The Textbook of a Lover - Chapter 19

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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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19.
“Well, that would naturally be the case.”
Cha Gyeong spoke with such obvious certainty that Do-a found it hard to argue, though she had no choice but to hold her tongue—the facts were against her.
“Besides, if Na-hui believed I was dating you, she’d only grow more desperate. She’s always convinced she’s superior to me.”
“Isn’t she overestimating herself a bit much for stealing away a hopeless man?”
“That’s…….”
The words touched a raw nerve, and Do-a hesitated for a moment.
But for the sake of revenge, she needed to be honest.
“The truth is, Na-hui really is much prettier than me. Gyeong-jun liked her more than me at first. He only started dating me as a consolation prize after she dumped him.”
Do-a’s head bowed gradually. Then, watching her, Cha Gyeong spoke in a dry tone.
“You’re quite beautiful and charming yourself, Do-a.”
That carelessly thrown remark froze the atmosphere at the table in an instant.
‘What did he just say? Beautiful and charming?’
Do-a’s eyes lost their anchor and wandered helplessly through empty air. Her heart began to skip in an irregular rhythm.
It must have been mere flattery, an empty encouragement from her Contract Partner. And yet her ears burned.
By now, she was surely as red as a ripe apple.
‘It’s just because I’m not used to hearing words like that.’
Do-a drew this conclusion about the bewilderment she was feeling.
The one who had actually spoken those words, Cha Gyeong, was equally flustered.
‘……What did I just say?’
He turned the sentence over in his mind, his brow narrowing.
He had never offered such a direct compliment to a woman he wasn’t even dating.
‘Did pity get the better of me?’
The sight of her shrinking in on herself, diminished by what had happened with her previous lover, had stirred something in him.
‘Or am I grateful?’
Recalling the motorcycle accident from moments before, Cha Gyeong let out a soft laugh.
The more he thought about it, the more absurd it all seemed.
Of course, Cha Gyeong still didn’t believe in superstition. That accident too was merely coincidence.
Well, call it encouragement, then.
Having reached this conclusion, Cha Gyeong spoke to Do-a again.
“Meeting a flawed man wasn’t your fault, Do-a.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Do-a offered her thanks somewhat shyly.
Just as the atmosphere was beginning to grow awkward, a staff member approached their table.
“Your dessert is served.”
Arriving at a perfectly convenient moment, the server placed a Raspberry Mousse topped with delicate spun sugar onto the table.
Do-a, as if shaking off that suffocating awkwardness, hastily lowered her head and averted her gaze toward the dessert.
Then she picked up her spoon and began carefully excavating the mousse.
Lips pressed firmly together, concentrating on her assault on the sugar walls, Do-a resembled a squirrel trying to crack open a sunflower seed.
It was entirely at odds with the bold way she’d been strutting around the lobby.
What kind of person could be driven to such burning revenge? What on earth had happened to her?
In fact, Cha Gyeong didn’t entirely believe everything Do-a had told him.
People always tended to magnify and intensify the injuries they’d suffered.
Even so, since this woman was the one who could help him, he deliberately had no intention of hearing the other side’s account.
But now, at this point, he found himself growing curious.
Cha Gyeong asked Do-a casually as she concentrated on eating.
“You mentioned him briefly before, but what kind of person was your ex-boyfriend?”
Do-a’s hand holding the spoon stilled. The raspberry mousse that had been melting softly on her tongue suddenly turned bitter.
When Do-a hesitated to answer, Cha Gyeong pressed further.
“I’d like to know a bit about him if I’m going to help with your revenge.”
Do-a paused for a moment, then slowly opened her mouth.
“He’s really a terrible person. You can imagine every bad quality a villain in a drama has, and he’s got all of them.”
“Specifically, what kinds of things happened that led you to think that?”
Where should I even start?
There were so many incidents it was hard to even prioritize them.
“Well, for starters, he cheated on me with Na-hui, who was supposed to be my best friend, and then pocketed the entire thirty-million-won Dowry and disappeared. You already know that, right?”
Cha Gyeong nodded.
“When he was a job seeker, he’d ask me to pay for our dates and even his academy tuition. Whenever he drank, he’d call me like a designated driver. He said he had no money for my birthday and bought me a thirty-thousand-won Beaded Necklace, but then he went around asking for Luxury Sneakers.”
As she laid out each humiliation one by one, Cha Gyeong’s expression grew increasingly hardened.
“Why did you keep seeing such a man?”
His face made it clear he was thinking, ‘What kind of ridiculous woman acts like this?’
“I know I’m pathetic. It’s just that……he saved my life once, risking everything. During a Mountain Hiking MT in college. So I thought maybe, despite how he is now, he still cared about me deep down…….”
“You’ve already paid that debt with interest and more. You’re not still carrying the weight of that obligation, are you?”
“Of course not! I’m going to get back everything he put me through, with interest!”
Do-a’s eyes blazed with sharp intensity.
The corner of Cha Gyeong’s mouth lifted slightly.
So he won’t back down from revenge once he’s helped her. Good to know.
Cha Gyeong set down his empty Wine Glass and continued.
“Since you did nothing but sacrifice yourself in that relationship, I imagine there were places you wanted to go on a real date that you never got to visit.”
Do-a’s expression turned bitter in an instant.
“That’s probably true.”
He called it dating, but really I was just dragged along wherever he wanted to go.
“What was the place you wanted to go most?”
At his question, Do-a answered without hesitation.
“The Amusement Park! It was my dream to go there with a boyfriend.”
“The Amusement Park, I see…….”
Cha Gyeong’s brow narrowed microscopically. He quickly erased any sign of discomfort and spoke.
“Fine then. Our next date will be at the Amusement Park.”
“What? No, sir. I didn’t mean that you should take me…….”
“Why wouldn’t you want to go with me?”
Cha Gyeong’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“No, that’s not it at all.”
“Then it’s settled. We need to practice acting like lovers naturally in a crowded place anyway, and there’s no better location for that.”
“You must be very busy with work.”
“I appreciate your concern, but I’ll manage my own schedule just fine.”
Cha Gyeong smiled faintly as he spoke.
“And there’s one assignment you need to complete before we meet at the Amusement Park.”
Do-a’s eyes went wide.
An assignment on top of the Amusement Park date already? Already overwhelming, and now there’s more?
Cha Gyeong regarded the fidgeting Do-a calmly and spoke.
“When we meet at the Amusement Park next time, you’re forbidden from using that ‘sir’ after my name. No real couple addresses each other with titles and formal speech.”
His gaze locked directly onto her eyes.
“Practice calling me by name.”
That’s true enough, but will I actually be able to call this man by his name?
Still, faced with Cha Gyeong’s resolute gaze, Do-a had no choice but to nod.
* * *
Gyeong-jun stood in the outdoor smoking area behind the Parking lot, smoking a cigarette.
He played a bit of a mobile game and gazed at the sky, taking a break.
“You’ve got to refresh your mind sometimes while you work—that’s how you stay efficient.”
He murmured to himself as he exhaled a long stream of smoke.
Still, if he stayed out too late, he’d run out of excuses, so he was just about to head back inside.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. The screen showed Na-hui calling.
“Can’t exactly not take Na-hui’s call.”
Between the overtime he’d been pulling for days and Na-hui being busy, they hadn’t met up. If he didn’t answer, she’d definitely get irritable.
“Hey, Na-hui.”
— Do you know what I just found out?
The sudden question left Gyeong-jun bewildered.
“Found out what?”
— You know, that guy who came to pick up Do-a that day at the meeting?
Gyeong-jun swallowed dryly.

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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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