“Anything’s fine.”
In a tender voice, Eunsu faintly smiled.
“Whether it’s a son or a daughter, your health is my top priority.”
The gentle tone tickled her ears. Eunsu softly closed her eyes as Hyukju’s hand caressed her cheek.
If they continued to gaze at each other, tears seemed imminent.
Her closed eyelashes glistened with moisture. Before the tears welled up and rolled down, Eunsu turned away. Simultaneously, Hyukju’s hand, which had been resting on her cheek, awkwardly fell.
Ultimately, tears streamed down.
Early in the morning, Hyukju hurriedly went to the airport, citing some urgent matters to attend to.
Due to tightly pursed lips, caused by the fear that the sound of crying might escape through, her face was dotted with wrinkles. Seeing her bloodstained lips, Sangjudeak assumed it was due to fatigue and boiled some nurungji, which she had obtained from the neighboring house.
A fragrant aroma filled the air as the white steam rose.
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Eunsu cleaned her plate of nurungji thoroughly.
“It’s delicious.”
“If I knew you’d enjoy it this much, I would have gotten more.”
“No, it’s not necessary.”
Eunsu lowered her head, afraid that she might inconvenience Sangjudeak because of her.
“It’s not for free. I traded it for some pickled plums, so this time, you should take some other side dishes and exchange them.”
“Still…”
Eunsu trailed off, her words tinged with apology.
It was okay for side dishes; the refrigerator was filled to the brim, so it was no trouble to exchange them until the nurungji next door became stale. Sangjudeak, who had joked about exchanging until it turned bad, suddenly burst into laughter.
Eunsu widened her eyes at the sound of her hearty laughter.
Sangjudeak, trying to stifle her laughter, spoke, “Seeing the nurungji reminded me of my late grandmother.”
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“Your grandmother?”
Eunsu cocked her head in surprise.
“Our late grandmother used to love nurungji,” Sangjudeak said as she washed the dishes on the sink counter.
“I was about twelve years old when she passed away. She was preparing dinner in the kitchen when she suddenly passed away. She was breathing heavily, and her face turned pale. Our father thought she was feeling cold, so he wrapped her in a thick blanket and held her close.”
Eunsu listened quietly to Sangjudeak’s story.
“Mother, please open your eyes,” she said as she mumbled these words. At some point, the light disappeared from her grandmother’s eyes. She passed away, you see. Even knowing that, our father held onto her for a while, as if he thought she would come back to life if he kept her warm.”
Regretfully. Sangjudeak cleared her throat and continued to speak.
“Thinking about it now, it was probably cardiac arrest. How could a country gentleman like Sangju have known about such a thing? He never went to school; he just stood near the fence and peeked over it, barely sticking his head out to catch a glimpse of the classroom.”
“If he had known about cardiac arrest, maybe Grandma would have survived.”
“To live, you know. Even if I had known, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do anything. It takes an extra hour to get to the county hospital from this remote village with no cars.”
Having finished the dishes, Sangjudeak shook off the water from her hands and tilted her head. Then, she lightly tapped one of her cheeks with her hand.
“With just a pot of rice, I spill all these stories. It’s because of regrets, too. Sometimes, I think, what if I had known about cardiac arrest, and if I had learned something like CPR back then, what would have happened, you know.”
“I feel the same way.”
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Eunsoo lightly moistened her lips, then released them.
What if the friend who was by my mom’s side when she collapsed had managed to find someone, whether it was my dad or Go Joo-gyeong, and they had administered first aid?
Eunsoo had countless thoughts like that.
If that had happened, my mom might still be alive today.
Eunsoo covered her face with her hand and then removed it.
“I’m sorry if I’ve spoken unnecessarily and unsettled Samo-nim.”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Just in case…”
Sangjudeak cautiously continued, taking her time, sitting across from Eunsoo. Eunsoo tilted her head, wondering why Sangjudeak seemed hesitant to speak, which was unusual for her.
Sangjudeak cautiously removed her hand and sat across from Eunsoo. Eunsoo tilted her head, unsure why Sangjudeak seemed hesitant to speak, which was unlike her.
Sangjudeak briefly furrowed her brow and then gently touched her throat with her hand.
“If Samo-nim feels upset with Chairman over the matter with your mother, I hope you can clear up any misunderstandings.”
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“What? Am I upset about something?”
Eunsoo chuckled softly, not quite understanding what was being said.
“I thought you might have felt like Chairman hasn’t taken any action.”
“Oh, I haven’t thought that.”
“Ah, I see. I was wondering if you were upset because I didn’t perform CPR again.”
“Even if I had… it wouldn’t have changed anything.”
“That’s true. Chairman probably went through something similar as you did.”
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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