🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter : 07
The sound of the shutter was drowned out by the noisy breakfast buffet and made no impact at all.
“Please, have some.”
“No, you go ahead.”
When Gaeun put some papaya on her plate, Seokjin moved it back to hers.
“Mr. Joo, please eat.”
“No, really, it’s fine.”
“It’s my choice.”
Gaeun, who usually loved food and wouldn’t give in, was now actively offering papaya to him. Seokjin felt something was strange.
Of course.
The moment he bit into the well-cut papaya, he understood why Gaeun had been so desperate to give it to him.
Contrary to the expectation of the ripe orange color, the papaya was full of raw taste and really didn’t taste good.
“Gaeun?”
“Tasty, right?”
Seeing Seokjin frown slightly, Gaeun rested her chin on her hand and smiled. Then Seokjin used his fork to feed a piece of papaya into her mouth.
“Try it and see if it’s tasty.”
“…Does it usually taste like this?”
Frowning, Gaeun swallowed the papaya without chewing properly and asked.
“It shouldn’t taste like this normally.”
“What kind of fruit tastes almost like watermelon rind?”
“So, that’s why you gave it to me?”
“…Eat it before the omelet gets cold.”
Gaeun forced a small smile and offered the food to Seokjin.
To the journalist capturing this scene, she looked like the lovely girlfriend of Retail CEO Joo Seokjin.
Gaeun, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, knocked on Seokjin’s hotel room door.
“Mr. Joo, come out quickly.”
“I’m coming out now.”
Seeing Seokjin emerge, Gaeun swallowed nervously.
With slightly angled sunglasses, he looked like a model straight out of a photoshoot.
Gaeun was momentarily lost in admiration at how effortlessly attractive he was.
If she had left him at the airport, other women would have rushed to help him instead of being a lost international traveler.
Seokjin noticed Gaeun staring and asked,
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“…Ah, half-covered like that, your face is quite something to look at.”
“I’ve never heard anyone say my face is worth digging into.”
“Just flattery, I guess.”
Gaeun felt embarrassed for briefly being attracted to him.
Even with sunglasses, his looks couldn’t be hidden.
Throughout the trip, she felt uneasy that other women’s attention would naturally be on him—and she was right.
On the BTS heading to the water bus for the dawn temple, countless women kept glancing at Seokjin.
Fearing that they’d glare at her if they knew she was with him, Gaeun subtly stepped a little away from Seokjin.
“Let’s go to the rooftop bar tonight.”
“Traffic might be bad, but it should be okay.”
The rooftop bar she planned to go to was on the top of the B Hotel, a famous global hotel chain.
While she wanted to relax and enjoy the night view, she worried whether they could reach it safely through Bangkok’s traffic.
“If it’s okay, we can plan something nearby for tomorrow and take a dinner cruise tonight.”
“A dinner cruise?”
“Enjoy dinner while seeing the Chao Phraya River night view.”
It was an excellent suggestion, though a dinner cruise could be expensive.
“It’s not much, really.”
Seokjin noticed her concern and said confidently,
“‘Not much’ might mean different things for you and me.”
“For Gaeun, it’s not a burden.”
“Then let’s go. That cruise is nothing.”
“Then let’s book it. Phone, please.”
“Yes.”
Seokjin held out his palm, and Gaeun handed him her phone.
He smoothly navigated the booking site and filled in the details.
“Need to pay?”
“Here.”
Gaeun handed him her card politely with both hands.
Though she was the one giving the card and phone, it felt like she was just a secretary helping him.
“All done.”
Feeling playful, Gaeun snatched the card from his hand roughly.
She overdid it and lost her balance, stumbling.
“O-oh?”
Gaeun accidentally leaned into Seokjin’s chest, opening her eyes slightly.
She needed to pull away, but her body stubbornly stayed pressed against his chest like a magnet.
His chest felt vast, like 500,000 pyeong (unit of area), and firm with no extra fat.
It was like the perfect place to rest.
Thinking back, she wondered why she had wasted her early twenties on Jung Hankyung, who tried to hide his shortcomings instead of improving them.
All those small gestures of attention from him now seemed silly, yet she had adored him then.
Her vision blurred slightly with emotion.
“Are you okay?”
“Ah, yes, I’m fine.”
“Did it hurt?”
“A little hard…”
Gaeun wiped her eyes with her fingers. She wasn’t sad from a breakup, but frustrated at wasting seven years foolishly.
Quickly wiping away her tears and smiling, Seokjin didn’t seem to notice anything unusual.
“Let’s get off.”
“Yes.”
They walked a short distance to the water bus.
The roadside was still unfinished, and the stench of an open drain rose, but the sweet smell of tropical fruits in a nearby cart quickly erased the unpleasantness.
Gaeun scrunched her nose and enjoyed the exotic fruit aromas.
“When I go back to Korea, I’ll work hard and travel like this once a year.”
“Travel is always good. It’s a chance to recharge.”
“Do you often travel alone like this?”
“Yes. Others go from country to country on business trips, but having a crowd follow you isn’t real travel. I like this freedom.”
Listening, Gaeun thought he seemed like a prince disguising himself to see the world outside the castle.
The freedom sounded indulgent, but everyone’s standard is different.
They took the water bus and arrived at the dawn temple, looking up at the sparkling pagoda.
The pagoda, covered in porcelain shards, reflected many dazzling colors.
“Those sparkling decorations were made from discarded porcelain by Chinese merchants. Turning something someone threw away into treasure is interesting, isn’t it?”
“So, Gaeun…”
“Hmm?”
“No, even though you’re currently unemployed, if you find something that suits you, you’ll shine like this too.”
“Wow, as expected of this year’s young CEO, your words are smooth and impressive.”
At 27, Gaeun, with no impressive career to list on her resume, felt grateful for Seokjin’s encouragement.
Earlier at the hotel interview, he had seemed arrogant, but now, beyond the CEO facade, he seemed warm.
“Wow, we have to climb this?”
The steps to the towering pagoda were almost vertical.
Just looking at them made Gaeun’s legs shake.
“Let’s climb.”
“…You go first.”
“Shall we go together?”
Seokjin reached out his hand.
Feeling she should hold it, Gaeun placed her hand on his.
Up close, the pagoda looked even more magnificent than from afar.
“From the rooftop bar on the other side, you can enjoy the night view too.”
“You come here often, Mr. Joo?”
“Business trip. This is my first leisure trip.”
“So I’m your first travel partner?”
“Looks like it.”
Gaeun’s joke had made him smile, which made her happy.
“Did something sparkle just now?”
“Not sure.”
“Was it sunlight?”
Some light definitely reflected in her eyes, but she assumed it was just the sun hitting the decorations.
They didn’t even realize that a journalist hiding against a wall accidentally fired a flash.
Clinging to each other on the steep pagoda stairs, they looked like a very affectionate couple.
Important lines highlighted:
“Please, have some.”
“Try it and see if it’s tasty.”
‘Her body stubbornly stayed pressed against his chest like a magnet.’
“No, even though you’re currently unemployed, if you find something that suits you, you’ll shine like this too.”
‘Clinging to each other on the steep pagoda stairs, they looked like a very affectionate couple.’
