AUM - 46

“I love my husband.”

Tae-ryeong’s gaze quietly drifted to the window after her bombshell confession. With her indifferent yet calm eyes and expression, Jin-woo looked at Tae-ryeong as if he had misheard. A subtle silence quietly filled the air between them. So, neither of them noticed Kang-joon turning and leaving the coffee shop. A long moment later, Jin-woo roughly ran a hand through his hair and spoke.

“Se-hee, you mean you love another woman’s husband, a married man?”

Tae-ryeong didn’t answer. That she had married him and exchanged vows. That she had kept the position of his wife, lived as a couple, and was held in his arms. Everything was her, except the name. She had many counter-arguments, but there was no reason to explain everything to Jin-woo. At her stubborn silence, Jin-woo spoke with a solemn expression, “I don’t know why you’re impersonating Yoo Tae-ryeong, but one thing’s for sure: you have to give up on those feelings.”

“...”

“What your mother did, you found most loathsome and dirty. You shouldn’t do the same thing, should you?”

Tae-ryeong barely managed to suppress a hollow laugh.

‘Don’t worry about it. You’re just Joo Se-hee.’

She remembered what Jin-woo and his sister often told her when she was called the daughter of the woman pointed at in the neighborhood. But she also felt that Jin-woo was ultimately no different from those people. That’s why he brought up her mother without hearing the full story. Fearing she’d do the same as her mother, that blood would tell. Even knowing how agonizing that sore spot was for her. She was even slightly curious what he would think if he knew Yoo Tae-ryeong was her half-sister and aunt’s daughter. Rather than anger towards Jin-woo, she felt a sense of bitterness. That was the entirety of her current emotion.

“So, do you find me loathsome and dirty too, Oppa? Like my mother?”

At Tae-ryeong’s calm question, Jin-woo quickly apologized, his expression showing a realization. “I’m sorry I said something you’d misunderstand. But I swear, I’ve never once thought of you as dirty. You are the purest, most radiant, and most beautiful being I’ve ever seen. I can’t take my eyes off you.”

His serious voice was tender, and his gentle brown eyes were soft.

“Se-hee, I wish you wouldn’t hold back your emotions when you’re in front of me. If you’re angry, show it. If you’re upset, grumble. If you’re sad, cry. Can’t you do that for me?”

Tae-ryeong was suddenly caught by a subtle feeling. The gentle gaze, soft expression, and warm tone. Jin-woo in front of her seemed similar to her husband. Surely, no.

“Jin-woo Oppa.”

Tae-ryeong merely called his name. Yet, Jin-woo’s ears perked up, and she almost saw a tail wagging behind his waist.

“Do you perhaps like me?”

Jin-woo’s mouth gaped like a goldfish, and his large eyes slowly blinked.

“No, I... I mean... ahem... yes.”

His face turned bright red as he stammered, finally answering yes.

“Actually, I’ve had a crush on you for a long time. I haven’t looked at another woman since I started liking you. You know that too.”

Tae-ryeong’s head suddenly throbbed at Jin-woo’s unexpected confession, and she closed her eyes for a moment. Thinking what terrible timing this was. It was a feeling she didn’t want to know, and this wasn’t a place for confessions anyway.

“Se-hee, I...”

She cut off Jin-woo, who was clearly about to confess again.

“Give up on those feelings for me right now.”

Tae-ryeong slowly opened her eyes, hardening her resolve.

“My husband will be my first and last love. But that doesn’t change anything. In two months, I’ll go back to my real name, to my real place. Even then, you and I can’t be together, Oppa.”

What she was about to say would hurt Jin-woo. But if she was vague now, Jin-woo would hurt even more later.

“I’ve never thought of you as a man. If I haven’t seen you as a man for over 10 years, then there’s nothing more to say.”

“You’ve never really looked at me either. Give me a chance. Then...”

“It’s not that I didn’t look properly; it’s that my eyes weren’t drawn to you. For me, loving you, Oppa, is worse than coveting another’s husband. If you keep this up, I won’t even be able to see Jin-kyung.”

Jin-woo’s eyes wavered, knowing her character was such that if she said she would do something, she would do it.

“If I give up my feelings, can we go back to how we were before?”

