Seeing the handkerchief the woman handed him, Hyuk Joo’s drunkenness disappeared instantly.
It was the same as the handkerchief his mother had given him before she passed away.
That’s how Hyuk Joo had a miraculous chance encounter with Seo Yeon Ji, the girl he had been searching for. That day was the anniversary of his mother’s death.
As if to make up for his past indifference towards his mother, Hyuk Joo did everything he could to help Seo Yeon Ji.
“Guilt, responsibility, sympathy….”
Those were the feelings he harbored towards Seo Yeon Ji.
There was a time when he confused his pitiful and helpful feelings for love.
Because he wanted to fulfill all of Seo Yeon Ji’s wishes.
But those were merely efforts to wash away his guilt for having neglected his mother during his childhood.
If it was love, if those feelings were love, his heart should have fluttered like when he faced Eun Soo. But there was never a moment when he felt that way while looking at Seo Yeon Ji.
When he thought of Eun Soo, Hyuk Joo felt an uncharacteristic impulse.
The desperate need to hold her tight and whisper his love to her arose dozens of times a day.
Even at the moment when he was redialing an unanswered call.
“Weren’t you supposed to come in with Hyuk Joo?”
Auntie, seeing Eun Soo come in alone, tilted her head.
“……He had urgent work, so he went back to the office.”
“What office work isn’t done by me alone, tsk tsk.”
Auntie closed the book in her hand with a cluck of her tongue. She stood up from her seat and asked Eun Soo.
“Dinner?”
“……I’ve eaten.”
“Change your clothes and come down. Let’s have a cup of tea.”
“Yes, Auntie.”
Eun Soo went upstairs to change her clothes. When she came down, she saw a servant coming out of the kitchen with tea she had prepared.
“I’ll take it.”
“Yes, Young Mistress.”
Eun Soo carefully walked towards Auntie’s room, holding the tray.
When she knocked on the door, a voice from inside told her to come in.
Eun Soo opened the door and entered Auntie’s room. Auntie was sitting in front of a window overlooking the garden.
“Sit down.”
“Yes.”
Eun Soo set the tea on the table and took a seat. The tea inside the cup was quince tea, full of warm and sweet aroma.
It was homemade, made from the quinces they had picked from the garden at the end of autumn.
Eun Soo took a sip of the quince tea.
Her lips naturally rose at the sweet and fragrant taste.
“It tastes good.”
“……Yes, it does.”
“Even the bitter quinces become delicious when carefully made into preserves. If a mere tea can be like this, what about people, isn’t it?”
At the question, Eun Soo only managed a faint smile.
She knew well what Auntie meant by talking about quince tea.
It was a message to work harder, to completely erase the woman Hyuk Joo couldn’t forget.
While it seemed that Auntie was concerned about Eun Soo, she was also more strict with her than anyone else.
If Eun Soo let her guard down, it was as if Auntie feared she might cause some kind of accident, alternating between praise and reprimand. That’s why even words mixed with subtle praise made Eun Soo tense.
She naturally wondered what kind of pressure was being applied this time.
“From what I see, it seems like Hyuk Joo has made up his mind, is that right?”
About to say no, Eun Soo closed her mouth and lifted her head.
That Moon Hyuk Joo had made up his mind.
She almost laughed through her lips.
Her husband hadn’t made up his mind, he was just happy because the woman he had been waiting for had returned.
The reason he took care of her more than ever was out of guilt.
It was all to alleviate his sense of guilt.
Auntie, who noticed Moon Hyuk Joo’s subtle changes better than Eun Soo, seemed to see it as a sign of his commitment to the family.
“You don’t know how happy I was inside when he took your side last time.”
“……”
“He told me not to make things harder for you because of the child, and I thought, ‘It’s about time.’ You’ve been through a lot.”
Eun Soo stared at Auntie, who was holding her hand.
She had to tell her that it wasn’t like that, that she had misunderstood, but she couldn’t open her mouth.
She had no choice but to smile without a word.
Eun Soo briefly thought about what would happen the moment she told Auntie about that woman meeting Hyuk Joo again.
Auntie would immediately go and confront that woman, and if that happened, Moon Hyuk Joo would…
‘He would despise me.’
Eun Soo bit her lip.
She had become Moon Hyuk Joo’s wife out of sympathy. So the only way to keep this position was to live pitifully.
“Eun Soo.”
“Yes, Auntie.”
“A couple becomes closer when they have a child. If there’s a child, you can overcome any crisis.”
Hearing Auntie’s words, Eun Soo lowered her gaze.
Moon Hyuk Joo’s Aunt Moon Young Ran was divorced almost forcibly from her political family because she couldn’t have children. Even then, she heard that Moon Young Ran couldn’t say anything against the unfair divorce because her inlaws were so powerful.
Was it because of her past?
Moon Young Ran was particularly sensitive to the issue of a child between Hyuk Joo and Eun Soo.
Of course, there was also a worry that Hyuk Joo might waver because of that woman.
“Just in case…”
Auntie hesitated before continuing.
“You’re not purposely using contraception, are you?”
“Pardon?”
“I suddenly worried that Hyuk Joo might be doing something like that.”
“……That’s not it.”
Eun Soo vehemently shook her head.
From their first night together to the present, they had never used contraception even once.
It wasn’t that they rarely had marital relations either.
But Eun Soo also wondered why they hadn’t had a child yet.
“Well, then that’s a relief.”
“……I’ll try harder.”
“Good. Go rest now.”
“Yes.”
Eun Soo picked up her empty tea cup and left Auntie’s room. The housemaid who had been waiting in the living room took the tray and went to the kitchen.
Standing in the middle of the living room, Eun Soo raised her head to look at the clock on the wall.
10 p.m.
Would he come home today?
‘I sprained my ankle while cleaning out the closet.’
The words of that woman, who had pitifully claimed to have hurt her ankle, resurfaced.
Eun Soo clenched her fist tightly.
I’ve never had a moment’s peace because of you, but with just a sprained ankle, you’re acting like the world is ending and calling my husband…
“How foolish.”
Eun Soo gave a hollow laugh.
She was the one stuck in between them. Whether that woman called Hyuk Joo or not, she had no place to say anything.
Brushing her disheveled hair back with her hand, she was about to go upstairs.
The sound of the door opening made Eun Soo turn her head.
She saw Hyuk Joo entering through the door.
“……Are you just coming home now?”
“Yeah.”
“Father is said to have stayed overnight in Sokcho.”
“I heard.”
He looked very tired.
The tie that usually neatly filled his neck was nowhere to be seen. Between the few unbuttoned buttons, the rising and falling of his Adam’s apple and a deep sigh could be heard.
She was about to suggest that he take a bath if he was very tired. However, Hyuk Joo walked into Auntie’s room.
Watching his back, Eun Soo went upstairs first.
Was it because she skipped dinner?
Her stomach ached.
She should have had a glass of water before going up.
Feeling tired, Eun Soo decided it would be better to go to bed early and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth.
“Haah……”
She didn’t know why she kept sighing.
As Eun Soo was entering the bedroom after finishing brushing her teeth, she saw Hyuk Joo looking out the window and stopped in her tracks.
His shoulders looked heavy as if he was deep in thought about something.
Could he be feeling guilty about leaving that sick woman alone and coming back?
‘You’re quite pitiful too.’
About to call him, Eun Soo closed her mouth.
She felt that she might never be able to call out to Hyuk Joo, who was standing with his back to her, even if she lived by his side as his wife for a lifetime.
Did he sense her presence?
Hyuk Joo turned around.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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