The Chairman's Wish
“Chairman, are you here?”
The Dayeon who had been standing blankly snapped out of her daze and bowed her head.
The chairman, who found her awkwardly standing on the living room sofa, approached with a grin.
“Dayeon-ah. So you were here.”
With a bright smile, he took a few steps, but his face suddenly contorted.
“Cough. Cough!”
A fierce cough erupted from him, as if his breath was about to fail. Song quickly grabbed his body.
“Chairman. Take it slowly.”
“I’m fine… cough!”
After coughing for a long time, Song finally managed to help him sit on the sofa.
His pale complexion and the deepening illness. Dayeon’s face hardened as she approached him.
“Chairman, are you feeling okay?”
At Dayeon’s worried question, the chairman waved his hand.
“I’m fine.”
After the cough stopped, he lightly gestured for Song to leave.
Song hesitated for a moment, glanced at Dayeon, and quietly left Chairman Cha’s side.
Seeing Dayeon’s worried expression, Chairman Cha smiled faintly at her.
“Don’t make such a face. At this age, it’s normal for the body to have some minor issues.”
He recalled Siheon’s words that his life was almost over. His chest felt heavy, but Dayeon smiled faintly to not burden him with worry.
“It’s a shame. I wanted to attend the wedding today. But my body isn’t cooperating.”
Dayeon hurriedly shook her head.
“No, I’m fine, Chairman.”
Looking at her with admiration, Chairman Cha asked with a face saying “are you okay?”
“I’ve already heard the news about today. Your father came to see you.”
Recalling the events of the afternoon, Dayeon bowed her head deeply.
“I’m sorry, Chairman.”
“No. There’s nothing for you to apologize for.”
“…”
“By the way, I didn’t know that the husband of Professor Do Hee-ok was such a person. I thought it was because Siheon said not to worry about it.”
Dayeon, who had bowed her head, didn’t expect her head to rise. About Siheon too, but she felt guilty towards Chairman Cha who trusted her and gave her a proposal.
Looking at her, Chairman Cha clicked his tongue with regret.
“Don’t make such a face. I’m still seeing you as my only granddaughter-in-law.”
“Me?”
Seeing Dayeon’s surprised expression, Chairman Cha laughed heartily.
“Siheon is that guy. If Dayeon wasn’t you, he wouldn’t have even considered marrying, not even a speck.”
“Ah…”
Dayeon let out a low sigh and let her head drop weakly.
“If Dayeon wasn’t Professor Do Hee-ok’s daughter, and if we hadn’t been engaged since childhood, could he have broken that iron will of his?”
No. His words were completely different from the truth. The reason Siheon chose her was simply because she was the most suitable person for this fake marriage.
At that moment, she needed a place to be protected, and Siheon needed a comfortable state where he didn’t have to pour out emotions.
The uncomfortable feeling of being deceived was growing like a snowball in her chest.
She wanted to say “no” immediately, but she couldn’t, so Dayeon desperately suppressed the feeling.
Chairman Cha, observing Dayeon’s complexion, casually spoke.
“I wanted to give everything to Siheon, but I couldn’t fill the void of being parents.”
“…”
“Dayeon-ah, no, Saeahga.”
His voice, affectionately calling her, became even lower.
“Can you live together in a harmonious family with Siheon?”
Smiling as if joking, Chairman Cha’s eyes became even deeper.
“I want to see that guy form a family and live happily with his wife in my lifetime. It would be even better if he had a couple of children like him.”
“…”
“Promise me that you’ll do it that way.”
Dayeon swallowed the surging emotions.
Sorry, Chairman. I don’t think I’ll be able to meet that expectation.
Dayeon, clamping her trembling lips so as not to reveal the feeling as much as possible, nodded quietly.
“Yes. I’ll do that.”
Chairman Cha, smiling brightly at her, clapped his knee once as if it was settled.
“Alright. Then, let’s rest for today.”
“Eh… eh?”
Surprised by the unexpected proposal, Dayeon forgot her melancholy and looked at him with wide eyes.
“Rest? Where?”
