chapter 13.2

Geonwoo, who was sitting at the desk in the representative’s office, checked the past payment documents. One minute and one second was a waste, but his eyes kept glancing over his cell phone. It got him upset that he couldn’t process the annoying message. As soon as he checked the message, he couldn’t even think straight and almost pressed the call button. After he left the meeting and organized his thoughts, but now Geonwoo found it hard to press the call button. It was because he was afraid that when he heard the voice of another man who was worried about his wife, he would suddenly pop out of anger. It was difficult to make rational judgments when he only thought about Yeonhwa. Geonwoo had never felt this way before and felt unfamiliar with himself. However Geon-woo, who was worried, stood up from his seat, looked for the man’s number, and pressed the call button. There wasn’t even a beep, but the other party answered the phone immediately as if he was waiting for Geonwoo’s call all this time.

“I have checked the message you have left.”

[I sent you a message because I was worried about your wife. Has her condition improved any?]

Should Geonwoo thank you for this because this man cared about his wife? Or should he say that his attentions for his wife are unpleasant? If Geonwoo knew it would be like this, he would have handed the cell phone over to Secretary Kim.

“Yes, she has improved a lot.”

[l injured your wife, so please tell me the amount of the settlement and I will take care of it.]”

“We don’t need money. I wanted to contact you just to say this.”

There was just silence that heard from the other side of the phone. Not surprisingly. Geonwoo said he wouldn’t take the money even if the settlement amount was high, so the man wouldn’t have anything to say.

“My wife has no more injuries other than her forehead, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

Truthfully, what Geonwoo wanted to say was stop paying attention to his wife.

[If that’s the case, then it’s good.]

The man immediately agreed whether the meaning was well conveyed.

“Okay. I gotta go now.”

[Hold on. If you’re okay, I’d like to have dinner together.]

However, Geonwoo couldn’t hang up the phone because of the words stuck in his ear. Geon-woo, whose expression was cold, opened his mouth.

“I don’t think it means eating alone with me.”

“[Yes, that’s right. It would be great if your wife would join us. Since you don’t want to receive money, so I want to treat you both to dinner.]

From the message, Geonwoo felt that the man’s reaction was unusual. After the conversation, Geonwoo was convinced of his guess.

“That would be difficult.”

Geonwoo had no doubt that this man was interested in Yeonhwa. When Geonwoo declined the offer, the man expressed regret.

[You must be very busy. If so, I can’t help it. Please tell your wife that I am sorry.]

Geonwoo hung up the phone. It wasn’t a mistake. Not at all. It was completely intentional. Because of the man’s mobile phone number, Geonwoo had a fight with Yeonhwa, but he thought it was fortunate. Because if he had handed over the man’s phone number to Yeonhwa, the man would have asked Yeonhwa out for dinner this way.

Now all that was left was to reconcile with his wife but Geonwoo had to think a little bit more about that plan. Sitting in front of the desk, Geonwoo pulled out the pile of payment documents. Now he could focus on his work a little.

Go Joon, who was sitting in front of the canvas, raised his eyebrows and looked at the darkened phone screen. He asked Geonwoo to tell Yeonhwa that he was sorry, but Go Joon didn’t want to expect much. It was because the probability of Geonwoo not telling Yeonhwa was very high based on Geonwoo’s reaction.

When Go Joon contacted the insurance company, of course, the other party said that he would not claim the cost of repairing his own vehicle, and there was no need for settlement fees because it was unlikely that there would be any after effects due to a small crash.

Go Joon recalled the phone conversation he had with Geonwoo.

He was aware that it was a little too much when he offered to treat them dinner. Honestly, Go Joon wanted to tell Geonwoo that he had met Yeonhwa before and he wanted to have her number. However, what kind of husband will be willing to hand over his wife’s number to another man? The only way was to use the dinner excuse, but there was an iron wall.

“I can’t meet you anymore.”

Go Joon had no intention of telling a woman with a husband that he had not forgotten her all this time. He just wanted to have dinner together and recall memories. He wanted to say thank you. Thanks to her, he lived like this and became famous for the paintings that she liked. But now he couldn’t and it couldn’t be helped. She had a husband, so he couldn’t approach her any more.

Suddenly, Go Joon’s phone rang. It wasn’t a saved number, but he quickly recognized who it was. Because there was a message which came with this number this morning. Song Yeon-hwa, curator at Rest Museum.

