My Mortal Enemy #143

Chapter 70: Unexpected Visitor

"Auntie, don't worry about me. This is nothing." He chuckled but his smile doesn't reach his eyes.

"You know I've known you since you were a kid, young man, so don't you dare lie to me." She looked at him sternly and waited for him to talk but it was only returned with another pale smile. "Why exactly are you here?"

"To visit you of course. I always do that."

"Not this early. I haven't had my coffee yet." She said as she pushed the button of the intercom to prompt her assistant. The door immediately opened revealing Yuri carrying a cup of coffee.

"Here you go, Ma'am," Yuri said as she bowed her head. She places the cup on top of her boss's desk and brought her attention to the other person in the room. "Do you want one as well Mr. Lee?" she asked her face beet red.

Donghae looked at her and gave her a smile as he nodded his head. Yuri answered with a nod and was about to get another coffee but Yejin stopped her from her tracks. "I don't think he needs coffee, Yuri. He might never get a wink of sleep." That's the time Yuri took her time to examine his face and worry instantly crept to her skin. She saw the dark circles around his eyes and this is the only time she noticed that he lose a lot of weight since the last time she saw him.

"Give him juice instead." Her boss said but she didn't hear it because her focus is still with Donghae, staring at him from head to toe.

"Yuri?" She heard her boss called her name and this time she bolted up and immediately took his gaze off of him.

"Y-yes Ma'am... R-right away." She answered and immediately walked out the door.

Yejin shook her head when Yuri was out of sight and stared back at Donghae. She is really worried about him. She knows he fancies her daughter a lot but she can't do anything about it. If given the chance, she would love it if he will be the one her daughter ends up with because she already knows him since he was a kid.

"Talk to me, what have you been up to?" Yejin started.

"Well, same old thing." he simply answered while playing with the figurine resting on the desk.

"What about your cousin? Chaerin right? How is she?" Yejin changed the topic when she noticed he won't talk.

Donghae chuckled when she heard her asked about his cousin. "Well, she's fine. She'd been bugging  me the whole time asking about..." He stopped himself as he remembered his cousin asking him regarding the whole gang especially Dara. To be honest, he doesn't know what's been happening. The last time he saw her was when they had lunch together at the office and she left that day not even saying a word. He got worried and tried contacting her but she didn't answer any of his phone calls.

"About what?" his train of thoughts were cut off when he heard his aunt asked.

"About...her school." He lied. "She's worried about when they reached their internship." He continued, trying his best not to give away any emotions but he failed.

"You're lying. I know you." She sipped her coffee as she waited for him to spill the beans. "Tell me what's bothering you. You know I promised your mother that I'll look after you when you're here."

He looked at his aunt before heaving a deep sigh. "Auntie, I..."

A knock on the door interrupts what he was about to say. Yuri went in with a glass of juice in her hand and Donghae grabbed that opportunity to escape. He used that to excuse himself for further interrogation.

"Here is your juice Mr. Lee" Yuri went in and place the juice in front of Donghae.

Donghae suddenly stared at his wristwatch. "Hey look at the time. I need to go now Auntie or I'll be late." He suddenly stood up which surprised Yuri but Yejin knew better.

He started striding towards the door but his Aunt tried to stop him. "Donghae come back here."

"We'll have a chitchat again next time Auntie." He smiled and opened the door to go out.

"Aisht! That kid." Yejin exclaimed and massaged her head.

On her side was Yuri still dazed as she watches the door opened and closed. Little did she know that her boss noticed her every action too. She just shrugged it off and continue signing papers in front of her.

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DARA's POV

Another week passed and I'm already getting used to all the tasks here inside the restaurant. Not only that. I'm also getting used to the culture here in the village. I already made friends with the locals especially at the market where we buy our stocks. Thanks to Mino of course. He's the one who made it all possible.

"Hey Dara, I noticed that you and Mino are getting close now." Seo -Yeon interrupted me as I wash the dishes. It's where I am stationed at the moment.

"What are you talking about? We're close even before, we practically grew up together remember?" I told her as I ignored her pouting lips. I know where she's getting at so I better dismissed it.

"I know but now is different. Even Mino changed a lot. I mean, you can now see him smile unlike before. Always grumpy and serious and all of us want to thank you for that." She winks at me and gave me a meaningful look.

I was about to scold her when I heard Min-Jun call me from outside.

"Dara, someone is looking for you." He said, his brows connected.

"Is it Mrs. Lee from the market? I told her I'll come back tomorrow for..."

"No, Dara. It's not Mrs. Lee." He cut me off. With the kind of expression I'm getting from him, I'm seriously anxious right now.

I cleaned my hands before taking my apron off. I went out of the kitchen and followed Min-Jun to where he said the person who's looking for me at. There I saw an old man, holding a cane, a very familiar cane. He's looking at a distance as if thinking deeply. Wait a minute, I remember him.

"Harabeoji?"

He slowly cut his gaze from where he's busily staring to look at me. "Hi there, sulking kid."
Omg! He's the old man from the bus station!