Chapter – 10
“What brings you here?”
Si-heon asked with an indifferent expression. They were sitting on a bench tucked away in a corner of the campus, and beside him sat his longtime friend, Ji-woo. Ji-woo burst out laughing.
“My grandfather is the chairman of the board of this university, remember? And I work at the university hospital here, too. I thought you’d at least know that much about a friend. I’m a little hurt, you know?”
“Did you?”
Si-heon was rolling the electrolyte drink he had bought from the vending machine around in his hand without even drinking it. Although his body was beside Ji-woo and he was carrying on a conversation with her, his thoughts were filled entirely with Da-yeon’s face.
Ji-woo had suddenly dragged him away, saying she had something to talk about, so he had ended up parting awkwardly with Da-yeon.
He couldn’t stop thinking about what she had said about not having eaten a single meal yet.
Si-heon casually raised his wrist to check the time, and his expression immediately hardened.
What has she been doing that she hasn’t even eaten yet? It’s already well past lunchtime.
That Peanut—she’s already tiny and skinny, and now she’s even skipping meals.
He couldn’t help worrying about her.
I should probably go find her again and make sure she eats.
“Ji-woo. I’m sorry, but…”
Having made up his mind, Si-heon was about to stand and suggest that they meet another time when Ji-woo suddenly said something unexpected, stopping him mid-sentence.
“Chairman Cha is doing well, right?”
“…My grandfather?”
Si-heon frowned at the sudden question.
“Why are you asking about my grandfather?”
“I recently transferred to internal medicine as a resident. I happened to look at some of Dad’s patient records, and Chairman Cha’s name was there. You know it’s not common for a case to make it all the way to my dad, right?”
Ji-woo’s father, Han Young-sik, was the director of Korea University Hospital.
Ordinary medical treatment generally never reached the hospital director himself, no matter how important the patient was—even if that patient happened to be the chairman of Samjeong Group.
“It’s probably because of his advanced age. He also seemed to have a lot on his mind after his last visit to the hospital.”
Si-heon remembered something Manager Myung had said not long ago.
He had asked Manager Myung to look into Chairman Cha’s medical records, but the report still hadn’t come.
There was no way he had forgotten Si-heon’s instructions. There had to be a reason it was taking this long.
A shadow fell over Si-heon’s eyes as he became lost in thought.
His grandfather had suddenly summoned Jung Da-yeon and told her to marry Si-heon.
And now there was the hospital director personally handling his grandfather’s medical treatment.
An inexplicable sense of unease swept down his spine.
Standing some distance away from the bench where Si-heon and Ji-woo were sitting, Da-yeon secretly watched them.
She had followed after the woman who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and taken Teacher Si-heon away.
She couldn’t help being bothered by it.
Judging by Teacher Si-heon’s expression, they seemed to be having a rather serious conversation.
But she couldn’t hear a thing.
What are the two of them talking about?
Surely they aren’t talking about marriage.
What if the reason Teacher keeps pushing me away and saying he doesn’t like me is because there’s someone else he loves…?
While Da-yeon was torturing herself with such thoughts, a hand came out of nowhere and tapped her shoulder.
“What are you doing here?”
The sudden loud voice nearly made Da-yeon jump out of her skin.
She turned around and found Han Seung-hyun, a classmate from her department, staring at her as if wondering what she was doing there.
He was tall and had a loud voice.
Worried that Si-heon might notice she was there, Da-yeon quickly pressed her index finger to her lips.
“Shh. Keep your voice down!”
Seeing Da-yeon with her finger pressed to her lips, Seung-hyun lowered his voice as well.
“Why? What is it? Is there something interesting going on?”
His eyes sparkled with curiosity.
Da-yeon frowned.
What’s wrong with him? I’m dying over here.
“…It’s none of your business.”
Da-yeon waved her hand dismissively, even gesturing for him to leave.
But once Seung-hyun became interested, he showed no intention of leaving her alone.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
He looked around.
That was when he spotted the man and woman sitting together on the distant bench.
And Da-yeon, who kept stealing glances in their direction.
“Huh? That guy is… Oh?”
Seung-hyun stared intently at the woman, and as though he had suddenly figured something out, a subtle smile appeared on his lips.
Grinning, he pointed toward Si-heon with his chin.
“Hey. Do you like that guy?”
“What… wha-what?”
Da-yeon was so startled that she stammered badly.
“N-no. What are you talking about? What makes you say that?”
“Come on. It’s obvious just by looking at you.”
