Unhealthy - Chapter 42

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 42. Bad Deed

Perhaps Gi Jae-jun had even resorted to the despicable means of selling himself out to preserve his worthless life.

“Jae-jun oppa? Why would he suddenly leave the country in the middle of the semester…”

Hae-yeong’s lips parted with a thin tremor as she continued speaking.

Her eyes wavered, unable to find their bearings as she faced an ominous premonition head-on.

Among the cold men of the Gi Family, Jae-jun was the only one who had ever smiled at Hae-yeong, so it was natural that she didn’t want to make negative assumptions.

Wasn’t Jae-jun the one who would silently approach and pat her shoulder with gentle words whenever Taejun pushed her away cold as ice?

Though there were times when she felt uncomfortable when he was excessively persistent with her, it was also true that she felt pity when he seemed sad about his ambiguous position within the family, drifting on the outskirts with his inherent deficiencies.

She had long kept in her heart his casual words: “You’re also living in an unfamiliar place like me, so let’s be each other’s support.”

“It’s not what I’m thinking… right?”

She had also assumed that his reason for bringing up marriage was to sacrifice herself to smooth over the many uncomfortable situations that would arise if Taejun went through with marriage, whether he wanted to or not.

She knew that such speculation was meaningless now, but even so, Hae-yeong had naively believed him completely.

Even the kindness and quiet consideration shown to her. Not knowing it was all calculated acting.

Taejun’s eyes were cruelly calm. It didn’t take long to realize that this silence was the truth.

***

The car was now entering the vicinity of Nagano Prefecture, Ueda.

It was a time when the campus, with final exams just around the corner, would be overflowing with vitality from the mixed excitement of semester’s end and exam pressure, but Hae-yeong was now standing under the deep blue-green foliage of an unfamiliar foreign land, not in a classroom.

Though quite a long time had passed from preparing and leaving the house for the airport, then boarding the plane and arriving, the two hadn’t exchanged any meaningful conversation during that time.

Though no words were exchanged, Hae-yeong held tightly to Taejun’s hand as if it were a mirage that would disappear if she let go.

The air was particularly humid and sticky, as if announcing the start of the rainy season.

The wind that came down along the mountain range flowed lukewarmly, carrying the heat of the day.

The earthy smell after rain strangely calmed one’s heart.

Perhaps thinking she would need rest after the long journey, Taejun suddenly took off his suit jacket and draped it over Hae-yeong’s shoulders when he stopped the car at a rest area just before arriving at where his aunt was staying.

Startled by the sudden touch for only a moment, Hae-yeong’s heart raced uncontrollably.

This was because she painfully realized that this thoughtful consideration was actually meticulous preparation for a perfect farewell.

“You don’t need to do this much for me.”

Though Hae-yeong murmured quietly, Taejun gave no particular response and simply pulled the jacket lapels together tightly, then took out a candy from his pocket and placed it in her hand.

“It’s chilly. What would you do if you caught a cold?”

“Then what about you, oppa? What would you do if you caught a cold?”

Taejun’s deeply embedded scent from the jacket softly wrapped around her body.

Even in the humid moisture of early summer, the sensation of his fragrance heavily intertwining wasn’t unpleasant, so Hae-yeong hugged the jacket tightly as if it were Taejun himself.

“If I catch one, I catch one.”

As she looked resentfully at Taejun who spoke as if it were someone else’s business, he brushed Hae-yeong’s hair that was swaying in the breeze behind her ear before taking a step back.

His touch as he brushed over her shoulders and adjusted the jacket lapels was excessively precise, feeling like a final ritual to fill up with warmth that could never be touched again.

He took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth like someone who had finished his task.

His back as he went to a spot far from her and lit the filter looked unfamiliar.

Hae-yeong quietly held her breath as she watched the smoke seeping through Taejun’s teeth disperse.

While he was smoking, Hae-yeong, who had been idly fiddling with the candy wrapper, slowly spoke up.

“Is the cigarette tasty?”

“I just draw it in and burn it. It comes to mind like a habit. I’ve never really thought about whether it’s tasty.”

Taejun exhaled smoke while looking down at the half-consumed cigarette filter.

“Can I try it too?”

“…”

At the unexpected question, one of Taejun’s eyebrows shot up.

It wasn’t scolding, but Hae-yeong, feeling unnecessarily guilty, quickly added an explanation.

“It’s not anything else… you seem to smoke it tastily. I’m curious too.”

“It’s not even good for your body, what for.”

Hae-yeong, who had been sitting quietly on the bench like an obedient puppy told to wait, approached Taejun’s side.

Then he reflexively lowered the cigarette from which smoke was billowing up. As a result, the cigarette smoke didn’t reach Hae-yeong who had come close.

“There’s nothing I can’t do. I’m an adult too.”

Taejun was always bewildered whenever Hae-yeong made such impulsive provocations.

He knew she was already an adult capable of taking care of herself and old enough to take full responsibility for and judge her own actions, yet somehow he was still treating her like a child as when they first met.

“Right, there’s nothing you can’t do.”

After rolling around thoroughly with an older man like him, what’s the big deal about smoking?

Taejun reached his hand toward Hae-yeong’s chest. She flinched her shoulders in surprise.

Looking at her reaction, he chuckled meaninglessly and then took out a cigarette case from the inner pocket of his jacket that she was wearing.

Though he knew that stubbing out the cigarette he was smoking would look somewhat delinquent, he didn’t particularly care and opened the case to take out one pure white cigarette.

When he handed it over, Hae-yeong’s eyes widened. He placed the cigarette between the fingers of her who was acting like a wet puppy after being so bold when charging in.

Taejun straightened Hae-yeong’s stiff hand to fix her posture and brought it to her lips.

“Hold it in your mouth.”

When he whispered quietly as if teaching the next step, Hae-yeong’s neat teeth clumsily bit the cigarette.

Next, he took out a lighter and opened the lid, producing a curved flame with a clicking sound.

Since she was just obediently holding it in her mouth when told to hold it, Taejun found it cute and couldn’t help but pull the cigarette from her mouth and put it in his own.

Then he sucked hard enough to hollow his cheeks and held the flame to it, making a sizzling sound as smoke rose.

Taejun put the lit cigarette back in Hae-yeong’s mouth and quietly watched her actions.

Hae-yeong, who inhaled deeply as if testing her lung capacity, immediately broke into a spicy coughing fit without even a second’s reprieve.

“Ugh, gasp.”

Taejun snatched the cigarette from Hae-yeong’s hand as she suffered with tears flowing and furrowed his brow.

“See, why do something you’ve never done before.”

“Cough, ugh.”

“Are you okay?”

Hae-yeong shook her head while continuing to cough lightly.

“Really, you don’t look the type but you try to do all sorts of bad things.”

Taejun forcibly swallowed the curse that unconsciously slipped out.

“I was thinking of the subtle scent when kissing with oppa… and thought I’d learn it. So I could smoke it when I miss you.”

After hearing this unexpected reason, he could understand why Hae-yeong had suddenly become interested in smoking.

Wasn’t Hae-yeong someone who particularly liked pressing their lips together during sex?

Of course, he had never thought about smoking before meeting Hae-yeong, but he had constantly worried about whether any lingering scent might remain, though that seemed insufficient.

While thinking it was time to quit smoking, he also found it amusing that Hae-yeong’s reason for wanting to smoke was so very Hae-yeong-like.

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