The Textbook of a Lover - Chapter 33

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

33.
More precisely, he was trying to erase some phantom form that kept redrawing itself against a white page.
His brow furrowed as his fingers pressed against his temples.
His mind was entirely consumed by the lingering image of that woman standing in a soft sky-blue silk one-piece dress.
So different was she from the Seong Do-a who habitually tripped over her own heels, broke shoe buckles, and once, thoroughly drunk, had ordered soju from a kiosk—he barely recognized her walking out of the beauty shop yesterday.
‘What on earth was that?’
The word “beautiful” alone fell short.
It had a different texture altogether from the glittering refinement of the conventionally lovely women he’d spent a lifetime observing.
That hushed air beneath unfamiliar lighting, those unpolished eyes meeting his—they clung to his optic nerve like afterimages that refused to fade.
“……Hah.”
Cha Gyeong finally set down his pen and sank deep into his chair.
Could a single dress, a mere one-piece, and a touch of makeup shake a person so thoroughly?
Or had he simply been viewing Seong Do-a in fragments all this time, never seeing the whole?
He couldn’t even make sense to himself of why his mind was in such turmoil.
Just then, the office door opened and Park entered carefully.
“Director, I was planning to visit Aebe Creative to confirm the final designs. Since this project has such a tight schedule, I think I should check the practical progress directly on-site.”
Ordinarily, Cha Gyeong would have nodded and sent Park on his way, but the words that left his mouth were entirely different.
“I’ll go myself.”
“Sir? You’ll go in person?”
“I have some matters to discuss with the Aebe representative anyway.”
Park’s eyes widened, but Cha Gyeong was already rising, shrugging his suit jacket back into place.
‘If I go and see for myself, this illusion will shatter.’
To firmly dispel that strange afterimage flickering in his vision, he strode out of his office.
“Ah, sir! If only you’d given us notice, we could have prepared things properly. This way, please.”
When Cha Gyeong arrived unannounced at the Aebe offices, the representative led the way with beads of sweat dotting his forehead.
Just as Kim was about to show Cha Gyeong into the reception room, a sharp voice cut through from deeper within the office.
“And I haven’t even mentioned yet that puppy collar was far more expensive than Na-hee’s brooch, have I?”
Kim’s face drained of all color in an instant.
“Wh-what is all this commotion—! Sir, please wait just a moment. I’ll go straighten this out right now—.”
He moved to block the way and stop Do-a, but Cha Gyeong raised a hand lazily, holding him in place.
“Wait. Leave it. This sounds entertaining.”
Cha Gyeong leaned obliquely against a partition near the entrance, watching the scene unfold inside.
He could see Na-hee trembling in alarm, and Do-a before her, yapping away like a spirited white Maltese with all its hackles raised.
It was utterly unlike the version of her who’d only ever been bullied by Na-hee and Gyeong-jun.
A small smile tugged at his lips.
At the sharpness in her voice, the corners of Cha Gyeong’s mouth slowly curled upward.
When had he ever given a dog a collar as a gift?
Yet even as Do-a spread lies about him, he felt no irritation.
If anything, only Kim stood behind her, sweating and utterly bewildered.
“I’d like a word with Seong Do-a for a moment.”
“Ah, yes. Yes, of course. Or would you like me to send her home early?”
“No need. It’ll just be a moment.”
Leaving the office turmoil behind, Cha Gyeong led Do-a to a quiet café nearby.
Where had the Maltese gone—the one that had just been bristling, ready to snap at Na-hee’s shins?
Do-a, walking behind Cha Gyeong, had her shoulders hunched like a rain-soaked ball of cotton.
“……I’m really sorry. For making up something so ridiculous when you weren’t there.”
Do-a sat with her head down, fidgeting with the straw of her iced Americano.
In truth, he found her takedown of Na-hee quite refreshing, but Cha Gyeong deliberately kept his tone indifferent as he continued.
“So you make up stories like that whenever I’m not around?”
Do-a shook her head vigorously.
“No! This was really the first time! It was just so obvious that she wanted to bully me with the brooch you gave me. It annoyed me, so I did it. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Thanks to you, the people at Aebe now think I’m utterly devoted to you.”
“I’m really sorry. If you want, I’ll go explain to all the staff that it isn’t true.”
“Don’t bother. Being hopelessly smitten isn’t such a bad image anyway.”
At his teasing remark, Do-a’s face flushed red and she didn’t know where to look.
Cha Gyeong watched her for a moment, then slowly lowered his eyes.
Today’s Do-a was not the glamorous figure he’d seen at the department store yesterday.
Instead of thick eyeliner, her clear eyes drew the gaze; beneath her hair tied high, her delicate neck stirred some protective instinct he couldn’t name.
Instead of artificial perfume, she seemed to carry the subtle scent of soap—a plain, unadorned presence that struck his vision far more forcefully than she had at the department store.
In that moment, his heart gave one heavy beat.
‘What am I doing……?’
Cha Gyeong looked down at the cup in his hands.
The red liquid in the white porcelain cup was rooibos tea—not a single milligram of caffeine.
At the department store, he could have blamed the caffeine for the quickened pulse, but now?
Could it be an arrhythmia?
His heart was beating harder than it had yesterday.
‘Surely not…….’
Cha Gyeong stopped his thoughts there. His mind was issuing a warning not to think any further.
‘If I admitted that I actually liked this woman, my grandmother and mother would place even greater faith in that shamaness.’
So he couldn’t afford to like her. That much was certain.
Once his grandmother’s surgery was over and he distanced himself from this woman, he’d forget her soon enough.
That was all the feeling it amounted to.
Cha Gyeong concluded as much and changed the subject.
“Do-a, I noticed earlier that you seemed unhappy about the sample brooch I gave you. Would you like to revise the plan? If so, we can find another way.”
After all, approaching Na-hee was something she’d wanted; if the person involved wished otherwise, he was willing to adjust.
But Do-a’s answer was unexpected.
“No. Please proceed as planned. I want her to experience exactly what I’ve been through.”
“……Really?”
At her response, Cha Gyeong felt a peculiar pang of disappointment.
It made no sense. Why would I feel bitter about that?
“Let’s go then.”
His tone came out colder than intended, and Do-a’s shoulders visibly shrank.
He was beginning to feel a vague disgust at his own pettiness when suddenly Do-a’s eyes widened and her face went pale as paper.
“Ah……? Ah! A, a bu-bug……! Kyaaaah!”
Gone was the meek woman of a moment before; Do-a threw herself instinctively toward Cha Gyeong, who sat across from her.
With a scream, she clung to his side.
‘This is absurd. Is she using me as a shield?’
But the thought was fleeting.
Do-a buried her face in his ribs, trembling violently, her hands gripping his suit jacket as though it were a lifeline.
“……!”
Cha Gyeong went rigid.
Through the thin fabric of his shirt, her hot breath and the rapid beating of her frightened heart came through unfiltered.
As her warmth and the subtle scent of soap touched him in several places, he felt as though flames were spreading across his entire body.
All sound in the world seemed to fade, leaving only the trembling of the small figure clinging to him as the sum total of his senses.
“H-huh, so scary…….”
Cha Gyeong slowly raised his frozen hands and wrapped them around Do-a’s trembling shoulders, holding her close.
With his other arm, he swept the air around them, driving away the insect.
“It’s gone now. It’s gone.”

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