A Marriage with A Reason - Chapter 16

“Oh my, what is all this?”

“Oh dear…”

The sudden arrival of Jaehoon and Dayun left her parents looking utterly bewildered, as if they were in a daze. They seemed unable to believe their unexpected appearance, standing there with their mouths agape. Meanwhile, Daon, who already knew they were coming, was smiling brightly behind them, looking quite pleased. She exchanged a grateful glance with Jaehoon.

“Mom~”

Dayun, overwhelmed with longing for her mother, spread her arms wide and ran towards her like a child pretending to cry. Her mother welcomed her with a warm smile and embraced her tightly.

“Oh, my dear daughter. I really missed you~”

“Me too, Mom, me too~”

As they hugged each other for a long time, their affection overflowed. However, standing beside them, her father’s face began to show signs of discontent.

“Hey, don’t you miss your dad too? It’s like you only care about your mom.”

“Oh, come on~ Of course, I missed you too, Dad~”

At her father’s jealous remark, Dayun pulled away from her mother’s embrace and threw her arms around him in a playful voice. Yet, despite her words, her father grumbled even more.

“Well, well, look at that. It’s like forcing a bow out of someone.”

But despite his words, he couldn’t hide his smile. With his rough yet affectionate hands, he patted Dayun’s back. His touch was a bit clumsy, but she could feel his warmth nonetheless.

The way they gazed at each other with affection, their loving smiles, and the warmth of their embrace… Watching this, Jaehoon thought, So this is what a family really feels like. It was a new feeling for him. To him, his parents always felt distant, even though they were close. But for Dayun, it wasn’t like that. More than anything, he found it fascinating—and a little bittersweet—that she could act so playfully and affectionately in front of her parents. He stood there, watching their warmth absentmindedly, until her mother finally noticed him.

“Oh my, look at me! I was so happy to see my daughter that I left my son-in-law standing outside. Come in, come in!”

“Oh dear, that’s right. Jaehoon, come inside quickly.”

“Yes.”

Realizing they had left their son-in-law outside in their excitement, her parents hurriedly ushered him in. After Jaehoon and her father settled on the couch in the living room, Dayun, her mother, and Daon naturally moved to the kitchen. They seemed to be preparing something for Jaehoon to eat.

Their intention was clear when they soon returned with a plate of neatly arranged fruit and placed it on the table.

“We didn’t have much prepared since you came so suddenly, but have some fruit for now. I’ll make a delicious dinner soon. Oh, you’re staying for dinner, right?”

“No.”

At Jaehoon’s response, her parents’ faces instantly filled with disappointment. But then, when he spoke again, their expressions quickly brightened.

“I plan to stay for dinner and spend the night as well. And, Mother-in-law, please speak comfortably with me.”

“See? Dayun’s mom, why are you still being so formal with our son-in-law?”

At her husband’s words, her mother let out an awkward laugh. Even though Jaehoon was now family, they hadn’t met often, so she still felt a bit awkward. But she knew she couldn’t keep speaking so formally forever, so she nodded in agreement.

“Alright then, I’ll speak more casually… No, I mean, I will.”

“Yes, please do.”

“But still, why did you suddenly decide to visit?”

“Yeah, we’re happy to see you, but your dad and I were caught off guard. Dayun, if you were coming, you should’ve told us in advance. We could have tidied up the house and prepared some of Jaehoon’s favorite food.”

This time, her father spoke up. At his words, Dayun made a slightly pouty face and glanced at Jaehoon.

“I didn’t know we were coming either. He didn’t tell me.”

“Really?”

Her father looked surprised and turned his gaze to Jaehoon, who smiled slightly.

“Yes, she really didn’t know. I didn’t tell her where we were going because I wanted to surprise her. It’s more exciting when you don’t see it coming.”

At his words, her mother smiled.

“Oh, so that’s what happened. Well, thanks to our son-in-law, we got to see our daughter unexpectedly, so we’re happy. Thank you, Jaehoon.”

“Not at all. If anything, I should apologize for not visiting sooner despite being married for a while now.”

Hearing this, her father shook his head.

“Oh, nonsense. We know you’re busy, and we’re just grateful you made time to come.”

“Thank you for saying that. I’ll make sure to visit more often with Dayun.”

“Yes, thank you, Jaehoon.”

The atmosphere between the father-in-law and son-in-law was pleasant. Jaehoon felt truly accepted as part of the family. Initially, her father had been skeptical about him. When they first met, his impression of Jaehoon was that he was polite but not an easy person to get close to. He had wondered, Can this man really change for Dayun? But after today, something felt different. Maybe, just as his father-in-law once said, Jaehoon had changed because of Dayun.

That Night

A thick tension filled the room. The only sounds that could be heard were the awkward throat-clearing noises from both Jaehoon and Dayun. Despite the chilly evening, the room felt stuffy and overly warm. That was because, thanks to her parents and Daon’s scheme, the two of them were forced to share a room for the night.

Dayun had tried to sleep with either her mother or her brother, but—

“Hey, sweetheart, your mom sleeps with me. And you’re married now, so of course, you should sleep with your husband.”

“That’s right, honey. I’ll sleep with your dad, and you’ll sleep with Jaehoon.”

“No way! I was on duty last night—I need to sleep properly. Also, do you know how lonely it is for a husband to sleep alone? So just hold hands and sleep together.”

