Affectionate Obsession - Chapter 25

In the darkened bedroom.

Yeonhee watched Junhyeok’s sleeping face, holding her breath.

It was deep into the early morning, but sleep wouldn’t come. She couldn’t sleep.

Because soon, she had to leave his side.

The time she promised Sera was the weekend, just two days.

So, this dawn, as Sunday turned into Monday, it was right that she had to leave.

As she quietly gazed at Junhyeok, the two days flashed vividly in her mind.

‘I believe you because it’s you saying it. It’s you, Yeonhee, not someone else, that’s why I believe you.’

These were Junhyeok’s words, spoken to her as she gifted him a suit set.

Even at that moment, he was earnestly hoping.

That if there was anything she was hiding, anything at all, she would please, just tell him.

She could tell just by looking at his eyes.

He probably knew everything.

Even if he didn’t know her exact inner thoughts, he surely knew that her heart was not at peace right now.

He might have known for a long time that it was connected to Sera.

Yet, to say he believed her because it was her, even until the end, might have been his way of giving her a chance until the very last moment.

She knew how grateful an opportunity that was, how precious. But for her, it was an opportunity she simply couldn’t grasp.

If it were a matter that only concerned her, she might have thought about taking his hand just once. About trusting him and entrusting everything to him.

But it wasn’t a matter that would end with just her. She had someone to protect. She couldn’t pretend not to know Yeonjeong, who had taken her in after she was abandoned at birth and treated her like her own child.

She wasn’t well to begin with. She was barely holding on, and there was no telling how much longer she had to live.

She couldn’t let Yeonjeong be trampled by enormous corporations like HN Group and RM Group.

Even if the choice she had to make to protect Yeonjeong was to abandon Jung Junhyeok and leave, she couldn’t possibly turn her back on Yeonjeong.

“……”

Yeonhee raised one of the hands she was resting her head on towards Junhyeok’s face. She was afraid he would wake up if she touched him even slightly, so she couldn’t bring herself to touch his face.

With all the longing she felt, she stopped her hand at the closest distance she could reach him and traced the line of his face.

Though she didn’t touch him, his warmth was clearly conveyed.

It was warm. Just like his gaze, which had always been directed at her.

Yeonhee quietly got up from the bed. She minimized her movements so he wouldn’t wake up, lost in dreams.

Until she got up from the bed and stood on her own two feet, Junhyeok’s face remained deeply asleep.

She stared intently at his face, knowing this would be the last time. As if afraid, she bit down hard on her lower lip.

Just looking at him like this made her heart ache and her chest constrict. Instead of watching from a distance, she wanted to burrow into his warm embrace. She wanted to whisper that she loved him.

But none of those things were permitted for her.

Yeonhee clenched her fists and turned her back. Then, slowly, she began to move her legs.

She came out to the living room, changed into the clothes she had taken out without Junhyeok knowing, and put her phone and wallet into her coat pockets.

As she walked to the entrance to put on her shoes, the motion sensor light turned on brightly.

Yeonhee silently put on her shoes and glanced at the mirror attached to the shoe cabinet door.

Around her neck, where there had always been nothing, a pendant now sparkled.

‘Junhyeok, I know it’s a bit embarrassing to say this after you gave me a gift for the first time.’

‘What is it?’

‘Can I have a gift too?’

‘What do you want?’

‘Um, a necklace.’

Yeonhee held the sparkling pendant in her hand.

When she said she wanted a necklace, Junhyeok had looked momentarily puzzled.

It was the first time she had ever asked for something, ever asked to be bought something, so it was understandable from his perspective.

She wanted an object she could carry in his stead. Anything that would remind her of him would be enough.

That was why she had chosen a necklace.

Being able to lift a layer of his suspicion with her request for a gift was an unintended success.

Junhyeok had readily gifted her the necklace. He didn’t seem to suspect for a moment that it was an object reflecting Shin Yeonhee’s selfishness. Therefore, she had to disappear quietly before he noticed.

Yeonhee carefully opened the front door. Then, she stepped out beyond the threshold.

Her attire was too simple for someone leaving a place that had been her haven for a short while. But the necklace around her neck was enough.

She knew Junhyeok would only notice her absence later in the morning, so to cause him confusion and buy herself time, it was right to leave her luggage behind.

As her body fully emerged, she heard the door close behind her.

This was truly the end. A happy future with Junhyeok was something she could no longer dream of from this moment on.

With that thought alone, she hardened her resolve and stepped into the elevator.

Lest the lingering attachment in her heart whisper for her to return to him, she exited the building without a moment’s hesitation and walked to the roadside.

The road at dawn was deserted. Even so, she saw a taxi approaching from a distance.

