A Wall Street Genius's Final Investment Playbook-Chapter 293: Side Story, Jessie (2)

“Did you have a good trip?”

But Jessie’s expression stiffened before she realized it. It was because, contrary to her expectations, Rachel was alone.

“Where’s Sean?”

“He said he had too much work to do right away, so he went back to New York first.”

“Ah……”

Disappointment welled up on its own. After all, that meant the group T-shirt photo was out of the question. Her brilliant plan to strip him out of that drab suit and snap a picture of Ha Si-heon wearing a “Cancun Hangover Champion” shirt—then print it and stick it on the fridge—had evaporated before she even had the chance to try.

For a brief moment she felt deflated. But soon, new hope flared up inside Jessie.

‘Maybe… did he leave early because he was embarrassed?’

Perhaps there had been some subtle chemistry between him and Rachel. Maybe being left alone together had felt awkward. Or maybe he rushed off in case she and David noticed a change between them? If that were true, then his absence was actually a signal of progress!

But when Jessie stole a glance at Rachel’s face, it was nothing but calm. If she pressed the matter now, she would only sour the mood.

‘…Fine. I’ll just check for myself!’

Jessie began searching the house for traces of the romantic traps she had set. First stop, the dining room. She had deliberately removed two of the three bulbs. Nothing sets the mood like soft, dim lighting.

But…

“…?”

All three bulbs were back in place, brightly lit.

“Oh, some bulbs were missing, so I bought new ones and put them back in.”

“…You really didn’t have to do that.”

“Sean said it was way too dark, insisted on fixing it…”

Of course. Ha Si-heon was not the kind of person to ignore even small inconveniences. He was even less the type to put off such things out of laziness.

‘That useless perfectionist bastard.’

Jessie hid her subtle disappointment and shifted her gaze to the wine bottle on the kitchen counter. She had even left a note—“You two deserve to relax!”—inviting them to enjoy it.

But the wine sat there untouched. Not even the cork had been moved.

“You didn’t drink the wine?”

“Well, since we’re on call… it didn’t feel right to drink.”

True enough, they were always on standby. At any moment, if there was an urgent call about a Castleman patient, they had to rush out.

‘This one’s… my mistake.’

From the start, they were never in a position to drink wine together. She had been in such a rush preparing for the trip that she hadn’t thought it through. It was clearly her oversight.

But then—

“…!”

Her face lit up when she saw the aroma candle in the middle of the table. Before the trip, she had deliberately pulled out an expensive candle she’d been saving, hoping it would help their relationship move forward. Dim lighting and candlelight—romance 101!

“You did use the candle!!!”

“Huh? Oh, yeah… well, you asked me to…”

Right. She had specifically asked them to light it every night, saying, “Our kitchen smells funny.”

‘Still, since they lit it… it must’ve created at least some atmosphere, right?’

She was curious, but an outright question might backfire. So Jessie tried a roundabout approach.

“Smells good, doesn’t it? It’s one of my favorites… What did Sean say?”

At that, Rachel looked a little troubled.

“Well… actually, Sean’s sense of smell is pretty sensitive. He said the scent was too strong. But since you asked, I only lit it when Sean was asleep!”

So that meant… While Ha Si-heon was sleeping, Rachel sat all alone in the dining room, quietly burning the candle.

‘Not easy, huh…?’

But Jessie’s determination wasn’t broken. There were still more hidden traps scattered around the house! She turned her attention to a box she had left in the living room.

Board games.

“Did you try these? I brought them in case things got awkward after a whole week together… they’re pretty good icebreakers.”

One was Twister. The classic romantic game where physical contact was inevitable. The other was a “Would You Rather” game. A way to learn more about each other by choosing between two options.

‘They must’ve used this! After a week together, conversation topics are bound to run out!’

But instead of excitement, Rachel’s answer was full of sheepish apology.

“Well… sorry. We wanted to, but we were just too busy…”

“…Busy?”

“December’s the busiest month for hedge funds. Sean had so many late-night video conferences… and I had prep work of my own.”

“…So basically, you both just worked?”

“Yes, mostly.”

…

And apparently, they hadn’t even worked in the same space.

“Sean used the dining room, and I used the living room.”

Rachel, overly considerate, had gone so far as to separate their work zones to avoid bothering sensitive Ha Si-heon. Such kind thoughtfulness. Enough to make Jessie tear up.

Inside, she fumed.

‘That’s when you’re supposed to stay close, even if it’s uncomfortable!!!’

Since all her previous traps had failed spectacularly, expecting the rest to succeed felt like wishful thinking. Half resigned, half out of habit, Jessie stepped into the bathroom.

And there, she spotted an unexpected sight. The luxurious bath salts she had left on the shelf beside the tub were completely gone.

“You… used these?”

Actually, this was an item she had prepared in case the “best-case scenario” in her head came true. If the two of them had ended up sharing a bath in the midst of some secret chemistry, it would’ve been nothing short of a miracle.

And now, to hear that the bath salts had been used? Jessie’s face briefly lit up with hope.

