A Marriage with A Reason - Chapter 53

“Is this the place..?”

In front of Sojin’s house, Jaehoon had come to see Dayun before it was even 10 a.m., right after receiving a text with the address as soon as their call ended last night. Even though they didn’t spend the day together yesterday, he felt so worried, sorry, and curious. Honestly, he wanted to come as soon as he got the text, or at least early in the morning. But that didn’t seem respectful to Dayun, or to Sojin who gave him the address. So, he forced himself to hold back.

“Phew..”

Even though he really wanted to see Dayun right away, Jaehoon couldn’t easily press the doorbell. Even he knew he had no right to be here. On top of that, he was scared. He was afraid Dayun’s eyes wouldn’t look at him the same way anymore. Afraid she might say something cold or cruel. Of course, he knew Dayun wasn’t that kind of person. But he couldn’t help thinking like that because he had hurt her so deeply.

‘No matter what she says, I have to accept it.’

Thinking firmly that it was his fault and he had to take responsibility, Jaehoon pressed the doorbell to Sojin’s house with a trembling hand.

‘Ding-dong~’
The sound rang through the house early in the morning. Dayun, still asleep, frowned at the noise. She thought, “Sojin will get it.” But when the bell rang again, she couldn’t take it anymore and got up.

“Hey, this is your house!”

Tired and with swollen eyes from crying the night before, Dayun hadn’t slept well. She glared toward where Sojin should be lying next to her, annoyed that the owner of the house wasn’t answering the door. But there was no one on the bed except her. Confused, Dayun muttered,

“What? Where did she go?”

Not knowing that Sojin had left early to help Dayun meet Jaehoon, Dayun shouted, “I’m coming!” and rushed out of the room when the doorbell rang again.

“Who is it?”

“…”

“Who are you?”

Even though she asked, there was no reply. Dayun felt uneasy. Should I open the door? These days, with so many scary crimes, it was natural to be cautious. But she figured no bad person would show up this boldly in broad daylight. So she quickly fixed her messy hair in the mirror and slowly opened the door.

“Who—”

Dayun was about to say, “Who is it?” but stopped when she saw Jaehoon standing there. She hadn’t expected him to come.

“How did you…?”

“Can I come in first?”

When Jaehoon carefully pointed inside, Dayun stepped slightly aside.

“Ah… well, it’s not my house, but come in.”

Even though things were awkward between them, she wasn’t cold-hearted enough to leave someone who had come all this way standing outside. Soon, Dayun went into the kitchen and brought him a cup of coffee.

“I’d give you something else, but coffee’s all we have.”

“Thanks.”

Jaehoon took a sip of the coffee Dayun gave him. It tasted a little sweet and a little bitter.

“So… why are you here? And how did you know where to come?”

“I called Sojin last night. She told me you were here.”

“Ah…”

Hearing his answer, Dayun started to understand Sojin’s actions.

“Don’t go anywhere tomorrow. Just stay home, okay? You have to be here!”

Even though Dayun had said she would go to the studio, Sojin kept insisting she stay home. And Sojin, who usually sleeps in, wasn’t even home this morning. That made Dayun think Sojin had purposely left the house for this. She was grateful, knowing Sojin did it for her. But Dayun wasn’t quite ready to meet Jaehoon yet, so she also felt uncomfortable. Whether it was a misunderstanding or not, right now Dayun had been hurt by him.

Jaehoon, unable to meet her eyes and hesitating, finally began to speak quietly.

“I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding. And apologize, too.”

“…”

“I know everything I say might sound like an excuse. I know you might not want to hear it. But I hope you’ll listen to me. Will you?”

Please listen… That made Dayun pause. Honestly, she was scared. She was afraid of getting hurt again. Afraid that nothing could be fixed. But more than that, she wanted to believe in him. She wanted to trust him.

“Go ahead.”

Finally, Dayun looked into his eyes. Her gaze said: Convince me. Make me believe you.

“Honestly, I regretted it. I knew you were a good person, and even though I knew it was selfish, I still wanted to stay friends. I didn’t even think about the pain it would cause you. But what happened this time… it really was a misunderstanding.”

