chapter 7

“I’ll do this instead.”

The voice bounced back and forth enough to feel like she was doing it again. Her arms around Geonwoo’s waist trembled slightly. What courage did she have to hug him from behind? Was it all because of her husband’s dignity that she hugged Geonwoo in front of Secretary Kim.

She couldn’t just let it go because his face was strangely disappointed after she refused to kiss him on the cheek. She ran out as if she had to do something, but all she remembers was to hug him. She expected it to be less embarrassing to hold the man than to put her lips on his cheek.

Even a light hug wasn’t easy for Yeonhwa.It feels like Geonwoo would feel her loud heartbeats on his back so Yeonhwa quickly retreated her arms and ran into the house. Soon after, the sound of the ignited car moving away, it’s just then that her shoulders relaxed. After the tension was relieved, Yeonhwa took off the shoes she was wearing while calming her beating heart. As she went into the kitchen to drink a glass of water, she heard a voice from the front door and Ahnseong ‘s face lit up.

“Did you wake up?”

“Yes, good morning.”

“You look good today.”

Having worked at this house for three years, it was not difficult to notice the change in Yeonhwa’s mood. She hid a smile from AhnSeong, who could see through her heart.

“I guess it’s because the weather is good.”

“Is that so?”

Even though she knew something good had happened , Ahnseong pretended not to know. Looking at the sink, Anseong asked Yeonhwa about the traces of having breakfast.

“Did you have breakfast?

It must have been difficult with your hands too, so please wait a bit for me to come.”

“It’s okay. I’ve gotten used to doing it with my left hand now.”

Ahnseong saw the number of dishes and chopsticks were for two people. Then she remembered seeing Geonwoo’s car on her way to work. She wondered if he was late to work because of oversleeping, but it seemed that it was because of Yeonhwa and him having breakfast together.

Ahnseong, who couldn’t hide her heartwarming smile, started washing the dishes silently. Yeonhwa did not go into the room, but sat in front of the Irish table and watched Anseong washing dishes. Ahnseong couldn’t pretend to be unaware of Yeonhwa’s shimmering eyes. She lowered the water lever and looked at Yeonhwa.

“Do you have something to say?”

As if she was waiting, Yeonhwa asked a question immediately.

“What kind of a person do you think my husband is?”

“How is it? What is it?”

Her husband has changed. No .. he was weird. He wanted a morning kiss and would come home right away after work.

She couldn’t figure out what he was thinking. He wanted a divorce, and now he was acting like a couple.

“What happened to my husband after the accident?”

“What is it?”

“He must have hit his head hard somewhere, or something shocking happened.”

“Why? Where is the boss hurt?”

“It’s not like that. It’s just that suddenly he wants to get along well after 3 years of marriage.”

Unlike the serious Yeonhwa, Ahnseong smiled openly.

“Were you worried about that?”

“……”

“What did happen while you were in the hospital?”

Why did Geonwoo suddenly change his attitude? As if there was something that suddenly came to mind, Ahnseong added.

“A while back, the boss asked something similar about you, madam.”

“What did my husband say?”

When Yeonhwa, who was interested, opened her eyes wide, Ahnseong searched for her memory.

“He asked if there was anything different from before madam was injured, and later, he asked me to tell him if there was anything that bothers you.”

When Ahnseong finished washing the dishes, Yeonhwa stood up and left the living room.

After entering the room, Yeonhwa closed the door and sat at the end of the bed, she recalled Ahnseong’s words over and over again.

Why does he care so much? The more she knew, the harder it was to understand her husband.

*****

“Mrs. Ahnseong, which one do you think is better?”

Yeonhwa raised a red dress and a green dress in front of Anseong as they were preparing for dinner. Ahnseong, who was cutting onions, blinked her cloudy eyes and looked at the dresses.

“I think the green color suits you better, madam.”

Yeonhwa smiled and went into the room with her dress. Looking at Yeonhwa’s back, Anseong laughed.

“Isn’t she so cute?”

