Still, for a moment, that I was your wife, and you were my husband.
As Eunjae was about to put the wedding invitations in her bag, the delivery box that Aunt had given her a while ago was caught. Eunjae took a deep breath and sat down in front of the box. After a moment of hesitation, her hand, which had been on the box, removed the tape. Then she took out the heavy album inside.
As she flipped through the album one page at a time, every scene played vividly before her eyes.
They were an extremely awkward couple.
More than half of the album passed, and there was not a single photo of them looking at each other. It was understandable. Until now, they were bound by a contract and couldn’t even say they liked each other, so they were suffering alone.
“This dress was really beautiful.”
It was a dress with tightly packed beads that sparkled.
Eunjae recalled the events of that day while flipping through the album slowly advancing with memories. When the album reached its last page, his voice echoed like a hallucination.
“Jieunjae, I want to go home quickly. Turn your head to the right.”
“Sure, just stay like that.”
It was the only photo where they were looking at each other.
The day when a tense atmosphere hung in the air as if they were about to touch lips. The day when their lips finally met, and their hearts raced like crazy. It felt like his heart was pounding again, just like that day.
I was so worried that this heartbeat might be heard by you; I was really careful.
Looking at the images of maintaining a precarious distance and the moments where their lips touched, Eunjae realized something she hadn’t noticed at the time.
From this point on, your gaze was this intense. Did you like me from this point on, or was it even earlier?
“Thinking about it now, I really had no sense.”
Rather than that, I drew a line, thinking that a talented person like you wouldn’t like me. If I had realized a little earlier, maybe we could have had more time together.
With regret lingering in her fingertips, Eunjae stayed there without turning the last page of the album.
Even then, I was afraid of being left alone like this. That’s why I didn’t want to leave anything behind.
Later, when I look at this album, will it hurt as much as it does now?
After accumulating such thoughts, Eunjae suddenly realized that it was fortunate that they only had a marriage registration.
“If we had a wedding ceremony, I might have met other women…”
As Eunjae continued speaking, her lips tightly closed. The joints of the bones clenched in her tightly held hand turned white. When the image of him being with another woman, smiling beside another woman, whispering love to another woman came to mind, her entire body suddenly relaxed.
I didn’t even want to imagine it.
You being with another woman, smiling next to another woman, whispering love to another woman. All of it.
In fact, leaving like this didn’t suit my taste either; I wanted to pretend not to know and stay by your side.
If I were as good as you, I might have run away to someplace deserted. That’s how I felt.
I’ve imagined running away ten times, twenty times, a hundred times. But suddenly, I had this thought.
If we run away like that, would we be happy?
Finally calming her heart, Eunjae gathered the album and wedding invitations and put them into the empty suitcase.
“Hey, Jieunjae! Are you here?”
Startled by the sound of footsteps relatively close and Taekyu’s voice, Eunjae quickly pushed the closed suitcase under the bed.
“Am I coming up?”
Although he was already coming up. The footsteps, as if my opinion was not important, got faster and faster.
Helplessly, Eunjae gave a brief answer, stood up, and stood in front of the dressing table, sniffing while looking at the mirror. She thought she had cried a little, but her eyes were swollen now.
Will it show too much? If someone asks why I cried, what should I say?
While wiping away the traces of tears, Eunjae, lost in thought, found Taekyu, who had somehow reached the third floor, peeping through the slightly open door.
“What were you doing?”
“Is it okay to wander around someone else’s honeymoon suite like this?”
“I came up because Yoon Seonwoo is at the hospital. Or do you think I climbed up here knowing what you two would be up to?”
Taekyu, who had been watching Eunjae’s face turn red in an instant, smirked as he casually scanned the room. Then, he chuckled annoyingly, sniffed his nose, and said,
“There’s a really delicious smell here. What did you eat alone?”
“Aunt made braised short ribs. If you want, let her know.”
Observing Taekyu smelling the scent inside the bedroom through the slightly open door, Eunjae, rubbing her forehead as if tired, let out a deep sigh.
“Why are you here? Just quickly say what you need to and leave. I’m really tired today; I want to rest a bit.”
“Ah… You’re so prickly. I’m here because I have something to ask.
Taekyu, looking at Eunjae’s eyes, which were clearly full of distress, fell into thought for a moment.
‘What’s really going on? Both of them don’t look good.’
Then he recalled the conversation he had with Seonwoo when they met on the cloud bridge. When Seonwoo was about to pass by after telling him about Narim, Taekyu stopped him with these words.
“I can… help?”
“As soon as we finish work, let’s go home.”
“Of course!”
“Except it’s not your home, it’s our home.”
“What? Why would I go there?”
“A woman’s heart is best understood by a woman.”
Really? Breathing out like someone who has realized something, Seonwoo handed a card from his pocket to Taekyu.
“The macarons you bought for Eunjae when my mother-in-law was sick, she really enjoyed them.”
At that time, Taekyu thought it was a suggestion for him to go and consult with Eunjae. But now it seemed like Seonwoo was asking him to check if Eunjae had any concerns, or maybe he was asking him to buy macarons again.
If you’re going to say something, say it properly; why beat around the bush like this? It confuses people.
Anyway, I don’t like it.
Taekyu, licking his lips again, looked at Eunjae with deer-like pupils and spoke like pleading.
“Am I going to keep standing here like this? Come out for a moment. Let’s talk.”
Taekyu’s friend story made Eunjae, who had been frowning throughout, suddenly burst into a small laugh.
“Why are you laughing all of a sudden? I’m being serious, you know?”
“Is that story about you?”
“No, really, it’s about a friend.”
“Really? Then go to that friend and tell them they’re busted.”
“Oh, damn… What do I do now?”
“What do you mean, ‘What do you do?’ Just tell them you like them. I’m really tired, Taekyu.”
“Hey, I’m serious now, can’t you talk seriously? The kid has no soul.”
“Now go. We’ll talk later. I really don’t have the energy to respond.”
As Eunjae, who had stood up from the sofa, walked away, Taekyu, who was following her step by step, followed her to the bedroom. When he did, Eunjae tried to close the bedroom door abruptly.
“Say it nicely when you leave.”
“Huh?”
Stretching his hand awkwardly between the bedroom doors, Taekyu pointed at the teddy bear lying on the bed.
“What’s that? Is it yours?”
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
