YJHT 10

Chapter 10

“What?!”

— I bought some bread. I was going to leave it at your door if you weren’t home, but I thought I should see you before I go.

“Wait, Yoon Seul. Today, I’m feeling a little—”

— I’m in the elevator, so the signal is cutting out.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The call ended.

Tae-kyung immediately sprang to his feet.

“Min Yoon Seul is here?”

Sara’s mind went completely blank in panic.

I can’t let her find out yet… What should I do?

Tae-kyung hurriedly picked up Sara’s bag and clothes and shoved them into her hands.

“What are we going to do?! If she’s in the elevator, we’re definitely going to run into her.”

“Hide first.”

“Where am I supposed to hide in this tiny little officetel?”

They looked around frantically, but the only possible hiding place was the built-in wardrobe beside the bed.

“Oh, I hate this.”

“We don’t have a choice. If you don’t want to get caught, move.”

“I said I don’t want to!”

Sara wanted to keep arguing, but the sound of the doorbell ringing reached her ears.

She hurriedly squeezed herself into the cramped wardrobe.

Ding-dong.

Yoon Seul pressed the doorbell with a relaxed, leisurely smile on her lips.

From inside came a series of loud crashes, as though a war were breaking out.

A moment later, Tae-kyung opened the door with beads of sweat on his forehead and awkwardly tugged at the hem of his T-shirt.

“Uh, Yoon Seul. You’re here?”

He was dressed in sweatpants and a loose T-shirt, perfectly normal attire for staying at home.

But he couldn’t hide his flushed face or heavily disordered breathing.

Yoon Seul calmly held out the shopping bag she had been carrying.

“I wanted to give you this. I stopped by the bakery you like.”

“Oh, uh… Yeah. Thanks.”

Tae-kyung’s eyes widened as he took the shopping bag.

Yoon Seul looked completely different from usual.

Her hair, which she normally tied tightly back, had been styled in large waves, and her makeup made her face look as fresh and vibrant as spring flowers.

Instead of her usual hoodie, she was wearing a bright, dress-like suit.

Were her eyes always this big and clear?

Maybe it was the shape of her eyebrows that made her look so dull and stuffy.

Her forehead is really nicely shaped, too.

Were her lips always that full? They look like they’d be nice to bite. How did I never notice?

We’d kissed before, but I can’t even remember what they felt like.

I’ve never even kissed her properly, using protecting her as an excuse, but if she looked like this every day…

“Why are you looking at me like that, Tae-kyung?”

“Ah, I was just surprised. What’s with you today? Did you go somewhere?”

“Oh, it’s nothing like that. This is what I wore to the awards ceremony. I wanted to show you. Does it look strange?”

“Huh? No. Not at all.”

She should dress like this more often.

Tae-kyung was practically dazed by Yoon Seul’s transformed appearance.

If Sara hadn’t been there, he would have showered her with endless compliments.

Just then, Yoon Seul smiled sweetly at him and stepped inside.

“Can I use your bathroom for a moment?”

“Huh? Oh… Of course. Make yourself comfortable.”

Tae-kyung answered with a grin, then immediately realized his mistake and hurriedly started thinking.

I need to get Sara out while she’s in the bathroom.

But as though she had read his mind, Yoon Seul grasped the doorknob and said with a shy smile,

“I’m just going to wash my hands.”

Oh, shit!

His plan to secretly get Sara out had collapsed.

Yoon Seul really did nothing more than wash her hands under the running water before coming back out.

This is driving me crazy.

A bead of cold sweat ran down Tae-kyung’s back.

Yoon Seul smiled and took a seat on the living-room sofa.

Tae-kyung sat beside her, pretending to be calm, but every nerve in his body was on edge.

“Yoon Seul, why don’t we go out? You’re all dressed up today, so let’s go somewhere nice and have a date.”

“I like your place, Tae-kyung. I don’t want to go out.”

“Really?”

He needed to get her out of there as quickly as possible, but Yoon Seul, who was normally so easygoing and obedient, was unusually stubborn today.

“Tae-kyung, could you give me a glass of something cold to drink?”

“Sure. Just a moment.”

The moment Tae-kyung turned his back toward the sink, Yoon Seul’s gaze shifted straight ahead.

Since it was a studio-style officetel, the bed and built-in wardrobe were both clearly visible from the sofa.

She’s probably trapped inside that tiny wardrobe.

Yoon Seul had already confirmed that Sara was here using a location-tracking app.

Recently, she had remembered how Tae-kyung had appeared wherever she went in her previous life, making her believe they were destined to be together.

So she had thoroughly searched through the apps installed on her phone.

