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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: It Looks About to Burst
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An Do Hyun alternated between staring at the photo of Mi Jeong rummaging through her bag and recalling the morning's events.
He bolted upright in bed, running a large hand down his face.
“Haa….”
His entire body was drenched in sweat.
An Do Hyun grabbed the water beside him and chugged it without hesitation, forcing down the bile rising in his throat.
By now, it was clearly a nightmare.
An unlucky, filthy dream. Memories of a past he wanted to forget.
If Mi Jeong were alive, An Do Hyun wanted to ask her why she had neglected him so badly as a child.
Mi Jeong hadn’t shown her true colors from the start.
It was around the time he turned seven that she started neglecting the house.
Then, that incident happened.
That day, An Do Hyun woke up in a pitch-black room with no light and shook his head to clear the fog from his mind.
He got out of bed, staggering on unsteady legs as he grabbed the doorknob and pulled.
Just as he expected, darkness greeted him. In the midst of it, faint stairs came into view.
Rubbing his eyes, he took a step down the stairs with his small, still-growing foot.
Faint laughter reached his ears.
A mix of a man’s and a woman’s voices drew the child along like a magnet.
Following the unfamiliar sounds, he arrived at the master bedroom.
An Do Hyun flung the door wide open.
“Who’s there!”
The sudden light blinded him, and the child covered his face for a moment.
“Mom?”
Though she came home maybe once a week, An Do Hyun recognized her voice instantly.
“Hey! What are you doing here? Why are you home?”
“Hi? So you’re Do Hyun?”
A young man’s voice followed his mother’s, casual as if greeting a stranger, with no hint of guilt.
That memory haunted An Do Hyun with nightmares every year.
Even after her son caught her in the act of filthy deeds in bed, the woman had scolded him for being home.
Mi Jeong had lived so promiscuously that she died in an accident on her way to a hotel with some man.
An Deok Ho claimed he had truly loved Mi Jeong.
After her death, An Deok Ho wandered aimlessly for a long time. Watching it all unfold, An Do Hyun resolved never to marry. Wrong encounters and choices had dragged the whole family into misery.
That was why no one visited on her death anniversary. No one wanted to relive those events.
Since the incident wasn’t widely known, they had no choice but to bring Mi Jeong to the columbarium to avoid tarnishing Woosung’s reputation.
But they had basically abandoned her there.
An Do Hyun still lacked the confidence to overcome his wounds.
At first, visiting her on anniversaries had been about showing her how well he’d adapted and succeeded in a world without her.
But now, he wondered why he bothered keeping up with the anniversaries so diligently.
He had just shaken off the nightmare and was about to head to the columbarium when Yi Yeon suddenly stopped him, saying she knew it was the anniversary and insisting on coming along.
She said she should pay her respects too….
It made logical sense, so he agreed.
And now here she was, pulling something out of her bag.
Yi Yeon clutched an object the size of An Do Hyun’s palm tightly in her hand.
He carefully took it from her smooth, soft hand.
It was a small bouquet where white, light purple, and pink flowers harmonized beautifully on beige wrapping.
“It’s called a preserved flower. They’re real flowers specially treated.”
An Do Hyun looked down at Yi Yeon, who explained the flowers with sparkling eyes.
A small bouquet prepared for Mi Jeong.
“You give that one to her, Vice President.”
Her meaning became clear from her next action.
Yi Yeon carefully pulled another bouquet from her bag.
So that’s why she had clutched her bag so tightly even in her sleep.
She had held it close to her chest when leaving the house, never letting go.
Even in the car, she had placed it neatly on her lap, probably worried it might get damaged.
“This one’s from me.”
A faint smile slowly spread across Yi Yeon’s face. Her round eyes curved into adorable half-moons, shining prettily.
It was the historic day when An Do Hyun’s reason snapped for the first time.
Am I finally losing it?
Yi Yeon looked so endearing. He wanted to touch the corners of her eyes where those half-moons gleamed.
His chest began to ache with pumping, his body heating up.
When had it started? When had those eyes begun stealing his gaze completely?
He no longer noticed the freckles plastered across her cheeks. At some point, he couldn’t bear to miss even a single blink of those big, round eyes—he just kept staring.
Now, he even wanted to touch them.
His eyes kept drifting to her without him realizing.
He set the office glass to transparent more often.
At work, he’d suddenly look straight ahead, habitually wondering what Yi Yeon was doing. At home, he’d perk up his ears, checking if she had arrived safely.
“Am I really going insane?”
An Do Hyun felt like he was finally losing his mind. In the shock of this unfamiliar feeling, he blurted out the thought on the tip of his tongue.
