chapter 4

In Geonwoo’s dream, an empty seat by Yeonhwa opened. It was a real, vivid dream, and he realized it later. Song Yeon-Hwa has white skin that goes well with long, straight hair that fell past her chest. Her cheeks were round, and both eyes were full of vitality. He couldn’t take his eyes off the young girl yet.

“I heard a lot about Yoo Geonwoo from my father.”

“Did President Song tell you something good?”

“He told me do not be rude, do not be flawed. Since you’re the son of Daejin Group, even if I don’t like Yun Geon-woo, I will have to come out to drink a cup of tea.”

In Yeonhwa’s dark black eyes, Geonwoo had a sharp tone, different from his appearance. After having a few words of conversation, he thought she was the most hearty among the women he has ever met. He thought it was the same with Yeonhwa. The evidence of that was her eyes occasionally looked at him quietly.

“Have you agree to marry me?”

So he asked Yeonhwa to get married. Very concisely without any clutter.

“I’m sorry. You just have to see your 23rd partner.”

He knew that she was going to say no, so he wasn’t disappointed at all.

With that, he was not desperate for his determination with Yeonhwa. The feelings he felt for Yeonhwa were very small, almost to be invisible. But he met her again by chance, in the same place, at the same time. When his 23rd partner left, Yeonhwa sat in her place.

“I guess the twenty-third confrontation didn’t go well.”

“As you can see, it didn’t work out.”

Yeonhwa looked down at the cup of coffee left by his partner. Red lipstick marks were left on the cup.

“She didn’t even finish all the coffee.”

Yeonhwa seemed to be saying,’ She still drank coffee.’ Geonwoo quietly put down the cup of coffee he was holding.

“I have an appointment with someone in 5 minutes.”

Three minutes have passed since that woman had gone.

“I don’t think you have an

appointment.”

Yeonhwa thought as she stood up and tried to remove her bottom from the seat. Geonwoo caught her with his gaze.

“Song Yeon-Hwa, do you really have no intention of marrying me?”

Sitting on the sofa, Yeon-Hwa realized that the promised partner was herself. Geonwoo knew that she was going to sit in this seat. Even though the surrounding tables were emptied and people came and went. Yeonhwa didn’t say a single word.

He waited silently for 30 minutes. And she informed the result after a long agony…

“I do want to marry you.”

Just like that, the two got married as she unexpectedly agreed. Two weeks after the wedding, Geonwoo left for the United States. And two years later, he came back to Korea.

After arriving at the front door, he learned that Yeonhwa was still living in his house. He pressed the password with a weak memory, pulled the door, and walked in.

He took off his shoes while rubbing his stiff neck with his palm because of a long flight. Before he stepped inside, the sound of a booming song rang out the hallway.

The song was coming from the stand speaker in the living room.

“Ooh, I see you, see you, see you every time.”

A strange woman’s voice overlapped the speaker. When he listened closely, it was the voice of his wife, Yeon-Hwa.

After a long time apart, he even forgot her voice.

Yeonhwa was singing a song with excitement, not knowing Geonwoo had returned.

“You, you make me, make me, make me wanna cry.”

The pop music was Tones & I’s “Dance Monkey.” Because it was such a famous song, Geonwoo also heard it in the States.

Still unaware of his presence, Yeon-Hwa took a can of beer out of the kitchen refrigerator. Yeon-Hwa’s body was wrapped with a white towel and her wet hair hanging long. Geon-woo walked down the hall with his suitcase.

The closer he was to the living room, the louder the song got. When the song reached its climax, Geonwoo stopped in the center of the living room.

“Kyaah,” Yeonhwa said as she took a sip of the beer and moved her hips to the song. The towel she was wearing moved up and down, revealing her hidden thighs. She shook her head and raised her fingers to the beats of the song. She didn’t even know that Geonwoo was standing right behind and watching everything.

“Dance for me, dance for me,oh oh oh. “

Yeonhwa turned back as she was still humming the song. Startled, she made eye contact with Geonwoo, who was standing in the living room.

“Oh, oh,…… oh my gosh.”

Yeonhwa muttered as she was in a desperate situation, but the speakers’ music seemed to urge her to continue dancing.

In an embarrassing situation, Yeonhwa pulled up a white towel that barely covers her body. She blinked her eyes over and over again. She seemed to be mistaken for all this was a dream. It was unbelievable that her husband, who had not been in contact for two years, appeared at the house.

Neither of them opened their lips. They solidified in their place and did not move.

It was Geonwoo who turned his gaze first. Yeonhwa put the beer on the Irish table, stepped aside.

