Chapter – 06
“Your grandfather is already over eighty. How long are you going to keep making me worry like this?”
During the morning commute, Chairman Cha’s voice rang loudly through the car.
The voice coming through the phone was so loud that it made his ears hurt. He moved the phone slightly away from his ear and waited for Chairman Cha’s voice to subside before bringing it back.
Then he spoke in an even, emotionless tone.
“What are you talking about, calling me first thing in the morning?”
“Who else could I be talking about? I mean Da-yeon. Didn’t I clearly tell you to marry that girl?”
After hearing the same nagging over and over again, he had grown so accustomed to it that it barely affected him anymore.
He should at least say something that makes sense. How on earth am I supposed to marry a girl who’s barely out of childhood?
“I already told you. I have no intention of doing that.”
“Why on earth do you dislike the idea? Having a good wife, raising children who look like you, and living happily together as a family—that’s what happiness in life is all about…”
“So, Grandfather, were you happy living that kind of life?”
Si-heon interrupted Chairman Cha and asked.
“…”
Chairman Cha fell silent for a moment. As though he had expected that reaction, Si-heon continued bluntly.
“You weren’t always happy, were you?”
After a brief silence, Chairman Cha suddenly shouted.
“…Enough! Whether you intend to marry her or not, I’m going to make this marriage happen before the end of this year. So you’d better know that!”
Having made his intentions perfectly clear, Chairman Cha hung up.
Click.
The sound of the disconnected call lingered in the car for a moment.
Manager Myung, sitting in the driver’s seat, glanced at Si-heon through the rearview mirror.
“Was that the chairman?”
“Yes. Last time, he was nagging me to go to the U.S. branch and develop my abilities. Now he’s going on about marriage.”
He gave a bitter smile before adding quietly,
“Who in our family has ever found happiness through marriage?”
His aunts and uncles, who had married suitable partners, and even his own parents, who had defied opposition to marry the people they loved…
All of them had ended up unhappy.
Promises to stay together for the rest of their lives, vows to love only one person until death—how meaningless were they in the face of passing time?
After hesitating for a moment, Manager Myung cautiously spoke.
“I suppose it’s because he’s getting old. He seems to have had a lot on his mind since his last visit to the hospital.”
Si-heon’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
Come to think of it, his grandfather had started pressuring him particularly hard to get married around that time.
At that moment, Si-heon’s eyes turned cold.
“Manager Myung.”
“Yes?”
“Please find out about Chairman Cha’s recent medical records.”
“His medical records?”
When Manager Myung asked in surprise, Si-heon gazed out the window and spoke quietly.
“There has to be a reason why Grandfather is rushing things this much.”
After a brief pause, Manager Myung nodded, saying he understood.
Lost in thought, Si-heon continued looking out the car window. As the car slowed down upon entering the road near the company, a familiar face appeared among the passing scenery.
“Peanut…?”
His face filled with surprise when he spotted Da-yeon.
For a moment, he wondered if he had mistaken someone else for her, but even after looking again, there was no doubt that the person standing in the distance was Da-yeon.
How on earth did she end up here?
If someone happened to see the two of them together, there was no doubt that the report would reach Chairman Cha through the countless eyes and ears within the company.
Si-heon pressed a palm against his aching head.
As if his grandfather’s relentless pressure to get married wasn’t enough, having such a report reach him would be like fanning the flames of an already burning house.
By then, the car had glided to a stop directly in front of the building’s lobby. Si-heon got out and gestured toward the building.
“Go inside first, Manager Myung.”
“What? But, Director…”
Ignoring Manager Myung’s question, Si-heon retraced the way he had come.
Manager Myung stared after him suspiciously, then shrugged and went inside.
Da-yeon stood beside the building, lightly tapping the ground with the toe of her shoe. Each time she did, the shopping bag she was holding in her arms swayed slightly.
Did I come too suddenly? What if Teacher is surprised?
Da-yeon repeatedly took out her phone, only to put it back again, and let out a small sigh.
Inside the shopping bag were the thousand paper cranes she had been unable to give Si-heon because he had suddenly left for the United States, along with a present she had prepared for him.
At the time, she had saved up every penny she had, even skipping meals to afford them. But now that she was actually here to give them to him, anxiety overwhelmed her.
After thinking for a while, Da-yeon tightened her grip around the shopping bag.
No. If he understands how I feel, Teacher will definitely be happy.
Compared to everything Teacher had done for her, it was nothing special. But this was the best she could do.
