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Chapter 11
It seemed Taekyung had just finished work and was on his way out, since he had a document envelope and his phone in his right hand.
“What are you doing here?”
He couldn’t hide his puzzled expression as he spoke. He himself had planned to go down the stairs since the lobby was close, but Dain had been walking up.
“W-well… they say walking stairs is good for your health.”
Even she knew it was a ridiculous excuse, but Dain answered as shamelessly as possible, adding a smile. The sight of her faint grin made Taekyung unconsciously smile back.
“For someone supposedly concerned with health, you look more tired than usual.”
“D-do I?”
Dain answered in a whisper, her cheeks flushing red. She suddenly felt embarrassed for covering with such a clumsy lie. Watching her, Taekyung tilted his head slightly and stepped closer.
“Is something the matter?”
His long legs carried him quickly down the stairs, closing the distance in no time. Dain glanced up at him and hastily shook her head.
“Work was just a little busy today. Can you really tell from my face?”
Her hand brushed hesitantly across her cheek as she asked. Taekyung shook his head to say no, then let out a small sigh.
“I thought you’d be in higher spirits after hearing some good news… Seems I was wrong.”
Ah. Dain realized what he meant and flinched slightly. He was talking about Sales Team 1.
“No, actually… to be honest.”
“To be honest?”
“My joy might actually be greater than you expected, Director.”
Crossing his arms, Taekyung spoke with ease.
“Even though the project was canceled and staff had to be reassigned, which will affect work efficiency?”
“Because working with those people was even more inefficient.”
“Ah.”
It was an amusing answer. Taekyung couldn’t help but laugh, and Dain laughed along.
“Since you’re tired anyway, how about keeping me company a little longer?”
“Oh—yes. Did you have something you wanted me to do?”
Seeing her smile, he checked his wristwatch and made an unexpected suggestion.
“I’d like to have a cup of tea with you.”
He thought she would accept like last time, but oddly, Dain looked troubled. He soon understood why.
“I’m sorry, Director. It’s about time to pick up the kids from kindergarten…”
If it hadn’t been for Inhyeok’s call, she would already have been on her way there. Guilt flickered across her face.
“Chief Jung just went to pick up Hanul. Let’s ask him to bring Yeoreum too.”
“Pardon? But…”
“The teachers will understand. I’ll tell Chief Jung to bring the kids here slowly.”
Of course, Taekyung had already considered this before making the offer. After presenting several alternatives, he once again checked the time and asked:
“So? An hour or so?”
Turning him down again after he insisted this much felt impolite. Dain mentally measured the distance between the kindergarten and the company, then finally nodded.
“If it’s just an hour… it should be fine.”
“Good.”
At last, his expression softened as she agreed.
Taekyung got into Dain’s car, and they drove to a café far from the company.
That was her request—she worried if someone saw them together, strange rumors might spread. It wasn’t a problem, since Chief Jung would bring his car with the kids over to the café anyway.
“When did you get your license?”
As soon as the coffee arrived, Taekyung asked. He must have been watching her drive with interest.
“After I graduated college. I’ve been driving for about two years now.”
“So, you started driving because of your nephew?”
At his follow-up question, hesitation clouded her face. Seeing this, Taekyung quickly added:
“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.”
Dain paused. He had already learned, by chance, about Hanul’s father. It felt only fair to share a little of her own story too.
Besides, from the beginning until now, she had owed him so much. Saying nothing at all felt wrong. After some thought, she opened her mouth.
“It’s not really a special story… but if you’re curious, I’ll tell you.”
“I’d like to hear it.”
“Back when I worked at my previous company, I once came down with a high fever.”
She carefully retraced the old memory.
“At that time, my nephew’s health was fragile, so I often took sick leave. He had many mild fevers, like the one you saw before.”
Yeoreum often ran a fever, and since Dain took care of him, she caught it too. But she rarely had the time to go to the hospital. On sick days, she just endured it until after work, then ate porridge, took medicine, and collapsed into sleep.
“That day was the same—but my fever was worse than usual.”
She thought it would pass quickly, went to bed, and dreamed nightmares. When she woke up, she was shivering, drenched in cold sweat.
“In the morning, I prepared Yeoreum’s breakfast and was about to leave for work… but no matter how much I called, there was no sound from his room. I rushed in and found his forehead burning. He’d caught my fever.”
Normally she compared by touching her own forehead, but that day she was burning up too, so it was hard to tell. If not for his parched lips, she might not have noticed. The thought of what might have happened terrified her.
“To make it worse, it was pouring rain. I grabbed him and rushed out, but I couldn’t get a taxi, so I just ran.”
Holding a trembling umbrella, she tried desperately to shield him from the rain. Thanks to that, Yeoreum’s hair only got a little wet, but Dain was soaked to the bone. Running in the cold air only made her fever worse.
“The moment we got to the hospital, Yeoreum went in for an IV drip. People around me were staring. Like—‘What kind of parents let their child get this bad?’ But then they looked at me and were shocked.”
Dain chuckled faintly at the memory of people staring her up and down. Now she could laugh, but back then she had been too terrified for Yeoreum’s life to think of anything else.
‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry… I wasn’t careful enough… I failed to take good care of you…’
The doctor even asked repeatedly if she was okay. She must have looked strange, sitting there muttering endless apologies into the air.
“Then… I fainted.”
“You fainted?”
Taekyung’s voice dropped cold and low. Without realizing it, he fixed his hardened gaze on her. It amazed him how she could just smile about it now as if it were nothing.
“Later, the doctor told me my fever had been dangerously high too.”
“…”
“So Yeoreum and I ended up lying side by side on IV drips, sleeping it off. When I woke, my head was clear again. I remember looking up at the hospital ceiling and thinking—I needed to buy a car.”
After that day, Dain scraped together every bit of money she had, and bought one. She never wanted to face such a desperate, helpless situation again.
“I was so out of it that I didn’t even contact my company. If my boss hadn’t understood my circumstances, I would have been fired for sure.”
She touched her teacup with a faint smile. Back then, Inhyeok hadn’t been her lover yet, but he had listened seriously to her story. It could easily have sounded like a lie, but he hadn’t doubted her.
“Sounds like your boss was a good person.”
At the mention of Inhyeok, Taekyung muttered softly. Dain looked up in surprise.
“Pardon?”
“The fact that he listened to your stories so well—it shows he paid attention.”
Dain blinked, dazed by his reply, then slowly nodded.
“Yes. He was a good man. As a boss, he was someone to respect.”
But as a lover… he wasn’t. In the year they dated, she discovered he had far more secrets than she’d realized. And that became the beginning of their end.
“As a boss?”
Taekyung caught on instantly to that choice of words. Dain couldn’t bring herself to answer. She just forced an awkward smile, ending the conversation. Time had passed quickly.
“We should go, Director. The kids will be arriving soon.”
“Shall we?”
She worried he might press for more, but unexpectedly, he rose without resistance. When Dain followed, insisting she should pay, he only replied with a wry smile.
“What would people say if a director at Taeung Trading let an employee buy him coffee?”
“Ah…”
“Look, the kids are here.”
Taekyung gestured outside with a small smile. Chief Jung was standing there, holding the children’s hands. Yeoreum spotted Dain through the window and waved.
“Auntie!”
Dain’s face lit up instantly at the sight of Yeoreum. Taekyung looked at her profile in satisfaction, though deep in his chest he kept turning over the question:
‘She said he was a boss worthy of respect… which must mean, in other ways, he wasn’t. Just what side of him did she see?’
His eyes narrowed as he sank into thought.
