Mudoo - Chapter 62

At his question, Seula pressed her lips together. There wasn’t anything she could say.

If she were to confess everything Kang Tae-shin had done to her, it would take forever, and instinctively, she knew this wasn’t the right moment for that kind of conversation.

“They say, ‘every meeting must end in parting.’ Since there’s a meeting, there must also be a farewell…”

“Or ‘every parting must meet again,’ right? So, is that why you came back?” He cut her off immediately, rebutting her words.

Seula blinked, at a loss for what to say. Yes, she had missed him terribly after their breakup, but she had never once thought about returning to Cheonghae-dong. Yet Tae-shin’s gaze, locked onto her, carried such a desperate longing that she couldn’t bring herself to admit it.

“I was just joking around, but you’re taking it way too seriously. Now I don’t know what to say.”

She shrugged, turning her eyes away from his. But Tae-shin stubbornly kept chasing her gaze.

“You’re really terrible at lying.”

“Just because you and I were… whatever we were in the past, does that change anything now? It’s over. Let’s not drag it out and make things messy.”

“Messy?”

Tae-shin gave a short, incredulous laugh, the corner of his mouth quirking upward. Then he let go of her elbow.

“I’m the one being messy?” His expression was wounded, like his pride had taken a heavy blow.

Seula licked her lips, sneaking a quick glance at his baffled face.

“You don’t have to take that seriously either…”

“I feel like I’m suffocating.”

His low, steady voice pierced her ears. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

“I don’t necessarily want my memories back. But not knowing who I am… not knowing how I should live, it’s unbearable.”

His eyes trembled as they held hers. Despite his large frame, there was such fragility in his expression that, for a fleeting moment, she wanted to open her arms and hold him.

“Help me.”

Those two words crashed through the wall she had carefully built around her heart. Seula slowly blinked, fighting to hold on to reason.

“How could I possibly help you?”

“Whatever it is, I think you’d be better than some sly fox or a talking dog. Am I wrong?”

“My name is Woo Seula.”

“…Seula.”

Her heart lurched at the sound of her name in his voice, just like old times. The weight of Tae-shin’s despair, stranded without his memories, pressed down on her chest.

“I don’t know what I can do… but if you’re asking me like that, Tae-shin…”

She dropped her eyes and looked over at Dong-gil. He let out a long sigh, turned his back, and walked toward the wooden porch.

“You should help him. What else can you do?”

Seula shut her eyes tight. She could already feel herself getting tangled up with Kang Tae-shin all over again.

A faint smile lifted his lips. Bathed in moonlight, his face was so beautiful she could hardly put it into words.

***

“I’ll come pick you up after work.”

Sitting at her desk later, Seula kept replaying what Tae-shin had said after dropping her off that morning. He might have lost his memories, but apparently not his driving skills. Maybe the body really does remember.

The guest room she’d slept in last night was exactly the same, just like Dong-gil had said. Nothing had changed. The moment she lay down on the soft bedding, she’d fallen into a deep sleep.

“…Chief Woo! Chief Woo!”

Chohee was poking her head over the partition, calling her several times. Snapping out of her thoughts, Seula sat up straight and blinked wide-eyed.

“Yes?”

“What are you thinking so hard about? You looked super serious. Are you okay?”

“Oh, I was just spacing out for a second. Why? Did something come up?”

Chohee frowned and whispered. She had a report due today, but had to head out on a business trip, so she asked if Seula could help finish it up.

It was a report Seula had to review and pass up the chain anyway, so it didn’t really matter who completed the draft.

“Don’t worry, go on your business trip. I’ll take care of it.”

“Thank you, Chief Woo! I’ll buy you a really fancy lunch tomorrow to make up for it!”

Overjoyed, Chohee grabbed her bag and hurried off. Seula opened the file she’d left behind, and sighed. There were too many errors to count, and a ton of content that needed improvement.

No escaping overtime tonight. But that clashed with Tae-shin’s promise to pick her up after work. She picked up her phone and opened her contacts.

[Kang Tae-shin]

She didn’t even have to search. His name had always stayed pinned to the top. Back when they lived together, she never had reason to call him, and after they broke up, she’d been too hung up on him to delete it.

Shaking off the thoughts, she typed,

[Working late tonight. You don’t have to pick me up. I’ll go back to Cheonghae-dong myself.]

Almost immediately, her phone buzzed.

[Wit 4 u]

The message was a mess, clearly he wasn’t great at texting, but the meaning was clear. Seula let out a small laugh and set her phone down.

***

Knowing Tae-shin was waiting outside, Seula worked faster than she ever had. She packed her bag, left the office, and checked the time. Even hurrying like that, he must have already been waiting nearly two hours.

Crossing the lobby in a rush, she heard someone call out behind her.

“Chief Woo!”

Her stomach sank when she realized it was the company CEO. Of course, he’d want to drag her out to dinner in the name of team morale and bonding. Quickly smoothing her expression, she turned with a polite smile.

“Yes, sir. Heading home now?”

In his tailored suit, the CEO strode toward her with an easy grin.

“Why are you walking so fast? You look like someone’s chasing you.”

Someone was chasing her—him. She should’ve slipped out earlier.

“Working late again, huh? Haven’t had dinner yet, right?”

“Not yet, but…”

“Perfect, then. There’s a new tempura place nearby. Let’s go eat there.”

Her mind raced for excuses. If she said she had plans, he’d pry into who with. He loved nosing into his employees’ personal lives. Forcing a strained smile, she tried,

“My stomach’s a bit upset, so I was planning to skip dinner.”

“Come on, you can’t skip meals. It’s on me, don’t feel burdened.”

Even when she hinted no, he refused to take it. Was he really clueless, or just pretending?

“No, really, it’s fine. My stomach feels too heavy right now—”

“Then how about porridge? I like porridge too.”

Her patience was fraying. She wanted nothing more than to slam a bowl of porridge right over his head.

“You’re not meeting someone, are you? I’m not getting in the way, right?”

Bull’s-eye. He was in the way, and if he knew it, he should just disappear already.

“Who are you meeting? A guy? Wait, Chief Woo, do you have a boyfriend?”

Before she could stop him, he kept rattling on with that sleazy smile.

“Where’d you meet him? How long’s it been? Honestly, with your looks, it makes sense. No way someone like you wouldn’t have a man. You know what they say—only men can tell what another man’s really like. Should I meet him myself?”

Seula clenched her jaw, remembering every invasive question he’d thrown at her back in the interview. He’d mocked her lack of standout qualifications, accused her of being aimless, even brought up her resignation from her old job like it was her fault.

She exhaled sharply through her nose, biting back her fury. If she could, she’d summon every ghost in sight and sic them all on him.

Then his eyes shifted to someone standing behind her. At the same moment, she felt a familiar presence, and caught a whiff of a scent she knew all too well.

“A man can judge another man? And what exactly is it you think you can judge?”

Seula slowly lifted her head. All she could see was the sharp jawline and strong throat of Kang Tae-shin.

“Interesting choice of words. But I doubt you know a single thing about me.”

His half-lidded eyes and detached tone cut through the air, effortlessly cool.