Chapter 63. I Need You (4)

Translator: Aura

— Kang Minkyung. You, I… don’t you want to?

— Are you naturally weak to stimulation? Or is it something else?

After squeezing, licking, and sucking them all he wanted, he spat out those words shyly and immediately hugged Minkyung with a blushing face.

— I’m confused.

His voice was full of pain.

‘Confused? Who knew? Ah…. really.’

Minkyung muttered to herself last night and pulled her legs closer to her chest. She felt like there was a pendulum swinging in her chest. It was uncomfortable and heavy.

Minkyung, who was now standing in front of the store, shook her head to expel the disturbing thoughts and tied up her hair. As she did so, she remembered Lee-Seob tying up her hair, so she had to shake her head once more. Minkyung lifted her feet and tapped the pavement with the tips of her sneakers. She then turned smoothly and walked with long strides.

There was a pleasant sound every time her sneakers hit the pavement. She planned to visit her old school across the street, say hello to the security guard, and run around the schoolyard a few times.

Whenever her mother came she would say, ‘My daughter, Kang Minkyung graduated from this school at the top of her grade and finished university at the top of her class. She is a pride of this institution’. So she was welcomed at school as, ‘an honorable graduate, the daughter of the owners of Kang’s Makguksu restaurant’.

Minkyung was used to it and liked it. She was never affected by being compared to others, nor did she envy what she didn’t have. She didn’t have a life of luxury, but she was satisfied with her life as Kang Minkyung, the eldest child of the Kang Family. That’s all she wanted.

Meanwhile, her heart, which she needed to subdue, was shaking violently. Minkyung took a deep breath. Her steps towards school became faster and faster.

***

On the bus back to Seoul, Minkyung leaned her tired body against the backrest. Her back throbbed, so she shifted to her side.

There were many customers who came to eat Makguksu this weekend, perhaps because the weather suddenly turned hot. Minkyung put on an apron and helped serve. Before she knew it, spring was almost gone and it would soon be summer.

N/T: Makguksu is a Korean buckwheat noodle dish served in a chilled broth and sometimes with sugar, mustard, sesame oil or vinegar.

Once, she complained to her mother that Makguksu was a seasonal business, and her mother responded like this,

— That’s why people think more about Makguksu in summer. It’s good that it’s a seasonal dish, from a time of year. You miss it and it would be a shame not to enjoy it.

Throughout her life, Minkyung would sometimes reflect on her mother’s words about Makguksu. If she saw the difficult times as temporary, they would eventually become pleasant memories, and if she saw the happy times as temporary, she would live each second with greater intensity.

At that moment, Minkyung’s phone vibrated briefly. She received a message from Lee-Seob.

— Please come to the main mansion early Monday morning. The briefing with my grandfather has been moved to Monday before work.

— Okay, I’ll be there at 6:30

Minkyung replied to the message, but she didn’t take her eyes off her phone. Three small dots flashed on the chat screen, which indicated that the other party was writing a message.

‘What could he be writing?’

As she stared at the chat screen, Minkyung unconsciously tapped the edge of the phone with her index finger.

His message soon arrived.

— 6:45 is early enough.

The three points appeared again.

To soothe her nervousness as she waited, Minkyung stroked the soft fox on the back of her phone’s silicone case with her fingers. Without looking, she simply used the sensation in her hand to rub the fox’s arrogant face and pinch its nose with her fingernails. The three dots vanished and the new message was displayed.

It was just two words. Minkyung let out a laugh. She lifted her phone to cover her mouth and laughed harder. It wasn’t easy for her to imagine Lee-Seob arranging his message so that she could rest 15 more minutes and hesitating several times to finally just say goodnight. The pendulum in her chest grew larger and began to swing again.

‘No matter what you do, Crown Prince of TK. I won’t be shaken anymore.’

Minkyung leaned her head against the shaky bus window.

‘I can’t let my emotions rule me.’

Minkyung closed her eyes and breathed slowly.

‘The pendulum that swings in my chest will eventually stop.’

At least, Minkyung thought so.