Chapter 66
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 66
When I woke up and looked around, Eun-ah was nowhere to be seen.
My eyes scanned the entire bedroom, but she still wasn’t there. I blinked blankly for a moment, then pushed myself up, a dull ache spreading through my body.
Was I getting too old for such vigorous exercise?
Sighing softly, I rubbed my lower back and let out a huge yawn. I wondered where she could have gone, quickly concluding that she must have woken up first and left the room. I shuffled out of the bedroom in a daze.
The moment I opened the door, my eyes landed on her, sitting on the sofa.
Glasses perched on the bridge of her nose.
A turtleneck sweater and black slacks.
Dressed in an outfit I’d seen once before, she was staring down at a book, her head bowed.
I stood there blinking, my mind still foggy. Then, her gaze lifted from the book, met mine for an instant, and fell away.
“Get dressed.”
Her voice was low and flat.
I knew what that meant.
Go Eun-seol. She was out.
My drowsy mind jolted awake, alarm bells screaming. A shriek escaped my lips before I could stop it.
“I-I’m sorryyyy!”
SLAM!
I scrambled back into the room, slamming the door so hard it shook. I leaned my back against it, gasping for breath.
Fuck…!
A curse rose to the tip of my tongue, but I forced it down and covered my face with my hands.
The heat flushing my face spread through my palms.
Mortification and shame washed over me, and a low groan escaped my lips.
“Guuuhhh…”
I’d let my guard down.
No, I couldn’t even call it that.
I never would have imagined she’d pop out so suddenly.
How did it happen? What was the context? I tried to piece it together, but the image of what had just happened kept interfering with my thoughts.
No matter how hard I tried, my shame-addled brain couldn’t form a coherent thought.
Suddenly, the events leading up to my waking replayed in my mind.
If she was the one who had woken up, she must have seen the full extent of last night’s carnage.
After rolling around like that all night, she would have woken up on soaked sheets. And since we’d slept in an embrace, she would have had to push my arm off her body to get up.
“Shit…”
The curse I’d been holding back slipped through my teeth.
My head throbbed. I clenched my fists and tore at my hair, trembling with self-loathing as I let out a continuous, miserable groan.
After some time, her voice came from the other side of the door.
“Cut the bullshit and get out here and wash up.”
It had been a while since I’d heard that commanding tone. A fresh shiver ran down my spine, and I answered in what sounded like a sob.
“Yessir…”
Ah, I didn’t have the courage to face her.
Judging by her voice and the look she’d given me, she didn’t seem to care that much, but I couldn’t be sure.
She was an expert at hiding her true feelings; I had no idea what she was really thinking behind that expression.
Why had I walked out of the room naked? No matter how out of it I was, I should have at least put on some clothes.
“Ugh…”
Another groan escaped my lips.
In that moment, I hated the world.
Knock! Knock!
A sharp rap on the door.
Followed by:
“I said, get out.”
Her voice was laced with irritation.
A surge of anger welled up inside me, but it was drowned out by the overwhelming shame. I couldn’t bring myself to talk back and simply answered in a weak voice.
“Yessir…!”
I squeezed my eyes shut. Slowly, I moved, grabbing the clothes that were strewn on the edge of the bed. After getting dressed, I opened the door to find her standing right there, an annoyed look on her face.
A moment of silence passed. At a loss for words, I bowed my head deeply and offered a greeting.
“…Merry Christmas.”
“Right,” she replied.
As silence threatened to fill the space between us again, she let out a heavy sigh and turned away.
“Just go wash up.”
With that, she headed toward the kitchen.
I couldn’t say a word. I just nodded and shuffled toward the shower.
Inside, I stripped off my clothes and turned on the cold water, letting it run over my head to cool down.
Thud.
I banged my head against the wall.
Thud. Thud.
Again, I banged it, trying to shake off the self-loathing.
My fists were clenched, but there was nothing I could do.
I took a deep breath under the cold stream of water, lifted my head, and steeled myself.
There was no point dwelling on what had already happened. In times like these, I had to be shameless.
Right. Who told her to come out? She’s the one who appeared, isn’t she? This isn’t my fault, is it?
I continued the line of thought, soothing my frayed nerves, and slapped my cheeks to wake myself up.
When I came out of the shower, she had already prepared toast on the dining table. She was staring at me intently as she spoke.
“You fucking animal.”
I flinched.
The insult hit its mark. I felt myself shrink back, but then I remembered my resolve in the shower. I straightened my shoulders and replied.
“It’s called masculine charm.”
“Bullshit.”
Her attitude was incredibly harsh. A look of pure contempt now graced her features, and she glared at me as if I were a bug.
Feeling awkward, I slowly averted my gaze to the floor and spoke.
“So, what’s the occasion? You made it sound like you wouldn’t be out for a while.”
After I asked, she remained silent for a moment before answering in a voice dripping with ice.
“I suppose I’m out because you fucked her until she passed out.”
Her words were incredibly crude.
“Ahem…”
A dry cough escaped me.
I thought I understood what she meant. The stimulus had surpassed a certain threshold, causing the control to switch to her. I nodded for a moment, then a question popped into my head. I looked up and asked her.
“But if it’s a reaction to a stimulus, shouldn’t Go Eun-chae be the one to come out?”
