Chapter 70

Walking with a straight posture, Haji noticed a familiar car pull up beside her. As the window rolled down slowly, Haji gave a small smile.

“I told you, you didn’t have to come…….”

“I wanted to see you.”

At Seojin’s words, Haji’s smiling lips quivered slightly.

“Me too. I wanted to see you too.”

***

In the moving car, Haji, who was looking out the window, turned her head to the driver’s seat.

“Oppa.”

When Seojin turned his head, Haji lifted the corners of her mouth and smiled softly.

“Thank you for being part of my happiness.”

“As long as I can be a part of your happiness, I’ll continue to be.”

Haji tilted her head at his words, showing a puzzled expression.

“So, if we’re not together, you won’t be part of my happiness?”

“That’s unlikely to happen.”

Tap, tap, Seojin’s fingertips drummed on the steering wheel.

“We’ll see.”

Haji frowned slightly.

“Tsk, what is this? I thought you always wanted me to be happy?”

“Under the premise of being ‘together’ with me, and you will be with me.”

“Hmm…….”

Will that be so?

Haji faced forward, recalling the conversations Seonghee had brought up not long ago.

Was it about marriage?

Sneaking a glance at Seojin’s face, Haji shook her head.

“The person involved doesn’t seem to be thinking about it.”

No need to get ahead of myself.

I don’t have any thoughts about it either.

As Haji mumbled softly, Seojin’s ears twitched.

“…….”

Seojin pretended not to notice, as Haji had been occasionally talking to herself while looking at him like this for some time.

Though she said she wasn’t thinking about marriage, seeing her ponder little by little wasn’t a bad thing.

***

Seojin found an area near Seoul that hadn’t yet been influenced by the city.

Looking at the desolate land, Seojin was lost in thought, while Matthew grumbled from behind him.

“What are you planning to build here? The land isn’t even that big.”

“Be quiet.”

Seojin had clearly told him not to follow, but Matthew tagged along, grumbling in his loud, bulky manner.

“If it’s a business plan, let me in on it, boss? Huh?”

Just listening to his tone, he sounded like a neighborhood thug. Seojin ignored Matthew, though.

“It’s too small for a resort, can’t build a hotel, hmm…….”

Realizing Seojin wouldn’t answer, Matthew started thinking to himself.

“Ah! Do you want to start a pension business? With this size, that’s all you can do.”

Even that’s a bit tight, right? 

Ignoring Matthew’s noisy chatter, Seojin turned his body.

“Hey, where are you going again?”

Matthew followed Seojin with large strides as he walked into the village instead of where he had parked his car.

“This place feels like the countryside. Who would come here for a vacation? Think it over.”

“You’re unusually talkative today.”

“I’ve got to talk now while I can, since you go straight home after work.”

The roads on both sides were fields and paddies, and the quiet road was tranquil, unlike the city center.

Seojin, walking along the road, stopped in front of an empty abandoned house.

“Was this a house? There’s no potential here. You can’t do anything with it.”

“That’s why I chose it.”

“You chose this place?”

Matthew turned his body sideways at Seojin’s voice, which finally answered him properly.

“I’m going to build a café here.”

“A café? You want to run a café too?”

“Not me.”

Haji will.

A newlywed home will be built at the spot they saw earlier.

Haji had once mentioned wanting to run a quiet café in a peaceful, countryside-like place, far from the noise of the city. Seojin had etched that thought into his mind.

Fulfilling Haji’s wish would mark a new beginning for both of them.

Seojin had already planned everything up to their marriage in his head.

Everything would proceed smoothly. According to his plan.

“Ah, boss. There’s something I didn’t tell you.”

“What?”

Without reacting much to Matthew’s words, Seojin turned his steps back to where the newlywed house would be built.

“Haji called me.”

The words stopped Seojin in his tracks.

“Why?”

Why you?

“How do you even have her number?”

“She asked for it when you got injured. Said to let her know if anything happened to you again.”

Seojin’s hardened expression, furrowed with lines, didn’t easily soften. He didn’t like the idea of her contacting another man besides him.

“What did you talk about?”

