Epilogue (Part 1)

“Who told you to smile so beautifully?”

Do-jin was dazzled to the point of confusion, unsure whether he was looking at sunlight or Seo-hye.

She was so beautiful that his voice trembled slightly at the end.

“What? Do-jin, you’re smiling more beautifully than I am.”

However, Seo-hye’s response brought a wry smile to Do-jin’s face.

“I was smiling because I was looking at you.”

“Yes.”

Seo-hye lightly reached out her hand, gently tapping near the corner of Do-jin’s eyes, then slightly lower near the corner of his mouth.

“Both your eyes and mouth.”

Seo-hye, as if observing a beautiful piece of art, couldn’t lower her hand and intently studied his face.

“…Do-jin.”

As if asking her to speak, Do-jin lightly closed his eyes and opened them again.

“May I draw you, Do-jin? I’ve wanted to do that since last time.”

She asked with a clear voice.

Do-jin wrapped his hand around hers, which was in front of his face.

Her hand was small and soft, as if it would bruise with just a little pressure.

Yet, it was also a strong hand that could create beautiful paintings that would delight anyone’s eyes.

Do-jin brought her hand closer to his lips and kissed near her wrist.

A blatant blush spread across Seo-hye’s face.

“It would be an honor, then.”

“…”

“Will we keep looking into each other’s eyes the whole time you’re drawing?”

Seo-hye couldn’t hide her shy face from his gaze fixed straight on her, and she only nodded her head.

“That’s nice. The thought of you capturing only me in your eyes while drawing is wonderful. It’s really nice, but…”

Seo-hye, as if asking if there was a problem, momentarily focused her eyes on his mouth, waiting for him to continue.

“I can’t guarantee I’ll stay still.”

“What? It won’t take that long. I’m quicker with my hands than you might think.”

“No.”

He gently lowered Seo-hye’s hand, which he was holding, and interlaced his fingers with hers again, pulling her a little closer to him.

“It’s more about my lower half than me.”

“…!”

Seo-hye glanced down, feeling the pressure as their lower bodies met.

“I’m a bit sensitive to your gaze.”

Seo-hye mumbled softly, telling him not to say such things, then burst into laughter as if it was absurd.

“Okay. Actually, you looked so cool walking towards me with the reed field in the background…”

“…”

“I was going to draw your whole body. But I’ll just do your face.”

Seo-hye asked him to let go of her hand for a moment and took out a drawing sketchbook and pencil from her bag.

“I don’t have my tools, so I’ll just do a quick sketch. It won’t take long.”

Seo-hye stepped back a few paces.

Do-jin looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Shouldn’t we at least sit somewhere to draw?

But Seo-hye remained standing, resting the sketchbook on her arm, and began sketching quickly.

Her eyes darted busily between the sketchbook and Do-jin.

“Do I just stand here like this?”

“Yes. I told you I’m quick with my hands.”

Watching her respond absentmindedly, Do-jin laughed.

Seo-hye paused her hand movements for a moment.

“Strangely enough, Do-jin… your face really is…”

Seo-hye stopped mid-sentence.

“What’s with my face?”

Seo-hye smiled and replied softly.

“It’s such an exciting face. I’m drawing it just as it is, but it keeps making my heart feel strange…”

As Seo-hye didn’t continue speaking, only the sound of the pencil scratching on paper could be heard, which heightened the tension even more.

Seo-hye took a short deep breath and spoke again.

“It’s the first time my hands are trembling.”

Hearing Seo-hye’s sincere voice resonating quietly, Do-jin covered his mouth with the hand not holding the landscape painting.

Seo-hye immediately admonished him.

“Don’t cover your chin.”

Do-jin lowered his hand, trying to suppress the corners of his mouth that wanted to rise again.

He then silently watched Seo-hye, who was absorbed in her work.

Seo-hye had the most serious expression when she was drawing.

Even when drawing a single line, a deep wrinkle formed between her brows, showing how meticulous she was about her art.

Respecting her, Do-jin composed his expression.

As if they had never been laughing, both of them maintained quite serious expressions, focusing solely on each other.

Taking advantage of the quiet moment, a breeze blew in.

The fallen leaves, swept by the wind, circled around them, and the rustling sound of the pencil reminded them of the dry season.

Outwardly, they seemed to be standing in a lonely season.

But their hearts, focused solely on each other, were as warm as spring, perhaps even as hot as summer.

Minutes passed like that.

Seo-hye let out a clear laugh.

“I’m done.”

Seo-hye ran to Do-jin with a bright smile like a child.

Do-jin, looking at her with slightly curved eyes, then glanced at the sketchbook she presented.

The lines were very clean and bold.

That must be Seo-hye’s strength.

Do-jin engraved that fact deep in his heart and spoke.

“You drew me very handsomely, thank you.”

Seo-hye slightly squinted her eyes and leaned back.

“I couldn’t capture even half of the real you, Do-jin.”

“Is there something you want? You’re suddenly giving lip service with your words.”

“It’s true. I shouldn’t draw you anymore, Do-jin. You might become the only subject I can’t capture even half of in reality.”

