Chapter 59.2

Chapter 59.2

Then, with a sudden flick, the thickly folded towel landed square across Ara’s face, covering her glare.

“Ah cold!”

She flinched at the sudden chill. Her vision vanished, replaced by the faint scent clinging to the cloth; fresh wind, clean forest, the same fragrance that always clung to him. The one she caught when walking beside him, when she accidentally fell against him, when he drew close without warning.

“If you’re that desperate to play at romance, pick someone decent instead.”

His voice quivered slightly. But Ara told herself it was just a trick of her own foolish longing, piling up until it warped what she heard.

All she could do was clutch the blanket tighter.

‘Looks like you’re set on playing house with that piece of trash.’

How could he say things like that, so carelessly? It took a kind of talent, really. Bitterness twisted her smile in the dark.

Whether the housekeeper with an expiration date fooled around with trash or not, what did it matter to him?

The truth was, the person she wanted that silly romance with wasn’t Suho at all. And the cruel irony was that the man she wanted wasn’t decent. Instead, he was a goblin who could be unbearably harsh.

“Kim Seok-kyung.”

She knew better. Knew it too well. And still, she opened her mouth before she could stop herself.

“I’m not like that with Suho.”

She was denying, explaining what he hadn’t even asked.

Seok-kyung listened, silent long after she’d finished.

Damn this mouth… why can’t I keep it shut?

Ara bit the inside of her lip hard. The silence between them stretched, heavy and suffocating, until she almost wished she could run from it.

Maybe she should brush it off, laugh, say she didn’t mean it. Pretend it was nothing at all.

Ara was drowning in restless thoughts, debating with herself, when-

“What do you mean, that kind of relationship?”

His low voice broke the silence.

It wasn’t nearly as sharp as she’d feared. Dumbfounded, Ara blinked up at him.

“Uh… I mean… like, a silly kind of romance?”

No sooner had she answered than a sigh brushed the air. A faint click of his tongue followed.

“So now you’re toying with me.”

The words sounded like clumsy complaint, or maybe a barb laced with displeasure.

But Ara, her eyes still covered, couldn’t see his face. Deprived of sight, her hearing sharpened, and in her overheightened state she couldn’t sort the tangled emotions in his tone.

Frustration welled up inside her. If anyone here was guilty of toying with someone’s feelings, it was him.

Who was it that pulled her close one moment and pushed her away the next? Who gave her hope, then yanked it back twelve times a day? Who treated her like a disposable servant, only to appear before Suho burning with jealousy like a crazed groom?

“It’s you who toys with people, Kim Seok-kyung.”

The words slipped out, sharp and unguarded.

She’d thought she could never say them aloud, but once the dam cracked, her patience drained dry. Boldness she didn’t know she had surged up with it.

“I am grateful, you know. For worrying I might get hurt. For looking after me like this. I don’t care why you’re doing it. It still means something.”

With all the strength she had left, Ara lifted her trembling hand.

Her weak fingers tugged the towel off her eyes, dragging it aside. Darkness gave way to the sting of lamplight.

“But don’t do this for other women.”

She forced her eyes open against the brightness, desperate to catch his expression.

“It confuses me too much.”

What was there left to hide now?

“When you treat me like this, I start to think I might actually be someone special to you.”

Her clear eyes brimmed as she held his face squarely in her gaze. His expression was cold as stone, yet she searched it anyway.

So what if he thought her foolish? So what if he scorned her for clinging to a hopeless dream?

She just wanted to know for sure.

“If you tell me straight it’s a delusion, maybe I can finally let go.”

“Why call it a delusion?”

The answer struck her like lightning.

“You are someone special to me.”

What came back wasn’t release. It was a ruinous hope.