Chapter 113.1

Chapter 113.1

“Miran.”

Andre called her urgently.

“Why, what is it? Are you having trouble breathing again?”

Startled, Miran quickly checked his face. He was a little pale, but his breathing was normal.

If she hadn’t seen it herself, she would have thought he was exaggerating earlier. But the way he had clung to her hand like it was an oxygen mask, fighting for breath the way a drowning man clings to air, was something she knew she would never forget.

“…Let’s talk while we have dinner. I haven’t eaten anything since I got on the plane.”

Miran’s eyes widened. ‘How many days has he not eaten? Is that why he lost so much weight?’

His complexion was pale. His jawline looked sharp enough to cut, and his already defined eyes had sunk even deeper. Under the warm, European-style lighting of the room, he looked like a starved vampire count.

“You didn’t eat the in-flight meal?” She asked, thinking, ‘I was crying my eyes out and still ate every meal just fine…’

Andre shook his head. He normally didn’t care for airplane food, but that wasn’t the issue. His mind had been too tangled and heavy for appetite.

To be honest, he wasn’t hungry now either. He had thrown out the dinner excuse because he was terrified she might leave.

Miran hesitated, biting her lower lip, then studied his face up close.

He hadn’t slept, hadn’t eaten. He must have looked awful.

A hint of sympathy flickered in her eyes.

‘Maybe I should’ve starved myself a few more days…’

If she would only stay by his side, he felt like he could do anything.

Even seeing her right in front of him felt unreal, like drifting inside a dream. She was fresh and breathtaking, like an oasis rising under moonlight in the cold desert night.

He wanted to feel the warmth she radiated with her whole body. He wanted to crush her against his chest and kiss her until he couldn’t breathe. But he was terrified she might vanish like a mirage the moment he touched her, so he clenched his fists tight enough for the knuckles to stand out.

Miran braced herself and gave a small nod.

“Okay, then.”

Andre let out a shaky breath of relief, then pressed the button on the side of the table. A waiter stepped in and handed them a menu covered in brick-colored faux leather.

“Should I order for us?”

He asked it the same way he used to at the Dragon Valley Hotel. Miran shook her head.

“I can do it.”

She hadn’t lived with him for nothing. And this was Korea. If she didn’t know something, she could just ask in Korean. She didn’t need to rely on him for everything the way she had in New York.

She studied the menu carefully, then confidently ordered a Caesar salad and seafood risotto.

As soon as the waiter left, she glanced sideways at him.

“…Are you really going to sit there?”

Andre had taken the seat right beside her instead of across the table, and he wasn’t budging. Being wedged between a wall and a broad-shouldered man felt a little cramped.

He didn’t answer for a long moment. Then he awkwardly pressed a hand to his forehead.

“…I feel dizzy.”

Miran let out a disbelieving snort. His acting was terrible. He’d been more convincing back when they’d practiced that gangster romance scene together.

But she pretended not to notice and turned her head away. Facing him head-on and meeting his eyes felt even harder than sitting next to him.

His gaze burned into the side of her face, almost painfully vivid, but Miran stubbornly focused on the vase of freesia on the table.

“I left a note in your study saying I was going to Korea. Didn’t you see it?”

“I saw it later.”

Two weeks after she’d left, a maid found the note deep under his desk and placed it on top where he could see it.

[Andre,

I’m leaving for Korea. Thank you for everything.

Goodbye.

Miran]

That day, Andre fell apart all over again. The short note held none of the tenderness or fluttering warmth he had felt in her letters. It was stripped clean of emotion, nothing but a cold, plain message.

He read and reread the word “Goodbye.” He never knew a farewell written without any adornment could feel like a death sentence.

It was all his doing.

He had told the woman he loved that he needed to marry someone else, then asked her to become his mistress. After being humiliated like that, she didn’t curse him, didn’t even lash out. Instead, she left him with a final thank you. That was so much harder to endure.