The Textbook of a Lover - Chapter 43

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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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43.
Cha Gyeong finished speaking and turned away without hesitation. The sound of his receding footsteps fell through the hallway with particular coldness.
Do-ah stood abandoned, her mouth hanging open like a fool.
She’d gotten the answer she wanted, so why did her chest feel so hollow?
“It’s fine. This is right. This is what I wanted. Everything’s just flowing according to plan.”
Even as Do-ah walked toward the Computer Room, she kept repeating the same words to herself.
* * *
After the Mid-presentation Review, Do-ah had been consumed with revising the design draft according to the feedback from Hyun-shin’s team.
There were only a few sections requiring revision, but the requests were quite specific and demanding, which stretched the work considerably.
She was rotating her neck left and right, stiff from staring at the monitor, when the darkening window caught her eye.
A glance at the clock showed quitting time was drawing near.
‘No wonder my eyes feel so strained and my shoulders are so tight.’
As she turned her head again to loosen her shoulders, her eyes met Na-hui’s.
Na-hui held powder in one hand and a puff in the other, applying makeup with practiced efficiency.
Upon noticing Do-ah watching, Na-hui’s hand hesitated for a moment before her lips curved into a graceful arc of a smile.
She casually tucked her cosmetics into her pouch, then suddenly picked up her smartphone from the desk and began making a call.
“Director. This is Na-hui Kang from the Abe Creative Team.”
The clicking of keyboards in the office slowed perceptibly. Everyone knew who the director on the other end was.
“The data compilation you requested is finished, and I thought it would be faster if I delivered it in person. Besides, we’re meeting this evening anyway.”
Do-ah’s index finger, which had been scrolling rapidly with her mouse wheel, stopped abruptly.
“I’ll print it myself and bring it over. I’ll see you this evening, Director.”
On the surface, it was a professional call, but the reality of it was absurd.
Since when did a mere employee at an agency report directly to a client’s executive?
And to personally hand over materials? It made no sense.
“The director certainly acts fast.”
“Psst!”
Someone’s muffled comment sent the office into deeper silence. Do-ah forced a smile, her lips pressed tight.
‘Perfect. Everything’s unfolding exactly as I scripted it. Cha Gyeong is dutifully honoring the contract, and Na-hui has bitten the bait. This is exhilarating. How smoothly it’s all progressing.’
Do-ah barely contained her praise as she pulled a stapler from the drawer.
She aligned the edges of the report she’d prepared for her superior and gripped the stapler tightly.
Click.
Click.
Click-click-click-click-click.
“Do-ah, what are you doing? Are you embroidering a cross-stitch with that stapler?”
At Jeong’s question from the next desk, Do-ah looked down at the report in her hand.
The staple holes were packed so densely along the edge they looked like cross-stitch embroidery.
“Haha. I got a bit carried away. Guess I was too focused.”
She could print the materials again. It was fine, really.
Yet sympathy glimmered in the eyes of everyone around her.
* * *
This was the second meal Do-ah had with Na-hui. The first had been fine dining; today, it was a Japanese restaurant.
Na-hui, seated across from Cha Gyeong, was impeccably groomed from head to toe. There was something almost textbook about her—the perfect picture of an ideal blind date candidate.
“Thank you so much for arranging two occasions like this. You must be busy in your director position, and yet you’ve made time not just for Do-ah but for me as well.”
Cha Gyeong’s dark brows rose sharply.
Her underlying intention was painfully transparent. What she really meant was: *You’re meeting me instead of Do-ah, aren’t you?*
A wave of irritation swept through Cha Gyeong.
“Well, Do-ah is far busier than I am, you see. When I suggested we meet, she declined outright. Thanks to that, I’ve had the opportunity to see you this evening.”
Na-hui stiffened momentarily, then laughed again. Her recovery was quick.
“I don’t understand how Do-ah could turn down a meeting with you. If I had an appointment with a director, I’d drop everything and come running.”
Cha Gyeong’s fingers, wrapped around the glass, twitched slightly.
*Why is she like that?*
Most of the women he’d encountered had clung to him desperately, much like the one sitting across from him now.
Though admittedly, there were exceptions.
He’d approached Do-ah directly because he sensed her feelings ran deep for him—a conviction, moreover, that felt quite clear.
Yet she’d run from him with all her might instead.
Not only rejecting his confession but denying the feelings themselves was beyond the scope of his understanding.
‘As if she has no idea how sincere I was in approaching her.’
Perhaps as a cumulative result of too many inexplicable situations, Cha Gyeong had developed a visceral disdain for superstition.
He had no genuine desire to meet a woman chosen by a shaman, thrust upon him by his grandmother and mother.
Even if he found her intriguing, the situation demanded he let it go. After the contract ended, there would be no reason to see her again.
Yet he’d abandoned his own principles to approach Do-ah.
*What am I so afraid of?*
“……Don’t you agree, Director?”
“…….”
“Director?”
Only when Na-hui’s high-pitched voice pierced his eardrums did Cha Gyeong turn his gaze toward her.
“My apologies. Would you mind repeating that?”
Na-hui pouted slightly—a feigned sulk. Cha Gyeong ignored it and took a sip of water.
Barely ten minutes into their meal. Her shallow, calculating flirtation transcended tedium into something resembling ennui.
Yet Cha Gyeong continued to see Na-hui for strategic reasons.
‘If pushing doesn’t work, try pulling, right?’
He intended to unsettle Do-ah, to pressure her until she spoke her true feelings honestly.
When she came running to him, he’d swallow her completely, leaving no room for escape.
* * *
“She’s not picking up again.”
Gyeong-jun closed the tenth missed call screen and dropped his phone onto the desk.
He’d called to suggest they grab lunch together since he had business at the Abe building, but she wouldn’t connect.
“Seriously. This isn’t the first or second time.”
Recently, Na-hui had been consistently avoiding Gyeong-jun’s calls. On the rare occasions she picked up, she’d only mumble that she was busy and hang up.
“When am I supposed to hold the wedding?”
He’d assumed that once she ended things with Do-ah, wedding preparations would commence immediately. Na-hui had been just as enthusiastic about it as he was.
Now he was worried whether the wedding would happen at all.
“This is all because of Cha Gyeong!”
Gyeong-jun’s jaw clenched.
Cha Gyeong, director.
That arrogant heir to a chaebol was clearly trying to seduce every defenseless female employee at the company and its affiliated agencies.
First he’d bewitched Do-ah, and now he was extending his reach to Na-hui.
“They don’t even realize they’re being toyed with!”
A man as wealthy and powerful as that would never seriously pursue someone like Do-ah or Na-hui.
He’d toy with them for a while before marrying someone from an equally prominent family.
Na-hui needed to come to her senses, and fast.
Gyeong-jun sighed and left his office, heading toward the Abe building.
He had to attend a Catalog Inspection Meeting with their senior staff.
Before heading to the conference room, Gyeong-jun lingered near the office entrance hoping to catch a glimpse of Na-hui when Do-ah suddenly stepped through the door.
“Oh?”
Do-ah, cradling a stack of materials in both arms, looked equally startled to see him.
Without thinking, Gyeong-jun’s gaze swept over her from head to toe.
Her hair tied tightly back revealed the pale curve of her nape; her makeup, though modest, had a fresh, innocent quality; her neat blouse and the skirt that fluttered softly below her knees.
‘Why does she look different? She seems even more beautiful somehow.’
While Gyeong-jun was considering what had changed, a faint sneer crossed Do-ah’s gentle face before she abruptly turned away.
Her reaction provoked a sharp edge to his voice.
“Hey! Don’t you greet clients?”

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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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