A Marriage with A Reason - Chapter 15

With a loud bang, Jaehoon suddenly found himself alone in the room.

“Hah…”

The image of Hyeyun’s tearful eyes, staring at him as if she had been hurt, flashed through his mind. A throbbing headache followed. She had only said, “I’m sorry,” but for some reason, it irritated him. He had snapped at her—honestly, bluntly, and with frustration.

“So annoying.”

Why did he react that way? Even he couldn’t understand himself.

Just then, his phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me. Choi Daon.”

“Oh… Yes, hello, hyung.”

A sudden call from an unknown number. When Jaehoon realized it was Daon, Dayun’s older brother, he was taken aback. After all, since the wedding, aside from a shared meal, they had never once spoken or met separately. Unlike Jaehoon, who felt awkward and flustered, Daon seemed completely at ease.

“Yeah. How’s Dayun doing?”

“She’s… fine, I guess.”

“That’s good to hear. Are you at work?”

“Yes, I’m working right now.”

“I see…”

There was something off about Daon’s tone. It felt like he had something to say but was hesitating, bringing up unrelated topics instead.

And Jaehoon’s suspicion was confirmed when Daon finally spoke up, hesitantly.

“…Hey, is Dayun okay?”

“Dayun?”

What was he trying to say? The question seemed out of the blue at first, but soon, Jaehoon understood.

“Did she seem scared or cry last night?”

“Ah…”

He recalled the previous night—heavy rain, thunder, and lightning.

Daon’s voice took on a sorrowful tone.

“I knew it… It happened again, didn’t it?”

“…So this isn’t the first time?”

Jaehoon realized that last night wasn’t an isolated incident. At first, he thought Dayun had simply been startled by the thunder and lightning. But the way she trembled, the fear in her eyes—it wasn’t ordinary. That’s why Daon’s words, “It happened again,” felt heavy and sad.

He grew curious. Why was she so terrified?

Without thinking, Jaehoon asked, “Did something happen to Dayun in the past…?”

“Hah… Yeah. For Dayun, it must have been a nightmare. Even just hearing about it was horrifying for me.”

“Can you tell me what happened?”

Jaehoon wanted to know. He wanted to understand why Dayun had been so afraid.

After a brief pause, Daon seemed to make up his mind.

“Yeah, I’ll tell you. After all, you’re the one by her side now. She has a stable life thanks to your father, but things weren’t always like this. For some reason, my dad’s business failed, and we had to live separately. I stayed with my grandmother, while little Dayun stayed with our parents.”

Jaehoon listened silently, nodding.

“Our parents ran a small business near a university. Well, ‘business’ is a stretch. They had nothing, so they sold fried food from a truck. They left in the afternoon and returned home in the early hours of the morning.”

“And Dayun?”

Jaehoon’s thoughts drifted to young Dayun. What about her?

Daon sighed.

“What else? They couldn’t take a kid with them every day, so they had no choice but to leave her alone at home.”

“Ah…”

Jaehoon exhaled, feeling a pang of sadness. He had assumed she had always been happy, but now he realized—she must have been so lonely.

“She was only in first grade, but she acted so mature. She pretended to be fine, to be happy, so our parents wouldn’t feel guilty. But they had no choice. Even if they knew it wasn’t right, they had to ignore it. Then one day, something happened. Some lunatic must have noticed that she was alone for long periods…”

No way…

The thought lingered in Jaehoon’s mind, almost escaping his lips.

He didn’t want to believe it. Please, let it not be what I’m thinking.

But Daon’s next words crushed his hope.

“It was a stormy night, just like yesterday. That man came. Dayun woke up to the thunder, and when she saw a shadow outside the frosted window on the door, she thought it was her mom and opened it.”

“But it wasn’t her parents…?”

“No. It was that bastard. As soon as she saw him, she stumbled back and fainted. Fortunately, our parents arrived right then and called the police.”

“Hah… Damn…”

Jaehoon was speechless.

How terrified must she have been?

Now, he finally understood her fear, her trembling.

