Chapter 67
67. Exposure
2023.07.06.
8 AM.
So-eun's body wriggled inside the blanket.
Trying to pull her body out, So-eun couldn't get the blanket off, so she pulled it down like taking off a dress and crawled out.
What is this?
The blanket looked like the shed skin of a pupa, and she looked closer to find a hair tie tied to the end. Tae-joon had wrapped So-eun in the blanket like rolling kimbap and secured the end with a hair tie. To keep it from unraveling. He seemed worried that So-eun, who had fallen asleep without clothes, would get cold.
So-eun laughed happily and untied the hair tie from the blanket. There was a small memo attached to the hair tie. The chic word "Gift" was cool.
I said I liked people with nice handwriting, so he's appealing to me like this.
It did feel chilly coming out of the blanket. She had come straight to Tae-joon's house from work yesterday, so she hadn't brought anything. So-eun tied her hair with the hair tie Tae-joon had given her and went straight to the dressing room. She remembered Tae-joon saying in her sleep last night that she could take out any clothes from the dressing room.
Most of the clothes filling the dressing room, which was bigger than her studio apartment, seemed new. She thought he wouldn't notice if a few went missing. So-eun picked up a T-shirt from the top shelf of the dresser where T-shirts were stacked. She liked the generous size that covered her hips.
After a quick wash and change, So-eun went out of the bedroom and found Tae-joon's trace again in the kitchen. There was packaged food on the table with a note from Tae-joon on top.
- I'm going for a workout. Eat breakfast first if you're hungry.
So-eun smiled again at the carefully written handwriting.
She had woken up relatively early, but she couldn't beat Director Kim Tae-joon, who had already gone out to exercise. A day has 24 hours, but Tae-joon's day seemed to have 32 hours.
The delivered soup was cold, so So-eun had something to do. So-eun took out a pot and warmed the soup. It was Beef and perilla seed taro soup, with a thick white broth. As the savory smell of the soup spread, So-eun felt like she was setting up a newlywed home. She hummed a tune without realizing it.
Tae-joon, who had finished his workout and returned home, followed So-eun's voice, quietly moving his steps. It was the first time he had heard Han So-eun humming.
He didn't want to make a sound and interrupt her excitement, but he almost burst out laughing at the sight of So-eun standing in front of the kitchen induction stove, warming something.
Out of all the clothes, she picked out a white T-shirt. Sexily.
And she's wearing my old underwear as shorts, I wonder where she found them.
I felt bad because I seemed to have bothered her a lot last night, but is she okay today? She seems to be in a good mood, humming.
Just looking at her made him feel good, so he just stood there blankly when So-eun turned around.
"Oh. When did you get here?"
"Just now."
Tae-joon answered and approached her. He wanted to hug her right away, but he had just come back from exercising and was sweaty, so he had to keep his distance.
"You found clothes well."
"Does it look weird?"
"No. I like it."
You like trash like me.
"Why are you smiling?"
"Nothing."
"What were you thinking?"
"It's lewd, should I tell you now?"
"No."
So-eun, who had been shining her eyes as if interested, quickly changed her expression at Tae-joon's answer. Tae-joon found it even more amusing when she became serious.
"Then should I tell you later?"
"No. I don't think I need to hear it."
"Suddenly I want to tell you so much."
"Oh, by the way. Are you preparing to punish Yang Hee-wook now?"
"Look at you changing the subject. So cute."
"No, I'm serious."
Tae-joon laughed for a moment before he could answer, amused by So-eun's sudden seriousness after being so playful.
"I can't just let it go. Yang Hee-wook and Kim Mal-hee."
"……."
"I have to get back what was stolen."
So-eun waved her hand at Tae-joon's strong assertion.
"No. It's okay if it's because of me. If Yang Hee-wook did something wrong, the wrong should be corrected, but there's no need to retaliate. If it's about my work, please forget about it, Director."
"How can I forget that? A part of Han So-eun is there."
"Whether it's a liver or a heart, if you've already given it to someone else, it's not mine anymore."
"……."
"So it's okay. I'm really okay."
Generosity and understanding are Han So-eun's strengths. But too much is also a problem. This harsh world doesn't lead forgiveness to reconciliation.
Tae-joon wanted to give her a stern warning, but he didn't want to argue again so soon after recovering their relationship, so he kept his mouth shut.
So-eun noticed him being cautious first.
"You're thinking now, aren't you? Han So-eun is an idiot, an idiot, like that."
"No. I wasn't thinking anything."
"I can see it all in your eyes?"
"No? No?"
So-eun didn't get angry or upset. Instead, she smiled slightly.
"I know too. That I was really stupid."
So-eun knew herself well. Her personality of not being able to say a word when a situation arose and regretting it several times later. That foolishness. But.
"But what can I do? I have to live with this me for the rest of my life."
