Chapter 117: They Say ‘What If’ Can Kill a Man
TL: Aniea
“If you're watching me for the same reason as I am watching you, Kim Eun-ha ssi?”
“.......”
At Kang Woo-ju’s words, which struck her head like a bolt of lightning, Kim Eun-ha was hit with a tremendous shock.
It was a perspective she had never once considered before.
‘If it’s for the same reason as me....’
There were various reasons why she had proposed a contract relationship to Kang Woo-ju, but the most influential incident among them was the one where she had encountered him in the elevator.
That very accident, which she had thought no one else could possibly know about except for herself and the bodyguards involved.
‘No, there’s no way he doesn’t know.’
Kim Eun-ha was not a particularly optimistic person. Even among the carefully selected security team, she believed there must have been someone planted by the Chairman.
She hadn’t completely ruled out the possibility that it could be Kang Dae-ho, the head of the security team.
Therefore, she assumed that Chairman Kim Seok-ho must know not only about her trauma but also the elevator incident.
‘If he also knows that the person who saved me was Woo-ju ssi?’
That thought briefly flashed through Kim Eun-ha’s mind, but she shook her head shortly after.
Even if all the assumptions she had just made turned out to be true, that still wouldn’t be a reason to accept Kang Woo-ju.
“It’s a novel idea, but the chances are slim.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Well....”
Kim Eun-ha paused for a moment. Saying it aloud felt like something was stuck in her throat, making her feel suffocated.
Instead, she carefully observed Kang Woo-ju’s face. As if she could almost, but not quite, grasp something.
“Eun-ha ssi?”
“Just a moment.”
“.......”
Kang Woo-ju’s expression became subtly strange for a moment, but he didn’t reject Kim Eun-ha’s request.
Kang Woo-ju held back the rising questions and waited for her, and Kim Eun-ha inwardly thanked him as she continued her thoughts.
‘What kind of person is Woo-ju ssi to me?’
That thought suddenly occurred to her.
Putting aside any current rational feelings of affection, and just listing pure facts, what kind of meaning did he hold for her?
The contemplation didn’t last long.
The answer was relatively clear.
‘A lifesaver.’
Although Kang Woo-ju hadn’t even properly recognized the incident, to Kim Eun-ha, it was impactful enough that she felt she should repay it in her own way.
It was clearly a significant event, even from the perspective of a third party who wasn't directly involved.
If her parents had still been alive, they would have shown Kang Woo-ju an unimaginable level of gratitude.
‘...Yeah, if it were my parents, that is.’
She didn’t have many memories from childhood, but Kim Eun-ha’s parents, to put it simply, didn’t fit the mold of the Mirae Group.
Relatives had openly clicked their tongues at her father for stepping away from the successor race on his own.
And her mother had been mocked and called a fox trying to escape her fate by seducing a chaebol.
In a way, they stood in complete contrast to Kim Seok-ho, the current Chairman of Mirae Group.
‘Which is why it doesn’t make sense.’
If it were her late parents, maybe. But there was no way Chairman Kim Seok-ho would show favor just because someone had saved his blood relative.
For that assumption to be valid, there would first need to be the precondition that “Chairman Kim Seok-ho cherishes Kim Eun-ha as much as he would his own child.”
With that thought reached, Kim Eun-ha opened her mouth, feeling noticeably calmer.
“The Chairman is not someone who would be swayed by personal feelings. Unless you’re the Mirae Group’s or the Chairman’s lifesaver, Woo-ju ssi.”
“Hm. Then you’re saying you already had ‘personal feelings’ for me before proposing the contract?”
“...Why are you twisting it like that?”
Thump-
Kim Eun-ha felt a jolt inside, but quickly composed her expression and didn’t let it show on the outside.
However, Kang Woo-ju didn’t let it slide easily. As if he’d caught onto something, he gently closed his eyes and tilted his head.
“That’s strange. No matter how hard I think about it, I don’t remember ever meeting you before that. I’ve never really gone to the department store either. Did you maybe call a driver?”
“...That’s not what’s important right now.”
“Oh, you’re changing the subject?”
Kang Woo-ju quickly latched onto her slip, but Kim Eun-ha avoided answering by lifting her teacup.
Of course, telling the truth wouldn’t change much, but she didn’t want to bring up such a dark memory with her own mouth.
Because it was obvious how Kang Woo-ju would tease her once he knew the full story.
-“I’m your lifesaver?”
-“You’ve been following me this whole time?”
-“Oh come on, you could’ve just said so.”
Just thinking of Kang Woo-ju poking her every chance he got with that mischievous face of his, she’d rather die than tell him.
“More importantly, don’t you have any guesses, Woo-ju ssi?”
“Are you really trying to brush this off?”
“.......”
“Fine. Fine. This time, I’ll let it slide. Because I’m oh so understanding. But promise me you’ll tell me when the chance comes later, okay?”
Is this guy pretending not to know even though he already does? The way Kang Woo-ju dealt with it was so sly, it made her suspect that.
Kim Eun-ha found him terribly annoying, but she was grateful that at least he didn’t forcefully pry. This must be one of Kang Woo-ju’s strengths.
“Guesses... Even if you say that, I’ve never even seen the Chairman’s face in person. I’ve only looked him up a few times in videos.”
“...Are you really sure?”
“I’m telling the truth.”
Kang Woo-ju nodded without the slightest hesitation, but Kim Eun-ha couldn’t fully trust someone who didn’t even remember their first meeting.
“Come on, think it over again carefully.”
“You’re really persistent today.”
“Hurry.”
At Kim Eun-ha’s words, Kang Woo-ju pouted like a child but then closed his eyes again and began to think.
Seeing Kang Woo-ju seriously consider her words instead of brushing them off, Kim Eun-ha felt a strange emotion stir within her.
