The Textbook of a Lover - Chapter 27

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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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27.
“What? The professor said you need to keep checking your condition right up until the surgery.”
“I don’t need all that fussing! If anyone’s going first, it’ll be me—I’m not sending my grandson in ahead of me.”
In that instant, every eye in the room fixed on Cha Gyeong like an arrow.
The pressure from those stares alone made his skin prickle, and Cha Gyeong grimaced, pressing his fingers to his temples.
In the end, he surrendered and opened his mouth.
“Fine. I’ll set a date.”
“This coming weekend.”
Cha Gyeong exhaled a shallow sigh.
“If Do Ah’s schedule permits, we’ll do it then. But please, keep your appointment for the checkup—as promised.”
The whole reason they’d started this contract relationship in the first place was to get his grandmother safely onto the operating table, wasn’t it?
He couldn’t very well hide the fact that this was a contract while letting his grandmother skip her medical exam.
He’d made the decision, but thinking about the expression Do Ah would wear when she heard the news made his head ache already.
* * *
In the heart of Gangnam, forty stories up in the Landmark Tower that pierced the sky.
Here, the air moved differently than anywhere below.
Through the floor-to-ceiling glass, the vertiginous sprawl of buildings felt unreal, like toy blocks scattered carelessly.
Feeling her breath catch from the dizzying height, Do Ah turned from the restaurant entrance and slipped into the restroom.
But even the restroom was more lavish than most hotel lobbies.
Standing before the mirror of the vanity, bathed in soft light, Do Ah surveyed her own plain appearance and released a heavy sigh.
“Ah, seriously… I really should have worn something else.”
It was a one-piece dress she’d bought from a department store two years ago, screwing up her courage to splurge. But the design was already dated, and it looked hopelessly out of place.
“No, it’s not the dress that’s the problem.”
Her shoulders sagged.
Four days ago, Do Ah had received a sudden notification from Cha Gyeong.
“Clear your schedule for one o’clock this Saturday. My mother and grandmother would like to see you.”
Where had this bolt from the blue come from?
True, the contract did include a clause about playing the role of his girlfriend in front of his family, but this suddenly?
Yet Cha Gyeong’s firm attitude had left Do Ah no room to protest, and here she was.
“It’s fine. It’s not like I’m actually meeting the family of someone I’m really dating.”
As she tried to reassure herself, the past flickered through her mind.
Back when she’d been with Gyeong Jun, she’d met his parents a few times.
When Gyeong Jun was unemployed, they’d held her hand so warmly.
But the moment he landed a job at a major corporation, they’d changed completely. Every chance they got, they’d dredge up the fact that she was an orphan, driving nails through her heart.
“Anyway, it’s all fake. A fake girlfriend and her fake family.”
So unlike with Gyeong Jun, she could steel herself against their words—or so she thought.
“But I’m still terrified.”
Yet the mind and the heart march to different drummers.
She suppressed the fear that wouldn’t fade and barely managed to step back into the restaurant.
The restaurant bearing the name Flora Peak was, true to its name, decorated with thousands of wildflower arrangements suspended from the ceiling.
Premium marble covered the floor, and with each step of her high heels, the sound echoed up through the soles of her feet.
“Your party is waiting over there. Shall I show you?”
“No, it’s okay. I’ll go on my own.”
She politely declined the staff member’s offer and made her way deeper into the restaurant.
Cha Gyeong was already waiting at a window-side table.
The backlight made his face indistinct, but the way he sat with legs extended and crossed, eyes fixed on a Tablet PC, was like a single frame plucked straight from a high-fashion editorial.
‘Wow, working even here. Must be nice. How comfortable do you have to feel to do that? I didn’t sleep a wink last night, I was so anxious.’
Do Ah approached him with a muttered complaint, her gait oddly precarious in the high heels she rarely wore, their straps cutting into her insteps.
That was when Cha Gyeong, sensing her presence, looked up.
As the backlight withdrew, his face was revealed—so exquisitely beautiful it seemed unfair.
“Ah, oh—!”
