Part 15

They had registered their marriage.

She thought she would never marry again.

They say people don’t know what will happen in the future, but who could have predicted that she would reconcile with Jiwook.

“What are you thinking about?”

On their way back from the district office, as she gazed out the window, Jiwook spoke first.

“It feels like a dream.”

The whole situation felt like a dream.

Beside her was her husband Jiwook, and in her belly were their children.

In the year or so since her return, so much had happened. The events of that time felt surreal.

“This isn’t a dream.”

“Ah……!”

Taking advantage of the red light, Jiwook pulled her cheek. Seowoo furrowed her brow, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

“W-what are you doing?”

“Telling you this is reality.”

“Huh.”

These days, every day with Jiwook felt surreal. He was still blunt, but sometimes he’d joke around like this. The change was still hard to get used to, but it was also enjoyable.

“When should we move your things?”

The two decided to live together.

Anyway, after losing Yong-jae, Seowoo had continued staying at his place.

But because she had bought minimal furniture when she moved to Seoul, so she didn’t have much to move.

“I’ll go and take care of it tomorrow.”

“Okay, then. Let’s go together.”

Jiwook replied and stepped on the accelerator again.

It was a house he had prepared from the beginning to live with Seowoo. He had carefully chosen the interior design and furniture. Now the owner was finally moving in.

The thought of living with her filled his heart with excitement.

“Your doctor’s appointment is at 6:00, right?”

“Yes.”

Jiwook’s voice was excited. Today was a day he had been eagerly anticipating.

The day they could find out the babies’ gender.

At the last appointment, she hadn’t known at all. She never thought she would be going with Kwon Jiwook again. Because he was more curious about the baby’s gender than anyone else, Jiwook had been excited since last night.

“That’s right. So what did you dream about?”

Seowoo turned her body towards the driver’s seat and asked. It suddenly came to her mind, his confident assertion that it would be daughters.

“I thought you didn’t want to know?”

“That… I was too angry back then, so…”

She had been very curious, but unable to ask without feeling upset, so she had pretended not to care.

“Come on, tell me quickly.”

“If you give me a kiss here, I’ll tell you.”

Jiwook brought his cheek close to Seowoo and tapped it lightly with his finger.

“B-be careful, you’re driving!”

“So hurry up and do it.”

Although Jiwook still looked straight ahead, she felt a sense of unease. He seemed determined not to let it go until she kissed him. Hesitating, she finally quickly pressed her lips against his.

“Once more.”

“No.”

“Come on.”

“Stop it.”

“We have two babies, so you have to do it twice.”

Nonsense.

She burst out laughing at his insistence. Eventually, she pressed her lips together once more, and Jiwook pulled his lips into a satisfied smile.

Feeling suddenly flushed from the embarrassing situation, Seowoo fanned her face.

“Someone gave me two very pretty and colorful goldfish.”

“Who was it?”

“I don’t remember who it was, but they were in a big bucket.”

They were so beautiful, it was dazzling even in his dreams. He had never seen such colorful and beautiful koi before.

After waking up from the dream, the memory remained vivid as if it were real. And shortly after, he found out about Seowoo’s pregnancy.

“So I looked it up, and there are a lot of stories about koi being a girl. I’m curious if it’s really true.”

As identical twins, it would either be sons or daughters. Although she didn’t say it, Seowoo was also curious.

“I’m curious too.”

She couldn’t wait for the appointment.

Caressing her bulging belly, a smile spread across Seowoo’s lips.

***

“I think we should redo the wallpaper. It’s our princesses’ room after all.”

Seowoo nodded adamantly, she couldn’t stop even if she wanted to.

‘I can’t see anything between the legs.’

The doctor, looking at the ultrasound monitor, smiled and muttered.

‘What do you mean by that…?’

Despite the hint, Jiwook didn’t understand at all. Then Seowoo, lying down, quietly informed him.

‘There’s nothing there.’

‘Huh?’

‘They’re girls.’

Only then did Jiwook understand the meaning, his lips curling up. From then on, he laughed like a person who had just breathed in a lungful of air.

“Are you that happy? You like it so much that you can’t stop laughing?”

“Yeah.”

He had never acted like this when he was with her.

A slightly hurt feeling welled up. When Seowoo stepped forward with her lips pressed tightly shut, Jiwook tapped her lips lightly with his finger.