“I’ll get dressed. We will talk after a while.”

The song was still singing in the background as Yeonhwa went into the room. Geonwoo, who was not expecting this situation, was also embarrassed. With his eyes closed, Geonwoo pressed his thumb and index finger between his eyebrows.

Like an afterimage, the body of Yeonhwa was glancing in front of his eyes. Until two years ago, he thought she was a white-skinned child. It was Geonwoo’s misconception that he thought she would be the same as time passed. Meanwhile, Yeonhwa had become a woman. Her legs and arms that came out of the towel were as transparent as her face. The fabric-covered the body, but the curves above the waist were visible. The person he saw at that time had a slim face that had changed after two years.

As much as the new image of Yeonhwa, the behavior of her dancing and singing was strange. He thought she had a precocious side mentally, not suitable for her young age, but he soon noticed that she was only hiding her true appearance in front of him. Geonwoo, who swept his face down with one hand, turned his head toward the opening door. Yeonhwa was wearing a white T-shirt and long pants, hesitated, and approached Geonwoo.

“What are you here for?”

Her undried hair was wet around the white T-shirt when she wore it in a hurry. Two years ago, his young wife, in her early twenties, had become a woman. Unlike earlier, Yeonhwa was wearing clothes now, but his heart still vibrates gently. This was not because of his wife, but simply of the surprise, Geonwoo calmed himself down.

“I came back to Korea. I will be staying here starting today.”

“Are you saying we’re going to live together?”

Yeonhwa’s two eyes grew silently. For two years without his presence, this house would have been a cozy home for her. But, because of his existence, this space together could feel like a prison.

He had no intention of sharing a room. That said, he didn’t even intend to act as a couple.

“You don’t have to worry about it. I will stay in a separate room”.

For him, the further she is, the better it will be. He had to keep that distance.

***

After waking up from a long dream, Geon-woo raised his stiff eyelids. He turned his head and checked the clock on the side table. The clock was already pointing to 8 o’clock. He couldn’t sleep properly, but he had to get up now to go to work. He looked down at the bed, but he couldn’t see where Yeonhwa had gone. As he raised his torso, the knot on his gown was loose due to her wandering last night. Geonwoo looked at the open gown and pulled the string off.

It seemed unlikely for him to wear this gown ever again after today, at least not while sleeping on the same bed with Yeonhwa.

When Geon-woo, who was wearing a straight tie, came out of the room, he saw Yeon-Hwa was standing in the kitchen.

She was struggling to cook fried eggs while holding a flipper with her left hand. Yeonhwa’s expression darkened when she failed to turn it over. Geonwoo walked to the kitchen with accelerated steps because he wanted to get his hands on the frying pan.

Geonwoo was standing next to Yeonhwa, took the scallop.

“Give me this.”

“I can do it.”

Geonwoo silently flipping the finished fried eggs over. He glanced over the table to find another job for Yeonhwa.

“You, go sit. “

Yeon-Hwa slipped aside and sat down on the chair.

Geonwoo got bread from a toaster and put fried eggs on a plate and placed it on the table.

When a plate was placed in front of her, Yeonhwa broke the bread in half and put it in her mouth, but then Geon-woo spoke.

“I knew where the utensils were so I found it right away.Either breads , eggs, or utensils, didn’t Mrs Ahnseong show you where they were?”

She wanted to act like it was her house too.

It was hot for a moment, but Yeonhwa replied casually, swallowing the contents in her mouth.

“It’s been a while since I used it so I don’t remember where they are.”

“I don’t need breakfast next time.”

With a face saying ‘Why?’, she put the bread she was holding on the plate.

“You might not remember, but today is the first time we had breakfast together.”

“……..”

“Neither I nor you eat breakfast. You also go to work at 9 o’clock.”

It was the fact that Yeonhwa also knew it, but pretended not to.

“I didn’t know. I thought we are a couple so we would have breakfast together.”

She wanted to sit down and eat breakfast with this man at the table, pretending to know nothing. She wanted to make that ordinary couple life soften too.

“We are a couple, we can eat breakfast together, bath together and sleep together.”

“…….”

There was no agitation on his face. She wondered what kind of stone should be thrown into that calm river to make a huge wave.

Geonwoo, who emptied the plate first, stood up.

Yeonhwa’s gaze was following the man who raised his upper body. The breadcrumbs on his blue tie caught Yeon-Hwa’s eyes, distracting her.

“Yoo Geonwoo, wait a minute.”

Yeon-Hwa called Geonwoo to turn around as she stood up.

