splendid attire of the people attending. It was a party for VIPs, so everything was beyond her imagination.

“I can see your surprised face”.

Charles chuckled and whispered in her ear.

“Why are you so surprised? It’s not like you’re attending a social event for the first time”

“I think it’s the most luxurious one I’ve ever been to so far.”

“It’s a party for the VIPs of the Shinhwa Department Store, only the crème de la crème will be gathered here, so it’s only natural for it to be this luxurious.”

She smiled casually at Charles’ words, but her palms were sweaty from the anxiety. Just as she was worried that the clutch she was holding in her hand might slip off, Do-won’s voice came from behind her.

“You’re finally here.”

Charles, who turned his body upon hearing him, responded warmly to Do-won’s greeting.

“Yes, President Kang. Thank you for the invite.”

However, contrary to the warm reply he gave, Do-won’s expression was cold as he played the role of the perfect host.

“It seems that Mr. Kim couldn’t make it.”

“Something suddenly came up during the day, which stopped him from attending.”

“That’s a shame. Then please enjoy your evening to the fullest.”

“Of course.”

Se-eun tried to hide her irritation as she looked at Do-won’s back. He didn’t even bother looking at her, let alone talk. Charles, too, seemed surprised by his attitude.

“Did you two fight?”

“No.”

“Didn’t you tell him in advance that you were coming here?”

“Nope.”

At Se-eun’s simple answer, Charles showed a perplexed expression.

“I really don’t understand the relationship between you two.”

Se-eun bowed her head silently, only fiddling with the champagne glass in her hand. Because she didn’t understand their relationship either. ‘Is he in a bad mood because I didn’t tell him I was attending in advance?’

‘Or does he simply hate the fact that I’m here? No matter how upset he feels, can he ignore me to this extent? Was my presence so irritating that he didn’t want to even say a simple greeting, and all because I didn’t let him know ahead of time?’

That made her feel bitter, and the fact that whenever she looked at him, a group of beautifully dressed women was always gathered around Do-won, aggravated her feelings. Seeing that, she felt like a match seller peering through the window of a warm home, envious of what originally was hers yet was used by others.

The fact that there was no place for her in Do-won’s world could be seen very clearly. Perhaps at this point, she should just end her relationship with him.

The next day, even though it was Friday, she still did not hear anything from Do-won concerning their weekend plans. It’s the first weekend that she wasn’t going to spend with him ever since they started seeing each other again. As for the previous weekend, she only met him briefly on Friday evening thinking that she would spend the whole weekend together as usual, but her hopes were crushed on Saturday because he took her home as soon as morning came.

 

 

Do-won’s attitude remained the same throughout the whole weekend; he didn’t contact her at all. Starting from Friday and through the whole weekend, she spent all her time in bed completely lost in thought. When they first started sleeping together again on that Friday evening, they had spent the whole weekend having sex like rabbits in heat, but now, she couldn’t help but feel disheartened since this weekend was so dissimilar.

As the thoughts went back and forth in her head, Se-eun gradually hardened her heart and became determined towards severing her relationship with him. She was sure that she didn’t regret meeting him again and having this kind of relationship. Anyway, she met him out of her free will and nobody forced her into it.

However, it was a pity that their only memories consisted of meeting at his house, having sex, and then parting at the end of the weekend; there weren’t really that many good memories to remember him by. It would have been nice if they went for a walk together, had meaningless conversations, and ate delicious food together on weekdays.

‘Then again, with only those memories, wouldn’t it be easier to have a less painful breakup this time?’ It must’ve been clear on her face that she was feeling down, because one afternoon, Charles invited her to dinner as soon as she entered his office.

“You don’t have any plans with President Kang later, do you?”

“We don’t meet on weekdays.”

“Why?”

“There isn’t a specific reason, I guess we both are too busy.”

Charles looked like he wanted to comment, but he soon changed his mind and spoke.

“Then will you go on a date with me this evening?”

“Haha, yes. Will you buy me something delicious?”

“Of course, I got the company card from Jaehee.”

