Lee Sung-hwan + Jung Eun-chae (Part 5)
Lee Sung-hwan used to often ride the subway with Song Yoon-hee, so he wasn't the kind of rich kid who didn't know how to get into a subway station.
He walked along the platform, searching for Zheng Encai. He felt he had the right to question her: why did she go on a date with someone else only ten minutes after he asked her to pick her up? It wasn't that he didn't allow his business partner, his fiancée, to have a boyfriend, but why did he have to be the one to pick her up, wasting his time?
When Lee Sung-hwan saw Jung Eun-chae, the boy with her was reaching out to touch her hair. At least that's how it appeared from Lee Sung-hwan's perspective.
"What are you doing?" Li Shenghuan quickly stepped forward and grabbed the boy's arm, stopping him.
The boy was startled by the person who suddenly appeared in front of him and quickly pulled his hand away from Li Shenghuan's.
Jung Eun-chae was also a little surprised: "Sung-hwan oppa, what brings you here?"
What are you doing?
“My hair clip came loose, and he was going to help me take it off.”
Just as Jung Eun-chae finished speaking, the subway pulled into the station. The people behind them politely reminded them, "Please make way."
"Come here." Li Shenghuan grabbed Zheng Encai's arm and led her out of the crowd.
Standing next to a seat in the middle of the platform, Li Shenghuan reached out and took off Zheng Encai's hair clip, handing it to her.
Instead of reaching out to take it, Jung Eun-chae pointed to the area near her ear on her head: "It won't loosen if you wear it here."
Li Shenghuan stood there without moving, thinking: If I hadn't come, would she have asked that boy to take off her hair clip and put it back on?
As if hearing his thoughts, Jung Eun-chae said, "If you hadn't come, I would have put the hair clip in my bag. I'll put it on myself when we get to a place with a mirror."
"That's good." Li Shenghuan fastened the hair clip to the spot she indicated, and then explained his words: "You and I are both public figures now, and we're getting engaged in a few days, so you can't be seen behaving intimately with other men in public. Do you understand what I mean?"
“I understand. It means I can only be intimate with Seong-hwan oppa. Does holding hands count as intimate?” Jung Eun-chae said, taking Lee Seong-hwan’s hand.
"Jung Eun-chae." Lee Sung-hwan said coldly, about to reprimand her for forgetting what he had told her—that she shouldn't cross the line.
But Jung Eun-chae completely ignored his seriousness. "If you won't let me hold your hand, I'll go hold someone else's."
This argument was quite effective, because Li Shenghuan stopped arguing.
Jung Eun-chae asked him again, "What are you doing at the subway station?"
"There was a car accident, I need to take the subway."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Encai quickly checked Li Shenghuan from head to toe. "How did you get hurt? Are you alright?"
"It's nothing," Li Shenghuan said, then asked Zheng Encai, "Where are you going?"
They were waiting for the subway not to go to school.
“There’s a place I’d like to visit. But I’m not familiar with Seoul, so I’d like him to take me there.”
"I can take you wherever you want to go."
Zheng Encai looked up at Li Shenghuan for a moment before nodding, "Okay."
She led Lee Sung-hwan to the boy waiting by the platform and introduced him, "Excuse me, Jun-hyuk, this is my boyfriend, Mr. Lee Sung-hwan."
"Hello." Li Shenghuan is nearly 1.9 meters tall, and the boy had to tilt his head slightly when he looked at him.
Li Shenghuan didn't answer, but simply nodded slightly as a greeting.
Jung Eun-chae said, "My boyfriend will go with me there, so I won't trouble Jun-hyuk. Thank you."
"Okay. Let me know if you need any help in the future." After saying that, the boy turned and walked towards the subway exit.
Lee Sung-hwan turned to look at Jung Eun-chae, who quickly assured him, "I won't ask him for help again if I ever need it."
As the next subway train pulled into the station, Lee Sung-hwan and Jung Eun-chae followed the crowd into the carriage.
Sitting side by side near the door, Zheng Encai looked up at the station names written above the carriage.
"Junhyuk said to take the train to station A, and then transfer to station B to get there."