She wondered why the man, who was always neat, was buried with debris. She had wiped her hands with the napkin on the table and stood in front of Geonwoo.

“Can I see your tie”?

When Geonwoo turned to Yeonhwa, She raised her left hand and dusted the breadcrumbs. The man’s thick scent from inside the room seemed to spread on her fingertips. Satisfied, seeing the clean tie, Yeonhwa raised her eyelids. Because of this, it seemed like they were really married.

“It has some powder on it.”

“……..”

Still, blankly, Geonwoo just looked down at Yeonhwa.

The eyes of Geonwoo, who were looking at her, seemed to shake lightly. She thought she might have made him feel bad by touching his tie at her will. When She finished, Yeon-Hwa hid her hand behind her back while Geonwoo tried to fix the knot on the tie.

“I must have made him feel bad.”

Yeonhwa guessed when she saw Geonwoo had grabbed the fine knot and fixed it.

Geon-woo walked to the front door, carrying a briefcase in his hand. Originally, it was time for Yeonhwa to go to the Museum to work, but her arm was still not healed, so she took sick leave.

Yeonhwa was standing at a long distance at the end of the hallway, looking at Geonwoo, who was ready to go to work. Geonwoo was at the front door and turned back to Yeonhwa.

“Let’s eat together outside tonight.”

“Are we eating alone?”

Eating out was countless. It was like that when Anseong, who was in charge of dinner and housework, was unable to come to work. Even if they ate outside, they were usually with Geonwoo’s grandmother or Yeonhwa’s parents.

“Would you like to call more people?”

“No, it’s not like that.”

It was weird when a man did something he hadn’t done before. He had no choice but to be embarrassed. She couldn’t even guess what in the world he was trying to do. Today wasn’t Yeonhwa’s birthday, nor was it a special day. It was just one of those ordinary days. There was a series of questions about why the man who did not do anything until the accident had changed so much. Yeon-Hwa, who was having trouble processing her thoughts, entered the living room. Meanwhile, Geonwoo opened the door of the shoe cabinet and straightened his back.

“Aren’t you seeing me off?”

“Did I often see you off?”

“You did it every morning.”

She never did that, but his voice was sweet. And so her legs moved to Geonwoo. Yeonhwa stood in front of him, opened her small lips.

“Bye.”

She was unfamiliar with the see-off because she had never done it before, so Yeonhwa dropped her eyes at her feet.

Even though the see-off was over, the man’s foot stuck in the field of her view was not moving. When She lifted her head, the expressionless man stood still. As if there was something else he wanted, Yeonhwa had a smile in her eyes as she looked at Geonwoo.

“Why? Did I give you a kiss in the morning,too?”

“……….”

She said it with a laugh, but the man didn’t look away and said nothing. It was the moment when she covered her mouth to correct her words saying that it was a joke.

“Yes, you did.”

“You say I did…..did I ? “

This guy was again talking nonsense. Washing together and sleeping together was not enough and now even morning kisses. Her pupils were shaking as if they met an earthquake, and he told her again with a very peaceful expression.

“Before I go to work, you would kiss my cheek.”

Because of what he said, Yeon-Hwa thought that three years of marrying the man was a false memory. Perhaps, just like what the man said, during that time of marriage, they were passionate. Otherwise, it was obvious that the man was injured, not Yeon-Hwa. When Geonwon was ready to close his eyes, Yeon-Hwa wrapped her hair with both hands. Her mind was like a dandelion scepter, ‘Hoo,’ and it seemed to fly away. Yeon-Hwa, who secretly breathed deeply as if preparing to dive, finally made a decision. When a minute felt like an hour, Yeonhwa eventually lifted her heels. Still, there was a distance to the man’s cheek. With her trembling hands, Yeo-Hwa grabbed his shoulders. At that moment, Geonwoo turned his head to the front reflexively. Without knowing that, Yeonhwa’s lips went straight forward.

Something soft and warm like castella touched his lips.

Geon-woo’s wide-open eyes were staring into the eyes of Yeonhwa. The target of Yeonhwa was the cheeks, but the man’s lips touched her lips. Startled, with both feet on the floor, Yeonhwa took two steps back. Her face was so hot. She couldn’t blink once. She was hardened like a stone.

Even in an unexpected accident, the man pulled a pair of shoes out of the shoebox with a completely unconcerned face.

“I’ll be back.”

The man spoke the words and closed the front door.

“Oh….”

As if there was an urgent business, Geonwoo quickly headed for the car. Then, while trying to take the car key out of his pocket, his hands slipped and missed it. As he picked the key up off the floor, the nape of his neck that came out of his shirt was ripened red.