#64
After that day, Song Do-ye served Eunsol even more attentively. However, being thanked so directly made her feel embarrassed.
“So please don’t blame yourself at all.”
“Pardon…?”
Eunsol’s words sounded oddly strange. Don’t blame yourself? It carried the nuance that something like that might happen to her in the near future.
“Mr. Eunsol.”
Something felt wrong. Song Do-ye couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, but she had an ominous feeling.
Without realizing it, she tightened her grip on Eunsol’s hand. She felt she shouldn’t leave him alone, despite his request.
“I just suddenly thought about it. I’ve noticed that you seem to blame yourself whenever something happens to me.”
She couldn’t deny it. As Eunsol said, whenever something troublesome happened to him or when he appeared unhappy, Song Do-ye lost her former cool composure and took it emotionally.
She wanted to see Eunsol smile genuinely and happily. But from some point, his expression had started to darken.
Every time his eyes, which used to sparkle when looking at Hyun-oh, took on a bitter light like crumbled ruins, she felt inner dissatisfaction with Hyun-oh’s cold attitude despite the considerable time that had passed since they married.
Even knowing that harboring such feelings was overstepping her bounds, she couldn’t help her heart leaning toward Eunsol.
“I think I’ll go home now. Secretary Song, you should go home directly from here too. I can go with the driver.”
There were things she wanted to ask, but nothing came to mind. She wanted to ask why he specifically wanted to stay at home for three days with his phone turned off, but Eunsol had already withdrawn his hand.
Simultaneously, as if not wanting any further conversation, Eunsol stepped half a step back.
“The night view from here is different from the one at home. I’ll stay a little longer.”
“But…”
“You haven’t been able to rest properly because you’ve been by my side all this time. Take this opportunity to go on vacation too. Report to the secretarial office that I instructed you to do so.”
Eunsol turned his back. He felt a gaze approaching the side of his face but resolutely kept his eyes on the scenery outside the window.
Song Do-ye remained by Eunsol’s side for a long time, but seeing that he wouldn’t withdraw his firmly expressed intention, she finally left the room.
Once again, he was alone. Only then did Eunsol exhale the breath that had risen to the tip of his throat.
“…I wanted to say goodbye like this, at least.”
He turned his head to survey the place Song Do-ye had left. Initially, she had treated him only professionally, but like Kang Ye-ryeong and Ryu Jeong-woo, she had begun to treat Eunsol with sincerity.
Just as they say sincerity is conveyed without having to be explicitly stated, her inner feelings were naturally transmitted. He was truly grateful for that sentiment. Yet, it also made him sad.
The very person he wanted love from remained cold to him, while others held him dear.
Only after being completely alone did he hurriedly wipe away the tears that were forcing their way out of his eyes. Even though the back of his hand became damp, the tears that had once started showed no signs of stopping.
Eunsol’s body slowly collapsed to the floor. Thinking that Hyun-oh’s cold gaze would be the last he’d see of him made his chest ache.
“Just for today… I’ll cry.”
He should only be transmitting happy emotions, and here he was, feeling like he was only passing sad and painful emotions to Lucky. Eunsol hugged his belly and let out a sorrowful breath.
He needed to be strong. Having decided to run away from Hyun-oh and give birth to Lucky, he must neither regret nor long for him.
Longing would become poison, eating away at Eunsol’s heart.
***
“Chairman, I have something urgent to report.”
“Wait a moment.”
As soon as Kim Myungjun opened the door to the Chairman’s office and raised his bowed head, he quickly approached Hyun-oh’s side.
Hyun-oh only turned his attention to Kim Myungjun after finishing his review of the project documents he had been examining.
Meanwhile, Kim Myungjun, uncharacteristically having lost his composure, was nervously biting his lips.
“What’s the matter?”
“…Mr. Eunsol has disappeared.”
The hand that had been massaging the stiff back of his neck, due to examining documents in the same position for a long time, suddenly stopped.
“What do you mean? Lee Eunsol disappeared?”
A grim wrinkle formed between Hyun-oh’s smooth brows.
After the incident with Han Hyunyong, Hyun-oh had increased Eunsol’s security. He had arranged for private security guards to accompany Eunsol whenever he went out, yet he had disappeared?
“Because of the banquet in two days, we contacted him through Secretary Song Do-ye, but…”
There was a planned couples’ dinner gathering with those who have close relationships with the TH Group.
Kim Myungjun had called Song Do-ye to inform Eunsol about the people who would be attending the gathering.