But—

“Yes, Sean likes bathing. He used them once a day, and he even wrote down the product name because he liked the scent.”

The expensive product she had set aside, hoping they would use it together, was being enjoyed solely by Ha Si-heon!

“Every day in the bath… huh.”

Strangely enough, she found herself nodding. After all, Ha Si-heon was an unusually clean person, someone who always carried a fresh scent.

But—

‘This clean… to this extent?’

His obsession with cleanliness didn’t stop there.

“Sean washed the sheets every single day.”

“Every day…?”

Jessie’s heart sank. She had purposely left out only one set of bed sheets, hoping it would naturally give them the chance to share each other’s warmth and lingering traces. But without a moment’s hesitation, Ha Si-heon had washed them each morning, wiping away every trace.

‘Isn’t this… basically an illness?’

In a way, it really was an “illness.” That frequent sheet-washing came from night sweats, a hallmark symptom of Castleman’s. But Jessie, unaware of that, could only see it as the peak of obsessive-compulsive cleanliness.

‘If he showed only this kind of lifestyle the whole time, wouldn’t Rachel actually run away?’

The hopeful idea that the two might grow closer, that maybe even a spark would form, gradually shifted into a foreboding hunch. But then, just as her mood was sinking, an unexpected remark popped out.

“Oh, we mostly cooked at home.”

“You cooked at home?”

Ha Si-heon… and home-cooked meals. The two things just didn’t fit together.

“Yes, Sean cooked for me.”

Jessie went blank. Ha Si-heon… actually cooked? That Ha Si-heon?

“His cooking was actually pretty good. I’m hopeless in the kitchen, so… but the way he followed the recipes word for word, measuring cup and spoon and all, was so very Sean. Still, it tasted really good.”

“Well… that does sound like him.”

Even his cooking style carried his trademark meticulousness.

‘…No, wait.’

The fact that he cooked at all was what Jessie found impossible to believe.

“Sean, the man who would never waste time, who’d rather outsource anything that smelled of labor and just eat out… cooked for Rachel?”

“Yes, well… Sean lost his wallet.”

“…?”

Her brain froze.

“Sean… lost his wallet?”

That money-obsessed man losing his wallet was like saying a turtle had lost its shell.

“Yes, his wallet was gone, and all his cards were in it…”

“He could just get them reissued.”

“Well, his ID was in there too…”

“Then reissue that as well…”

“The thing is… the DMV requires proof of address, and he didn’t have anything like that.”

“But someone like Sean, a VIP at the bank, could surely sort it all out without an ID.”

“Maybe… but I think he was too busy to deal with it.”

The more Jessie listened, the less sense it made. Ha Si-heon, tolerating the inconvenience of having no money—for an entire week? Rachel explained it without the faintest suspicion, but to Jessie’s ears it sounded as absurd as a leopard surviving on leaves for a week because it had no meat.

And that wasn’t the only oddity.

“He couldn’t drive… Sean?”

“Not that he couldn’t drive—he just couldn’t drive stick.”

“Sean? Didn’t know how to drive stick?”

It was ridiculous. Ha Si-heon, the very embodiment of perfectionism, struggling in front of a manual transmission? The words “That makes no sense” flashed through Jessie’s mind.

But then—

“Yes, so I ended up driving him everywhere. Luckily, I learned when I was young, since my family has a lot of classic cars…”

And just like that, all the pieces clicked.

‘So that’s it… this was all Sean’s plan!’

Lose his wallet, be unable to drive—that meant he had no choice but to stick with Rachel, no matter what they did. It was the most rational excuse, the perfect pretext, to spend more time together.

In other words, Ha Si-heon had gone so far as to tell lies, staging this clumsy act on purpose.

‘And cooking, too? That just means… he wanted to share this warm, ordinary daily life with Rachel, doesn’t it?’

Clearly, even in Ha Si-heon’s heart, there was a budding desire to share the comfort of family and small happiness with her.

‘Sean, you really… tried so hard!’

That normally aloof man, setting aside luxury and formality for a whole week to make simple home-cooked meals, struggling through awkward lies just to make an effort—it was nothing short of revolutionary for Ha Si-heon’s life. Proof of how hard he had tried, to the point of tears.

The problem was—

“Sean actually has a bit of a clumsy side. I was a little surprised!”

That innocent line, spoken by Rachel. She had taken his lies at face value.

‘Well… at least her reaction wasn’t bad.’

Seeing an unexpected awkwardness in someone who seemed utterly flawless had only made him more endearing. Even his fussy side no longer felt annoying. On the contrary, his clumsy streak had turned into a kind of charm, even triggering Rachel’s instinct to look after him.

But—

That alone wasn’t enough. What mattered most was making Rachel realize, even a little, how much effort Sean was putting in.

Jessie clenched her fist.

‘Don’t worry, Sean! This time, I’ll really help you!’

In that moment, she resolved to throw every ounce of support she had behind them.

Rachel still had two more days left to stay.

***

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