Real Man

Chapter 677

Yoo-hyun sat at the outdoor table on the hill and looked at the ranch scenery.

The ranch under the sunset looked very picturesque.

He was chatting with Greer Bruson, who was sitting across from him.

Soon, the table was filled with food prepared by Jessica Bruson.

Jeong Da-hye tried to help, but Jessica Bruson didn’t allow it.

She didn’t let Jeong Da-hye touch even a drop of water, and kept refilling the food whenever the plates were empty.

She added gentle words every time.

“Ellis, eat more. You need to be healthy. You’re too thin, no matter how I look at you.”

“I really ate a lot, deliciously.”

“What are you talking about? That’s not your usual amount. Are you pretending to be shy in front of your boyfriend?”

“Of course not. That’s not it.”

Jeong Da-hye, who looked uncomfortable, ate hard as if to prove that it wasn’t true.

She also picked a sausage and put it in Amelia Bruson’s mouth.

The little girl with a small appetite ate well what Jeong Da-hye gave her.

Jessica Bruson rested her chin on both hands and smiled contentedly.

She looked like a mother watching her beloved daughter.

-Madam, it’s not that she’s sensitive, but she’s too kind. That’s why it’s burdensome.

Yoo-hyun thought he knew why Jeong Da-hye felt burdened by her kindness.

Wasn’t it because she felt a maternal love from Jessica Bruson that she had never received from her own mother?

For Jeong Da-hye, who had grown up alone after being scattered from her family since childhood, it must have been very awkward to receive something without any compensation.

She didn’t know that it was the heart of a family.

Yoo-hyun, who had briefly recalled Jeong Da-hye’s situation, nodded at Greer Bruson’s gesture.

“Steve, don’t they look good together, those three?”

“They do. They look very nice.”

“There doesn’t seem to be any room for us to interfere, so how about we have a drink by ourselves?”

“That sounds good to me.”

Yoo-hyun smiled and agreed to his proposal.

After finishing the meal, Jeong Da-hye walked with Jessica Bruson.

Amelia Bruson was between them.

The little girl was jumping around happily, holding both of their hands.

Greer Bruson, who was sitting at the outdoor table and watching them, emptied his glass with a good mood.

Yoo-hyun poured him a drink, and he showed a faint smile.

“Ellis has brightened up a lot.”

“How was she before?”

“Well, she looked like she had no peace of mind. Even when Jessica tried to approach her, she seemed to shrink. She couldn’t take jokes like today, and always tried to keep her distance.”

Greer Bruson knew very well that Jeong Da-hye was feeling burdened.

Still, he and his wife cared a lot about Jeong Da-hye.

Why?

Yoo-hyun pushed his curiosity aside and nodded.

“I see.”

“But I knew that her true feelings were different. She acted tough on the outside, but she looked very fragile inside.”

“She had to deal with a lot of hard things alone.”

“I know. But she never let it out of her mouth. She’s that kind of person.”

“You know her better than me.”

Clang.

Greer Bruson clinked his glass and lifted his lips.

“Of course. I’m the one who got a proper taste of her, unlike you.”

“How so?”

“Do you know? I had no intention of leasing my mineral rights at all.”

“Yes. She worked hard to persuade you.”

Yoo-hyun told him what he knew, and Greer Bruson waved his hand.

“She tried harder to persuade my wife. She hated to give up the land because of the environmental destruction issue. She even said harsh words to her back then.”

“Did she?”

“Yes. To change my wife’s mind, Ellis met with the environmental group people one by one. Not only that…”

According to Greer Bruson, Jeong Da-hye was different from other company people who only cared about money.

She didn’t just try to get the mineral rights, but she also tried to help the stable development of the Permian Basin area.

Thanks to her efforts, the environmental protests that had been heated up at one point were able to calm down.

Jessica Bruson saw Jeong Da-hye differently from then on.

Greer Bruson recalled that time.

“I thought she was amazing, but at the same time I doubted her. I wondered if she was doing that for some kind of reward.”

“I would have thought the same.”

“Right. But she wasn’t. Ellis believed that shale oil development could save the whole region.”

“She sincerely believes and acts that way. I learned a lot from watching her.”

Jeong Da-hye’s different attitude was a great inspiration for Yoo-hyun.

Thanks to her, his view of the shale oil industry changed completely.

Greer Bruson chuckled as if he remembered something funny.

“Do you know what Ellis said to me?”

“What did she say?”

“She asked me if I was going to live well alone with this vast land. Isn’t she bold?”

“She is. Were you persuaded by that?”

“Of course not. I have a cowboy’s pride.”

“Then?”

He was very curious about the topic, so Yoo-hyun focused his attention.

Greer Bruson gave him an unexpected answer.

“It was because of Amelia.”

“Amelia?”

“Look over there. Isn’t she smiling brightly in front of Ellis?”

Yoo-hyun turned his head and looked at Amelia Bruson, who was running around the stream.

The little girl was smiling brightly, holding Jeong Da-hye’s hand.

Yoo-hyun said what he saw.

“She looks like a cheerful child.”

“No. Amelia is a sick child. She never opens her heart to anyone.”

“She doesn’t look like that at all.”

“That’s because she changed a lot. Before, Amelia couldn’t smile like that.”

“She was different with Ellis.”

“Yes. It was amazing. I wondered what the hell was going on.”

Greer Bruson held his glass and stared into space.

Yoo-hyun asked him.

“Did you find the answer?”

