Chapter 7.2

Just the two of them in the stopped car, but it felt like they were spending special time in a very special place.

She could see other vehicles and people passing by outside the window.

It seemed like time had stopped only inside this car. Until they arrived in front of her husband’s company, there wasn’t much conversation, but she considered what she was feeling now to be close to happiness.

“I love you. Go Ah-jin.”

Just before getting out of the car, it was something her husband casually said. Thinking she must have heard wrong, she raised her dazed gaze, and her husband grabbed her shoulder and said again.

“I love you. I wanted to say those words to you.”

Her husband said the words the way she wanted, in her way. He had his own way of confessing, but the words she wanted to hear were very simple and classic lines.

“I’ll continue to love you in my own way from now on.”

He gently pulled her shoulder and kissed her cheek. His lips attached hotly like a brand, then separated, drawing a graceful arc. It looked as clear as a boy facing his first love.

It was endlessly unfamiliar, but also endlessly joyful.

“Go ahead and wait for me at home.”

She heard his voice asking the driver to carefully take her home safely, and the car door closed. Even when she heard the driver say they had arrived home, she was in a daze.

Whether the anesthesia had worn off, the spot where the wisdom tooth had been extracted began to throb. A sharp taste of blood lingered, but she was laughing loudly.

Even if she looked like a crazy woman to the driver, it couldn’t be helped. It was true that she had been crazy about only one man for the past 3 years.

***

“Young Madam! Where on earth did you go and only come back now!”

The housekeeper who ran out from the entrance was delighted to see her. She showed an apologetic face to the housekeeper who hugged her like family reunited after separation.

“Oh! You went to the dentist, right? Did the tooth extraction go well? Shall I make you an ice pack for cold compress? Just say anything you need.”

She also wanted to talk with such a housekeeper, so she hurriedly opened her notepad.

[Auntie. Nothing happened while I was away, right?]

“Nothing? A lot happened. Rather than this, come inside first.”

The housekeeper who hurriedly took her to the living room started with an apology. She was in the role of reporting her movements to Madam Shin, and confessed everything about being caught by President Choi Jin-wook.

[Auntie. Did you get scolded a lot?]

“Oh no, of course not. I smoothed things over well enough, so don’t you worry.”

The housekeeper tactfully omitted mentioning that she had decided to report her daily activities to President Choi Jin-wook instead of Madam Shin from now on.

Perhaps because of her age, getting involved in young people’s affairs was troublesome. Since she understood President Choi Jin-wook’s heart that cared for Ah-jin, she planned to just do well with the tasks assigned to her from now on.

[Auntie, you must have had a hard time.]

“Oh, nonsense. Not at all.”

The atmosphere switched to the usual warm and friendly one.

The housekeeper’s continuing story was more surprising the more she heard it. Even though it was just a short time, not even a few days, she couldn’t believe what her husband’s attitude had been like when she wasn’t home.

“Especially the day you came from the street food stall, Young Madam. That day I thought President Choi’s fingers would all break from fractures.”

She said it couldn’t have been more unsettling to watch him crack his fingers like a crazy person while fuming.

She laughed out loud at the words that she had even been inwardly grateful to her husband who had practically chased her out telling her to go home quickly.

It was amazing. That bringing up divorce had been effective.

She remembered her husband’s confession earlier saying he loved her and the kiss on her cheek. A cheek kiss following a kiss on the lips. It couldn’t help but be tremendous progress.

“Oh my, our Young Madam. What were you thinking to have such a flush on your face?”

The perceptive housekeeper tried to probe subtly, but she pretended not to know and brought her hand to her cheek while frowning. Though it was also thanks to her husband, it was time to take painkillers.

[Please bring me 2 painkillers.]

While the housekeeper went to get the medicine, she headed to the master bedroom. As she collapsed onto the familiar cushioned surface, comfort followed.

I love you.

I love you. Go Ah-jin.

Her husband’s voice continued to replay in her head.