Mesmerized by his face, Do Ah lost her balance in an instant. The heel buckled, and her body lurched forward.
“Careful.”
Just before her face could meet the cold marble, a firm arm hooked around her waist.
Pulled upright in one swift motion, Do Ah’s eyes met Cha Gyeong’s impassive gaze.
“Why did you wear something so impractical? No wonder you’re about to fall.”
“It’s not because of the heels! I was nervous, that’s all.”
At her protest, Cha Gyeong let out a helpless laugh.
“Is this a job interview? Try to relax.”
“It’s scarier than a job interview. And you’re the one who sprang this on me out of nowhere, but you say that so easily.”
“What, do you think my family’s going to eat you?”
Well, it was easy for him to say—they were his family after all.
Do Ah grumbled inwardly.
He was a third-generation chaebol from one of the country’s greatest houses, and she was just ordinary, with a background his family would have every reason to despise.
Now that she thought about it, in all those dramas about wealthy families, they’d throw water on unwanted partners, toss salt, hand out envelopes of money.
The thought propelled Do Ah to ask urgently.
“What if, while you’re away from the table, they give me an envelope of money or something? Should I refuse? Or should I take it and give it back to you later?”
“Ha!”
“As for water or salt, I can wash those off, but if they do something else troublesome…”
“Do Ah, do you think my family are gangsters?”
Cha Gyeong exhaled an exasperated sigh.
“You weren’t listening at all, were you? I’ve told you multiple times—my family will really like you.”
“That doesn’t make sense. There’s no way they’d welcome a woman with my background. Besides, I don’t even understand why a chaebol like you would start a contract relationship with me in the first place and deceive your family about it.”
Do Ah’s eyes sparkled with curiosity, but Cha Gyeong brushed it off lightly.
“Don’t harbor pointless curiosity. Let’s start by narrowing the distance between us.”
“Distance?”
“Much closer and you’ll be buried in the wall.”
Only then did Do Ah realize she’d been pressed flush against the wall.
She shuffled awkwardly and moved her chair to sit beside him.
And then, almost without thinking, her smooth arm—bared by the short sleeves of the one-piece dress—brushed against the cuff of his shirt.
“Oh!”
As if struck by electricity, Do Ah jerked her arm away.
“What are you doing? Do I look like I have some contagious disease?”
Cha Gyeong looked at her with an expression mixing displeasure and bewilderment.
“I’m, I’m sorry. I was startled without thinking.”
“If you act like that, the contract will be exposed in no time. We should establish acceptable boundaries for skinship beforehand.”
“Skinship?”
Do Ah’s ears flushed crimson, and Cha Gyeong’s brow furrowed.
“Not whatever indecent thing you’re imagining. I mean light contact—holding hands, putting a hand on your shoulder. If we’re supposed to be lovers, we need at least that much to avoid suspicion.”
“O, okay. Let’s do that.”
Do Ah swallowed hard.
They’d been on a few dates, but Cha Gyeong remained difficult and awkward to her. At this rate, exposure was only a matter of time.
‘Hand-holding is nothing. I can treat it like a business handshake with a partner. That shouldn’t be too hard.’
She was just steeling herself to think of it as no big deal when it happened.
Over her small hand resting on the table, Cha Gyeong’s large hand descended like a shadow.
A breath escaped her.
Do Ah nearly cried out.
His palm completely enfolded her hand and fingers, trapping them perfectly.
She felt her hand grow warm as if it had touched flame.
How could a man who looked as eternally frozen as perpetual snow emit such heat?
The warmth they shared where their skin fit seamlessly together traveled up her wrist and spread across her spine in white-hot waves.
Her heart began to race wildly.
Was it fear, or was it this strange new temperature?
Do Ah was terrified her heartbeat would shatter the silence and reach his ears.
Just as she was desperately trying to steady herself, a sudden, massive presence pressed against her from behind.
Click, click.
The sound of heels, and with it, a peculiar gravity. Still clasping Do Ah’s hand, Cha Gyeong turned his head.

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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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