Chapter 167
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 167
The two-night, three-day summer vacation with Eun-ah came to a thoroughly satisfying end.
During the day, they went sightseeing around the area, just as Dokyun wanted. At night, they rolled around messily in the sheets, just as Eun-ah wanted. It was, by all accounts, a vacation that satisfied them both.
However.
Why am I so tired?
Despite how satisfying the trip had been, Dokyun felt a deep exhaustion sinking into him, his body as heavy as waterlogged cotton.
Did I overdo it?
The truth of the matter was that Eun-ah had been draining him dry in his sleep, but with no way of knowing this, Dokyun could only conclude, ‘I guess my body couldn’t handle the sudden outdoor activity.’
The entire drive home, he groaned from a persistent ache that seemed to cover his whole body. When they finally arrived, he let out a huge stretch and spoke to Eun-ah.
“Ughhh… You worked hard, Eun-ah.”
“Y-Yes…! You worked hard too, Honeybee…!”
Dokyun’s gaze fell on Eun-ah, who was beaming at him with a bright, innocent smile.
She must have been tired from walking around all day because of his selfish desire to sightsee, yet she looked so happy that a wave of gratitude washed over him.
Dokyun watched her for a moment with a small smile, then went to his room to unpack before returning to the living room.
The moment he stepped out, a thought struck him.
I have to go to work tomorrow.
Was this for real?
His face instantly scrunched into a frown. A shiver ran down his spine as another thought surfaced.
What kind of trouble will Myeong-dae cause tomorrow?
It was the fear of the surprise disasters his troublemaking junior was bound to create.
A sigh escaped his lips. As he stood there, his expression soured by the thought, Eun-ah, having finished unpacking, came over and wrapped herself around him.
She settled onto his lap, which had now become her designated seat.
Like a sloth clinging to a branch, Eun-ah wrapped her arms and legs around his body and spoke.
“W-What about… food?”
“Should we eat in a bit? It’s still a little early for dinner.”
“O-Okay…!”
Snuggle—. As soon as she finished speaking, Eun-ah buried her head in the nape of Dokyun’s neck.
Dokyun hugged her back, gently stroking her hair as his mind drifted.
The smell of shampoo.
It was a floral scent. He wasn’t sure what kind of flower… just flowers. That was the scent wafting from her hair.
As the fragrance filled his senses, Dokyun pressed his face against the top of her head and closed his eyes.
It was a strange thing, when he thought about it. They used the same shampoo, the same body wash, even the same fabric softener for their laundry, yet only Eun-ah carried this particular scent.
He figured it must be a mix of her natural body scent and the bath products. For some reason, the thought brought him a sense of peace, and a small smile graced his lips.
It felt as if all the worries that had been plaguing him just moments before had vanished.
The warmth radiating from Eun-ah’s body, the breath tickling his neck, the scent wafting from her—all of it created a profound sense of comfort.
This is true rest.
The hotel staycation had been nice, but Dokyun realized he would have felt just as healed if he had spent the entire vacation lazing around at home like this. His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed Eun-ah’s breathing slowing. He glanced down at her face.
She fell asleep.
She must have been tired. Eun-ah was sound asleep, her head buried in his neck.
Dokyun chuckled softly at the sight. He decided to stay like that for just a little longer, resting his face on her head and closing his eyes again.
A feeling of comfort enveloped his entire body.
And with that, Dokyun, too, drifted off.
The summer vacation, which had been uncharacteristically active for him, ended in this peaceful atmosphere.
*
A few days later, Dokyun was taking off his shoes after returning home from work when he froze, his face a mask of surprise at the scene before him.
“…Eun-seol?”
“What.”
The reply was short.
Hearing it, Dokyun rubbed his eyes, then stared at Eun-seol again, his eyes wide.
Eun-seol was sitting on the living room sofa, tapping away at a laptop.
That’s right. For some reason, she wasn’t drinking.
At the sight, a question naturally tumbled from Dokyun’s lips.
“Are you sick?”
It was a reasonable question. Ever since she had dumped all the company work on Eun-ah, Eun-seol had spent her days drowning in alcohol, even cutting back on her beloved reading. Wasn’t it strange for her to suddenly be working now?
Was she sick? Or had she finally lost her mind?
As these questions filled his head, Eun-seol shot him a fierce glare and spat out a reply.
“Are you trying to pick a fight?”
Flinch. Dokyun’s body trembled. His eyes quickly darted to the floor.
“No, I was just worried…”
Feeling awkward, Dokyun scratched the back of his head as he spoke. Eun-seol watched him for a moment before letting out a deep sigh and answering his question.
“I have something to take care of regarding Eun-ah’s uncle.”
“Ah.”
So that was it.
Dokyun gave a small nod at her answer. He remembered how, after he’d told her that Cheon-u had come to see him, Eun-seol had declared with a menacing look that she was going to “fuck him up.” Dokyun cautiously approached her and asked another question.
“So, what are you planning to do?”
“I’m going to choke him out.”
Tilt. Dokyun’s head tilted. He narrowed his eyes at her words and peered at the screen.
What he saw was…
“Stocks?”
It was a stock trading website.
