The Textbook of a Lover - Chapter 83

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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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83.
“Aren’t you cold?”
Cha Kyung asked, looking at Seong Do-ah. He too had been one of those who argued against letting her leave the hospital.
Still, since she was easier to deal with than Gyu-seon or Hye-jung, he’d grumbled about it being frustrating—so he brought her outside anyway.
“Not one bit! I’m bundled up so tight!”
Of course, Cha Kyung hadn’t simply whisked her away either.
Only after wrapping her from head to toe in winter clothes and cold-weather accessories he’d bought did he take her outside.
“You look adorable like that.”
“Are you making fun of me right now?”
Seong Do-ah shot him a look—at a man calling her adorable when she was dressed in a way that made her look like she’d roll away if you nudged her.
“Make fun of whom? I’m the lowest-ranking person in this house now.”
That much was true. As Do-ah nodded in acknowledgment, Cha Kyung’s hand settled on top of her hat.
Even through the fur hat, she felt the weight and warmth of his palm completely.
Do-ah loved this hand.
She loved being next to him, loved the happiness of it. As she was savoring that feeling, an ache she hadn’t quite swallowed suddenly rose up.
“I thought you might not come this time either.”
Cha Kyung’s hand paused on her hat. He looked down at her with bitter eyes.
“I told you then. That I wouldn’t leave you again.”
His hand tightened for a moment, then slowly released.
“I’m sorry. I was being selfish.”
Do-ah lifted her head. Her eyes held his directly as she replied.
“What are you sorry for? You don’t think it’s your fault I got trapped in that elevator, do you?”
Cha Kyung said nothing. His silence was confirmation.
“Do you know what I thought about most in that elevator?”
Cha Kyung didn’t answer, waiting for her to continue.
“That I had to be alive when you came.”
“……”
“I was trusting that you would come.”
Do-ah gently gripped the cuff of his suit sleeve. Her fingertips trembled faintly.
“Don’t you ever leave me again because of some ridiculous guilt. If you hadn’t come this time, I really wouldn’t have been able to sit still!”
A glimmer of playfulness crossed Cha Kyung’s eyes.
“What would you have done if I hadn’t come?”
Do-ah thought for a moment before answering.
“I’d have gone to Hyunsin Department Store and done a one-woman protest.”
“A protest?”
“Um, well… Ah! That this executive at the company committed dating fraud against me.”
“……Is there such a crime?”
“There, there is!”
Cha Kyung burst out laughing at her insistence. Seeing him laugh, Do-ah broke into a wide smile too.
Cha Kyung’s firm arms pulled her close and wrapped her in an embrace. The warmth of the long coat draped over his suit transferred to her as well.
“So never leave me again, all right?”
His arms tightened around her.
“Understood. From now on, I won’t separate from you or put you in danger.”
Instead of a reply, his arms wrapped around her back once more, firmly and completely.
A week later.
After passing the exacting tests of the Yoon family, Do-ah was finally discharged and returned to work.
At the same time, she quickly learned how the promise Cha Kyung had made to her would be kept.
“Ah, lunch was delicious again today!”
“This place has the best pizza. And the salad.”
They had just finished lunch with colleagues and were crossing the crosswalk in front of the company building.
Hye-jung glanced across the street and spoke up.
“That person over there—I think he’s been following us every time we go out for lunch lately.”
“Oh? That’s true. I saw him in front of that restaurant yesterday too.”
“It’s not even near a broadcast station. Why the sunglasses and hat?”
“Really, it’s so suspicious!”
Hye-jung’s eyes hardened. She immediately strode across the street toward the man.
The man, spotting her, tried to back away but froze at the sharp edge in her voice.
“Excuse me. I think something’s off about this. Why do you keep following us?”
“……”
“If you don’t answer, I’m calling the police right now. You have ten seconds. One, two, three……!”
“Ah, no. I’m a bodyguard for Seong Do-ah.”
“What?!”