Yeonhee raised her arm. The taxi, as if spotting her, turned on its hazard lights and began to slow down.

As the taxi finally stopped, Yeonhee took a step forward. Her hand hesitated to grasp the rear door handle.

She wanted to look back. She wanted to lift her head towards the house where he was likely still sleeping. But she ultimately did not.

If she looked, she would want to run back, and if she ran back, she felt she would never want to escape him again.

“No. Snap out of it, Shin Yeonhee.”

Yeonhee did not hesitate to whip herself. Yet, the desire to look back remained. Stubbornly, she fixed her gaze straight ahead and tightened her grip on her fingertips.

With a forceful pull, the taxi’s rear door opened. Yeonhee squeezed her eyes shut and took another step to cram herself inside.

And at that exact moment.

“Where are you going, you.”

Along with a familiar voice, she felt a hand grasp her wrist.

“……”

She had wanted to look back all along, but when the moment came that she needed to look back, she found she didn’t have the courage.

“Shin Yeonhee.”

His voice pierced her ears once more.

Yeonhee gnawed on her lower lip. She had never imagined being caught like this.

Moreover, after moving so carefully to avoid waking him, how had he known?

But now was not the time to think about such things.

Yeonhee let the taxi she had hailed go and slowly turned around. She had to make up an excuse, any excuse.

“……Junhyeok.”

She called his name softly. But after that, she didn’t know what to say.

“I asked where you were going.”

He was looking at her with a face filled with such despair.

He held her, his gaze accusing her of how she could do this.

She couldn’t lie, not after seeing his face. Having already deceived him multiple times, she no longer had the capacity to deceive him further.

“I’m sorry, Junhyeok.”

Yeonhee clasped his hand with the one not held by him. Tears welled up uncontrollably. Just feeling his warmth tore her heart apart.

“I’m sorry. I’m truly, truly sorry. But I think I have to return this place to its original owner now.”

Barely holding her crumbling heart together, she told him the truth.

Hoping, he would no longer try to hold her back.

“Who is the owner of that place, tell me.”

But Junhyeok’s mind seemed to be far from Yeonhee’s thoughts.

Yeonhee stared intently at the wrist he was holding.

The spot where he held her ached sharply. As if he thought that by holding her this tightly, he could keep her by his side again, his grip on her wrist tightened further.

Yeonhee let out a soft sigh. Her mind was a jumble, unsure where to begin explaining.

Perhaps many words weren’t necessary. The reason she had to leave like this, running away, was too clear.

“Ms. Yoon Sera wants her place back. Then it’s only right that I step aside. Because the original owner of this place is Ms. Yoon Sera. Because Ms. Yoon Sera is your real wife.”

But she couldn’t finish her sentence.

The spot on her wrist, already throbbing from Junhyeok’s grip, now felt a heavy pain, as if bruised.

“Who decided that.”

“……Junhyeok.”

“Who decided that Yoon Sera’s place was beside me.”

Yeonhee looked at Junhyeok with trembling eyes. He gritted his teeth, doing his best to suppress the surging emotions.

He was enduring with such difficulty that just watching him made her heart crumble.

“My side has never belonged to anyone else, not even for a single moment.”

“……”

“At least, not since I met you. Whether you were by my side or not, it has always been your place.”

Yeonhee held her breath.

There had been times when she wished for this, when she wanted this.

She had truly wished that Jung Junhyeok’s side would always be Shin Yeonhee’s.

Hearing the words she had so desperately wanted from Junhyeok’s lips, she felt suffocated, as if she were about to die, rather than happy.

Why, when all she could do was leave like this, why was he so blindly devoted until the very last moment?

But she couldn’t falter now.

Yeonhee looked at Junhyeok with a resolute expression.

“Don’t do this. No matter how much you act like this, the fact that Yoon Sera and Jung Junhyeok are married doesn’t change. News has already been released for everyone in the world to know, and no matter how much you and I deny it, the fact that Yoon Sera has become Jung Junhyeok’s wife doesn’t change. Sooner or later, you and I have to break up.”

“So, you’re running away secretly like this again? Because the whole world knows? Because it’s known that Yoon Sera is the one who married Jung Junhyeok?”

“Ha, Junhyeok.”

“Damn it, you!”

Junhyeok, who had been trying to suppress his emotions, suddenly grabbed Yeonhee’s shoulders and poured out his feelings roughly.

Yeonhee looked at him with a startled expression. She took in every detail of Junhyeok’s face, contorted with inexpressible pain.

“Was there even a single moment you were sincere with me?”

“……”

“Do you love me?”

At his words, which were akin to a roar, Yeonhee’s eyes filled completely with tears.

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