I'll Just Walk
How long had he been watching her?
It was the first time she had faced Taekyung in ordinary clothes instead of a doctor's coat. Maybe she should have put on even a little makeup. Dajeong brushed at her hollow-looking cheeks.
The cheerful light-lavender blouse she wore seemed mismatched with her plain face. Even the ankles that flashed below her black slacks felt somehow untidy, and she grew needlessly self-conscious. When she subtly drew one leg back, his gaze drifted down to her ankle in unhurried appraisal.
…That was blatant.
Why was it that the mere act of looking at her sent a chill racing down her spine? She almost felt a phantom ache, as if that large hand had already closed around her ankle and bent it.
The soft ding announcing their arrival on the first floor had never sounded so welcome. At last she could escape this sealed space with only the two of them inside.
Before the doors had fully opened, Dajeong slipped through the gap as if she had been waiting for exactly that chance.
The hospital lobby in the evening, after outpatient hours had ended, was quiet. Scattered patients and guardians, staff heading home—Dajeong cut across the lobby among them, already tangled in a new worry.
So… do I just leave now?
How far was she supposed to walk with this overwhelming man? Side by side, close enough that their sleeves might brush.
She deliberately drifted a step sideways; she even let herself fall a half-pace behind. Whether by chance or sheer persistence, his stride kept matching hers again and again.
She was still locked in that one-sided battle of nerves when a small voice rang out.
“Wow, Doctor Teacher!”
A little patient came toddling straight toward her. Dajeong quickly bent her knees to meet the child’s eye level.
“Teacher! You’re pretty.”
The crew-cut boy with his soft, clumsy pronunciation latched onto her leg. The tension that had frozen Dajeong’s face melted into a bright smile.
“Eunho, what are you doing here?”
“Ex-per-i-ence! I came for the experience. The Eiffel Tower!”
The child pointed happily behind him. The AR experience zone—the café that had replaced Medix.
“The Eiffel Tower is sooo big and cool!”
“Oh my, Doctor. Are you heading home? Eunho, come here. The doctor needs to go.”
Eunho’s mother greeted her warmly.
“He’s completely obsessed with the AR experiences lately. Practically lives here.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It’s hugely popular among the patients right now. Long-term kids like our Eunho can’t even dream of real travel, but thanks to Hanju Travel they get to tour the whole world. I’m so grateful.”
Dajeong’s eyes flicked to Taekyung of their own accord. The tall man looking down at them remained as impassive and cool as ever—except for the faintest twitch of one eyebrow.
Even the great Jang Taekyung is weak to praise, it seems. Catching that tiny shift, Dajeong let the corners of her mouth lift first.
The moment their eyes met, however—
“…”
The man’s gaze snapped back to its usual stiff, razor-edged state.
Ah. What was I thinking, smiling in front of Jang Taekyung, the man who would spit on a smile if he felt like it…
Dajeong quickly wiped the expression away and composed her face.
“Eunho. Still, don’t stay out too late. Play a little more and then go back to your room, okay?”
She ruffled the boy’s hair and was straightening up when he asked,
“But Teacher, are you married? Is this a date?”
“W-what?”
“Oh my, you’re right! That’s why you look especially pretty today. And your boyfriend is so handsome too.”
This can’t be happening.
An unexpected nuclear-level misunderstanding. Heat flooded her face so fast she could feel it.
“N-no, absolutely not! We’re not!”
Dajeong denied it with every ounce of strength she had. She waved her hands so frantically that Eunho’s mother actually looked apologetic.
“Oh, is that so? I’m sorry. I just thought the two of you looked so good together.”
The two of us? Please, do not put me in the same sentence as that man!
This was the same Taekyung whose facial muscles had gone rigid just because she had smiled at him once. He had made his discomfort so obvious; right now he was probably radiating murderous cold.
She couldn’t bring herself to look his way and was awkwardly saying goodbye when a low voice, deeper than usual, rolled out.
“Hey. Kid.”
Surely even Gaejakdu—no, even CEO Jang Taekyung—wouldn’t bark at a child like he was catching a rat.
Heart in her throat, Dajeong turned to him.
“You like that?”
He responded more mildly than she expected. He tipped his chin toward the AR zone without so much as a frown.
“Yes! It’s super fun!”
“Good. I’ll bring in more machines, so enjoy them. Get better soon and go home.”
Then he glanced at Dajeong, took one long stride, and headed for the main entrance.
“Uh, CEO…?”
He’s just leaving like that?
