The Textbook of a Lover - Chapter 81

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

81.
“……Ugh, argh…… It hurts. So cold…….”
Her head throbbed as if it might crack open, and her body trembled with cold. Do-ah’s eyes snapped open at the pain.
At first her vision wouldn’t focus. After blinking several times, the ceiling began to materialize hazily before her.
“Where…… am I?”
A thin current of air descended from somewhere in the low metal ceiling.
Do-ah pressed her hand to the floor to push herself upright. With each movement, her head throbbed worse.
Her body wouldn’t obey her commands, and she barely managed to sit up, gritting through the pain.
When she touched the back of her head, something wet came away on her fingers.
“……Blood……!”
It wasn’t just on her palm. Red liquid pooled and crusted on the floor around her.
Only then did Do-ah slowly take in her surroundings. The lighting was dark, the floor numbers dark—but one thing was certain. She was inside an Elevator.
‘……How did I end up here?’
Do-ah tried to piece together her memory.
Today, yes—she’d stopped by Kyung-jun’s Bachelor Apartment.
She’d looked around at the things filled with memories and then stepped back outside, but from that point on, everything went blank.
She didn’t know how this had happened, but she couldn’t stay here. Do-ah looked down at the Mobile Phone in her hand.
The signal bars showed no connection.
Still, she tried calling Cha Kyung, the Lawyer, and Hye-jung in turn, but none of the calls would go through.
The Emergency Button she managed to press, trembling, made no difference. Once, twice, again and again—but no signal seemed to register.
Meanwhile blood trickled down her neck and into her collarbone. Now the ceiling began to shimmer, and her legs went weak beneath her.
At this rate, she wouldn’t last much longer.
‘……Hold on, Seong Do-ah.’
She forced herself to focus and dug deeper into her memory. She’d definitely been waiting for the Elevator.
And now that she thought about it, when she’d turned her head slightly, she’d seen someone’s face…….
“Kyung-jun!”
It was Kyung-jun. The person who’d struck her head and shoved her into this space.
“……What have you done, Kyung-jun.”
Do-ah pounded the metal door with shaking hands. Each time her palms struck it, a fresh wave of agony crashed through her skull.
“……You…… Kyung-jun, it’s you…… isn’t it?”
Her voice was fading. Her legs had gone numb.
“There…… open…… Cough.”
Her words dissolved into a fit of coughing.
“Please…… open…….”
Her knees gave way and she collapsed to the floor. She tried to push herself back up, but only slipped.
She could feel her body growing colder. From her fingertips to her toes.
If she closed her eyes now, she felt certain they would never open again.
‘I can’t. If I fall asleep…….’
Do-ah bit down on her lip so hard she could taste blood, but even that pain couldn’t keep the drowsiness at bay.
Then a voice surfaced in her mind.
“No matter what happens, I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
Cha Kyung…….
She didn’t want to die like this. Not now, when she’d finally met him. When they’d promised to be happy together.
A single tear rolled down her cold cheek.
* * *
​”Do-ah still hasn’t come in?”
​The team lead spoke up when she noticed the empty desk of Do-ah’s workstation, even though the start time had long passed.
​”No, not yet.”
​Yun Mi from the adjacent desk answered.
​”She’s never been late in her life, and not even a call? Someone try to reach her.”
​Hye-jung immediately called Do-ah, but the line went to an automated message before even a single ring.
​[Honey, is something wrong? You’re not coming to work and you’re not answering calls. I’m worried—let me know as soon as you see this message.]
But even after an hour of sending the KakaoTalk message, the read receipt never appeared.
Do-ah was not someone who would take an unannounced absence. Even when she’d collapsed and been hospitalized before, she’d always called in.
​Hye-jung pulled up the Company’s emergency contact list. In Do-ah’s emergency contact section—living alone with no family—would there even be anyone worth calling?
Her finger, flipping through pages with half-resigned certainty, stopped over a single name.
​Yoon Cha Kyung.
​Hye-jung hesitated for a moment, then pressed the call button.
* * *
