Thrilled by Madness - Chapter 90

So Yeon, who had been watching Hyunwoo sleeping soundly for a while, came up to the second floor, changed into pajamas, and lay down on the bed.

The first day after coming to Canada with Seo Jun.

The longest day of her life so far.

It was the end of a day she would never forget.

Downstairs, the drinking session that started at dinner was still going on. As if trying to test his son-in-law, Eom Eun Hyuk, who kept clinking glasses with Seo Jun, drank alcohol like water, and Seo Jun also kept emptying his glass, matching his father-in-law’s pace.

Tae Seok Ho, who was also present at the drinking session, was merely a spectator.

Professor Eom was a heavy drinker among heavy drinkers. So even Tae Seo Jun, who usually doesn’t get drunk easily, was no match for Eom Eun Hyuk.

Knowing this well, Tae Seok Ho laughed heartily, saying Seo Jun had met his match. Seok Ho had already exceeded his usual drinking capacity, but he still joined in every time Professor Eom and Seo Jun clinked glasses. He was in a very good mood.

So Yeon had come up to her bedroom after checking on Seo Jun, who showed no signs of unsteadiness as he left Hyunwoo’s room, but she couldn’t relax given the dizzying amount of empty bottles they had gone through so far.

“Dad is driving me crazy! Couldn’t he have held back a little…”

Even if he looked fine, how could he really be fine!

So Yeon tried to sleep after turning off the lights and lying down on the bed, but she could only sigh heavily. She curled up on her side, relying on the blue light seeping through the window, and recalled Seo Jun’s low voice she had heard in the living room just moments ago.

‘Shall I say I was captivated the moment I saw her? I fell for So Yeon first.’

She had heard something similar before, but to think he would say that to her parents. Even hearing it again made So Yeon’s heart flutter wildly, her eyes curving into crescents.

“Mr. Tae Seo Jun, that’s not true. I liked you first.”

That’s how it was. From readily accepting his proposal at the hotel bar to kissing his cheek with a heart full of affection. She did all that without even knowing what a man really was, fearlessly.

And that’s not all, is it?

Even though she could have just left, she pretended to give in and stepped into his hotel room – if you think about it, that was her own will too. Moreover, it was undeniably her who grabbed him by the collar and kissed him as he was turning to leave, without thinking of the consequences.

On that winter night when thick snowflakes were piling up. So Yeon, recalling her first meeting with Tae Seo Jun, lay back straight and stared blankly at the dim ceiling.

And after some time had passed.

The sound of slightly unsteady footsteps, followed by a door closing, faintly reached So Yeon’s ears.

It seemed he had finally finished drinking with the adults and entered the room next door.

He had done his best, even kneeling before her parents right after flying in. So Yeon was very grateful to Tae Seo Jun, who didn’t hesitate to put himself down for her and Hyunwoo’s sake. It was something she couldn’t even have imagined.

Even a man with good stamina must be quite tired today.

“Thank you so much for today. Rest well and sleep tight, Mr. Tae Seo Jun…”

So Yeon’s drowsy eyes finally closed after expressing her gratitude to Seo Jun in a small voice.

But at the same moment.

“!”

With a bang, the door connecting to the next room swung open wide, and a familiar shadow crossed the threshold, leaning towards the bed where So Yeon was lying.

As Seo Jun suddenly sprawled his big, long body onto the bed with a thud, So Yeon hurriedly moved aside to make room for him.

“Ah, eek!”

“You weren’t asleep.”

Seo Jun stretched out his long arm and embraced So Yeon’s waist. Unlike his drunken movements, his voice was no different from usual.

Although it was unlikely that her parents would come up to her bedroom at this late hour, So Yeon was very conscious of the adults downstairs.

“What are you trying to do with all the adults downstairs?”

“Isn’t this why you told me about the side door? So I could come in like this?”

“N-No, it’s not!”

“Anyway, I don’t care. I want to be with you.”

His tone was whiny. Seo Jun buried his face in the chest of the woman much smaller than him, nuzzling like a puppy, and mumbled softly.

“I did a lot today. Aren’t you going to praise me? I’d like it even more if you showed me some love…”

“Okay, okay, at least take off your clothes. It’ll be uncomfortable to sleep like this.”

He chuckled languidly.

“Won’t Eom So Yeon undress me?”

Was he so drunk that he couldn’t even take off his own clothes? Seo Jun pressed his body against So Yeon, even acting spoiled. Seeing him chuckle languidly, it was obvious.

“Just how much did Dad make you drink?”

“It wasn’t your father-in-law. I drank on my own.”

“That’s the same thing. Anyway, you just drank all the alcohol my dad gave you, right?”

So Yeon said as she unbuttoned Seo Jun’s shirt one by one.

“I think I did.”

“Are you crazy?”

