SIDE STORY 6

“Tell me, Yoon Seoyeon. What’s the problem? Don’t just say you’re fine.”

Seoyeon’s face contorted. 

You’re right, I’m not okay, and you recognize it so quickly, it makes me look like a fool.

“Don’t just say you’re fine, don’t try to handle it on your own, tell me, because I’m really anxious right now.”

Dojun tilted his head questioningly. He grasped Seoyeon’s lowered face and held her gaze. Seoyeon’s eyes wavered. Facing Dojun’s worried gaze, a word she had never spoken aloud came out.

“Mom…”

“Hm?”

Just saying the word “mom” made tears well up in her eyes.

“I… I miss Mom. Dojun, I miss my mom.”

Tears streamed down Seoyeon’s face. No matter how hard she tried to hold them back, they kept flowing.

It was something she had never told anyone, something she had buried for a very long time. She missed her mom. She wanted to ask if this was right, if her mom went through the same thing, how to handle it with the elders, if it was okay to be a mess, if she could do it, if she could do it well. She wanted to ask her mom.

There was no one to confide in about the burden of becoming someone’s wife, especially not an ordinary man’s wife. She had no place to express her fears and anxieties about losing herself as Yoon Seoyeon and only becoming Hwang Dojun’s wife.

She had gotten used to handling and resolving everything on her own and thought she could do the same this time. If it weren’t for Hwang Dojun, who picked up on it so quickly, she could have kept it under control. But the man in front of her wouldn’t let her.

“It’s hard.”

Dojun said with a troubled expression. This was the first time Seoyeon saw that expression on the man who had promised to do anything for her. Then he gave a pained smile.

“I’ll hug you. Instead of your mother.”

Tears welled up in Seoyeon’s eyes. She didn’t know how to handle this man. When Dojun hugged her, her crying grew even more intense. She cried for a long time in his warm embrace.

Sniff.

Seoyeon covered her nose with the back of her hand. It was always embarrassing when she stopped crying. Tears and runny nose. She hated crying because she hated this. She looked at Dojun with her reddened eyes, and he chuckled.

“Are you all done crying now?”

“Yes.”

Her nasal voice came out, which she disliked.

“That’s good.”

“What do you mean?” 

Seoyeon asked between sniffs.

Dojun lifted the corners of his mouth and said, 

“If you cried a bit more, I might have called for my mom too.”

Huh?

She chuckled, then realized. This man also didn’t have his mother.

Why did I think everything would be easy for him? How long did he have to go through the darkness to get to this point?

Seoyeon exhaled and wiped her eyes with her palms.

“I actually don’t cry that often.”

“Huh? What?”

“It’s true. I don’t cry that much.”

She hated being weak. She disliked relying on someone else. She didn’t like crying or the nasally sound of her voice. 

But… with you, it’s different.

“I cried because I was in front of you, Hwang Dojun.”

I would never cry in front of other people. 

Hearing Seoyeon’s words, Dojun’s lips curved upwards in satisfaction.

“I like that.”

Seeing Dojun’s pleased expression, Seoyeon rolled her eyes lightly. Her face was swollen terribly, but the pent-up feelings in her heart had been relieved.

As she kept sniffling because her nose was running, Dojun took out a handkerchief. When he tried to reach out and wipe her nose himself, Seoyeon flinched and turned away. After wiping her nose, she looked at Dojun contemplatively. 

Now that she had cried and vented everything, there was nothing she could say. Seoyeon decided to be honest with Dojun.

“To be honest, I don’t actually want to get married.”

Dojun immediately stiffened, and Seoyeon burst out laughing. Without even asking “What?”, he just opened and closed his mouth in bewilderment, speechless. Seizing Dojun’s hand, Seoyeon continued.

“I just wanted to have a quiet relationship. Without interference, without taking on responsibilities, just the two of us, getting along well. I didn’t want the change because I was so happy the way it was.”

Dojun’s rigid expression softened, but only slightly.

“I didn’t want to feel helpless because of your background, I didn’t want to pretend I was okay with people’s curious stares, and I didn’t want to feel like everything I’d worked so hard to build up to this point was worthless.”

When Dojun handed her an unlimited card and told her to do whatever she wanted, she wondered if he could ever understand the feeling she had at that moment.

“I thought of myself as someone who wasn’t really lacking anything, but suddenly I felt like an inadequate person. That confused me, made me anxious, and ultimately made me cry.”

Dojun looks at Seoyeon, who smiles wryly, and realizes that nothing comes easy for her. Not dating, not breaking up, not getting married. Yoon Seoyeon did not simply come along as she was told. Despite her delicate appearance, she had no intention of being easily manipulated. And she could say such heart-wrenching things so smoothly.

“So, are you saying you don’t want to get married?”

Dojun cut to the chase and asked that first.

“No, that’s not it. I’m telling you why I felt that way. Why are you rushing?”