Li Shenghuan also looked at the station name Zheng Encai mentioned; it was quite far, requiring more than ten stops.
Jung Eun-chae rested her head on Lee Sung-hwan's shoulder, then spread Lee Sung-hwan's hands on his lap, and placed her own palm on top of his to compare their sizes.
Li Shenghuan was tall, and his hands were larger than others. Zheng Encai, though not short, was a delicate-looking girl. At this moment, her slender, tender hand covered Li Shenghuan's outstretched palm, only half the size of his. It looked like an adult with a child.
Li Shenghuan probably also felt that the two people's hands were quite different in size, so he looked at the two hands stacked together and smiled slightly.
The subway stopped at the next station; some people got on, and some got off.
Jung Eun-chae tried to pull her hand back, but as soon as she moved, Lee Sung-hwan closed his palms and took her small hand in his.
Jung Eun-chae turned to look at Lee Sung-hwan, but he was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed.
"Wake me up when we arrive at the station."
"Oh." Zheng Encai replied, gently stretching out her fingers so that they could slip between his fingers and intertwine with his.
*
An hour later, the two got off the subway.
Crossing the road in front of the subway station, you arrive at an old residential area. The streets are narrow, with a small hospital and a soup restaurant at the intersection. Going up the steps, you see houses on both sides.
Zheng Encai took Li Shenghuan's hand and led him up the steps. "Let's go up and take a look."
Children chased each other up from behind, and Li Shenghuan quickly reached out to protect Zheng Encai, who was standing in front of a house, carefully examining it. This was the third time she had stopped to study someone else's house.
An older woman carrying groceries came up the steps and kept turning back to look at them as she passed by.
Zheng Encai called out to her, "Auntie, do you know Cui Ruzhen?"
The woman stopped in her tracks. "Who are you? What do you want with Cui Ruzhen?"
Jung Eun-chae laughed, it seemed they knew each other.
“My aunt is her friend, so I came to see her specifically.”
"I am Cui Ruzhen. Who is your aunt?"
"Jiang Xinzhu".
"Oh my, it's Shin-joo's niece." The aunt smiled as she returned to Jung Eun-chae. "No wonder you looked familiar; I even held you when you were little. Your name is..."
“Aunt Ruzhen, my name is Eunchae. It’s great to finally meet you. My aunt often talks about you.” Jung Eunchae stepped forward and gave Choi Ruzhen a warm hug.
Cui Ruzhen's eyes reddened. "What's the use of mentioning me, that brat Xinzhu? She just left like that, without even making a phone call."
“Auntie missed you very much, but there was nothing she could do back then. This time when she came back, she told me that I must come to see you and ask you to forgive her.”
"What are you talking about forgiving or not?" Cui Ruzhen raised her hand to wipe away her tears. "Come on, come home." After saying that, she took Zheng Encai's hand and was about to walk up the steps when she suddenly noticed Li Shenghuan standing next to Zheng Encai.
Jung Eun-chae introduced, "This is my boyfriend, Lee Sung-hwan."
"Oh my, Eun-chae already has a boyfriend." Choi Yeo-jin patted Lee Sung-hwan's arm. "This young man is really sturdy."
Lee Sung-hwan had never been photographed or described like this by an older woman before, so he could only bow blankly to Choi Yeo-jin to show his respect as a junior.
"Let's go." Zheng Encai said softly, then took Li Shenghuan's hand and followed Cui Ruzhen towards her house.
In front of a small courtyard gate, Cui Ruzhen reached out and pushed open the gate, while Zheng Encai looked left and right at the two houses next door.
"Aunt Ruzhen, which house did my aunt live in before?"
“This one,” Cui Ruzhen pointed to the house on the left, “but they’ve taken the children back to the countryside and won’t be back for a few days.”
"It's okay, I'll just keep an eye on things from outside."
Cui Ruzhen placed the vegetables on the stone platform in her yard, then turned around and came out to look at the house next door with Zheng Encai.
When she was little, Choi Yeo-jin's best friends were the twin sisters Kang Ji-young and Kang Shin-joo who lived next door. Although the two sisters didn't look exactly like other twins, they were both beautiful and good at studying.