Jaehee left for a business trip to China yesterday, and he’s supposed to stay for 3 days and 2 nights. ‘I thought Charles would be preoccupied with sulking and acting lonely around Jaehee, but the sly fox still didn’t forget to take away the company card.’

After work, Charles took her to a reputed five-star restaurant.

“I really wanted to eat steak, pasta, or western dishes here. But did you know that Jaehee only likes to eat Korean food at restaurants? Men with picky tastes are really a handful.”

Se-eun, who was smiling at Charles’ complaint, asked involuntarily.

“How can you stay on good terms for such a long time if you’re different then?”

“Jaehee and I?”

“Yes.”

“It’s not always rainbows and roses when it comes to relationships. You know, sometimes we fight like crazy. Yet, the reason our relationship is still so sweet is all thanks to my hard work behind the scenes. I’m sure you know that Kim Jaehee is an attractive man, right? There are all types of twisted women trying to get their claws on him, and it gets difficult to control my jealousy sometimes too.”

“Still, the only one that Boss truly loves is you, Charles.”

“Of course. If someone attempts to make a move on him I won’t leave them alone.”

Se-eun chuckled at the triumphant answer. Charles had many positive qualities, but the most enviable among them was his confidence.

“I wish I could be as confident as you.”

Charles looked at her gently and shook his head.

“To be honest, you and I don’t have the same personality types. If I had to make a distinction, I’d say you’re the type that has overpoweringly possessive inclinations.”

“I do?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I think you’ll faint from anger if you see him with another woman.”

A laugh leaked out of Charles’ mouth once more. Peeking at her smiling face, he couldn’t help but ask.

“Are you having a hard time with President Kang these days?”

“……It’s nothing.”

“What’s wrong? You don’t want to talk about it?”

“It’s not like that, I just think the relationship was wrong to exist from the start. I went in without properly considering everything and now I got hurt.”

Charles sighed at her words.

“Honestly, President Kang is a stubborn man, Se-eun. I thought there would be no man that is more difficult than Kim Jaehee, but President Kang is. Don’t be too quick to judge, you know fighting is always the first step, right? If President Kang does something you don’t like, then don’t keep holding it in and just say it to his face. Always keep in mind that there are plenty of fish in the sea.”

“I want to, but I can’t.”

There was bitterness in Se-eun’s voice.

“No wonder you’re still lingering.”

‘I thought Charles would go on and scold me for saying meaningless stuff, but he didn’t continue talking.’ When she raised her head curiously, she found that Charles’ gaze was focused on something behind her. Following his gaze, she swung around and realized that he was looking at Do-won who was sitting down with a woman just a few tables behind them.

Her mind went blank for a moment, and then slowly returned to reality. A cold chill spread from her frozen heart to the tips of her fingers.

‘So, this is what you do when you’re not with me.’

‘However, I’m not angry. I’m the one who said that we should keep the relationship a secret.’ So, even if their relationship had gone on for a little longer, they wouldn’t have been able to go out on a date like that.

“Are you okay?”

Only after hearing Charles’ worried voice did she turn her gaze away from Do-won.

“Yes, I’m okay.”

“Do you want me to find out who she is?”

“Why?”

“Well, you need evidence if you want him admitting to doing things behind your back!”

I let out a laugh even in the midst of sadness. It was a real pleasure to be here with Charles.

“Honestly, I am upset, but I know that I’ve had the time to emotionally prepare myself in advance.”

“What? You’re not gonna do anything about him?”

“He wasn’t the right person for me anyway.”

“What do you mean? Is there even anything that suits you well from the beginning? We all learn to match each other as we date!”

“Still, there is a difference in social class.”

Se-eun smiled bitterly and continued.

“Back when we used to date, 5 years ago, I didn’t even know how wealthy he was. It wasn’t until after we broke up that I found out that the necklace he had given me had diamonds in it, and that his grandfather was a well-known businessman who appeared regularly on TV.”

