The Woman Who Stole My Flower
Chapter 17
Chapter 17
17.
“Director, excuse me for a moment.”
When she stepped inside without waiting for an answer after knocking, Joo-heon, who was sitting at his desk, retorted gruffly.
“What is it this time?”
Unlike yesterday, Yeon-seo found it difficult to look him straight in the face.
Until now, that night had practically been something that happened, yet hadn’t happened at all to Yeon-seo. She knew with her head that it had occurred, but it didn’t quite register in her heart. However, remembering even a tiny fragment of it changed everything entirely.
I really slept with that man.
The moment that thought crossed her mind, her face burned so intensely red that she could not bring herself to meet his eyes.
[When you sober up. Okay?]
The voice retrieved from her memories kept echoing around her ears. It was completely different from his gruff, seemingly angry tone in reality. It was as if an adult were gently coaxing a petulant, unreasonable lover….
Feeling as though her face would burn right off, Yeon-seo had no choice but to hang her head low and fix her gaze squarely on his desk legs.
“About that night… I’m truly sorry.”
Joo-heon looked at Yeon-seo with a startle.
“What, you remembered?”
“Yes. Though it’s only just one part….”
“What one part?”
“Well, um… the part where I… begged you to sleep with me….”
When she forced out the answer with great difficulty, he let out a scoff of disbelief.
“So you don’t even remember the part that actually mattered.”
Then again, that was true. The main event(?) must have taken place after that. Yeon-seo thought it was rather a relief that she couldn’t remember that part. If she had remembered even that, she might be standing in front of the Han River bridge by now.
“In any case, I’m truly sorry.”
Biting his lower lip firmly, he glared at her.
“Do you think just saying you’re sorry makes everything okay?”
Facing his gaze, which looked as though he didn’t know what to do with his sheer resentment, Yeon-seo declared with solemn resolve.
“Instead, I will take responsibility.”
He flinched visibly as he stared at Yeon-seo.
“…Responsibility?”
“We’re adults. I believe it’s only right that I take responsibility for my actions.”
Yeon-seo bowed her head deeply once more.
“So please, by all means, let me take responsibility.”
Generally speaking, unless they played an indoor sport, athletes were bound to be tanned dark by the sun. Because they sweated so much, their skin condition itself was often poor. Yet by some miracle, Kang Joo-heon naturally possessed fine skin on top of having a fair complexion, leaving cosmetic brand advertisers practically aching over their inability to sign him.
Such a man was visibly turning red, starting little by little from the nape of his neck.
“…….”
While Yeon-seo anxiously waited for an answer, only after a long silence did he mutter abruptly.
“Hmph. I thought you said you didn’t like me.”
She had never said she disliked him. She had only said she hadn’t been interested. It wasn’t as if Kang Joo-heon had borrowed money and run off with it, so why on earth would she dislike him? Yeon-seo protested vigorously.
“Dislike you? I was just too busy making a living to pay proper attention, but do you know how amazing of a player you are?”
Taking the opportunity, she began listing off his achievements one by one on her fingers, reciting them effortlessly.
“You’re the top goal scorer among all Asian players who have ever played in the European leagues! You rank in the top five all-time goal scorers for your team! You’ve been both the league’s top scorer and the Champions League top scorer! You placed an incredible seventh in last year’s Ballon d’Or rankings, and you’re even one of the leading contenders this year! On top of that, you set a record of 100 total career assists after joining the club, and while doing all that, you’ve worked so hard for the national team that you’re on the verge of your 100th international cap!”
The only reason she knew all this was because of her dad. She had heard it until her ears wore out, leaving her no choice but to memorize it whether she liked it or not.
“For someone as incredible as you, for me to… well….”
Struggling to find the right words as her face suddenly flared hot, she boldly skipped that part.
“I consider it an h-honor.”
Yeon-seo added once more in earnest pleading.
“So please, let me take responsibility!”
This was the decision she had reached after talking with her dad yesterday. If she had caused trouble, she had to take responsibility.
They said praise could make even a dolphin dance, and surprisingly, Kang Joo-heon was no exception. His thoroughly furious expression gradually softened until he finally muttered in a small voice.
“Well… I am pretty good at laundry and cleaning.”
Why laundry all of a sudden? Yeon-seo tilted her head at the random remark.
“Pardon?”
“I’ve never cooked before, but I think I could do it well if I learn. No, I will do it well.”
