YHTI 10

Chapter: 10

“What?!”

I bought some bread. If you weren’t home, I was just going to leave it in front of your door, but I thought I should see your face before I leave.

“Um, Yoonseul. Today, I’m feeling a little—”

I’m in the elevator, so the call is cutting out.

Beep beep beep.

The call ended, and Taekyung immediately sprang to his feet.

“Min Yoonseul is here?”

Sara’s mind went completely blank in panic.

‘She can’t find out yet… What do I do?’

Taekyung hurriedly picked up the bags and clothes and handed them all to Sara.

“What are we going to do?! If she’s in the elevator, we’re definitely going to run into her.”

“We need to hide first.”

“Where are we supposed to hide in this tiny officetel?”

No matter where they looked, the only place that could possibly hide someone was the built-in wardrobe beside the bed.

“Ah, I hate this.”

“There’s no other way. If you don’t want to get caught, move quickly.”

“I said I hate it.”

Sara wanted to argue, but when she heard the doorbell ringing in her ears, she hurriedly squeezed herself into the narrow wardrobe.

Ding-dong.

Yoonseul pressed the doorbell with a relaxed, leisurely smile on her lips.

From inside came a loud commotion, as though a war had broken out.

A moment later, Taekyung opened the door with beads of sweat on his forehead and awkwardly tugged at the hem of his T-shirt.

“Uh, Yoonseul. You’re here?”

He was wearing sweatpants and a loose T-shirt, nothing unusual for homewear.

But he couldn’t hide his flushed face or his ragged breathing.

Yoonseul calmly held out the shopping bag she had been carrying.

“I wanted to give you this. I stopped by the bakery you like.”

“Uh, yeah… Thanks.”

Taekyung’s eyes widened as he took the shopping bag.

Yoonseul looked completely different from usual.

Her hair, which she normally tied back tightly, was styled in large waves, and her makeup made her face look as fresh as spring flowers.

Instead of her usual hoodie, she was wearing a bright, dress-like suit.

Were her eyes always this big and clear?

Maybe it was the shape of her eyebrows that had made her look dull and stuffy before.

Her forehead was surprisingly smooth and rounded, too.

Were her lips always that full? They looked like they’d be nice to bite. How had I never noticed?

They had kissed before, but he couldn’t remember what her lips had felt like.

He had never even kissed her properly under the excuse of protecting her, but if she looked like this every day…

“Taekyung, why are you looking at me like that?”

“Ah, I was just surprised. What’s with you today? Did you go somewhere?”

“Oh, it’s not that. This is what I wore to the awards ceremony, but I wanted to show you. Does it look strange?”

“Huh? No. Not strange at all.”

You should dress like this more often.

Taekyung was half-dazed by Yoonseul’s changed appearance.

If Sara weren’t there, he would have showered her with compliments until his mouth went dry.

Just then, Yoonseul smiled sweetly at him and stepped inside.

“Can I use your bathroom for a moment?”

“Huh? Yeah… Of course. Make yourself comfortable.”

After answering with a grin, Taekyung suddenly realized what he had said and quickly began thinking.

‘I need to get Sara out while she’s in the bathroom.’

But as though she had read his thoughts, Yoonseul held onto the doorknob and said with a shy smile,

“I’m just going to wash my hands.”

‘Ah, shit!’

His plan to secretly get Sara out had collapsed.

Yoonseul really did nothing more than wash her hands under the running water before coming back out.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

A bead of cold sweat ran down Taekyung’s back.

Yoonseul smiled and took a seat on the living room sofa.

Taekyung sat beside her, pretending to be calm, but every nerve in his body was on edge.

“Yoonseul, should we go out? You’re all dressed up today, so let’s go somewhere nice and have a date.”

“I like your place, Taekyung. I don’t want to go out.”

“Really?”

He needed to send her home as soon as possible, but unlike her usual obedient self, Yoonseul was unusually stubborn today.

“Taekyung, can you give me a glass of something cold?”

“Sure. Just a moment.”