“What’s wrong with being from different social classes nowadays? It’s okay now, don’t worry. You’ve achieved so much! Look at how great JnC has become thanks to your efforts! While he was born with a golden spoon in his mouth, merely inheriting his family’s fortune!”

Seeing Charles raising his voice with encouragement, Se-eun smiled.

“That’s why I’m always grateful to you and Boss.”

At her smile, Charles put on a sullen look.

“So, are you really not going to do anything about it?”

“What’s the point of catching a guy who’s out of his mind?”

She then mused to herself.

‘I don’t even know if he had feelings for me in the first place.’

After she finished eating, she stood up, and even though she tried not to look in his direction, Se-eun couldn’t help but steal a glance at him. She forced her gaze away from Do-won, who wore a charming smile, and his conversation with the woman sitting opposite of him.

Has he ever smiled like that when she was with him? …… She couldn’t really remember. ‘Why don’t we have memories like this just between the two of us?’

 

 

Do-won looked at Se-eun’s back as she left with Charles. More precisely, he stared intently at Charles’ hand, which rested on her shoulder.

‘She goes around like that with him while she’s still dating me. And she still says that there’s nothing between them?’

‘Even when she couldn’t stop smiling during the whole meal?’

“What are you doing?” the woman sitting opposite him asked in a cautious voice.

It was then that Do-won realized that he had been staring in Se-eun’s direction for too long.

“It’s nothing.”

“Are they people you know?”

“Yes.”

The woman, who had an embarrassed expression on her face at Do-won’s short reply, quickly regained her composure and said.

“The food here is really good, no wonder this restaurant is famous.”

The woman accompanying him was Lim Seo-hee, the managing director of Cheil Construction and also the youngest daughter of Cheil Group. She is a business partner whom he will have to meet regularly until the completion of the Daejeon branch of the Shinhwa Department Store.

However, everyone except Do-won seemed to be thinking otherwise. No matter how oblivious a human being is, it is impossible not to know what Seo-hee is thinking when she flaunts herself wearing such an attractive dress for a formal dinner.

Come to think of it, it seemed that everyone around him these days was determined to bind him with the system of marriage. Oddly enough, even his grandfather, who had not said anything about it until now, told him to see if she was the right person for him when he heard that he was meeting Lim Seo-hee.

However, only one person, Jeong Se-eun, seemed not to have any interest in his marriage. It was very funny that the woman he shared his bed with didn’t care, yet the people whose opinions he didn’t hold in high regard were trying to butt in.

When Se-eun’s silhouette disappeared, Do-won felt his appetite fade. After finishing the meal, he got up from his seat to leave, but Lim Seo-hee was blatantly disappointed with him for not offering to go for drinks after the meal.

He simply didn’t care.

Do-won did not follow up with her expectations until the very end and put Lim Seo-hee, who was trying to get him to go for a second round, into her car then slammed the door shut. He could feel the irritability, which had been building up to the top of his head, subside a little.

But he didn’t feel completely better. The moment he returned home and looked around the empty house, he was annoyed again.

Come to think of it, Jeong Se-eun has never held onto him desperately. Five years ago, after hearing that he was engaged, she did not cling to him. Instead, she said that he should either reconsider the engagement or break up with her. When she confirmed that the engagement wouldn’t be broken off, she then ended the relationship with a single parting word of thanks on her shocked face.

But this time it was worse since she was clear about the conditions from the start. She didn’t want others to know about their relationship, so she was freely enjoying dinner with a guy that wasn’t him on weekdays.

Other women would start talking about marriage just by sharing greetings with him, only Jeong Se-eun didn’t seem to think of him as a marriage partner. He couldn’t figure out why. What the hell does Jung Charles or Kim Jaehee have that he doesn’t?

‘In my heart, I wanted to hold her by her shoulders and shake her so that she could reveal her inner feelings. But it really hurt my pride to ask so openly. Crap, to be honest, it was funny to have these concerns; it’s a first.’

It was all because of Jeong Se-eun. He couldn’t get her out of his head all day long. The scene of his woman sitting in front of another man and laughing kept replaying and wouldn’t leave his mind.