‘You say Eunsol gave you vacation until today?’
‘Yes. After dining with the Chairman at the restaurant, he wanted to stay at home for three days.’
‘Then why wasn’t this reported to me?’
‘…It was.’
It was a mistake he wouldn’t have made normally. After all, Kim Myungjun had instructed that reports about Eunsol should come directly through Song Do-ye and the secretarial office.
Kim Myungjun rubbed between his brows where a headache was forming.
Already, work had increased since Hyun-oh became Chairman. And to make matters worse, a problem had arisen in the construction division right after the day Hyun-oh had dinner with Eunsol. The construction division was an affiliate that Hyun-oh paid special attention to, as he had been appointed as a director there before becoming Chairman.
Because of this, both Hyun-oh and Kim Myungjun had been staying at the company for all three days without being able to go home.
‘His phone is turned off?’
‘Yes. Should I go directly to the house to see him?’
‘Do that. It’s an important gathering.’
Kim Myungjun wanted to respect Eunsol’s wishes, just as he had requested Song Do-ye to give him time to be alone.
However, the caliber of people coming to this banquet was not ordinary. There was a possibility that Eunsol might find himself in a difficult situation if he wasn’t thoroughly prepared.
That’s why, despite knowing that Eunsol wouldn’t want it, he sent Song Do-ye to the house where he was secluded.
‘Mr. Eunsol has disappeared!’
But not long after, an urgent call came from Song Do-ye. Kim Myungjun could only blink for a while, as the words he heard did not seem real.
‘Mr. Eunsol’s phone and belongings are all in place. Only Mr. Eunsol is nowhere to be seen.’
After hearing those words, his vision darkened, and he closed his eyes, trying to steady his rough breathing. It seemed like that day was the decisive factor.
The day Hyun-oh left the restaurant earlier than expected, something must have happened between the couple.
‘Check the building’s CCTV. Also, call the security guards who were stationed near the house and find out if there was anything suspicious.’
‘Yes.’
After assigning tasks to Song Do-ye, Kim Myungjun immediately prepared to report to Hyun-oh. His temples throbbed, not knowing how Hyun-oh would react.
If he hadn’t missed the report submitted by Song Do-ye, he might have noticed Eunsol’s odd behavior sooner. And Hyun-oh, upon receiving Eunsol’s wish to be alone for three days, might have gone home.
But there was no way to undo what had passed. Kim Myungjun proceeded to knock on the Chairman’s office door.
As the report continued, his mouth became increasingly dry. Only after swallowing could Kim Myungjun continue his unfinished report.
“It seems Mr. Eunsol wanted to be alone three days ago and even sent Secretary Song Do-ye away. It’s my oversight. A report came in, but I missed it.”
“So. What do you mean by ‘disappeared’?”
Hyun-oh, as if frustrated, hooked his finger in the middle of his tie and roughly pulled it down.
“When Secretary Song Do-ye went to the house, it seems he wasn’t inside. She waited, thinking he might have just gone out briefly, but he didn’t return. Just in case, we also contacted Mr. Ryu Jeong-woo and Madam, but they both said they were not with Mr. Eunsol.”
“What about the private security guards?”
“It seems they were only guarding from the outside, thinking Mr. Eunsol was still in the house. I’ve instructed Secretary Song Do-ye to gather more detailed information.”
“What about the CCTV?”
“…That aspect is also being checked.”
Hyun-oh opened a table drawer and took out a small box. It was hand-rolled tobacco that he only smoked when troubled.
A deep shadow fell over his face as he lit the end of the tobacco and deeply inhaled the smoke.
Hyun-oh’s expression upon hearing the report about Eunsol was worse than anticipated. Kim Myungjun hadn’t even mentioned the divorce papers yet.
Kim Myungjun swallowed and took a step back from the heavy alpha pheromones flowing around Hyun-oh.
Hyun-oh picked up the phone that he had placed face down on the desk and checked the message window.
[Hyun-oh, will you be late again today?]
[It’s raining heavily today. Make sure to bring an umbrella.]
[The weather is very hot today. Take care of your health while working.]
There were many unread messages that had accumulated. From some point, Eunsol had been sending at least one message daily unless there was something special.
Sometimes Hyun-oh would check them as they arrived, but most of the time, he was too busy focusing on work and would often ignore the familiar notification sound.
Since the content of the messages was just asking about everyday well-being, he didn’t feel the need to respond.
He moved his thumb down to the very bottom of the message window.
[…Take care.]
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