“I’m not trying to cause any trouble. Rather, I’m trying to protect you all……”
The color drained from Do-ah’s face. Shame swept over her in waves.
Hye-jung slowly turned her head to look at Do-ah. All her colleagues’ eyes were now fixed entirely on her.
After that, Do-ah’s nicknames at the company became “Miss Do-ah,” “Lady Do-ah,” and “Princess Do-ah.”
* * *
“What am I supposed to do about my image at the company?!”
Despite Do-ah’s anguished cry, Cha Kyung smiled calmly.
“It suits you. Why not?”
“What do you mean it suits me? Then I’ll call you ‘Sir Cha Kyung,’ ‘Prince Cha Kyung’?”
“That’s not bad either.”
She needed him to feel the same shame for it to be true revenge, but this man wouldn’t budge an inch.
Besides, no one at his company was calling him anything.
Do-ah glared at Cha Kyung.
“Remove the bodyguard right now, this instant!”
“That can’t happen. Not until Woo Kyung-jun’s trial verdict is confirmed.”
“He’s in the Detention Center right now—what’s he going to do from in there? Do you think he’s Papillon or something?”
“Not until after the First Trial Verdict.”
Cha Kyung was firm. Instead, he offered an alternative.
“I’ll change the bodyguard instead. I’ll also change the protocol so he keeps his distance and doesn’t stand out. I’ll make it as unobtrusive as possible.”
“I don’t want a bodyguard in the first place.”
Cha Kyung gently pressed his lips to her forehead to soothe her. What a charmer.
“I won’t have him glued to your side all day. Just bear with it a little longer until I’m at ease.”
Do-ah let out a long sigh.
The one who loves more always loses.
“It feels unfair. I want to attach something to you too!”
“You could follow me around instead.”
“If I actually did that, I’d be following you around for life, just like a bodyguard.”
Cha Kyung gave a low laugh.
“Then go ahead. But could that small frame of yours actually protect me?”
“That’s the average height for Korean women!”
“I suppose. Too small to protect me, but just right for kissing.”
His lips silenced Do-ah’s protest.
The hand she’d stretched out to push him away found itself tightly wrapped around his back.
* * *
Myeong-sik stood before the Hyunsin Main House.
It was always an imposing place.
The place where the name Hyunsin Group was most deeply rooted. Myeong-sik had never once in his life been the master of this house.
Far from that—he was now facing the crisis of being thrown out of even the house he had lived in.
The voices of people he didn’t know were talking in the executive lounge a few days ago came back to him.
“I hear they’re looking to bring in an outside hire for the Hyunsin Mulsan president position.”
“I heard that too. The group is circulating candidates apparently.”
“Ah, then wouldn’t Cha Myeong-sik be in danger?”
“That side probably has almost no chance of survival, don’t you think? The rebate scandal broke open, and apparently he was funneling money through his own accounts too.”
The person who had worked hardest for Hyunsin Mulsan was himself, yet now they were talking about bringing in outside people. It made no sense.
Myeong-sik immediately went looking for his uncle Seong Taek, but was turned down, saying he wouldn’t have private meetings regarding company business.
Next, he contacted Tae-jun, and even requested a meeting with Cha Kyung, but was refused by all of them.
So he had come to Gyu-seon.
She was now his only lifeline.
Myeong-sik adjusted his suit collar one last time and pressed the doorbell.
Shortly after, as he stepped into the main house, Gyu-seon’s voice reached him.
“Sit.”
She was looking at him with eyes that had turned coolly distant.
Her voice was low and soft as always, but beneath it lay something solid as bedrock.
She truly lived up to the reputation that she was the real master of the Hyunsin household.
Myeong-sik swallowed, only in his mind, and lifted his voice.
“I’ve been so excited at the thought of seeing your face after so long that I haven’t slept since yesterday. Goodness, how does time pass you by so? You look even better than the last time I saw you.”
Gyu-seon gave a brief nod.
At that nearly non-existent response, Myeong-sik felt a brief sting, but he suppressed it and broached the main subject.

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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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