The Way I Loved You

The First Step

The next morning, Hyunwoo sat beside her at the table for breakfast, his spirits rising when he realised that she'd wanted to sit with him. The past few meals, she had always taken great care to avoid him and always sat at the head of the table. Compared to their first day here when she'd sat directly across from him which was as far as she could possibly be, it was huge progress.

Quietly, he prayed that things would get better from here onwards. Yes, she'd tried to push him away again last night and reminded him of the fact that they were divorced, but she'd also hugged him with all her strength and tended so carefully to his wounds, something she never would've done had she not cared deeply about him. It gave him a faint glimmer of hope, that she would allow him to love her again someday.

After he witnessed her on the verge of breaking down last night, he was reluctant to leave her, knowing that she might worry in his absence. He knew Haein well enough to know how paranoid she could be. She was the kind of person to plan everything from the start to finish, coming up with contingency plans for every possible inconvenience because she was that anxious that she would be caught off guard when something went wrong. Furthermore, he knew how much she hated having no control of the situation. Staying at home and sitting ducks while he was out digging too deep would only drive her stir crazy.

It was only with great willpower that he forced himself to leave home because he had his work cut out for him in his investigations. The sooner he got the family reinstated, the sooner they could go back to living their normal lives, and Haein would get her company back, the company she'd poured her blood, sweat and tears into building.

He was so determined to force himself into that car, to drive off to work without her like he'd done for over a year, but his resolve disappeared the moment she walked out of the gate to see him off, her steps slow and languid as if she had no clue what her presence was doing to him.

Haein was like a drug, one that he was extremely addicted to. He'd given himself a pep talk and convinced himself to stop indulging himself, but the moment he set his eyes on her, his addiction returned at full force, deeming all his efforts useless. It was unfair how strong of an effect she had on him. Had it been up to him, he would have stayed home with her today to make sure that she didn't stress herself out again by worrying about everything beyond her control. She was still battling her illness after all and besides her aunt, nobody knew about it so nobody was watching over her.

"Have you applied ointment this morning?" She asked innocently, unaware of all the thoughts swirling through his head. Her large eyes blinked at him, and he felt his heart stutter.

"No, I was in a rush." Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts, bringing him back to reality.

"Let me see your face." She stood inches away from his chest, her hands still tucked behind her. Standing straight with her shoulders pushed back, she looked comically like she was trying to intimidate him into submission, but with their significant height difference, it wasn't working very well.

Haein looked like she was about to scold him again for being irresponsible, but her expression softened and she reached out to cup his cheek.

"You need to apply this often."

She whipped out a cotton swab and the ointment she'd applied for him yesterday, carefully dabbing it onto his wounds with a gentleness that one would never expect from the harsh CEO.

Had she walked out all this way just to make sure that he'd applied ointment on his wounds? The thought made his heart skip a beat. Even when they were dating, it was always him fussing over her, making sure that she was well taken care of. It was him with his adorable charms when he was drunk, trying to make her fall in love with him. But now, it almost felt like they had restarted their relationship at the dating phase, and it was now Haein's turn to shower him with care.