The Textbook of a Lover - Chapter 14

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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14.
The moment the car door closed, the noise from outside cut off entirely.
There must be chaos out there by now.
Even Do A, who knew nothing about cars, could see at a glance that this was a vehicle that commanded attention.
That she climbed into such a car without hesitation—everyone must have been shocked.
She could already picture the barrage of questions her colleagues would throw at her when she came to work tomorrow morning.
Do A let out a short sigh and leaned her back against the seat. Her neck and lower back settled into the cushioning smoothly.
It was a comfort as if she’d stepped into another world entirely.
But more surreal than all of that was the man gripping the steering wheel beside her.
“Seatbelt.”
The man spoke in a short, clipped tone.
So even a chaebol 3rd generation from a major conglomerate tells someone to fasten their seatbelt.
Charmed by something so trivial, Do A simply nodded in silence.
Despite meeting him several times and having conversations, each encounter left her with an overwhelming sense of unreality.
Lost in thought, she groped along the seat trying to find the seatbelt buckle when, suddenly, the seat reclined sharply backward.
“Oh my!”
A short cry escaped her as her body lurched backward in an instant.
As she thrashed about, nearly horizontal against the seat, a low sigh drifted from beside her.
“What exactly are you doing?”
“……The seat suddenly reclined.”
“You must have pressed something to make it do that.”
Along with the reproach, Cha Gyeong leaned his upper body toward her.
The suddenly narrowed distance made Do A’s body go rigid. He was far too close.
“I, I can sit up on my own.”
“Should I just wait while you flail about?”
Cha Gyeong’s hand lightly supported the back of Do A’s neck, then he pressed a button with his other hand to return the seat to its original angle.
Because his hand was steadying her, Do A’s body didn’t jolt badly.
But he didn’t stop there—he turned toward her and, in one fluid motion, fastened her seatbelt as well.
Click.
Then, as though nothing had happened, he turned back to the driver’s seat and gripped the steering wheel.
‘He, he just came that close out of nowhere—I was startled. He’s been complaining this whole time we’ve met, so why is he suddenly being kind? He didn’t need to help me sit up…….’
A scent that had swept past lingered at the tip of her nose.
A clean, firm fragrance—iris mixed with black pepper.
Elegant and composed, utterly uncompromising. It suited Cha Gyeong perfectly.
The car moved forward smoothly.
As she watched the landscape outside the window change slowly, Cha Gyeong spoke.
“You mentioned you didn’t want to be exposed today, so I deliberately waited until fewer people were around before arriving. Did you wait long?”
Ah, so he hadn’t been late—he’d been timing his entrance.
She’d thought he was helping, but she never expected him to be considerate about details like this.
“No, it was fine.”
“That’s a relief. I was concerned whether you’d had to wait.”
It was unexpected. Did he really think about things like this?
Do A suddenly thought of Gyeong Jun. He was always late to appointments, and not only did he never apologize, he didn’t even seem to think it was a problem.
So it was confirmed: this man who’d threatened her with two hundred billion won was far worse than Gyeong Jun.
Of course, Cha Gyeong would absolutely hate any such comparison.
“Do you think it will work out? Your revenge?”
“It has to work. No—it absolutely will!”
Cha Gyeong nodded.
“I made the first move this time, but from now on, if you need help, contact me first. I’ll make time for it whenever I can.”
He was being this cooperative?
She’d thought the contract was entirely one-sided in his favor, but it seemed it wasn’t.
Do A looked at him with grateful eyes and spoke.
“I really appreciate it. Thank you for coming out today.”
Thanks to him, a brilliant revenge idea had even occurred to her.
When she spoke with genuine sincerity, Cha Gyeong answered while keeping his eyes on the road ahead.
“Don’t mention it. I have my own demands of you, after all.”
“Ah, the fake dating role? I’ll do my best.”
“Before that, I’m planning to conduct some training.”
“Training? What kind of——?”
Did she need physical conditioning to play a girlfriend?
As Do A looked puzzled, Cha Gyeong spoke casually.
“In your current state, it will be difficult to look like a couple in front of people. You’re simply not a good actress.”
“…….”
“So we’ll practice dating in advance. Until being around me becomes natural for you.”
Being in the same space with him already made it hard to breathe and felt overwhelming—and now he wanted to practice dating?
Do A let out a small sigh.
“Wait, that was never discussed!”
“Didn’t you just say you’d do your best?”
Cha Gyeong glanced at Do A and added,
“Surely you weren’t lying?”
“No, no. That was sincere.”
“Then that settles it. Let’s practice with all our effort.”
She hadn’t realized that her promise to do her best would come with these conditions attached.
It felt like she’d been duped, but she couldn’t very well protest.
“Then how many times——”
Cha Gyeong paused in thought before answering.
“Until you can look natural with me even in front of others.”
“What? When would that even be?”
“Hard to say. It depends on how quickly you get used to it. Since the day we’ll need to appear before people isn’t far off, if you can’t pull it off properly, you may have to keep meeting me day or night.”
“What?! That’s not right!”
Did he think it was easy to get comfortable with someone like him?
As Do A bristled, Cha Gyeong spoke with a cold smile playing at his lips.
“I don’t particularly want to see you all day either, so let’s both make an effort to get you used to this as soon as possible.”
Do A didn’t understand.
A man who could have any beautiful, captivating woman he wanted—why would he deliberately need a fake girlfriend in front of others?
And why on earth her?
It was a question she’d harbored ever since the day they signed the contract, and she’d even asked him once before.
All she’d gotten back was a businesslike answer: that she seemed like the type who’d work harder than anyone else to avoid being sued.
Right, of course. As if you would do anything else.
Seeing no point in asking again when it would only hurt to do so, Do A swallowed the question that had been about to slip out. Then Cha Gyeong spoke again.
“This is also necessary for me to help with your revenge. So let’s work hard together.”
Instead of answering, Do A simply gave a short nod.
As she exchanged awkward conversation with Cha Gyeong, the car had already arrived near her home.
“You can drop me off here. Thank you for coming out today.”
At Do A’s greeting, Cha Gyeong gave a light nod.
After closing the car door and walking a few steps, she didn’t hear the sound of the car departing.
Turning back, Cha Gyeong’s car was still sitting there.
‘What’s going on? Did it break down?’
She thought about calling, but it seemed like unnecessary meddling, so she didn’t.
The car still hadn’t departed even after she’d reached the Villa.
Only after she’d entered the house and looked out the window did the car slowly pull away from in front of the Villa.
‘Could it be—he waited until I got inside?’
Do A shook her head.
That couldn’t be right.
Even when she was dating Gyeong Jun, he’d never once waited to see her go inside, no matter how late at night it was.
He probably had somewhere else to be.
Do A decided not to think about it further.
* * *
Do A left home on time for work.
The moment she stepped into the outside air, the sticky humidity of summer clung to her skin.
The random thoughts that had plagued her since she woke up refused to leave her mind.
‘Did all that really happen yesterday……?’
Yesterday, so many things had come crashing down at once that she’d felt somewhat detached, but now that a day had passed, it all felt startlingly real.
‘A director from Hyundai Shinbaek Department Store, coming all the way to a minor supplier meeting just to see me off.’
Do A now truly felt the weight of it all—the contract dating with a chaebol 3rd generation and her own revenge plan—everything was now irrevocably set in motion.
“Do A!”
As the elevator doors opened, Yun Mi, who had spotted her at the far end of the corridor, waved and approached.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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