At the End of That Memory Chapter 12

I wanted to ask what that meant. A gun without bullets would be nothing more than a toy in the end.

‘…It’s my first time seeing a real gun.’

The sound of the drawer closing was still audible. He pulled the locked drawer twice as if he were a fastidious person. He stepped up and remarked this after ensuring that the drawer could not be opened.

‘Let’s go to the room. You have only slept for a few hours.’

Kwon Yido spoke kindly, but in the end, he was shooing me out. Seeing as he didn’t even ask why I was there, he must have realized that I had no other business. I followed Kwon Yido out without saying a word, and he frowned as he belatedly looked at me.

‘…Barefoot?’

‘Oh, I don’t have any slippers.’

Just then, the study door closed, and the hallway was instantly engulfed in darkness. My vision, which relied on a thin beam of light, did not miss Kwon Yido’s outstretched hand. The problem was that I was startled by his natural behavior.

‘…’

‘…’

I slapped away Kwon Yido’s hand. It was his left hand that was holding the gun in the study. It was rude, and even I, who reflexively pushed him away, was embarrassed.

‘Oh, that’s…’

My heart was beating strangely fast. The back of his hand gave me goosebumps, so much so that I got goosebumps all over my body. The hand that was comforting last night felt like something threatening to me at that time.

‘… Sorry.’

I handed him an apology without hearing him out and ran back to my room. After changing into my clothes, I went straight to bed and tried to sleep. When I came down to the first floor in the morning, Kwon Yido did not ask me if I had done anything wrong.

“I’m not afraid of Mr. Kwon Yido. I was just a little surprised.”

My throat felt clogged, so he took a sip of his drink. Since Kwon Yido started the conversation himself, I also had things to say to him.

“I was rude in many ways.”

Kwon Yido’s gaze turned toward me. The two quietly sunken eyes contained more meaning than ten words. As always, I recited the excuses I had to make.

“There has never been a case like this before, so I had no idea that the heat cycle would come so suddenly. I should have prepared in advance, but I acted irresponsibly. I will be careful next time.”

I will be careful. I will try my best.

This was something I had to say to my father whenever he showed me something I couldn’t see. When I said this, my father responded like this with a disapproving expression on his face.

‘What a nuisance. Behave properly next time.’

“Be careful…”

Kwon Yido muttered and slightly frowned. He looked deep in thought and then quietly pursed his lips. After a short interval, he opened his mouth in a low-pitched voice.

“How are you going to be careful?”

Sarcasm… No, should I say it was absurd. I wasn’t in the mood to say that it would have been better if I had been locked in a room instead of a greenhouse. Before I could reply, he monotonously refuted the apology I gave him.

“I didn’t know it was a problem that could be solved with caution. If it came suddenly like you said, there is no other way.”

It didn’t feel sarcastic. He just spoke slowly and with that polite, dignified tone.

“Accidents happen even if no one is at fault. The term uncontrollable is not there for nothing.”

There was no way to prevent sudden accidents. It was extremely common sense and natural. Of course, I didn’t expect these words to come out of his mouth.

Kwon Yido quickly resumed eating. He encouraged me to eat too, but my appetite, which had already disappeared, did not return. I looked at the ring on my ring finger and said lightly.

“…I have an identity that doesn’t work well with inhibitors.”

I should have told you this a long time ago. This was something his father should have told him even before the engagement.

“The doctor said it’s because my pheromone glands are malformed, and that’s why I don’t normally exhibit pheromones. It’s only when the heat cycle comes that it becomes like yesterday.”

Although I spoke calmly, I was nervous. It was the first time I confessed my faults to anyone other than my family. No, I hadn’t even said it to my family, so I guess I should just say it was my first time.

“Okay.”

Kwon Yido answered more casually than expected. He didn’t seem surprised, nor did he seem to have any intention of asking more. His usual face was no different from the one he spoke of on the day of our engagement.

‘Jung Sejin’s pheromones are similar to the scent of flowers.’

“…”

Maybe he knew it from the beginning. Whether he heard it from someone or noticed it on his own. Otherwise, there were a lot of things that couldn’t be explained.

“Thank you for your help.”

But instead of asking how I knew, I decided to express my gratitude that I had been putting off. It was not a polite statement, but a greeting full of sincerity. Of course, I should promise not to repeat such instances.

“From now on…it won’t happen again.”

When I opened my eyes in Kwon Yido’s bed, I felt sad looking at the space next to me. The feeling that passed by in a fleeting moment became an opportunity for me to realize how complacent I had been. It was time to be alert before losing any more tension.

“…It’s amazing.”

