SIDE STORY 7

The spring breeze of April brushed Dojun’s cheek. He gently ran his hand over the round mound covered with sod. The short, yellowed grass pricked his fingers as it slipped through.

“Father.”

After caressing the mound and calling out to his father, Dojun looked up. He saw his grandfather walking up the hill, with Seoyeon following behind him. The grandfather was breaking off the visible weeds as he went.

Clearing the ancestral graves was the responsibility of the caretakers, but every year on Qingming Festival, Chairman Hwang never failed to visit the family’s burial grounds. This year was a bit special, as it was the first Qingming since they had laid Dojun’s father beside his mother the previous fall. Two mounds now stood side by side.

“What are they talking about that’s making them laugh like that?”

Hwang Ilhyeon and Seoyeon were smiling at each other as they approached the graves of their relatives. Dojun also smiled at the sight.

“They get along well.”

Having lived with the grandmother for a long time, Seoyeon interacted with Chairman Hwang comfortably. It was a virtue Dojun hadn’t expected or demanded from the person who would become his wife, but he realized after marrying Seoyeon that he had gained a family along with a wife.

“She’s doing well with my mother. I’ll come back in the fall.”

This was Seoyeon’s third spring with him. It had been over a year since their marriage, and counting the time they had spent together, it had been more than two years.

Just over a year after their marriage, the hospital had called with the news that had quietly sliced through the night. But Dojun didn’t shed any tears. It was news he had been waiting for a long time, and he knew his father had done his best.

It seemed his father had found peace in knowing they were doing well. The last time they had visited was on their first wedding anniversary weekend. And a week later, as if he had been waiting, his father passed away peacefully.

The funeral was grand, and the mourners were endless. Dojun mostly remained silent, occasionally smiling. Whenever he turned to check, Seoyeon was always there. Whenever his mind seemed to scatter silently, he would use Seoyeon as a reference point to navigate his father’s funeral.

“I’m glad.”

Dojun still remembered Seoyeon’s words. In the early morning hours when the guests had left, she had hugged him as he leaned against the wall, saying she was glad she could be by his side at this time.

Dojun sometimes wondered if he would have felt the same amount of comfort if someone else had said it. 

What was it about Yoon Seoyeon that made her so special? Was it that even ordinary actions became special because it was Seoyeon, or had her special actions drawn him to her in the first place?

He briefly pondered the question but then dismissed it. He belonged to the camp that saw no meaning in the “which came first, the chicken or the egg” question. The important thing was that Seoyeon was by his side.

He spotted Seoyeon descending the hill with his grandfather. The neatly tied hair had come undone, with a few strands blowing in the wind. When their eyes met, his wife gave him a gentle smile.

“Shall we head down now? Let’s have a bowl of suyuk and makguksu on the way down.”

Chairman Hwang spoke to Dojun, who nodded in agreement and took Seoyeon’s hand. As they descended the mountain, Dojun asked Seoyeon,

“What were you two talking about so amusingly?”

Seoyeon replied,

“Oh, just some trivial things.”

Seoyeon, who rarely demanded anything, still didn’t share much about her own thoughts. It was rare for her to initiate a conversation about this or that.

“Just trivial things?”

“Just talk about the weather and my mom.”

Ah, she must have talked about visiting her mother’s grave earlier that day.

“I also bought a dream.”

“A dream?”

“Grandfather said he had a good dream, so I bought it for a thousand won.”

Dojun smiled and asked Seoyeon,

“What kind of dream was it?”

“He didn’t tell me, he just told me to buy it.”

Dojun glanced at his grandfather, who was waiting in the car below. Although he didn’t show it to Seoyeon, his grandfather had been more eager about great-grandchildren whenever he saw Dojun.

Saying he was eager for a great-grandchild and would depart for the afterlife soon, he had insisted Dojun produce a son and a daughter, depending on their capability. But Dojun had firmly stated he had no plans for children yet. 

Having a child in the midst of a newlywed life? No.

He had told his grandfather to wait at least five more years before even mentioning it to Seoyeon.

She surely didn’t voluntarily buy the dream, and grandfather must have forcibly made her buy it, claiming he had a good dream.

It’s not going to be that easy. Probably.