“This woman is so persistent.”

*(Note: Go Joon knew that the young girl he met long ago was the same woman he had the accident with recently. However he doesn’t know her name is Yeonhwa who is also the curator at the museum, and she has been calling him nonstop to get him to do the art exhibition at her museum.)*

After pressing the call end button, Go Joon turned to the floor and saw a canvas that was scattered in a mess. Three months ago, after his father passed away, he was unable to complete the painting. It wasn’t because his father said he wished he didn’t paint. Rather, he was proud of Go Joon saying that Go Joon made his dream come true. His father, who cried out saying thank you so much, that image was still vivid in his memory .

However, a week after his father’s funeral, Go Joon felt a very different desire of holding the brush. The pressure and fear that he had to draw that never felt before came. He decided to come back to Korea, wondering if he could overcome the slump if he made new changes, but he still couldn’t complete the painting. Did it mean that he can take a little break since he has been painting almost all his life without rest? But for some reason, he felt like he would never be able to paint again if he let go of this brush.

******

“Hello, Mr artist?”

The brightened expression of Yeonhwa quickly became dark. She thought Go Joon would answer the phone because she didn’t hear the beep, but it was hung up. A sigh flowed out of Yeonhwa’s mouth in a frustrated heart. In the morning, she sent a message to Go Joon asking him to contact her again when he had time. However, it was already 6 p.m, but there was still no reply and no phone call returned from Go Joon.

“What should I do?”

As Yeonhwa with a frowned face came out of the room, AhnSeong, who was cooking the soup, spoke to her.

“Madam, would you like a cup of tea?”

“Yes, I would love to have one.”

Sitting in front of the Irish table, Yeonhwa looked down at the silent cell phone. Since Go Joon came to Korea, she expected that he would definitely find a place to display his paintings. The Rest Art Museum was by far the largest museum in Korea. Not only that, it was one of the museums that had a huge influence on the art world. It would have been impossible to enter the Rest Museum unless you were a painter with a name. Therefore, it was even more difficult to understand Go Joon, who refused to even talk made her frustrated .

“Madam, be careful because it’s hot.”

AhnSeong put down the steaming hot tea in front of Yeonhwa.

“Thank you.”

Yeonhwa tucked her hair behind her ear and wrapped the teacup with both hands. As the warm heat passed through the cold fingertips, the noisy mind seemed to be calm. Then, she suddenly remembered the quarrel with her husband last night was not over.

This morning, she felt Geonwoo was looking at her, so she tightly closed her eyelids. She didn’t want to avoid the conversation, but she didn’t know what to say. Yeonhwa was frustrated because her mind and actions were different.

“I should have talked and reconciled”.

AhnSeong, who was washing the dishes in the sink, spoke when she heard Yeonhwa’s muttering.

“Did you quarrel with the boss?”

Yeonhwa, who had put her lips in the teacup, flinched and was surprised.

“Did you know just by looking at my face?”

“I’ve been working here as a housekeeper since I was 19, but it’s weird if I don’t know.”

AhnSeong continued to wash the dishes with a pleasant laugh. Yeonhwa, who was watching Anseong quietly, narrowed her eyes.

“Do you know what caused us to fight?”

“Wasn’t it because you drove and got hurt?”

“How did you know?”

“Of course from the boss.”

AhnSeong shook her head, remembering how much suffering she had from Geonwoo this morning. He sent a message to her saying that Yeonhwa had injured her forehead and asked her to check on Yeonhwa for pain every three hours. She didn’t even respond to the message that came at 4 PM and closed her phone.

Yeonhwa kept on asking questions, while AhnSeong was busy with dinner preparations.

“What kind of personality does my husband has?”

“You know he really cares about you, madam.”

“Ha.”

Yeonhwa’s laughter popped out. It was possible that the husband cherished his beloved wife and cared for her, but Geonwoo could not have loved her. Who would give the divorce papers to the one he loved? The reason Yeonhwa stayed with him was because she loved him. Yeonhwa, who smiled bitterly, looked down at the tea that had already cooled down. It would be easier for her to get a divorce after her heart for Geonwoo cooled down. It was so hard to let go.

“Boss, are you here already?”

Yeonhwa, who was locked in thoughts, lifted her head at AhnSeong’s voice. Suddenly, a bouquet of pink roses sprang up in front of her.