What was this unfinished, unsettled feeling? Dajeong hesitated only a second before hurrying after him through the automatic doors.
“CEO.”
Taekyung, hands in his pockets, glanced back.
“Um, so… thank you for the lunch earlier.”
She had stopped him and now had no idea what to say. Explaining that she was sorry for denying they were dating felt ridiculous, so she simply shoved out the first words that came to mind.
His expression said, So what? He turned away again.
“CEO.”
This isn’t how it’s supposed to go.
How did I end up the one desperately holding him back?
“That is…”
“Just get in.”
Beep.
At the same moment the words left his mouth, the lights of a sleek black sedan waiting by the entrance flicked on.
“Excuse me?”
“You followed me all the way to the car. Isn’t that what you wanted—a ride?”
“No, that’s not—”
Taekyung spun around so fast he closed the distance in a single stride. Startled by the sudden nearness of the large man, Dajeong instinctively hunched her shoulders.
“What is it ‘not’ this time, hmm?”
The faint trail of his cologne that had lingered around them all evening hit her full force at less than a handspan away—cool yet dense, like a rain-soaked forest, and it suited the arrogant, cold man perfectly.
“Dr. Yu Dajeong has been saying nothing but ‘no’ since earlier.”
The words carried a subtle edge.
“Are you getting in or not?”
“Ah…”
Through the door he held open she could see the snug, narrow, sealed space of the passenger seat. Inside she would have no escape from that scent; she would have to breathe it in completely.
“I’ll just walk. It only takes ten minutes.”
Dajeong curled her tingling fingers into tight fists and refused his kindness.
A heavy pressure settled under her sternum; her lips went dry. Her heart itched as if tender new shoots were pushing through. A faint, dizzying light-headedness.
It felt like the ominous sign of something beginning—something better left alone.
Impossible.
I’m getting fluttery over CEO Jang Taekyung?
The man who casually threatens to shut down our entire department if we don’t make money?
It could not be allowed. She had to cut it off now.
“…”
Unaware of the storm in her head, Taekyung regarded her for a moment, then smiled smoothly—a purely professional smile.
“Understood. Go ahead.”
Only his cool eyes did not smile.
He shut the passenger door with a soft click. While Dajeong stood staring blankly after him as he rounded the car to the driver’s side, the sedan pulled away, leaving her behind.
“Looks delicious.”
Fresh from the shower, still toweling her damp hair, Dajeong opened the lunchbox lid. On the way home she had stopped at the market for a simple dinner and somehow ended up with sushi—because, without realizing it, she had remembered the sushi she had seen in Taekyung’s office.
As she lifted a piece with her chopsticks, an inexplicable sigh escaped her.
“What on earth is all this chaos.”
He was the sort of man who never offered anything twice. That was a relief, and yet if the same fact also left her feeling a little disappointed, she was clearly losing her mind.
“It’s because he’s unnecessarily good-looking.”
Why did Jang Taekyung have to be blessed with both body and face? Worse, he kept confusing people. If he was going to be a villain, he should commit to being a villain; if he meant to play the hero, he should do it properly. Just one or the other would be fine. Instead, every action and rumor about him swung wildly between villain and hero, leaving her more bewildered and more conscious of him than ever.
Ah.
“I’m going crazy.”
The moment she thought of him, her throat began to tickle again. Dajeong hastily gulped down some water.
It was purely his bewitching looks. In every other respect—personality, values—he was far too rough, the exact opposite of her ideal type.
So she would keep her head clear. If she just stayed clear-headed… there would be no chance of falling for him.
She let out a long breath and chewed the sushi thoroughly. Food itself was innocent, after all.
“Wow. It’s good. Even the supermarket kind is decent.”
Dajeong huffed a small laugh and kept eating. The sushi was sweet; her mouth tasted bitter.
The sushi Taekyung had prepared had borne the logo of Hanju Group’s hotel Japanese restaurant. A man who ordered lunchboxes from a hotel. Someone who carried himself with the innate elegance of aristocracy—the very owner of the foundation that had fed her, clothed her, and raised her in the orphanage.
The car whose door he had held open for her was supposedly worth as much as the deposit on a decent apartment. She even recalled Kang Jiho’s exaggerated fuss when he saw the fork emblem on the hood: “Even the director couldn’t casually drive something like that.” All sorts of thoughts crowded in.
…Which is exactly why it can never happen. If she let even a little of him into her heart, she would be the only one who got hurt.
Just like the time that bastard Jeon Minwoo had cruelly discarded her.