The moment Taekyung turned his back toward the sink, Yoonseul’s gaze moved straight ahead.

Since it was a studio-style officetel, she had a clear view of the bed and built-in wardrobe from the sofa.

‘She’s probably trapped inside that ridiculously tiny wardrobe.’

Yoonseul had already confirmed that Sara was here using a location-tracking app.

A while ago, she had remembered how Taekyung had appeared wherever she went in her previous life, making her believe they were destined to be together. That had prompted her to thoroughly search through the apps installed on her phone.

And that was when she discovered the location-tracking app.

But there was something even more outrageous.

[Min Sara, Min Junghee, Woo Taekyung]

The moment she saw the names of those two people openly listed alongside Taekyung in her friends list, she had been utterly speechless.

Now it was time to pay them back for having monitored her every move.

‘Your legs must be getting pretty numb, Sister.’

Just imagining Sara crouched inside the wardrobe, her body completely folded up as she held her breath, sent a thrilling sense of satisfaction rising from the bottom of Yoonseul’s heart.

Meanwhile, Taekyung brought her a cold herbal tea.

“Taekyung, this tea is really good.”

“It tastes even better with the bread you brought.”

“Right? Sister Sara recommended this bakery because she said the bread here was delicious.”

“Cough. Wh-what? Sara?”

Taekyung choked in surprise, his face turning bright red.

Yoonseul enjoyed the sight and slowly set down her cup.

After that, Yoonseul deliberately asked meaningless questions and leisurely dragged out the time.

She didn’t want to look at Woo Taekyung’s face for even a single second, but when she thought about Sara sweating profusely inside the wardrobe, she was more than willing to endure this much boredom.

As time passed, Taekyung became visibly more anxious.

He must be worried about Min Sara.

But he couldn’t exactly force me out either.

You must be going crazy, right?

Unable to endure it any longer, Taekyung subtly made an excuse.

“Yoonseul, actually, I had a company dinner last night. Maybe that’s why I’m tired and not feeling very well.”

“Oh, really?”

Yoonseul deliberately put on a cold expression.

At her chilly response, Taekyung instinctively swallowed hard.

“Are you angry?”

“It’s not that. I just suddenly started wondering if Taekyung really wants to marry me.”

The moment marriage came up, Taekyung’s heart sank.

He was already bothered by having his proposal rejected, and he couldn’t afford to lose any more points with Yoonseul like this.

‘We’re only getting married. Obviously, she’ll have to live with me. I can just tell her that my company transferred me overseas as an expatriate. If I sweet-talk her properly, we can live without ever having to worry about money.’

From Taekyung’s perspective, there was nothing to lose from the proposal.

He had seduced an innocent girl who had no idea she had an incredibly wealthy father and had even gotten her to promise to marry him.

He had thought he was almost there, but ever since she rejected his proposal, he felt like things were starting to go wrong.

I need to keep my head straight.

Taekyung moved closer and took Yoonseul’s hand.

“What are you saying all of a sudden? Of course I want to marry our Seul. You’re the only one for me.”

“When I look at your actions, it doesn’t seem that way.”

“Is it because I said I’m tired? That’s because I only want to show you the best and most perfect version of myself. I was worried my face might look dull. I just want to look good in front of you.”

His excuse was so pathetic that Yoonseul almost burst out laughing.

Instead, she put on the innocent face of a woman who loved him more than anyone else in the world.

“You look more than handsome enough to me right now. Then… can I stay a little longer?”

Taekyung couldn’t bring himself to tell her to leave when she asked with such an innocent smile.

He was worried about Sara inside the wardrobe, but right now, he had to focus entirely on Yoonseul and win her favor.

“Of course! Absolutely. Stay as long as you want, for as long as our Seul wants.”

That was what Taekyung said.

But things seemed different on the other side.

Thud.

A dull sound came from inside the built-in wardrobe, as though someone had reached their limit.

“Huh? What was that sound?”

Yoonseul tilted her head and deliberately looked toward the bed.