“It’s not a question that has an answer. I just thought that maybe Ellis had gone through a similar pain. That’s why Jessica cares for her so much.”

“I see.”

Yoo-hyun didn’t know what kind of deficiency Amelia had.

He just guessed by looking at her not living with her parents.

From that perspective, it was true that Jeong Da-hye was going through the same pain.

Maybe it was as Greer Bruson said?

It was when Yoo-hyun was looking at Jeong Da-hye and Amelia Bruson.

Greer Bruson, who had emptied his glass, opened his mind.

“I don’t know what Ellis thinks of us, but she’s no different from our family.”

“You must have grown fond of her.”

“Fondness… yes. I want to take care of her that much.”

“I’m glad. That you have good people by your side, Ellis.”

“She’s the good one for us. If it’s proven that our land helps the people in this area as she said, I’m willing to give her more land.”

Greer Bruson was the person who refused to give the mineral rights to other companies even if they offered millions of dollars.

He gave the mineral rights to Jeong Da-hye.

Not only that, he also tried to take care of her as a family.

It wasn’t just him.

Many of the cooperative company people he had seen followed her.

Her upright heart had moved many people before she knew it.

Yoo-hyun was sincerely amazed.

“That’s amazing.”

“What did I do?”

“No. Ellis, I mean.”

“Ugh.”

At Yoo-hyun’s witty answer, Greer Bruson picked up his empty glass.

Yoo-hyun poured him a drink, and he said with a serious expression.

“Anyway, in that sense, I have something to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“How much do you like Ellis?”

“Why do you ask me that all of a sudden?”

“I think of her as a family. Then I can ask that much, can’t I?”

It was an unexpected question, but he had no reason not to answer.

Yoo-hyun, who smiled, was about to reveal his mind.

He saw Jeong Da-hye waving her arms from afar.

She seemed to be in a difficult situation.

“Oops! She must have been stung!”

Bang.

Yoo-hyun, who was startled, sprang up and ran down the hill.

“No, it’s not a bee…”

Greer Bruson didn’t have time to stop him. He was too fast.

He looked at Yoo-hyun, who was running down the hill, and was dumbfounded.

“Why is he like that?”

After running for a while, Yoo-hyun realized that it was a fly.

Jeong Da-hye was playing with Amelia Bruson as if nothing had happened.

Yoo-hyun, who sighed with relief, returned without disturbing them.

He met Greer Bruson’s eyes and scratched his head.

“It seems like it was nothing.”

“Puhahaha!”

“Why are you like that?”

As Yoo-hyun looked embarrassed, Greer Bruson held his stomach and laughed louder.

“I think I asked a question that didn’t need an answer. Hahaha!”

The laughter that burst out didn’t stop for a long time.

That day, Yoo-hyun had a good time at the ranch until late.

He had a lot of conversations and understood Greer Bruson and his family better.

After finishing his schedule, Yoo-hyun climbed up to the highest hill in the ranch.

There was a bench in the open space.

This was the place that Greer Bruson recommended for star gazing.

Thud.

Yoo-hyun sat on the bench with Jeong Da-hye and waited for the stars, leaning back.

How much time had passed?

One by one, stars began to rise in the night sky.

Soon, the stars filled the sky.

Jeong Da-hye, who was looking at the same scenery, exclaimed.

“It’s really beautiful.”

“It is. I like it here.”

“The people are nice too. Greer is a weirdo, but he has a good heart, and Jessica is a bit mischievous, but she takes good care of me behind my back. Amelia follows me a lot.”

Her words, uttered into the air, sounded faint.

“Yes. They are really nice people.”

“I sometimes thought that. What if I had a family like this?”

“…”

It wasn’t a question that required an answer, so Yoo-hyun just listened to her story.

Jeong Da-hye, who was looking at the night sky, continued.

“Jessica told me. She wanted to be closer to me, but she couldn’t approach me well because I seemed to be too uncomfortable.”

“Did she?”

“Yes. I knew she treated me like a family, but I closed my heart. I thought they didn’t suit me.”

“But they still waited for you.”

“That’s right. Why didn’t I get closer sooner? I realized it was a mistake when it was time to part.”

She sounded regretful, and her changed feelings were in her voice.

Yoo-hyun expressed his support.

“It’s okay to know now. You still have time, don’t you?”

“That’s true.”

Jeong Da-hye smiled lightly and looked much more relaxed.

Her closed heart had opened up a lot.

She turned her face to Yoo-hyun and asked abruptly.

“What about you, Yoo-hyun?”

“What?”

“Quitting the company.”

“I was going to quit the company someday. It just happened a little sooner.”

“You wanted to make a better Hansung with your colleagues, didn’t you?”

He had told her that several times.

Jeong Da-hye said she wanted to work with him after this project.

He was sorry about that, but it was already settled.

Sticking to Hansung was an obsession, so Yoo-hyun said otherwise.

“I did. I did, but there are also good things about it.”

“Like what?”

“Like being with you, Da-hye.”

“Don’t joke with me.”

“I’m not joking. I learned a lot from you, Da-hye. Not only about the attitude towards work, but also about how to move for the public benefit and what kind of results it creates. And…”

Jeong Da-hye made results with her actions that were different from Yoo-hyun’s common sense.

Her upright heart had become a big wave and changed the people, the company, and the community.

Yoo-hyun pointed out this part and said.

She looked embarrassed as if she was ticklish, maybe because the compliment was too specific.