A Marriage with A Reason - Chapter 36

“Take care.”

The dream-like trip had come to an end, and Dayun and Jaehoon returned to their ordinary daily lives. However, there was one thing that had changed.

“Yeah, I’ll be back. Oh, is there anything you want to eat?”

“Something I want to eat?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm… I don’t think so.”

“Then if you think of something later, just text me. I’ll bring it on my way back.”

“Okay~”

Unlike before, he had become incredibly kind and gentle.

“Alright, I’m really leaving now.”

“Yes, take care.”

“Yeah. If you get curious, call me anytime. Though, I’ll probably call first.”

Not only did he initiate conversations, but Jaehoon had also changed to the point where he casually said sweet things. To Dayun, he had become such a warm and wonderful man.

As the affectionate Jaehoon left the house, Dayun also started cleaning up busily, preparing to go to her studio. She felt like she hadn’t been able to write properly for a while.

“Ugh!”

Sweeping and wiping here and there… As she took out the laundry she had washed early in the morning, Dayun glanced at the clock and was slightly surprised.

“Oh? It’s already 10 o’clock? I should hang these up quickly and get ready to leave.”

As she had said, it was already nearing 10 AM. She wasn’t sure how time had flown so fast despite not doing much. Either way, Dayun stepped out onto the balcony to hang the laundry.

“Ugh.”

The moment she stepped outside, the blazing sunlight made her squint. The sun streaming down from the sky felt too hot to be called warm.

“Looks like summer is really coming. I need to put on sunscreen regularly.”

Just yesterday, the sunlight hadn’t felt this strong. The nights were still chilly, but the days were getting unbearably hot. It seemed like this summer would be quite intense, making her sigh. Dayun hated getting tanned.

After finishing her preparations, Dayun left the house. The moment she stepped out, she heard a loud honking sound from the apartment parking lot. A familiar voice followed.

“Dayun! Over here, over here!”

It was Sojin. She was leaning out of her car window, eagerly calling for Dayun.

“You got here earlier than I thought.”

“I was already ready when I called you~”

The reason for this sudden meeting was simple. Just as Dayun was about to leave the house, Sojin had called, asking to meet. She didn’t say why, but Dayun suspected she wanted to ask about her two-day trip with Jaehoon.

“So, how was your little getaway? What did Jaehoon say when he saw you?”

As expected, the moment Dayun got into the car, Sojin bombarded her with endless questions, not even giving her a chance to answer.

“Was he surprised? Did he say you were pretty?”

“Sojin, wait! One at a time! Ask one thing at a time!”

Dayun hurriedly stopped her, and realizing how ridiculous she sounded, Sojin burst into laughter.

“Ah, sorry, sorry~ But I’m just so curious! Suji kept complaining about missing out because of class.”

“Even so, slow down a little, okay?”

“Fine, fine. I’ll ask one thing at a time, so just tell me how it went! I worked so hard to make you look amazing, you know.”

Dayun, grateful for Sojin’s efforts, smiled warmly and began answering her questions.

“He said I was pretty.”

She said it very shyly. Her voice was so quiet that Sojin, who was driving, barely heard it and asked again.

“What?”

“He said I was pretty. He really said that.”

Meanwhile, at his office, Jaehoon sat alone, smiling to himself. Despite being by himself, he kept grinning as he glanced at the clock on the wall.

‘Ah… Why is time moving so slowly?’

He kept looking forward to the end of the day. The morning had passed, lunch had come and gone, but he barely remembered how he had spent it. Work hours felt unbearably long. Even so, his lips kept curling into a smile.

“Focus, focus!”

He tried to concentrate on the documents in front of him, but before long, his lips twitched upward again. He couldn’t help it—Dayun’s words kept replaying in his head.

That night by the sea, when Woo-young and Ho-young had left them alone after learning about their marriage, Dayun had said something unforgettable.

“I keep thinking about you. You look good to me, and when you smile, I feel happy too. It’s a strange feeling, but I won’t tell you any of this. At least, not now. Right now, I just want to say one thing: I haven’t sorted out my feelings about Hyeyun yet. But what I do know is that, from now on, as your husband, I want to make you smile.”

That’s what he had said. But deep down, he felt uneasy. He had confessed his feelings to Dayun without fully dealing with his past with Hyeyun. If she had anything to say, he wouldn’t have been able to argue. He knew all too well that, from another perspective, he seemed like a wishy-washy man stuck between two women.

Still, before being a bad man, he was just a man—a person. Even if Dayun didn’t respond, he thought he could handle it. But her silent, unreadable expression had made his heart burn with anxiety. In the end, unable to bear the silence, he had pleaded with her.

“I know it doesn’t make sense, but please, just for a little while…”

But before he could finish, Dayun had spoken.

“I trust you. I can wait. No, I will wait.”

Her words were hard to believe, but her serious gaze made it impossible to doubt.

“Are you sure? You’ll really wait for me to figure everything out?”

He had asked again, needing reassurance. Dayun had simply nodded.

“Because it’s you.”

“Huh?”

“I can wait because it’s you. You might not know this, but I’ve been waiting for you all along. A little longer won’t change anything.”

Jaehoon had been stunned. He was usually sharp, but at that moment, he felt like an idiot. And then, her next words had made his heart race.

“I’ve liked you for a very long time.”

Back in the present, Jaehoon covered his face with his large hands, overwhelmed by the memory. Anyone who saw him might think he was in distress, but his burning red ears betrayed how happy and embarrassed he was.

Just then, his phone vibrated.

“Bye~”

“Yeah, you too.”

As evening approached, Dayun and Sojin parted ways. Dayun had declined Sojin’s offer to drop her home and got off at the bus stop near her house instead.

“What should I have for dinner? Should I stop by the store?”

She had gotten off early for a reason—she wanted to buy ingredients for Jaehoon’s dinner. In a way, they were practically a real married couple now, so she thought tonight should be special.

“Getting a cake would be too much, right?”

As she debated, her phone rang.

“Yes, Jaehoon?”

She answered with a bright smile, but his words quickly deflated her excitement.

“What should I do? The guys want to meet up.”

“Oh… so you’ll be late?”

“Yeah, probably. Should I just skip it and come home instead? I can see them another time.”

Dayun, although happy, thought it would be rude for him to ditch his friends.

“No, you should go. It wouldn’t be right for you to be the only one missing.”

As she hung up, she headed home, but at the apartment entrance, she saw a middle-aged woman standing there.

‘Who is she?’

She didn’t know everyone in the apartment, but the woman’s face felt both unfamiliar and oddly familiar.

Just then, the woman turned and met her gaze.

“You must be Choi Dayun. Jaehoon’s legal wife.”

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