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Chapter 14
“What are you going to fix that for?”
“To be precise, I’m reporting it. The technicians are the ones who fix it, not me.”
“Then why are you the one reporting it?”
“Because it’s broken?”
Yeo Jaekyung tilted her head slightly as she answered.
Her expression showed she had no intention of reconsidering anything else.
Seo Taeju struggled to swallow his rising frustration and a hollow laugh.
“Yeo Jaekyung. The state takes our taxes precisely to do things like this.”
Not that it was only taxes.
If he tried to calculate how much had been donated under the names of Taegwang and Hanrim, counting grains of sand on the beach might be faster.
“Do you sometimes forget you’re a conglomerate heiress?”
Seo Taeju tried to explain it to the naïve young lady who seemed oblivious to how the world worked.
“If you just leave it, the public officials will handle it anyway.”
“I told you earlier. I can’t stand things like this.”
Yeo Jaekyung replied calmly.
“If things that are supposed to do their job don’t do it properly… I guess you could say it bothers me.”
While saying that, she finished reporting the broken streetlight and clicked her phone off with a sharp sound.
Hah. Seo Taeju gave a crooked smile at her somewhat insolent attitude.
“Bothers you? Over something like that?”
For a moment, cold cynicism surged inside him.
“Do you even know how many things like that exist in this world? How uncontrollable life is?”
For example, suddenly discovering a hidden secret of birth and realizing that the place you thought was yours your entire life… might not be yours at all.
He crossed his arms and looked down at her. But Yeo Jaekyung didn’t even blink.
“So I’ll start with what’s in front of me—fixing what I can fix, one by one.”
“So what, you’re going to go around fixing every crooked signboard and broken streetlight you pass?”
“If I can?”
Seo Taeju raised one eyebrow sharply.
A strange sense of righteousness rose in him. An absurd desire to reform this naïve, inflexible young lady.
“Hey, Yeo Jaekyung.”
She really… reminded him of someone.
“No matter how hard you struggle alone like that, nobody will notice.”
Even though he knew it was petty and twisted, his words wouldn’t come out kindly.
“You fix signboards, repair broken streetlights, and walk around doing that—but no one will acknowledge your effort or hard work.”
He knew it himself. He wasn’t really mocking her, but himself.
Yet only sharp, thorny words came out.
Because somewhere deep inside, words he had once heard from someone else were still stuck in his chest.
“Who’s going to recognize you struggling like this after leaving Taegwang? Huh? No one. Even if the project fails, no one will acknowledge your effort or hard work.”
Only after speaking did he notice Yeo Jaekyung.
She was looking up at him with wide eyes.
Damn it. After throwing the words out, Seo Taeju clenched his fist tightly.
“I mean… I got carried away.”
He exhaled and ran a hand roughly through his hair.
But at that moment—
“I know.”
Seo Taeju’s pupils widened.
“I know, Seo Taeju.”
Yeo Jaekyung looked directly at him.
“Of course you can’t fix every signboard or streetlight in the world. But… at least I want to fix the ones on my own path.”
…Somewhere in this world, there is someone who says the same things as me.
“……”
Seo Taeju stood there for a moment, as if he had lost his breath. Above him, the broken streetlight flickered.
“And Seo Taeju.”
Under the flickering light, Yeo Jaekyung spoke with a stubborn expression.
“There’s nothing in this world that just goes on its own.”
Ah, Yeo Jaekyung.
“Everything in this world is made through someone’s invisible effort and labor.”
Why do you only say things that hit my heart so hard?
Why do you—
make yourself look so cool?
“Cancel that thought about her being cool.”
Inside the moving car, Seo Taeju grumbled as he turned the steering wheel.
He sat in the driver’s seat with an irritated expression.
In the passenger seat, Yeo Jaekyung rested her arm on the window frame, glancing at him.
Even as the wind blew through her hair, she didn’t roll the window up.
In fact, all the car windows were fully down.
…Because of the passenger’s insane demand.
“Seriously, that crazy woman!”
Seo Taeju shut his eyes tightly.
Yeo Jaekyung had declared it—she would not ride in the car unless all four windows were open.
Even though it was a summer night, they were driving over 70 km/h, and the wind rushed violently through all four open windows.
