Geomancy couple

Chapter 44: Chapter 44

“Whew!” Jina, who had been holding her breath, finally breathed out.

Arum said, “I was stunned, Jina. I expected to see you when I opened the door, but it was Soran instead who was standing there. I feel like I’m working in the office today, when I’m actually off work.”

Jina loosened up and sank into the sofa.

Arum also squatted on the floor.

“By the way, did Konsu call me through my cell phone?”

“Nope.”

Jina took out her phone from her pocket.

“Why did you take that bastard here?” Jina asked.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Are you lying to me? Konsu repeatedly mentioned, ‘My dear Arum, my dear Arum.’ Are you really going to date him again?”

“Well, I met him already.”

“Hey, Arum Yang!” Jina shouted. She really got upset and said, “You suffered too much because of him. Are you intent on dating him again?”

“…”

“What kind of reaction is that?”

“…”

“You’re gonna pay for this, dude!”

“So what if I date him again?”

“Are you crazy?”

“I know you’re worried about me, Jina, but I…”

Arum tried to persuade Jina, but Jina was adamant.

“Split with him now!”

“No, I can’t.”

“If you meet him again, I won’t see you anymore,” said Jina, standing up in anger.

But Arum could do nothing to placate her. Jina probably knew how many nights she cried, wishing to meet him again.

“Sorry, Jina.”

Having heard that, Jina left without even turning back.

“I’m really sorry, Jina,” Arum repeated quietly.

After that, she was left all alone in her empty house.

Konsu didn’t call her until that weekend.

On Monday, Arum received an email from Hojoon’s company, the Famed House of Geomancy. According to the email, the staffer in charge, who was handling the collaboration project with <Single Woman>, was replaced, and Hojoon would only supervise their on-site visit to the newlyweds’ houses.

“He should have done that long time ago,” said Arum, pouting her lips.

As long as he came and supervised on the shooting day, Arum would have no problem. But she felt lost as the staffer in charge, Heemang, was suddenly replaced.

“Dang it. He pretends to be pretty busy alone.”

She felt she was close to the team leader, so she found it regrettable that Hojoon replaced Heemang without informing her beforehand at all.

“What should I do?”

She didn’t yet convey Soran’s request to Hojoon. She couldn’t call him on purpose because of that. So, she planned to tell him about Soran’s request naturally when she met him at a meeting.

Arum didn’t know exactly what kind of request it was, but she wanted to convey it as Soran had asked her already.

Jina, who she didn’t reconcile with yet, came to her mind.

Ah, everything was a mess even though she had already met Konsu.

Since Konsu didn’t contact her yet, she lost everything again.

Nonetheless, Arum just blamed Hojoon, murmuring, “He isn’t capable at all.”

She gave a call to the new team leader and got down to work. She scheduled the shooting date and emailed him on that. She wanted to set the final shooting date in harmony with the schedule of Hojoon’s company.

But she didn’t get any reply two days after she sent the email. And even right before the meeting day on Thursday, she didn’t receive any material from them.

She asked Hojoon’s company for the concept and image boards of the articles on the feng shui interior they suggested for newlyweds. The new staffer in charge was supposed to check out the shooting tools while looking at the image boards with the photographer, but he just kept saying casually, “Let’s meet for the details,” and laughed away.

She was so embarrassed at his laughter that she couldn’t get angry.

3PM on Thursday.

She was supposed to have a meeting with the staff of Famed House of Geomancyi.

After doing work on her calendar, she went back to the company and found Hojoon standing before an elevator. She was glad to see him.

“Oh, it’s nice to see you here, Hojoon!” She grinned brightly at him. “I thought you would not attend the meeting,” she said.

“The guy in charge took a day off because he had to attend a civil defense drill.”

“Oh, very well!” Arum said that nonchalantly in spite of herself and blushed.

“Did you wait for me?” asked Hojoon.

Her heart began to beat at his unexpected question.

At that moment, the elevator doors opened.

“No, never. Why should I wait for you? Please get in.” She treated him politely as he was a guest in her company.

With a bright smile, she looked up at him. Today of all days she noticed his jawline. Neatly shaven, his jawline looked pretty attractive.

As she met him in a flurry of accidents up to now, she had no time to look at his face carefully.

Today, she also noticed his broad shoulders, looking pretty tempting.

‘You’re a reporter. You should maintain objectivity.’

She met all kinds of men while working as a reporter, but it was the first time she felt that a guy like Hojoon was “nice.”

How did a reporter with a fashion magazine look like? She often met highly marketable entertainers. It was no exaggeration to say she also met hopefuls in the entertainment field. While she was meeting fashion models, TV personalities and celebrities, she hardly had the impression that they were “nice.”

She had a discerning eye for identifying those entertainers well-packaged to impress the public. The public would be shocked to learn about the truth of their ugly rumors. But she didn’t divulge them because she didn’t want to shatter the public’s illusion about them.

Toying with that kind of delusion, she scanned him from head to foot carefully.

Of course, Hojoon sensed that. He realized she was staring at him with a fixed gaze.

“What are you looking at?”

At that moment, she was lifting her eyes toward his upper body after she already checked out his lower body.

“Pardon? What did I do? Just get in quickly.”

Gibbering like that, she pushed him into the elevator.

‘I wish he’s meeker.’

Nobody except for Arum and Hojoon got on the elevator. As if they promised to do so, they didn’t say anything inside the elevator.

In fact, she had something to tell him.

‘I’m sorry for that day.’

But she couldn’t bring herself to say that.

As she genuinely felt sorry for him, she couldn’t open her mouth.

After Jina left her house right after Hojoon went out, she was left alone in her empty house. She just felt sorry for Hojoon then.

Obviously, it was Hojoon who reached out to her when she badly needed help.

It was Jina who took care of her when she kept a low profile after breaking up with Konsu.

‘How come you don’t appreciate these guys’ kindness and consideration!?’ er own conscience shouted at her during the weekends.

But she couldn’t blame Konsu, as she was blinded by love.

‘It’s all my fault. Love is to blame.’

Arum spent the time to repent at home during the weekend. That’s why she was so glad to see Hojoon there.

The elevator stopped on the 8th floor.

“Please get off first,” said Arum warmly, pressing the button gently.

Hojoon sensed that she was being kind to him on purpose. He felt that she was obviously trying to curry favor with him to erase her wrongdoings, but he was adamant.

In fact, he was pretty upset last Saturday.

‘How come a woman doesn’t have any self-respect?’ e wanted to shout at her, but he didn’t.

He felt she was exactly like the him of the past who clung to Soran.

‘How come a man doesn’t have any self-respect?’

Hojoon was recalling what Soran had said to him in the past. It took time for him to erase her remarks from his head. But this woman, Arum, reminded him of Soran’s words and her feelings at that time.

Exactly speaking, she got upset about him because he looked silly.

‘Hey, that’s not love.’

Hojoon wanted to give Arum a piece of his mind, but he was prudent. He was not her neighborhood friend nor her supervisor at her company. Moreover, he was not interested in her as a woman. She was just a working partner at the moment. Nothing romantic.

Nonetheless, he was bothered by her.

After he left her house like that, he felt uncomfortable all day long.

‘Is she doing well?’

He kept thinking about her throughout the whole weekend. That’s why he came to the meeting in person, with the excuse that Heemang was off work for a civil defense drill.

In his mind, she had been doing well.

He felt she was taking pains to treat him well this time.

He made a furtive smile without her seeing it.

At that moment, he overheard her answering the phone.

“Hi, Konsu.”

Hojoon instantly frowned at that.