The Woman Who Stole My Flower
Chapter 12
Chapter 12
#12.
“Everyone else is watching you, so there’s no reason I have to as well.”
Yeon-seo genuinely thought so. When the whole nation was cheering him on, why did she need to root for him too?
“Look at the team dinner earlier. Didn’t you see how dressed up everyone else was?”
Yeon-seo looked down at her outfit. A sweatshirt and jeans. Perfectly fine, in her opinion.
“If everyone else dressed nicely, that should be enough. Why do I have to?”
“That’s what I mean—why are you the only one who doesn’t care about me!”
His face looked as if he was beyond bewildered, practically bursting with frustration. But to Yeon-seo, it was a very simple matter.
“You’re very popular, Director. You have so many people cheering for you and so many people who like you, even without me. You don’t really need my attention.”
Just then, a black deluxe taxi glided up and stopped in front of them.
“Get in first.”
Joo-heon pushed Yeon-seo into the back seat and climbed in beside her. The moment she got in, a wave of warm air enveloped her. As the plush seats comfortably supported her weary body, drowsiness washed over her all at once.
“What’s your address?”
“123… XX-dong…”
Yeon-seo answered, already beginning to nod off.
“Yes, General Manager. It’s me.”
She faintly heard his voice on the phone beside her.
“No need to hire someone new. Just assign someone from the existing CSR team.”
What was he saying they didn’t need to hire…?
“Yes. If they’re older than me, giving orders might be a bit uncomfortable.”
What was he talking about…?
“Since I have training every morning, I won’t come into the office until the afternoon. During the mornings, they can just handle their regular duties.”
Using the incomprehensible phone conversation as a lullaby, she drifted in and out of a drunken, hazy doze until she felt a hand shaking her shoulder.
“We’re here. Wake up.”
Yeon-seo blinked her eyes open with a start. Outside the window, a familiar sign caught her eye. Oh, we’re home.
“Did we come to the wrong place? There isn’t a house in sight.”
Joo-heon, having followed Yeon-seo out of the taxi, looked around.
“It’s here.”
Yeon-seo pointed at the shop.
“Here? You mean this shop is your house?”
Looking at the dark, weathered snack bar, he wore a bewildered expression.
“Yes, my house. Matna Snack Bar. The gimbap is super delicious.”
Slipping in a quick plug for the shop, Yeon-seo bowed deeply from the waist.
“Well then, goood night.”
The scene she had caused at the team dinner and what she had done to Joo-heon were already completely gone from her mind. Right now, her only thought was to get inside quickly and collapse.
*
After sending Yeon-seo inside, Joo-heon didn’t leave, standing outside for a long time staring at her house.
‘Matna Snack Bar’
Just how old was this sign? Some of the plastic letters forming the shop’s name had fallen off, leaving behind sticky, stubborn traces of glue in their place. On the equally aged frosted glass window, the menu items were spelled out one by one in faded colored tape: Ramyeon, Gimbap, Eomuk.
“She was a snack bar owner’s daughter?”
Joo-heon gave a hollow chuckle.
Back then, that was what he had thought. It couldn’t be easy for a girl his age to pack gimbap and bring it every single day. How hard must it have been to prep all those ingredients? He had felt grateful, guilty, and even a little flutter in his heart—wondering if she liked him so much that she was willing to go through such trouble every day.
Yet it turned out she was simply the daughter of a snack bar.
That wasn’t the only deflating realization.
[I’ve been like that since I was little. When someone is hurt, in pain, weak, lonely… my heart just kept going out to them.]
Yeon-seo had said earlier, her voice choked with tears.
‘Did she only want to cheer me on back then because she felt sorry for me, too?’
Thinking that she hadn’t rooted for him as a soccer player, but merely because he was an outcast on the team—a pathetic guy who couldn’t even get any snacks—left an intensely bitter taste in his mouth. Not because she liked the way he played, or was even attracted to his face or his physique…
Looking at the darkened, old snack bar, he let out a deep sigh. What on earth have I been doing for the past ten years?
What he had believed to be support was mere pity.
The woman he believed had been watching him from somewhere hadn’t harbored the slightest shred of interest in him at all.
Now that he knew the truth, he should have shaken it off and moved on, yet even after learning everything, his heart didn’t budge an inch. Like a stubborn bull digging in its hooves no matter how hard its reins were pulled.
