MFYBS 25

Chapter: 25

“Huh?!”

Startled by the strange thing he said the moment she woke up, her eyes widened into circles. As if instinctively trying to protect herself, she crossed both arms in front of her chest in an X.

Perhaps because they were in such an enclosed space, his honest confession made her heart pound wildly.

Their eyes met.

Startled, she frowned slightly and quickly reached for the door handle. Escaping seemed like the best option. But he grabbed her wrist.

The distance between them closed in an instant.

“So I’m not a thief now, right? You’re awake.”

The determination in his voice made her heart tighten.

Swallowing nervously, she shouted,

“No! Even now… Mmph!”

Before she could finish speaking, her entire body stiffened like stone.

Leaning forward, he gently pressed his soft lips against the long curve of her neck.

Her eyes flew open in shock. Her relaxed neck instantly tensed, and her hands clenched into fists.

After lightly brushing his lips against her neck, he pulled away, remaining close enough to keep looking into her eyes.

“I’ve been holding back for a long time. I’ve wanted to do that.”

His candid admission turned the tips of her ears bright red.

Finding her reaction adorable, he reached up and gently touched her ear.

The unfamiliar sensation snapped her back to reality.

If she didn’t escape now, she felt she would never get away from this man.

She quickly brushed his hand away and climbed out of the car.

Before closing the door, she glared at him and scolded,

“If you do this again… I really won’t allow it!”

After giving the same warning that never seemed to mean anything to him, she shut the door and disappeared from sight.

If he had truly decided to hold onto her and never let go, he could have.

But he let her go easily.

He couldn’t keep holding her, afraid she would think of him as some kind of beast.

Even though holding her still left him feeling unbearably unsatisfied, like trying to quench his thirst from a dried-up spring, to her it must have felt as sudden as a torrential downpour.

He rested his forehead against the steering wheel for a long time, sighing deeply as he struggled to calm himself.

Eventually, Muhyeok got out of the car and looked toward the annex where Muyeon lived, where she had disappeared.

“When will you accept me… Yoon Haeru?”

He was willing to wait.

Before coming back, he had already waited for years.

If he could endure that long, what were a few more years? Even decades?

He had returned believing he would wait until she gave him her heart.

He had planned to approach her slowly, waiting until she finally saw him as a man.

That had been the plan.

But after seeing her again, his patience had run dry in only a few days.

He had never been an impatient person.

Yet whenever he stood before her, his patience was cut in half.

Several uneventful days passed.

On the long-awaited weekend, Haeru was still asleep well past lunchtime when the bedroom door suddenly burst open.

“You’re still sleeping?!”

Struggling to open her eyes, Haeru blinked sluggishly before closing them again and mumbled sleepily,

“It’s Saturday… I want to sleep more.”

She had spent all of yesterday organizing various reports and hadn’t fallen asleep until early that morning.

She had fully intended to sleep until noon.

But Muyeon sat beside the bed, grabbed her arm, and shook it.

“Get up!”

“Why~?”

Overwhelmed by drowsiness, Haeru held her head with both hands, buried her face into the pillow, and whined.

She didn’t have any plans today.

All she wanted was to stay home and rest.

“I’ve got somewhere to take you today.”

“Where…?”

Without opening her eyes, she asked in an unenthusiastic voice.

“Just get up first~ Hey!”

Muyeon leaned right next to her ear and shouted.

Unable to endure it any longer, Haeru slowly sat up.

Her body felt unbelievably heavy.

Maybe because she’d been so stressed lately over Muhyeok, she felt as though she had come down with the flu.

All she wanted was to sink back into her bed.

“A restaurant! It’s super famous. I even made a reservation because I thought it might help your father.”

“Can’t we postpone it?”

Muyeon knew that Haeru’s father owned a restaurant.

She also knew he had been struggling after expanding the business during the economic downturn.

Lately, whenever she heard about restaurants that were doing especially well, she often invited Haeru to visit them together for ideas.

Haeru appreciated it.

But exhausted, she simply sat there rubbing her eyes lazily.

“We already made plans! How could we postpone it?”

“Who are we meeting?”