It’s already dinner time but Yeonhwa didn’t finish dressing up yet. After dinner’s preparation was finished, Ahnseong looked at the clock on the wall. The time for Geonwoo to come home is already approaching, but Yeonhwa is not coming out of the room. Ahnseong was standing in front of the room, knocked on the door with the back of her and.

“Madam, it’s about time for the boss to come home.”

After Ahnseong finished speaking, the door opened, and Yeonhwa held the front of the dress with her hands and pleaded.

“Please help me close the buttons.”

“You could have let me know earlier.”

Ahnseong quickly closed the buttons that Yeonhwa had been trying to do for 30 minutes. Yeonhwa asked Ahnseong to check if there were any wrinkles on the dress.

“What time is it now?”

“It’s 7 o’clock.”

“You need to go home.”

Ahnseong said while taking off the apron she was wearing.

“I’ll go then.”

Knowing that Yeonhwa was waiting for Geonwoo to come home, Anseong hurried to leave the house. After Ahnseong left, Yeonhwa remained alone in the spacious house. She sat on the couch waiting for Geonwoo to return from work. Yeonhwa was on the verge of being nervous as she recalled his words in her head.

”I’ll come home by 7:00, not 9:00.”

The time for her husband to return home is approaching.

****

“Mr. President, Author Seol canceled the meeting next week.”

Things started to get tangled up for two hours after work. A fire broke out in a textile factory in Gyeonggi Province, paralyzing the work. Fortunately, the fire did not spread and there was no casualty, but the factory was shut down. Artist Seol Hyeong Seok, who was preparing a scarf collaboration project with his company suddenly overturned the contract.

Time flew and 9 o’clock had passed after he had some control over the work of the textile factory. Forgetting to contact Yeonhwa, Geonwoo was busy dealing with what was in front of him right now.

“Get ready for a business trip to Gapyeong tomorrow.”

”Are you going to see the situation yourself?”

“I should.”

“Yes sir.”

Secretary Kim, who added the schedule to the notebook, asked Geonwoo.

“What would you do about Author Seol?

Geonwoo, with his elbows on the desk, pressed his eyebrows. For this contract, Geonwoo devoted three months for the project with Author Seol. Nevertheless, he didn’t want to hold onto Author Seol.

“Ask the planning team to find other writers.”

“You haven’t been in contact with Author Seol?”

Geonwoo simply nodded his head for a short answer. The contract amount was never small. If the biggest factor in contract breach with the monetary issue, it should be coordinated through additional meetings. Then the only option left was to break the contract.

“Mr President, what would you like for dinner?”

Surprised by Secretary Kim’s question, he checked the time on the monitor. At the time that was already too late, Geonwoo leaned his back on his chair. He couldn’t leave because there was a pile of unfinished work. Geonwoo picked up the cell phone on the desk and sent a message belatedly.

***

Now, a message has arrived.

“Eat dinner first”

“Ha….eat dinner first?”

Yeonhwa spoke out something she didn’t know if it was a laugh or a sigh. This was the only message from the person who she waited for more than two hours.

During the waiting hour, she thought how busy he must have been to not be able to contact her. But after two hours, she wondered how long he would contact her. She was looking forward to it. Having thoughtfully picked up clothes and curled up her hair, she felt funny.

She wouldn’t have been so angry if it was a phone call rather than a three-word message. Expectations and disappointments are proportional. The expectations were so great that disappointment crushed her even greater.

After walking to the kitchen, Yeonhwa sat alone in front of the table and dipped a spoon in a soup bowl that was already cold .

“I am not a child, you know.”

She felt like a child, who was so angry that she couldn’t eat dinner at the age of 27. Finally, she calmed down and put a spoonful of soup in her mouth. The soaring anger has faded, but she has no appetite. At the sound of the opening of the front door, Yeonhwa straightened her head. She blinked her sleepy eyes and raised her head to the sound of the footsteps approaching her.

“You’re back?”

“It’s late, but why aren’t you sleeping?”

“I know right? Why am I not sleeping even after 10 o’clock?”

