Apollo’s Heart - Chapter 153

Chapter 153

It was something she had once told him about.

“You’ve come to see an exhibition where one of my works is displayed. Then there’s you standing before a piece asking who the artist is. You’ll then ask me out at once, as you’ve fallen in love with me at first sight.”

Though it was something she had told in passing, yet Tae-Jun remembered it.

“I’ve come to start over with Yuri Han, ‘again’.”

That remark of his was the only thing she could think about during the after-party. When he had asked her if she could spare some time after the exhibition, she told him there was a party later and he only gave an ‘all right’ for an answer.

I’m sure he’s already left…

But despite all her thoughts, she found herself staring out the window throughout the whole party and the rain outside didn’t seem to let up anytime soon. Growing all the more restless over time, she excused herself to leave the party early, on the pretext that she could not drink due to the treatment for her fracture. Although Roy had offered to take her home, he soon got held back by the president of the agency. She figured that he must be getting another huge proposal from abroad. So instead, the manager called a taxi for her.

Yuri then left the exhibition hall with a bouquet in her arms that she’d received at the party. Just when she had turned around to see if the taxi had arrived, she noticed a car on the other side of the road as well as the man in the driver’s seat. She found her heart pounding frantically in her chest at the sight of the man who’d gotten out of his car with an umbrella as soon as he spotted her across the street. He surely looked dashing as ever.

“It’s late. Let me give you a ride home.”

“You still haven’t left?” asked Yuri to the man who was now standing in front of her.

“I never said I’d leave.”

He surely had made no such comment now that she though about it. She figured his ‘all right’ must’ve actually meant that he would wait for her.

“But I’ve already called a taxi,” she said regretfully.

“That taxi you called has already left, carrying a drunk in a green suit.”

The drunk in a green suit that he mentioned must be someone from the agency who took off from the party before she did. She remembered that he had refused for them to call him a taxi saying that he could just walk home as he lived only nearby.

It surely was a trouble to call another taxi or even walk to the main street with a huge bouquet in her arms, all the more so in the rain. So after a slight hesitation, she accepted his offer of a ride home.

“The address is—”

“Don’t bother, I already know.” he said as he started his car.

Just when she was about to ask him how he’d found out about her exhibition, and even where she lived, Yuri ended up not asking anything as she knew they were pointless questions after all. He had always had a way of finding things if he set his mind to it. But she didn’t dare to speak of anything else as she was afraid he might demand that she give an answer to his remark from before. The car was then filled with nothing but the sound of rain that was pounding hard on the car and the wipers moving uniformly across the windshield.

Much to her relief, Tae-jun didn’t speak a word until they arrived at her apartment.

“Thank you for giving me a ride.”

“I’ll walk you home.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“You’ve just got the cast off your arm, you shouldn’t be straining it just yet by holding an umbrella while carrying that in your other arm,” said Tae-Jun as he pointed at the bouquet in the back seat.

How did he know that she had worn a cast? Yuri’s puzzling doubts were unexpectedly resolved when they were greeted by the half-asleep supervisor after they’d stepped into the entrance of the building through the rain.

“Ah, Miss Han. I was about to tell you but I can see that you’ve already met. Did you bid your thanks to him?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“To the new owner.”

An incredulous Yuri cocked her head and looked searchingly at Tae-Jun’s face. Then on her widened eyes, reflected his handsome face as he faintly lifted the corner of his lips at her gaze. Her doubt was then confirmed by the supervisor who had all along been oblivious to Yuri’s bafflement.

“Well, he’s standing right next to you now.”

With Tae-Jun in her apartment, the place looked as if there wasn’t enough room to swing a cat, although it’d never once occurred to her before when she was alone.

“What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“Just when did you become the owner of the apartment?”

“Well, it’s pretty worn-out and there’s a lot of fixing to do. But the former owner didn’t seem like he had the money to spare for all that. He was practically broke as his investment in stocks failed.”

“What does that have to do with—”

“Of course it does. This is where you live.” Tae-jun had then stared at her with a serious look before he intoned, “I missed you a lot.”

Yuri felt her heart drop with a heavy thud. Feeling somewhat cheated, she stealthily chewed on her lip. More so, as his remark wasn’t even relevant to her initial question. However, Tae-jun went on without giving a fig.

“At first, I was just planning to take a look. But when I saw the place, I felt like I needed to make it more liveable for you. The apartment happened to be on the market as well. But if it weren’t for your accident, I’d have gone back right after giving out instructions on repair work.”

It seemed like Yuri was right about it after all as she was now convinced that it was he who’d saved her when she’d collapsed from the shock. Come to think of it, it had always been his hands that had pulled her up from dangerous moments, every time without fail.

“Then, was it you who’d taken me to the hospital? Instead of Roy?”