Yi Yeon, who had been crouching and smiling up at him, widened her eyes and stood up.
“I’m not crazy! I just bought flowers—I didn’t stick them in my hair!”
Thinking his words were aimed at her, Yi Yeon placed her hands on her hips, glaring at him with fierce eyes.
“I put so much thought into coming here to pay respects…”
Her trailing voice and pursed lips felt so cute that he wanted to let the misunderstanding linger. He wanted to see how much cuter she could get, how far his feelings extended.
Maybe test it?
“Nah, just talking to myself. As if I’d call the thoughtful Secretary Yu crazy.”
He decided against it.
What was the point of gauging feelings that had already begun?
Seeing Yi Yeon’s expression relax instantly, An Do Hyun couldn’t hold back his leaking smile.
He discovered it again. Being with Yi Yeon kept filling him with laughter.
Their eyes met once more. As she crouched like a puppy, organizing her bag, her sudden upward glance left his flustered gaze with nowhere to go.
“I have no intention of giving flowers to this woman, but…”
Yi Yeon finished organizing her bag and stood up. An Do Hyun didn’t tear his eyes away from her rising form.
“For Secretary Yu’s sincerity, I’ll let it slide.”
An Do Hyun opened the glass door and held out the small bouquet.
For the first time, he placed a bouquet using Yi Yeon as an excuse. Following his lead, Yi Yeon set her own bouquet next to his.
An Do Hyun stared piercingly at her back as she silently gazed at the urn, as if saying something inwardly.
Every little thing about her was endearing.
Coming to greet his mother-in-law for the first time in a fitted suit she wouldn’t normally wear, personally preparing a bouquet, thinking she should visit the columbarium early in the morning despite being tired.
Her sincerity was precious.
When An Do Hyun finished his thoughts and looked at Yi Yeon, her face was bright red for some reason.
“Why’s your face like that?”
“W-what do you mean?”
“It looks about to burst?”
“Vice President, have you finished paying respects? Shall we… go now?”
Her sudden rush puzzled him, but An Do Hyun readily agreed.
He needed to go sort out his thoughts some more. This churning feeling too.
* * *
After returning from the columbarium, Yi Yeon tossed and turned all night, barely sleeping.
Thanks to all the tossing, she’d practically pulled an all-nighter and came to work an hour earlier than usual.
Better to arrive leisurely than lie there blinking at the ceiling.
Looking in the mirror, her under-eye bags were hollow, blending with her freckles in color.
“If this keeps up, won’t my face turn ashy?”
Her skin looked dry and rough too…
I can’t lose my skin health like this!
Resolved to do one face mask a day starting today, Yi Yeon clenched her fist.
Putting the mirror down, memories from the columbarium flashed through her mind again.
An Do Hyun’s face reflected in the transparent glass, his eyes gazing intently at her. As she placed the bouquet for Mi Jeong, she recalled his face in the glass door and blushed again.
‘Why did he stare so piercingly? So embarrassing.’
His gaze kept resurfacing, refusing to let her cool down. Yi Yeon shook her head to dispel the thoughts.
Bzzz-.
Her ringing phone drew her attention. A message from Ha Yul.
[You didn’t forget this Friday, right?]
Ah! The party!
She had completely forgotten about the Friday party while planning and preparing to visit Mi Jeong’s columbarium.
She wasn’t mentally prepared yet…
Regret hit her suddenly.
Maybe I shouldn’t have said I’d go.
Ugh, but it’s Ha Yul’s request—I can’t say no.
[Got it.]
Yi Yeon replied to Ha Yul.
[No need to prepare outfits. Just mental prep for both of us!]
Not sure if that’d work, but she sent an okay for now.
Yi Yeon desperately hoped this week would crawl by slowly.
“Hello, Secretary Yu.”
As she prayed for time to slow down, a presence appeared before her.
What’s with this woman all of a sudden?
The owner of that languid, fake-friendly, goody-two-shoes voice was Yeon Jeong.
This tasteless woman who’d flung any shred of personality into Andromeda was mimicking someone else.
Did she change her concept?
Or did An Do Hyun’s words last time deflate her ego?
Yi Yeon gave Yeon Jeong, whom she disliked for various reasons, a half-hearted smile.
“A new hire from our department came to greet the Vice President.”
Only then did she notice the tall man popping up behind Yeon Jeong.
“Hello. I’m Yu Yi Yeon, secre…”
Yi Yeon snapped her bowing head back up and stared at the man before her.
Her eyes blinked in disbelief.
This tall, handsome man.
This familiar face!
The man standing behind Yeon Jeong stepped forward with a bright smile that stretched his lips, bowing his head slightly.