When Dokyun looked at Eun-seol with a face full of questions, she felt his gaze and let out a smirk.
“That bastard isn’t particularly competent, you see. He doesn’t have the brains to run a company that big.”
“What does that have to do with this?”
“It has everything to do with it. If I shake things up just a little with this, the shareholders will start putting pressure on him. They already know he’s an idiot to some extent, so they won’t just let it slide.”
“Oh…”
This was a world far removed from his own, a story that felt somewhat unreal. Dokyun nodded blankly, then asked another question that came to mind.
“But is that even possible? I thought this kind of thing isn’t something you can do alone.”
“I’m rich.”
Thump. Dokyun froze.
He stared blankly at Eun-seol.
Come to think of it…
He had never once heard how much wealth Eun-seol actually possessed.
He had only ever guessed that she must have a fair amount, enough to run a department store.
Eun-ah probably doesn’t know either.
Eun-seol had told Eun-ah she would hand over all the money she was managing once everything was sorted out, but she had never revealed the scale of it.
A question formed in his mind.
Just how much does she have?
For Eun-seol to state it so bluntly herself, it had to be far more than he could imagine.
Dokyun continued to ponder this for a moment before shaking his head, clearing the thoughts away.
Whatever the amount, that wasn’t what was important right now.
“But how does putting pressure on him like this have anything to do with getting… that uncle away from Eun-ah?”
“Didn’t I tell you? That bastard cares more about his own interests than taking care of others.”
“Ah.”
Finally, Dokyun understood the reason behind Eun-seol’s actions.
“You’re going to make it so he can barely manage to save his own skin?”
“Exactly. Once the shareholders start breathing down his neck, he won’t have the luxury of worrying about Eun-ah anymore. And with that brain of his, he’ll never figure out it was my doing, not in a million years.”
A smirk played on her lips as she answered.
For some reason, Dokyun started to feel sorry for Cheon-u.
…He should have behaved himself.
He really picked the wrong person to piss off.
*
It was about two hours later that Eun-seol finally stopped working.
The moment she finished, she snapped the laptop shut and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. Watching her, Dokyun felt a sense of relief, thinking that the Eun-seol he knew had finally returned.
I don’t think this was her original image…
Even as the thought crossed his mind, her recent behavior had been so consistent that it was now harder to imagine Eun-seol without alcohol.
“You want some?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Suit yourself.”
Eun-seol gave a small nod at his reply, then filled a glass to the brim with whiskey and began to down it in one go.
Whoa.
How could she drink it all at once like that? He was genuinely impressed.
“Doesn’t that burn your stomach?”
“It’s Go Eun-chae’s turn tomorrow.”
“Ah.”
Clench. Dokyun’s mouth snapped shut.
Hearing her reply, he narrowed his eyes and stared at Eun-seol, but…
“What, you got a problem?”
“…No.”
It was, in the end, a meaningless act of defiance.
Dokyun was utterly weak against his designated tormentor.
Eun-chae, I’m so sorry…!
He squeezed his eyes shut.
He had no power to stop Eun-seol.
A wave of helplessness washed over him. Shuddering for a moment, Dokyun resolved to wake up early tomorrow and make her some meat porridge, all while keeping watch over Eun-seol as she continued to knock back drink after drink.
One glass, then two, the glasses began to empty. It was only after the bottle was more than half-gone that Eun-seol’s mouth opened again.
“So, I hear you’ve been investigating Eun-byeol lately.”
“It’s not an investigation from behind her back. I told her I was doing it, so isn’t it more of an investigation from the front?”
“Same difference.”
Pfft. A laugh escaped Eun-seol’s lips.
“Find anything?”
“Well, it’s the same as always. She doesn’t seem to have any intention of telling me anything, and I can’t seem to find any other way to look into it.”
He let out a deep sigh as he spoke.
Eun-seol seemed to ponder something for a moment, tapping her glass with her fingertip—tok, tok—while staring into space. Then, she opened her mouth and casually offered Dokyun a piece of advice.
“The personalities that Go Eun-chae consumed.”
“Pardon?”
“Take a good look at them.”
Dokyun tilted his head at her words.
“I thought of that, too… but Eun-chae didn’t seem to know much either.”
“Of course she doesn’t. They’re gone now, with only traces left behind. What I’m saying is, you need to look closely at what kind of lingering attachments they had.”
After saying that, Eun-seol’s gaze shifted to the framed drawing Eun-chae had made, and she continued.
“All five of them appeared around the same time. If you connect the dots, you’ll find a common denominator.”
Dokyun nodded at her words, his eyes following hers to the drawing.
It was a picture of himself and Eun-chae in the garden.
As he looked at it with a small smile, Eun-seol’s voice cut in.
“It’s fucking terrible.”
“What’s wrong with it? I think it’s cute.”
“Do you two ugly things feel some kind of kinship?”
Dokyun’s eyes narrowed into a pout.
It was a glare aimed at Eun-seol, though he didn’t dare say anything back.
But, once again, the glare had no effect.
“What the fuck.”
“My eyes were just itchy.”
Dokyun was a wise man who didn’t pick fights he knew he would lose.