As they passed the large gate intertwined with rose vines, Sun Woo momentarily halted the car, seeming to have waited, and twisted his body towards Eun Jae.
“Miss Ji Eun Jae, what if I told you that I’m fine there?”
“Then, do I say I’m not fine? So, you should have answered well before the question came back to me.”
It wasn’t a conversation that involved shouting. They both tried to minimize their voices and converse calmly.
Sun Woo slowly brushed his hair back, took a deep breath, and suppressed his emotions.
“There are many good answers, like ‘I’ll think about it,’ ‘I’ll decide after discussing it.’ Why are you so onedimensional?”
“Onedimensional?”
“Yes, fine or not fine. If that’s not onedimensional, what is?”
“Good grief.”
Eun Jae looked at Sun Woo with narrow eyes and smirked. Sun Woo exhaled a sigh mixed with a breath and lowered the car window on the driver’s side. A cool breeze blew in from the verdant forest.
‘The weather is disgustingly good in the midst of this.’
In fact, he knew that whether Eun Jae answered positively or not, if it was a word from his grandfather, he would have to do it no matter what.
Once a month, twice or three times at most.
He thought he could deceive enough if they only met that much, but his plan had deviated considerably. That meant, the woman had a lot to do.
His counterpart was his grandfather.
He was consumed by the thought that he might get caught if this continued.
There had been no mistake in what he had planned so far. He was precise and calculative, a meticulous person who prepared even for potential variables.
But why.
Why didn’t things go as planned with this woman?
Even if he had prepared for B, C, D while planning for A, the end of that plan was always Z, rendering his preparations meaningless.
“Who do you think will be tired when you go home? Do you think it’s me?”
“I know, you said that because of me.”
“Does a person who knows that respond like that?”
“……”
A moment of silence passed. Sun Woo, who had taken a deep breath, pressed his throbbing temples and started the car.
“I was fine.”
What on earth was fine? When he looked at the woman with an expressionless face,
“I was fine because I was in a place smelling of people after a long time.”
At the woman’s calmly uttered words, his chest began to feel stifled.
A quiet and deep silence enveloped them, and that silence lingered beside them for a long time.
Eun Jae, who had been looking at the swiftly passing scenery outside the car window, let out a small sigh that only she could recognize.
She didn’t know why such words had sprung out at that moment. She had said unnecessary things to the man. On a subject she had no right to.
‘I tried my best.’
She didn’t wish for recognition, but she couldn’t hide her sad feelings.
It was a story from her childhood, now faint enough to barely remember, but there had been a time when Eun Jae’s family was also harmonious.
She didn’t know when, or what kind of day it was. It was just an ordinary day.
Moments when they had laughed during a delicious dinner, moments when they had walked riding on dad’s neck, moments when they had danced wearing new shoes, those moments remained in her brain like photographs.
The days were vivid for the memory of a mere fouryearold child. Perhaps because they were the most brilliant moments in my life.
It was a peaceful life that could have continued if only dad hadn’t neglected his family and fallen into gambling.
She smelled a similar scent from that day at the man’s house today.
The delicious smell of food wafted around, along with the nonstop laughter; a warm scent.
A scent that I had smelled in our house when I was a child.
For that one day, it felt like I had returned to being the carefree fouryearold who accepted the food that mom spoonfed me and knew how to act cute in front of dad.
It felt as if a light had permeated into my lonely life that had no one to welcome me.
So, for that moment, my words were filled with sincerity even without my knowing.
So, it was good.
The silence continued until we reached home.
We arrived at the parking lot, and it was when Sun Woo, who had pulled up the handbrake, unfastened his seat belt.
“I know what you’re worried about.”
It felt like if not now, I would miss the chance to say it. So, Eun Jae gathered her courage.
“You said that the words coming out of grandfather’s mouth are like law. That’s why I did it. Because I feel like I can’t resist anyway.”
The more often we encounter each other, the higher the probability of making a mistake. And I know well that even a single mistake is not acceptable to us.
“I’ll be more careful, I’ll be cautious and try not to say much.”
“……”
Without responding, Sun Woo who had unbuckled his seat belt, slowly turned his head towards Eun Jae. Sun Woo met her gaze, looking quite upset.
“But didn’t I do quite well today?”
Again, the man did not give any response.
She hadn’t wanted praise, but she just hoped for a single word of ‘You’ve worked hard.’
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