“Damn it.”

A swear escaped his mouth. It was not like him to be swayed by these chaotic emotions. Kang Do-won was originally a person who could keep his cool regardless of the situation. However, since he met Se-eun again, he became a foreigner to those emotions.

Wouldn’t it be better to stay next to her all day long? If he could know what Se-eun is doing, what she’s thinking, and who she’s meeting, this unpleasant feeling will soon disappear.

But how…

He thought about it for a while, but there was only one way to keep Jeong Se-eun always tied to his side: Marriage. She wanted to hide their relationship from the start, so if he asked her to move in with him without a reasonable excuse, she wouldn’t even bat an eyelash.

Do-won stood still and waited for the reluctance about the idea of marriage to come. But instead, he started feeling that the idea wasn’t that bad, so once again Do-won became confused.

Was this something that could be decided on a whim?

He had broken up three engagements so far. The first two were on purpose, and the third happened naturally without any effort on his part.

He broke off his first engagement 5 years ago, about a month after he broke up with Se-eun. To be honest, he felt a little sorry for his fiancée at the time, since he broke the marriage purely because he didn’t feel like getting married.

The second was a pre-planned scheme played against an opponent for the sake of business. Once their cooperation was established, he proceeded to break off the engagement, so there were no objections from anyone.

The third fiancée seemed to be comfortable with an arranged marriage, but she went out publicly with her lover too much. In fact, he didn’t care what she did because he had no interest in her, yet the people around him did. When Chairman Han, his grandfather, expressed his displeasure, Do-won pretended to be heartbroken by the betrayal and broke off the engagement.

When his fiancée finally came to her senses, she clung to him crying and screaming, but he didn’t even bother to look at her. It didn’t matter whether he got married or not, he just hated having troublesome things to take care of.

So as soon as he began considering marriage again, he thought that he would feel repulsed and find it unrealistic. But he didn’t feel any of that at all, which just added to his confusion.

‘If I marry Se-eun, will all this confusion be resolved?’

But before he was able to organize his thoughts, another person provoked him by talking about marriage. His mother.

 

 

The next morning, he entered the group headquarters after a long absence. After the business meeting was over, he wanted to stop by his grandfather’s office for a while, but soon saw that someone had already arrived to visit him.

The moment he saw Mrs. Han, he wanted to turn around and leave. However, it was not polite to his mother, so Do-won went inside hoping to be able to endure for a few minutes.

“You’re only arriving now?” asked Mrs. Han as she sat leisurely on the sofa. It was as if she was waiting for his arrival in advance. Although she may be the director of an art gallery, she seemed to have a lot of time to spare by sitting in someone else’s office since early in the morning. Do-won sat across from her without answering.

Mrs. Han responded in a furious tone.

“You’re not even going to say hello to your mom?”

“Did you wait for me to say hi?”

“What?”

“Stop being so noisy.”

When the voice of Chairman Han, who was reading documents at his desk, came out, Mrs. Han closed her mouth. He seemed to be in a very bad mood, and his eyes were full of disapproval.

‘Should I leave now? I don’t have an urgent matter with grandfather, so it wouldn’t matter if I came back to see him next time.’ However, Chairman Han happened to put down the documents in his hands at that exact moment.

“Did the discussion with the legal team go well?”

“Yes. The land purchase for the Daejeon branch will be completed within the next week.”

“And?”

“The consultation has already been completed with Cheil Construction. We will proceed with the contract within the next week as well.”

“Then what about the youngest daughter of the construction company?” Mrs. Han interrupted since she couldn’t stand it anymore.

“I met her last week, why?”

“Why? Are you pretending you don’t know what I’m talking about?”

“It’s not that I don’t know, I’m just not interested.”

Seeing him think of it as bothersome, Mrs. Han raised her voice.

“You gangster! Why do you keep doing this to your mother….?”

“Stop it!”

Chairman Han, who could not bear the atmosphere, shut her up.

“Why are you making a fuss early in the morning? If you’re going to keep raising your voice in front of me, just stop and go back to your job!”