“I almost went crazy. For a different reason.”

Seo Jun slowly replied, slightly lifting his waist to help So Yeon’s movements.

“What kind of…?”

“You’re asking as if you don’t know. Is there anyone else who drives me crazy but you?”

“You’re swaying me again. Is that a habit of yours?”

Unable to deny that the ‘someone’ he referred to was herself, So Yeon blushed as she neatly folded the clothes she had taken off and got up from the bed.

“You’re really good. I can’t put your pajamas on, but I’ll cover you with the blanket. Sleep well.”

“Heh, look at this woman. I came because I missed you, where are you going?”

“Oh my…!”

When So Yeon tried to move away from the bed, Seo Jun suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

“Why are you really acting like this?”

So Yeon, who had fallen onto Seo Jun’s chest, protested in a small voice.

“I want to sleep together, that’s why.”

“Mom might come up in the morning.”

“So what?”

“What if you regret it after sobering up?”

“I’ve already regretted a lot…”

“What do you mean?”

“Every time I thought of you, how much I regretted. That I should have stayed awake and watched over you the night we first met, that I should have forcibly kept you by my side when you left Kadith with your ailing body.”

This man says all sorts of things when he’s drunk.

“H-Hurry up and go to sleep. I’ll go sleep in the next room.”

“Just try to go. I’ll follow you.”

The dark eyes that were giggling became clearer than before. She thought he was very drunk, but he had been pretending. Seo Jun used his long arms and legs to wrap around So Yeon, preventing her from moving.

“Don’t go anywhere.”

“Do you like me that much?”

Seo Jun, who was holding So Yeon’s small body tightly, grinned like a mischievous boy and said.

“So Yeon…”

“What?”

As So Yeon stared intently into his eyes, his husky voice sounding terribly seductive and even her mood becoming unsettled.

“Let’s date.”

“…!”

Lips slightly parted in surprise.

So Yeon, who was extremely fluttered by Seo Jun’s words, couldn’t move even a single eyebrow. The passionate kiss continued as if it would last forever. Seo Jun, who had intertwined their legs and tightly grasped So Yeon’s slender fingers between his thick knuckles, looked down at her with a languid smile.

“No one could have not looked at you.”

“…?”

Wondering what he meant, So Yeon stared blankly at Seo Jun’s face, which was very close, with eyes shimmering with emotion.

“I think I was shocked the moment I first discovered you too. I couldn’t take my eyes off you, I could only see you. It was love at first sight.”

“Are you… confessing right now? While drunk?”

Seo Jun chuckled at the clear voice replying, and shook his head while gently tapping So Yeon’s nose bridge with his fingertip.

“No…”

It wasn’t because he was drunk.

My feelings for Eom So Yeon are too big. The more I hold you, the more I want you, and those feelings have grown painfully, excessively large. At this moment, I couldn’t bear not to express those feelings.

“You were so beautiful then. Your sparkling eyes and your dazzling appearance. It made me completely forget who I had just broken up with, and why I had entered that bar…”

Even my actions of approaching you with impure intentions, compromising with myself with all sorts of excuses, seemed like pure love…

Recalling the emotions from that day when he first met Eom So Yeon, Seo Jun cupped her face, which felt more precious the more he looked at it, with his large hands, fixing her clear gaze on himself.

Even now, even during the time we were apart, Eom So Yeon always stayed within me.

She never stayed still, lightly prancing or sometimes bouncing vigorously through my head and heart. My heart beat endlessly to that rhythm.

A warm and comfortable place.

A place of extreme happiness and overwhelming joy.

A world so unrealistically perfect it seemed possible only in imagination, the coziest and most beautiful world.

That was you.

“So Yeon, I…”

I must have loved you very much…

From the moment I first saw you…

So much that it’s hard to accept…

Seo Jun’s intense gaze, deeply fixed on So Yeon, relaxed and softened. And he gently and sweetly melted all those feelings into a kiss on So Yeon’s lips.

But Seo Jun suddenly stopped moving in that state.

“…!”

Oh my goodness! Did he fall asleep while kissing?

So Yeon furrowed her brows in disbelief. Then she let out a small laugh.

How much must he have suffered from Dad’s drinking. And yet he came over to this room and charmed me with his most alluring appearance and voice. He embraced me so many times. It must have taken superhuman willpower.

So Yeon gently laid Seo Jun down beside her, and then spent a long time gazing at his handsome face, as if etching it into her eyes.

He was now her person.

No matter what anyone said, he was now her child’s father and her man.

It was around dawn when So Yeon, who had fallen asleep for a moment with her chin resting on Seo Jun’s chest, chased away her deep sleep and headed to the bathroom.

So Yeon, who dipped her whole body into the bathtub filled with warm water, starting from her toes, curled up her slender legs and placed her hand on her chest, which was still pounding steeply. It was an intense throbbing.

