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Chapter 37
Startled, Yoo-eul’s entire body stiffened.
Behind Ji-eun’s stifled giggling, only the drrr— sound of the call connecting rang out.
A mix of panic and despair settled over Yoo-eul’s face.
Not long after, the call timer appeared on the screen, and Ji-hyuk’s voice came through.
—Yeah.
Ji-eun, looking slightly startled even though she was the one who had made the call, widened her eyes and hurriedly switched it to speakerphone.
Ji-hyuk’s voice rang out louder and clearer throughout the shop.
—Han Yoo-eul. What’s going on?
Ji-eun poked Yoo-eul sharply in the side, urging her to answer quickly.
Glaring resentfully at Ji-eun, Yoo-eul took the phone and held it up.
The time displayed on the phone was 7:30 a.m.
—Han Yoo-eul.
At that moment, Ji-hyuk called her name again in a heavy tone.
Yoo-eul hesitated with an awkward expression. She couldn’t think of what to say. What excuse could she give for calling so early…?
—Did your aunt come looking for you again? Where are you? At the shop?
“Pardon? Ah, no…”
Though calm, his voice carried a sharp edge that made Yoo-eul feel as if her heart had stopped.
Anyone could tell. It was a voice in which anger and concern flared up at once, assuming that the aunt who had harassed her had shown up again.
—I’ll come to the shop.
Beside her, Ji-eun covered her mouth and mouthed, This is insane.
Yoo-eul hurriedly called out to him.
“D-Director!”
—Yeah.
“I’m fine!”
—I don’t believe that. I should come and check myself.
“You’re coming to the shop right now?! No, no! That’s not it, Director, really nothing’s wrong… I pressed it by mistake. I’m sorry.”
—What?
Next to her, Ji-eun silently mouthed idiot with an annoyed expression.
—You want to get scolded?
Scratching her head with her free hand, Yoo-eul fumbled for words.
“I’m sorry… I startled you first thing in the morning, didn’t I?”
—Yeah. Just yesterday your aunt messed up your face like that. And then you call me like this early in the morning—how could I not be startled?
At Ji-hyuk’s cold voice, Yoo-eul squeezed her eyes shut and bowed her head.
“I’m sorry… I think I pressed it by mistake because I wanted to hear your voice, Director.”
That seemed like the only thing she could say to smooth this situation over.
And honestly, since his voice was always nice to hear… it wasn’t a complete lie.
“Actually, it kept bothering me that I left in such a rush yesterday and didn’t even get to say goodbye properly.”
Silence followed, then a low chuckle.
Just hearing that laugh made her chest tickle in an absurd way again.
—All right. Open the shop well.
“…Yes. Have a good day at work too, Director.”
—Yeah. Thanks to you, I’ll be heading to work in a good mood.
Yoo-eul’s face instantly flushed.
“Th-thank you!”
Click—
After blurting out a thank-you, Yoo-eul hurriedly hung up.
“Things were going fine, and then what was that at the end?! What are you even thanking him for?!”
Ji-eun snapped, incredulous.
With even her ears burning red, Yoo-eul covered her face with both hands as if washing it and collapsed right there.
The call had started as Ji-eun’s prank, but after talking to Ji-hyuk first thing in the morning, her heart felt oddly soft and fuzzy.
No—rather than odd, her heart was racing, and her body felt light and buoyant with excitement.
“This is huge. You two are totally in the some stage!”
Yoo-eul lowered her hands from her face and looked up.
Ji-eun crouched down as well, bending her knees so they were at eye level.
“Some, Han Yoo-eul. Wow—wouldn’t that make us in-laws squared?”
“I don’t knowww!”
Turning away from Ji-eun’s delight, Yoo-eul hurried into the kitchen.
She gulped down cold water in big swallows.
The heat rising in her chest was so intense she felt she had to cool it down with cold water.
“Whew…”
Just then, the phone in her hand vibrated.
Can I come see Doha tomorrow? Time doesn’t matter.
It was a text from Ji-hyuk.
He’d said she could see Doha once a week, one day on the weekend. And now he’d sent a message first, saying she could come see Doha tomorrow, Saturday.
Seeing Doha tomorrow sounded nice, but the thought of facing him made the heart that had just begun to calm down start pounding excessively again.
At that moment, there was a knock-knock sound from the kitchen entrance, as if someone were tapping on something.
When she turned around, Ji-eun was peeking her head in, lightly knocking her fist against the wall beside her.
“Wh-what. Why.”