Surprisingly, Kwon Yido muttered softly and narrowed his eyes. The slanted corners of the mouth looked somewhat self-mocking.

“I never thought that what I thought was comfortable at first would now become an obstacle.”

An obstacle? There was no need to ask that back. As I quietly lowered my eyes, he raised his gaze again and spoke.

“There are things I wish you wouldn’t ask, but since you don’t ask, I feel like I want to say them out loud.”

“…What part is that?”

Well. He sighed softly and tapped the table with his index finger. It seemed like a peculiar habit that appeared whenever he was thinking deeply about something.

“For example…How did I find out about the greenhouse?”

A light example was something I had already asked about once. Kwon Yido also frowned, saying, ‘Ah, did you ask about this?’

“Or, who changed your clothes?”

“That’s not really…I’m not curious.”

As I spoke reflexively, Kwon Yido pursed his lips. It seemed like he was trying to say something but swallowed it right before he could say it. He asked again as if he didn’t understand.

“Why?”

“That’s…”

Why? Of course, it didn’t matter who it was. Some so many employees could have lent a hand.

“…Should I be curious?”

Kwon Yido’s expression became mysterious as I was asked a question full of doubt. He chuckled as if he had heard something interesting.

“Sure.”

His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were not smiling at all. His calm, sunken eyes showed that he was not in a good mood.

“Someone took off Jung Sejin’s underwear. You should at least pretend to be curious.”

“…”

Changing one’s clothes wasn’t something one should talk about with such nuance, right? Plus, in such a serious tone.

“It doesn’t matter…”

I stopped speaking and then closed my mouth for a moment. It was because I felt uncomfortable with the gaze that was quietly directed toward me. Instinctively, I just felt that way.

“…Did Kwon Yido change your clothes?”

“…”

The silence that followed was nothing short of positive. Kwon Yido made eye contact as if asking what I was going to do now. When I saw that, a very obvious question popped out.

“Why didn’t you let someone else do it…”

If he had to change my clothes, there was no need to go through Kwon Yido’s hands. All he had to do was choose one of his employees and give them appropriate instructions. Why did he touch my clothes which were messed up with all kinds of bodily fluids?

“It must have been inconvenient. Thank you.”

I gave a polite greeting, but Kwon Yido did not respond. He just looked at me with his still eyes. He soon let out a light sigh and segwayed into another topic.

“The secretary will bring your phone in the afternoon.”

“…”

Phone? As soon as I heard that, it came to mind. Come to think of it, I left his cell phone in the greenhouse. Kwon Yido must have sensed what I was thinking, and he gave me a knowing look.

“I guess you weren’t that curious about this either.”

“…I am not in my right mind.”

Sometimes I felt like I had the wit of a ghost. I guess I wasn’t the type to show off my feelings that much.

“The screen was all broken so I told them to buy a new one. Don’t worry, they will back up your phone appropriately.”

“No, you don’t have to…”

“Jung Sejin.”

“…”

“You don’t have a bad memory, do you?”

Kwon Yido kept his mouth shut and met my gaze. Although his face was cold, I could see that he was dissatisfied.

“…I will use it well.”

He told me to take everything he gave without any questions. It wasn’t a burden, it was just a little odd.

I know that it was not a big deal to Kwon Yido. It was as easy as lifting his finger, or as trivial as giving up a hundred-won piece of candy.

However, the problem was that his kindness came at no compensation.

“If you understand, let’s go down together for a moment.”

Kwon Yido said that and got up from the table first. ‘Where?’ When I raised my head like that, he tilted his chin.

“I have something to give you.”

* * *

If we took the elevator outside the middle gate, it would take us straight to the garage in the basement. The space where only a few frequently used cars were parked was a place I had never been to since I moved into this house. Well, I didn’t go into most of the places here except my room and the greenhouse.

Kwon Yido took me deep into the garage. The cars parked widely were his vehicles that were not exposed to the media. He said his hobby was collecting cars, and there were often limited edition models that his father coveted.

“Do you remember what you said a week ago?”

Kwon Yido’s unique voice echoed inside the garage. He glanced at me and spoke clearly.

“No driver, just the car I like, just one.”

‘Thank you for your words, but I would like you to give me one of your favorite cars. There is no need for a driver.’

“Yes, I remember.”

So are you going to give me a car?

It was already a week ago that Kwon Yido asked me to tell him what car I wanted. Originally, tomorrow would be my heat cycle, and I was scheduled to lock myself in my room around this evening. There were so many things going on, and I never mentioned it again after that, so I forgot about it.