​”Executive Director, the morning executive meeting is in five minutes.”
​Cha Kyung nodded and checked his Mobile Phone. He’d sent Do-ah a message on his way in that morning, but she still hadn’t read it.
​’Perhaps she’s too busy to check.’
​He was about to call her when his phone vibrated from his pocket—an unknown number. He hesitated only a moment before answering.
​― Hello, Executive Director Yoon. This is Hye-jung Kim from the Ave Creative Team. Do-ah didn’t come in today, so I’m calling to check.
​She didn’t come in?
― I’m not sure if something’s happened to her…….
​”I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from her.”
​He hung up and immediately called Do-ah, but the phone went to the automated message just the same.
Twice. Three times. The result didn’t change. Cha Kyung gave his secretary a curt order.
​”Postpone this morning’s meeting to tomorrow.”
​Before his secretary could even register her surprise, Cha Kyung was already grabbing his coat and pressing the Elevator button.
* * *
​He arrived at Do-ah’s Residence about twenty minutes later. He punched in the security code she’d given him before, and the lock disengaged.
“Do-ah!”
He called her name as he opened the door, but no answer came.
​In the shoe rack sat sneakers and flats arranged neatly in their places.
On the living room sofa lay a half-folded blanket; on the dining table sat a single cup, washed and turned upside down to dry.
With only the refrigerator humming softly in the empty house, it was clear that Do-ah had never returned since leaving yesterday.
​Back in his car, Cha Kyung started making frantic calls to everyone he could think of who knew Do-ah.
But Su-jin, Gyu-seon, and Jung-hye all said the same thing—they had no idea where she was.
How could she vanish for more than fourteen hours when she always let them know if she was going anywhere other than home or work?
​Finding no answers elsewhere, he called Hye-jung again.
― Nothing’s come through yet. She took a half day yesterday and said she had somewhere to go, then just left…….
​”She took a half day?”
― Yes. She was on the phone with the Lawyer for a while, then she left in a hurry.
​The Lawyer. Cha Kyung called Do-ah’s Lawyer immediately.
― Ah, Executive Director. I was trying to reach her too. During our call yesterday morning, she said she wanted to see the things one last time before selling the Dowry Assets. So I gave her the access code for the Villa from the owner. She said she’d go in the afternoon, but I haven’t heard back about her arrival.
​Cha Kyung’s fingers went rigid on the steering wheel.
Kyung-jun’s Bachelor Apartment. That same place—where that bastard was being chased by illegal lenders, drowning in embezzlement charges and gambling debts.
​”Send me the address.”
​He started the engine before even hanging up.
* * *
​The Villa sat at the end of a narrow, cramped alley in the Seoul Outskirts.
There were no parked cars around the building, no lit windows.
Cha Kyung obtained the access code through his secretary and headed straight for Room 401.
When he opened the door, the room was pitch black. He flipped the light switch, but nothing came on.
​He turned on his Mobile Phone’s flashlight, and the beam caught an overturned cardboard box on the living room floor.
Shelves stood empty in places, marked only by dust outlines. The edges were crisp where objects had once sat.
Someone had hastily swept up and removed everything.
​But Do-ah wasn’t here. No bag, no coat, not a single shoe.
He called Kyung-jun, but the line went straight to the automated message.
“Ha……!”
Cha Kyung searched the entire building.
But empty hallways held only the mixed smell of paint and dust—no trace of any living soul.
​Back in the hallway outside Room 401, he checked his Mobile Phone. The KakaoTalk still showed an unread “1”.
The Dowry Assets lawsuit had been handled by the Lawyer Cha Kyung provided, and it was Cha Kyung who’d cornered Kyung-jun.
At the end of every reason Do-ah had come to this Villa, he was there.
​He was turning to leave when his flashlight swept across the Elevator corridor floor.
Faint footprints showed through the dusty haze.
The trail began at Room 401 and stopped abruptly in front of the Elevator.
​Cha Kyung’s gaze finally fixed on the closed Elevator door.

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