Seo-hye whispered a bit more softly as she closed the sketchbook.

“Maybe it’s because my personal feelings are most involved.”

Do-jin tilted his head slightly lower to look at Seo-hye’s face.

Then, after catching her gaze, he asked,

“Personal feelings?”

“Love.”

Seo-hye let out a faint chuckle and quickly ran to the car.

Do-jin stood there dazed for a moment, as if he had heard wrong, then quickly started walking.

“Hey, Seo-hye.”

“……”

“You can’t just throw a word like that and leave. Say it again in a full sentence. Okay?”

Even as Do-jin followed her, asking, Seo-hye didn’t respond and quickened her pace.

Though he could have caught up with her in an instant if he wanted to, Do-jin deliberately maintained the distance, urging her.

“Tell me.”

Seo-hye turned around briefly.

Then she pointed at the landscape painting Do-jin was holding and said,

“Do-jin, don’t drop the landscape painting! I’m going to hang it in my mom’s hospital room!”

Unconsciously, Do-jin held the painting more securely.

Then suddenly, he let out a hollow laugh when he realized he was listening to her so well.

He thought, in front of Seo-hye, he just became a fool.

Do-jin moved again and went to the front of the car.

And like handling a baby, he carefully placed the landscape painting in the back seat.

Even then, Seo-hye was mumbling something behind him. It was roughly about whether they should have dinner on the way or in Seoul.

As soon as Do-jin’s hands were free, he immediately turned around.

And then, Do-jin wrapped his arm around Seo-hye’s waist, bringing her close to him in an instant.

Startled, Seo-hye blinked her eyes two or three times, but Do-jin ignored it and stole a kiss from her lips.

Before their warmth could even mix, he pulled away immediately.

“Huff!”

Seo-hye let out a breath of disappointment.

Do-jin exhaled a sigh.

“Don’t worry.”

“……”

“I’ll do more.”

Feeling embarrassed, Seo-hye scrunched her nose and quickly turned her head away.

Do-jin turned her chin back towards him and kissed her lips again.

As he parted her lips and quickly enveloped her soft ones, a strange moan escaped.

He hastily pulled his lips away.

When his lips unexpectedly withdrew before anything could happen, Seo-hye looked at him with displeased eyes.

“Ah. Don’t play around if you’re not going to do it.”

“Are you sulking because I didn’t do it properly?”

“Who said I’m sulking?”

Do-jin looked down affectionately at her, his eyes smiling as he continued.

“I’ll do it. I’ll do it, but I’m afraid I’ll just lay you down here.”

Seo-hye’s shoulders flinched, trembling slightly.

Do-jin quietly looked down at her slender shoulders, small enough to fit in one hand.

Even though they were hidden by the coat, her artistic body’s contours seemed vividly visible.

Feeling dizzy as blood rushed downwards, he felt like he might lose his mind at any moment.

Driving like this is out of the question.

A light kiss like this is out of the question.

“There’s no one at home, right?”

Seo-hye briefly turned her head back to look at the gate of the Okcheon house.

“Are you talking about… the house?”

The moment Seo-hye turned her head back to face him, he pressed his lower body, hard as a weapon, against her.

At the unexpected contact, Seo-hye blushed.

“I thought I’d give you a gift.”

“A gift?”

“You drew me, so I’ll give you something nice too.”

Seo-hye’s face momentarily hardened as if she had recalled something.

“I’m giving you something nice. There’s no one at home, right?”

Even though she knew the house was empty, Seo-hye couldn’t respond to his blatant question, and he slightly lowered his upper body.

“Last time, in this house.”

“……”

“You really liked my thing, didn’t you?”

His soft voice penetrated her ears, making her chest tickle.

Naturally, she recalled the time they had shared passionate intimacy, using his suit jacket as a blanket.

“Did you like it that much?”

“……What?”

“Well, you said it was 10 o’clock, but it felt like only thirty minutes had passed. I wondered if it felt that short to you.”

Additionally, she remembered her honest response, asking if only about thirty minutes had passed when they had actually been together for three hours.

Embarrassed, Seo-hye redirected that feeling toward Do-jin.

“That was… because you were so eager that day, I just went along with it.”

One of his eyebrows slowly raised.

As he looked down at her as if to pierce her, he let out a dry voice saying, 

“Ah, so you were just going along with me.”

“……”

“Then let’s go check it out properly now. See who liked it more.”

In an instant, Do-jin lifted her up.

Startled, Seo-hye struggled to be let down, but he only quickened his pace towards the gate.

While tightly hugging his neck to avoid falling, Seo-hye suddenly remembered something and started fumbling below his neck.

He had placed the landscape painting in the back seat and taken off his coat, so he was now only wearing a shirt.

“The coat! The sofa is dirty…! How can we…!”

“I’ll go underneath.”

As Seo-hye’s struggles stopped.

“……What?”

His intense gaze seemed to pierce through her.

“Today, you come on top of me.”

His provocati

ve words stirred a storm in her stomach.

He started walking again.

With the sound of the gate closing, their breathing grew even more ragged.