“A new model came out from Company M, and I thought it would suit Jung Sejin well.”

Company M was one of the famous passenger car brands in Germany. It was also a brand highly praised by enthusiasts for both stability and convenience. I remembered one of my subordinates looking at the catalog, drooling.

“I like the other lines, but if Jung Sejin is going to drive, a sedan is better.”

Meanwhile, what Kwon Yido pointed to was a sports car parked on the left. It was a car that Minjae would immediately lust after, but it was not my taste. The ride comfort of such a flat car was not very good.

“So I’m going to give it to you…There’s just one problem.”

Kwon Yido stopped. He looked down at me slantingly with his hands in his pockets.

“Even if you want to ride it as soon as possible, you must wait for a month.”

“A month?”

“About three weeks to be exact.”

“That’s fine…Isn’t it rather fast?”

I saw cases where people waited for as little as half a year or as long as two years when a brand ought to release a new model. In the case of company M, there were not many to begin with, so it would not be easy to make a reservation. Probably, in Kwon Yido’s name, his turn was brought forward by a month.

“It may be fast if you look at the date, but a month without a car is a long time.”

When he said exactly 3 weeks, Kwon Yido frowned as if he had heard of an absurd time. He seemed to express regret that the plan had gone awry, but there seemed to be a different intention.

Soon, the well-shaped mouth gently curled up.

“So let’s do it this way.”

He stepped to the side and looked at the automobile parked behind me. The two automobiles parked next to each other were simply magnificent. Seonho issued the black one, while Company B, M’s competitor, released the white one.

“You’ll take turns using these two cars until the car I choose comes out.”

“…Yes?”

I stared at Kwon Yido blankly. I wanted to ask what that meant, but Kwon Yido was faster than me.

“Since I couldn’t give you the car within the period, I’ll give these to you as a temporary measure. The basis of trust is a commitment of time, and I can’t mess with that.”

With those words, he took out two car keys from his pocket and held them out. A brand that everyone would know sparkled under the light. As I looked at the car keys and the car once, he acted as if it was no big deal.

“It’s something I used, so don’t feel pressured and take it.”

“…”

That’s what he used. No matter how much I was not interested in cars, I know that that was the model that Seonho released last month. Matte black, which was advertised loudly in all kinds of media, was a hot topic everywhere.

“… There is no set period.”

Instead of receiving the key, I looked at Kwon Yido. I also rarely looked up, but his eyes were high enough that I had to raise my head when he was close. For some reason, even when he was among the reporters, his head stuck out like a sore thumb.

“We had a week to choose a car, so it’s not like we’re breaking our promise if you give it to me a month later.”

He meant I would reject it. Kwon Yido must have known my intention, but instead of taking the car keys away, he waved his hand and urged me on.

“Just take it. You know you can’t refuse anyway.”

“…”

That person must have known that I would reject it.

“…Thank you.”

The car keys were handed to me with both hands as if I were receiving some kind of poison. Seeing that there were not even the slightest scratches, it seemed like the statement that it was ‘used’ was a lie. Well, since he was a person who ‘collects’ cars, he wouldn’t have used them even if he had them.

So maybe this was a good thing…

There was no way at all. All I had to do was keep it like this and return it to Kwon Yido a month later. There would be a new car by then, so even if I returned it, he wouldn’t be able to say anything.

However, Kwon Yido, who had a wicked sense of humor, foiled my plan with just one word.

“For your information, I don’t use anything that has fallen into someone else’s hands.”

“…”

The hand holding the car keys trembled. I could tell from Kwon Yido’s personality that I had seen so far that it was not just empty words. He verbally told me to use it until the car came out, but I guess they planned to give away all three in the end.

“If you need a driver later, let me know.”

“No…That’s okay.”

I could barely swallow my sighs that rose to my chin past my throat. Even though I was wondering how absurd this was, when I saw his face, I had no desire to refute it. His eyes looked excited akin to a child.

“Do you feel burdened?”

Kwon Yido asked me a question as I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to say that it wasn’t burdensome, that it was strange, that I didn’t understand your behavior, but I needed to be only half honest.

“Yes, kinda…Yes.”

What’s so good about it? As soon as he heard my answer, he raised the corners of his mouth. I heard he was a person who didn’t smile often. Probably, everyone was saying this without knowing anything. I think this person smiled better than Chief Kim.

“Let’s do this.”

Kwon Yido opened his mouth, still smiling. An unusual playfulness was visible in his dark eyes. He tilted his head to the side and squinted the corners of his eyes.

“One week.”

“…”

“If you pick which car you want, I’ll reconsider the car keys.”