That's how she was able to protect her twenty-seven years. A me that I protected without being stained by anything. It's not that I'm too kind, as Choi Hyun-ji said, but still, a me that steadily goes my way.
"Talking like this makes it sound like I'm looking down on myself. It's not that, it's just that I'm afraid no one will love me if I don't love myself, but I love myself a lot."
So-eun loved herself like that.
"If I don't love myself, I'll just be intimidated that no one will love me, but I love myself immensely."
She liked that she could make this confession now. She liked that she could tell someone who could understand her that she loved herself this much.
So-eun thought she was happy enough as it was.
"Anyone can get into a car accident in life. If I think of it that way, it's enough. I had a bad car accident and had surgery, but the surgery went well and I recovered completely. And I'm proud that I did one good thing unlike the car accident. So I'm okay. I'm not tied to it anymore."
The moment she finished speaking, the soup in the pot boiled. Before So-eun could reach out, Tae-joon reached out his long arm and pressed the power switch on the induction stove. The other hand that had been holding her waist went up her smooth back and touched her hair. The hair tie he had given her came loose as if it were his own.
"I need to shower."
"……."
"Let's go together. I'll wash your hair."
The raw, sweaty smell he brought in penetrated the loosely worn T-shirt.
*
Tae-joon prepared a space for So-eun in one corner of the dressing room. He decided that he should have clothes ready in case she suddenly visited his house naked like this weekend. He ordered them in the morning and received them in the afternoon, but there were more clothes than he thought, so So-eun shook her head.
I only need one or two T-shirts, underwear, and pants to wear on the weekend.
"They're all summer clothes."
"We can buy fall clothes again."
"No, summer is almost over, you bought too much."
"You can wear them next year."
Tae-joon answered nonchalantly.
What will we be doing next year? Will we still like each other as much as we do now?
So-eun was full of thoughts, but Tae-joon was next to her, emptying the closet and joking that he could empty the entire dressing room.
Underwear caught on So-eun's fingertips as she was organizing the clothes. While she was thinking about what to do with it, the cell phone she had placed next to her rang. It was a call from an unsaved number.
"Hello."
[Hello, is this Assistant Manager Han So-eun?]
A woman whose voice she didn't recognize asked cautiously.
"Yes. This is she. Who is this?"
[This is An Jae-young from the reception team.]
"Ah, yes, yes."
She was a veteran employee of the reception team. They didn't know each other well, but they had greeted each other in passing.
[Assistant Manager, have you ever been on 'Blahblah'?]
"Huh? No."
[Would you mind going on there? There's a post that was uploaded. I'll send you the title of the post in a message.]
Jae-young's call ended quickly. So-eun stared blankly at the phone screen when Tae-joon asked with interest.
"Who is it?"
"It's a company employee. She told me to go on Blahblah."
Blahblah was a bulletin board-only site famous as an anonymous community for office workers. It was a community where members' identities could be 100% guaranteed because only company email addresses could be used to sign up.
A message arrived shortly after. The title Jae-young had sent was provocative in itself.
<Funny Femme fatale Employee in Central Headquarters>
So-eun's lips dried up.
Has my relationship with the director been exposed? Did someone recognize me?
"What is it?"
Tae-joon stopped what he was doing and sat next to her. So-eun turned her body to the other side without realizing it. She didn't want him to see the post. Her fingertips trembled as she searched for and clicked on the Blahblah app. It was easy to find the post Jae-young had told her about. The post had an overwhelmingly high number of views on the bulletin board.
So-eun swallowed hard and clicked on the title.
So-eun was horrified by the continuous text that started with 'Employee who took a month off in April from Central Headquarters'. It wasn't what she had expected, but she couldn't help but be surprised.
"Employee who took a month off in April from Central Headquarters. She lied about going on a trip abroad and was hospitalized? Turns out she donated a kidney to her boyfriend's mom. If you only know this much, isn't it a touching story?
But guess what, she dumped her boyfriend when he asked her to marry him, and asked for alimony?
Turns out she had another boyfriend. The guy's family is pretty well-off, so she donated a kidney to extort money. There are such terrible Femme fatales in the world. Everyone should be careful."
Tae-joon snatched So-eun's phone. His eyes lost their balance and began to shake when he had read a few lines, and then the phone vibrated again.
So-eun took her phone back from Tae-joon and answered the call.
[Assistant Manager, did you read it?]
"Yes."
[Is this about you, Assistant Manager?]
So-eun couldn't answer. Her heart fluttered as if it had become a single sheet of paper.
Jae-young's rough sigh could be heard over the receiver.
[Actually, I also took a month off in April. I really went on a trip to Europe, but I got calls from a few colleagues because of this post. Do you have any idea who posted this?]
"No. I have no idea……."
[So this story is true?]