Dojun chuckled and wrapped his arm around Seoyeon’s shoulder.

***

It was late afternoon when they returned home after eating suyuk and makguksu. As they pulled into the surface parking lot and walked to the elevator, the spring breeze still chilly, Dojun opened his big arms and wrapped them around Seoyeon. When he leaned down to kiss her, she blushed and pushed him away.

“The apartment is right there. People can see from across the street.”

She spoke as if scolding him for doing this where others might see. Dojun gave her a look that said he didn’t mind. No, the truth was he wanted someone to see. He wanted Seoyeon to be flustered. He wanted her to roll her eyes at him, saying it was all his fault for embarrassing her.

“I’m doing this so they can see.”

He leaned in again. This time, he deeply kissed Seoyeon’s face. The cold wind blew, ruffling his hair, while Seoyeon’s face hidden within his coat flushed red.

“Let’s do it this way.”

Dojun spoke, as if granting a favor. Seoyeon looked up at him, her eyes narrowed in suspicion, wondering what he was about to say. Finding her adorable, Dojun smiled briefly before continuing.

“First, I’ll be on top. Then, you’ll be on top. And at night…”

Seoyeon’s palm covered his mouth, cutting him off. Dojun bared his teeth, scratching her palm. When he stuck out his tongue to lick her hand, Seoyeon tried to pull it back, but Dojun grabbed her wrist and kissed the soft skin on the inside.

The small tussle between Seoyeon trying to retrieve her hand and Dojun kissing from the back of her hand to her palm and between her fingers continued until they reached the front door.

As the door closed behind them, Dojun pulled Seoyeon’s waist tight against him. He deeply entwined their tongues until Seoyeon’s back arched, and when he finally broke the kiss, Seoyeon’s flushed face panted for breath.

“Let’s do it this way.”

“How?”

Dojun began unbuttoning her shirt as he spoke.

“First, let’s just rest for a bit.”

Seoyeon tried to stop his hands, but he lightly brushed them aside and unfastened the buttons further down.

“Let’s have dinner.”

Dojun had undone the middle buttons as well, slipping his hands inside the shirt, and asked,

“And then?”

“And then, let’s watch the weekend drama.”

With a small click, the bra clasp came undone. But Seoyeon remained firm.

“And then?”

“And after… Ah, wait…”

Hot breath touched her chest. Seoyeon stumbled backward as Dojun kissed her chest, undoing the button on her jeans. As she was pushed back, she tried to gather her thoughts. 

What did he want to do next? ‘

Before she could think any further, the back of her legs hit the bed, and she was laid down, their hands intertwined.

She looked at the man casting a shadow over her – Hwang Dojun. At one point, she had briefly thought of him as someone she was just dating. Then he became her lover. And now, he was her husband.

Husband.

Even though it had been a year and a half since they got married, the word still felt unfamiliar. The events from the start of their relationship to their marriage felt dreamlike at times, and there were still mornings when she woke up and doubted whether Dojun was a real person.

“And after that, what did you want to do?”

As her gaze lingered on his face, he asked impatiently, a mischievous expression on his lips, indicating he had no intention of letting her go easily.

“And after that, you’ll be on top.”

Seoyeon’s coy tone contrasted with the suggestive content, causing Dojun to laugh, not having expected it.

“And then?”

Dojun’s face drew close, almost blurring her vision. She fixed her gaze on the ceiling fan above the bed as she continued.

“I’ll be on top… Mmh…”

The last words were swallowed by Dojun’s lips. She lifted her arms to wrap them around his neck, threading her fingers through his hair and meeting his tongue.  She had accepted him more times than she could count, but still made her body tingle every time.

“And then?”

Dojun asked, breaking the kiss. The tenderness that had lingered in his brown eyes faded, replaced by raw desire. Seoyeon hesitated, then voiced the words she had been contemplating.

“And then… just do it.”

Dojun furrowed his brow, not understanding what she meant.

“Just do it means…….”

Thinking this might abruptly deflate Dojun’s desire, Seoyeon opened her mouth.

“I want to have a baby.”

Dojun’s body stiffened, and his eyes narrowed. Everything grew silent, as if time had stopped. Seoyeon looked into his eyes and said it one more time.

“I want a baby.”