“Relax your expression. How can I talk when you look scary?”

Matthew, who was pretending to be scared while hugging his large body, stopped joking under Seojin’s sharp gaze.

“Relax. It wasn’t anything big. She’s looking for a place near your office…”

“What?”

“She said she was looking for a new place.”

“When?”

The house she had moved out of after leaving Seojin’s place had already been disposed of. Since she started sleeping in the same bed under the same roof with Seojin, there was no need for two houses.

But.

“She’s looking for a place?”

“You didn’t know? I thought she contacted me because you were busy. She asked if I knew of any good properties.”

He hadn’t known. He didn’t realize she was thinking about leaving.

He had thought her recent musings on marriage meant she was leaning toward staying with him for good.

“Why……?”

Why?

As darkness gradually descended over Seojin’s face, Matthew slowly widened the distance.

“You didn’t… tell her, did you?”

“Huh?”

“You didn’t… actually tell her?”

You did.

Seeing him slowly back away confirmed it. If there were properties available, he would have eagerly listed them all.

“I assumed you knew. And you guys weren’t going to live together forever, right? You’re not planning on getting married, are you? And you’re all healed now, so why would she need to stay?”

Preemptively defending himself against Seojin’s impending words, Matthew offered his own reasonable thoughts.

Unaware that he didn’t know Seojin’s thoughts at all.

“Who said I wasn’t?”

“What?”

“Marriage. Who said I wasn’t getting married?”

“What?”

Matthew’s small eyes blinked as he stared at Seojin’s face, seemingly at a loss for words.

“What did you say?”

With his voice rising sharply, Seojin sighed softly. He hadn’t said anything to avoid seeing such a fuss.

“Are you saying you’re getting married? You? Ki Seojin, you? How?”

“Stop it.”

So noisy.

“Does Haji know?”

“If she knew, she wouldn’t have asked you to look for a house.”

“Oh, right. That’s true.”

Matthew, flustered, nodded easily, and Seojin narrowed his eyes.

“Do you understand what you’ve done now?”

“What did I…….”

It felt like he could hear the sound of thoughts rolling around in Matthew’s big head.

“Did I help split up a couple that was going to get married?”

“Lucky you realized.”

Matthew’s mouth fell open at Seojin’s low words.

“I have something to say too.”

Seeing Matthew’s frustrated face, Seojin gestured for him to speak, his expression magnanimous, as if he were granting him a chance to make a final excuse.

“Who would’ve thought you were planning to get married? You, the ultimate individualist, the epitome of selfishness, thinking about marriage?”

“Are you insulting me?”

To my face?

Seojin’s lips twisted sideways, and Matthew frowned, shivering as if his whole body was covered in goosebumps.

“Maybe it’s an insult, but it’s the truth. Who would think you were the marrying type?”

“Hmm.”

Does Haji think the same?

He hadn’t considered that.

To him, it was obvious he wanted to be with Haji and wanted to solidify their relationship, even if that meant a piece of paper.

“Is it because it’s you that you’re thinking with such prejudice?”

“Everyone has prejudices, right?”

At Matthew’s retort, Seojin looked around. At the village where he had planned their newlywed house.

“It won’t be easy.”

Looking for a new place meant she was thinking about leaving, and that didn’t indicate she was leaning toward marriage at all.

If she was thinking about marriage and still planning to leave, either she believed he wasn’t thinking about it, or she wasn’t thinking about it herself. Or both.

“How should I stop it?”

Seojin muttered softly, raising his eyebrows.

First, I have to stop her from leaving the house.

“Putting distance between us again isn’t an option.”

I don’t want to allow that, Haji.

Seojin’s eyes shone brightly.

***

Holding coffee carriers in both hands, Haji got off the elevator. Walking cautiously down the hallway to the Chairman’s office on the top floor of the building, where she had never been before.

“Hello?”

“The owner of Dodam Dodam is here.”

The secretaries, who had already been informed of Haji’s visit, greeted her with smiles. Handing over the coffee to the secretaries who always went downstairs to buy it, she opened the door.

“Mother.”

“Haji, you’re here?”