“If things go well with Director Seo, could you give me some content? From the romance of double in-laws to marriage. Something like that.”
“Stop it, Gye Ji-eun! I’m going to get mad!”
“Hehe. Just kidding, just kidding. Ha… I’ll finally get to see our Yoo-eul escape being perpetually single~ As your unni, I could die without regrets, no regrets~”
“Seriously, I told you to stop!”
“By the way, looks like one guy’s going to cry.”
“What?”
“Nothing~”
Changing the subject, Ji-eun said she needed to get ready for opening and told Yoo-eul not to talk to her anymore.
It was absurd, but with Ji-eun causing chaos since morning, the opening preparations were already rushed, so Yoo-eul quickly focused on getting ready as well.
Around 2 p.m.
After finishing a meeting with overseas partner representatives at a hotel, Ji-hyuk asked Secretary Choi about his schedule before getting into the car.
“How much time do I have until the next appointment?”
“You have about an hour of free time.”
“Then let’s stop by a nearby department store.”
“Yes. Shall I contact the department store’s dedicated manager?”
“No.”
Secretary Choi replied that he understood, got into the car right away, and told the driver the destination.
Arriving at the department store in less than five minutes, Ji-hyuk stepped out of the car and immediately quickened his pace.
“Where do they sell baby products?”
“Ah, just a moment.”
After quickly checking, Secretary Choi guided him.
Ji-hyuk had visited department stores many times, but he’d never paid much attention to the floor that sold baby items. Now his eyes lit up.
Even with just a brief look around, there were so many clothes, hats, shoes, and bags that would look adorable on Doha.
Without much thought, he entered whatever store caught his eye and grabbed anything that seemed like it would suit Doha, handing it to the manager.
“All of these—make sure they’re in Doha’s size.”
Secretary Choi quickly told the staff Doha’s age in months and his weight.
After telling them to package everything, he moved briskly back to Ji-hyuk’s side.
When they reached the fifth store, Secretary Choi finally spoke up.
“Um… Director. If you buy this much, even if he wears something new every day, he won’t get to wear it all before the season changes. Next year it’ll be too small for him.”
“As long as he wears it once, that’s enough.”
“Doha isn’t a prince of an oil-rich kingdom!”
Ji-hyuk shot him a glare.
Secretary Choi faltered.
“I’m his uncle—can’t I even buy this much for my nephew?”
“N-no, of course you can. Absolutely. I just spoke out of turn because I’m frugal by nature.”
“Good. Then that’s settled. By the way, where do you buy women’s clothes?”
“Yes… p-pardon?!”
Secretary Choi jumped in surprise.
He quickly composed himself and asked cautiously,
“Which age group of women are you referring to…?”
“Mid-twenties. Clothes for Han Yoo-eul.”
Secretary Choi’s mouth fell open.
At Ji-hyuk’s remark asking if he was going to keep his mouth open, he hurriedly shut it and guided him.
“No woman dislikes gifts, right?”
At Ji-hyuk’s casual question as they walked, Secretary Choi came to an abrupt stop.
“Pardon? Ah, yes… I’ve yet to see a woman who dislikes gifts…”
“I wonder if she’ll praise me for buying Doha’s things too.”
“W-what?! Then did you buy all of Doha’s items just to make Han Yoo-eul like you more?!”
Ji-hyuk didn’t answer right away.
In truth, rather than coming specifically to buy Doha’s things, he’d come because he had time to spare and wanted to buy something for Yoo-eul at a nearby department store.
Perhaps because he’d been in such a good mood all day after her cute act of calling in the morning saying she wanted to hear his voice, he’d even successfully wrapped up an important meeting.
He’d come to the department store to repay that, but Doha had been on his mind, so he’d shopped for Doha first.
Of course, the reason his eyes had gone wild the moment he stepped onto the baby goods floor wasn’t purely to impress Han Yoo-eul—it was also simply because he thought the items would suit Doha well.
“Director… are you meeting her separately?”
“Is that not allowed?”
“Yes, it’s n-not… something that should happen! There’s Madam Soo-young’s will, and the Chairman probably doesn’t like that family… No, more importantly, do you really have feelings for Han Yoo-eul, Director?”
“No.”
“Then why are you buying her clothes?! And why are you all excited wondering if she’ll like that you bought Doha’s clothes?!”
“Secretary Choi.”
“Yes!”
“If you feel like buying someone things, and you want to do everything they like—does that mean you like that person?”
“That’s right! You’ve fallen in love!