“…”

“Later, I felt so sorry and guilty, I told her we couldn’t even stay friends. Of course, I had no intention of meeting her again. At first, maybe I did, but then I realized it was wrong. Yesterday, I just wanted to go on a simple date with you. But then she suddenly showed up…”

Dayun couldn’t say anything. She just kept listening to his rambling. His words weren’t clear or organized. It didn’t fully explain everything, but she could tell he didn’t mean to hurt her.

“Enough…”

“So what I mean is, it wasn’t what I wanted—”

“I get it. So stop rambling.”

“Huh?”

“I said I believe you. I’ll try to believe you, so stop talking in circles.”

Even though his explanation wasn’t perfect, Dayun tried to understand. His sincerity didn’t seem fake. And besides…

“You’re not acting like yourself. You look flustered.”

“Ah…”

“It’s kind of unexpected… but not bad.”

The way he was trying so hard to clear things up seemed kind of cute. Maybe, from the moment Jaehoon showed up, Dayun’s anger and resentment had already faded away.

‘I guess I really like you a lot, Jaehoon.’

In other words, Dayun liked him so much that her anger disappeared the moment she saw him.

Seeing her calm down, Jaehoon’s face unconsciously lit up. His first thought: Thank goodness. He had been so worried she wouldn’t forgive him.

“So, are we good now? Will you forgive me?”

Dayun’s real answer was yes, yes, but she didn’t want to give in so easily.

“Hmm, I don’t know.”

Because she had been hurt. Because she wanted to focus on herself now, like Sojin told her. Maybe this was her little payback to Jaehoon. When she didn’t give the answer he expected, Jaehoon looked disappointed.

“Jaehoon.”

“Yeah?”

“I want to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

Even though he was feeling down, Jaehoon looked up when Dayun said she had a question. His eyes said he’d answer anything. After a moment of hesitation, Dayun finally asked something she’d kept in her heart for a long time.

“Do you like me?”

“Huh?”

“Do you love me?”

Even though she was standing by his side now, she had never been brave enough to ask before. Do you love me? She wanted to hear Jaehoon’s answer. Was this all just a misunderstanding? Or was it because he really loved her?

Jaehoon looked into her eyes, gently held her hand, and with full confidence said,

“Right now, I love you.”

“I’ll stay at Sojin’s one more night. I’ll go home tomorrow.”

“Oh? Okay.”

After confessing his love, Jaehoon left Sojin’s house in a hurry, feeling shy. His face was burning, and it had been so long since he felt this way, but it didn’t feel bad at all.

“Right now, I love you.”

His voice trembled, but his feelings were real. It was his first time confessing to Dayun, and now he understood what it meant when people said their hearts pounded.

“Pfft, but she’s so cute.”

What really made his heart go wild was Dayun. She was bold when she asked if he loved her, but the moment he said he did, her face turned red like it might explode. She looked so cute. And he felt relieved, too. Ah, she really likes me. He even felt like a winner.

But that happiness didn’t last long. Jaehoon frowned slightly. He was remembering something Dayun said before he left Sojin’s house.

“Jaehoon!”

“Huh?”

“I like you!”

Of course, he was happy when she said that.

“But I’m not going to give you my heart so easily. That’s not fair. You hurt me a lot… So steal it from me. Then I’ll give it to you.”

“…”

“…Don’t want to?”

“No, I do. I’ll steal your heart.”

Even though her bold words could’ve been rude, they didn’t upset him. It was what he expected. But what came next bothered him.

“Oh, and this is something Sojin told me to tell you. I don’t know what it means, but she said you would.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Even if there are many bees, there’s only one queen bee. She said this is the last time she’s helping, and next time she’ll give the honey to another bee…”

It was Sojin’s words. The queen bee was Dayun, and the bees were…

“Ah, seriously, Jung Sojin!”

“Jae—Jaehoon?”

Even though Dayun was right in front of him, Jaehoon couldn’t help but burst out in frustration toward Sojin. He was determined not to lose Dayun again.

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