DYMD 44

chapter 44

I had avoided answering calls in front of Do-hyun because every conversation with my mother ended emotionally.

I really shouldn’t have answered it this time, either.

“Are you okay?”

Do-hyun, who had been looking at her with worried eyes, asked quietly.

Yeon-ha forced a smile and shook her head.

“I’m sorry. You had to see me like that.”

“Not at all.”

Do-hyun looked at her without saying a word.

His gaze didn’t ask or press for details. That made her even more reluctant to speak. But if she swallowed it all down like this, her chest felt so tight she thought it might burst.

“My parents didn’t have a good relationship.”

Do-hyun quietly listened to her.

“Both of them were quiet. I thought that was normal, but I realized our home was strange after visiting a friend’s house.”

Her friend’s parents joked and laughed while talking. She stared at them for a long time, fascinated by the sight.

“Is there a specific reason?”

“According to my mom, my dad lost our house after dabbling in stocks. It was money they worked hard to save, and after that, they struggled, moving from one tiny rented room to another.”

“Losing all their assets must have been a huge shock.”

“Mom said the pent-up anger she developed back then flares up whenever she sees my dad.”

Yeon-ha let out a small sigh.

“At first, Dad apparently tried to make things work because he felt sorry. But Mom couldn’t forgive him. The more he tried, the more she hated him. She found everything he did unsatisfactory and said hurtful things with every word.”

Do-hyun silently watched her.

“When I was little, I hated it so much. I just wanted an ordinary family, but our home was always cold. Mom would hold onto me and curse Dad, and Dad would often just leave the house without a word.”

Yeon-ha stared blankly into space.

“Seeing Mom cry, sigh, and lament repeatedly, I gradually started to hate Dad, too. It seemed like all of Mom’s suffering was because of Dad. Whenever I saw Dad, my chest felt tight and I got angry. If he spoke to me, I responded coldly, and sometimes I even said harsh things to him, just like Mom.”

She smiled bitterly.

“As if my childish self was getting revenge. But Dad never got angry. He just listened silently and then left without a word. I hated that even more. I wished he would just get angry so I could feel some relief.”

As if remembering those emotions, Yeon-ha clenched her fingertips.

“As time passed, I realized it. He hadn’t changed; he was originally that kind of person. Someone clumsy at expressing emotions, who felt sorry but didn’t know how to reach out. I thought he was ignoring me, but the truth was, he probably didn’t know what to do.”

Her voice grew quieter.

“But by the time I realized that, it was already too late. We had lived like that for too long. Mom still resents Dad, Dad avoids Mom, and I… I was just tired and gave up on everything.”

Do-hyun watched her silently for a while.

“How do you feel about your father now?”

She fell into thought for a moment before opening her mouth quietly.

“…Honestly, I’m not sure.”

Even as she said it, Yeon-ha felt she knew.

She didn’t hate him like she used to, but she didn’t have any affectionate feelings for him either. It was just that she was so tired from all the time that had passed that it seemed no feelings remained.

“You don’t have to understand someone unconditionally just because they’re family. So don’t blame yourself too much.”

At his words, Yeon-ha felt a lump form in her throat. The pent-up emotions surged, and her eyes grew hot. Not wanting him to see her tears, she lowered her head.

He quietly got up from his seat, approached her, and without a word, embraced her.

The moment she leaned into his firm, warm embrace, the tears she had been holding back streamed down her face.

“Hic…!”

A quiet sob escaped as her shoulders shook.

Do-hyun slowly stroked her delicate back.

“Hic…! Sob…!”

Overwhelmed by the warm comfort, the emotions she had suppressed came crashing down, and Yeon-ha burst into the tears she had been holding back.

Having never learned how to openly express her emotions, she always swallowed her hardships.

When the accumulated feelings rose to her throat, she would either cry like a child in an empty room or sing until her voice was hoarse in a noisy karaoke room.

Afterwards, her stifled heart would seem to feel a little better, but she would soon fall into intense self-loathing.

But as she was held in his arms, the emotions weighing her down melted away like snow, and nothing came to mind.

The moment she thought she had shown too much of her childish side in front of him, embarrassment washed over her.

She tried to quickly pull away from his embrace, but his arm held her back.

When Yeon-ha looked up at him in confusion, he quietly wiped her tears and spoke.

“Your eyes are red. Like a rabbit’s.”

“Don’t make fun of me.”

She was already dying of embarrassment from crying in his arms, and now the rabbit comment made her ears burn.

“I’m not making fun of you. It’s the first time I’ve seen someone who looks pretty even when they cry, like you, Team Leader.”

Even though she knew he was just saying it, her heart fluttered uncontrollably and she averted her gaze. As if telling her to look at him, he gently lifted her chin.

When their eyes met again, he quietly took in her face.

Her rounded forehead, neat eyebrows, glistening eyes, reddened tip of her nose, and lips shimmering with tears.

For a moment, his gaze darkened, and he slowly swept his thumb over her lower lip.

The density of the air changed.

The moment she sensed danger, his finger pushed in. Through her parted lips, surprised, his slender index finger slipped in and touched her soft tongue.

Do-hyun pressed down firmly on her moist tongue, then proceeded to explore and caress it as if enveloping it. A sticky sound echoed as saliva pooled.

The more he stimulated her tongue, the more the embarrassing sounds grew, and the more her saliva flowed.

Soon, the saliva she couldn’t swallow trickled down through her parted lips.

“Such a waste.”

Lick.

“Eep!”

He muttered thickly, lowering his head to lick the saliva pooled under her chin.

As the bumpy texture swept over her smooth skin, an electric thrill ran down her back, and Yeon-ha let out a moan without realizing it. At the sound, his eyes sparkled, and then, as if he couldn’t hold back any longer, he turned her face to the side and devoured her lips.

Do-hyun, who had sucked on her drawn-in lips greedily like a man possessed, then pushed his tongue deep between her lips and wantonly stirred her heated mouth.

As if intent on marking every part of her mouth with his trace, he explored it thoroughly, then entangled her shyly squirming tongue. Their tongues intertwined as if dancing.

As the kiss deepened, the hand that had been cupping her face moved down her neck and grabbed her slender arm. He repeated the motion of squeezing and releasing it several times before turning his head and cupping her pert, rising breasts.

The pupils of the woman lost in the kiss widened with a start. Do-hyun, meeting her gaze as if he had been waiting, looked at her intently as if asking if she was okay. His expression held the intent to pull back at any moment if she disliked it.

She didn’t dislike it. She was just surprised.

Yeon-ha closed her eyes and returned his kiss, signaling that it was okay.

He slid his hands under her knees and back, then lifted her up in one swift motion. As her body suddenly floated in the air, she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.

Do-hyun, as if pleased by this, grinned and strode purposefully towards the inner room where the bedroom was.

The DNA results were in.

The moment he saw the message from Kim Gi-cheol of ‘Cheongwoon Detective Agency’, Do-hyun’s heart raced.

He had finally found her.

His fingertips tingled. His hand gripping the phone tightened.

He tried to inhale, but his chest felt heavy and constricted. The sound of his heartbeat echoed in his ears.

How long had he waited for this moment?

He wanted to run out and confirm it right away.

But the pile of documents on his desk and the report he had to finish by today held him back.

His head screamed that he needed to work, but his hands remained motionless on the keyboard.

The words on the document wouldn’t register, and he repeatedly picked up and put down his phone.

「The DNA results are in.」

That single line swirled in his head, consuming all his focus.