Affectionate Obsession - Chapter 42

Yeonhee looked at Junhyeok across from her with a face that showed she couldn’t understand what was happening.

Though he should have felt her gaze, Junhyeok stared intently at the menu, his expression unwavering.

“Tell me if there’s anything you want to eat. I’ll order based on that.”

Junhyeok said, looking at her with the same eyes as always.

The place they had arrived at a little while ago was a hotel restaurant with a panoramic view of Seoul’s nightscape.

He had called out of the blue around lunchtime to confirm her evening schedule, and then, as soon as she got off work, he had unceremoniously dragged her here.

Yeonhee pressed her lips together stubbornly, revealing her reluctance.

This was not the time to be leisurely enjoying an outdoor meal at a scenic restaurant.

Yeonjeong was still hovering between life and death, unconscious, and it was presumed that Yoon Sera had gone to her family home and told Choi Sookhee everything that had happened.

What Yeonhee couldn’t understand was precisely that point.

It was Junhyeok, of all people, who had told her about Sera.

He had explained the events unfolding every night and planned out the tasks she needed to do going forward.

Furthermore, in the call around lunchtime, he had mentioned that Chairman Choi had expressed his intention to participate in the charity auction hosted by HN Group.

That was happening as soon as next week.

She guessed he was participating to see her, but if that were the case, she shouldn’t be sitting here; she should be assessing all possible scenarios and preparing to counter Chairman Choi accordingly.

In such a situation, having a leisurely meal like this.

No matter how she tried to think positively, she couldn’t.

“I’m just saying let’s eat. You would have eaten dinner anyway if you were home. I’m just saying let’s eat that dinner here today, instead of at home.”

Startled by the sudden voice, Yeonhee looked at Junhyeok again.

He was still looking only at the menu.

Yeonhee bit her lip hard, frowned, and voiced the words she had been holding back.

“Do we really have to come all the way here to eat at a time like this?”

A sigh escaped Yeonhee’s lips.

Given the circumstances, she was growing increasingly impatient, and it felt unfair that Junhyeok, who knew the situation as well as she did, seemed oblivious to her feelings.

Silence instantly filled the private room where they sat.

Only then did Junhyeok put down the menu and meet Yeonhee’s gaze.

“Why can’t we eat here?”

Junhyeok murmured softly. His tone was so monotonous it momentarily rendered her speechless.

Instead of answering, Yeonhee took a breath. She couldn’t fathom his intentions.

He was a man who never acted without a reason.

Was someone from the RM family going to be here today? If not, was there another reason?

Since he wouldn’t explain clearly, Yeonhee’s head felt like it would explode.

Then, Junhyeok’s voice echoed in the room again.

“I’m just saying let’s eat dinner.”

Yeonhee’s brow furrowed even deeper. The thought that he had come here just to eat dinner made her feel like her insides were burning.

“If you really just came to eat, let’s just leave. This isn’t the situation for it, and I’m not in the mood for it today.”

“Shin Yeonhee.”

It was the moment Yeonhee was gathering her bag, about to stand up.

Junhyeok called her name in a voice filled with tension.

Even that felt overwhelmingly exhausting to Yeonhee.

Junhyeok didn’t need to do this; every day was already hell.

Just the fact that Yeonjeong hadn’t regained consciousness made her insides burn, and on top of that, on days she had to go out pretending to be Sera, all her energy drained, leaving her unable to even stand.

In such a situation, Junhyeok’s words about having a leisurely meal could only be perceived as a childish complaint.

Yeonhee, too tired to respond, turned her back. Whether Junhyeok followed her or not, she just wanted to go home and rest.

Just as she took about two steps.

Junhyeok’s voice stopped her.

“It’s taken us 10 years to finally be able to be together like this.”

Yeonhee suppressed a sigh that rose to her throat.

She wasn’t unaware. She herself was a party to that 10-year gap he was talking about.

What was frustrating was why he was suddenly bringing it up now.

Yeonhee gripped her bag tightly and turned back to look at Junhyeok.

“Yes. We met again after 10 years. So? Does meeting again after 10 years mean we should smile and eat together? Ha, is this the time for us? Why are you acting like this too, Junhyeok?”

Yeonhee lamented in a voice that was anything but steady and brought her hand to her forehead.

Dizziness washed over her.

The situation she found herself in was already overwhelming enough.

Enduring each day was a torment. She even regretted all her past choices, wondering how it had come to this.

If she hadn’t met Sera, if she hadn’t accepted Sera’s proposal, Yeonjeong wouldn’t be in this state, and she could have lived without knowing the troublesome secret of her birth.

