🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 6
“No.”
Ahan shook his head.
“They’re the same color as your eyes.”
He said it so casually that Yeoreul’s eyes widened.
Her round irises, faintly tinged with light brown, trembled.
Ahan popped a walnut into his mouth and chewed.
Its rich, nutty flavor spread across his tongue.
Yeoreul stared at him blankly, unable to think of a response.
“Does it taste good?”
Her grandmother’s attention turned toward them.
“Yes.”
“It’s fragrant… a little sweet.”
“It’s delicious.”
Ahan answered politely, his tone courteous and respectful.
As he spoke with her grandmother, he quietly watched Yeoreul.
Only now did expression begin to return to her face.
Her clear eyes regained their usual brightness.
This time, both her eyes and her lips were truly smiling.
“Would you like to stay the night?”
While her grandmother briefly stepped away, Ahan spoke quietly.
Yeoreul looked at him in surprise.
“I think it’s fine if we return to my family home tomorrow.”
“…Ah.”
“We’ve already spent enough time together.”
Ahan watched Yeoreul’s reflection in his teacup.
“I’ll head back first.”
“Stay here tonight.”
Hearing his reassurance a second time, Yeoreul nodded without hesitation.
“Okay.”
Ahan lowered the teacup from his face and looked at her.
“I will.”
There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in her answer.
A beautiful smile bloomed across her delicate face.
There wasn’t even a trace of regret in the eyes looking back at him.
She didn’t even offer the polite, customary words asking him to stay a little longer.
Her bright smile seemed to say:
Have a safe trip home.
For some reason…
He didn’t like that very much.
“You must be tired. Go home and get some rest.”
“My legs aren’t what they used to be, so I can’t walk you very far.”
Her grandmother smiled kindly.
Ahan slowly rose to his feet.
“That’s perfectly all right.”
Apparently pleased with her new grandson-in-law, the old woman’s smile never left her face.
“Thank you for coming.”
“Thank you for having me.”
“I’ll visit again.”
Watching Ahan’s neat, gentle smile in silence, Grandma lightly nudged her granddaughter.
“Go see him off.”
“Okay.”
Yeoreul hurriedly slipped on her shoes and followed him outside.
Halfway there, Ahan suddenly stopped.
Then he took one step closer.
The sudden closeness made Yeoreul instinctively clasp her own hands together.
“…Please travel safely.”
When Ahan looked at her, she hesitated before finally speaking.
After all that hesitation…
Those ordinary words were all she managed to say.
“That’s all?”
Ahan absentmindedly brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
Startled by the unexpectedly gentle touch, Yeoreul blinked in confusion.
“I thought you were about to say something much more important.”
“You took so long.”
He added the last sentence matter-of-factly.
Was he teasing me?
Just then, the waiting chauffeur stepped out of the car.
“I’ll be going.”
As Ahan turned away, the driver opened the rear door.
Once Ahan got inside, the heavily tinted windows hid his face from view.
Yeoreul bowed politely.
The chauffeur returned the bow before climbing into the driver’s seat.
Soon, the black car disappeared into the dark, narrow alley.
Yeoreul stood there for quite a while, watching the direction it had gone.
Only after the car had completely vanished did she finally return inside.
After taking a shower, Yeoreul didn’t go to the small bed in her own room.
Instead, she stepped into her grandmother’s bedroom.
She slipped beneath the blanket and lay beside her, staring at the ceiling.
Feeling her grandmother’s warmth beside her brought an immediate sense of comfort.
“I pray for you every day, Yeoreul.”
Pulling the blanket higher around her granddaughter’s shoulders, Grandma gently patted her back.
“My poor, silly Yeoreul.”
“I thought you always called me your smart girl.”
“You were acting like such a silly girl today.”
With her wrinkled hand, Grandma softly stroked Yeoreul’s cheek.
“You grew up precious too.”
“Without a single flaw.”
“You know that, don’t you?”
Yeoreul nodded at her grandmother’s worried words.
“Will he treat you well?”
Yeoreul moved closer and hugged her.
“…Yes.”
“He’ll treat me well.”
“Oh, then that’s enough.”
Grandma sighed.
“My poor child…”
“Getting married to a man you don’t even love…”
She insisted that such a thing made no sense in this day and age.
Yet…
Perhaps meeting her future grandson-in-law had put her mind at ease.
Or perhaps it had simply released the tension she’d been carrying.
Before long, Grandma fell asleep.
Even as she drifted off, she kept clicking her tongue now and then.
Yeoreul, however, couldn’t sleep.
The pale blue light outside had long since faded into darkness.
Then it began to rain.
Inside the quiet room, the old window rattled in the wind.
She lay still, listening to the rain striking the glass.
She loved the sound of rain.
Wanting to hear it more clearly, she got up and opened the window just a few inches.
Then she lay back down beside her sleeping grandmother.
A cool breeze drifted through the opening.
Her heart finally felt at ease.
It was almost as though she’d cried until there were no tears left.
Eventually…
Listening to the steady rainfall beneath the dark night sky…
Yeoreul slowly closed her eyes.
Beyond the frosted window…
Night deepened.
And she found herself thinking of Ahan.
He probably knows everything.
* * *
“Your father really is something.”
On the drive back to the mansion, Ahan was speaking with his mother, Seook.
“I honestly thought he didn’t know.”
“When I asked why he acted that way, he said it might all be a misunderstanding.”
“He even said there might be circumstances in their family that we don’t know about.”
Before long, the car stopped at a traffic light.
“Your father really is too kind.”