“…………”

Do-won looked at the two of them with indifferent eyes. They made him feel really exhausted and the day was just starting.

Chairman Han looked at Do-won and opened his mouth with a sigh.

“So, you mean that you don’t like the youngest daughter of Cheil?”

In the end, it seems that his grandfather was curious about it as well. Do-won’s voice gave off a bit of annoyance as he answered.

“I don’t like anything about her, I’m not even interested in marriage.”

“Are you really not going to get married?” Mrs. Han asked in frustration at Do-won’s words but soon closed her mouth under Chairman Han’s glare.

“The youngest daughter of the construction company seems to like you quite a bit. I also think that her family is not too bad. Why don’t you keep seeing each other and see how it goes from there?”

“I don’t want to.”

“Then, is there someone else in your heart?”

“If I have a partner, will you stop talking about marriage?”

“So you really have a partner!”

Mrs. Han intervened again, without missing the gap.

“Hey, look at how old you are, and you’re still being secretive. You’re really your father’s son, living while hiding their true feelings…”

“I told you that if you were going to keep making a fuss, leave!”

Chairman Han’s angry voice boomed with finality in the large office. However, this time, Mrs. Han’s bad temper exploded.

“No, why are you doing this to me? I’m here at this hour only because Do-won doesn’t want to talk to me alone!”

“Who’s to blame for that? I think you’re getting retribution for what you’ve done all this time! What are you shouting for!”

Mrs. Han pursed her lips and headed out with a peculiar expression.

“I’ll go to lunch first.”

She had a fascinating personality, wanting to have lunch even after hearing those sharp words. Do-won was still staring at his mother’s back when he heard Chairman Han’s weak voice.

“Don’t worry about it too much. But she’s a mother, after all; she’s only doing that because she wants to see you get married like the people your age.”

Do-won swallowed a bitter smile. Mrs. Han didn’t seem to realize that her son was past the age of welcoming her interest in his personal affairs.

“Grandpa, do you want to see me get married?”

“You’re asking a question with an obvious answer.”

“……..”

“People are beings who lean on each other. If you have someone you want to do that with, don’t miss the chance.”

“…I’ll think about it.”

“Okay.”

Do-won refused the chairman’s request to have lunch together and returned to the department store.

His grandfather’s words were enough to weigh on his already confused mind. He was skeptical about the system of marriage. It was the same when it came to love. Just because he felt something similar to affection for Se-eun now, didn’t mean he was in love with her. Therefore, he could not guarantee how long the feelings in his heart would last.

“Damn it.”

He hated it when he couldn’t get a clear answer to his questions. With a frown, Do-won sat down and started working.

But after a while, there was a noise outside his door, and soon it swung open. He was not surprised to see that Mrs. Han had entered the room, as she was the only stubborn person in his vicinity.

“What’s going on?”

“Didn’t you know that I was waiting for you at the restaurant?”

“I didn’t know.”

“Then who would I wait for? Why would I have been camped out at my father’s office since the morning?”

At that moment, Do-won was sick and tired of everything that was happening around him. He didn’t know why she kept blaming him for doing what he wanted. He leaned forward in his seat and spat out coldly.

“Don’t make a fuss and go back.”

“You gangster! Are you really going to ignore your mother like this?”

“If you don’t want to be ignored, stop paying attention to me. Since when did you become so interested in my personal affairs?”

“…………”

“The age when I need my mother’s attention is long over. So, just pay attention to your lovers as you have done so far. Don’t come to the company. I think I told you before that it interferes with my work.”

Mrs. Han’s eyes reddened at Do-won’s cold words.

“That’s all you can say?”

“Did you expect me to say something else?”

“Don’t regret it later.”

Mrs. Han licked her trembling lips and stormed out. It seems that she just wanted to protect her pride, but it was just a mumble that meant nothing to Do-won’s ears.

His door slammed shut with a bang, and he pressed his throbbing head with his fingers. Not even one hour has passed, but he already felt like he was under a week’s worth of stress. It’s gonna be a long day.

 

*****