A Marriage with A Reason - Chapter 14

Tick, tock, tick, tock… Before she knew it, it was almost 10 o’clock. The raindrops that had started falling one by one had grown heavier.

“Haa… It’s raining… But why isn’t my senior here yet? It’s already 10…”

Even though it was the promised time, the front door showed no sign of opening. She peeked outside just in case, but only the empty apartment hallway greeted her.

“I really don’t want to be alone tonight…”

Dayun looked up at the sky, which was drenching the earth with countless raindrops, her eyes filled with sadness.

Meanwhile, Jaehoon’s taxi arrived in front of Hyeyun’s house.

“Wow, it’s really coming down hard. Well, they did say there’d be thunder and lightning too.”

The driver was right. Even inside the taxi, the rain sounded deafening, as if it could break through the roof at any moment. The heavy sound of the rain weighed on Jaehoon’s chest like a stone. He thought about Dayun at home—she was probably still waiting for him, even though it was already past 10.

Jaehoon paid the driver and helped Hyeyun out of the car. The driver glanced at him with a disapproving look before speaking.

“If you can, don’t stay too long. I overheard earlier… Sounds like his wife is home. Don’t cause any trouble.”

Jaehoon couldn’t say a word. From an outsider’s perspective, what he was doing must have looked completely inappropriate. The driver, seeing Jaehoon’s silence, gave him a pitying look before quickly driving away, as if he had never spoken.

“Don’t cause any trouble…”

How long did he stand there, staring blankly at the spot where the taxi had disappeared?

“Mm…”

Hyeyun’s murmur brought Jaehoon back to his senses. Supporting her, he turned toward the house.

“Let’s go inside.”

Standing in front of her door, Jaehoon naturally entered his birthdate on the keypad. With a beep, the door unlocked. He helped Hyeyun take off her shoes and carefully laid her on the bed.

Just when he thought she had fallen asleep, her eyes fluttered open, and in a slightly hoarse voice, she spoke.

“Jaehoon… Water… I’m thirsty…”

“Okay.”

Jaehoon left the room and soon returned with a cup of cold water. Hyeyun grabbed it and drank greedily, as if she had been dying of thirst.

“Ahh…”

“Are you feeling better now?”

“…A little?”

“Liar.”

Despite her words, she still looked drunk. Her eyes were unfocused. Jaehoon pulled the blanket over her and spoke gently.

“Get some rest. You have work tomorrow, don’t you?”

“Mm.”

His hand stroked her hair, and she let out a soft giggle, nodding. But as he turned to leave, her expression stiffened, and she suddenly grabbed his hand. Startled, Jaehoon turned back to face her.

“You’re leaving?”

Their eyes met, and he could see the uneasiness in hers. She tightened her grip on his hand.

“Don’t go. Can’t you just stay here tonight?”

Stay the night… But Jaehoon couldn’t. And he didn’t want to. His thoughts kept drifting elsewhere. He gently but firmly removed his hand from hers and spoke decisively.

“I can’t stay. You and I are a man and a woman. And besides, I’m a married man.”

Hyeyun’s face fell. She looked hurt. But she knew this about Jaehoon—he wasn’t the type to cross the line, not even before he got married. That thought reassured her a little. If he had never done anything like that with her, then surely he hadn’t with Dayun either.

Still, she felt disappointed. But then, Jaehoon spoke again.

“I’ll stay until you fall asleep. So, go to sleep.”

“Okay.”

Time passed, and once Hyeyun finally drifted off, Jaehoon quietly got up. He glanced at her sleeping figure one last time before stepping out of her apartment.

As soon as he exited the building, the rain was still pouring relentlessly.

“Haa…”

The rain showed no sign of stopping, falling as if trying to pierce the ground. Thunder rumbled, followed by flashes of lightning. Jaehoon sighed and waited for the taxi he had called.

Meanwhile, back at home…

In the dark living room, flashes of lightning briefly illuminated the scene. On the sofa, curled up like a child, was Dayun. She had fallen asleep waiting for him. She had no blanket, and her posture suggested she was cold.

But soon, a loud crack of thunder split the sky, jolting her awake.

“Haa…”

As soon as she opened her eyes, all she saw was darkness. The sudden flashes of lightning painted the room in eerie, ghostly light. Her heart pounded with fear.

“I’m scared…”

She was terrified—truly, deeply terrified. The flashing sky, the suffocating darkness, the heavy rain… They all reminded her of that day.

Desperate to break free from the memories, she reached for the light switch. But nothing happened. A blackout.