As she continued worrying and tormenting the innocent pavement beneath her feet, a dark shadow fell over her head.
“Peanut. What are you doing here?”
At the familiar voice, she turned her head.
At some point, Si-heon had arrived and was looking down at her with one eyebrow raised in a crooked expression.
“Teacher!”
Da-yeon smiled and ran toward him.
Unlike her bright smile, however, Si-heon’s face was deeply frowning.
“How did you get here? How did you even know I was here?”
“Well… I asked Butler Song.”
Seeing her nervous expression, Si-heon sighed.
Right. That guy.
If you asked him anything, he would answer everything without hesitation.
“How did you know when I’d be coming? And why did you ask Butler Song? You should’ve contacted me first.”
“I did.”
“What?”
At his disgruntled question, Da-yeon carefully spoke up.
“I sent you a text this morning. I said I had something to give you and asked if you could meet me for a little while…”
Si-heon subtly pulled out his phone. At the top of the screen, an envelope-shaped notification icon was blinking.
He tapped it, and the message Da-yeon had sent some time ago appeared on the screen.
[I’m outside your company. If you’re not too busy, could you meet me for a little while? I have something to give you.]
It was a text message he hadn’t seen for over an hour because he had been busy dealing with Chairman Cha’s phone call since early morning.
Embarrassed, Si-heon grumbled for no reason.
“So you think sending a message is enough? You have to get a reply, too. A reply.”
“You never reply anyway.”
Da-yeon gave him a faint smile.
She already knew that whenever Si-heon didn’t know what to say, he tended to act gruff for no reason.
“So what did you come to give me? Is it that?”
Si-heon pointed his chin toward the shopping bag in Da-yeon’s hands.
“Oh… yes. This.”
At his question, Da-yeon quickly handed him the bag.
Si-heon glanced inside and frowned.
Inside was a large glass jar, the kind that looked as though it belonged on display at some rustic homemade liquor shop deep in the mountains of Jirisan, filled with colorful paper cranes.
“What… is this?”
“Paper cranes I folded whenever I thought of you while waiting for Teacher.”
“Cranes?”
“Yes. I folded them whenever I had a break while studying. It actually helped me memorize things really well because I studied while folding them.”
“…”
“I searched it online, and apparently people used to give gifts like this to each other a long time ago.”
Seriously. We’re only nine years apart. And she’s treating me like some person from the olden days.
Looking displeased, Si-heon pointed with his eyes toward another box.
“Then what’s this?”
“That’s the present I bought for you.”
Si-heon took the shopping bag from Da-yeon and immediately began unwrapping it.
He untied the ribbon and opened the lid of the box.
Inside was a blue-toned necktie.
“…A tie?”
“Yes. I bought it before to thank you, but then you went to America, so I couldn’t give it to you.”
“…”
“I’ve just kept it all this time. But now that we’ve finally met…”
Her voice grew quieter and quieter, apparently out of embarrassment.
Si-heon stared at the tie for a long time, unable to tell what he was thinking.
“I’m giving it to you because I’m really grateful. You don’t have to feel pressured. I can only give you something like this for now, but once I make a lot of money, I’ll buy you something even better.”
Si-heon let out an incredulous laugh.
“What money do you have?”
“I have money! Do you know how hard I’ve been working lately? I got jobs at a hotel and a bakery. And I even found a tutoring job.”
“A hotel? A bakery?”
“Yes! I can get leftover bread and food, too. It’s actually pretty worthwhile.”
Not long ago, Manager Myung’s report had only mentioned that Jung Da-yeon was looking for tutoring work.
But in the meantime, her list of part-time jobs had multiplied one after another, and Si-heon’s brow naturally furrowed.
“Part-time jobs?”
Thinking of Jung Da-yeon spending hours on her feet every day, carrying dishes, taking orders, and handling payments, he felt an inexplicable heaviness in his chest.
“Stop.”
Si-heon’s voice was firm.
Da-yeon looked at him questioningly.
“Why?”
“How much could you possibly make from those part-time jobs? Don’t waste it buying me gifts.”
“But I want to give them to you.”
With a shy smile, Da-yeon continued.
“You’re someone very precious to me. I want to see you smile happily, Teacher.”
Her fair cheeks slowly flushed the color of a peach.
Watching her, the confession she had made that day rang vividly in Si-heon’s ears.
“I may not have been able to say it before, but I’ve liked you for a long time, Teacher.”
