The Textbook of a Lover - Chapter 85

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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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85.
“I’ll head out first.”
Seong Do-ah quickened her pace. Cha Kyung was waiting for her in the parking lot.
Without realizing it, she moved with a lightness in her step, and the moment Cha Kyung spotted her, he stepped out of the car and walked toward her.
“It’s cold. Why did you get out? Stay in the car.”
“I wanted to do this.”
Cha Kyung wrapped his arms around Do-ah from behind. The warmth radiating from the man who’d been inside the heated car enveloped her instantly.
His chin brushed the crown of her head once, then slowly withdrew.
“You didn’t even say where you were going today. Where are we headed? Tell me.”
“Somewhere nice.”
That was all Cha Kyung said before he settled Do-ah into the passenger seat.
The heavy door shut with a decisive click, and the black Maybach glided smoothly out of the parking lot.
As they merged onto the Namsan Circular Road, orange streetlights flowed past on either side at regular intervals.
Do-ah leaned back against the headrest, watching the landscape drift by. Just having Cha Kyung beside her filled her heart with warmth and a quiet sense of safety.
Then her phone buzzed softly on her lap. It was Gyu-seon.
“Hello, Grandmother.”
“Do-ah, do you have time this weekend? I went to the department store today and saw a coat that would look absolutely perfect on you.”
“Of course I have time. But a coat isn’t necessary, Grandmother. I still have the one you gave me last time at home.”
“The one I bought then looked too thin, dear.”
From the driver’s seat, Cha Kyung interjected.
“Do-ah won’t be available this weekend. We have plans.”
His low voice filled the car. Do-ah turned to him in surprise.
“When did we agree to meet on the weekend?”
“Between a couple, weekends are assumed to be taken. From now on, if you want to schedule something else on weekends, tell me in advance.”
“Honestly…….”
Do-ah brought the phone back to her lips.
“Grandmother, it’s fine. I’m free this weekend. I’ll come.”
“We’ll have our own place after we’re married, so know that from now on.”
“Oh!”
Startled by the bombshell, Do-ah nearly dropped the phone.
On the other end, Gyu-seon was laughing heartily. Do-ah hastily said goodbye and ended the call.
“What on earth was that about? Suddenly talking about moving out.”
“It’s something we should start thinking about now.”
“Why talk about something so far away?”
Cha Kyung looked at Do-ah precisely through the rearview mirror.
“Is it really that far away?”
“Well, you’ve never actually…….”
Do-ah trailed off and fell silent. It wasn’t that Cha Kyung had never mentioned marriage.
Back in autumn, he’d asked her to look at apartments together in Bukchon Alley.
But right after that, there was a traffic accident, and Do-ah had erased that conversation from her mind as if it never happened.
“Still, you’ve never actually brought it up seriously.”
“I was serious then.”
Cha Kyung exhaled softly.
“I understand. Next time I’ll be serious.”
When would that be?
An anxious voice stirred somewhere deep inside her. Was this her last proposal?
While she suppressed that voice, Cha Kyung glanced at Do-ah once more in the mirror.
“Open the glove box.”
“……Why?”
“Just open it.”
Do-ah pressed the silver button in front of the passenger seat. With a soft click, the compartment door swung open.
Inside lay a single small turquoise box.
It was from a high jewelry brand Do-ah had glimpsed on social media once or twice.
When she lifted the lid, a transparent glass sphere rested on silk came into view.
Inside the bead was a preserved four-leaf clover, and below it hung a leather cord with a metal ring—a keyring.
A keyring, not a ring or necklace. Do-ah turned to look at Cha Kyung.
“It’s not that I don’t believe. You’re the one who doesn’t.”
Cha Kyung spoke slowly without taking his eyes off the road.
“You said I was your good luck charm, so I wanted to be the one to bring you luck.”
Oh, what should I do. I think I’m about to cry. When did I become so sentimental?
