Chapter 17. Schemes

The drive from the lake house to the city took him lesser time than it ought to be but for him, the anxiety of the unknown made it seem longer. He spent another long night without a blink of sleep— an occurrence that only started upon meeting her. While spending his time moving things around and making the necessary plans for the new room, he was also weighing the pros and cons of the decision he abruptly made. And despite the fact that she still had to be convinced, Yonghwa decided that once he started something, he would see it through. The very first steps are usually the hardest and for sure she would give him the hardest time.

And if she did, he’d pull his big gun.

Well, not that gun.

He laughed stupidly at his freakishly dirty humor.

The hurried footsteps prompted him to look up. A smile crept on his lips when he realized who it was. The closer they got, the more he could sense that distinct sweet vanilla flavor she had going on her. He grimaced though with the realization that he even managed to memorize her scent. Finally, as he took the three remaining steps towards her, he realized that Seohyun still hadn’t noticed his presence.

“Where are you going?” Yonghwa asked when she didn’t even bother to look up.

“What are you doing here?”

The way she asked sounded like a yelp of surprise and it made him grin. Even more so when she looked as if inspecting him from head to toe. And he did the same. As always, she appeared to him like she didn’t have to bother about her looks. Dressed casually in a white sweater and a pair of pale blue skinny jeans, she left her hair to rest free on her shoulders and she barely had any make up on. He grinned wider when she frowned at him, so he asked, “Where’s Euna?”

“I left her with my landlady upstairs,” she muttered automatically but furrowed her brows, “What are you doing here?”

“To see Euna,” he nonchalantly said putting both hands on his pants’ pocket then asked her back “Where are you going?”

“To look for you,” Seohyun said with a slight indignant tone then showed the money, “You left this.”

The telltale sign of her irritation was amusing but he tried to give her his slyest smile, “And how are you going to do that?” Yonghwa then folded his arms on his chest, “Do you really think you would find me?”

“Of course,” she crossed her arms on her chest as well then threw him a smirk, “Don’t you think I haven’t found you yet?”

Clever. Yonghwa thought to himself as he cleared his throat to avoid laughing out loud. He managed to grin as he watched that smile spreading on her lips as if too pleased with herself. That moment he thought that she was cute— not the I-want-to-date-you kind of cuteness but just cute, he corrected himself. Another witty response was somehow winning him over. Imagining more debates with her might be so entertaining than irritating. Raising both hands up in surrender, he took the money and slipped it inside his pants’ pocket. “Fine, can I see Euna now?”

She nodded but a little surprised when he did not insist on her keeping the money, “Okay, I’ll go with you. Mrs. Choi might not let you in. She doesn’t like intruders.”

The way she emphasized the last word elicited a hearty laugh from him as he followed her up to her apartment. Only while they were doing that rigorous hike upstairs that he remembered that he only had a cup of black coffee for breakfast. The remaining energy he had was slowly being consumed that he was starting to pant unlike the woman in front of him who seemed to not mind it at all.

Or he was wrong.

“Are you okay?” Yonghwa moved two steps up to reach her when she stopped while putting one hand on her stomach and another clenched on the handrail for support.

“Yeah…” she smiled despite the pain she was suddenly feeling. Seohyun has been experiencing those twinges since she brought Euna home, “I’m okay, I’m just tired already.”

“See? I told you this is not a good place for you to live,” he grimaced as he held her elbow guiding her to sit on the steps. “Rest for a while. Even me, I’m already dehydrated because of these stairs,” he commented and making a show of wiping his hands on his forehead.

She remained standing despite the pressure he was giving on her skin and shook her head “I’m okay.” Seohyun could see from the corner of her eyes how he looked dissatisfied. Whatever reason he had for being there again was something she didn’t want to know anymore.

“Oh, don’t be stubborn!” He slumped on the steps and heard her groan out loud. A smile crept on his lips when she sat beside him.

“You are the one who’s tired!”

“Fine,” he mumbled when he noticed the way she was still holding on to her stomach that suggested she was in pain. Yonghwa didn’t want to argue anymore since it might just spark that stubbornness into something that might make her discomfort worse.

They sat on the first steps of the third floor both staring blankly at the landing in front of them. She must be wondering why he was there— he too have been wondering why he wanted to do this now. Now that he had undeniably grown this kind of emotional attachment to the baby. Now that he could easily admit this attraction he had to this woman silent beside him. This attraction that was both physical and ual. These two reasons alone should be enough for him not to do this.

But the nagging feeling of not being able to know they were okay and thriving just wouldn’t go away.

Perhaps he even developed a conscience.

And compassion.

He laughed.

“You’re crazy…” Seohyun mumbled standing up the moment his laughter trickled to a grin. “Stop teasing me!”

And Yonghwa laughed some more. For some unknown reason, his private thoughts led him to go crazy and thankfully the woman misunderstood him. That would be a good excuse. He coughed and stood, “You okay to go?”

She rolled her eyes and resumed walking, “The sooner you see Euna, the sooner you’ll be out of my hair.”

“You wish,” Yonghwa mumbled behind her.

Mrs. Choi’s humming of a country song welcomed them as she rocked Euna outside the house. She turned and looked questioningly at Seohyun when she saw the man with her, “I thought you went to—

“I was about to,” Seohyun smiled and gave the newcomer a small look from her shoulder. She took her baby from her landlady and smiled warmly at her beady-eyed girl, “Lo