“He’s kind to everyone.”
“I fell in love with that part of him—the way his kindness helps him understand people’s true nature.”
“But…”
“Just as we suspected, that man intends to squeeze money out of our family.”
“It seemed like he didn’t want his family’s problems exposed.”
“So we pretended not to notice.”
“Sometimes it’s better to leave things unsaid.”
Ahan slowly opened his eyes.
“That man…”
“…is even worse than I expected.”
The shameless expression on Taeha’s face flashed through Seook’s mind, leaving her momentarily speechless.
“Does he really think we wouldn’t know he threw Yeoreul out of the house?”
“And then he lies so shamelessly.”
Ahan could almost picture his mother brushing her dark chestnut waves back from her forehead before speaking.
He quietly waited.
His sharp eyes remained as calm as ever.
“The way he tears down his own daughter even in front of other people…”
“It tells you everything.”
A sigh came through the phone.
“She’s such a good, upright girl.”
“She must have suffered a great deal growing up under a father like that.”
The words sounded sympathetic toward Yeoreul.
But they were really meant for her son.
She never explicitly said:
So you should be good to her.
She didn’t need to.
Seook simply wanted them to be happy.
She wanted Ahan to understand…
How much strength could be found in kind words.
In warm words.
Yet…
She didn’t believe she had the right to teach him that.
Her son rarely spoke.
“Could you at least let me know you’re listening?”
His mother’s exasperated complaint made Ahan tap the screen of his phone twice with his fingertip.
Tap.
Tap.
“…Hah.”
Ahan chuckled.
He laughed like a mischievous little boy.
Seeing him behave in a way he never had even as a child, Seook clicked her tongue helplessly.
You just don’t like staying on the phone for too long, do you?
“Honestly…”
“…You.”
“I’m hanging up.”
Despite her words, she didn’t sound upset.
“Yes.”
Ahan answered calmly.
The call ended.
Without realizing it, the sky had turned completely dark.
He glanced at the empty seat beside him.
A faint crease formed between his brows.
She had smiled at him so beautifully while thanking him.
She had smiled as though returning home made her happier than anything else.
As though she possessed the entire world.
She smiled…
Even while watching him leave.
Without even the slightest regret.
You’re supposed to come to me now…
If you come to my side…
Will you stop smiling like that?
It was a question he didn’t want to ask.
The emptiness inside him, which he had expected would disappear, only grew larger.
The memory of her smiling happily as they parted irritated him.
A quiet snort of laughter escaped him.
The chauffeur glanced into the rearview mirror.
As usual…
Ahan’s eyes weren’t smiling.
Only his lips were.
The car continued through the rain-darkened roads.
Headlights reflected off puddles scattered across the asphalt.
The sound of rain kept stirring something inside him.
So Ahan quietly fixed his gaze on the deep indigo night sky…
Trying to calm the turmoil in his heart.
* * *
Summer had fully settled over the world, painting everything in its vibrant colors.
Yeoreul walked toward her classroom with her college friend, Young.
She preferred simple, feminine clothes.
Never too flashy.
Never too plain.
Just… unmistakably her.
Yeoreul held out a black shopping bag.
“Young.”
“Here.”
“The things you asked me to pick up.”
Inside were sewing supplies and the fabric Young had ordered.
Young’s eyes lit up.
“Wow! Thank you!”
“I’m really sorry I couldn’t go myself.”
“The morning shift at work suddenly needed me.”
Apparently she’d come straight from work, because her wavy brown hair was tied up high in a messy bun.
Young tucked the bag into her backpack.
“Seriously, thank you.”
“I’ll buy you something really delicious.”
“If it weren’t for you, I would’ve spent the whole class panicking.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Going to the fabric market alone drains all my energy.”
“I’m still not used to the way they look at students.”
The workers at the fabric market could recognize students at a glance.
When they did, they often ignored them.
Or pretended not to hear.
“Where are you from?”
“Oh… I’m a student.”
“We don’t sell retail.”
After repeating that conversation countless times…
They’d probably grown tired of students.
“I don’t think this major suits me.”
“How am I supposed to survive in an industry full of such intimidating people?”
“Hm?”
“You talk to people just fine.”
“You’ve worked so many part-time jobs.”
“You’ve got plenty of experience dealing with customers.”
“No.”
“The people in this industry are on a completely different level.”
“Honestly…”
“I’d rather deal with abusive customers all day.”
“It’s healthier for my mental state.”
“You know exactly what I mean.”
Walking beside her, Yeoreul nodded in quiet agreement.
“That’s true.”
“But I’ve gotten used to it.”
“I understand why they’re like that.”
“…Hmm.”
“Sometimes you seem incredibly timid.”
“And then other times…”
“…not at all.”
Young thought for a moment.
Then suddenly clapped her hands.
“Oh!”
“I almost forgot.”
She turned to Yeoreul.
“So…”
“Once the semester ends…”
“You’re moving into that house, right?”
Graduation was only a short time away.
Afterward…
She would have to move into Ahan’s home on the outskirts of Seoul.
“Stay quietly in that house until the wedding.”
“Don’t do anything that might upset Director Woo.”
Suddenly, Taeha’s greedy voice echoed through Yeoreul’s memory.
“I don’t know why…”
“But he seems to like you quite a bit.”
“At this rate, even if he realizes you’re pretending, he’ll overlook it.”
“Act cute if you have to.”
“Do whatever it takes to make sure this marriage can’t be called off.”
“Do you understand?”
He had repeated those words over and over again.
“They say it’s practically out in the countryside.”
Young frowned.