Phone… I need my phone…

She fumbled around the sofa, searching for it, but it was nowhere to be found. Then she remembered—she had left it in the bedroom.

Of course, she could just go in and get it. But for her, it wasn’t that simple. She couldn’t open the door. If she did, she might come face to face with the same shadow as that day. Fear consumed her.

In the end, she curled up on the sofa, hugging her knees and covering her ears. She wished she could see nothing, hear nothing. She tried to swallow her fear, trembling alone in the darkness.

At that moment, Jaehoon finally arrived at their apartment.

“Haa, why is it raining so much?”

His face twisted in irritation as he stepped into the elevator, soaked even from the short walk inside. He was annoyed—annoyed that the day had ended and a new one had already begun.

“She’s probably asleep by now…”

He felt guilty. If he had known he’d be this late, he wouldn’t have promised to come home by 10. He felt like a liar. Dayun had surely waited for him.

With a mix of regret and exhaustion, Jaehoon entered the apartment. He walked toward the kitchen, planning to grab some water and quickly wash up before bed.

But then, he froze.

“…Choi Dayun?”

In the dark living room, she was curled up on the sofa, her face buried in her knees.

His initial shock turned into worry.

“What are you doing? Why are you sitting here like this?”

Was she still waiting for him? The thought made him slightly angry—why was she being so foolish? But as he approached, he noticed her trembling.

Then he saw her face.

Her eyes were swollen from crying, her expression filled with fear.

“…Senior… I’m scared…”

She looked completely lost, whispering those words in a daze.

And then, she started sobbing again. Not just soft tears, but full-on wailing, like a child terrified of the dark.

Jaehoon’s chest tightened. Without thinking, he pulled her into his arms. He held her close, stroking her back, offering warmth and reassurance.

“It’s okay… It’s okay… Don’t cry.”

As dawn broke, the room was no longer shrouded in darkness. Light seeped in, revealing Jaehoon and Dayun on the bed. Or rather, Dayun sleeping in his arms while he gently patted her back, unable to sleep himself.

“Haa… She finally fell asleep.”

He smiled, relieved.

“Your eyes are so swollen… What scared you so much?”

He softly brushed her eyelids, his heart aching at the thought of how much she had cried. Then, he playfully flicked her cheek.

“Mm…”

Still half-asleep, Dayun wriggled before suddenly sitting up.

“…I’m hungry…”

Jaehoon chuckled.

Still with only a quick wash and holding her hungry stomach, Dayun walked into the living room and headed straight for the kitchen.

“Wow… amazing.”

But as soon as she stepped inside, her eyes widened in surprise. Just like the day she had been sick, there was breakfast prepared by him sitting on the table. And when she looked at the stove, beef porridge was boiling. Seeing the delicious-looking porridge, a memory of Jaehoon came to her mind. His gentle hands that comforted her, and his warm embrace that held her when she was scared… As she remembered how she fell asleep in his arms, her face turned red, and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Her heart was beating so fast that she couldn’t even tell if it was racing or had stopped.

But no matter how nervous or happy she felt, hunger was stronger. Caught up in her own embarrassment, Dayun was snapped back to reality by the loud growl of her stomach. She scooped some of the porridge he had made into a bowl. Even while eating, she couldn’t stop smiling at how thoughtful he had been to prepare porridge for her after she cried all night in fear.

‘Wow, Choi Dayun, eating porridge made by your senior… and this is the second time…’

Before marriage, would she ever have imagined this? That he would cook porridge for her and worry about her? No, it was something she couldn’t even dream of. That’s how little attention Jaehoon had paid to her before. But now, maybe just a little, just a tiny bit, it felt like he was starting to care about her with time—maybe because she was his wife. That’s probably why the porridge tasted even more delicious, maybe twice as good.

“Hehe, that was so good.”

After finishing the porridge Jaehoon had put so much care into and cleaning up the kitchen, Dayun went back into her room. As soon as she entered, she picked up her phone.

“Huh? It’s off?”

She didn’t know when it had turned off, but the phone’s battery was dead. She plugged it in and turned it on, wanting to check if there had been any calls or messages while it was off.

“Eek!”

Once the phone turned on, she was shocked. There were many missed calls and messages. Most of them were from Hyunsoo and Daon. They knew her well, so they must have been really worried, knowing how scared she must have been. Then right away, her phone rang. It was Hyunsoo calling.

“Hey…”

‘Hey, are you okay?! Are you really alright?! Why couldn’t we get through to you?!’

As expected, Hyunsoo’s voice was full of worry. He sounded upset too, maybe from all the stress of not being able to reach her.