But one thing still didn’t make sense. His voice hardened as he asked,

“Why? Why did that bastard do it?”

“Hah… He said he needed money. But I don’t believe it. If he wanted money, why target a tiny one-room home instead of a bigger house? And more than that, why was he holding onto a defenseless child?”

“Was Dayun… unharmed?”

“Yeah. Luckily, our parents came just in time.”

“Hah… Thank god. That’s a relief.”

Jaehoon let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

If he had known about this earlier, he would never have left her alone on rainy nights.

But what he didn’t know was that, despite her tears last night, she had found comfort and warmth in his embrace.

“And that bastard? He was punished, right?”

“No. Annoyingly, he got off easy. Since he didn’t actually commit the crime, and he was drunk at the time, they let him off lightly.”

“Hah… That’s ridiculous. Just because it didn’t happen doesn’t mean he didn’t intend to do it! And don’t even get me started on how our laws excuse everything if alcohol is involved.”

“Yeah, our laws are harsher on victims than perpetrators.”

“More like harsher on those without power.”

Both men were truly angry.

“Anyway, don’t let Dayun know you heard this from me. She’s too proud. She won’t even tell her closest friends, Sojin and Suji. Even Hyunsoo pretends not to know.”

“Oh, Hyunsoo knows?”

“Yeah, he overheard our dad telling Mom about it. Since then, he’s kept it to himself for Dayun’s sake.”

“I see…”

For some reason, that bothered Jaehoon. Maybe it was Hyunsoo’s arrogant attitude the last time they met.

But at least he had heard it directly from Daon. Hyunsoo had only eavesdropped.

At that moment, an unexpected thought crossed his mind: I win.

“By the way, you know our mom isn’t our biological mother, right?”

“What? Oh… Yeah, my father told me.”

Jaehoon flinched at the unexpected topic and blurted out a half-truth. In reality, his birth mother had told him.

“Good, just checking. Anyway, bring Dayun over for a meal sometime. Mom and Dad miss her. She calls sometimes, but they want to see her in person.”

Jaehoon felt like he had been hit over the head.

He hadn’t even thought about it.

Since the wedding, they hadn’t visited even once.

If he had known, he would have taken her sooner.

Feeling guilty, he made up his mind.

“Hyung!”

The next morning, as usual, Jaehoon was getting ready to leave for work. Dayun followed to see him off.

“Sunbae, will you be late today too?”

“Hm? No, I’ll be home early.”

“Oh, okay!”

She nodded, but something about him felt… odd.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Uh… Yeah. Pack some clothes. I’ll pick you up after work.”

“Are we going on a trip?”

Jaehoon hesitated, eyes darting.

“Not exactly. Just… pack for two days. When I call, come downstairs.”

Dayun tilted her head but agreed.

Later, sitting in his car, Jaehoon groaned.

“Idiot. You should’ve just said it outright.”

Still, he smiled.

She’ll be happy, right?

About an hour before Jaehoon got off work, Dayun—feeling a bit lazy today and thinking of her promise to meet him later—decided not to go to her studio. Instead, she was sitting on the couch, talking on the phone.

“So that jerk told you to pack without even telling you where you’re going?”

“Yeah. So I just skipped the studio today. The deadline’s still far off anyway…”

“You sure it wasn’t because you were just lazy?”

Sojin’s comment hit a nerve—she knew Dayun all too well. Dayun let out an awkward laugh.

“Well, maybe a little bit of laziness, but it was like… as tiny as an ant’s waist…”

“Please. That was pure laziness. You think I don’t know you? You only get productive when a deadline is breathing down your neck.”

Dayun felt caught red-handed and scratched her head awkwardly.

“Ahem~ It’s true that the closer the deadline, the better the writing gets.”

“Yeah, right. But you know, I think that guy might actually be interested in you now. Didn’t he used to never suggest going anywhere first? And didn’t you say he brought you porridge when you were sick?”

“Well, he didn’t bring it, exactly. But he did buy it twice.”

“Oooh~ That rude guy? Wow, Choi Dayun~ Who knew you had it in you?”