[Would you hold me?]
When he heard those words earlier, he had been genuinely angry. Was she going to pull this and then face him tomorrow morning with an innocent look, asking, What did I even do?
Yet holding that small body clinging to him so desperately, foolishly enough, made his chest ache with tenderness. I was so scared. It was so hard. Her trembling, delicate shoulders seemed to whisper those words. She hadn’t asked him for anything, yet he found himself naturally wanting to give her everything. If Yeon-seo had asked at that moment, he would have jumped into a blazing fire for her.
On that night when she had been incomparably more drunk than today, she had said the exact same words.
[Then would you hold me?]
Back then, he had naturally assumed she wanted to sleep with him. But thinking about it now, wasn’t what she truly needed comfort?
‘Was she having such a hard time that night too, just like today?’
Just what had happened to make her ask a complete stranger to hold her like that?
It was a relief that he was the one beside her both times; what would have happened if it had been some other guy? Joo-heon resolved that he would never let her drink alcohol again.
[Hojin-hyung] Joo-heon, where on earth are you and why aren’t you answering your phone? Are you okay?
His manager urged him with messages.
Giving the snack bar sign one last glare, Joo-heon turned around.
See you tomorrow, pretty trash.
*
Waking up in the morning, Yeon-seo clutched her head.
“I should just die…”
This time, she hadn’t blacked out. Every single atrocity she had committed last night was painfully, overly vivid in her memory.
[Does this company belong to you, Manager Sung?]
At a team dinner packed with higher-ups, after headbutting the company’s princess…
[Would you hold me?]
She had inflicted secondary harm onto the victim.
[It’s a ruined body anyway.]
She had even blurted out that outrageous remark.
With each memory surfacing one by one, she felt like throwing herself into the Han River this very second.
‘My drunken habits are no joke…’
She had never gotten drunk in her life, so she had had no idea. While she still couldn’t remember that night, she felt like she could understand why Joo-heon was grinding his teeth at her. Considering what she pulled yesterday, what wouldn’t she have done on that night when she was even more wasted?
‘It’s a relief I don’t remember, honestly.’
As she agonized with her head in her hands, her dad brought out a bowl of freshly made dried pollack soup.
“Is your stomach alright? Come eat a spoonful before you go.”
Out of consideration for her dad’s care, she forced herself to eat, but it felt like chewing on sand. Having committed blatant insubordination in front of everyone yesterday, what kind of retribution was waiting for her?
Seeing Yeon-seo merely picking at her food unlike her usual self, her dad looked worried.
“Is something wrong, sweetheart? What made you drink last night, of all things?”
“No, it was just our first team dinner in a long time. A new executive arrived.”
She pretended everything was fine, but her dad wasn’t one to miss the troubled look on her face.
“Is working at the company really tough on you?”
“Tough? Not at all. Everyone goes to work like this.”
“If it’s really that hard, quit and take a break for a while.”
Yeon-seo gave a smile.
“Business is already slow at the shop. If I quit the company, what will we live on?”
Her dad, however, remained earnest.
“We can break the savings account. If we’re frugal, we can easily hold out for a few months.”
Her heart sank. That savings account was the money they were setting aside for her dad’s lifelong dream: watching Kang Joo-heon play live in England.
“Why would we break that? That’s the money for you and me to go to England later!”
Her dad spoke firmly.
“No matter how much I want to see Kang Joo-heon, he’s not as precious as my daughter.”
Yeon-seo felt a sting of heat in her eyes. The amount gathered in that account was around seven million won. It was money saved over several years, putting away barely two hundred thousand won, a hundred thousand won a month, and sometimes not even being able to manage that much. Money saved with such difficulty, yet her dad was willing to spend it on her…
Yeon-seo picked up her spoon and scooped up a generous portion of rice. Mixing it into the dried pollack soup, she took a big spoonful.
“Dad, I’m really okay. It was just because I drank for the first time in a while yesterday, nothing’s bothering me. Really.”
“Really?”
“I’m telling you, really!”
Chewing bravely with her mouth full of rice and soup, Yeon-seo thought to herself: Nothing is tough. Something like this is nothing. Because in my home, I’m a princess, too.
“I’m off to work!”
Thanks to the dried pollack soup filled with her father’s love, she had regained some of her energy by the time she left the house.
‘If I prostrate myself and apologize, they wouldn’t actually fire me, right?’