He said he fell for me the moment he saw me.

He said my appearance was so dazzling he couldn’t take his eyes off me.

Because of that confession, So Yeon’s heart showed no signs of calming down, instead beating even more fiercely as time passed.

So Yeon went down to the kitchen early in the morning, wearing a flowy white dress.

In her hand, after thoroughly searching the refrigerator, was a bundle of well-dried yellow pollack. So Yeon, with her lips curled up sweetly at the corners, firmly rolled up the long sleeves of her blouse.

She prepared the yellow pollack and vegetables, then stir-fried the radish and yellow pollack in a heated pot with sesame oil. When the milky broth started to come out, she added water and brought it to a boil again. So Yeon’s cooking skills were as proficient as any professional chef as she seasoned the rich broth appropriately.

Finally, So Yeon completed the yellow pollack soup by turning off the heat and pouring in the well-beaten egg mixture. Following that, she made several side dishes, kneading them carefully.

She prepared breakfast step by step, not forgetting to make rolled omelettes and round meat patties that Hyunwoo liked. By the time she finished, the morning sunlight that had been hanging on the window frame was now brightly shining into the kitchen.

The first person to appear in the kitchen was the kitchen helper.

She grumbled as if her job had been taken away, but after tasting a bit of each dish So Yeon had made, she raised her thumb high with a smile that naturally lifted the corners of her mouth.

When it was time for the meal, Tae Seok Ho, who sat down at the large, long dining table, quietly soothed his stomach, sore from last night’s drinking, with his eyes closed and arms folded. Eom Eun Hyuk, sitting across from him, also had a gloomy expression for the same reason.

Yeo Jin and Yeon Hee had just sat down at the table with Hyunwoo.

Drawn by the plain and savory aroma, Tae Seok Ho started with the soup using his spoon, while Eom Eun Hyuk emptied his soup bowl in one go, holding it with both hands.

“Ah! The broth is absolutely fantastic!”

“Indeed, yellow pollack soup is the best for hangover recovery. Please eat plenty, Chairman.”

Thanks to the hot soup, the expressions of the Chairman and the Professor, who had made a comment to him, brightened considerably as their hangover symptoms seemed to ease.

“Tsk tsk…”

There were too many people around to say anything out loud.

Yeo Jin, who had spent a sleepless night tending to her husband who suffered from severe thirst all night, clicked her tongue inwardly while staring at her husband. Yeon Hee also subtly sneered at Eom Eun Hyuk, who had been engrossed in testing his potential son-in-law.

“The cook in this house must be very skilled. I’m not exaggerating, but it suits my taste perfectly. It’s truly a tempting flavor.”

“I’m glad it suits your taste, but dear, did you make this?”

Following the Chairman’s praise, the Professor asked his wife. Then Yeon Hee, who had been expressionless, raised the corners of her eyes pleasantly and replied in a good mood.

“No, So Yeon made it.”

“No wonder it tastes so good…”

As Eom Eun Hyuk nodded as if it made sense, Yeon Hee narrowed her eyes for a moment and chuckled.

The Chairman seemed inwardly pleased. It goes without saying that she was pretty, but he was more than satisfied with his new daughter-in-law who had a deep personality and nimble cooking skills.

At this moment, Seo Jun, neatly dressed, joined the breakfast table.

“I’m a bit late. I’m sorry.”

Seo Jun, sitting at the table, glanced lightly at Hyunwoo across from him.

“Did you sleep well? Mister.”

Hyunwoo, true to his upbringing, politely greeted him. However, due to the somewhat ambiguous title of ‘Mister’, everyone’s expressions became awkward, as if they were smiling but not quite.

How could the perceptive Hyunwoo not notice this strange atmosphere? After quickly scanning the faces of his grandparents, the child spoke his mind without hiding it.

“Dad looks good, but it feels weird to call him Dad. Is it not okay to call him Mister?”

“…”

As if he didn’t mind what he was called, Seo Jun just chuckled. Whether it was Mister or Dad, the fact that this child was his son remained unchanged.

“It’s okay, Hyunwoo. You can call me Dad when you’re ready. It’s not too late.”

So Yeon, who had placed a newly prepared bowl of soup in front of Seo Jun, hurriedly sat down next to Hyunwoo.

“Hee.”

Thinking ‘Mom is on my side!’, Hyunwoo tightly hugged So Yeon’s arm and wrinkled his nose.

He was not a child to be taken lightly because of his age. Moreover, since there was nothing wrong with Hyunwoo’s words, Yeo Jin said to everyone.

“That’s right, take it slow, Hyunwoo. Don’t you all agree? Even I’m still not used to this situation, so how much more difficult must it be for the child.”

The slightly tense atmosphere softened with Cha Yeo Jin’s words.