TKFT 05

Chapter 05

“My loved one is far more amazing than Cha Yoo-geon! So I really don’t want you to carelessly compare him to someone as utterly unremarkable as Cha Yoo-geon!”

Jian clenched her fists and shouted.

“Wow, totally… um, tot—”

U-geon staggered, holding the back of his neck.

His blood pressure shot up at words he had never heard before.

“There will never be any harm to this marriage because of the person I love. So you can rest easy! And I hope this kind of thing doesn’t happen again. Even though this is Cha Yoo-geon’s house, isn’t this supposed to be my space? But you came in without permission and casually looked through my things—it’s really unpleasant.”

Jian shot him a sharp glare.

“Now that you understand, please leave. Don’t ever come in like this again.”

With effort, Jian pushed his rock-solid body out the door and slammed it shut.

“Wow, what the…!”

U-geon was dumbfounded, flabbergasted by Jian’s words, and was sent away without resistance.

He returned to the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed.

He felt wronged.

He felt toyed with.

He felt foolish for believing that she liked him and for praising her taste.

“Argh!” He buried his face in the pillow and screamed.

That night, Jian did not return to the bedroom, and U-geon could not sleep due to his frustration.

The weekend passed, and it was Monday afternoon.

Jian crumpled the smooth clay she had been shaping in her hands.

“Jian, what’s wrong? Is the work not going well? Don’t like it?”

A coworker asked worriedly. Jian herself was surprised at how tightly she had gripped the clay, triggered by memories of last week.

“Ah, haha… yes, I wasn’t satisfied, so I did it without realizing it.”

“That happens. Take a break and then continue.”

“Yes… thank you.”

Jian gave a bitter smile, washed her hands, and went to the lounge.

She worked at CERA, a premium ceramics company founded by her college mentor.

Having majored in ceramics, Jian worked as both a technician creating high-end handcrafted products and an assistant designer.

“Ha… I’m tired…”

Sitting in the lounge, Jian tapped her shoulders with her fists and covered her mouth to yawn.

She had attended a design team meeting at the Seoul headquarters that morning and come to the workshop for production, but she couldn’t concentrate.

“Maybe my anemia is worse. I keep feeling slightly dizzy.”

Jian pressed her temples.

After the diary incident on Friday, she hadn’t slept well over the weekend.

The stress of being caught and arguing with him had left her drained.

You, have you ever seen a guy like me? Does the guy you love even come close to my feet?

“I haven’t seen him, and the guy you love is you… and you don’t even realize it. Yet you suspect infidelity, get angry over this contract….”

She was angry, resentful… and yet sad. Jian bit her lips hard.

If only she could hate him.

If only she could see him strictly as a contractual marriage partner.

But she couldn’t, and that inability made her chest ache even more.

“…Focus on work. If I immerse myself completely, it won’t come to mind.”

Shaking her head, Jian forced herself to stay determined.

A loveless relationship. Divorce if love develops. That was the condition of this marriage.

So even if there were misunderstandings, it didn’t change the essence of their arrangement.

Still… he’s infuriating.

She didn’t explain her true intentions at the matchmaking meeting, nor reveal her genuine feelings.

Because if she did, she couldn’t stay by his side. She knew he didn’t want her for herself.

Even so, being near him was enough.

Still… misunderstandings are unacceptable. They can’t get better.

Jian was unavoidably resentful of U-geon.

A little… no.

Actually, a lot—enough to make her heart ache.

Meanwhile, U-geon felt equally down.

“Manager Kim, why didn’t you consider this method? The hybrid method combining pressure grouting and reinforcement materials. Our technical lab developed it ourselves.”

During a meeting, U-geon’s voice was sharper and more intense than usual.

“Ah, but we haven’t applied it on-site yet…”

Bang! U-geon slammed his fist on the desk in frustration.

Executives, already trembling, jumped in surprise.

“This method was successfully applied in the German subway project! We analyzed that data and adapted it for Korean soil conditions. You don’t know this?”

“Uh, that… that’s…”

“Even though I had already devised a solution, I left it to you as an opportunity. I’m very disappointed. Do you think you can maintain your current position, let alone reach a higher one? Huh?”