When she answered the question by asking back, Geonwoo replied with a grim stance.

“Are you angry?

At once, Geonwoo realized that Yeonhwa was upset. Embarrassed, Yeonhwa swept her cheeks down with her fingers and forced her lips to speak.

“No way. I’m not angry.”

“…….”

“I have to be grateful to Geonwoo Yoon for contacting me even though you were so busy.”

Sounds that weren’t even in her heart flowed out. However, Geonwoo looked at her and spoke apologetically.

“Even if the work was too busy, I should have contacted you first, sorry. ”

From Geonwoo’s mouth, it was so easy to say that he was sorry. Yeonhwa, who was caught in her heart, realized that she was protesting and offended by Geonwoo. She was ignored by him but he did say sorry because he couldn’t keep his promise, so Yeonhwa decided to let go of the matter.

“You must be tired, but take a shower first.”

Yeonhwa turned and walked into the room. She was sitting at the end of the bed as Geonwoo, who came in, went to the bathroom with a change of clothes. After hearing the sound of water in the bathroom, Yeonhwa looked down at the dress that she was wearing and tried to take it off. She grabbed a button smaller than her nails and tried to pull it off, but no matter how hard she tried, it wouldn’t come out of the hole. By the time her bowed neck became stiff, Yeonhwa barely released two buttons.

“Oww… My neck hurts.”

A total of 11 buttons remain. She was struggling with wearing clothes with many buttons. When Yeonhwa just released the second button, Geonwoo had already changed into comfortable clothes and came out of the bathroom. After seeing Yeonhwa trying to unbutton the dress, Geonwoo who had laid the towel to wipe his wet hair on the floor, casually approached Yeonhwa.

“I didn’t think of this.”

“What do you mean?”

As Yeonhwa stood up from her seat, Geonwoo looked at the remaining buttons.

“I mean, I didn’t consider if there was anything you were uncomfortable with.”

“Ah.”

After learning what it meant, Yeonhwa continued unbuttoning.

“I can do this. If not, I am going to cut it with scissors.

“Come on.”

Yeonhwa took a breath as he saw Geonwoo reached out with both hands.

“No, no. I will do it.”

The man offered to release the button that runs down her chest. She wore a black sleeveless dress inside, but imagining that her clothes were stripped from the man’s hands made her head dizzy.

“You didn’t forget that the hospital told you not to use your hands so much.”

She did not forget. The doctor told her many times, so she could not forget it.

“Still.”

“No way.”

It was unacceptable to Geonwoo.

“It’s okay because we are a married couple.”

Yeonhwa was stunned by the word ‘couple’.

She seems to have been hit at the back of the head because of what Geonwoo said. Yeonhwal’s lips fluttered as if she was trying to say, ‘We aren’t an ordinary couple.’ Then Geonwoo took one step closer to Yeonhwa, who got silent.

He grabbed Yeonhwa’s hand covering the nape of her neck and pulled the buttons down.

Tuk, Tuk, Tuk.

The buttons easily slipped out at Geonwoo’s fingertips. With Geonwoo’s hand, crossing her chest without hesitation, she bit the inside of her lips as her heart was pounding inside her chest.

Yeonhwa raised her eyes and looked at the man. He had no expression on his face, and he was releasing the buttons with his hands without any trembling.

Is it normal for the face of the man who is taking off his wife’s clothes to be so careless?

‘What the hell does this man think of me?’

She thought to herself. Suddenly, something came up and it was unfair. Let’s cover that man’s face with embarrassment. It’s resentful that only her trembles like this.

Then Yeonhwa, who raised her arms gently, closed Geonwoo’s shirt, which had three buttons left unbuttoned. Geonwoo’s gaze, which was placed on the buttons, moved to Yeonhwa. Yeonhwa raised the tip of her chin, temporarily calming the heartbeat that seemed to come out of her chest.

“Shall we turn off the light?”

“….What?”

Yeonhwa, who stared at the confused man’s lips, smiled and added.

“It’s okay because we’re married, right?”