The Woman Who Stole My Flower
Chapter 16
Chapter 16
#16.
“What? What did I do?”
Jooheon let out an incredulous, hollow laugh.
Well now, what exactly did Jung Yeon-seo do that night?
[Then could you hold me?]
Naturally, he had taken that to mean she wanted to sleep together. He had immediately taken her hand and brought her home, and she hadn’t refused.
As they clung to each other, kissing and tasting every inch of skin, he had been so aroused he felt like he would lose his mind. He had always thought those comic scenes where someone got a nosebleed from arousal were total lies. When every drop of blood in his body was rushing straight down below the belt, where would there even be any blood left for a nosebleed?
He had wanted to push her down and make her his this very second. No—he wanted to become hers.
The problem was that Yeon-seo was drunk. He simply couldn’t bring himself to sleep with a woman in that state. She was far too precious to him for that. In the end, after spending a long time innocently nipping at her neck, he felt he couldn’t hold back any longer, so he had just pulled her into a tight embrace.
[Let’s sleep.]
When they woke up, she’d be sober. Then he could properly confess his love to her and hold her.
Yet the drunkard kept pestering him, utterly oblivious to his turmoil.
[Why aren’t we doing it? You said I was pretty, didn’t you?]
[You’re drunk. Let’s not start things like this.]
Somehow soothing the whining woman and holding her close in his arms, he had whispered the confession he had held in for ten years.
[It’s only ever been you since I was eighteen.]
Thump, thump, thump. Perhaps his sincerity had gotten through alongside the heartbeat pounding as if he had just played a full ninety-minute match. The woman who had been stubbornly throwing a tantrum to do it right that second finally settled down. Resting her head against his chest, she murmured.
[……Then I want to like you too.]
With just that one sentence, Jooheon felt as though he possessed the entire world. How could a person possibly be this happy? Winning trophies in various tournaments had never felt anything like this. Even winning the World Cup or receiving the Ballon d’Or wouldn’t compare to how he felt right then.
And yet.
After saying all that, what did Jung Yeon-seo do the next morning? Without leaving so much as a single note, she had simply run away.
The only reason Jooheon hadn’t gone mad back then was because, this time, he knew her name. As long as he had her name, he would find her somehow.
And what did she say when they met again after that?
[I’d like us to just treat it as a one-night mistake and forget about it.]
And after saying that, she got drunk again last night, stubbornly clinging to him and asking him to hold her. Then today, looking at him with the face of a total stranger, she said it was a mistake and that she was sorry.
As if being sorry makes everything okay!
Not once, but twice!
Jooheon thought she was being absolute trash. If he followed his temper, he wanted to throw his first love and everything else out the window. But……
“She’s too pretty…….”
He cradled his forehead in his hand, groaning miserably.
He found her utterly exasperating. He wanted to cut her off coldly and forget all about her, telling her that night was just a mistake and that he had zero interest in someone like her.
The problem was, she was pretty—far too pretty. Even earlier, watching her walk in while frantically reading his mood had made his heart feel like it would explode. If there were a contest for the prettiest woman the morning after drinking, she’d easily take first place in the world.
Yesterday had been the same. Amid everyone made up to the nines and dressed up, Yeon-seo, in her bare face and a pair of jeans, was the prettiest of all. And with that lovely face, what was it she had said?
[Does this company belong to you, Manager Sung?]
Like a charging bull, she had butted heads with her superior.
[We’re equally members of the Public Relations Office, and we work just as hard with pride in Bellator’s name. So I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t look at us with such disdain.]
With her face tense with nerves, her small lips had clearly articulated every single word she wanted to say, and Jooheon hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her the whole time. For the first time, he realized you could fall even deeper in love with someone you were already head over heels for.
She was pretty, yet brave, and on top of being brave, she had the heart of an angel. She was the woman who, feeling sorry for a high school player running on an empty stomach without even a snack, had packed lunchboxes for him. How on earth was he supposed to forget a woman like that?
Jooheon belatedly regretted coming to this company. He had chased after her out of sheer stubborn pride when she told him to treat it as a one-night mistake and forget about it, but it had only solidified his conviction that if it wasn’t her, it could never be anyone else.
[Then what do you want from me?]