“Oh, stop~”

Somehow, Dayun felt strangely proud.

“Maybe, just maybe, Ahn Jaehoon’s starting to like you. I mean, with how things are going now, it seems possible. You’ve got a shot. Hey, friend. Now that it’s come to this, you have to make Ahn Jaehoon your man. If you pull this off, you won’t end up as a divorcée after all.”

“Oh, shut up. I’m hanging up. I need to pack.”

Feeling embarrassed, Dayun ended the call with a bit of a bite in her voice. On the other end, Sojin’s mischievous tone came back, pretending to pout even though she clearly wasn’t serious.

“Ugh, cold-hearted woman. Fine, go pack. And hey, it’d be even better if you came back with the three of you~”

“Hey!”

Flushed and flustered, Dayun shouted with all her might, but the call had already ended. Huffing in embarrassment, she fanned herself with her hand and got up from the couch.

“Whew… I’d better pack.”

[I’m here. Come down.]

The text from Jaehoon made Dayun hurry down to the first floor, carrying both her own bag and the one Jaehoon had mentioned. When she stepped outside, his car was already there.

“Put the bags in the back and get in.”

Following his instructions, she loaded the luggage and got into the car.

“Seatbelt.”

“Yes.”

As soon as she buckled up, the car began to move. Jaehoon drove in silence while Dayun, on the other hand, fidgeted nervously. Of course he wasn’t curious—he already knew where they were going. But Dayun, who had no idea of their destination or the reason for the trip, felt anxious, a little uneasy… and somehow, even a little excited.

Still, seeing him so focused on driving, she hesitated for a moment. Then she mustered up the courage to ask.

“Um… sunbae? Where are we going right now?”

“Curious?”

“Yes.”

Dayun’s face lit up, thinking he might finally tell her. She nodded eagerly, but what came out of Jaehoon’s mouth was…

“You’ll see when we get there.”

The blunt answer killed all the excitement in an instant. Dayun couldn’t help but pout. It was frustrating how he was dragging her off somewhere without even a hint of explanation. But she didn’t dare voice her complaint. Instead, she turned to look out the window and tried to guess on her own.

‘Hmm… if we’re going this way, then it’s definitely not to his parents’ place…’

She kept thinking as they drove for who knows how long.

“Wait… this is…”

The car was now driving down a road that was all too familiar to her.

“Sunbae, this is the way to my house, isn’t it?”

Her parents’ house. Dayun couldn’t believe it. Even though they were on the way there, it felt unreal. Her mind was spinning. Jaehoon, noticing her stunned expression, let out a small chuckle.

“You must miss your mom and dad.”

“Sunbae…”

Touched, Dayun looked at him with teary eyes. Truthfully, she had really wanted to visit, but her parents had told her it was rude for a married daughter to visit too often, and Jaehoon never seemed interested in going. She couldn’t bring herself to drag him along either. But now, he was the one taking her there first.

It was unbelievable—and deeply touching.

“I’m really sorry. I’ve been busy with work, and I guess I forgot about you and your family. You’ve done your best for my parents, but I’ve been too indifferent. So I planned this visit. I’m really grateful to you, and I figure, as a son-in-law, I should at least do my part.”

“Sunbae, thank you… so much.”

Tears welled up in Dayun’s eyes. She never expected him to think about her like this. As time passed, it really felt like he was starting to open his heart to her—and that made her feel joy and overwhelming gratitude. So much so that the tears wouldn’t stop.

Seeing her cry, Jaehoon began glancing over nervously while driving.

“Hey, why are you crying? Huh? Don’t cry.”

“Pfft~”

Watching Jaehoon flustered and awkward for the first time, Dayun burst into laughter through her tears.

“Oh come on. Why are you crying and laughing now?”

“Hehe~”

Jaehoon pretended not to notice that she was laughing because of him, clearly feeling awkward himself. But somehow, that only made Dayun laugh even more. Eventually, Jaehoon, too, couldn’t help but smile.

And so, their car filled with warmth and laughter, heading toward a place filled with love.

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