‘You’re really easy, aren’t you.’

To be so elated by just one “I love you.” For her hurt feelings to be resolved so easily.

Well, she had always been such an easy woman in front of her husband.

‘Being easy isn’t necessarily bad.’

After swallowing the medicine the housekeeper brought, she helplessly fell into the deep sleep that came shortly after.

***

Her husband came home earlier than usual. It happened almost simultaneously with the housekeeper’s departure from work.

When she woke up, seeing her husband sitting by her bedside in a suit, she was so surprised she almost screamed. However, the thick gauze that more than filled the extraction hole blocked her scream.

“Does it still hurt?”

Her husband’s hand came up to her forehead. From how particularly cool it felt, she seemed to have a slight fever. When she hesitated, her husband handed her the phone on the nightstand.

[Yes. It hurts a bit.]

“The painkillers.”

[I took them. They say it normally hurts like this.]

“How much does it hurt.”

[It really hurts so much. I won’t die from this, will I?]

While she diligently pressed the keypad, her husband who was looking at the screen chuckled. She was asking out of genuine worry, but his reaction was as if it wasn’t a big deal. Her small fingers diligently swept across the screen again.

[They say don’t discuss extraction with those who haven’t had their wisdom teeth pulled.]

Her husband had returned to being expressionless again. Thinking she might have acted too unlike herself and feeling embarrassed, he muttered as if to himself.

“I’ve never had that kind of thing.”

[You should know you’re lucky. You’re really blessed.]

“Is that so.”

[Of course. They said some people have all 4 wisdom teeth extracted.]

She wrote while recalling the review content she had read diligently. At this moment, she was arguing as if she had become a spokesperson for wisdom tooth extraction patients nationwide.

“I understand what you’re saying.”

Her husband patted her shoulder a couple of times as if telling her to calm down.

After catching her breath a few times, she tried to swallow the saliva that had pooled in her mouth but stopped and frowned. Her throat area was seriously worse than when her tonsils were swollen from a cold, incomparably so.

“The housekeeper said to take care of you.”

Her husband brought water and gave her medicine to take. It was much better to take it to suppress the pain a bit. Though she took the medicine, her head was still heavy. Without any drowsiness, her eyes were wide awake.

“Sleep some more.”

When her husband tried to leave, she quickly grabbed him and made him sit down. She didn’t know why, but she just wanted her husband to stay by her side.

“Why.”

[Please stay longer. I’m in pain.]

“If you’re in pain, sleep.”

[I can’t sleep. I’m really in pain, can’t you stay by my side?]

Using the phone’s notepad had a great advantage. It was somewhat easier to type out with her fingers words she could never say with her mouth. Though it was whining like a child, she felt less embarrassed.

“I’ll wash up and come back.”

Her husband, who obediently followed her words, threw off even his shirt in front of her and went into the bathroom. In the quiet, only the sound of water could be heard.

Meanwhile, she thought about what she wanted to say to her husband. There were also things she wanted to ask. With the current atmosphere, she might be able to get answers from her husband.

“I’m telling you in advance, even if I stay by your side, it won’t be fun.”

Her husband in a robe had his bangs neatly swept up, revealing his forehead. His slightly damp hair was moist.

She stared blankly for a moment at his handsome profile that looked as if a craftsman had carefully carved it, then moved her fingers.

[You wouldn’t know. You’re someone who’s interesting even just staying still.]

“That’s the first time I’ve heard that.”

His face showed he completely didn’t understand what she was saying. If one were to look for general fun, her husband was someone without even a sense of humor, so he should have been boring.

However, he was Choi Jin-wook.

He was the owner of such perfect looks that his late father would be curious.

Even she, who had been looking at him for three years, never got tired of that face. So it didn’t matter at all that he lacked some wit or sense of humor.

It was just that her husband didn’t give her opportunities to stare at him openly, but she could spend half a day just looking at her husband’s face.

How can someone look like that?