At Haeru’s sleepy question, Muyeon looked slightly flustered and waved her hands with a reddened face.

“Well… um… the restaurant owner!”

Having no choice, Haeru let out a deep sigh and stood up.

Her father had called again just last night.

She had already sent him money.

She knew that if her father’s restaurant improved, her own life would also become a little easier.

So despite her exhaustion, she forced herself up and headed straight for the bathroom.

The two of them entered an upscale restaurant together.

Despite the sluggish economy, the restaurant was packed with customers.

There was even a long line of people waiting outside, unable to get reservations.

Following an employee down the hallway, Haeru whispered,

“It really must be a good restaurant.”

“I told you it’s famous!”

Muyeon replied proudly with a shrug.

While chatting quietly, they arrived in front of a private dining room.

The employee opened the door.

White wallpaper.

A white dining table.

Everything inside the room was white.

Standing in sharp contrast to the room was a man dressed in a dark gray suit, already on his feet.

Thinking they had been led into the wrong room, Muyeon looked at the employee in confusion.

But the employee simply left after opening the door.

At that moment, Muyeon pushed Haeru gently inside.

“Then enjoy your meal! I’m busy, so I’m leaving!”

She quickly shut the door behind her.

Haeru instinctively turned back toward the door.

But it had already closed.

Only then did she realize that this wasn’t simply a visit to a famous restaurant.

She had almost walked out, but then remembered the awkward man standing behind her.

Biting her lip, she turned around to face him.

She gave him an awkward bow.

“H-Hello…”

“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Yoon Haeru.”

The man smiled warmly as he approached and held out his hand.

She accepted the handshake.

Looking closely at his face now that he was standing so near, she frowned slightly.

For some reason, he looked familiar.

After they released hands, he lowered his arm and asked expectantly,

“Do you recognize me?”

She couldn’t answer immediately.

She was certain she had seen him somewhere.

But she couldn’t remember where or under what circumstances.

The fragments scattered throughout her hazy memory refused to connect.

As she frowned deeply in concentration, her expression gradually became serious.

Before long, the man realized she didn’t remember him.

Closing his lips tightly, he gave a bitter smile.

“So… you don’t remember?”

If she had at least known this was a blind date, she would have learned his name beforehand.

Haeru had been so busy with work that she completely forgot about Muyeon’s request.

Because she never gave a definite answer, Muyeon misunderstood, assuming Haeru simply wasn’t interested in being introduced to someone.

So she secretly arranged the meeting without telling her.

Knowing how rude it was not to recognize someone who clearly knew her, Haeru felt deeply embarrassed.

She clasped her hands together in front of her and bowed apologetically.

“I’m sorry. My memory isn’t very good… and I had no idea this was an introduction.”

Her honest answer left him silent for a moment.

Then he looked into her eyes and slowly pronounced his name, carefully enunciating each syllable.

“Lee Kanghoon.”

“Lee Kanghoon?”

“Let’s sit down first.”

Smiling gently, Kanghoon gestured toward the round dining table beside them.

Unable to take her eyes off his face, she walked over while continuing to search her memories.

Once they were seated, they exchanged a few ordinary pleasantries.

Soon the food arrived.

As they ate, they resumed their conversation.

Finally, he got to the point.

“We met recently at a party.”

“A party?”

She narrowed her eyes as she thought.

The only recent party she had attended was Muyeon’s birthday party.

The moment she thought about that party, Muhyeok’s face suddenly came to mind.

Closing her eyes tightly for a moment to push the thought away, she looked back at Kanghoon.

She had been quite drunk that night.

Still, she hadn’t spoken with many people.

That made it easier to remember.

The scattered pieces of her memory slowly began fitting together.

Little by little, her memories of meeting Kanghoon at the party resurfaced.

“Ah!”

Finally remembering after his hint, Haeru’s eyes widened.

She raised her arm and pointed at him with her index finger.

Seeing her face light up, Kanghoon’s expression brightened as well.

“You remember now?”

“Ah! Yes! I remember now! Mr. Lee Kanghoon!”

Beaming as though she had reunited with a long-lost relative, she happily waved the arm with her raised index finger up and down in greeting.