Enduring stimuli beyond the threshold was supposed to be Go Eun-chae’s role. As I voiced my question, she sighed heavily and replied.
“Go Eun-chae is a personality meant to cope with stress. She doesn’t emerge from simple fainting.”
She paused to catch her breath, then clicked her tongue with a ‘tsk,’ making it obvious she hated to admit what came next.
“It was a surprisingly effective method. Some of the control that had shifted to Eun-chae has returned.”
The words were delivered through a deep frown, laced with annoyance. Neither of us needed to say what “that method” was; we both knew.
Instead, I just offered my thanks.
“Um, thank you?”
I scratched my head as I said it. Her face twisted into a look of disgust again, and she let out a heavy sigh.
“Just eat your food.”
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you for the meal.”
“Right.”
I looked down at the toast in my hand.
She didn’t put anything weird in it, did she?
I stared at it intently for a moment, then squeezed my eyes shut, opened my mouth, and took a bite.
The crisp surface gave way to the crunch of vegetables and meat. As I savored the flavor, my eyes widened in surprise.
It was delicious.
I had fully expected it to be packed with polarizing ingredients that suited her tastes, but it was just… genuinely delicious.
Surprised, I looked up at her. She was nibbling on her own toast as she spoke.
“I have a favor to ask you.”
“A favor?”
The sudden request made me look at her with a questioning expression. She lifted her head to meet my gaze and added:
“I need you to hang out with Eun-ji today.”
“Who’s that?”
“The princess.”
“Ah.”
So the brat’s name was Eun-ji.
I was surprised to learn a new fact, and then surprised again that her name wasn’t actually Princess. As my eyes widened, she continued her explanation.
“As you know, she’s… young. That’s why I’ve never allowed her to go outside.”
She was right. If that kid went outside, it would be a complete disaster.
“I’ve always felt sorry about it. But I kept stopping her, thinking there was no other choice…”
She paused, taking a breath before composing herself and continuing.
“I was hoping that if you were with her, she might be a little more manageable. So I wanted to ask you a favor.”
A favor.
It was a word I never thought I’d hear from her lips.
“Please, take her out for a while.”
Her words felt strange. The expression on her face was completely serious. The earlier tone of irritation and contempt was gone, replaced by a hint of apology that seemed so out of place for her.
Then I finally understood why she had been rushing me all this time. Since today was Christmas, and since there was no telling when she’d be able to come out again, she must have wanted to ask this of me while she had the chance.
Having grasped the situation, I shrugged and replied.
“Well, I guess I can do that.”
The kid was annoying, but she wasn’t completely uncontrollable.
However.
I can’t just start crying to get my way out there.
I was a little worried that the conditions outside wouldn’t be right for me to turn on the waterworks.
As I thought this, I looked at her and saw a look of relief wash over her face. She offered her thanks.
“Thank you. For now, let’s finish eating and get moving.”
“Okay.”
Our conversation ended, and we continued our meal. After finishing his portion, I stood up and asked her a question.
“Are there any precautions I should take?”
“Follow me.”
She stood up and led me out.
She brought me to the living room and pointed to a beautifully wrapped box in front of the tree.
“Show her this and just make something up about it being a gift from Santa.”
A Christmas present. I examined the box.
“When did you prepare this?”
“The last time we went out. I didn’t have a chance to give it to her, so I just stashed it away.”
I glanced at her and saw a somewhat sheepish expression on her face.
So she was capable of making a face like that. The thought had barely crossed my mind when she schooled her features back to their usual impassiveness and turned to me.
“Since it’s her first time out, she’ll want to run all over the place. She might even try to pick fights with people. Just make sure to stop that, and try to accommodate her wishes as much as possible. I’ve sent the necessary funds to your account. Use that, and you can keep whatever’s left.”
She handed me my smartphone. I opened my banking app to check the deposit and my jaw dropped.
Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands…
Twenty million won.
My mind went blank at the staggering amount. I looked up at her, but she just added nonchalantly:
“Consider it payment for your trouble.”
Was I imagining the halo shining behind her?
Suddenly, a surge of loyalty welled up from deep within me.
I knew one shouldn’t pledge allegiance carelessly, but for this much, maybe it was okay to be loyal for a little while.
“Well then, I’m counting on you. I’m going to head back in now.”
With the same hurried demeanor she’d shown all day, she spoke again and quickly walked toward the back of the living room, likely heading for the dressing room.
I watched her go for a moment, then glanced at my phone to check the time. It was 1 PM.
I must have slept in later than I thought.
No wonder she was in such a rush. It was a bit of an awkward time to start a full day out.
Hmm…
But what should we do? She’d told me to let the kid do whatever she wanted, but I wished she’d given me at least some basic guidelines for taking the brat out on her first-ever outing. It seemed there were none.
Where should I take her…
I pondered for a moment and pulled out my phone to search for places to go. Just then, I heard footsteps.
They were approaching from the back of the living room.
I looked up to see a pouting face peeking out from the hallway into the living room.
A short silence followed.
The air was thick with awkwardness rather than warmth. She was the first to speak.
“Loser.”
An unprompted insult.
A vein throbbed in the back of my neck.
I could feel my fists clenching.
My instincts were screaming.
My blood pressure was going to be on a steady incline for the rest of the day.