With his head bowed deeply and his tall, large body slumped, he looked exactly like a large dog drenched in rain. The words ‘I’m sorry’ rose to her throat, but she swallowed them back and delivered the final blow, thinking, If I have to, it’ll be later, at least not now. Tae-ryeong slowly stood up and calmly said to Jin-woo, “See you in two months, Kim Jin-woo.”

Jin-woo didn’t try to stop Tae-ryeong as she walked away without looking back.

________________________________________

For 20 minutes, the crazy workout enthusiast Seo Kang-joon was uncharacteristically sitting still, just staring at his phone. Jae-woo, who had been watching from a distance, couldn’t stand it anymore and approached him.

“Why do you keep looking at your phone?”

Kang-joon spoke seriously, still fixated on his phone.

“Should I wait for a call, or should I call her?”

“What are you talking about? Is it Tae-ryeong?”

Kang-joon briefly nodded without even looking up.

“You went down to meet Tae-ryeong. Did you miss each other?”

Instead of answering Kyung-jin’s question, Kang-joon waved his hand dismissively. Irritated by his indifferent gesture to disappear because he was being disturbed, Kyung-jin spoke, “Seo Kang-joon, it’s not another man’s wife; it’s your wife. Why can’t you call her, man? Just call her boldly like a man! What’s so hard about it that you’re driving people crazy?”

Only then did Kang-joon slowly look at Kyung-jin and Jae-woo. His gaze, alternating between the two, was full of disdain.

“What do bachelors who aren’t married and don’t have wives know about love?”

Kang-joon spoke arrogantly and then refocused his gaze on his phone. The two men grumbled, looking at Kang-joon in disbelief.

“This is the first time I’ve been ignored for not having a wife.”

“I’m going on a blind date starting tomorrow.”

Just then, Kim Jin-woo, a model known as the “Nation’s Puppy,” appeared on the large screen hanging on the wall. The gaze of most of the women focused on their workout naturally fixed on the screen.

“He’s on TV all the time if you just turn it on. He does have a face people would like.”

“They say that friendly, puppy-like face is trendy these days. Looks innocent and pure.”

“Agreed. I saw Kim Jin-woo the other day, and he was friendly and nice. Enough to make me think I’d give my sister to a guy like him. If he disarms men, imagine what he does to women. He’s a hundred times better in person...”

“He’s nothing special.”

A chilling voice, sharp as a honed blade, cut off Kyung-jin’s words. His two friends saw Kang-joon glaring coldly at the large screen.

“A person should act like a person. What’s so attractive about looking and acting like a dog?”

His two friends were bewildered by Kang-joon’s sharp reaction, as he was usually indifferent to everything. Just then, Kang-joon’s phone rang. His sharp eyes, checking the caller ID, softened into a gentle curve as he answered.

“Tae-ryeong.”

His voice, calling his wife’s name, was a flawless husky tone, good enough for a voice actor. And what was that melting smile spreading across his lips, like a man who had everything in the world? It was his friend’s unfamiliar yet submissive side, which they had never seen before.

“In front of the fitness club? I’ll be right out.”

Kang-joon, still on the phone, quickly strode towards the entrance with his long legs. Kyung-jin spoke first, his expression incredulous.

“Jae-woo, why do I feel like I’m seeing a dog’s tail wagging behind him?”

“I see it too. A muscular dog wagging its tail very vigorously and running off.”

That’s exactly how Kang-joon looked to the two of them, rushing out at his wife’s single phone call. The two exchanged glances and chuckled. He said he didn’t like dog-like faces, that people shouldn’t act like dogs.

________________________________________

She contacted him unexpectedly and just showed up. But Kang-joon smiled broadly, looking very happy, and told her to wait for only 20 minutes. While waiting for Kang-joon, Tae-ryeong quietly gazed beyond the full-length window.

“Did you wait long?”

A large hand pulled her slender waist into an embrace from behind, and a soft voice brushed her ear. Feeling the firm touch and warm embrace against her back, Tae-ryeong closed her eyes for a moment. Missing this embrace, this warmth, this scent. She had seen him that morning, but she missed him as if she hadn’t seen him in a long time. That was the reason she had suddenly contacted her husband and come to him. Turning slowly in his arms, Tae-ryeong looked intently at her husband. It was clear he had come out in a hurry. Aside from his wet hair falling onto his forehead, his hastily tied tie was visible. The dishevelment of the man who always showed the epitome of a perfect suit was subtly sexy. Just looking at him like this made her chest ache and her heart pound. Tae-ryeong slowly extended her hand.