“Are you sulking?”

If the uncomfortable feeling was indeed sulking, then she would acknowledge it. 

She had never seen this kind of expression from him before.

The Jiwook she knew was always blunt and difficult to talk to. Because of his personality, she had always been busy watching his reactions by her side. So, in a way, feeling disappointed was natural.

“Seowoo.”

When Jiwook grabbed her wrist, Seowoo twisted away and went straight to the bedroom. Seowoo lay on the bed and covered herself with the blanket from head to toe.

Unsure if she was unconsciously acting petulant due to the slightly changed him, the feeling of hurt didn’t dissipate easily. She heard his footsteps, and soon the bed dipped.

“Talk to me, okay?”

Watching her silently, Jiwook pulled the blanket she had covered herself with. Seowoo remained lying on her back, still motionless.

Did I seem too happy?

While he had hoped for daughters, upon hearing the confirmation from the doctor, he couldn’t contain his joy.

“There was a reason I wanted daughters.”

Still with her back turned, Jiwook spoke from behind her. After bringing up the topic, he paused to catch his breath.

“When I saw you acting with the child actress, it reminded me of Byul.”

Hearing that, Seowoo slowly opened her eyes, a small sigh coming from behind her.

“Even if they were sons, they would have been cute, but I was so curious about daughters who looked like you.”

So, he had hoped for a daughter.

And for another reason.

‘I would have been happy with a daughter… but… I wonder if you…’

He didn’t really care if the twins would be boys or girls.

He should have said something warmer to her when she looked at him, who was watching his reactions. 

That sense of regret from before still lingered. So, if it were daughters this time, he wanted to express it more.

Jiwook reached out and wrapped his hand around her stomach.

“As long as you and the children are healthy, that’s all I want. I don’t need anything else.”

“…”

“Let’s go see our little Byul tomorrow.”

Seowoo turned her head to look at him.

Jiwook looked down at her and drew a faint smile.

***

Seowoo’s eyes were filled with tenderness as she quietly gazed at the small tree. It was the first time since the last visit, when she had gone to ask Byul to look after her siblings .

I wonder if our daughter really protected her siblings.

Even though she had experienced bleeding, thankfully, nothing serious happened. Looking back, it couldn’t have been anything but a dizzying experience.

“Byul, I’m here with Daddy.”

It had taken several years for Jiwook and her to come together.

They had indeed taken a long and winding path.

Seowoo placed a beautiful bouquet of chrysanthemums in front of the tree and hung up her siblings’ ultrasound pictures again.

“You have younger sisters.”

Seowoo’s eyes turned red. She’d cried countless times in front of Byul, her emotions surged every time she came.

She had promised herself not to cry today, but even though she had only said a few words, tears welled up again.

Jiwook bends down to sit beside her.

“I used to come alone every time. Now we’re here together.”

Jiwook’s low voice echoed in her ears. Seowoo looked at him with wet eyes.

“When did you come before?”

He had never mentioned it to her, but Jiwook had also occasionally visited alone.

Recently, when he felt suffocated, he had come here and learned of Seowoo’s pregnancy.

In a way, it was as if Byul had brought her parents back together. If he hadn’t come, he might still not have known about Seowoo’s pregnancy.

“Sometimes I come here when I’m frustrated. I came a while ago and found out about your pregnancy.”

“…….”

“You sent Byul alone… And when I arrived from my business trip, I came alone then too.”

It was a story she hadn’t heard before.

Seeing him seemingly fine even after sending their daughter away made her heart close to Jiwook more. She thought he didn’t even care, but he had come alone.

Around that time, she had been through a terribly difficult period, unable to even swallow a sip of water.

Seowoo’s gaze lowered.

“You don’t think I’d let her go and not come here.”

Jiwook smiled bitterly as he wiped the tears that had streamed down her cheek.

It was a mistake to think he would understand her feelings without saying anything. He wasn’t the type to express everything so affectionately, but by hiding his emotions too much, the gap between them had deepened.

“Byul will be happy to see us together again.”

If only.

Jiwook sincerely hoped that their daughter was happy there. He gripped her hand tighter.

“From now on, let’s go see our daughter together.”

Not alone, but together.

Seowoo nodded with a faint smile.

It was an unusually warm day with the sun shining brightly.