The Textbook of a Lover - Chapter 29

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

29.
The Luxury Goods Hall at Hyun-shin Department Store. It was the apex of South Korea’s retail world—a radiant, arrogant garden of flowers that only the chosen and privileged were permitted to enjoy.
Beneath the soaring ceiling, light from the chandelier cascaded down like scattered gold leaf, brilliant and dazzling, while the polished marble floor mirrored the face of anyone who walked across it.
The moment Do-ah’s foot crossed the threshold, the weighty scent of leather and the faint drift of sandalwood told her she had entered a dimension entirely removed from the fierce, relentless reality of her own every second—a world unto itself.
“Do-ah, would you mind helping me look at my shoes first? My knees aren’t what they used to be, so I need something both comfortable and elegant.”
Gyu-seon led the way into a premium handmade shoe boutique where Italian craftsmen stitched each pair by hand.
Do-ah threw herself into the role with meticulous attention, checking the heel height and cushioning as though she were a true secretary.
‘How many zeros must be attached to the prices of shoes here? They must be terrifyingly expensive, so I have to find her something with the function and elegance to match.’
When she presented the shoes chosen with such solemn resolve, Gyu-seon’s face brightened.
“Oh my, how did you find something that suits me so perfectly? Your eye is absolutely impeccable!”
Praise can make even whales dance, they say, but instead of dancing, Do-ah broke out in a cold sweat. Yet this was only the beginning.
The crisis erupted immediately after Gyu-seon paid for her shoes.
“By the way, Do-ah, you mentioned your feet were chafed earlier, didn’t you? Why don’t you try these? The leather is much softer than mine, and I think they’d be perfect for someone with feet as delicate as yours.”
What Gyu-seon held out was a pair of flat shoes with a subdued ivory tone.
Like everything else in this boutique, these shoes were undoubtedly exorbitantly expensive.
“No, really, ma’am. That’s very kind, but I’m fine. I’ll just treasure your thoughtfulness.”
She hadn’t even worn the loafers Cha-gyeong had given her—they felt too burdensome, and she’d left them unworn since that day.
Do-ah waved her hands frantically and took a step back. Then Gyu-seon suddenly heaved a deep sigh, her shoulders slumping.
“All I have at home are thoughtless men. It’s been my lifelong regret that I never got to go shopping hand-in-hand with my granddaughter, a simple pleasure everyone else takes for granted. I’ve lived such a dreary, joyless life…….”
A tsunami of guilt crashed through Do-ah’s heart. Raised as an orphan, she had always been defenseless against other people’s loneliness and desolation.
Do-ah fixed Cha-gyeong—sitting on the sofa—with a desperate, pleading gaze, silently begging him to stop this.
But this indifferent man merely flipped through a magazine, shrugging with complete apathy.
“There isn’t much time left before I have to leave this world…….”
“Ma’am! Please don’t say such things! You must live long and stay healthy.”
“But one can only live long if they do the things they want and live without stress…….”
Listen here, Cha-gyeong—that’s your grandmother, not mine! Don’t just sit there doing nothing! This is unfilial of you!
Do-ah tried every signal she could muster with her eyes, but Cha-gyeong remained unmoved. In fact, he made it worse by chiming in.
“They’d suit you well. Why don’t you just try them on? It’s Grandmother’s wish, after all.”
“Ch-Cha-gyeong!”
“Don’t you think they’d look good on her too, from your perspective?”
“Yes. They look beautiful.”
The way Cha-gyeong was pouring gasoline on a fire she was supposed to extinguish made the back of her neck tighten.
In the end, Do-ah surrendered and, swallowing her reluctance, put on the shoes.
The moment the soft lambskin wrapped around her wounded feet, she couldn’t help but think, ‘Ah, so this is why people love money,’ but her heart felt like it was sitting on thorns.
Yet her ordeal was far from over. Cha-gyeong’s mother, Jung-hye, caught her as if she’d been lying in wait.
“Mother, look at that dress over there. Do-ah’s complexion is so luminous that I think a light sky-blue like that would be absolutely perfect for her.”
