Dry Monsoon

I stared at his face for a moment and turned away with a sigh. Secretary Kim closed the blinds to block out the light and approached me.

“It’s because of the sleeping pills. I believe the drug kicked in quickly because he couldn’t sleep for three days.”

“Sleeping pills…? If I had stayed up for three nights straight, I wouldn’t need sleeping pills.”

“He needs them.”

Secretary Kim said firmly. I left the bedroom, leaving Lee-Hyun buried under the covers. I came out to the living room and sat on the sofa. Secretary Kim went out to the front door, brought a large bowl, and placed it in front of me. What was in it was abalone porridge that smelled really good.

“It was ordered by the Executive Director. He asked me to prepare something easy to digest, so I hope you enjoy it.”

Secretary Kim, placed a spoon and chopsticks wrapped in a napkin next to the bowl and left the room as silently as when he came in. It was as if I was left alone in a huge suite.

I swallowed down my laugh as I watched the steam rising from the abalone porridge.

“He comforts me after hurting me. Is he the type of person who enjoys doing this…?” I asked myself.

In my mind, I just wanted to leave this room regardless of whether there were reporters or not outside. Questions can be answered with messages and phone calls, and the contract could be handled separately. However, when I heard he had fallen asleep after taking sleeping pills, I couldn’t move my body for some reason.

After staring at the bowl stubbornly for a few seconds, I finally picked up the spoon. I took a bite and slowly chewed the thinly sliced abalone. The taste of the porridge was delicious, and it seemed to soothe the irritation I had in me for a while.

I looked around at the fancy interior of the gorgeous suite, licking the grains of rice on my lips.

There was a time when I admired the inner circle. Every time the press or media mentioned my dad’s name, every time those numbers of tens and hundreds of billions and trillions hit me hard, I wanted to strive to be part of the upper class.

But when I saw that man in the centre of a power struggle, I realised that kind of life must not have been that easy. Unlike me, who only had to protect myself, he was a man who had too many things to protect.

The sound of the spoon hitting the bowl was loud as thunder as I sat fiddling with my phone. When I opened my messages, I saw the group chat with the office staff who hadn’t said a word since a few days ago.

The place, which was always full of hundreds of messages, suddenly did not even come up with even a single greeting.

Maybe it was Lim Soo-Wan’s doing.

After spending the last few days hanging out with the staff, it seems that they have decided to boycott me outright. I clicked my tongue and flipped my phone over.

Suddenly, this person’s name came over my mind out of nowhere. I looked through my handbag and found the business card I was looking for. I looked down at the person’s name silently and grabbed my phone and stood up.

***

“Secretary Kim.”

It was dark everywhere, and Lee-Hyun couldn’t even tell if it was night or dawn. He got out of the bed, rubbing his burning neck as if it was the day after drinking alcohol.

Slipping on a robe hanging from a chair, he opened the refrigerator door on one side of the living room and grabbed a cold bottle of water. He was about to go back to the bedroom when he found a woman curled up on the sofa.

“Still?”

She was supposed to have gone back already. Yet, here she was laid still as if she was in a deep sleep. Lee-Hyun sat down on the coffee table in front of her instead of calling his secretary.

Even with her eyes closed, he could clearly see her sharp features and long eyelashes. The pale skin and the red dot on her temple caught his attention. Feeling his heartbeat slowly rising, Lee Hyun tilted the water bottle in his hand while staring at her.

“I can’t accept that child! How dare she covet the inheritance? The moment you put that child’s name on the family register, you never know what Yoon Jae-sun is going to ask for!”

“Go on the date. This is the daughter of Lee Jin-Tae from Iris. If you keep being stubborn, there’s nothing I can do either. Get her to fall in love with you, and then you can ask her to raise the child! You say you’re going to free Yoon Jae-sun? Lee-Hyun, your petty sympathy is going to put us all in grave danger. Go all the way and see what happens. I’m sure there will be a day when you regret your decision.”

It meant his mother didn’t even consider Hae-in as her son anymore because he was dead.

It meant the children of the deceased didn’t have to step into the inheritance of Seoryang.

His mother never forgave Hae-in, who married in secret without informing the family. She said forgiveness meant nothing to a dead person, and that she would control Yoon Jae-sun for her entire life. She would continue to treat Yoon Jae-sun harshly, forever in a prison called Seoryang…

That was her nasty revenge for the woman who had been greedy for her son.

“…You woke up.”

Lee Hyun, who was lost in thought, grinned at Ji-Eun, who opened her eyes.

She stared at him with a dazed expression, as if she was still half asleep. Placing one elbow on his knee, he reached out and brushed away the bangs covering her eyes. She closed her eyes slowly as if she was savouring the gentle touch. The fingertips that touched her skin were tingling.

“Did you eat the porridge?”

“Yes.”

“Was it delicious?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good. I wish you would eat like that when you’re with me as well.”

She looked at him and frowned with a curious expression. He could feel his heart beating at an annoyingly fast pace. Still, he didn’t take his eyes off Ji-Eun.

”I thought I knew you, but now, I’m not even sure what I know anymore.” Ji-Eun said quietly.

“There are probably more things you don’t know than you know.”

“Ah…I suppose so?”

Ji-Eun raised herself from the sofa and stretched. As she did so, the thick duvet slid down her body. Ji-Eun took the water bottle from Lee-Hyun’s hand and put it in her mouth. After emptying the half-filled bottle in one go, she wiped away the droplets running down from her lips with the back of her hand and let out a long sigh.

“Are you all right now?”

“My stomach? Lee Ji-Eun was the one with indigestion?”

“Jeez, forget it. Now that I’ve seen you wake up safely, I’ll get going now.”

Ji-Eun fumbled around the sofa looking for her phone and stood up with her handbag. Lee-Hyun reached out impulsively and caught her slender wrist that could be completely encircled in one hand. Lee-Hyun regretted the moment he grabbed her. Nevertheless, his grip wasn’t easily loosened.

“Do you have something to say?”

Perhaps him grabbing her hand wasn’t all that surprising, as her expression wasn’t any different from usual. Lee-Hyun couldn’t read anything on her face. Maybe because of that, the heat that started from the tip of his toes climbed up through his whole body.

A feeling of desire that was clear enough to wake him up.

Slowly letting go of her hand, he said.

“Sleep over.”