Perhaps there are dogs in the world that cannot be tamed.
There might be bad dogs too. Lee-yeon muttered to herself like that all day long and managed to finish her work safely.
Thanks to Kwon Chae-woo, who personally escorted her to the mansion’s clinic, she had her injuries treated in no time.
The young master’s whim was abruptly changed, as if turning the back of her hand, due to Lee-yeon’s accident. The estate management team members were put down their saws and ceased cutting the trees.
“Ugh… ugh…”
Lee-yeon dug into the blanket even with her groggy mind. Somehow, her body shivered whenever a cold wind blew.
What time could it possibly be? She remembered the horrifying nightmare of being chased by the lamprey. She had been sleeping so tensely that her pajamas were damp with cold sweat.
Aside from that, her physical condition wasn’t great. Her head was pounding, and her nose was oozing hot mucus of various colors.
It seemed like she had caught a cold. In fact, it made sense. Meeting Kwon Chae-woo again right after arriving at a place unsuitable for someone with the Kwon family’s constitution was the start of the stress she had endured.
The work was more demanding than expected, and their way of life, as well as the upper-class society she encountered here, was shocking. On top of it all, the climate change coincided with her transition.
She reached out with her feverish hand, fumbling for her phone. Despite her body feeling like it was boiling, she was still shivering under the covers, like she had entered a severe cold.
But, she couldn’t afford to have a fever…
Such worries briefly crossed her mind, but she was mainly in a daze. She had lost her sense of where she was, and who she was with; even her vision was dark, and she could not lift her eyelids.
The heat surged to her forehead, causing her to tear up involuntarily.
First, she needed to call Choo-ja… She dialed the number as her hand moved on its own.
Ring, ring, the signal seemed unusually long.
Her vision was pitch black, and she was overwhelmed by the frightening nightmare, worries about the child in her belly, and everything else. Finally, with a click, the call was connected, and tears streamed down her face.
“Ugh… Choo-ja.”
It was quiet on the other end of the line, but Lee-yeon spoke in a voice that faded away with every breath.
“I’m… in pain…”
Even with each breath, the heat was overwhelming, and it hurt.
“I really feel like I’m going to die… I can’t trust these people here…”
At that moment, she heard a sound on the other end of the line, as if something had been dropped harshly. Or perhaps it was the sound of a door slamming shut and someone rushing out. However, even to notice such a trivial noise, Lee-yeon’s mind was in a very confused state.
“I want to go home quickly. I want to go home and… have a meal.”
Lee-yeon murmured as if sighing, enduring the intense chill that was even affecting her back teeth.
“The ingredients here are better than at our house, and the cooking skills are better, but strangely, the food here tastes terrible.”
―….
“So, I keep getting hungry here… I keep sucking on a spoon…”
Lee-yeon continued to repeat the same words, not even realizing what she was saying. “I want to eat. I want to go home and have a meal quickly.”
“Choo-ja, do you know? This place seems really terrible… I saw a huge fish tank-like thing, and there was a creepy monster in it. How about the garden? Who planted all those strangely shaped trees?”
“…”
“My passport was taken away, and I feel like I’ve been dragged to some strange foreign place. The food doesn’t taste good, I can’t adapt, and my boss is terrible…”
Lee-yeon sniffled.
“I want to go back to Gyu-baek quickly… If I stay here any longer, I’ll go crazy first. I’m tired of being scared, shocked, and frightened. And always being so tense is making my stomach hurt.”
“…”
“I wish time would pass quickly. I hope tomorrow is the last day…”
It seemed like she had said many more words that she couldn’t remember. How much time had passed? She heard rough breathing on the other end of the line, and then the door creaked open.
Maybe I’ve been too much of a bother that Choo-ja come running here instead?
Lee-yeon mumbled, moving her lips weakly. Suddenly, a cold hand touched her forehead, and another hand gently brushed her cheek.
“Lee-yeon.”
A calm, deep voice settled in.
“Try opening your eyes.”
With the cool palm soothing her feverish skin, Lee-yeon delightedly fluttered her eyelashes open. Simultaneously, the end of her blanket was lifted, and someone rolled up her pajama pants to her calves.
When the cold air pierced her skin and she was about to pull her knees into the blanket, her ankles were suddenly caught, and her legs were straightened out.
Someone was carefully removing the gauze that had been applied to her ankles and calves in the office yesterday.
“Ugh…”
Lee-yeon summoned all her strength to raise her forehead and half-open her bleary eyes. In her blurred vision, she vaguely saw two men.
She furrowed her brow, attempting to comprehend the situation, but her scattered thoughts made even that a challenge.