What Jooheon wanted from Yeon-seo was clear. He wanted her to keep the promise she had made that night.
The promise that they would do it when they opened their eyes in the morning.
The promise that they would start things properly and beautifully, while completely sober.
The promise that she would like him too.
……But even if I tell you, you won’t keep it anyway.
His true feelings had almost spilled out, forcing him to hurry and send her away with the excuse of talking tomorrow.
“Please stop being so pretty, you’re driving me insane…….”
To anyone listening, it would sound like the words of a madman, yet he murmured them with absolute sincerity.
*
Until Kang Joo-heon finished his afternoon shift and clocked out, Yeon-seo sat outside at the secretary’s desk, barely daring to breathe.
[Have a good evening, Director. I’ll see you tomorrow.]
As he left the office, he didn’t spare so much as a glance at Yeon-seo as she said goodbye. Being ignored was only natural, Yeon-seo thought. After all, look at what she had done.
No matter how hard she racked her brain, that single moment was all she could remember; nothing else came back to her. But even that was more than enough to realize just what an outrageous thing she had done.
[If I told you, would you even believe me?]
Now she understood why he had said that earlier. If the memory hadn’t come back on its own, she never would have believed him no matter what he said. She had no idea how her sanity had derailed, but the one who had begged Kang Joo-heon to sleep together was definitely Yeon-seo.
[I want to do it right now!]
When he had actually been the one soothing her, saying they shouldn’t do this and to wait until she sobered up!
After aggressively jumping him and taking his purity, she had claimed not to remember a thing and even confronted him demanding to know what she had done—how utterly appalled must he have been? She wouldn’t have any right to complain even if he called her a scoundrel.
Downcast, Yeon-seo left work and returned home.
“Dad. You know, I did something wrong to someone at work.”
As she did the dishes like she always did, Yeon-seo asked her dad.
“What did you do?”
“It’s just… something like that. Anyway, he’s really angry with me…… and I don’t know what I should do.”
“Was he deeply hurt?”
“I think so.”
Yeon-seo recalled what Kang Joo-heon’s manager had said on the phone before. He mentioned there was a woman Joo-heon hadn’t been able to forget for a long time. His first love, was it? Then he had surely saved his purity for that woman, only for Yeon-seo to barge in out of nowhere and ruin it all.
“He’s not someone who’ll stay at the company for long anyway. Should I just pretend nothing happened?”
The thought crossed her mind. Should she just pretend she didn’t remember anything and push ahead with ‘What did I even do?’ It wasn’t like she could do anything to fix it just because she remembered, right?
But at Yeon-seo’s words, her dad shook his head with a serious expression.
“I don’t know what it is, but if you did wrong, you have to apologize sincerely and find some way to make up for it.”
“There’s no way to make up for it, though…….”
Yeon-seo had at least a shred of conscience. She didn’t want to play dumb after stealing the purity of none other than South Korea’s most famous virgin. If she hadn’t remembered, that would be one thing, but now that she did, she felt she’d never be able to sleep peacefully for the rest of her life unless she took responsibility somehow.
Yet no matter how hard she thought, there was no way she could take responsibility. What on earth could she possibly do for the great Kang Joo-heon? Yeon-seo wanted to cry.
“You still have to think about it. There must be something that could help him, even just a little.”
Her dad looked at Yeon-seo intently.
“It’s easy to hurt someone. It’s easy to pretend you don’t know and run away, too.”
His gaze seemed to say, That’s not how I raised you.
“But Dad hopes his daughter won’t do that.”
Her father, having endured every hurt the world had to offer due to his physical disability, had raised his beloved only daughter that way. To go through life without hurting others. And if there was someone who had been hurt, to be the first one to embrace them.
If I don’t run away and pretend not to know, then what can I do? For a man who has everything in the world, what on earth could I possibly do……
“Ah!”
The moment something crossed her mind, Yeon-seo’s eyes widened.
*
The next day, Jooheon arrived at work in the afternoon as well. As if he had just finished training, he was dressed in a suit, but his hair was still slightly damp.
“Good afternoon, Director.”
Sure enough, today he didn’t even bother acknowledging Yeon-seo’s greeting, walking straight into his office. But Yeon-seo had already made up her mind.
“Director, excuse me for a moment.”