No way… here?
“Right. In other words, today is no different from the first night. I can’t just send the new bridegroom away.”
“Ah…”
“I’ll have you watch my seat, so remember that.”
First night.
I’m not in a relationship with the teacher yet.
Without knowing Dayeon’s troubled heart, Chairman Cha’s face was bright.
Tatak. Tada-dak.
The sound of fingertips tapping on the table regularly.
She couldn’t overcome her anxiety, so she got up from her seat and started circling the room.
The room she was in was the one Siheon used before being dispatched to the US branch.
On Siheon’s bed, the quilt with small flower embroidery was neatly spread without a single wrinkle.
It couldn’t be Siheon’s taste. It was clearly someone in the house who forced it to create a honeymoon atmosphere.
To spend the first night with the teacher here…?
Although she hadn’t dated before, she knew what it meant.
The natural act performed by married couples who held a wedding.
The problem was that they weren’t real spouses.
“First night…”
Dayeon’s lips, which had sparkled when she was startled for a moment, puffed out in disappointment.
No matter what Chairman Cha said, what good would it do? Siheon would treat her as a kid forever.
The kind teacher. The super man who appears when something happens to protect her. The teacher who becomes a shoulder when strength is needed.
However, that was only when he existed as a teacher to her.
When she tried to approach him as a man, he would coldly draw a line and turn away.
When Dayeon, disheartened, lowered her head gloomily, the door opened and Siheon entered.
“Teacher!”
Dayeon, spotting him, smiled brightly, then bit her lip with a face full of confusion.
“Why… are you here?”
He looked her up and down, surprised, and his face was one that didn’t think Dayeon would be in this room.
“Well… Chairman Cha told me to sleep here.”
Siheon pressed his fingertips to his tired eye sockets.
Somehow, Song had pushed her here insisting she sleep here.
He had been adamant about marrying, and now the grandfather’s scheme to see even the great-grandchild flashed in his mind.
Siheon sighed and turned his body.
“You can use this room. I’ll use another room.”
Siheon was about to leave the room, but Dayeon hurriedly ran and grabbed him.
“Teacher. Even today, it would be better to stay in this room.”
“Why should I?”
“Well, that’s…”
The image of Chairman Cha who wanted Siheon to form a happy family kept recurring in his mind.
Even if it was hard to spend the night with the teacher, he didn’t want to show the scene of using separate rooms to Chairman Cha.
But Dayeon hesitated without being able to add the story in detail.
“Well, it’s the first night. Wouldn’t it be better to be together?”
Siheon narrowed his brows and looked at Dayeon with a suspicious face.
Dayeon shook her hands vigorously and said as if swearing.
“I’ll make sure nothing happens! I won’t even come near where the teacher is!”
Dayeon hurriedly looked around and pointed to a corner of the room.
“There! If I sleep there, it’s fine!”
Following Dayeon’s fingertip, Siheon looked at the sofa with an even more bewildered expression.
“Send me to sleep on the sofa right now?”
Dayeon fiddled with her fingertips and mumbled.
“Then what should I do…”
To not send the teacher away like this, I need to reassure him somehow. The only method that came to mind was promising to sleep on the sofa.
“How many trash do you think I’m making of you?”
“It’s not like that…”
“Enough.”
Siheon, tired of mixing words, pushed Dayeon away and passed by.
For some reason, Dayeon blocked his way again. And with both arms spread, blocking the door, she shook her head with a determined face.
“If you really hate me sleeping on the sofa, we can use the same bed.”
“…What?”
Siheon made a dumbfounded expression, but Dayeon continued speaking calmly.
“This bed is really big, so two people can use it easily!”
“…”
“I trust the teacher. And anyway, you don’t have that intention, right?”
To not accidentally make him leave immediately, Dayeon desperately persuaded him.
“Nothing will happen, so if we sleep together on this bed…”
“Nothing will happen. Are you really that confident?”
“Eh?”
When he looked at her with eyes questioning what she meant. Siheon’s jaw seemed to tense, and he grabbed Dayeon’s arm and pushed her against the wall.