Both sisters got into good universities and then got jobs at large companies after graduation. Cui Ruzhen thought the two Jiang sisters would continue to live enviable lives. But unexpectedly, Jiang Zhiying suddenly committed suicide, and Jiang Xinzhu disappeared overnight.
Choi Yeo-jin asked, "How has Shin-joo been all these years?"
Jung Eun-chae said, "She's doing very well. She married a Korean-American and now runs a coffee shop. She has a son who is in high school."
"That's good. As long as you're doing well."
Choi Yeo-jin warmly invited Jung Eun-chae and Lee Sung-hwan to have lunch at her house. Jung Eun-chae looked at Lee Sung-hwan for his opinion, and after receiving his consent, she smiled and agreed.
Cui Ruzhen was a very warm and caring elder. Li Shenghuan could go against his parents and anyone who wanted to control him, but he could never refuse such an elder. The food on the table and the casual conversation during the meal reminded him of Song Yunxi's mother.
He had eaten at Song Yunxi's house before. The three of them sat cross-legged at a low table, and Song Yunxi's mother would serve him food, telling him not to be shy and to eat more.
When Cui Ruzhen handed him another piece of fried fish, Li Shenghuan thanked her again, saying, "Thank you, Auntie."
"What do you do for a living, young man?"
Before Li Shenghuan could answer, Zheng Encai smiled and answered for him: "Auntie, he is a company employee."
"Being a company employee is good. As long as you work hard, you'll have a bright future. It's much better than being a rich kid."
"Yes, Auntie is right. Our brother Shenghuan is a really great person."
After dinner, Jung Eun-chae and Lee Sung-hwan chatted with Choi Yeo-jin for a while before saying goodbye and leaving.
Following the directions given by Cui Ruzhen, they went to a park not far from the residential area. It was a small park on the outskirts of the city, and according to Auntie, it was their favorite place to go when they were children.
The park had been renovated, and the swings had been repainted. Jung Eun-chae sat on the swing, thinking that this was probably the place her aunt had mentioned, the place where they used to swing when they were little.
Li Shenghuan stood to the side, leaning against the swing pillar, watching the girl who always had a smile on her face, but whose face was now filled with sorrow.
He stepped forward and took her hand, but before he could comfort her, his phone rang.
"Executive, the car has arrived at the location you specified."
"Okay. Park at the entrance." Li Shenghuan hung up the phone after saying that.
When I turned back to look at Jung Eun-chae, she had already smiled again.
"Did you call a car?"
"Yes. I had the driver send another car."
"Let's go back then." Jung Eun-chae jumped off the swing and took the lead in walking out of the park.
Li Shenghuan drove directly back to the Zheng family home. Just as Zheng Encai was about to get out of the car, he asked her, "Want to have dinner together tonight?"
"Okay. Then Brother Shenghuan, wait for me for a moment, I'm going back to get something."
“Okay.” Li Shenghuan also got out of the car and entered the Zheng family villa with Zheng Encai.
After arranging for Li Shenghuan to sit in the living room, Zheng Encai instructed the servants as she went upstairs: "Go and tell Madam that Mr. Li Shenghuan has arrived."
Park Geun-hye would personally receive Lee Sung-hwan whenever he came.
The maid said, "Madam has gone out and hasn't returned yet."
Jung Eun-chae stopped in her tracks. "Where is the young lady?"
"The young lady isn't here either."
"Oh, then please pour Mr. Li Shenghuan a cup of tea. I'll be down in a bit," Zheng Encai said, and continued walking quickly upstairs.
Lee Sung-hwan sat in the living room for a while. He checked his watch and realized that half an hour had passed since Jung Eun-chae said she was going upstairs to get something.
The sound of a car engine came from outside the villa, and Li Shenghuan looked out in the direction of the sound.
When the maid came to refill Li Shenghuan's tea, she explained to him, "It's Representative Zheng who's back."
Lee Sung-hwan had just stood up from the sofa, intending to wait for Jung Chang-ho, when he received a message from Jung Eun-chae on his phone.
"Brother Shenghuan, you must help me stop Zheng Changhao and prevent him from going upstairs. Please."
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