Dry Monsoon

Chapter 16.2

Without a word, I turned my gaze to the front view. I felt his stare fixed on me. I gathered my inner strength to ignore Lee-Hyun’s piercing eyes, but I felt waves of current passing through my skin.

“Do you get hot this easily?”

He suddenly reached out and touched my forehead. Then I remembered a few days ago I touched his forehead in the same way when he was asleep. His fingertips brushed through my sweat-soaked bangs and gently swept them behind my ears. I could feel the heat pooling at the tip of my ears. Then his fingers skidded towards my eyes and gently touched my lashes and it wandered lower down to my burning cheeks which had already blushed under his scorching gaze. When my long lashes gently brushed against his fingertips, my lips clenched tightly.

“What’s funny is…”

At that moment, something inside me jolted, and I tried to pull my head out of his grasp, but he was a little faster. His hand, which had been resting at the nape of my neck, firmly held me back. His dark eyes shifted and looked completely different from just a few moments ago. His fierce gaze was piercing my soul.

“It’s so obvious, but why is it that you’re the only one who doesn’t know?”

I was left speechless, unable to respond.

It was then, out of nowhere a light bell sound chimed out. I felt a sense of relief and my nerves finally calmed down. Lee-Hyun looked irritated by the unexpected intruder, he glared at the intercom with a cold sinking look. From the view of the palm-sized screen, I saw a woman, she was the same lady I saw at the fine dining restaurant with Lee-Hyun.

“You have a guest,” I said.

“This is Kwon Soo-Yeon. my younger sister.”

It was only then that his hand finally slipped away from its hold on my neck. Lee Hyun got up from his seat and left me with a blank expression and went out to the front door. He clasped tightly the hand that had touched me just a few seconds ago.

Fortunately, the sofa wasn’t visible from the front door. Soo-Yeon kept on banging on the door repeatedly until Lee-Hyun opened the door with a deep frown.

“Hey, where’s the caretaker? Why didn’t you open the door?”

Even though it was already evening, the weather was still hot, so she tried to enter the penthouse while fanning herself. But before she could manage to do so, Lee-Hyun stopped her.

“I have a guest over. Come back later.”

“Guest? Huh? A girl?”

Soo-Yeon saw Ji-Eun’s heels laid out neatly near the door. For a moment her expression brightened up, but then frowned and said in a cheeky voice,

“But you said you’re getting married. That’s why I’m here. Are you dating another woman? Oppa, I never thought you were a man like that…”

“Kwon Soo-Yeon. Stop.”

“Hey, I heard it’s the daughter of Kim Hee-Joo. I have to keep an eye on her family from tomorrow on out to see if they’ll use the money that was paid in advance properly. Oh! I need to start organizing the wedding. But… do you really have a woman over?”

“This is not the time for this conversation. We’re in the middle of talking about business. Go back. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Oh, my God, for real! Did you bring a business partner here? You?”

Lee Hyun wanted to close Soo-Yeon’s mouth. Had it not been for the fact that she was his only sister, he would have called the attendants and kicked her out immediately. He held onto his patience and grabbed Soo-Yeon’s arm, pulling her out.

“Go.”

“Oppa!”

“I won’t say it again.”

Lee-Hyun closed the door after lightly pushing Soo-Yeon out. Soo-Yeon shouted Lee-Hyun’s name a few times in front of the door, then poured out a stream of curses before finally leaving. Lee-Hyun stood at the front door for a few seconds before returning to the quiet living room.

After emptying my teacup, I pressed my chin into the back of the sofa, holding back my laughter.

“Your sister’s voice is really loud.”

“Sorry for making a big fuss.”

“No, not at all.”

I got up from my seat and thanked him for his tea. While I was looking for my jacket and my handbag, Lee Hyun sent the password and address of my new studio to my phone. My screen lit up with a notification.

“I sent the password, address, and emergency contact number. Check it out.”

“Okay, I’ll check once I go home.”

He noticed that I deliberately avoided checking the message. He narrowed his eyes as if he felt something was not quite right. This time he pressed the call button. Along with the loud ringing sound, my face too turned pale. I was trying to find a way to escape from this situation when he said,

“Stop. Don’t answer the phone.”

I tried to hide my phone but he hurriedly approached me and blocked my path. With my eyes glued shut, I gulped down nervously. He held out his hand in front of me.

“Hi, Executive Director…” I said with a nervous smile trying to escape from him.

“Let’s just check, shall we?” He said, coming a step closer.

“Well, I’m a bit busy at the moment…”

“I’m just as busy as you are.”

Looking up at him with remorseful eyes, I finally gave up my phone after letting out a small sigh. After checking the number displayed on the bright screen, Lee-Hyun frowned and clicked his tongue.

“So my contact name is still 010*.”

(T/N: Ji-Eun’s still had Lee-Hyun’s phone number as an unknown number. All phone numbers in Korea start with 010. As you can remember Ji-Eun deleted his number in the first chapter after he didn’t show up to their first blind date and never bothered saving his contact even after they’ve met a few times after.)

“No, I was going to save it…”

“You’re good at making excuses.”

“Sir…”

“I’m not your boss Lee Ji-Eun. I’m your fiancé and client.”

My eyes gradually narrowed. He smiled and said, but the twisted feelings in it were revealed.

“Well…”

As he returned the phone, he looked down at me, who was so helpless without knowing what to do. He leaned down to my eye level.

“You just have to do your job well. Is that right?”

His deep voice wavered through the stands of my hair.

“I’m sorry. I’ll save it. Right now.” I said meekly.

“No. As long as you’re good at your work, I don’t care if you call me 010.”

“Mr. Kwon Lee-Hyun.”