If that were the case, though enduring each day would still be difficult, it wouldn’t be as miserable and hellish as it was now.

Yeonhee deeply regretted being swayed by money when she met Sera and accepting that proposal.

Each time, Junhyeok’s thoughts, which followed like a constant, made her heart heavier, but the present was too painful and arduous to blame herself out of guilt.

Yeonhee composed herself, her emotions becoming increasingly volatile, and turned back again.

If she continued to face Junhyeok like this, she felt she might say things she shouldn’t.

“That it’s taken us 10 years to finally be able to eat a meal together like this.”

But today, Junhyeok was stubbornly insisting on this place.

Yeonhee let out a heavy sigh, filling her mouth, with no intention of holding back.

There hadn’t been a day that wasn’t difficult, but today was particularly arduous.

With Junhyeok acting like this too, she wanted to escape this place even more.

But Junhyeok’s voice, which continued to speak, held her back repeatedly, not even allowing her to turn away.

Yeonhee squeezed her eyes shut.

She intended to force herself to leave this place.

Even if it meant having to apologize later, she felt she had to avoid him now.

But she couldn’t.

“It wasn’t a chance encounter on the street, but at my wedding, seeing you in place of the woman who was supposed to be the bride.”

The story, which had always been buried as a seed of guilt in Yeonhee’s heart, spilled out with his voice.

“Even if I had known long ago that it would be you, not Yoon Sera, who would appear, I, who had to see you at that moment. I, who wanted to find you again, even in that way.”

“……”

“Did you ever once think about what I must have felt, seeing you in all those moments?”

Yeonhee clenched her fists tightly.

She had thought about it. From the moment she first saw him, she had been thinking about it constantly.

Even after 10 years, she couldn’t pretend not to see the deep emotion in his eyes as he looked at her.

Yet, how could she not think about it?

The reason she ultimately didn’t reveal her feelings to Junhyeok was because she believed there was no future for Jung Junhyeok and Shin Yeonhee.

If she hadn’t even known that Yoon Sera and Shin Yeonhee were twin sisters, she would have left him behind that day she left his house.

Even if he had tried to stop her, she would have seized opportunities to disappear from his life forever.

Wouldn’t she?

With the news of Jung Junhyeok and Yoon Sera’s wedding being so widely reported, there was no way a new place for her would emerge in the future.

If she were determined to create a place for herself next to Junhyeok, he would try his best to make that place for her, but Yeonhee didn’t want to go that far.

The moment Shin Yeonhee remained by Jung Junhyeok’s side, the word “affair” would follow him like a scarlet letter.

That fact wouldn’t change, regardless of whether it was Shin Yeonhee or Yoon Sera who coveted his side.

Yeonhee didn’t want Junhyeok to live under public scrutiny.

His position alone meant he couldn’t be entirely free from public attention, but she at least didn’t want him to live his entire life under criticism.

Therefore, to prevent Junhyeok from becoming that way, it was right to continue acting selfishly, pretending not to know his feelings even though she did.

But. But…

“Yeonhee. I haven’t forgotten you for a single day in the past 10 years. Everything I’ve done was to get you back, and even though you disappeared one day, I’ve never lived a day without thinking of you.”

What was so pretty about the woman who had cruelly abandoned and left him, that he, who had waited for only her for 10 years, couldn’t bear to leave first, even though she was always with him.

“We’ve never gone out to eat like this since we met again. So.”

“……”

“So, for just one day, let’s come to a nice place like this and have a meal together.”

Yeonhee slowly moved her feet. Then she stood facing Junhyeok.

He was looking at her with such earnest eyes, as if this trivial meal meant everything.

It was so upsetting it made her frown.

Did he know?

That even though she had decided to stay by his side again under the guise of revenge against Yoon Sera, she was planning to leave him again when the time was right.

Did he know that Shin Yeonhee was such a selfish and wicked bitch?

“Don’t just stand there, come and sit, Yeonhee.”

No, he wouldn’t know.

No matter who Jung Junhyeok was, he clearly couldn’t even imagine it.

“Let’s just have dinner and go home, okay?”

Shin Yeonhee, with a composed face, finally sat back down in the seat opposite him, so that he couldn’t detect anything.

“Is the steak okay? They do a good steak here.”

Yeonhee mechanically nodded.

Whether it was to deceive him, or because she wanted to spend this moment, which might be the last of its kind, together with him, Yeonhee herself didn’t know the reason she ended up taking her seat.

She just wanted to do as Junhyeok wished, just for today.

It would be alright for just today, wouldn’t it?

Repeating that thought, Yeonhee turned her vacant gaze beyond the floor-to-ceiling window.

Support