Your impatience didn’t develop overnight.

“Answer me first.”

“I will. I will, but…”

Seoyeon continued speaking. To sum it up, she wasn’t keen on the idea of marriage itself, but since he wanted it, she decided to go along and was making an effort. Dojun swallowed a sigh.

He had hoped to quickly tie her down, but now he wouldn’t be at ease until they walked down the aisle. How nice it would be if he could tie her to his side.

“Since we’re here, why don’t we go look at rings?”

Dojun reached out and helped Seoyeon up, thinking he should mark her as his with a ring heavily studded with diamonds.

“Okay, let’s pick one together.”

With her swollen eyes, Seoyeon spoke. Usually, when eyes are swollen, it makes one look less attractive, but Yoon Seoyeon became cuter. Her muffled voice and flushed face were both adorable.

“Can we have dinner together? Are you free?”

As they walked towards the store, Dojun wrapped his arm around Seoyeon’s waist.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.

“Once the ring is ready, shall we go register our marriage right away?”

Seoyeon looked back at him. She would probably just laugh it off as a silly joke, asking what he meant. 

How could I drag her to the district office? 

He smiled while thinking of an excuse, and then Seoyeon said,

“Okay, let’s go do it.”

And then she gave a gentle smile. It was the smile of Yoon Seoyeon that left Hwang Dojun powerless.

* * *

Knock, knock.

Seoyeon habitually knocked on the hospital room door. The security guard, who was familiar with Seoyeon’s habits, suppressed a small smile. The fact that Seoyeon came to visit the room without Vice President Hwang Dojun about once a month was a secret known only to the guard and Chairman Hwang.

“How have you been? Father-in-law.”

Seoyeon greeted him with the still unfamiliar title, approaching the bed. The tall, broad-shouldered man lying there resembled Dojun a lot. Knowing he couldn’t respond, Seoyeon still spoke to him warmly.

“Dojun has been very busy, so I came instead.”

She smiled and looked around the hospital room. The distinctive hospital smell wafted past her nose. Seoyeon had spent a lot of time in hospitals when her mother was ill. It was a smell she had grown tired of, but no matter how many times she encountered it, she never got used to it.

My son, Hwang Dojun.

Dojun’s father would burst into his room after drinking a lot, calling him that. With a face flushed from alcohol, he would loudly ask his dear son Hwang Dojun if he did well at school, even if it was 2 or 3 in the morning, opening the door wide.

He would pull out wads of checks from his wallet, giving them to the sleeping Dojun for pocket money, and ruffle his hair painfully with his overwhelming strength.

“Dojun keeps buying things. He says he’s like that because he takes after you, Father-in-law. He said you were always good at giving gifts to his mother. Working at the department store probably made him do it more. Oh, by the way, our wedding invitations are out.”

When she visited the hospital room, Seoyeon would usually talk about Dojun – what he liked, what he enjoyed eating, what gifts he had bought. When she ran out of things to say, Seoyeon would quietly hold the old man’s hand and bid him farewell.

“I’ll do well. Thank you.”

Her final silent prayer was always the same.

May you rest in warmth, for a very long time.

Seoyeon quietly offered a prayer.

* * *

On a bright, clear autumn day, the doors of Hawoljae, the annex of the Hanseong Hotel, opened.

The garden was filled with abundant flowers, and several round tables were set up in the main building. The soothing sound of a string quartet playing filled the Hawoljae.

The wedding ceremony was held privately, with only family, relatives, and close friends invited, according to Dojun and Seoyeon’s wishes. Dojun’s mentor officiated the ceremony, and a well-known celebrity handled the hosting and performances.

The witty hosting occasionally elicited clear laughter from the guests, and warm, elegant dishes were served.

Seoyeon wore a wedding dress with exposed shoulders and a veil embroidered with delicate lace. When Seoyeon’s grandmother saw her in the dress, she lovingly stroked her back, saying how beautiful she was and how she had grown up, which remained Seoyeon’s most cherished congratulatory message.

Seoyeon walked down the aisle holding Dojun’s hand. Before entering, Dojun had made a remark about tearing the dress at night, making Seoyeon gasp in shock, and eventually committed the outrageous act of deeply kissing her in the empty bridal waiting room after the ceremony ended.

Dojun described the quietly joyful wedding as modest, while Seoyeon couldn’t figure out what exactly was modest about it.

He had insisted on handling the entire honeymoon arrangement, and the destination turned out to be an island resort with nothing but the sea. Trapped on the island for two weeks, Seoyeon cried in Dojun’s embrace every night, and he would tell her it was okay to cry.

He mischievously remarked that he seemed to be obsessed with her crying only in front of him. Seoyeon would eventually succumb to exhaustion as dawn approached and let the tears flow.

Longing for civilization while facing the vast open sea, Seoyeon declared she would never go on a trip with Dojun again, and that became their first marital quarrel.