‘...He’d be pretty great if he just kept his mouth shut.’
Though his natural looks were already decent, ever since their contract began, she’d sent him regularly to salons and skin clinics, and now there was nothing to nitpick about his appearance.
Maybe because she constantly had him act like a chaebol in daily life, the subtle aura that exuded from him suited him surprisingly well.
Perhaps because of that, whenever she saw Kang Woo-ju focus like he was now, her heart would pound uncontrollably.
Putting aside the earlier thoughts for a moment, Kim Eun-ha stared at Kang Woo-ju, almost as if she were possessed.
“Ah!”
How much time had passed? Suddenly, Kang Woo-ju’s eyes widened as he raised his head. Kim Eun-ha tried to calm her startled heart and asked,
“Did something come to mind?”
“Yes. I think I finally get it now.”
Hmm-hmm-
Kang Woo-ju nodded with a solemn expression. Kim Eun-ha, now curious, leaned in to listen.
“Curious?”
“Don’t drag it out. Just say it.”
“Oh ho, are you sure you want to talk to me like that?”
“What are you suddenly-”
A sense of dread suddenly swept over her. Seeing Kim Eun-ha like that, Kang Woo-ju curled one side of his lips up wickedly.
“I mean, I’m your lifesaver, right?”
“.......”
Kim Eun-ha’s brow furrowed deeply before she could even try to hide it. Seeing that, Kang Woo-ju’s smile deepened, as if he had found confirmation.
“Ah, so it was you. The person who had collapsed in the elevator that day was you, Eun-ha ssi. Wow. I can’t believe I forgot something so important.”
“.......”
“Why did you pretend not to know all this time? It would’ve been nice if you’d at least dropped a hint. Were you worried I’d go around bragging about saving someone?”
“.......”
This is why. This is why she didn’t want to say anything.
Watching Kang Woo-ju grinning from ear to ear, Kim Eun-ha bit back her words. No matter what she said now, it would be hard to regain the upper hand.
‘Should I just knock him out?’
Sometimes in books, people erase memories by knocking someone out. Scientifically, it had some plausibility.
But it required brain damage significant enough to cause memory loss, and it was hard to erase only the desired memory. In serious cases, it could even cause permanent impairment.
The risks were too great compared to the uncertain benefits. Unfortunately, she’d have to abandon that plan.
“...You just thought of something scary, didn’t you?”
Brrr-
Kang Woo-ju subtly leaned back, giving a little shiver. Strangely, he only had good instincts at times like this.
Sigh-
Kim Eun-ha let out a heavy sigh. How did she end up falling for a guy like him? The problem now was that even this kind of behavior seemed cute to her.
“When did you find out?”
“Hmm? Find out what?”
“Don’t play dumb. There’s no way that incident would just pop into your head at this timing. You didn’t know from the beginning, did you?”
“Ahaha....”
Kang Woo-ju scratched his head awkwardly. He seemed like he was trying to laugh it off, but Kim Eun-ha wasn’t someone to let it slide.
As she silently kept staring at him, Kang Woo-ju couldn’t hold out for long and confessed everything.
“I was only sure after seeing your reaction just now. Before that, I wasn’t entirely convinced. I was pretty out of it at the time too.”
“...When did you first start to suspect?”
Mmm-
Kang Woo-ju scratched his cheek like someone unsure whether he should say this, then shook his head as if he had no choice and added an explanation.
“Honestly, I had a hunch that you knew I had claustrophobia. But since it’s not exactly common, it naturally reminded me of that incident.”
“.......”
He’d figured out that much.
Kim Eun-ha unconsciously bit her lip.
Of course, she’d sensed something before.
The guy who always sat in the driver’s seat suddenly giving up the spot, saying he was tired. When he had no choice but to drive, he always opened the window first.
Come to think of it, whenever they picked meeting places, he never went above the third floor and only made reservations at places with open spaces like those with large windows.
‘...He didn’t say anything on purpose.’
He had noticed she didn’t want to talk about her claustrophobia and had pretended not to know all this time. Subtly looking out for her.
“Hoo....”
Kim Eun-ha took a deep breath.
Otherwise, it felt like her heart might explode.
Sometimes, he came at her so suddenly, she wondered if he was doing it on purpose just to seduce her.
And yet, what irritated her the most was that he had absolutely no awareness of how he acted. Though, of course, that was part of what she liked about him.
“You’re not mad, are you?”
“I’m not.”
“Really?”
“If you keep asking, I might get mad.”
“.......”
Ziiip- Grin-!
At Kim Eun-ha’s warning, Kang Woo-ju made a show of zipping his lips and exaggeratedly pulled up the corners of his mouth to a wide smile.
Kim Eun-ha, dumbfounded by his shamelessness, let out a small laugh and said,
“Pfft.... I swear, when I’m with you, I feel like I turn childish too. My head hurts. Let’s talk more about this later.”
“Shall we? Come to think of it, it’s already-”
“Huh?”
“Hmm?”
Just as Kang Woo-ju raised his left hand to check the time, a bolt of lightning struck through Kim Eun-ha’s mind, and the puzzle pieces began falling into place.
Seeing Kim Eun-ha suddenly zoning out, Kang Woo-ju approached her with a concerned expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“The watch.”
“Huh?”
“That watch you’re wearing on your wrist. The Patek Philippe. Where did you say you got it again?”
“This? It was from some back alley in Seoul....”
Ah-
Only then did Kang Woo-ju sense that something was off and stopped mid-sentence. Then, with a slightly puzzled look, he glanced down at the watch on his wrist and spoke.
“...Eun-ha ssi, don’t tell me-?”
“...I think it’s exactly that ‘don’t tell me’.”
They say “what if” can kill a man.
The two of them stood frozen in place for a long time.
*****
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