“Your tie is crooked.”

Kang-joon quietly looked down at Tae-ryeong, who was gently adjusting his tie with delicate fingers. Long, abundant eyelashes, a gentle smile, slender, long fingers, a small body that fit perfectly in his arms. Even with the public setting, his chest felt tight and his head burned hot.

“Were you surprised that I suddenly came to see you again?”

Why did even this calm and delicate voice, like her face, sound so alluring? Kang-joon thought he clearly had a very wicked devil inside him and chuckled softly.

“Indeed. What whim prompted my wife, who always moves according to her schedule?”

“Just... I missed you.”

At her words, which trailed off into a whisper, Kang-joon’s relaxed smile vanished from his face. Since returning from his family home, his wife had been slowly changing. Her gaze, her actions, and her aura towards him were different. But she had never expressed it in words.

“They say Baekje Hotel’s garden is nice for a walk. Want to go?”

Kang-joon took his quietly nodding wife’s hand and led her. They took the elevator down, passed through the main entrance, and headed towards the garden entrance. There wasn’t a single word exchanged until they entered the secluded path. Holding her intertwined hand tightly, he slowly extended his long legs to match his wife’s stride. How long did they walk? Where their steps stopped, there was a swing chair entwined with flower vines.

“Let’s sit for a bit.”

Tae-ryeong didn’t refuse her husband’s suggestion and sat on the swing chair. But her husband, who had suggested they sit, stood above her, casting a long shadow. He looked intently at Tae-ryeong with his hands in his pants pockets, as if standing like this was more comfortable. Indeed, a flower-vine swing chair for Seo Kang-joon. Unless it was a throne made of gold, it didn’t quite suit him. Tae-ryeong, thinking nothing of it, slowly surveyed the surroundings again.

“I didn’t know there was a flower garden behind the hotel. The flowers are pretty, but the harmony of colors is beautiful.”

It was a place so beautiful it was breathtaking. But her husband didn’t even glance at the flower garden. He was only looking at Tae-ryeong. As if there was nothing else to see here but his wife.

“I don’t know if it’s pretty. The colors... they look dull to my eyes.”

Kang-joon replied calmly, casually surveying the surroundings with indifferent eyes. No matter how he looked, the blurry, colorless world didn’t particularly capture his attention. It was his brain perceiving it that way due to extreme indifference. But as his eyes met his wife’s again, his surroundings took on vibrant colors. Through his wife, Kang-joon was able to see the world anew. And that was love.

“Looking again, it is indeed strikingly beautiful.”

As expected, she was beautiful. Joo Se-hee, blooming most splendidly like a queen flower within the beautiful garden.

“My wife.”

Kang-joon narrowed his eyes, smiling, and asked softly, “You know you’re beautiful, don’t you?”

“...I don’t know that.”

His wife’s nape turned red as she avoided his gaze. She couldn’t handle this cute side of herself either.

“The swing chair in Baekje Hotel’s Flower Garden is famous as a proposal spot.”

At his sudden explanation, his wife looked at Kang-joon with eyes that said she hadn’t known. But there were many things his wife didn’t know. That Kang-joon had ordered a new custom-made ring after their first night. That he always carried that ring in his inner jacket pocket. That he had intended to put that ring on her small, delicate hand once he heard her say ‘I love you.’ But today, he had accidentally heard her say ‘I love you.’ Then, of course, he had to put it on her. Though it would have been better if she had told him directly. He could hear her say ‘I love you’ slowly and countless times later anyway. He thought it would be even better to hear it in bed. Kang-joon knelt on one knee in front of his wife and gently held her small hand.

“We’re already married.”

The hand held in his large hand was absurdly small.

“We’ve also become an unbreakable couple.”

Since the day he found the ring, he had waited earnestly and impatiently. For the day he would place this ring on her slender, delicate finger.

“And I’m already in love.”

As his gaze slowly rose, he saw pitiful eyes trembling like her small hand. Looking earnestly into those eyes, Kang-joon slowly parted his lips.

“Let’s date, Ms. Joo Se-hee.”