Yeon-seo almost replied, You’d make a wonderful traditional housewife, but held herself back. Those weren’t words a scoundrel who had loved and left had any right to say. In the end, all she could do was play along half-heartedly.
“Ah, yes. I see.”
Perhaps because Yeon-seo’s reaction was lukewarm, he spoke up suddenly with a sense of urgency.
“If nothing else, I make good money.”
Who didn’t know that? Even though there was no one around to ask, Yeon-seo suddenly felt an urge to shout it out loud: Is there anyone here who doesn’t know Kang Joo-heon’s weekly wage is five hundred million won?
“When I get married, I’ll hand over my entire bank account to my wife. I just need a little pocket money.”
Why was he suddenly scratching someone else’s leg while talking in his sleep? Though utterly bewildered, Yeon-seo suddenly became curious. Her own allowance was three hundred thousand won a month, so what did an allowance mean at Kang Joo-heon’s scale?
“How much would you want as an allowance?”
For some reason, he glanced at Yeon-seo’s expression before speaking.
“Uh… maybe around one million won a month?”
Yeon-seo’s eyes went wide. A weekly wage of five hundred million won meant two billion won a month. He was going to hand over two billion won and only take a measly one million won for himself?
“One million won? Are you serious?”
When she raised her voice without realizing it, he hurriedly changed his tune.
“Is that too much? Then just five hundred thousand won.”
This man is serious! An exclamation slipped out of her naturally.
“Wow, marrying you would feel like winning the lottery every single month, Director!”
After staring down at the floor for a long time with his neck flushed bright red at her heartfelt praise, the man finally murmured.
“Then for now, quit the company first, or at least take a leave of absence.”
“Excuse me? A leave of absence?”
Yeon-seo blinked. Take a leave of absence, out of nowhere?
“Why so suddenly?”
“Once the articles come out, even if we hide your identity, reporters are going to find out somehow and hound you.”
This was making less and less sense.
“Why reporters?”
He let out a sigh.
“They’re making this much of a fuss over a single mark on my neck, so imagine how much crazier they’ll go if I say I’m getting married. Still, I’ll shield you as much as I can, so don’t be too scared….”
“Excuse me? Marriage?”
Yeon-seo was flabbergasted by the unfamiliar words.
“Are you getting married, Director?”
No wonder he had been making weird remarks about laundry, cooking, and allowances earlier—he was getting married? Taken so off guard, she ended up stepping out of line and asking.
“To whom?”
He gave a slight jerk of his chin toward Yeon-seo. Thinking, What about me? Yeon-seo felt her heart drop right out of her chest.
“Pardon? Me?”
The end of her sentence was practically a shriek. Only then did Joo-heon seem to realize something was off.
“You just said you’d take responsibility. Doesn’t that mean you’re going to marry me?”
“Me? With you, Director?”
Yeon-seo shook her head with every ounce of her soul.
“No! You have completely misunderstood!”
Temporarily forgetting her fear, she spoke with fiery passion.
“I understand that you value purity before marriage, Director! But there’s no need for that in this day and age! Marriage should be with someone you love! Forcing a marriage just to take responsibility with someone you have no feelings for will only make both you and me miserable!”
It was an impassioned speech delivered with even more sincerity than when she had run for class president. No, even if she had run for president of the country, she couldn’t have sounded more earnest.
“In the first place, I have no intention of marrying anyone at all!”
When the only relationship she had ever had ended on a bitter note, Yeon-seo had realized something to the bone. Dating and marriage are a distant fantasy to someone like me. If that was true with an ordinary person, it went double when the other party was Kang Joo-heon.
“Above all, I’m simply not cut out to handle such a terrifying position! Absolutely not! Not in a million years!”
Yeon-seo had already experienced the frenzy firsthand during the hickey incident. What she had thought back then was that whoever he ended up marrying in the future was going to have quite a rough time. The entire nation would turn into mother-in-laws, judging whether she was good enough for Kang Joo-heon, whether she fell short, or whether she was completely out of his league.
Everyone would scrutinize her photos looking for signs of plastic surgery. Her personal details would be picked apart down to the nanometer, right down to her elementary school report cards. And he wanted to place her in that terrifying position? Just imagining it made goosebumps erupt all over her body.
By this point, Joo-heon seemed to have understood as well. The bashful, somewhat awkward look he had worn just moments ago vanished, replaced once more by a thoroughly furious scowl as he snapped.
“Then just what the hell do you mean by taking responsibility?”