Somehow, they had all teamed up against her, leaving her no choice. She roughly understood their intentions, but thinking about it only made her more embarrassed. She tried to act calm and natural.

“Uh… you should go wash up, Jaehoon.”

“Huh? Oh… yeah… I should.”

“I already washed, so go ahead quickly.”

“Alright… I’ll be right back.”

“Okay…”

Awkward. So awkward.

Jaehoon left the room stiffly, as if he were a robot. Dayun, left alone, immediately collapsed onto the bed and let out a deep sigh.

“Phew… I thought I was going to die.”

Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she pouted and muttered with frustration.

“I knew something was up when they made him eat eel for dinner. My family is impossible, seriously.”

Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Jaehoon locked the door and leaned against it, sighing.

“Ah… that was so awkward.”

He hadn’t expected to end up sharing a room with her. But despite that, a small smile appeared on his lips.

Spending time with her family today was really fun. It was something I’ve never experienced before. They bicker, but they also take care of each other.

For the first time, he realized—family could be warm.

“So this is why Choi Dayun is so bright and kind.”

Her family was just like her. They had shaped her into the person she was today.

And Jaehoon, for the first time, was starting to feel like he truly belonged.

“Ah, this is really funny.”

With a smile that wouldn’t go away, Jaehoon held a toothbrush in his mouth.

“Mm… then I’ll turn off the light now.”

“Yeah.”

Dayun turned off the light and climbed onto the bed. While Jaehoon was washing up, she had tried turning the knobs of the other rooms’ doors one more time, thinking “Just one last try,” but they were all locked. It felt like they wouldn’t open until the next morning.

She considered sleeping in the living room, but since winter had passed and spring was here, the heating had been turned off there, so it would get chilly at night and early in the morning. So she shook her head and gave up that idea. In the end, even if it was awkward, she chose to sleep warmly. Thankfully, because of Jaehoon’s consideration, Dayun got the bed and Jaehoon would sleep on the floor next to it.

Jaehoon had insisted himself that he would sleep on the floor and refused the bed, but Dayun couldn’t feel comfortable at all. Instead, she felt uneasy and bothered. Jaehoon also kept tossing and turning as if the floor was very uncomfortable.

Eventually,

“Um… Jaehoon.”

Dayun called out to him, thinking she really couldn’t just leave it like this. She was worried that he might not get good sleep even though he had to go to work tomorrow.

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to switch with me? The floor must be so uncomfortable.”

“No… I’m really okay.”

Dayun sat up straight from where she was lying. Even in the dark, her eyes were on him.

“Don’t lie. That only makes me feel more uncomfortable and worried. It looks like you’ve never even slept on the floor before. Let’s just switch. I’ll sleep on the floor. You have to go to work tomorrow—what if you can’t sleep properly?”

“You think I’d feel at ease sleeping alone in the bed while you’re on the floor? I’m really fine. Just sleep like this. You’ve probably never slept on the floor either, right?”

“Phew… but still…”

Dayun thought hard for a moment, unsure of what to do. Then she finally spoke again.

“Then… why don’t you come up to the bed too?”

“What?”

Surprised by her sudden suggestion, Jaehoon sat up and looked at her in shock.

“If we both feel uncomfortable about the other sleeping on the floor, what can we do? We should just both sleep on the bed.”

“Huh…”

Jaehoon let out a sigh, sounding amazed, and Dayun thought, ‘Oh no.’ She had thought hard about this and it seemed like the best option, but maybe Jaehoon would feel bad about it.

“I mean… the bed is big, so it’s not like we won’t fit…”

While Dayun kept rambling, worried that he’d get the wrong idea, Jaehoon got up and sat on the bed without another word. That made Dayun flinch.

“Alright then. We’ll both sleep on the bed. Like you said, it’s big enough for two people.”

“Ah… okay.”

“What are you doing? Lie down too. Let’s sleep.”

“Huh? Oh, okay, I’m lying down now.”

At some point, Jaehoon had already laid down on the bed and told her to do the same. So Dayun, a bit hesitant, carefully lay down beside him. She was the one who had suggested they sleep on the bed together, but now that they were lying side by side, it was a whole new kind of awkward.

When Jaehoon was on the floor, she had felt uneasy. But now that he was next to her on the same bed, her heart was racing like crazy, and she started worrying whether he could hear her heartbeat. Her body grew tense.

Then suddenly, she heard his voice.

“Hey, but…”

“Yes?”

Startled, Dayun quickly turned her head to look at him. But when she saw his face through the darkness—her eyes now adjusted—she quickly turned back around, speaking stiffly.

“W-What is it?”

“Well, you… I mean…”

Jaehoon seemed to hesitate, like he wasn’t sure how to say what he wanted. Dayun was confused, wondering what he was trying to say. Then finally, Jaehoon spoke.

“Just… be careful.”

Just as she was wondering, ‘Be careful about what?’ he continued, and her face turned red.

“It’s lucky it’s me. Don’t say things like ‘come up to the bed’ so easily to other guys. I get that you’re still young and maybe don’t know these things, but guys are wolves. If a girl says something like that first, guys go crazy. It’s just because it’s me—I’m holding myself together. Ugh, what am I even saying. Anyway, just be careful around other guys. And… good night.”

“…Okay.”

And so, the sleepless night went on, time slowly passing by with only the faint sound of heartbeats between them.

Support