That’s when she discovered the location-tracking app.

But there was something even more outrageous.

[Min Sara, Min Jung-hee, Woo Tae-kyung]

The moment she saw the names of those two people sitting openly on her friends list alongside Tae-kyung, she had been utterly dumbfounded.

They had been monitoring her every move.

Now it was time to return the favor.

Your legs must be getting numb, Sister.

Just imagining Sara crouched inside that wardrobe, holding herself tightly together and barely daring to breathe, sent a thrilling sense of satisfaction rising from the depths of Yoon Seul’s chest.

Meanwhile, Tae-kyung brought over some chilled herbal tea.

“Tae-kyung, this tea is really good.”

“It tastes even better with the bread you brought.”

“Right? Sara unni actually recommended this bakery to me because she said the bread here was delicious.”

“Cough. Wh-What? Sara?”

Tae-kyung choked in surprise, his face turning bright red.

Yoon Seul enjoyed the sight and slowly set down her cup.

After that, Yoon Seul deliberately asked one meaningless question after another, leisurely dragging out the time.

She didn’t want to look at Woo Tae-kyung’s face for even a single second, but thinking about Sara sweating profusely inside the wardrobe made this little bit of boredom more than bearable.

As time passed, Tae-kyung became visibly more anxious.

He’s worried about Min Sara.

But he can’t exactly force me out.

You’re going crazy, aren’t you?

Apparently unable to take it any longer, Tae-kyung cautiously offered an excuse.

“Yoon Seul, actually, I had a company dinner yesterday. Maybe that’s why I’m tired and not feeling very well today.”

“Oh, really?”

Yoon Seul deliberately put on a cold expression.

At her chilly response, Tae-kyung unconsciously swallowed hard.

“Are you… upset?”

“Not exactly. I just suddenly started wondering whether Tae-kyung really wants to marry me.”

The moment marriage came up, Tae-kyung’s heart sank.

He was already unsettled because his proposal had been rejected, and he couldn’t afford to lose any more points with Yoon Seul.

We’re only getting married. Of course, you’re going to live with me. You can just tell her your company transferred you overseas as an expatriate. If you can sweet-talk her properly, we’ll never have to worry about money for the rest of our lives.

From Tae-kyung’s perspective, there was nothing to lose.

He had seduced an innocent young woman who had no idea that she had an incredibly wealthy father and had even gotten her to promise to marry him.

He had thought they were almost there.

But ever since she rejected his proposal, he had the feeling that things were starting to go wrong.

I need to keep my head in the game.

Tae-kyung moved closer and took Yoon Seul’s hand.

“What are you saying all of a sudden? Of course I want to marry my Seul-ie. You’re the only one for me.”

“When I look at your actions, it doesn’t seem that way.”

“Is it because I said I’m tired? That’s because I only want to show you my best and most perfect side. I didn’t want to look tired and worn out in front of you. I want to look good for you.”

His hastily cobbled-together excuse was so pathetic that Yoon Seul nearly burst out laughing.

Instead, Yoon Seul put on the innocent expression of a woman who loved him more than anyone else in the world.

“I think you look more than handsome enough even now. Then… can I stay a little longer?”

Faced with Yoon Seul’s pure smile, Tae-kyung couldn’t bring himself to tell her to leave.

He was worried about Sara inside the wardrobe, but for now, he had to focus completely on Yoon Seul and win her favor.

“Of course! Absolutely. Stay as long as you want, for as long as our Seul-ie wants.”

That’s what Tae-kyung said.

But apparently, things were different on the other side.

Thump.

A dull noise came from inside the built-in wardrobe, as though Sara had finally reached her limit.

“Huh? What was that?”

Yoon Seul tilted her head and deliberately looked toward the bed.

Startled, Tae-kyung immediately jumped to his feet and hurriedly exclaimed,

“Oh! The walls here are thin, so there’s a lot of noise between floors. Someone upstairs must have dropped something.”

“It sounded like it came from over there, not upstairs.”

When Yoon Seul stood up, Tae-kyung awkwardly stepped in front of her.

“Why? Are you hiding something?”

“No. Of course not. Why would I be?”

Yoon Seul walked past Tae-kyung, whose body had gone stiff, and stopped in front of the bed.

“There’s nothing there. I guess it came from next door.”

“Oh, is that it?”

Just as Tae-kyung relaxed, believing that Yoon Seul had dropped her suspicion—

Yoon Seul’s hand firmly grasped the wardrobe handle.

“No, it isn’t. The sound came from here.”

There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in Yoon Seul’s hand as she yanked the door open.