“I’m freezing. Freezing.”
While driving, Seo Taeju glared at her.
“You know you’re insane, right?”
“You should look ahead, Seo Taeju.”
She pointed forward with her chin, ignoring him completely.
“…I have claustrophobia.”
“What? So you need all the windows down to ride?”
“It’s pretty severe.”
“So you’re saying all four windows have to be down, right? Like this?”
Seo Taeju glared at her.
“I tried to understand you, but I’ve realized that’s impossible.”
Yeo Jaekyung, looking out the window, muttered in response.
“…As I said before, negative emotions affect sexual tension between men and women…”
“Sexual tension my ass! Can’t you see I’m freezing to death?”
“It’s summer, Seo Taeju. You can’t die from cold.”
“Ever heard of summer colds? And we’re literally driving at 70 km/h with four wide-open windows!”
He gritted his teeth.
Through the rearview mirror, their eyes briefly met, but she quickly looked away again, clearly avoiding responsibility.
“…I recommend slowing down. Or turning on the heater.”
“Are you kidding me?”
Yeo Jaekyung, you menace!
Seo Taeju sharply turned the steering wheel. At a sudden traffic change, he had to brake hard, and instinctively reached out to prevent her from lurching forward.
Her body tilted briefly and landed safely against his arm.
Despite the gentle action, he kept grumbling.
“I’m actually curious how far you’re going to go, so I guess I’ll keep meeting you.”
“…That almost sounds like a compliment.”
Hoo. Seo Taeju kept glancing at her as he drove.
Even while complaining, the corners of his mouth kept twitching upward.
What a ridiculous woman.
“Seriously. Just a moment ago you were talking about fixing signboards and streetlights wherever you go, and now you’re scared of riding a car?”
“…Don’t mock other people’s conditions, Seo Taeju. Claustrophobia affects about 1% of the population. That means one out of every hundred people around you could have it.”
She added with a sharp look.
“And I never said I fix every signboard and streetlight. I said I fix the ones I happen to notice…”
Even while speaking, she leaned as far as possible out the window, clearly hating enclosed spaces.
It was almost laughable.
‘Where did that cool woman from earlier go?’
Now she just looked like a coward.
Seo Taeju kept glancing at her through the rearview mirror.
Unintentionally, his gaze kept drifting there.
A cool summer wind poured into the car.
Yeo Jaekyung’s long hair scattered wildly in the wind, but she didn’t bother fixing it.
She closed her eyes as if enjoying it.
‘So childish… like she’s never even been on a drive.’
Even as he complained internally, he slightly turned up the radio volume.
Yeo Jaekyung.
A principled person who couldn’t ignore even a broken streetlight.
Someone who believed the world worked on the principle of equivalent exchange—what you give must be returned.
A naïve yet not-so-naïve young woman who had been raised too gently.
And someone who hates closed spaces and likes the wind.
“…Note that for now.”
Seo Taeju muttered to himself.
“Thanks. I got here comfortably.”
“Of course. That’s entirely thanks to me.”
Seo Taeju, now out of the car, rubbed his frozen hands.
“If I had known, I would’ve just brought a convertible from the start.”
Yeo Jaekyung glared back at the man who was glaring at her.
He checked his watch.
“8:55 PM. Yeo Jaekyung, it’s time for a child like you to go home.”
He didn’t miss the chance to tease her.
“Good night, Yeo Jaekyung. Brush your teeth before bed, wash your face, okay?”
Yeo Jaekyung shot him a sharp look.
“What are you doing not going inside?”
“…I am going inside.”
But just like Seo Taeju didn’t immediately return to the car, Yeo Jaekyung also couldn’t easily turn away.
A summer night where neither of them wanted to say goodbye.
The reason parting felt slow was probably because the time they had spent together had been unexpectedly enjoyable.
“I’ll go then.”
Yeo Jaekyung turned away coldly on purpose.
The large gate opened and closed.
Standing behind a pillar where he couldn’t see her, she let out a quiet sigh.
“Hoo…”
She shook her head as if clearing her thoughts.
‘Get a grip, Yeo Jaekyung. You can’t be serious about that man.’
You know better than anyone that nothing can happen between you two.
Throb.
At that moment, a sharp, unfamiliar pain pierced her heart.
