Chapter 13
[Is it really true that there’s only a little left?]
[Yes! There’s definitely just a little. There’s only as much left as bird feed.]
[Isn’t it that what you ate was only as much as bird feed, Ms. Eun Jian?]
[If a bird ate as much as I did, its stomach would burst ㅠㅠ Don’t you feel sorry for the bird?]
Yugeon let out a low chuckle and texted back, All right then. The bird’s pitiful, so I’ll say you ate a lot, Ms. Eun Jian.
When Yugeon gently curved his eyes and smiled playfully like that, the executives’ eyes widened.
Around Sunyoung or others with whom he had a close, personal relationship, Yugeon was easygoing and relaxed. But at the company, he was always sharp-eyed like a hawk—intelligent and diligent to the point of being intimidating as a superior.
And yet he was smiling like that. It was a rare sight.
They didn’t know what was going on, but perhaps this suffocating meeting atmosphere might soften a little.
The executives secretly hoped—
“Now then, regarding the Sales Division, for this afternoon’s PT rehearsal, the Q&A scenario for the client’s evaluation committee…”
The moment Yugeon’s gaze lifted from his phone, it turned sharp again, like a finely honed blade.
Because only Jian got to see his cute side.
Thanks to Yugeon’s efforts, Jian steadily began to gain weight.
As a result, Yugeon developed a new hobby.
He would wait until Jian fell asleep at night, then secretly watch her face as it grew healthier by the day.
That was the joy that ended his day.
“She really does look much better than before.”
Lying on his side with his head propped up on his arm, Yugeon smiled proudly as he looked at Jian sleeping soundly.
“Her cheeks aren’t quite plump enough yet to look like a hamster stuffing sunflower seeds in its mouth, but compared to before, it’s a huge improvement.”
If he pinched them, he felt like there’d be just the right amount to grab.
“Ugh… should I just pinch them once?”
His hand slowly lifted. It was hard to resist the itch in his fingers.
But if he pinched her cheek, she might wake up.
In the end, he lowered his hand again.
As he quietly watched her face, he suddenly found it fascinating.
Cha Yugeon. Thirty-one, handsome as a flower.
A perfectly healthy man with no physical issues.
His friends used to joke that he must be impotent, seeing how he treated women like stones—but he wasn’t. Definitely not.
He just never felt the need for a relationship. And he’d never met a woman he thought was pretty or cute.
So what exactly was Eun Jian?
“Yugeon, what are you doing this weekend?”
“Studying and playing games.”
“Again? Don’t just relieve stress with games—come hang out with us, huh?”
“No. I need to finish what I started.”
“Geez! Is it us or the game?”
“The game.”
Back in school, when girls clung to him and begged him to hang out, he found it nothing but bothersome.
Women really were less interesting than games.
They said seducing a woman gave you a sense of achievement or satisfaction from conquering her. But women flocked to him on their own, like bees gathering around a flower, so he never experienced that.
And there was no real benefit for him.
In school, studying was far more beneficial and interesting. After entering management, work was.
“Even aside from that, doesn’t it feel good just having a pretty woman on your arm?”
“I’m more beautiful, though?”
When he answered like that once, his friend had looked at him like he was crazy. But he had been somewhat serious.
Men were called handsome and women pretty—but if you unified the standard under the word beautiful, Yugeon surpassed most of them.
That was how indifferent he’d been toward the opposite sex.
So what was Eun Jian, suddenly appearing before him like this?
“This is ridiculous…”
Her eyes were gentle like a doe’s, yet her overall impression was like a cute rabbit.
His late mother had also had the look of a gentle herbivore, so he’d always felt comfortable around faces like that.
But when he looked at Jian, maybe because of her soft peach fuzz, she even seemed like a fluffy cotton flower—making him want to touch her again and again.
“Did I not realize… this is my type?”
Lost in thought as he stared at her face, Yugeon suddenly jolted.
“W-what type? It’s not that. I just figured that if I’m going to grant Ms. Sunyoung’s wish, then… well… it’s better if the person is pretty…”
Ahem. He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, making excuses to himself.
“Let’s just sleep. Don’t think weird thoughts…”
He turned his back to Jian.
But some lingering attachment tugged at him.
He glanced back at her once more.
After hesitating for a moment, he finally reached out and gently poked her cheek with his fingertip.
“Mmm…”
Jian, still asleep, faintly furrowed her brow.
Her lips—like cherries coated in sugar—smacked softly before parting slightly, and she drifted back into deep sleep.
“Look at her sleeping with her mouth open. Her lips are pretty too. I want to try kissing—”
His quiet chuckle abruptly stopped.
…
…
What?
What did he just think he wanted to try?
Startled and suddenly aware of heat spreading from his lower abdomen, Yugeon quickly turned over.
“‘The pine tree atop Namsan stands as if clad in armor…’ Damn it…”
Curling up like a shrimp, he recited the national anthem lyrics to himself.
When Jian murmured another sleepy “Mmnya” with those pretty lips, Yugeon flinched and groaned even more.
That night, he suffered from self-reproach and basic male physiology.
Without imagining that soon enough, he would truly get to taste those pretty lips.
The next morning.
Yugeon sat at the dining table looking worn out. He hadn’t slept well in the end.
In contrast, Jian looked smoother and more radiant than usual, as if she had slept deeply without a single worry.
She happily munched on food prepared by the CH Hotel chef.
A faint laugh slipped from Yugeon’s lips.
“Yeah, that’s fine. As long as you slept well.”
Thinking that, he picked the meat off a braised pork rib and placed it on Jian’s spoon.
Her eyes widened.
“Try it first. Just to make sure it’s not poisoned.”
Thud. Her heart pounded loudly.
She perfectly understood what he meant.
In other words: I hope you eat well and enjoy it.
Pilbeom, the master of speaking indirectly, used to say things like that often.
Holding her pounding chest, Jian ate the pork rib he’d given her.
Was it her imagination? It melted in her mouth.
“Since I didn’t die… I guess there’s no poison.”
“That’s a relief. Then I can eat without worry too. Thanks for being my royal food taster.”
He smirked playfully, and at the sight of that handsome smile, her stomach fluttered like feathers brushing against it.
She teased him in return.
“If you’re worried about poison in your food, you must have made quite a few enemies.”
“When you’re outstanding, your mere existence can become someone’s grudge.”
“Isn’t saying things like that what makes enemies…?”
“The problem is people who feel inferior at the right time.”
Jian found herself agreeing.
It wasn’t exactly false.
“So you’ll have to keep up the good work from now on, Ms. Eun Jian. In that sense, try this too.”
This time, he placed some braised pollack on her rice.
Her heart pounded again as she ate.
Eating delicious food together, their conversations steadily increasing day by day.
With things like this, how could her appetite not improve?
She had even gained two kilograms.