Do-ah carefully placed the keyring back in its box.
“……Thank you. It’s beautiful.”
“Don’t lose it. I’ll need it later.”
‘Need it…? What use would a keyring have?’
She was curious, but today didn’t seem like a day to ask too many questions.
Cha Kyung silently tapped the armrest between them.
“The armrest—want to open it?”
The armrest too?
Do-ah looked puzzled but this time lifted the armrest.
Inside the lid was another box, longer and rectangular, bearing the same logo as before.
She opened it to reveal a women’s watch with a mother-of-pearl dial on a metal band.
The hands pointed to the current time. Someone had already set it.
“……Cha Kyung. Isn’t this too much?”
“It’s not too much.”
Without waiting for an answer, Cha Kyung pulled Do-ah’s wrist toward him and fastened the watch with one hand.
The cool band slid smoothly onto the inside of her wrist.
“Why is the time already set?”
“In case you change your mind before we arrive.”
“Change my mind about what?”
“…….”
Instead of answering, Cha Kyung turned the wheel. The Maybach pulled into the familiar alley.
It was her home.
Cha Kyung stepped out first and opened the passenger door. Do-ah descended with the keyring case clutched tightly in her hand.
“……Is this the nice place?”
“I thought the place most familiar to you would be the nicest.”
Cha Kyung stepped back and, with utter naturalness, dropped to one knee.
It was so composed for someone who’d never knelt in his life—it felt almost unreal.
He withdrew a small, flat case from inside his suit jacket.
The ring inside had the same simple yet weighty gleam as the glass bead they’d seen before, befitting the same brand.
“You thought the keyring was the main event.”
Cha Kyung held the ring case toward Do-ah. His jaw tensed briefly.
“……This is the main event.”
Do-ah was momentarily at a loss for words.
Only now did she fully understand that this man’s treasure hunt—from keyring to watch to ring—was no joke.
Laughter threatened but wouldn’t come. Instead, different words spilled out.
“……So you need an effective talisman, I see?”
Do-ah surprised herself with that word. Talisman.
When his distant cousin called her his guardian protector, Do-ah felt wounded, believing she was being treated not as a person but as a luck charm.
The fact that she could now speak that word so lightly, almost teasingly, felt strange to her own ears.
Cha Kyung waited a beat before he spoke. During that brief silence, the tips of his ears flushed completely red.
“No.”
Cha Kyung slowly lifted his head.
“I want to be your protector.”
It was what Do-ah had said in the elevator, just before consciousness slipped away. You’re my protector.
Cha Kyung was speaking those words back to her now.
“Cha Kyung.”
“Yes.”
“Do you really want to…….”
As her voice caught, Cha Kyung lifted the ring and slid it onto Do-ah’s left ring finger.
His trembling traveled through her fingertips. A man who’d never trembled his whole life was trembling now.
The ring settled into place. Cha Kyung rose to his feet.
“……It’s warm.”
Those were odd first words to speak before a woman who’d just accepted his proposal, but Do-ah understood what he meant.
This cold metal now resting on her finger felt, for the first time, like something alive with warmth.
Cha Kyung’s gaze lowered to the keyring case still held in Do-ah’s hand.
“There’s an NFC chip in that keyring. Once we find a place, I’ll register it with the smart lock.”
“Before we’re even married, you’re talking about finding a home?”
“The order doesn’t matter.”
Cha Kyung looked down at Do-ah quietly.
“The result is the same.”
Do-ah stood with the glass bead keyring in one hand and a ring barely warmed by his touch in the other.
Months ago, she had been someone’s lucky charm. That fact had hurt her for a long time. But not anymore.
‘I’ve become not someone’s talisman, but someone’s person.’
Cha Kyung removed his coat and draped it over Do-ah’s shoulders.
At the end of the alley, the night wind stirred once, and the four-leaf clover inside the glass sphere gleamed quietly in her palm.
<The Perfect Lover> Complete

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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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