When Seung-hyun smiled as if telling her not to lie, Da-yeon hesitated before asking in a serious voice,
“Does it really look that obvious to you?”
“Pfft.”
At her straightforward admission, Seung-hyun burst out laughing.
“Don’t laugh. I’m serious.”
Da-yeon pouted and let out a deep sigh.
Even someone who just met me figured it out. So why didn’t Teacher realize until I told him? Does he really have that little interest in me?
Seeing Da-yeon lower her eyes dejectedly, Seung-hyun asked,
“Then why are you hiding here? Are you embarrassed? If you want, I can go over there and tell him Jung Da-yeon is here.”
Seung-hyun looked as though he was about to step forward, so Da-yeon grabbed him in horror.
“Are you crazy? What is wrong with you?”
“Why not? It’s better than you standing here like this.”
“No! Just shut up!”
While Da-yeon and Seung-hyun bickered quietly, the two people on the bench finished their conversation and began to leave.
The moment Da-yeon noticed, she hurriedly ducked behind a corner.
Seung-hyun had no choice but to squeeze himself into the narrow hiding place with her.
After waiting for a while, Da-yeon cautiously poked her head out.
Si-heon and the woman who was supposedly his friend were both gone from the bench.
Seung-hyun, who had also poked his head out after Da-yeon, shook his head in disbelief.
“I seriously don’t understand you. You said you like him. Then shouldn’t you try to win him over?”
“Be quiet. It’s not that simple.”
“If it’s not that simple, then what exactly is the problem?”
There were far too many problems.
Si-heon was the heir to Samjeong Group, while she was working to pay her living expenses because of her father’s mountain of debt.
He was also considerably older than her.
And above all, the biggest problem was that he didn’t want to marry her.
But she couldn’t tell Seung-hyun all of that.
“I… actually got rejected once already.”
Besides, seeing the woman who had been with Si-heon made Da-yeon compare herself to her for no reason.
The woman exuded a mature elegance that Da-yeon couldn’t even begin to compare with.
She had striking features, long, wavy hair, and a tall figure that looked close to 170 centimeters. She was wearing a fitted two-piece outfit that accentuated her figure.
And I’m just wearing a shirt and jeans.
The woman’s back as she walked away beside Si-heon in his suit looked like a picture-perfect match, much to Da-yeon’s frustration.
Seung-hyun looked at the dejected Da-yeon with sympathy.
Jung Da-yeon is pretty great herself. Why did she get rejected?
Ever since the semester began, Jung Da-yeon had been a frequent topic of conversation among the male students.
Her innocent-looking face paired with a figure that was anything but innocent, along with her indifference even when guys openly showed interest in her.
All those qualities combined had the male students talking about Jung Da-yeon as though they were competing with one another.
Da-yeon herself seemed completely unaware of the situation.
So that’s why.
She already likes another guy?
As Seung-hyun silently offered his condolences to all the classmates who had been rejected without even getting the chance to confess, a brilliant idea suddenly occurred to him.
“Want me to help you?”
“How are you going to help me?”
“A man understands a man’s heart better than anyone, right?”
“……”
“I’ll transform you. Make you exactly the type older men like.”
Da-yeon tilted her head in confusion.
Seung-hyun grabbed her by the arm and started walking somewhere.
“Transform me?”
Without even knowing where they were going, Da-yeon followed him.
The place Seung-hyun dragged her into was a select shop near the university.
“Hey, sis. I’m here.”
“Oh, Seung-hyun?”
After casually greeting the shop owner, Seung-hyun walked straight toward the clothes without hesitation and pulled out several outfits.
“This one, and this one. Ah. This one would look good on you, too.”
Seung-hyun held various clothes up against Da-yeon’s body.
Da-yeon could only stare at him with her mouth hanging open.
A short miniskirt.
A knit top that emphasized the curves of her body.
And even a dress in a style she had never worn before.
“Are you crazy? How am I supposed to wear clothes like these…?”
Da-yeon suddenly came to her senses and pushed his hands away.
But despite her fierce reaction, Seung-hyun didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.
“You saw that woman earlier, right?”
“……”
Da-yeon had nothing to say.
Even she had to admit that the woman was an impressive, intelligent, sophisticated adult woman.
“If you want to beat someone like her, don’t you think you need to go this far?”
He held out a dress so short that it left nearly all of Da-yeon’s legs exposed.
Da-yeon bit her lip.
Then her eyes began to shine intensely, as though she had just made up her mind.