“Hyunsoo, I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

Dayun felt so sorry. She knew more than anyone how much Hyunsoo cared about her and worried for her.

“Whew… You have no idea how—”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You’re the one who had a scary and hard night. But just… make sure we can reach you. I was really worried.”

“I really am sorry. I didn’t know the battery would die…”

She truly hadn’t known. She had been waiting for him and didn’t pay attention to how much battery was left.

“No, it’s fine. I’m just glad you’re okay. I thought you might have fainted again like last time…”

“…”

“I’m really, really relieved.”

“Yeah…”

“Whew… You must’ve had a rough night. Get some more rest. I’m gonna nap a bit before going to school too.”

“Okay. Thanks for worrying. Rest well before class.”

“Yeah.”

After the call with Hyunsoo ended, Dayun looked at her phone, touched by all the messages from him and her other friends. She smiled to herself. It was the kind of smile that comes from knowing you’re truly loved and cared for.

Just then, her phone rang again. This time, it was her brother Daon calling.

“Hello?”

Meanwhile, at Jaehoon’s company, lunchtime was over and the employees were returning to their desks to get back to work. One of them commented,

“Hey, doesn’t the team leader look really tired today? Did he drink a lot last night?”

“No, not really. He didn’t even go to the second round and went home early.”

“Then why does he look so worn out? Could it be…”

“Could it be what?”

Curious, the other staff looked at him, and a middle-aged male employee smirked and said,

“Maybe he had a good time with the missus all night.”

“Ew, chief, that’s gross~”

“Gross? I’m just saying—there’s no other reason he’d be that tired.”

Another man in his 30s joined in, agreeing with the middle-aged guy.

“Well, they are both young, so I guess they’d have a lot of energy.”

The younger male and female staff frowned at the comment, while the older male employees chuckled to themselves. At that moment, Hyeyun, who had been silently listening, suddenly stood up with a displeased expression.

“Let’s stop this. Gossiping like that isn’t really appropriate.”

The male employees who had been laughing quickly turned serious. Hyeyun had never raised her voice before, which made it even more surprising. She seemed to realize she had spoken strongly and added awkwardly,

“I mean… the team leader’s coming in, so it’d be better to stop talking.”

Just as she said that, Jaehoon walked into the office and headed straight to his office. The gossiping men let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew, thanks, Hyeyun. We could’ve been in real trouble if you hadn’t said something.”

“It’s nothing. But still, you all should be careful. Talking like that about someone just because they’re not here isn’t right.”

Hyeyun got up from her seat and went to the pantry inside the office. She figured she should bring some coffee to Jaehoon, who did look very tired like the others said.

But as soon as she stood up, voices called out behind her.

“Hyeyun, make me a cup too~”

“Me too~”

“I’ll have green tea!”

Inside the team leader’s office, Jaehoon was clearly exhausted, probably from staying up all night because of Dayun. Still, when he heard the short buzz from his phone and checked the message, he found a text from Dayun:

[The porridge was delicious. Thank you for last night—and for the porridge, too.]

A message full of thanks.

‘She said it was good. That’s a relief.’

Honestly, he had been so out of it while cooking from the lack of sleep, he hadn’t even remembered how he made it. He was worried it might not taste good. But hearing that it was delicious made him smile a little.

Still, that didn’t change the fact that he was exhausted. Jaehoon put his phone down, covered his face with both hands, and closed his eyes for a moment. But as if the world wouldn’t even allow him that short rest, there was a knock at his door.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and Hyeyun walked in with a cup of coffee.

“Phew…”

She put the cup down in front of him. But for some reason, her presence felt more unwelcome than usual today. He was just so tired—he wanted some quiet time to himself. Still, Hyeyun didn’t seem to notice and began to speak.

“You look really tired.”

Though he was a bit annoyed, Jaehoon pretended not to be and looked at the papers in front of him.

“I couldn’t sleep well. But I’m fine.”

“Is it because of me? Because I stopped you from leaving yesterday?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“It is. I shouldn’t have begged you to stay. I’m sorry. I must’ve been too drunk yesterday.”

He was tired, irritated, and just wanted to rest without talking or thinking. But as Hyeyun kept blaming herself, Jaehoon felt more and more frustrated. Finally, in that moment of irritation, he ended up speaking his true thoughts.

“I know you were drunk and couldn’t help it. But you should really be more careful. Honestly, it’s hard for me when you act like that every time you drink. We’re in this situation because we both agreed to it. But if you keep acting like this, I get tired. I get annoyed.”

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