His voice echoed through the meeting room.

After wrapping up work in a sour mood, he headed not home, but to Sun-young’s hospital.

‘—Did you… even talk to Jian about the baby…?’

In the car, U-geon recalled the phone call from Sun-young earlier.

There was a subtle note of expectation in her voice.

‘…I’ll come to the hospital after work. We’ll talk then, Grandma.’

He intended to say it might be difficult.

To have a child with a woman who didn’t even like him.

To do “that” with Eun Jian, who had feelings for another man.

“Who… who exactly is this guy that Eun Jian loves…?”

U-geon muttered through gritted teeth.

Every time he wondered about her “guy,” strange emotions churned in his chest.

Feelings he had never experienced before—envy, inferiority, anger—all mixed together.

He didn’t yet know the world called it “jealousy,” having never felt it before.

‘I’ve endured so much being next to someone like Cha Yoo-geon!’

“Torture? You mean it’s torture to be with me?”

He couldn’t stop muttering.

Just the thought that Jian harbored feelings for another man made him furious.

And to imagine her thinking of another man while clinging to him?

It made his stomach turn just thinking about it.

He planned to tell Sun-young that Jian was too physically weak to have a child, using it as an excuse.

It was unfortunate for Sun-young, but unavoidable.

Soon, U-geon arrived at Sun-young’s hospital.

“Grandma, I’m he—…”

He was speechless as he entered the room.

“Madam, please stop… Oh! The CEO is here?”

The caregiver, struggling to manage Sun-young, greeted U-geon.

Sun-young’s lipstick was smudged.

“What is all this…?”

“Oh, you came?”

Sun-young smiled brightly at him.

U-geon realized she was showing symptoms of dementia.

Previously, she had mistaken him for her late husband, his grandfather.

“She suddenly asked for lipstick, so I gave it to her, and… this happened,” explained the caregiver.

U-geon asked the caregiver to step aside and sat beside Sun-young.

“Why did you put on makeup so nicely, Grandma? Worried all the old men in the neighborhood would stare?”

He smiled wryly, imitating her late husband, with whom she had been close.

“I wanted to go see our Hye-jin. It’s been too long since I saw her.”

“….”

“She didn’t want her mother to look shabby, so she dressed up. How is it? Okay?”

Sun-young cupped her cheek and asked.

When showing dementia symptoms, Sun-young often forgot her daughter Seo Hye-jin had died and would look for her.

Seeing her search for her deceased daughter tore U-geon’s heart apart.

‘U-geon… my child… it’s not your fault. Don’t ever think I died because of you. Grandma is so thankful you lived safely. Your mother must feel the same way.’

He realized that even though Grandma always tried to ease his guilt, she had always missed her daughter.

“Our Grandma is always beautiful. The most lovely in the world…”

U-geon said, smiling as if on the verge of tears.

“Then let’s go see Hye-jin, Grandpa. Let’s go quickly.”

Sun-young, reassured by his praise, tried to get off the bed.

U-geon had no choice but to hold her.

He could mimic her grandfather all he wanted, but no matter what, he couldn’t reunite her with her deceased daughter.

“Actually… I got a message from Hye-jin earlier. She’s busy, but she said she’ll come visit later when she has time.”

“When will she have time? I haven’t seen our daughter in so long. Our Hye-jin…”

Sun-young murmured her daughter’s name with heavily applied lipstick, then began crying bitterly.

‘Grandma… I’m sorry…’

U-geon repeated it countless times in his mind.

He had long decided not to feel guilty over his mother’s death.

He resolved to live well with the life his mother saved, to love and care for his grandmother on his mother’s behalf.

Yet seeing Sun-young cry made him feel like it was all his fault.

He swallowed the heart-wrenching pain and hugged her.

“Grandpa… let’s go see Hye-jin, okay?”

“Next time… next time. Hye-jin is fine… next time, we’ll go together…”

Sun-young cried for a long time, searching for her daughter, and U-geon gently comforted her, stroking her back repeatedly.

He felt powerless that he couldn’t fulfill the wish of this elderly, sick grandmother, crying in his arms.

And he realized he wanted to respond differently to her request about her great-grandchild, which might be her last wish in life, rather than saying “no.”