Hanging where Jung-hye’s finger pointed was a light sky-blue one-piece dress that looked more expensive than Do-ah’s entire month’s salary.
With one dress like that, how many convenience store meals could she buy?
“I appreciate the thought, but I really don’t need clothes. And besides, I wouldn’t have anywhere to wear something like that!”
“I’m not asking you to buy it—just try it on, would you? I want to see if my eye is right.”
Unable to resist the gleam in Jung-hye’s eyes, Do-ah was gently pushed toward the fitting room.
When she stood before the mirror in the light sky-blue silk dress, her reflection seemed impossibly unfamiliar and awkward.
The door opened, and in that same instant, cheers erupted from both Gyu-seon and Jung-hye.
“My goodness! How beautiful you are!”
“So lovely, so lovely. What do you think, Cha-gyeong?”
Do-ah shook her head frantically at Cha-gyeong, sending a desperate SOS signal.
‘Say it doesn’t suit me! I’ll even forgive you if you say it looks like pearls on a pig’s neck!’
She sent the signal with wide, imploring eyes, but Cha-gyeong merely closed his magazine as if observing someone else’s affairs and spoke.
“Well, it suits you nicely.”
Do-ah trembled slightly.
Having been reduced to an object of display, Do-ah felt her insides burning.
“Do-ah, now that I’ve dressed you up, I’m getting greedy. Since you look so pretty, why don’t we go do something else?”
Gyu-seon’s eyes sparkled as she spoke.
Something else? What else could they possibly do here?
Do-ah tried to steady her spinning head by mentally calculating the price of everything draped on her body.
* * *
While Do-ah was whisked away by the two women to a beauty shop, Cha-gyeong settled into a café near the VIP Lounge.
He powered on the tablet he’d brought from the car and began reviewing the Quarterly Performance Report.
But the documents, which he would normally have finished quickly, simply wouldn’t sink in.
The image of Do-ah’s aggrieved expression, standing in front of the fitting room, kept flickering through his mind like an afterimage.
“It actually suited her well, so I let it be. How was I supposed to know she’d resent it?”
Cha-gyeong downed a cold Americano to refocus.
After a little over two hours, Jung-hye’s delighted voice came through his phone.
“Cha-gyeong, we’re done. Come up.”
He made his way to the shop at once. The moment the door opened, a woman stood silhouetted against the flood of white light.
Cha-gyeong stopped in his tracks.
“Isn’t our Do-ah absolutely beautiful? She was already adorable, but with a little styling, she’s become so lovely.”
Jung-hye tugged Cha-gyeong’s arm as she asked.
Do-ah’s hair, previously bound tightly, now fell softly across her shoulders in elegant waves, and her already luminous skin, touched by a professional hand, radiated an unprecedented freshness.
When their eyes met, Do-ah lowered her head awkwardly and fidgeted with her fingertips.
The delicate line of her neck trembled slightly with tension.
“It’s nice. It suits you well.”
The words that left his lips were, as always, dry and smooth. But then a strange alarm suddenly blared through his chest.
“Can’t you put a little more emotion into what you say?”
“Yes, Cha-gyeong. Who do you take after that you’re so cold all the time?”
“I’m fine. Thank you for the compliment, Cha-gyeong.”
Do-ah, embarrassed by Jung-hye and Gyu-seon’s reproach, tried to deflect their attention.
A shy smile lingered at the corner of her mouth, both flustered and bashful.
In that instant, something heavy dropped in a corner of Cha-gyeong’s heart—a shock that reverberated through his chest.
‘What is this?’
The shock continued, and then a wild, frantic pulsing erupted from the center of his chest.
As if someone were gripping his heart in both hands and shaking it, his breath caught and a crushing pressure descended on his ribs.
“Are you alright?”
At Gyu-seon’s concern, Cha-gyeong shook his head.
“It’s nothing.”
It must be the Americano from earlier. Dismissing the strange pulsing as a delayed caffeine rush coursing through his veins, Cha-gyeong attributed this unfamiliar sensation to nothing more than a physiological side effect.
At that same moment, Na-hui and Gyeong-jun were also passing through the gleaming revolving doors of Hyun-shin Department Store.

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